Autumn in the Garden It’s easy when home as the days and nights get cooler to avoid the outdoors, but working in early childhood you can’t help but be outside and embrace all weather and seasons. Autumn is a fantastic season in the garden and a time to plant bulbs and trees and of course keep our vegetables going for the months ahead. And if you don’t have space for a garden how about planting containers with autumn potted colour. Pansies, violas, and polyanthus, lobelia, alyssum, sweet peas, cornflower, cosmos or lovein-a-mist are perfect flowers for the cooler weather. Autumn is also the season best for planting bulbs for spring flowing, there are many flowers to choose from with many favourites being tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and freesias. Flowers help the bees, insects and brightens the day over the greyer winter months. Vegetables to plant or sow in autumn include: ● Broccoli ● Cauliflower ● Cabbage ● Beetroot ● Spinach ● Chinese cabbage ● Silverbeet ● Kale ● Radishes ● Carrots ● Swedes ● Turnips Collecting seeds Try collecting seeds by letting plants flower and go to seed, then shake the seeds carefully into a labelled paper bag. If you are growing beans and peas let the pods plump up and dry out on the vine. Store in a cool dry place. Tomatoes are a bit trickier. But a basic guideline, is pick the best tomatoes, scrape seeds into a jar, add water, cover the jar loosely with tinfoil or rest the lid (gas needs to escape), leave the jar for at least three days in a warm spot. A smelly fermented layer will grow, then you need to wash the seeds gently – a sieve is a good idea. Dry the seeds on a paper towel out of the full sun for approximately a week or two, then store in a sterilised labelled jar. March 2023 { 34 }
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