With half of the year already behind us — and the monsoon starting to brew — it is time to concentrate on those all important organic vegetables you are going to grow and enjoy eating over the months to come.

The debilitating heat isn’t too bad in the evening hours so, come 6 pm, it’s time to get out in the garden and get down to some serious work or, alternatively, head in to the garden around dawn and stay out there as long as you can take it or, if you are dedicated enough, put in a morning and evening shift both.

The first task is to prepare ground or pots/containers for seed sowing and no slap happy job please as, if the task is not done correctly, germination rates will suffer and crops, if any, are liable to be poor.

For growing vegetables directly in the ground, clean off the beds, removing all spent plants, weeds and visible stones. Rake the surface level and top up, (there is absolutely no need to disturb the soil by digging it) with a 3–6 inch layer of sweet earth/river sand/organic compost and old, well rotted, organic manure at a ratio of 25/25/25/25. Simply spread this new mixture on top of existing soil, rake it level, break up any lumps in the process, lightly water it down and leave it to settle for 7–10 days before making a start on seed sowing. If cultivating vegetables in pots or other containers then the same soil mix is perfectly suitable and you can begin sowing seeds the very next day. The reason for the wait is to allow for settlement to take place. If you plant seeds in the pots/containers immediately after filling them you could very well discover that, upon inspecting them the next day, the soil has sunk down way below the pot/container rim and while pots/containers should not be full to overflowing with soil, the level should not be less than half to one inch below the rim. Lower than that and emerging seedlings race for the light and weaken themselves – fatally in some cases and you certainly do not want to lose your plants at this, or any other, stage.

Vegetable seeds to be sown now include tomato, lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage, beetroot, carrots, spring onions, radish, leaf beet/Swiss chard, spinach, celery and on the herb front, coriander, dill, borage, chives and garlic chives.

Of these seeds tomato, lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, chives and garlic chives can all be started off in seed trays/pots and transplanted out into their growing positions or into suitable pots/containers when large enough to handle. Beetroot, carrots, radish, leaf beet/Swiss chard and coriander should all be sown directly where they will grow as they do not like to be disturbed.

So transplanting them is a very risky business and in the case of beetroot and carrots especially, is highly unlikely to work.

When sowing seeds take care not to overcrowd them but space them out as indicated on the seed packets. Getting carried away and sowing them far too close is a complete waste of time as the seedlings will not have enough room to grow and will spend all of their energy fighting with their companions for air, nutrients and water and, being thus weakened, they rarely survive and those that do never come to much. After lightly watering the seeds in, keep the soil damp but not wet and if heavy rain is imminent, protect the beds by covering them with weighted down sheets of plastic to prevent seeds/seedlings from being washed away.

There is tons to do in the flower department as well. Tidy up the flower borders and pots/containers and treat them in exactly the same way as preparing for vegetable sowing (detailed above). Right now you can sow seeds of balsam and lots and lots of those gorgeous zinnias to knock everyone for six when they are in brilliant bloom. Later this month, say after the 14th, you can make a start on sowing begonias, scabious, rudbeckia, gaillardia, dahlia, geranium, salvia, cineraria, carnations and some other attractive species and do not overlook good old-fashioned hollyhocks in myriad colours to provide some stately elegance at the back of your borders. All of the aforementioned flower species, except for hollyhocks, are best started off in seed trays/pots which are easy to protect from direct, hot sun and from heavy monsoon showers which would otherwise damage them badly.

Being fairly tough plants, hollyhocks will cope with most things that come their way except, when they are in the early stages of growth, drought so, until it rains, the hollyhock seeds/seedlings will need regular watering. Keep in mind that all watering should be done in the evening as watering in the morning is a complete and utter waste of precious water as it begins evaporating as soon as the sun comes up and way before plants have taken up all the water they need. Watering in the evening means that the plants have the entire night to drink their fill in preparation for surviving the suffocating heat of the day.

Aside from planting those trees we discussed last month… without further delay you can also add more shrubs to your collection now but do not disturb any which happen to be in full bloom and also take cuttings and layer many shrubs and creepers too. When buying trees and shrubs, remember only to purchase pot grown ones and not those growing directly in the ground as they will not be at all happy to be moved. ‘Bare rooted’ trees and shrubs should only be purchased during the months of winter when they are resting not when they are growing and flowering and fruiting species should never be disturbed when they are either blossoming or fruiting as the shock could very well kill them.

Please continue sending your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. Answers to selected questions will appear shortly in a future issue of the magazine. The writer will not respond directly by e-mail. E-mails with attachments will not be opened. The writer’s garden is not open to the public.