Published 13 May 2025
Autumn is the time for pruning, preparation and planting. While summer fades and the temperature is cooling, the soil is still warm. As daylight hours start to become shorter, plants experience less stress, and with the ground still warm it makes for the perfect conditions to plant out your garden.
Planting through the autumn months means your new plants have time to lay down their foundations and channel energy into their new root systems over winter, ultimately resulting in a thriving garden once spring comes around.
Vegetable gardens may start to look a bit tired after the summer harvest. Once you have pulled out your last tomato plant and collected the seeds for next season, it’s time to turn your attention to your winter crop. Keeping an edible garden has so many benefits, from delicious food at arm’s reach throughout the year to keeping the weekly grocery budget in check. It’s also a great way to connect with those around you, either through sharing the fruits of your labour or engaging in community-based gardening groups. This in turn can have a positive effect on your mental health and wellbeing. What’s not to get excited about?
Not a green thumb? Fear not, Healthier Together has some tips for prepping your garden for plentiful produce in the coming months.
Prepping your garden
- Tidying up the garden and making room for a new crop of edibles is the first step in autumn for your winter crop preparation. Take time to remove weeds and compost old plants that have served you well through summer. If you have chickens, they will love to scratch around in these summer remnants.
- To condition the soil in autumn ready for planting, focus on adding organic matter like compost, manure, or mulching with leaves or straw. Check your garden for worms, this a is a good sign that the soil is rich and healthy.
- Pick up the leaves. As the colourful foliage falls, rake it up and pop it in the compost or use as mulch in garden beds. Rotting leaf becomes a free nutrient-rich mulch for your soil.
- Pruning fruit trees now will stimulate and encourage new growth. Feed your citrus trees. In Australian soils, our citrus trees need specific trace elements, and a citrus-specific fertiliser will help provided balanced nutrients.
Planning your produce
Grow the veggies you will want to eat in winter, be it for yummy casseroles, pies, roasts, stews or soups, and consult your favourite recipe books for inspiration.
If you have young kids or grandchildren, involve them in the planning process by asking what they might like to grow and eat together as a family. By getting children hands-on in the garden with you, they will likely be excited to keep tabs on the veggies as they grow and develop and may even be more willing to try eating them because they have had a role in the growing process.
Veggies that are ready to be planted from seed in a Victorian climate are:
- Leafy greens like rocket, silverbeet, swiss chard, spinach, kale, lettuce, bok-choi, tatsoi, choy sum and chinese cabbage
- Brassicas such as broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprout and cauliflower
- Root vegetables including carrot, parsnip, turnip, beetroot and radish (carrots are particularly sweet during the winter months)
- Other winter favourites like garlic, onion, chives, shallots, spring onion, winter squash and leek.
If you don’t already have a thriving herb garden, consider starting one now with a variety of frost tolerant herbs that will complement your winter casseroles, pies, roasts, stews and soups.
Start your herb garden by taking cuttings from rosemary, parsley, oregano, thyme and bay. Simply snip a stem and pop in water until a root system has established and then pop in a pot.
Planning your planting
Positioning: Consider where the sun hits your garden and the placement of planting within your garden. Many winter vegetables need four to six hours of sun each day.
Herbs are very versatile and will be happy in most growing situations, you can pop them in amongst your vegetables or plant them out in pots. The advantage of pots is that you can move them around to catch more sunlight as the days get darker.
Produce timing: Once you’ve determined your space and positioning, it’s time to consider which vegetables will work for you and what you’ll reasonably be able to consume.
The Planter garden app helps you arrange your veggie garden in grids, which not only helps plan, but also identifying plants as they sprout. This app also gives helpful tips for companion planting to help you learn which plants grow well side-by-side to help deter pests, and which plants should be spaced apart.
Watering: Veggies need a higher level of water during the germination and seedling stages. As well as hose watering, keeping a bucket in the shower and filling it with water while you wait for it to warm up is a quick and easy way to add a couple of litres onto the patch.
Mulching: Using a straw mulch will help keep moisture in and deter weeds.
Harvest time
The golden rule when it comes to harvesting an Autumn crop is to check for maturity and, if in doubt, harvest earlier rather than later.
During the cooler months, most vegetables are ready for harvest when they reach a usable size and don't require further growth to develop their flavour. If you’re unsure, try the 'bite test’; to determine if a vegetable is ready, take a bite to check its tenderness and flavour, ensuring it's not overly tough or woody.
Don't delay harvesting to achieve larger sizes, as flavour may be lost if vegetables are left too long. Different varieties of the same vegetable may have different harvest times, so research your specific cultivars.
Specific vegetables and their harvest times
Leafy Greens: Rocket, spinach, kale, lettuce, and cabbage are all hearty greens that thrive in cooler weather and can be harvested throughout autumn.
Brassicas: Cauliflower and brussels sprouts are particularly well-suited for cooler temperatures and should be harvested in autumn for their best flavour.
Root Vegetables: Carrots, beetroots, turnips and radishes are all excellent autumn crops, with beets and carrots often harvested in late autumn or early winter. Turnips are also great as a fast-growing option.
Other: Chives, onions and leeks can also be harvested throughout the cooler months.
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Healthier Together is giving readers a helping hand to get their garden going with 5 x Grow It Local + memberships for seasonal seed packs, guided grow-alongs and exclusive tutorials up for grabs.
