Frost protection allows you to continue planting! Photo: Wynlan House.
There are many seedlings you can keep planting in August especially if you have frost mitigation systems, such as a fabric over frames, in place.
Beetroot, Asian greens, all the large brassicas, and leafy greens such as English spinach and silverbeet, will survive until soils warm in September. Celery and celeriac will grow very slowly but can be planted now with frost protection.
Preparing and planting pea beds is one of those must do August garden activities. Although since August and September seem to be getting warmer, happily it may not be the chilly chore it usually becomes when those August winds blow right off the snowfields through our cool climate region.
Peas, as a legume, take nitrogen from the air and with the help of symbiotic bacteria fix it in their roots. When the plant dies, that nitrogen in the soil is available to other plants. It’s one of the reasons legumes are included in green manure mixes and are regarded as soil conditioners.
One thing to remember is that peas hate onions and all members of the allium family. Don’t plan to raise onions or leeks anywhere near them. Even peas planted in a bed following an onion crop have been known to experience failure to thrive syndrome. So first pick a spot in the garden away from any alliums. Weed well and lightly turn in plenty of compost, a complete fertiliser (according to manufacturer’s instructions), lime/dolomite mix, blood and bone, and seaweed meal at the rate of ¼ cup per square metre and cover with a layer of mulch.
Beware of frost when growing peas. Photo: Wynlan House.
Make sure the soil is loose and friable, raised or mounded, as peas don’t like to get waterlogged.
Timing is very important when growing peas. At a minimum they take around two and a half to three months from planting to harvest. This means that a frost, when the flowers are set, will destroy any chance of actually getting any peas off the plant.
Flowers set within six to eight days of appearing and within six to eight weeks from planting. So do check your frost calendar and plan your spring planting around that.
Peas, like tomatoes and potatoes, have indeterminate (vine) and determinate types (bush). Bush types still need to be supported a little during growth but do not grow as tall as vine types. The real difference is that bush types produce fruit simultaneously while vine types produce flowers and fruit sequentially, that is, over a longer period.
This can be useful as a strategy to ensure that even with a light frost which may kill some flowers, more flowers will continue to develop over an extended period providing greater opportunities for fruit set. We therefore consider climbing varieties are probably the best to plant in our cold climate.
Peas need a growing frame of some sort. A frame made of tomato stakes and heavy string or webbing is usually effective and cheap. Add a star picket at each end for extra strength and to act as a strainer. Plastic teepee structures are also excellent – check at your local garden centre to see what’s available.
Choose between sugar snap, shelling and snow peas or grow some of each. Shelling peas are a favourite as they are near impossible to buy in the shops. Next on the favourite list are sugar snap peas. They offer tender peas and a delicious crisp edible pod. In our house they actually never make it to the pot because they get eaten as they are harvested.
Soil temps usually start to warm from mid to late August. It is helpful to keep an eye on soil temps. Soil thermometers are not expensive and can be purchased from retail hardware and garden stores. Once soil temps are above 10 degrees Celsius, direct seeding in the garden of root crops such as carrots and parsnip can start, ensuring a good supply of carrots in particular for late spring and early summer.
Get your seed potatoes now! Photo: Wynlan House.
Although August is not the time to plant potatoes in cold climates it is the time to purchase seed potatoes as stock of interesting potatoes can run out quickly. Potato plants will grow, when planted now, but frost will knock the plant growth back. It is much better to wait until late September to early October in most cold climate locations to get them in the ground.
Potatoes can be planted from mid spring to mid summer. Late planted potatoes will store over winter in the garden. There should be lots of choice of variety in nurseries and online at the moment. But the abundance won’t last!
