Grow seasonal vegetable in your own garden today

Growing vegetable in your garden is a very creative source of hobby and the best way to provide a healthy diet to your family. Your own homegrown vegetables taste much better and are fresher than any that you buy in the shops. You must have read about the process of vegetable gardening in our previous article. Apart from that knowing the seasonal vegetables is very much important. Lets check out what to be grown in which season, for a healthy and happy garden.

Summer vegetables: Here's a list of the warm season vegetables commonly grown in different parts of the world. Seeds of some vegetables germinate quickly in the warm soil. Don't forget to water if weather changes to dry.

Cucumber: Cucumbers do best in a warm, well limed and free draining soil. The other factor for success is an even water supply. Water stress can cause poor set, small fruit, and dryness and/or bitterness. But any garden soil will do as long as it is not too acid or poorly drained. Overwatering on a clay soil can be as damaging as can under watering. Put out plants, or sow seed, in late spring through to mid summer.   Cauliflower: Cauliflower comes in colours of white, green, lime-green, orange, pink, and purple. They take from 4 to 5 months from seed. They need the same conditions as cabbage, but ample lime is more critical. They do best maturing in cool weather, so the summer sowing generally gives the best heads.

• Peas: If you want to grow peas, the dwarf self supporting variety 'Novella' would have to be the best choice. No stakes are needed when they are grown in a broad row, and they flower and pod up right at the top, for easy picking, and they are easy to shell. Peas need adequate lime in the soil, and plenty of both phosphate and potash. While peas prefer cool weather, a summer sowing can be made in warm temperate and the milder parts of the temperate zone about mid summer, aiming for an autumn crop.

• Cabbage: There are three main types the standard supermarket cabbage; red cabbage; and the cone shaped spring cabbage. There are specific varieties for spring, summer, and winter harvest. They take from 2 to 3 months from transplanting. Set out plants in early summer for autumn harvest. Winter harvest types are sown in summer or transplants put out in mid-late summer.

Spring Onion: One of the most easily grown and valuable plants for the home gardener! Spring onions are well suited to growing in pots on the deck and they are great as they are hardy plants. Sow frequently for a continuing supply of the mildest and sweetest spring onions. Sow in summer for autumn and winter use. Ideally, sow into potting mix for best germination, as onion seed needs good drainage, and even moisture to do well. Germination is fairly slow, 2-3 weeks, and adequate water for a week or so after germination is important.

•  Broccoli: Calabrese and Sprouting Broccoli Calabrese types are  the types you find in the supermarkets. Buy punnets of seedlings, and make sure they are well fed and well watered after planting out and you can grow them at home. Modern hybrids are fast growing, and if they are subjected to prolonged stress of drying, they may form tiny heads prematurely, and the plants come to nothing. Some cultivators are adapted to spring and autumn planting only, but the best known variety, 'Shogun', can be planted year round. 'Shogun' also makes useful small heads from the side shoots that develop once the main head is cut. Not all cultivators do this. Provide a fertile soil and don't let the soil become dry. The broccoli is ready to cut about 2 months from transplant in the summer and a bit over 3 months in winter.

• Beetroot: For sweet, tender, non-fibrous beetroots, "grow them quickly and steadily". This translates to a fertile, preferably well drained, open soil, good fertility, and enough lime in the soil to keep the pH over 6. Sow until late Summer. (In the warmest areas, it can be sown year round). Beet seedlings are slow to get going, so the row needs to be kept fairly well free of fast growing weeds.

Keep the rows short, and sow seed every 2 weeks or so, or you will end up with the yet to be used part of the crop becoming unusable due to size and coarseness. Sow about 30mm between seeds for baby beets, and 100mm apart (put in 2 seeds to ensure a plant at each space) for normal size beets. Cool temperatures produce the best flesh color, and dryness followed by rain will cause either 'zoning'-clear rings, or splitting of the root. Most beetroot are good, especially if they are pulled when still small.

• Lettuce: Lettuce is basically a cool weather crop, doing best in spring like temperatures of 16-18 degrees C, and as expected they flower and seed in hot weather. If you want to grow lettuce from seed in summer, rather than buy plants, you will need to put the seed tray somewhere relatively cool, as the soil for germinating lettuce seed should be kept below 24 degrees C. Lettuce seeds germinate best at relatively low soil temperatures between 15'C and 20'C.

