Seedlings for Community - Basic Growing Guide
Autumn-Winter in Canberra
Autumn and early winter are a great time to grow food in Canberra. From March through to June in most years, the weather is cooler and less dry than summer.
These are some of the plants grow well in Canberra in Autumn and Winter. For more information about what to grow when in Canberra, go to www.cogs.asn.au The plants that are highlighted are available through the Seedlings for Community program. We have focused on producing fast and easy growing plants to share with our community.
Herbs (harvest continuously) | coriander, spring onions, chives and all of the woody herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano |
Leafy Greens (harvest continuously) | loose-leaf or oak-leaf lettuce, silverbeet/ rainbow chard, spinach, bok choi/ pak choi, tatsoi, mizuna, kale |
Root vegetables (3- 4 weeks from planting to harvest) | carrot, parsnip, radish, daikon onions and garlic (harvest in spring) |
Peas and beans (if planted in early Autumn, peas harvested before winter, broad beans harvested in early spring) | sugar snap peas, snow peas, broad beans |
Other Brassicas (cabbage family) | Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower. |
All of these plants provide good nutritious food.
- Eat the leaves of lettuce, mizuna, tatsoi and spinach fresh.
- Steam or pan fry or boil silverbeet, rainbow chard, spinach, tatsoi and bok choi.
- Eat the whole pod of sugar snap and snow peas. Flowers and leaves are edible too.
- Eat the broad beans out of the pods or whole pods when young. Can be cooked or fresh. Flowers and leaves are edible too.
- Eat roots of carrots, diakon, parsnip, radish - fresh or cooked.
All of these plants will produce seeds if they are left to grow to full maturity. If you’d like to save some seeds to plant next season, leave a couple of plants of each variety in the ground until they flower and the flowers turn into seeds. This will bring lots of colour and biodiversity to your garden too. Check out our Quick and Dirty Guide to Seed Saving at www.canberraseedsavers.org.au.
Scan this code to check out the Quick and Dirty Guide to Seed Saving.
How to growth healthy plants from seedlings
Seedlings need to grow in a pot or garden that has enough space for their growing roots. Plant seedlings in a bigger pot or in a garden bed. All seedlings need water, food and sunlight.
Harvesting from plants
All of these plants are designed to be grown and harvested quickly, or harvested continuously over many weeks. Harvest the outer few leaves from leafy green plants, leaving a few central leaves on the plant so it can continue growing. A rough rule is harvest half the leaves.
Protecting your plants
Leafy greens will need some protection. Most of these plants are not frost sensitive which means that if the frost falls on them, they will be okay. Peas flowers and fruit are sensitive to frost so cover with a light cloth (an old sheet will do) if a frost is forecast.
Check out our detailed online guide for more.
If you’d like to connect with other growers and learn and share about how to grow in Canberra, get in touch with Canberra Seed Savers (Facebook or www.canberraseedsavers.org.au to find out how to get involved) or Canberra Organic Growers Society (Facebook or www.cogs.asn.au ).
Planting a seedling
Your seedling comes in a small original pot but will need more room to grow into a full sized plant and produce food for harvest. Check out our detailed online guide for more.
As the plant grows it will need water and food and sun.
Water plants close on the soil around the base of the plant, not on the leaves. Feed the plants with a diluted solution of worm juice or a good commercial liquid fertiliser. Keep plants in a spot where they get sunshine most of the day.
Check out our detailed online guide for much more on how to plant, care for and protect your seedlings for a great harvest.
Scan this code to check out our Autumn & Winter seedlings Guide.
These are some great local resources and community groups:
Canberra Organic Growers Society: www.cogs.asn.au
Canberra City Farm: www.ccfarm.org.au
Canberra Seed Savers: www.canberraseedsavers.org.au
Get in touch with Canberra Seed Savers if you’d like to get involved or learn more: canberraseedsavers@gmail.com
Produced by Canberra Seed Savers Cooperative for the Seedlings for Community Program 2021 with the support of a grant from ACT Government.
www.canberraseedsavers.org.au / canberraseedsavers@gmail.com or find us on Facebook.