Time for summer racers

It has been so hot many of us are struggling to just keep the water up to our flowers, vegetables and fruit trees. With a long dry spell, unless you water deeply and very regularly, plants are still a little jaded. It takes energy to water at 11pm or begin watering at 6am. I find the late nights are so still and peaceful, especially if the stars are out.

Do we have the energy and time to plant any more? And the space for that matter. The garlic, onions and peas have been harvested so there is some space, and mid to late January is a key planting time for highland areas like Canberra. Fast-growing summer vegetables will still grow and it is the best time to plant out seeds for winter vegetables so they get a good start before the cold nights.

Bush beans, Asian greens and lettuces will all produce a crop in eight to nine weeks, so planting seeds now will give you a harvest before April. Buying seedlings of these vegetables will save you two to three weeks in the growing period. Hawkesbury wonder is a dwarf string bean that will still set pods in cooler weather.

If you can get the following vegetable seeds planted quickly, you can expect a good harvest in fewer than three months: climbing beans, cucumbers, silverbeet and zucchini.

Epicure is a climbing bean that enjoys cooler climates. Lebanese, muncher and spacemaster are good options for a 60-day harvest.

Broccoli is a wonderful early winter crop which benefits from becoming well established before cold weather. It is best to plant seeds into a seed-raising tray or punnets, then transplant small seedlings into 10 centimetre pots to grow them further. They can be planted out into a garden bed that has been supplemented with lots of good compost and organic matter when they are eight to 10 centimetres high. The Italian variety di ciccio is a quick grower, taking eight to nine weeks to produce tight, dark green heads. Green sprouting is the more common variety. It takes 10 to 12 weeks to mature. You can continue to plant broccoli into February but the general rule is that the later you plant, the smaller the final head.

Cauliflowers can do well in climates like Canberra but take up to six months to mature and need low temperatures when setting their heads. Some varieties such as "all year round" and "paleface" can take 20 weeks, but I will plant two quick-growing varieties ("snowball improved" and "60 days") aiming for nine weeks.

Among cabbages, ruby ball with its distinctive red leaves and savoy king with its thick crinkles will produce a good crop in nine to 10 weeks. Plant seeds into a tray and transplant when they are eight to 10 centimetres high, with four or more leaves. Winter cabbages can be left in the garden, even in frosts, and picked when you want to use them.

The humble parsnip is another vegetable that can be planted now. Sow in a garden bed that you would use for carrots - a bed that is friable, deep and with good drainage. They will take up to six months to produce a good root crop.

This week:

■ Keep topping up mulch around all your vegetables so regular, deep watering will have the maximum benefit.

■ Turn your compost and add water at each layer to provide the necessary moisture for decomposition to continue.

■ Make sure to provide sufficient growing support for climbing beans and cucumbers.

■ Provide your plants with a fortnightly lift of seaweed-based foliar spray. Mix 30 millilitres of the concentrated solution with water into a 10-litre watering can and apply in the evening, then water well.

■ Keep checking apple trees and remove and destroy any apples with codling moth.

>> Owen Pidgeon runs the Loriendale Organic Orchard near Hall.