We're excited to say it's OFFICIALLY AUTUMN!  Our favourite time of year in the garden.  Obviously we're still in for some hot weather but the seasons are definitely shifting.  The indigenous Noongar people recognise 6 seasons in the South West of WA; and March falls in Bunuru - the 2nd summer; with 'Autumn' or Djeran being April & May.  I think they know what they're talking about!  Gardeners are nothing if not optimistic - so with the knowledge that cooler weather is on its way - there's much to be done in preparation for Autumn planting.

We hope in this newsletter we can help inspire you to get the jump on the season...  One of the common things we hear are customers rueful that they've left it too late to plant various vegie crops - so why not make sure this year that you're NOT one of them and get organised!

Remember next month (April 11 - 14th) is the Perth Garden Festival.  We'll be there with a good range of The Greenhouse seasonal vegie seedlings; so do come along and say hello.  Nick Bell (Turf Expert) will be doing a guest panel appearance on Sunday 14th, and will be coming over to our stand after the panel session (around 2.30pm) - so if you have lawn issues and would like some advice; come along on Sunday and have a chat to Nick.

And while we're talking about learning from the experts, we do have a few workshops coming up - Check out our EVENTS page for more details.

We're also busy in the next couple of months presenting at workshops for other groups/organisations around town - including a very special collaboration with Josh Byrne coming up in May - more details about that exciting event closer to the time!  

So enjoy the changing season in your garden & we hope to see you soon down @ The Green Life Soil Co.

Happy Gardening!

Linda & The Team

In this newsletter:

Jobs to do in the March garden
What to plant now (& tips for seed sowing success)
Growing gorgeous GARLIC
Winner - Tomato contest 2019
Winner - Photo competition
VIP special offer
Retail stockist update

Jobs for the March garden

• Green Manure time!  Well - technically you can grow a green manure crop anytime - but Autumn is a great opportunity to add more vital organic matter to any garden beds that have been left fallow over the Summer months.  Spread the seeds thickly, keep the bed watered well and allow the crop to grow for as long as possible (but before it sets seeds) then dig in or slash the crop and allow it to break down and feed the soil.  We have 1kg Green Manure mixed seed packs available that will cover approx. 20m2.  We use a whole range of seasonal seed varieties so there'll always be a few types that will be suited to conditions and grow well for you.  If you've got summer crops that have finished & looking a bit sad - rip them out and grow a quick green manure crop!
• Take cuttings.  Just a reminder that many plants can be propagated in the warmer months while they're actively growing.  Take the opportunity to grow MORE Plants for free!  It's a good time to give Lavender, Geranium and many other shrubs a prune - so it makes perfect sense to use the prunings to try some propagation.  If you'd like to learn some tips & tricks - we've got a propagation workshop coming up in a couple of weeks - see our events page for details. 
• Give your indoor plants some love.  A light feed, a dust down (or a light hose down - in the shade) will rejuvenate them and keep them looking great.  Remember that as the weather changes they may not need watering quite so regularly - check your soil moisture and don't overwater - it's the most common cause of indoor plant death.  Check them for any signs of pest & disease, repot them if necessary using a good quality potting mix (into a slightly larger pot if you can; otherwise you can trim roots back - but no more than 30% as a general rule).
• If you haven't fed your fruit trees, this is the time to do so while they're still actively growing (in the case of deciduous varieties).  Citrus trees definitely benefit from a feed in early Autumn to prepare them for flowering & fruit set in the coming months.
• Citrus Leaf Miner makes its appearance in Autumn, so watch out if trees have been affected in previous years.  If you wish to treat trees with a pest oil, you need to be sure the larvae are active - so if you keep watch now, you'll catch them before it's too late.  We've also got traps in stock @ GLSC if you want to give those a try this year.  They work with a pheromone that attracts the adult males, trapping them and thus breaking the breeding cycle.
• Watch your melons, pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers as the mornings are a little cooler & damper for any appearance of Powdery Mildew.  It might be impossible to prevent entirely as winter draws near; but a good preventative is a regular spray with milk.  1 part regular milk to 9 parts water; drenching the leaves and getting the underside of leaves ideally.  You may need to spray every 5-7 days, and after any rain, but this should help prolong the life of susceptible plants and extend your harvest.

What to Plant Now

It's an exciting time - many winter vegetables can be started from seed now; although it might be a little early to plant them out in your garden; depending on where you are and the microclimate in your garden there's always a bit of guess work involved on when's the perfect time to plant out seedlings.

Check out our free downloadable planting guides here.  But for starters, you can try:-

Globe artichoke, Asian Greens, Beans, Beetroot, Broccoli (pictured right), Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Celery, Coriander, Daikon, Garlic, Kale, Kohl Rabi, Leek, Lettuce, Onion, Parsley, Parsnip, Peas, Radish, Silverbeet, Spring onion, Swede, Turnip

Brassica season has finally arrived (that is the family that includes cabbage, cauli, broccoli, brussels, kohl rabi, kale) & it's the perfect time to get seeds sown for planting out in a month or so into your prepared garden beds.  

We have spray free SEED GARLIC in stock now @ Green Life; currently 4 different varieties ('Purple Stripe', 'Osmington White' & 'Rojo') sourced from the Margaret River area.  And we have locally grown 'Italian Pink' in stock too; but all are selling fast so don't delay - grab your garlic while stock is available.

We've also just taken receipt of a large order of seeds - so there's a good range of heritage, non-hybrid seed available in stock.

Remember to stock up on your Certified Organic Seed Raising Mix when you come in & get your seeds off to a flying start.

