Plenty to do in winter as veggie gardens thrive | In Your Patch

Traditionally, winter is regarded as a slower season in the garden, but perhaps we use the cold and rain as an excuse to do less.

I looked around the school garden recently and realised just how much produce is either ready for harvest, in peak growing period, or ready to be planted.

The photo above contains over twenty edibles, and earlier that same day I planted silver beet, rhubarb, bok choi, beetroot, and lettuce.

Other veg ready for planting in July include broad beans, peas, leeks, onions, asparagus, and english spinach.

You may also like to plant violas and pansies – both edible flowers and great bee attractors.

Perhaps the most important job for July for those of us with stone fruit is treatment of leaf curl.

Timing is everything if success is the outcome you are seeking.

Although not usually detrimental to fruit production unless a particularly severe fungal infection, leaf curl looks very unsightly.

Leaves will often look red, disfigured, almost blistered with a typical curl or shrivelled appearance. It attacks weaker trees or those under stress and will come back year after year if not treated properly.

Fortunately treatment is easy. Wait for your trees to drop most or all of their leaves and start producing flower buds.

Purchase leaf curl powder (it’s copper or sulphur), follow directions for mixing in a hand held 5L plastic pump action sprayer, and apply when the flower buds are full and swollen, but not yet open.

If you see any flowers on your tree and you’ve not applied the powder, do it immediately.

Although research suggests the spray is not effective once flowers are out, I have applied when my trees were white with flowers, and still had limited success.

Some treatment is better than none. I have also seen research suggesting treatment with a garlic concentrate when the tree has its first flush of growth in spring is successful.

Google that if you are interested in testing it.

Finally, a word on surplus produce. It is most definitely the time for limes, lemons, mandarins, and soon we’ll see an abundance of other citrus.

If you have too much on your hands, please consider donating to the Margaret River Community Pantry.

The pantry operates at 41 Clarke Rd, distributing rescue and donated food to those who need it.

Contact them via socials – they even offer a fruit picking service if you’re short on time. It couldn’t be easier to help reduce food waste and support our community.

See you next month.

Terri Sharpe is Coordinator and Garden Specialist of the Margaret River PS Kitchen Garden Program and a Horticultural lecturer at South Regional TAFE.