The Zimbabwean Gardener Issue 19 Summer 2016/17 | Page 37

The veggie Garden
5. Like humans, a good healthy feeding
programme can have rewarding results. I
like to add copious amounts of compost
to my beds on a monthly basis. I sure do
go through a lot of compost, but it never
lets me down.
6. I cannot bear the sight of bare soil
in my garden, as this just leads to my
precious beds drying up. I mulch all
the time, which actually decreases the
amount of water needed. Make sure you
top up the mulch that breaks down in the
bed.
7. Things can get out of control pretty
quickly if you don’t keep an eye on what’s
happening. Make sure you set aside time
to cut back overgrown plants and to keep
the grass out of your beds.
8. You should harvest your fruit and veg
every day. First thing in the morning, get
a container and pick all the ripe produce,
freeze any extra and make sure you use
the fresh harvest. Harvesting daily stops
fruit flies, too.
9. My compost heap is the king of my
veggie garden; we constantly add to the
new compost piles, turn the baking ones
and sieve the ready ones. If I forget to turn
or water it, it sets me back a week or two.
by the birds? Has your lettuce bolted?
Or do your new seedlings need more
water? This vital check will make all the
difference to your veggie garden. in January and February. Here are some
tips to get around the rain from Lindsay
Charters, who runs the ‘Grow it Yourself’
organic fertiliser range.
Comfrey 1. Plant a large crop of spring onions
early on in the season. They cope well
with rain if sheltered by other plants. I
plant mine in my flowerbeds in between
the day lilies.
Every time I see my comfrey, Symphytum
officinale, come to life after winter, I
know that it is time to put this miracle
plant to use. Comfrey is cherished for its
leaves, which helps break down compost
faster and it is one of the best natural
fertilisers around. But just remember that
this plant shouldn’t end up in a salad, as
it is toxic to eat and can lead to severe
liver poisoning. Make sure you get some
for the garden to speed up your compost
making.
No tillage
For the past two years, I have been
practising the no tillage route. This is not
a hard and fast rule, but we have had
great success not re-digging our beds
every time we replant. Once we have
removed the spent veggies, I love to put a
thick layer of compost on top of the bed,
lightly dig it in and cover the bed with
mulch. The no tillage practice is about
letting the healthy micro-organisms and
earthworms in the soil do their job. It also
saves a lot of time.
Wet season planting guide
10. Finally, take a wander through your
vegetable garden to do a general check.
Are your strawberries being attacked As welcome as the rain is, it tends to
decimate iceberg lettuces, and disease
becomes prolific in tomatoes and spinach
Comfrey Butter lettuce
2. Plant cherry tomatoes in pots under the
eaves of the house where the rain won’t
reach as much. Make sure it is not under
the splash line.
3. Plant the soft-leaved butter lettuces, as
they thrive in the wet weather and can be
harvested a couple of leaves at a time.
4. Rip out all your spinach in early
January just as red spider mite is setting in
and only plant the next crop a month or
more later. To replace the spinach, plant
fast-growing bok choy instead; the seed is
available in most supermarkets.
What to grow
Plant ‘fancy’ lettuces, capsicums (which is
the pepper family), beetroot, Swiss chard,
celery, rape, tomatoes and brinjals.
Sow seeds for carrots, beans and see
if you can squeeze in a last crop of
butternut and sweetcorn in December.
A veggie garden using the no tillage method
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