Spend some time planning your kitchen garden in October for the season ahead and you will be able to look forward to a bumper crop of tasty home-grown veg all summer long
September is a busy month in the kitchen garden. If you live in a very cold area near the mountains and are worried about late frosts still being a problem, start by sowing seed of frost tolerant crops such as carrots, beetroot and lettuce. In areas with no frost in September, sow seeds of summer vegetables such as tomatoes, brinjals, peppers and chillies. Top Meyerton-based vegetable gardening expert, Bill Kerr, offers his tips for September-based kitchen garden planting ideas: Carrots: Carrots are ready to eat 12-14 weeks after sowing. To ensure a good carrot crop, loosen the soil to the depth of a carrot root. Add organic matter to the soil but avoid very fresh compost as this will result in carrots with heavily branched roots. Make sure you thin out the plants to about 50 plants per square metre when they are at the four-leaf stage. It is vital that carrots are watered correctly. Avoid watering frequently and superficially with a hand-held hose. It is better to water every 5-7 days, depending on the weather, and ensure that the soil is wet to a depth of about 30cm. Carrots can be grown all year round in most parts of the country but only in winter in the warmer subtropical areas. Beetroot: This is an easy to grow vegetable that will reward you with delicious edible roots in 11-12 weeks. Before sowing the seed, soak them in water overnight. Make sure your beetroot plants are well watered after planting, because if they wilt due to lack of moisture, the crop will suffer a setback. The seed of beet is actually a fruit containing a few seeds, so two to four seedlings will emerge from one ‘seed’ planted. Thin out the plants to 6-10cm apart in the row. It does not matter if there are a couple of plants close together and then a gap, as the leaves will spread out into the sunlight. Lettuce: There are four types of lettuce: Crisphead or Iceberg; soft Butterhead or Bibb, the highly nutritious Cos or Romaine; and the versatile Looseleaf or Rosette. Lettuces are ready to harvest after 5-8 weeks. Note that lettuces should not be sown now in very hot areas of the country. To extend your lettuce harvest, sow seed densely. As soon as the young plants have reached about 5cm in height, they can be thinned, and these thinnings eaten as tender baby leaf lettuce. You can repeat this process on a regular basis removing more and more thinnings until the plants finally stand at the correct spacing of about 20-30cm apart according to type. These remaining plants are left to mature in the conventional way until ready for harvest at full size. Baby marrows: Baby marrows are fast growers and in warm conditions you will be able to pick the immature fruit after only six weeks. They are ideal for small gardens and provide a good production from a small area over a long period. Frequent picking is essential to keep the plants bearing or they will only allow two to three fruits to mature and abort all that follow. The fruit can, however, be picked larger than those usually found in the shop - 15cm is a good size to pick baby marrows and they will taste as good as the small ones. This will also make the plants more productive. Remember, if you have a surplus, rather pick and give away but don’t leave fruits on the plant or bearing will stop. Usually three to five plants is sufficient for the average family and bearing will continue until the plants are killed by frost or disease. Beans: Beans can be sown from now until the end of January or early February in most parts of the country. However, if you live in a frost belt, wait until the danger of frost is over and in subtropical regions, rather sow beans from March until July, as the summers are simply too hot. Beans germinate easily, are fast-growing and, if you sow the bush types, you will be able to pick beans after only 55 days. Runner beans may take two weeks longer to bear pods, but will be productive for much longer. Beans are highly productive and you can harvest about 1kg of tasty beans from every metre of plants. By picking the pods younger and more often, the plant will stay in production for longer and thereby produce a bigger harvest. Sweetcorn: Freshly harvested sweetcorn is a treat and can be picked after 11-12.weeks. The best position for your sweetcorn is usually on the south side of the veggie patch, at the edge where they will not cast shade on other plants. Sow seed in rows 60cm apart and spaced 20cm in the row. Plant only enough at a time that you will be able to eat in two weeks. Go for staggered plantings, working on three cobs per two plants. For a sweeter taste, harvest the sweetcorn cobs when you need them, so they go straight into the pot. If you need to store them for a short period, harvest in the cool of the morning and place straight into the refrigerator. Tomatoes: Home-grown tomatoes often taste better because they can be left on the vine until required, ensuring a higher sugar content and better flavour. Tomatoes are ready for picking for salads, stir-fries and many other delicious dishes about 16-17 weeks after sowing. They respond well to good soil fertility - add compost or kraal manure. For acid soils, add agricultural lime at the rate of 2-3 handfuls per square metre to improve fruit quality. Avoid high nitrogen fertilisers as the tomato plants will produce lush foliage and little fruit. Tall-growing tomato varieties need to be pruned and staked. Place a stake next to each plant and then allow only the main shoot to grow unhindered. Remove all side shoots when 5-10cm long. Loosely tie the plant to the stake from time to time as it grows. Fruit-bearing trusses will emerge from between the nodes at approximately every third node. By pruning correctly, these trusses will become larger than normal and the fruit also bigger. Brinjals: Also known as eggplant and aubergine, the colours of brinjal fruits range from pure white to purple and black. Brinjals are ready for picking after 16 weeks after transplanting them. Plant them in a warm nook near a wall or in other protected, warm areas of the garden. For greater productivity and to promote healthy plants, harvest the fruit frequently when it is young. Start picking the fruit when you are able to dent it with your thumb and it springs back to shape, usually about one-third of their potential size. Although the fruit looks hardy, it can wilt very easily – if you need to store brinjals for any length of time, use plastic bags or plastic wrap. Peppers: Buy sweet pepper seedlings after frosts have past and plant them 30cm from each other in rows 40cm apart. They will be ready for harvest after about three months. Peppers often start to set fruit at an early stage and these fruits can hold the plant back as nutrition is directed to producing fruit and not the green leaves required for food and growth. It is best to remove all the peppers from a few plants when the first fruits are about 2cm in size. After 10 days, remove all the fruit from a few more plants and repeat again. It is a good idea to harvest younger peppers to increase production, because if you allow the fruit to ripen properly to colour, it will cause the plant to stop producing peppers for a period. Chillies: Chillies are easy to grow, and a few plants will be sufficient for most home gardens. They are such attractive plants that they can even be grown in containers on a patio. Chillies will be ready for harvesting after 12-14 weeks. Any surplus can be dried or preserved in vinegar or oil for later use. Plant only after the danger of frost is over. Give side dressings of nitrogen-rich fertiliser as and when necessary to promote vigour. Cucumbers: Cucumbers are fast and easy to grow and will be ready for picking after 10 weeks. Make sure to train them up on a trellis or frame to provide them with the space they need. Cucumbers require a handful of planting fertiliser per square meter incorporated into the soil before sowing. They thrive if given an application of kraal manure and compost. Apply a teaspoon of nitrogen-rich fertiliser per two plants after four weeks and place it 5cm from the plants. Repeat as often as necessary to keep the plants growing lush and green.
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