Well I think we can finally kiss summer good-bye as the equinox has passed and with April we are well and truly into the middle of autumn, which brings with it cold nights and lots and lots of rain. 

Before the rain really sets in and frosts meet us in the mornings.  Cloches should be out, covering late zucchinis or carrot sowings to provide extra warmth.  Also with the rains come slugs and snails, so have plenty of Blitzem on hand. Put out beer traps, or mulch with coffee grounds to deter slugs and snails and weed regularly around young seedlings, as this will reduce their habitat, as well as aid soil warming.

Many of you and myself are harvesting fruits like late feijoas, apples and pears, and passionfruit; and nuts such as walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds; and potatoes, kumara, pumpkins, and carrots. Wow, what a feast!   Also harvest herbs for drying or seed for next year and plant herbs such as parsley directly into the garden.

There are still plenty of capsicums growing, maybe not as large as in summer but there still there so I'm loathed to pull them out just yet I picked a dozen on the weekend and they still keeping coming.  But do harvest your Pumpkins now and remember not to remove the stalk from the Pumpkin, this stops it from rotting.   I also pulled a large number of potatoes out of the garden (before the rains start the rotting process) and I intend to have freshly dug potatoes with lots of butter on the dinner table tonight. 

In spring I planted a pineapple sage, just one small seedling and now I have a veritable tree, about 1.5m high and wide and covered in red flowers.  This herb is apparently loved by honey bees in winter when there isn’t much else flowering in the garden, so if you want to help out the honey bees over winter plant a pineapple sage plant.  I have since found some awesome recipes using Pineapple Sage including...

Pineapple Sage Chicken
1/4 C Teriyaki or Soy sauce
1/4 C honey
1/2 C Olive Oil
2 TBS lemon Juice
2 TBS Apple juice
2 tsp ground ginger
Handful of Pineapple Sage leaves chopped
Boneless Chicken Breasts Marinade chicken in above ingredients. Cook on grill

Pineapple Sage Kebabs
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
500g can pineapple chunks in juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup dark rum
2 sprigs basil, chopped, stems removed
2 red peppers, cut into chunks
12 large pineapple sage leaves, torn in half
1 handful pineapple sage flowers

Wash chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside. Reserving juice, drain pineapple chunks. Set aside. Mix pineapple juice, brown sugar, rum and basil in a medium-sized glass bowl. Place chicken in mixture and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Thread chicken, pineapple chunks, red peppers and pineapple sage leaves onto skewers, alternating ingredients. Place skewers on prepared grill, away from direct heat. Grill for 5 to 6 minutes per side, basting with marinade. Garnish with pineapple sage flowers. 

Anyway it's also time to tidy weeds around ornamental beds as this will encourage young self-seeded flowers to grow and provide more organic material for composting.  Finally in April and May we need to prepare new strawberry beds by planting runners to replace the old plants.

• Harvest late summer vegetables; pumpkins, marrows, potatoes, onions. Store in a cool dry place.
• Sow seeds of beetroot, broccoli, broad beans, cabbage, carrots, onions, radish, spinach, swedes and turnips.
• Transplant seedlings of broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, leeks, lettuce, silverbeet and spinach.
• Earth up leeks.
• Protect young seedlings from slugs and snails with Blitzem.
• Offset rain by planting vegetables in raised beds.
• Rhubarb can be divided and replanted into compost enriched soil.
• Plant potatoes in frost-free areas.
• Plant parsley and perennial herbs.
• Start your winter clean-up programme by spraying trees with Champ fungicide before pruning.
• Sharpen all pruning tools to make the job easier. 
• A busy month for tidying up summer flowering annuals. Replace with primulas, cinerarias, nemesias, iceland poppies, calendula, stock, pansies, violas, polyanthus, penstemon, snapdragon and hollyhock.
• Sow seeds of aquilegia, alyssum, calendula, cineraria, cornflower, dianthus, English daisy, godetia, linaria, livingstone daisy, lobelia, lupin, nemesia, snapdragon, statice, stock sweetpea and viola.
• Continue planting spring flowering bulbs.
• A good time for planting trees and shrubs.
• Prune shrubs that have finished flowering.
• Lift, divide and replant perennials.
• Plant pots with autumn and winter flowering annuals such as pansies, primulas, polyanthus, stock, antirrhinums and spring flowering bulbs.