Seed Sowing Tips for Autumn

• Decide whether you're going to sow seeds in trays, then transplant later; or whether you're going to sow direct - ie. in the garden bed where you want the plant to remain and mature.  There are advantages to both.  At this early stage of the season, sowing in trays can make it easier to control the growing conditions because you can move them around if necessary.  
• Root crops like carrots and parsnip don't like being transplanted, so you're better off sowing these direct.  (Strangely - beetroot do OK with transplanting.)  Make sure you keep the soil surface moist, or tiny seeds can begin to germinate (although you can't see anything happening with the naked eye); then dry out and die.  A good tip is to water the seed, then lay an old offcut of shadecloth directly over the soil.  This will allow water to penetrate, but protect the surface to an extent.  Keep checking underneath and when you see obvious signs of growth, remove the shadecloth.
• One of the reasons people fail with seeds is they plant them too deeply. Remember a seed needs to use a lot of energy to germinate, grow roots downwards & shoots upwards.  If the soil surface is too far away they can run out of ooomph and never break through.  As a general rule - only sow seed as deep as twice the seed width.  So it's not very much; particularly for things like lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, carrots etc.  Often a very light sprinkling of soil over the seed is all you need.  (Pictured right - tiny cabbage seed germinating)
• In hot early Autumn temperatures you may need to water or mist your soil more than once a day.  Use a cover to keep humidity in but also check regularly and ensure adequate airflow to avoid rotting or 'dampening off' disease.  It is a delicate balance to achieve but if you can keep soil (and seedlings) moist but not wet you're on the right track.
• Sow little & often.  A few seeds sown each fortnight will mean you don't end up with a glut at harvest time because plants will mature at different rates (hopefully).  It will also spread the risk and if things are sown too early, or die off in a hot spell, you'll have more coming on and sooner or later you'll jag the perfect timing.
• If you have old seed, don't be afraid to use it.  Seed doesn't magically 'go off' and viability (the rate of germination) decreases slowly over time as seed ages.  It's always worth sowing older seed; you might just need to use a bit more.  Some seed can last for years and years if stored well; so give it a go.
• Seed Raising Mix gives seeds (in trays) a great start; it is designed to be light and fluffy for the right balance of moisture and air holding, so that delicate plant roots & shoots can easily penetrate between particles.  It is not designed for long term sustained growing; so if you end up leaving things in pots/trays for longer than a month you may well need to liquid feed regularly to keep things in tip-top shape.  It's time to transplant once seedlings are developing their first true set of leaves.  Often the first leaves put out by plants (cotyledons) look nothing like the mature plant leaves, so be patient!  DIY seedling holders out of recycled toilet paper rolls (pictured here) are a good way to go - they can simply be planted out without removing the seedling and causing root disturbance, as the cardboard will naturally break down.

Growing gorgeous Garlic

As a kid, Garlic was something my parents were a bit suspicious of - being an anglo family it was something new & exotic, and I suspect we weren't the only ones!  It's quite amusing how things have changed, and garlic is a hugely popular vegetable used so very widely year-round in many styles of cuisine.  We also know how good it is for us - with natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungal qualities, it is brilliant to help keep us healthy in cold and flu season in particular.

It is fairly easy to grow.  Garlic doesn't like heavy soil, so we're actually lucky in Perth (yay - for once!) as slightly alkaline, sandy loam is ideal for it to thrive.  Garlic doesn't need high nitrogen fertliser or manures, but you can improve the soil with good quality compost and a handful of potash per square metre (according to Peter Cundall) prior to planting.  In a crop rotation system, it's good to grow garlic as the 2nd crop immediately following hungry plants like tomatoes/corn - assuming they were planted into newly enriched soil - so the soil will still have adequate nutrition but not excessive nitrogen.

Plant cloves with the pointy end just a little below the surface, and each clove about 10 - 15cms apart (they don't need much room).  Garlic will start to grow quickly, sending out roots & shoots that will be visible within a week.  You do need to ensure that garlic gardens are kept free of weeds; the competition can smother them and will certainly impact on yield.  Plan your patch so you can access all areas for weeding throughout the season.   A light layer of much may be helpful - but do religiously attend to weeding your garlic patch.

Once you've grown garlic, if you save some of your crop you can replant it the next season.  If you're sourcing seed garlic (garlic to plant) always try to find locally grown types that should be hardy and adapted to your growing region.  Unfortunately while there are many different varieties - it's difficult to get a good range in WA as due to diseases in other regions, quarantine here needs to be strict.

Because it has been cultivated for so long (like potatoes) garlic doesn't really form true seed.  You may find tiny little bulblets forming up the stems of your mature garlic plants - these can also be planted out and will grow.  Like all onions, all parts of the plant are edible; so for a garlic flavour prior to harvest you can cut the odd top off a few plants and add them to your cooking for a bit of flavour.  Some varieties of garlic will send out scapes - a type of flower bud that grows out in a curl from the main stem.  These should be removed from the plant as they take energy away from the forming bulbs, but scapes are delicious as an edible crop in their own right.  (Garlic scapes - pictured right.)

We've had a great year growing tomatoes this year - and it seems that some of you did too - based on the entries to our 2019 Tomato Contest.  We're thrilled to announce the winners:-

Winner - Photo Competition

Here's a freebie just in time for your Autumn garden preparation.  This month, spend $75 or more with us @ GLSC and get a FREE 15L bag of Multigrow pellets.  Multigrow is certified organic composted & pelletised chicken manure; so is a great top up for most plants.  It won't burn like fresh manure and will help build the organic content of your soil.  

Retail Outlets

Looking for Green Life goodies closer to home?  Check out our list of independent stockists.  Please support these businesses who support us!  You'll get great advice & local knowledge as a bonus.

Just remember each stockist carries different products; so it pays to ring and check with them to see if they've got what you're after.  In most cases, they'll be happy to add your requests to their next order.