Starting a veggie patch from scratch in Adelaide

Starting a veggie patch is one of the most rewarding things you can do with a backyard. You don't need much space or experience, just a sunny spot, decent soil and a bit of regular attention.

Choose the spot

The right spot does half the work for you.

• Sun. Most vegetables need at least six hours of direct sun a day. Watch your yard across a day before deciding. In Adelaide, morning sun with a little afternoon shade in summer is a bonus.
• Water. Pick somewhere close to a tap. If watering is a chore, it won't happen in February.
• Away from tree roots. Big trees and hedges compete hard for water and nutrients, and their roots will find your rich veggie soil. Keep well clear, or use raised beds with a barrier underneath.
• Shelter. Hot, dry northerlies are hard on plants. A fence or hedge on the windy side helps.
• Close to the house. A patch you see every day gets looked after.

In-ground, raised beds or pots

Many Adelaide gardens sit on heavy clay or alkaline soil, which is one reason raised beds are so popular here. A bed about 1.2 m wide lets you reach the middle from both sides. The guide to your first veggie bed has more on size and filling.

Prepare the soil

Good soil is the secret to good vegetables.

1. Clear grass and weeds. Dig them out, or smother the area with cardboard for a few weeks.
2. For in-ground beds, loosen the soil with a fork to a spade's depth. On clay, adding gypsum and plenty of organic matter helps improve the structure over time.
3. Dig in generous amounts of compost and some well-rotted manure.
4. For raised beds, fill with a quality veggie or garden mix blended with compost.
5. Water well and let the bed settle for a week or so before planting.

Your first season in Adelaide

Adelaide has two big planting seasons. Start with whichever is coming up.

Autumn (March to May)

Autumn is a great time to start. The soil is still warm, the weather is gentle and pests are fewer.

• Broad beans and peas: easy, productive, and they improve the soil.
• Garlic: plant cloves in autumn and harvest in late spring or early summer.
• Brassicas: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale. Seedlings are easiest. Watch for cabbage white caterpillars while it's still warm.
• Lettuce, rocket, spinach and silverbeet for quick salads and greens.

Spring (September to November)

Spring is for summer crops. Wait for the soil to warm; planting too early is a common mistake.

• Tomatoes: the classic. Plant seedlings once nights are reliably mild, usually mid to late spring, and give them a stake.
• Zucchini: one or two plants are plenty for most households.
• Beans: climbing or dwarf, sown direct into warm soil.
• Basil: loves the heat and grows well beside tomatoes.

Patchmates shows what to plant this week for your suburb, based on local soil temperature, so you don't have to guess.

Watering

Water deeply and less often rather than a little every day. This encourages roots to grow down, where the soil stays cooler and moister. Water in the morning where you can. In summer, check the soil with your finger: if it's dry a few centimetres down, it's time. Drip irrigation on a timer is a great investment before your first summer. The guide to watering in an Adelaide summer covers this in more detail.

Mulch

Once seedlings are up, spread 5 to 7 cm of straw-type mulch such as pea straw or sugar cane. It keeps the soil cool and moist, smothers weeds and feeds the soil as it breaks down. Keep it a hand's width back from stems. The mulch guide explains which type to use where.

Common first-year mistakes

• Starting too big. One or two beds done well beat a big patch that gets away from you.
• Planting at the wrong time. Tomatoes in winter or lettuce in a heatwave rarely work. Follow the season.
• Crowding. Tiny seedlings grow into big plants. Follow the spacing on the label.
• Too little sun. If plants are leggy and slow, the spot may be too shady.
• Inconsistent watering. Letting beds dry out and then flooding them causes problems like blossom end rot in tomatoes and bolting in lettuce.
• Planting everything at once. Sow small amounts every few weeks so you get a steady supply instead of a glut.
• Forgetting the soil. Add compost every season, not just at the start.
• Not writing anything down. Notes on what grew where help with crop rotation and next year's plans.

Keep going

Every gardener loses plants. Treat each season as practice. Note what worked, swap tips with local gardeners, and plant a little more of what you loved next time. Patchmates keeps your planting history and sends reminders for the jobs that matter, so each season builds on the last.