Spring Planting Guide - What To Plant Now in Australia

Spring is without a doubt one of the most exciting times to be a gardener. Fresh new foliage, flowers in full bloom, and lots of edible plants to sow and grow.

Growing your own food - whether in a backyard veggie patch, a few pots on your patio, or in your local community garden - is great for the planet, your health and wellbeing, and will save you money too. Plus there is nothing like raiding your veggie patch to make your dinner! So what can you start planting now?

Once the frost is gone from your area, you can plant almost anything in spring - particularly herbs, beans, peas, root vegetables, greens, tomatoes, capsicum and eggplants.

What Edible Plants to Plant in Spring

For those of you in the cool climate zones (Zone 1 in the map above), wait until the risk of frost has passed in your area before planting:

• Herbs such as coriander, mint, basil, chives, thyme, parsley, rosemary, oregano
• Beetroot
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Coriander
• Kale
• Kohl rabi
• Leek
• Lettuce
• Peas
• Radish
• Silverbeet
• Spring onion
• Squash

In the temperate climates (Zone 2), September is a great month to plant:

• Herbs such as coriander, mint, basil, chives, thyme, parsley, rosemary, oregano
• Beans
• Carrots - why not try purple carrots
• Corn
• Cucumber
• Kale
• Kohl rabi
• leek
• Lettuce
• Marigold
• Nasturtiums
• Peas
• Pumpkin
• Radish
• Silverbeet
• Squash
• Tomatoes
• Zucchini

In the subtropics (Zone 3), now is the ideal time to plant:

• Beans
• Beetroot
• Capsicum
• Carrot
• Cauliflowers
• Chilli
• Corn
• Cucumber
• Eggplant
• Herbs such as coriander, mint, basil, chives, thyme, parsley, rosemary, oregano
• Kale
• Kohl rabi
• Leek
• Lettuce
• Marigold
• Nasturtiums
• Peas
• Radish
• Silverbeet
• Squash
• Sunflower
• Tomatoes
• Watermelon

And if you live in the tropics (Zone 4):

• Beetroot
• Corn
• Herbs such as coriander, mint, basil, chives, thyme, parsley, rosemary, oregano
• Lettuce
• Nasturtiums
• Pumpkin
• Radish
• Silverbeet
• Zucchini

Biome stocks two ranges of seeds from:

Little Veggie Patch Co

Eden Seeds & Select Organic

 

Collect & Store Seeds for Next Season

As these are heirloom, open pollinated seed varieties, you can keep the seed that these plants produce to use for next season. Once you collect the seeds, spread them out on a newspaper and let them air-dry for about a week. Pack the air-dried seeds in seed envelopes and label with the seed type, date collected, and any other special notes. Keep the seed envelopes in a mason jar or glass container with a tight fitting lid, in a cool, dry place. Humidity and warmth will shorten a seeds life.

Tools to Get the Job Done

Paper Pot Maker

This simple kit allows gardeners to make a limitless supply of sturdy but biodegradable pots for seeds, seedlings and young plants. By using old newspaper to grow your seedlings instead of plastic, you are recycling something biodegradable and creating less demand for disposable plastic products. Shop the paper pot maker here >