Spring at the Sanctuary Point Garden sees the arrival of the spring and summer vegetable seedlings.

The popularity of growing your own food and having your own supply of healthy vegetables has in no way diminished over the past few years.  Families are going back to basics and in reality back in time when most people grew or produced some kind of food in their back yards.  Parents and Grand-parents are teaching their kids where food comes from, how to take care of a vegetable patch and of course how to grow and get the best out of your plots.

To be able to spend a morning or afternoon tending to a vegetable patch or picking produce for lunch or dinner is one of the most satisfying things to do in the garden.  Sending the kids out with a bucket or container and getting them to pick the produce needed for that nights salad, does it get much better than that?  And remember you don’t need a sprawling vegetable patch to achieve a regular supply of Spring and Summer vegetables.

Each year we strive to improve both the variety and of course it goes without saying the quality of our seedling offering and this year is no exception.  We continually push our suppliers to maintain a high quality product to ensure you get the very best seedlings for your gardens and ultimately your families.

Our Key tips for producing your own home-grown vegetables are as follows:

• Planning – It’s important to plan your space before you start planting.  Be aware of the amount of sunshine the area receives during the growing months and decide what vegetables you will plant where.
• Feeding – Ensure you maintain the nutrient levels within the growing areas, you’ll need regular applications of cow manure, compost, mushroom compost or pelletised organic fertiliser.  Make sure you don’t over do it, if you do then some vegetables will struggle to grow.  An example of too much nutrient and not enough calcium (garden lime) in the soil is blossom-end rot in tomatoes.  The base of the tomatoes will turn brown and mushy as they develop and they’ll have to be chucked in the bin.
• Watering – Watering is essential, ensure you are watering regularly during the warmer months.  If it rains, try and collect as much of the rainwater as you can so you can use it at a later date.
• Choosing – There are so many vegetable seedlings to choose from and it’s easy to go a bit crazy and want to plant everything all at once.  Don’t worry we’ve all done it!  Choose a small selection to start off with,  an example would be Tomatoes, Spring Onions, Lettuce and Cucumbers, all the ingredients for a basic green salad.  Next you could put in some Corn and perhaps some Chilli or Capsicum?  It’s completely up to you what you decide to grow, just make sure you have enough room and don’t over-crowd your beds.  Remember these plants are BABIES, they need to be treated gently!
• Protecting – You’ll need to protect your vegetable seedlings from the local fauna, these include Possums, Bandicoots, Rabbits, Bush Rats, Roos and Wallabies.  You will also need to protect them from Birds, Bats, Bugs and Bacteria.  This sounds daunting but with some fine white netting you can cover vegetable patches to keep most of the problems at bay and reduce the need for spraying.
• Enjoying – This is the most important part of growing your own food, enjoying all the elements of getting the seedlings to the table. Enjoying the process, enjoying the lessons you learn along the way and enjoying the sharing of the produce you’ve grown with family, friends and neighbours.

During August, September, October, November and December we take delivery of the healthiest and happiest Spring and Summer vegetable seedlings here at the Sanctuary Point Garden Centre.  If you have any questions about our seedlings, please don’t hesitate to contact us via telephone (02) 4443 9032 or email info@sanctuarypointgc.com.au or you can call in to the nursery at 118 Macleans Point Road, Sanctuary Point and speak to our qualified staff.