NEW MOON August 4th
Garden
- Clean out green house and propagation facilities
- Sow all garlic, shallots, potato and tree onions now
- Sow onion and leek seed now
- Sow seed for early tomatoes to be grown in glass houses or passive solar cloches. If cloche-grown then they’ll need to be dwarf varieties, Henry’s Dwarf Bush Cherry is our best tomato for small spaces or pot growing.
- Plant peas into trays for transplanting when 3 -5cm high
- Sow broad beans into seed trays and transplant as soon as the tops emerge above soil
- Sow dwarf beans and courgettes into seed trays in warm greenhouse, for planting out into green houses or good cloches in warmer areas
- Make a late sowing of sweet peas
- Sow eggplant and pepper seed in a tray of its own, needs 20 degrees day and night for strong even germination (bottom heat trays with thermostats are excellent for making sure you don’t miss this critical germination time)
- Sow early potatoes in warm areas only
- Plant into seed trays petunia, larkspur, calendula, aquilegia, foxglove, hollyhock, honesty, love-in-a-mist, poppy, , cornflower, stock, Sweet William.
- Prepare cloches to warm up the soil in preparation for planting out early beans and courgettes also possibly early cabbages, beetroot, lettuces, cucumbers, and for direct sowing rocket, mizuna, kale and mustard lettuce for spring salad greens; to be cut and harvested as mesclun crops
- Sow Essene flax seed directly onto beds, (broadcast ) lightly rake in, or chop in and cover with shade cloth to protect from birds until 2cm high.
- As vege beds become dry enough to work begin taking out compost crops, making compost and either digging over or U Barring beds
- Feed strawberries and rhubarb at this time
- Ensure all perennials are well mulched ready for Spring production
Perennials
- Plan your perennial garden NOW and get your seeds and plants
Temperate Forest Garden
- Last chance to check all winter plantings to make sure all trees are staked well, that bark is not rubbing on tree stakes, and that all ties from last year are not strangling the trees.
- If you’re having problems with pollination of fruit trees and bees, and nutrition are not the problem then it may help to record all your flowering times on a chart for a season or two. Set this up now if needed
First Quarter August 13th
Garden
- Loads of pricking out
- Fertilise garlic and onions …. More compost if you have it or liquid feed, I use cow manure, and molasses
- Now is the time to decide on a mineralisation program for your entire garden area from now on throughout the spring, summer and autumn twice a month before and after full moon for maximum benefit. We recommend you either use Environmental Fertilsers products like this, or do some serious learning around how to remineralise your soil whilst building carbon and microbe populations .. eg Koanga Booklet How To Grow Nutrient Dense Food
- Spend a few nights this week checking out the slug and snail situation, maybe require night patrols with a torch and a container of hot water, before it warms up too much and the seedlings start going out. Quash is the slug bait I’m happiest to use. It is completely nontoxic apart from large quantities in waterways for fish!
- Bed preparation critical as soil allows
Temperate Forest Garden
- Now is a good time to decide how you will manage soil and tree health in your forest garden. Read this short article , it might be helpful.
FULL MOON August 20th
Garden
- Great time to feed plants via leaves and also feed soil
- Plant early potatoes now into trenches of mineralised compost, seaweed, well-rotted manure, or EF: Nature’s Garden see the potato fertilisation protocol we developed at Koanga
- Direct sow carrots under cloches into well prepared soil, and cover with an old sheet until seeds germinate
- Place kumara tubers into sand boxes and put in a warm place to grow kumara tupu, or order your heritage kumara tupu now
- Plant water chestnuts into seed trays with a plastic liner to keep very moist, and sprout in green house, or order your water chestnut plants now
- Plant Chinese root ginger into a 20-30cm deep box in green house
- Plant turmeric into wicking bed in greenhouse or large pot in greenhouse or house
- Begin sowing Jerusalem artichokes, or order your heritage starter plants now
Forest Garden
- Chop your prunings and spread down as mulch all around forest garden to feed fungi
- Compost and or feed citrus trees and mulch heavily
LAST QUARTER August 26th
Garden
- Prepare seed raising mix 1/3 sieved compost, 1/3 sieved garden soil, 1/3 sand – possibly 10% vermicast if available
- Pot up any cuttings that you took in May and are now shooting in the sand box
- Weed garden beds, make compost, double-dig or prepare beds for planting as they become dry enough last quarter
Forest Garden
- Very last tree planting for deciduous fruit trees
- Good time to plant citrus
- Very last pruning
- Mulch all newly planted trees before the grass begins to take over
- Great time to apply foliar sprays to fruit trees to increase tree health and fruit set. Apply Growth Foliar to bark and swelling buds. At quarter flowering stage switch to EF Fruit Foliar for a couple of weeks. These sprays will make a big difference to any black spot or pests and diseases in apples pears etc etc
- remove any mummified fruit
- feed trunk structure
- chip and spread ramial wood chip everywhere
- good time to plant forest garden support trees especially legumes