The Goldilocks month is here, when everything from soil temperature to sunlight is just right.
We’re calling it autumn, but with warm days and no rain in sight, it’s hard to mentally make the shift. March brings harvesting, preserving, and a last flurry of plantings in the veggie patch. In the garden, we’re taking a moment to enjoy everything the light touches, from furry clematis seed heads to blushing maple leaves.
Veggie patch
Have you tasted your first homegrown tomatoes yet? If your tomatoes are still green, the end of March might be the time to call it quits and pull them out, especially if space is at a premium in your patch. If you’re going to make room for other veg, such as garlic and carrots, Milkwood Permaculture has a handy article on getting green tomatoes to ripen. Some gardeners don’t mind leaving tomatoes to ripen naturally all the way into June, and while there’s no harm in doing so, the tomatoes don’t taste quite as good.
If you’re still stuck with a boatload of green tomatoes, try Sally Wise’s recipe for stuffed green tomatoes or add one green tomato to your favourite Nam Jim Jaew recipe (better known as Crying Tiger Sauce) to have with steak. We like RecipeTin Eats’ version. On an extra cold night, try a warm green tomato and black bean chilli. Green tomato sauces, such as the Crying Tiger Sauce or Kasoundi, pair really well with pan-fried fish too.
For steady carrot and spring onion harvests throughout winter, sow the last of your carrot seeds this month and plant spring onions in clumps of 5–8. You can pull out spring onions to use as you go, leaving the main clump to continue to fatten up. They’ll start to look a little sad if we get a cold blast in winter, but they’ll usually perk right up again come spring.
Get cruciferous veg, such as cauliflower and broccoli, in now, along with other leafy brassicas such as pak choy, kale and cabbage. Woody herbs such as sage, rosemary and thyme can go in now to last you through winter. Coriander will happily bush out without bolting in the cooler months, so sow seeds successively every 2–4 weeks for a steady harvest. Autumn is also the best time to sow radishes, which will turn sweet with the first frosts
General maintenance
Autumn is one of the best ornamental planting windows in Tasmania. The soil is still warm, rainfall increases (fingers crossed), and plants establish roots before winter without the stress of summer heat. It’s a quieter planting window, but one that sets the garden up beautifully for spring.
Spring bulbs from Trenton Cottage are now available in store. Planting now allows bulbs to establish over winter before bursting into life as the days lengthen. Spring favourites, such as daffodils and jonquils, tulips, hyacinths, and ranunculus are all planted through autumn for a colourful display later in the year. Tuck them into garden beds, borders, or containers for an easy burst of seasonal colour.
Autumn is also an excellent time to establish perennials. With cooler temperatures reducing stress on young plants, species like hellebores, heuchera, and penstemon can quietly settle in over winter before putting on strong growth in spring. Many of these also provide valuable late winter or early spring flowers for the birds and bees when the garden is otherwise fairly quiet.
It’s also a great opportunity to introduce shrubs that add structure and year-round interest. Autumn-planted shrubs like camellias, daphnes, and grevilleas benefit from months of cool, moist conditions that encourage strong root growth. By the time spring arrives, they’re already well established and ready to take off.
If your fruit trees were plagued with pests and diseases this season, now is a good time to remove any remaining fruit and clear away diseased leaves that have fallen.
Pests
Cabbage moth, cabbage white butterflies, whitefly, aphids, and scale are still prolific this time of year. Incoming cooler temperatures will see the end of cabbage moth and cabbage white butterflies, but until then, protect all young brassicas with insect-proof netting. For strategies on eradicating garden pests, check out our article on integrated pest management.
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What to plant now |
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Sow direct |
Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrot, coriander, choy sum, corn salad, dill, endive, garlic, kale, kai lan, lettuce, mibuna, mizuna, mustard greens, pak choy, purple sprouting broccoli, radish, rocket, silverbeet, spinach, tatsoi, turnip, wasabi-na, woodland strawberry |
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Plant |
Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrot, chives, coriander, choy sum, corn salad, dill, endive, garlic chives, kale, kai lan, lettuce, mint, mibuna, mizuna, mustard greens, oregano, pak choy parsley, purple sprouting broccoli, radish, rocket, rosemary, sage, silverbeet, spinach, spring onions, thyme, tats, turnip, wasabi-na, woodland strawberry |
