Rasta Subtropical Vegetable Planting Guide

Vegetable Planting Guide Subtropical Eastern Australia

Spring is a very special time for gardeners.It is not called the growing season for nothing and is time to get into your Rasta garden and start vegetable planting your home grown ital organic food.
If you have been preparing compost then it is time to dig it in and prepare the beds to plant your herbs, seeds, seedlings and divisions.
It is very important to plant vegetables in the right season and to get in tune with the lunar cycles for growing.Get into natures flow and it will assist your efforts. The Rastas know about the rhythms and cycles of nature and follow them.

Rastafarians also save their own seed so remember to look for open-pollinated seed and seedlings so you can save your own seed at the end of the season and replant it again and again each year.This way if you get a bumper crop of something you can repeat it the next year by saving some seed from the crop. My idea of the perfect garden is to get the fertility high by using organic soil building practices and then have the vegetables just reseed themselves all through the garden.

The planting guide below will give you an idea of the planting times. This guide is for the subtropics in the southern hemisphere. Get a local planting guide for your climate or ask some experienced gardeners in your area and create your own. If you want to buy a Seasonal Subtropical Vegetable Planting Guide for Eastern Australia, you can click on the link at the end of this post or just click here

When planting your seeds, seedlings and divisions remember to water them well every day to get them established and use rain water if you can. Swap seeds and divisions with your gardening friends or local community garden, if you have one, and benefit from the superior taste, nutrition and pure joy of growing your own fresh food.

Subtropical Planting Guide

plant all year round

Lemongrass, Mints, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Sorrel Amaranth – except dry times Carrots – except really dry times Radish – except really hot times Lettuce – except really hot times Sunflowers Leeks by division Spring Onions by division

Plant in Autumn

HERBS
Angelica Borage Chervil Chives (divide) Coriander Edible Chrysanthemum Fennel Garlic Chives (division is easiest) Lebanese Cress Mitsuba – Japanese Parsley Parsley Rocket Watercress
SALADS
Celeriac Celery Chicory Dandelion Endive Mustard Lettuce
GREENS
Amaranth Asian Greens – Bok Choy, Chinese Cabbage, Mizuna, Wong Bok, English Spinach NZ Spinach Orach, rainbow chard. Silver Beet Cabbages – e.g., Borecole, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflowers, Collards, Kale
FRUITING
Broad Beans Cucumber to the end of March.
CEREALS
Barley, Oats, Rye, Wheat
MISCELLANEOUS
Globe Artichokes Peas You can also try tomatoes,beans and zucchinis

ROOTS
Garlic (regular and Elephant) Jerusalem Artichoke Leeks Oca,Onion Parsnip Potatoes Salsify Spring Onion Turnip
GREEN MANURE
Lucerne Alfalfa Lupins Woolly Pod Vetch Tick and Faba Beans
MISCELLANEOUS
Rhubarb crowns and seed Strawberry crowns

Plant in Winter

HERBS
Corn Salad Dandelion Chives
GREENS
Lettuce Silver Beet Spinach
FRUITING
Tomato (From July)

Plant in Spring

HERBS
Dill Basil Salad Burnet
SALADS
Lettuce Spinach greens Basella Hibiscus Spinach Ibika Water Spinach
FRUITING
Beans – French, Hyacinth, Lima, Snake, Soya, Sword, Winged Cape Gooseberry Capsicums Chick Pea Chillies Cucurbits – Bitter Gourd, Choko, Cucumber, Gourd, Gramma, Luffa, Marrow, Melons, Pumpkins, Squash, Zucchini Eggplant Maize Okra Rosella Sweet Corn, Tomato
ROOTS
Cassava Ginger(s) Peanuts Sweet Potato Taro Tumeric Yam
GREEN MANURE
Cowpeas, Soya Beans, Dolichos Lab Lab, Mung Beans, Pigeon Pea
MISCELLANEOUS
Asparagus

Plant in Summer

FRUITING
Sweet corn Eggplants Capsicums Okra Paw Paw Pumpkin Cucumber Snake beans
GREEN MANURE
Bean Cowpeas

Buy a copy of the Subtropical Planting Guide for North Eastern Australia
You might even end up with a crop like these dedicated young farmers in Ethiopia. They were sent one packet of seeds by us and this is what they grew.