Summer Vegetables Planting Guide

Whether you’re new to growing your own food or a seasoned pro, our summer vegetables planting guide will ensure that your garden thrives all year long. 

The role of our garden, backyard or outdoor space has certainly taken centre stage in recent years, particularly if you consider just how much time we’ve been spending at home. As our lifeline to nature, many Aussies have found themselves taking up gardening as a new way to pass the time. Apart from developing a new hobby, gardening offers a wide range of benefits, with just a handful including the following – 

• Natural exposure to Vitamin D (sunlight) which increases bone and immune health 
• Decreased risk of developing dementia by 36% 
• Mood boosting and stress management by lowering cortisol levels 
• Unintentional exercise, improving strength, stamina and flexibility 
• Helps to combat loneliness, particularly in the form of a community garden 

As such, the first port of call for many first timers is creating their very own veggie patch. While relatively easy to maintain, the efforts of gardeners are usually rewarded with a range of herbs, fruits and vegetables that can be used to provide all sorts of sustenance. However, one of the key pillars of a successful veggie patch is knowing what to plant and when, particularly as we approach the warmest months of the year. 

Six Summer Vegetables To Plant In Your Garden

Many budding green thumbs make the mistake of assuming that there’s not much point in trying to grow anything edible during the summer months, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Despite Australia being home to a wide variety of sub climates, the good news is that there are actually quite a few well known summer vegetables that actually prefer the extra heat. 

Sweet Corn – When in a sunny yet wind sheltered position, sweet corn is one of the most well known summer vegetables to grow at home. While it takes around three to four months to be ready for harvesting, plant seedlings close together to ensure good pollination and to guarantee a bumper crop of large and strong cobs. 

Cucumber – Although cucumbers are at their best in loose sandy loam soil, they can be grown in just about any type of well-drained soil. As their roots grow quite deep, be sure not to plant them anywhere near tree roots that may rob them of water and nutrients. If space is an issue, train the vines by using a trellis and ensure that they get plenty of water until fruit starts forming. 

Eggplant – Oddly enough, eggplants are extremely fond of the heat, but are not big fans of humidity. If you’re growing them from scratch, place the pots in a warm protected spot and keep the mix moist until the seeds germinate, then introduce them to your veggie patch when they’re around ten centimetres tall with adequate protection from windy conditions. 

Capsicum – If you are able to keep potential bouts of powdery mildew and wilt at bay, capsicum plants simply adore warm weather. On top of this, they make a great choice for apartment dwellers, as they can be grown in pots as well as garden beds. However, they are prone to sunburn, so make sure they have access to shade to protect them from the midday sun. 

Tomatoes – A tried and true summer staple, tomatoes have long been regarded as extremely tolerant and easy to grow. They are at their happiest when watered at regular intervals, and are protected from a variety of ailments such as blight and insects. Regardless of whether they reside in a pot or in a veggie patch, tomatoes need about six to eight hours of sun per day. 

Pumpkin – Gardeners be warned, if you give a pumpkin an inch, it will take a mile. Regarded as one of the most hardy summer vegetables, pumpkin plants grow quickly and can easily cover large portions of a backyard if left unmanaged. In saying that, they’re also prone to rust and powdery mildew, so add a layer of mulch and aim to water them in the mornings. 

In order to keep your summer vegetables healthy and requiring little to no maintenance, try to embrace forward thinking and proactive measures instead of reactive ones, especially when it comes to things like watering, weeding, fertilising and tackling pests. As such, one of the most effective means to do so is to ensure that the soil in your garden is at its best. 

Optimise Your Garden Soil The Natural Way 

Do your plants – and yourself – a favour, and give them a head start by optimising your soil prior to planting. By adding a natural plant food like Biotic Booster, this will help your garden to: 

• Provide essential nutrients and microbes 
• Act as a liquid fertiliser to unlock your soil’s potential 
• Drought proof your plants and lower water consumption
• Increase and speed up the germination process
• Assist in protecting your plants from pests and diseases 
• Provide a natural solution that’s safe to use around your herbs, fruit and veggies

If you’re ready to take the leap into improving the health of your plants while minimising the use of chemical based fertilisers, then it may be time to try plant food and plant probiotics. Our Ultimate Garden Health Pack includes our Biotic Booster, FP-60 Probiotic Spray, RE-250 Soil Energiser, plant food and plant probiotics. In each concentrated bottle, millions of natural bacterias are waiting to find a new home in your garden.

Here at Bioweed, we specialise in environmentally friendly gardening products, including herbicides, plant food and plant probiotics, and natural alternatives to traditional gardening solutions. Should you have any questions about how to improve the sustainability of your garden, get in touch with us today.