In many respects, spring subtropical vegetable gardens are exclusive to temperate regions. This brings in new warmer-season crops and offers a wonderful chance to use plants in their last stages. It also brings a lot of beauty to the changing of the seasons.
I’ll illustrate this with examples from my own biodynamic vegetable gardens, where a lot of our classes are held. Since I believe this is the greatest method to cultivate localized knowledge, I experiment a lot with how I manage the food producing places.
Plants to seed
Our spring subtropical vegetable garden is a riot of blossoms. Coriander, Asian greens, peas, dill, nasturtiums, and rocket are among the blooming crops. Each seeding is meant for the following purposes:
Coriander: To encourage more blooms and seeds and to encourage bee participation, we fastened the plants to stakes. After allowing the seeds to dry on the plant, we grind them into a powder. This fresh form of the plant is quite powerful. Some seeds fall to the ground and will sprout when the weather cools down the following year.
Asian greens: These are members of the brassica family and have beautiful golden flowers. They have an amazing habit of bees. I often see the European and native bees traveling around each other in a symbiotic manner on these blooms. I typically use these plants as decoys to attract grasshoppers when it becomes warmer (this decoy tactic keeps the grasshoppers away from the younger plants).
Peas: I usually keep the seeds for the following growing season. With several plantings beginning in May, we have a lengthy growing season that has seen us harvest from peas until mid-October.
Dill: Because of their sturdy stalk, they don’t require tying. I let them to bloom and produce seeds, which I then dried for seasoning. I have started growing cucumbers on a climbing frame between the dill because they are tall, slender plants.
Nasturtiums: We have been gathering leaves and blossoms from our self-seeded nasturtiums for the past four months. There are more blooms and less leaves. I’ve noticed that blossoms are becoming more orange, which indicates that their flavor will be more spicy. We’ve also started eating the seeds, which have a deliciously peppery flavor.
Another excellent bee attractor for seeding is the rocket. Its white blossoms are in full bloom, and whenever the weather cools down a little, we always see that rocket bloom again. For our rotation strategy, we then relocate those plants to the appropriate bed. The grass hoppers have the ability to finish the process as these plants do.
Rocket: Another excellent bee attractor for seeding is the rocket. Its white blossoms are in full bloom, and whenever the weather cools down a little, we always see that rocket bloom again. For our rotation strategy, we then relocate those plants to the appropriate bed. The grass hoppers have the ability to finish the process as these plants do.
Our spring subtropical vegetable garden’s current crops are flourishing.
The current crops that will flourish throughout the next three months of spring experience, provided that moisture levels are maintained during this dry period and that our soil life processes are regularly applied, are:
We have a lot of spring onions, garlic, and leeks in our gardens in several states because we want a steady supply. I’ve discovered that if spring onions are planted once a month, they will thrive. They must be shaded when it’s hotter. Leeks do not enjoy being planted in hot weather, but they will do well if they are finished in warm weather. For the past three months, we have been harvesting leeks, and we will keep doing so until December. Harvest garlic near the end of September.
Silver beet, chard, and kale are incredibly resilient crops that continue to produce for extended periods of time when given enough water. After six months of cropping, I anticipate that they will be ready to harvest in November. Nature is amazing.
Other leafies: I’ve planted a lot of cos lettuce, which thrives in high water conditions. They might require shade as the temperature rises. My usual strategy is to place them beneath larger, heat-tolerant fruiting vegetable plants. Asian greens that were planted around a month ago are doing well and will continue to do so for another two months.
Strawberries: They thrive in the warm weather and should continue to bear fruit until November. Early July was when they began to bear fruit.
Herbs: basil, fennel, dill, coriander, mint, and thyme
Planting new crops
In our springtime subtropical vegetable garden, we are planting the following newer crops:
Every cucumber is on a climbing frame, which is utilized to shade the leafies.
I’ve been producing zucchini since July during our warm winter, and the fresh crop I planted should thrive over the next three months with lots of warmth and little humidity. I use equisetum tea and biodynamic horn silica to lessen the effects of humidity if it starts to rise.
These include windsor long pod climbing beans, snake beans, and madagascar beans. While the windsor long pod is extremely sensitive to temperature and will die off as soon as it becomes too hot or too cold, the first two continue to grow for a very long time.
Capsicums and egg plants enjoy this time of year and will flourish in the heat. Additionally, I use them to shade my leafy pumpkins. With some moisture and a good start of compost, it will flourish wildly. These are cultivated outside of the vegetable garden.
Ginger and turmeric are slow-growing crops that should be sown between September and October and harvested ten months later.
Leafy crops include bok choy pechay, wombok, kale, rocket, chard, basil, silver beet, lettuce, and coriander. It would be best to provide some shade for these as late September approaches. This shade may come from microclimates made with climbers or from the careful placement of shade fabric over a bed of leafy crops.
Spring garden maintenance and soil fertility
More growth typically occurs when the temperature rises. However, if there is insufficient soil fertility to sustain the growth of the cooler-season crops, they are more prone to go to seed early. The typical paucity of rainfall in springtime subtropical climates exacerbates this problem. For many gardeners, this time of year can cause garden beds to become anaerobic, dense, and reject moisture.
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