Five winter jobs to do in the garden
As growth in my veggie patch slows to a crawl, it's the perfect time to tackle slower, behind-the-scenes jobs that make a big difference come spring.
Here are five jobs I'm prioritising this season for my backyard permaculture patch, within the temperate climate zone of Tarntanya/Adelaide.
You can check your zone using Gardening Australia's online map, which also provides month-by-month planting guides for your area.
Weeds inevitably pop up after winter rains, but instead of waging war on them, I work with them. Many common weeds are nutrient-rich and can be pulled up to feed my compost, or even myself.
Stinging nettle, for example, is my favourite winter weed. I love to:
I also use strategies to help naturally suppress weeds. I've created natural barriers on garden paths using thick layers of overlapping cardboard (sourced free from local businesses), topped with about 4cm of bark mulch. This blocks sunlight and smothers weeds.
In other spots, I grow edible groundcovers such as marjoram, thyme, nasturtiums and warrigal greens for a living mulch barrier.
Winter is prime pruning time in my garden. Within my mini food forest, deciduous fruit trees such as an apple, pear, nectarine and cherry drop their leaves, so it's easy to see their structure and give them a good clip-back.
Pruning now encourages better fruiting come summer and makes harvesting easier too.
It's a great time to try grafting, where you join different plant varieties onto the same rootstock. In my small garden, I'm hoping to add more pear varieties to my existing tree this winter.
I also keep an eye out for self-seeded herb, flower or veggie seedlings that pop up in paths or garden beds.
Rather than tossing them all in the compost, I'll pot a few up to share with friends and neighbours via my urban honesty stall — a lovely way to spread the winter abundance around.
After all that pruning, I have plenty of material to feed my compost system. A quick spin through my small mulcher turns bulky branches into small pieces that break down more quickly.
Then, to help build the heap more quickly, I do a bit of urban foraging. I collect spent coffee grounds from a local cafe for nitrogen and gather the last of any fallen autumn leaves from nearby deciduous street trees for carbon. Layered together, the two help keep my compost balanced.
As the weather cools, compost can slow down, so I give mine a turn once or twice in winter to keep it active. I use a spiral compost turner rather than a shovel — it's quicker and easier on my back.
All this helps ensure plentiful homemade compost to use when spring planting rolls around.
The cooler months are ideal for recharging soil, ready for the big warm-season harvests ahead. I refresh the no-dig layers in my veggie beds with alternating additions of carbon and nitrogen, such as compost, straw, activated biochar, manure and organic fertiliser.
From mid-winter onwards, I start thinking about warm-weather plantings and start seeds indoors to get a jump on spring planting, especially heat-loving plants such as tomatoes and capsicums.
I don't have any fancy seed-raising gear, so I start seeds in pots indoors where it's warmer. Once they sprout, I shift them to a sunny north-facing kitchen windowsill. After a few weeks, once they've formed their true leaves, I move the pots outside daily to help them adjust — a process called "hardening off".
The slower pace of winter gardening offers a chance to step back and consider what worked, what didn't and what might need tweaking for next season — a great way to practically apply the permaculture principle "apply self-regulation and accept feedback".
I pay particular attention to anything I grew but didn't eat much of, or any giant harvests that overwhelmed me, meaning food went to waste. This helps me understand what I should plant less of or simply stop growing.
Continually tweaking my plant list to prioritise food I actually like helps me to eat from my garden more consistently.
By focusing on these simple winter jobs, I set myself up for a garden that gradually grows healthier and more abundant next season.
Koren Helbig is a sustainable city living educator who practices permaculture and grows organic food in the backyard of her small urban Tarntanya (Adelaide) home.
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