Autumn in Aotearoa New Zealand provides a fantastic opportunity for gardeners to harvest, reflect, and prepare their gardens for the colder months. Cooler weather, combined with gentle autumn rains, makes this season perfect for numerous important gardening tasks. Here’s your detailed guide on essential autumn garden jobs to ensure your edible garden thrives all season.
1. Harvest and Preserve (Early Autumn):
Gather remaining summer vegetables such as tomatoes, zucchini, capsicums, pumpkins, and cucumbers before the first frost arrives. Preserve your bounty through methods like freezing, pickling, drying, or making sauces and chutneys. These preserved delights bring summer flavors to your winter dishes.
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Harvest crops regularly to encourage continued production.
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Store produce properly to avoid spoilage. For the likes of pumpkins, you can keep them anywhere where they stay dry. I once left a pumpkin out in the garden for a full year accidentally. It was very well preserved and very yummy!
2. Prepare Your Beds (Early to Mid-Autumn):
Clear your garden beds thoroughly by removing spent crops, weeds, and any debris to prevent disease and pest overwintering. Use a garden fork to gently aerate the soil without disturbing beneficial organisms.
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Incorporate compost (approximately 5cm deep) or well-rotted manure to enrich soil nutrients.
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Level the beds gently, preparing a smooth surface ideal for planting.
- If your bed has a lot of weeds, try covering the bed with a weed mat for a few weeks to smother out those weeds. You can also use scrap cardboard. This has the added benefit of feeding earthworms and ensuring you have a healthy population ready for winter.
3. Plant Winter Crops (Mid-Autumn):
Mid-autumn is the optimal time to plant winter-hardy vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach, carrots, radishes, and garlic. These crops thrive in cooler temperatures, ensuring fresh produce through winter.
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Space seedlings appropriately (around 30-45cm apart) to ensure adequate airflow.
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Try not to plant everything in one go, or they'll all be ready for harvest at the same time. Planting them about 2 weeks apart works quite well to ensure a steady and manageable supply.
4. Mulch Generously (Mid to Late Autumn):
Apply a thick layer of mulch—such as pea straw, bark chips, or shredded leaves—to retain moisture, moderate soil temperature, and suppress weeds.
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Apply mulch at least 7-10cm thick.
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Keep mulch away from plant stems to avoid rot.
5. Boost Soil Health (Mid-Autumn):
Promote robust garden growth by enriching your soil with Soil Cultures' Beneficial Microbe Solution. This natural soil inoculant introduces beneficial microorganisms that enhance root growth, improve nutrient uptake, and strengthen overall plant health.
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Apply ideally after bed preparation to avoid disturbing the microbes in your soil.
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Repeat applications every 2 weeks to maintain optimal soil health.
6. Tidy and Maintain (Throughout Autumn):
Regular maintenance is crucial during autumn. Rake fallen leaves regularly to minimize pest habitats and compost them to create valuable organic matter.
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Prune fruit trees, berry bushes, and perennial herbs to maintain shape and encourage disease-resistant growth.
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Clean and sharpen garden tools to prepare them for spring use.
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Inspect garden structures for signs of wear or damage.
- Use mesh covers to protect your plants from pests. I use some high tensile wire to form the hoops, a mesh that will still let light through and some rocks/timber to keep the mesh secure. Keep it simple!
Quick Checklist for Autumn Garden Jobs:
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Harvest and preserve crops
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Clear and prepare garden beds
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Plant winter vegetables
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Mulch extensively
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Apply Soil Cultures’s Beneficial Microbe Solution
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Maintain garden tidiness, tools and garden structures
Completing these essential autumn garden jobs ensures your edible garden remains productive, healthy, and ready for a successful gardening year ahead. Happy gardening!