YEAR-ROUND PLANNER
Seasonal calendar.
What to sow, tend, harvest, and protect through the Australian growing year.
SPRING
Sow the warm season.
Sow and plant
Tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant, beans, corn, zucchini, cucumber, pumpkin, basil, and melons. Plant passionfruit and citrus after frost risk passes.
Tend
Top-dress beds with compost, stake tomatoes early, and net fruit trees before birds notice the crop.
SUMMER
Protect and harvest.
Harvest
Tomatoes, zucchini, beans, cucumbers, eggplant, stone fruit, berries, and early apples. Pick daily in hot weather.
Tend
Mulch deeply, water early in the morning, use shade cloth on sensitive crops, and succession-sow lettuce in partial shade.
AUTUMN
Sow the cool season.
Sow and plant
Brassicas, carrots, beetroot, spinach, peas, broad beans, coriander, lettuce, and Asian greens. Plant garlic on the shortest day.
Tend
Collect fallen leaves for compost, remove spent summer crops, and plant green manures in empty beds.
WINTER
Rest, plan, and prune.
Harvest
Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, leeks, carrots, parsnips, and citrus. Frost often sweetens root crops.
Tend
Prune deciduous fruit trees, order seeds, build new beds, and keep compost piles covered in heavy rain.
