Food Gardening Guide - Week 6/2012

My activity checklist for Week 6 (6 February to 12 February) follows below.

To understand the thinking behind this guide and to discover how to set-up and manage an abundant organic food garden, enrol in the Go Food Gardening e-Class or 1-Day Workshop.

Weather permitting, and where possible, I try to garden by the moon. The days indicated with some activities are therefore the best moon gardening days.

Planning Activities

Adjust sowing quantities and bed allocations for succession sowings.
Start plans for the autumn and winter garden. Narrow down overall goals.

Planting Activities

Sow successions of beetroot, carrots, and turnips. Start sowing radishes. Best days: Saturday & Sunday.
Sow successions of bush beans. Best days: Saturday and Sunday.
Sow or plant fruiting crops. In most parts of South Africa it is too late to sow eggplant, sweet and green peppers. But there's still time to plant seedlings or potted plants. The same goes for tomatoes but if you sow a determinate variety you might just make it before winter. Best days: Monday.
Plant chilli peppers. Best days: Monday.
Sow or plant flowering annuals. Best days: Monday, Saturday & Sunday.

Growing Activities

Do your daily observations. First note the general appearance of crops, and then start looking at detail. Note any pests and tasks such as watering, thinning and weeding that needs to be done.
Water daily if needed. Best days: Monday.
Keep weeding. Start with weeds that are in flower, don't allow them to seed. And don't compost any seed bearing weeds. Don't let up your guard.
Trim plants such as annual herbs to decrease their growth. Best days: Wednesday - Friday.
Fertilize. Check condition of heavy feeders and fertilize them if needed with a good quality, water soluble, organic fertilizer. Best days: Monday.
Pest and Diseases. Check for aphids, red spider mite and mildew. If you have fruit trees, start putting out bait to catch the last generation of fruit fly.

Harvesting Activities

Daily Needs. Harvest daily for the table as needed.
Harvest for storage (those crops that store well - potatoes, sweet potatoes). Best days: Monday - Friday.