LAST QUARTER
December 5th
Garden
- Weed, mulch and water
- Continue pricking out and transplanting
- Watch carefully for insects/diseases and learn what they are, how they impact you and what the best ways are to manage them.
- Continue harvesting flowers and herbs for drying
- Bird protection over all early Spring and Autumn planted grain beds eg flaxseed, oats, barley, Khorasan wheat
Temperate Forest Garden
- Continue watering and mulching
- Observe which trees are happy and which ones are stressed. Why? What can you do about it? What can you learn for the future?
- Make sure grass is cut to feed fungi and root zone
NEW MOON
December 13th
Garden
- Check for water stress – the less stress, the less pest problems
- Transplant last of spring plantings – late crop tomatoes, beans and corn, basil, courgettes, cucumbers and leeks
- Watch for young, black shield bugs – use neem tree oil spray
- Take care of liquid fertiliser barrels; keep stirred and refilled with comfrey manure seaweed etc. Tomatoes, corn, pumpkins may need a boost now
- Plant seed into trays for late summer harvesting of dwarf and climbing beans, courgettes, carrots, beetroot, lettuce (tree lettuce will take the heat), basil, tampala, short season corn ( if you are in a area with a long summer), celery
Temperate Forest Garden
- Energy of trees going back up to tips now to create buds for next years fruit
- Check young trees carefully for moisture stress. Water stress now will mean damage from cicada, shield bugs, pear slug, woolly aphids and die back on young trees.
- Watch fruit carefully and net trees where you need to. We use 10m squares of knitted bird netting, raised over the trees with a bamboo pole on two corners of the netting and pulled in together underneath.
- Watch carefully for branches of stone fruit showing signs of silver leaf – often just one limb of a tree will have silver leaves. Now is the time to cut that limb off and burn it and inoculate the tree with Trichopaste and or Tricho dowels.We use Agrimm products available from farmlands for home gardeners.
FIRST QUARTER
December 20
Garden
- Finish planting any seeds needed for continuity including late sunflowers and flowers for autumn colour (zinnias, gaillardia, cosmos, and marigolds)
- Keep up regular watering and nutrient maintenance
- Foliar feed three days before full moon –
- Watch for shield bugs, aphids, psyllid, all signs of nutrient deficiencies and or water stress..ask yourself What is the stress point?
- Decode how to manage better next year
Perennials
- Asparagus will need to be left to grow this month after Xmas,
- Globe artichokes will finish this month
- Continue removing seed heads from Welsh Bunching onions to ensure continued growth
- Runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus) good as green beans now, they need cool roots so keep moist
Temperate Forest garden
- Check moisture levels on all young trees, look at the soil and leaves
- Watch for bronze beetle damage, pear slug and cicada damage
- Foliar spray with seaweed vermi liquid
FULL MOON
December 27th
Garden
- Feed and keep up with watering where necessary.. a big job this month,
- Feed tomatoes and peppers, possibly pumpkins with liquid comfrey weekly from now on for maximum crops
Temperate Forest Garden
- Energy is going back to the roots now, be sure you have laid the grass/mulched trees down to feed fungi and applied minerals however you do it to ensure next seasons crop
- Summer prune stone fruit as the fruit has finished on each tree – you’ll have less disease issues and the autumn growth will grow where you need it.
LAST QUARTER
Garden
- Prick out seedlings as necessary
- Keep up watering
- Carefully observe all plants – they’ll tell you if they need some more water, nutrients, help with pest control, tying up or more space. This is a very important time to good care of the tomatoes and peppers
- Transplant leeks into garden for autumn/winter use
- Sow seed for late autumn/winter early spring flowering—snapdragon, calendula, marigold, sweet william, hollyhock, granny’s bonnets, cineraria, primrose and polyanthus
Temperate Forest Garden
- Pinch growing tips out on your fig trees to encourage the growth to go into the fruit
- Net and harvest ripening fruit
- Watch moisture levels, check young trees carefully
- You should be able to have a break for a few weeks now if you’re up to date with all the above jobs. Time to begin picking the fruit and enjoying the season!