GARDENING
by Jack Hardy
'Tis the season to be busy... Even while we are thinking about tucking into turkey or gorging on goose, we should be mindful that we are in mid-season for vegetables and cannot ignore our garden chores.
No matter how large or small your garden, the secret to optimum returns lies in successive sowing. When one crop of your favourite vegetable is established, sow seeds for the next generation.
Some vegetables - eggplants and peppers, for instance - will last the winter through from a single sowing. Most other vegetables need multiple sowings. For tomatoes, sow new seeds when the first plants flower. For root crops, lettuces, cucumbers and squashes, sow every two weeks. For members of the cabbage family, sow every month.
Don't forget that most varieties of broccoli will send out sprouts once the main head is cut. If you pick the florets every two or three days you'll have a bonus crop for months afterwards. When you harvest your head cabbages, cut the head away leaving the lower leaves and stem. You'll get two or three mini heads as a bonus. Some lettuces and Chinese cabbage will also give an encore performance.
Citrus trees do not need winter feeding but most other fruit trees - particularly mango - will benefit from a feast of fertilizer. Don't forget to show some appreciation to your flowering shrubs too. It seems they can bloom forever without any care but well fed shrubs do perform better and are more disease resistant.