Sowing and Transplanting in August
/
Early October harvest from items sown May - August
Although the nighttime temperatures are between 8-10C, daylight is growing and cool season crops thrive in cold soil and temperatures. Before , you jump in and start seeding, though, consider your soil.
Transition Farm is close to the Pacific Ocean within a secondary dune line. Our soil contains a high sand content. This is helpful in wet seasons as it drains quickly. If your soil is at all soupy, your seeds will rot.
You can test if your soil is dry enough to be worked by gently forking open a section about 15-20cm deep, take a handful of soil, form it into a ball and then stand up and drop the ball. If it falls and crumbles, you can gentle fork your soil. But if the ball stays as a ball, you will compact your soil by working it when it is too wet.
You can sow some of the seeds mentioned below into pots which warm up and dry out quicker. Or maybe you have raised beds where the soil is more free draining.
We also rely on over-wintered and perennial crops (both pictured above) to fill the “food gap” from when our over-wintered brassicas and silverbeet bolt or go to seed and when the newly transplanted ones are ready for harvest.
Quick to mature, cold loving crops such as mustards, boy choys, rocket, radishes and hardy gem lettuces are wonderful to sow now. Sow in the ground or in pots and many will be ready for harvest in 30-45 days!!
Even though many of the below suggested crops can be directly seeded in the garden, we do prefer transplanting at this time of the year. Broccoli for example will germinate at soil temperatures of 5C, but its ideal germination temperature is closer to 20C! Ideal germination temperatures mean quicker germination with a higher germination rate.
We are sowing and transplanting the following now that our days have over 10 hours of sunlight:
DIRECT SOW AND TRANSPLANT INTO COLD SOIL
Bok choy (T), Mustard greens (T), Rocket (D/T) and any other “Asian Green”
Broad beans (D/T),
Coriander (T)
Cress (T)
Cold- tolerant lettuces such as:
‘Double Density’ (T)
‘Eruption’ (T)
‘Winter Density’ (T)
‘Pandero’ (T)
‘Sweetheart Gem’ (T)
Onions (T)
Orach (T)
Peas
‘Beauregard’ (T)
Radish and Salad turnips
Spinach (T)
TRANSPLANT
Beetroot (T)
Brassicas such as
Broccoli (T)
Cabbage (T)
Cauliflower (T)
Kale (T)
Silverbeet (T)
(T indicates transplanting recommended, D indicates can be direct sown)
DIRECT SOW AND/OR TRANSPLANT UNDER COVER OR IN WARMED SOIL
We use polycovers to warm our soil and protect more tender crops from frost.
Carrots (Direct sow)
These are our go to early carrots as they are small (mature quickly) and as they are a bulb shape they work well in heavy soil. Our straighter carrots such as ‘Little Finger’ and ‘Dragon’ we save until September. We need to warm the soil ahead of sowing these.
Butter Lettuces (pictured above) thrive in cool weather but hate frost. Sow these now and transplant with protection:
START THE FOLLOWING WARM WEATHER CROPS INDOORS IN AUGUST
You can start dreaming of your tomatoes now, and purchasing seed as we are selling out of some varieties, but unless you have a protected area to grow them, they are best started in September.
Here are our tips for STRONG TOMATO TRANSPLANTS .
FLOWERS
‘MOTHER OF PEARL’ SHIRLEY POPPY
And there are many flowers which are cold hardy and thrive in the cool Spring weather. These can be sown/transplanted now to produce great early blooms. We offer the following seeds:
*Please Note - We recommend starting the starred ones this week to ensure the longest flowering season possible before summers heat.
‘SHERBERT MIX’ ICELAND POPPY
PLEASE NOTE - These recommendations are completely based on our 17 years of growing on this patch in Southern Victoria, Australia. See Key Information To Record For Future Success to understand on what we base this information
What are you sowing?
Plant Seeds - Grow Joy!!
Robin
