No matter if you’re in the far West of Australia, or the deep South of Tasmania, there’s no denying that we are lucky to experience a Summer that brings long sunny afternoons, swims in the nearest body of water, plenty of produce in the garden and a sigh of relief when the weather starts to cool down a little…
As someone who has been practising Permaculture methods for over two decades on a pretty hefty patch and Regenerative landholder, I’ve collated my top tips for the next month in the garden across the country.
– Annabel Schweiger (Food2Soil Co-Founder)
Keep up Watering Habits
Water evaporates quickly in Summer, especially during mid-day. Water your plants early in the morning to give moisture the time to reach plant roots. Keeping your soil covered with mulch or plants will massively reduce evaporation.
(Semi-arid & Arid climates may benefit from evening watering when experiencing heatwaves)
Divide and Transplant
Late summer is a good time to divide plants like Jerusalem Cross, Yarrow, Peonies, Day Lilies and Iris once the flowers have stopped blooming. Before transplanting, soak the plant roots in a dilution of Food2Soil Original for 10 minutes, to reduce transplant shock, and support moisture and nutrient absorption. (Tropical, Mild Tropical, Temperate, Cool climates)
Convert Clippings into Mulch
In my garden, I am always observing the cycles of nature and looking for opportunities to use the abundance of ‘free’ resources to support the health of my garden. When pruning shrubs, perennial flowers, tree suckers, clipping grass, or pulling out an overabundance of bolted silver beet, I like to reuse this precious resource as mulch, placing it at the base of young plants to provide them with a bit of tender loving care. Make sure that the clippings are free of weed seeds. (all climates)
Boost your Compost
If you’re an avid compost-maker like me, you won’t need to be told the many benefits of making your own compost vs. buying it in. Use your own food scraps, chicken manure, dried leaves or added carbon sources. It’s all about the balance of carbon to nitrogen, wet to dry, microbes and air!
But, if you’re looking to get your compost going even faster in time for Autumn garden preparation, try Food2Soil CompostBOOST, a go-to compost accelerant and odour eater. The good bacteria in this bottle break down organic matter quickly and promotes optimum conditions for turning ‘waste’ into quality compost faster. (all climates)
Manage Growth
All this extra watering and sunshine can bring on unwanted plants (weeds). Stay on top of these by hand pulling undesirables, or add a layer of cardboard or thick newspaper and mulch to paths & garden bed edges to suppress weed growth. Or, if it’s feasible, let the chickens at it! (all climates)
Let Nature Do It
Where possible, let your plants seed themselves for next season’s crop. When pulling plants gone to seed, such as Mustard lettuce or Swiss chard, move the whole plant and let it dry in a location where it’ll drop the seed in a desired location – to grow all over again.
It’s lazy, but effective! (all climates)
Why Food2Soil?
Food2Soil returns pre-digested food nutrients back to the soil along with a robust community of beneficial bacteria and fungi. These microbes enable the roots of plants to absorb valuable nutrients required for growth and build soil structure. They are also readily absorbed by plants leaves.
Food2Soil draws on many years of research done by scientists all over the world on the effectiveness of biological fertilisers. Bio-fertilisers are shown to be effective in boosting plant health by improving resistance to pests, diseases, heat stress and frost. The Food2Soil testing team has included renowned soil scientists, university lecturers, horticulturists, farmers and gardeners like us.
It’s the soil that counts.
Australian Climate Guide
