What to Plant in Autumn in a South Australian Veggie Patch

Autumn is the easiest run of the year in a South Australian veggie patch, because the heat has come out of the day and the soil is still warm enough to get roots moving, so seed goes in and actually stays put instead of frying inside a week. It is also the season that sets up winter, which is the bit most people miss. What you sow now is what you are eating in July.

What to plant

1. Leafy greens. Spinach, kale and lettuce handle a mild frost and keep producing right through. They want well drained soil and a decent bit of sun, though they will take some shade as the season goes on.
2. Root vegetables. Carrots, beetroot and radishes do well because the cooler soil pushes them into making root instead of leaf. Loose, fertile soil is the whole game here. If they hit a lump they fork, and a forked carrot is still perfectly good to eat, it just looks ridiculous.
3. Legumes. Peas and broad beans go straight into the bed, no fuss, and they leave the soil better than they found it because they fix nitrogen while they grow.
4. Brassicas. Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are planted now for a winter harvest. They are hungry, so they want fertile soil and steady water rather than one big drink a week.
5. Onions and garlic. In now, out late spring or early summer. Well drained soil matters more than anything else with these, because a bulb sitting in wet ground just rots.

The bits that make the difference

• Soil first. Compost and well rotted manure through the bed before anything goes in. It is the least interesting job of the lot and it is the one that decides the result.
• Ease off the water. As it cools you do not need what you were putting on in February, and overwatering in autumn is how you end up with root rot.
• Mulch. Holds the moisture in, keeps the weeds down, and stops the soil temperature swinging about.
• Slugs and snails. They come out with the cool and the damp and they will go through a tray of seedlings overnight, so get on top of them early rather than after.

And plant what you will actually eat. There is no point growing a beautiful row of something nobody in the house will touch.

Come and have a look

The garden centre at the shop carries the seed, the seedlings, the compost and the mulch, so you can do a whole bed in one trip, and if you are not sure what will go in your patch just ask us. That is what we are there for.

Shop related products

• D.T. Brown Seeds Carrot All Season 2000 Seed Pack. Sows straight into the bed once the soil has cooled off.
• D.T. Brown Seeds Spinach English Medaniat 500 Seed Pack. Handles a light frost and keeps on cutting.
• Brunnings Seed Raising Mix 5L. For anything you are starting in trays rather than direct.
• Brunnings Blood & Bone Based Fertiliser 5kg. Through the bed before the brassicas go in.
• Martins Organic Sugar Cane Bale 11KG. Mulch that breaks down into the soil rather than sitting on top of it.
• Multiguard Snail & Slug Pellets 600g. For the seedlings, before the slugs find them.

There is more in the garden centre range, and the seed rack is D.T. Brown.

Read next

• A Beginner's Guide to Building Good Soil for Your Vegetable Garden
• How to Make Compost at Home Without It Going Wrong
• Preparing Your Garden Soil for a Winter Vegetable Garden

I have yet to grow a carrot that comes out straight, and honestly I have stopped taking it personally.

Cheers,
Candeece