Winter vegetables: The following are three of the many vegetables that would grow well, and some tips on how to grow them.

Swiss Chard: For those who don't know, Swiss chard is actually a beet. Many don't know this because it is a leafy plant that comes in various shads of greens and reds and yellows. Similar in flavor to spinach and beets, chard is pungent, bitter and slightly salty. Sow seeds 1/2-inch deep and a few inches apart directly in the garden when the soil is at least 50 degrees F. Mulch your plants with compost and/or grass clippings to add nutrients and discourage weeds, and use a natural fertilizer such as kelp or manure tea (a must for container growing). Provide moderate, even watering. Swiss chard grows best in full sunlight.

• Brussel Sprouts: Mostly people ignore them but they're really good for health. As brussel sprouts grow slowly, are hearty and are resistant to frost, they make a perfect vegetable to grow in winter. Plant seedlings in pots and grow for five or six weeks. At this maturity, plant about 3 months before the first frost. Water frequently, applying a fertilizer to soil every three weeks or so to ensure growth and sprout development.

Arugula: Dark, green, leafy vegetables grow well in winter. Arugula is one of the favorite salad greens. It's hearty in texture, and has a beautiful deep green color that adds extra color pop to any salad. More flavorful than other salad greens, if you're looking for a lettuce that holds its own, this is the one. Sow the seeds in a sunny location in succession plantings (approximately every 20 to 30 days) from early spring to fall. Arugula performs best in spring to early summer. After that time, plant it under the shade of an "airy" tree (not dense shade), or under shade cloth. It is not fussy at all.

Autumn vegetables: Autumn plantings receive good rainfall in most parts of the country. The soil is still warm and roots grow strongly in this season. Plants can also establish themselves before the cold winter weather. Top autumn vegetable are.

Cauliflower

• Soil: moist, well-drained
  Harvest: early summer
  Position: full sun
• Rotate broccoli and cauliflower in vegetable beds to prevent soil-borne diseases.

Onion

• Soil: most well-drained soils
  Harvest: winter - spring
  Position: sun but will tolerate a little shade  
• When the leaves of onions fall over it is time to gently pull them up.

Spinach

Soil: well-drained and fertile
Harvest: autumn - spring
Position: sun to part shade

Radish

• Soil: moist and fertile
  Harvest: winter - spring
  Position: full sun but can tolerate a little shade
• Leave a radish to go to seed and you can plant them next season and the best thing is, you get to eat them for free!

Leek

Soil: well-drained and fertile
Harvest: winter
Position: full sun

Garlic

• Soil: well-drained
  Harvest: winter
  Position: full sun
• Most store bought garlic is imported and sprayed with methyl bromide, so to avoid chemicals it is best to grow your own.

Rainy season vegetables: Rainy season is particularly the season for maximum harvesting with everything ripening in the late summer sunshine. When watering your vegetables in rainy weather, the golden rule is 'soak not splash'. Give your plants an occasional thorough soaking rather than watering little and often. Apply water directly to the soil in the mornings to prevent leaf scorch. Harvest onions, shallots and garlic to eat fresh, or for storage. They are ready when the leaves turn brown and papery and start to bend. Once harvested lay out in the sun for skins to ripen and then store in nets in a cool, airy location.

Apart from harvesting some quick maturing and oriental salad crops can still be sown such as lettuce, rocket, radish chicory, mizuna and mibuna. You can sow green manures/cover crops on any ground expected to be vacant for more than 6 weeks in order to protect and maintain soil structure and increase soil fertility. Major green manures are:   Field beans: Sow between September and November. Place in rotation with peas and beans section. They do well in heavy soil and does not provide dense cover. Red Clover: Sow between April and August and place in rotation with pea and bean section. Radish: Sow between August and September and place in rotation with cabbage section. Tares: Sow by early September to get a good cover. Place in rotation with Pea and bean section.

So, as you can see with a little effort and creativity from you, you and your family can enjoy fresh and healthy vegetables with each changing season.

(Sources: gardenorganic.org.uk, associatedcontent.com, naturalhub.com, renovate.realestate.com.au)