Gardening in August
W
ith spring just around
the corner, it is time
to start preparing your garden for
spring vegetables.
Growing Vegetables in Spring
Here's a list of veggies that can be
sown in the garden or in containers in South Africa from midAugust to the end of October.
Also consult our veggie calendar.
Remember: “a good gardener always plants three seeds – one for
the grubs, one for the weather and
one for himself." It seems to work.
Salad Vegetables
Tomatoes (good varieties are
‘Heinz 1370’, ‘Moneymaker’,
’Oxheart’, ‘Floridade’), cucumber (if
you have space because it’s a vig-
Compiled by Sors Pretorius
orous creeper), lettuce (especially
those that don’t form a head, like
Lollo Rosso, Lollo Biondo because
the individual leaves can be harvested for up to three months)
sprouts and radishes (‘Sparkler’
and ‘Cherry Belle’).
NB: For lettuce, choose a spot that
gets afternoon shade or dappled
sunshine because full sun in summer is too hot and the lettuce will
quickly go to seed.
Remember our article on grafting
of vegetables in our June edition?
This is the time to start sowing
your chosen rootstock and scion
seeds for the grafting process.
These should be sowed in individual seedling containers to reduce
stress during the eventual grafting
Any old container can be used to grow specimens
like these. Continuous picking of the leaves of spinach or swiss chard will stimulate new and rapid
growth.
Photo: www.1.bp.blogspot.com
process. Make sure you choose
varieties such as King Kong for
rootstock, as they are resistant to a
number of diseases such as fusarium and have a strong and vigorous
growing root system. Speak to
your local plant specialists or
nursery to help you in this regard.
Now is also the time to decide on
the variety of your choice for the
scion part (top part) of your grafting. There are a large number of
varieties available to suit your specific needs with different colours,
taste, size, yield and the like. Many
of the heritage varieties (open pollinated) are notorious for their
taste and nutritional value.
Vegetables for Small Gardens
Spinach, especially ‘Bright Lights,
beetroot, lettuce, bush beans, eggplant, chillies, summer cabbage
A sturdy trellis keeps creepers and climbers limited to
a smaller area and lifts the fruit off the soil. Mulch prevents drying out of roots, protects against sun and
helps with weed control.
Photo: www.gardeningknowhow.com