Sow seeds for luscious, tender leafy greens this next week – and best days are Monday 11th March and Tuesday 12th 2019 [here in New Zealand]
Welcome to autumn!
Time to grow lovely tender greens again – much more easily than through summer.
Let’s hope for good germination! I will sow seeds of
- Lettuce – I left many varieties to seed so hopefully some will do well no matter what the weather does this year – hot/dry/cold/wet.
- Silver-beet [including rainbow chard/ bright light beets – the ones with vibrant colored stems – so stunning to see in a garden] we left to seed in the garden and they are sprouting up now
- Rocket [Arugula] is tasty rather than bitter at this time. We plant 2 types – the large leaf annual and the stronger, smaller-leaf perennial rocket [some are even coming up self-sown now – wonderful]
- Mustard greens, or the giant red mustard is pretty nice early in the season before the heat of summer adds too much pepper bite. [also appearing on their own now]
- Asian greens [assorted] – here they grow well in the cooler months – they grow so fast! We have Mizuna self-seeding. We grow 2 types – an ordinary green one as well as the deep red one – stunning in the garden [for a short time]
- Endive We grow 2 types – a broader leaf variety and a lovely fine, frilly variety. They are lovely and tender in cooler months so we enjoy them now. Both grow more slowly than lettuce. [and are appearing themselves now – we left a lot to seed last year]
- cilantro [leaf coriander] -maybe it will grow lovely leaves rather than bolting to seed now!
This is a great time to have leafy greens grow well – they love cooler, wetter times.
Enjoy delightful salads with a range of leaf types in these cooler months.
May the weather support growing great plants!
Cheers
Heather
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PS:
For more about planting by the moon phases,
If you like experiments about when to plant for best results, a great one is to plant the same seeds in rows right beside each other [so all other conditions are identical], and label the rows with the date of planting. Then sow seeds from 1 packet at weekly intervals, each week in a new row.
This way you can see how the recommendations for best/worst seed sowing outcomes from moon-planting guides work for you. Maybe they do, and maybe they don’t.
I enjoy experimenting with such ideas – and if only I can rescue the rows from the snails and black-birds, I might even get some results to share!
Here’s a post I wrote about planting by the moon phases if you like more information and reflections on it.
Moon planting guides remind me to plant SOMETHING, plan a little, and help me have a continuous supply!
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