Autumn Vegies & Herbs to sow in May

There are plenty of vegies to sow in most areas, including cabbages, broccoli, kale, Asian greens, lettuce, onions, peas, spinach, carrots, salad greens and follow-up crops of broad beans, sugar snap peas and radish.

If you live in the tropics or sub tropics it's a peak time for sowing almost everything – slightly cooler conditions are ideal for broccoli, cabbage, leeks, parsnip, celery and potato, and they thrive in the sunny conditions! Try something different this autumn – grow some Yates Purple Carrots. Purple on the outside (which stays purple even after cooking) and orange on the inside. Sweet, tasty and colourful! 

Keep autumn and winter vegies growing steadily by watering on Yates Thrive All Purpose Liquid Plant Food, which promotes strong healthy growth and feeds through both the foliage and roots for fast results. Healthy plants are more able to resist attack from insects, but keep checking for aphids which cluster on the tender new growth of vegie seedlings. Control aphids with Yates Pyrethrum Gun, it's a low toxic spray based on natural pyrethrum daisy extract – make sure to spray thoroughly under the leaves too. 

Also keep watch for caterpillars (often the larvae of cabbage white butterfly), which love to munch on all the cabbage family seedlings. Control with a spray of Yates Nature's Way Caterpillar Killer, which is a bacteria based insecticide and is certified for use in organic gardens. 

Spinach 'Winter Queen' – Sow seeds now of Spinach 'Winter Queen', which is quick growing with large, dark green leaves and has a smooth, delicate flavour of English spinach. Winter Queen Spinach loves to grow during the cooler months, and is best sown directly into the garden. Prepare the soil well with plenty of organics and add some Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser for the extra nitrogen spinach enjoys. Sow clumps of two or three seeds, and keep moist. It's ready to harvest in around 8 weeks, but tender baby leaves can be snipped off earlier. 

Protect vegetable seedlings from snails and slugs for they also enjoy the cooler autumn conditions. Protect young vegie seedlings from snail and slug damage with a light sprinkle of Yates Blitzem Snail & Slug Pellets. 

Garlic – Homegrown garlic is an easy and very rewarding crop to grow and autumn and early winter is the optimum time for planting. Begin with an organic corm from nurseries or by mail order. Choose a sunny, well drained spot in the garden, or in 30cm – 40cm diameter pots. Prepare the soil by digging in some Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser. Separate the individual cloves and push these into the soil, pointy end up, 2cm – 5cm deep and 10cm – 20cm apart. Lightly mulch to suppress weeds between the rows. Keep plants well watered as shoots appear and grow steadily over 7-8 months. To encourage plump, healthy garlic, fertilise regularly with Yates Thrive All Purpose Liquid Plant Food. From October or November, foliage dying off signals corms are ready to harvest (although you can harvest some early stems to use as green garlic in stir-fry meals).