3 Sept: Planted out the veg gdn today. Rainbow chard and silver beet went in, to be harvested daily, along with perpetual lettuce, to keep the foliage young and sweet. While most garlic is planted on the coldest day of the year, I’ve planted more, as imported garlic is sprayed with poisonous methyl bromide. Leeks, easier to grow than onions, also went in, as has the dwarf pea ‘Bounty’, along with the yellow butter bean and a dwarf green bean. Edgings are of basil, parsley, coriander and spicy mustard greens.

Time to think about summer pests and diseases. Order friendly pests to counter aphids and whitefly.