Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Are you ready for spring?

Coriander flowering
In Australia seasons are known to begin on the first day of a calendar month, and in the case of spring it’s the 1st of September. In other countries such as Britain they go by significant points in the earths orbit around the sun -  equinox and solstice. This year (2013) the Spring equinox is September 23rd. It is the time when the number of daylight hours are increasing at their most rapid rate, and it is this increasing light that triggers allot of plants to flower. And one can clearly see this starting to happen in my garden already.

The bok choy is bolting to flower.
Even this small late planted broccoli is flowering. Dam!
The thing with spring that always surprises me though... is how it always manages to spring up on me. So with all this spring fever going on in my garden I feel I’d better get ready, and quick. The first step I believe one should always start with is a bit of planning. A new piece of paper is allot easier to come by than lost money or time. So Melanie and I started by writing out a list of plants and quantity that we would require in our first month of spring planting. Here is what we came up with:

Basil 2
Bean 10 Sow Direct
Beetroot 8
Broccoli 5
Cabbage 2 Need seeds
Capsicum 5
Carrots Lots Sow Direct
Cucumber 2
Corn 12 Sow Direct
Sunflower 4 Sow Direct
Eggplant 2
Kale 5
Leek 5
Lettuce 16 Need Cos seeds
Mustard 4 Need seeds
Parsley 2 Need seeds
Pumpkin 2
Radish 8
Silverbeet 3
Spring onion 8
Spinach baby 8 Need seeds
Rocket 4 Need seeds
Tomato 3
Zucchini 2

From this I could quickly determine what seeds were missing from our collection and promptly put in an order to Eden Seeds. I was also able to determine we were going to require a whopping 96 seedling pots.


Despite there being allot more daylight, the temperatures can still get quite cold, and even though rare, the occasional frost is known to happen in my garden this time of year. So to insure some of the more warmer season plants like capsicum successfully germinate I have setup the mini-greenhouse. And after tomorrow when I prepare the potting mix everything will be ready to start sowing seed. Looks like you are not going to surprise us this year spring.

Are you ready for spring?

2 comments:

  1. Here in QLD we don't get a spring and we launch straight from Winter to Summer. Two days ago it got down to 3 degrees and was 24 during the day. Today though it was 29 degrees and is 12 degrees tonight. So I am planting seeds for summer crops. The beans are in and the jalapenos have been potted on. Now I just have to use up the broccoli and fennel before it bolts to seed.

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    Replies
    1. It is disappointing how so many things bolt in spring. So far my fennel hasn't bolted, but you have prompted me to keep a close eye on them.

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