KITCHEN GARDEN – SEASONAL UPDATE – AUTUMN 2026
Report from the kitchen garden, May 2026
Successes
One of the tomato varieties from last year is showing promise as a cool-season tomato option. The delightfully named Sunrise Bumble Bee (a yellow cherry streaked with red) was grown from seed back in August and planted out in November 2025,. Although they did very little over summer, they have now taken off, with healthy-looking foliage as well as flowers and fruit. According to the Seed Collection (source of the seed), this variety produces good yields and fruit set in cooler climates, so if they continue to thrive, they may prove to be a good option for a Sydney winter, with the fruit able to develop and ripen without so many stink bugs getting stuck in.
The Jerusalem artichokes in grow bags are reaching great heights with their little yellow sunflowers waving about in the breeze. Incorporating the terracotta ‘olla spikes’ seems to have made all the difference, given the propensity of the grow bags to dry out. We’re hoping there is as much action below ground as above. We will find out in June. We’re also looking forward to a double harvest from our two grow bags of yacon, the delicious tuber we discovered last year.
We have managed to start quite a lot of dill seedlings from seeds saved from a plant which grew well in the People’s bed last year. They are at various stages of development, with some in the People’s bed and others in pots of different sizes, so we should be able to maintain a workable supply.
The potted peppers are still flowering and fruiting. Harvested green, the Japanese shishito is a mild pepper which can be roasted or grilled. Aleppo peppers are harvested when red, and we’ve been collecting them for distribution to any keen members when dried and flaked.
The Molokai and Okinawa/ Hawaiian purple sweet potatoes have put out lots of leaves (which are delicious), and we’re hoping for a reasonable crop of tasty tubers in June.
Activities
Rats have been hampering our efforts to get winter crops started. They’ve been digging up the soil in newly sown areas and even tunnelling under our protective wire ‘hats’ to decimate baby brassicas. We’re trying different ways of using wire mesh to get seedlings established and give seeds enough time to germinate, although this means some of our beds now look like Fort Knox.
We decided not to grow brussels sprouts this year, as we were unable to source Red Ribs – the only variety we had any success with. Instead, we’re trying broad beans again, which are doing well so far although we know we need to be alert to pests, especially aphids. Blasting the underside of the nasturtium leaves proved effective in removing aphids in summer and we plan to try that with the broad beans.
We‘ve sown sweet peas (High Scent, America, Triple G, Blue Shift), and snow peas (Yakumo, another climbing variety courtesy of potagers, as well as a dwarf variety). Also beetroot (golden and chioggia); and Japanese turnips again, Golden and Hidabeni Red. We also need to get some silver beet / rainbow chard started.
Some pests are becoming less of a problem as the weather cools. Flea beetle numbers have subsided, although we were not able to apply diatomaceous earth during the wet weather, and there are fewer stink bugs. We have been using iron-based pheromone baits for slugs, and have sown landcress as a trap crop for white cabbage butterflies.