Growing food in containers

Celery

Most vegetables require 8 hours of sunlight per day and at my home the area that meets this requirement is limited to two square meters of paving around the back door. There I have placed two large black plastic pots in which I can grow climbing vegetables: cucumbers in summer and snow peas in winter. Grown on teepees,climbing plants reach up to take advantage of more available sunlight. The autumn Equinox is the ideal time to transition from summer to winter crops so this week I have taken out the cucumber plants in preparation for snow peas. I remove the top 1/2 of the old potting medium and replace it with a new, enriched medium made up of  2/3 new potting mix and 1/3 sheep manure* plus 2 handfuls of dolomite lime. In the glazed blue pot I grow decorative crops: basil in summer and celery, kohl-Rabi, carrots or lettuce in winter. I have a box of strawberries growing here too but they have been unproductive and I will not persist- the area is getting shadier as our lemon tree grows bigger. I surround the big black pots with smaller pots of herbs like thyme, mint, oregano, rosemary. Parsley requires less sunlight and self-seeds in damp spots all around the garden. 
* I buy sheep manure from Robert from Broadford: 0409 794 417  $6 per bag, minimum five bags, who delivers free of charge. There are several other suppliers listed on the Internet and I am told, one at least, is cheaper. Worm castings, compost or any processed commercial manure product can be used instead of sheep manure.

Late season beans

Climbing bean: "Purple King"

My 'Purple King' climbing beans still have potential to produce a crop so I am leaving them in the ground for another month and I planted three more bush beans of the late variety "Hawksbury Wonder" on Thursday this week. Bush beans only crop for about two weeks and someone stole every bean from my "Purple King" and the yellow "Cherokee Wax" bush beans while I was away for a few days at the end of February. Now I am watching the garden like a hawk and spending much more time there until I can harvest the current crop of beans. Keeping the beans in the ground so late in the season means half my bed is occupied when I would normally like to be planting winter crops like winter carrots, turnips, beetroot and parsnips. When choosing carrot seeds for winter, select a cool season variety. Don't hold off planting carrot seed too much longer as it is slow to germinate once the ground gets cold. Luckily I have half a bed unoccupied so I have been able to plant seedlings of lettuce and winter greens and will have room between them to plant garlic.

 Bush bean: "Cherokee Wax"

What to grow for the cooler months ahead

Rugosa rose,"Scabrosa" flowering for the first time in the Food Forest- only one flower but what a beauty! It should produce a beautiful hip in winter.

The Autumn Equinox  in the southern hemisphere heralds the time of year when we take out summer crops and prepare the soil for cool season vegetables like peas, broad beans, cabbages, broccoli and cauliflowers. I am restricting my planting this year to Bok Choi, Tatsoi, Mizuna, curly endive, chard, lettuce, garlic, carrots, beetroot and parsnips. Why? Three reasons:
1) Root crops and leafy greens are less vulnerable to casual theft than peas and broccoli.
2) They are space-savers. Broad beans, potatoes, sprouting broccoli, cauliflowers and some cabbages all need a bigger garden than my small plot can accommodate.
3) I  was given some Bok Choi and curly endive seedlings so I will use them.

Watch out for the cabbage white caterpillar and green looper caterpillars too. Both  absolutely love to eat Bok Choi and Mizuna in particular. I invested in some "Dipel" last year and a spray of this bacteria proved to be the only method apart from hand-picking off the caterpillars that proved to be effective.

Tatsoi is a great Asian green. You just pick the outer leaves as you need. Any Asian greens added to a broth of chicken or vegetable stock with a few sliced mushrooms, spring onions and carrots and some Japanese noodles makes a wholesome, quick and tasty lunch.