A healthy winter garden

The peppers have finished and the tomatoes are nearly over. One cold morning soon the basil suddenly will be black and the summer vege garden will be done. No need for sadness - you can plant and harvest veges throughout the winter.

The brassica family, which includes cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, is the mainstay of the traditional winter garden. Now that the weather is cooler it is a good time to plant them. These guys take a lot of space and time. However you can take advantage of slow-growing brassicas by planting quick crops between them. Lettuces, spring onions and baby carrots can all be sown between brassicas and they will be harvested and gone by the time the brassicas reach full size. Garden centres sell mixed vege punnets designed for this. They also sell punnets of mixed brassicas - an ideal way to avoid a glut of one variety.

Nowadays we grow many winter greens from Asia as well as Europe. Pak choy and wong bok are two favourites that can be bought in punnets. They mature quickly for delicious stir-fries. If you can't grow silver beet or rainbow beet it's time to give up - but I bet you can! If the taste of silver beet isn't popular in your house, try English spinach or perpetual spinach. They are easy, mild-tasting alternatives. New Zealand spinach is a native plant that Captain Cook used to treat his crew for scurvy. It is a coastal plant that scrambles on sand dunes, and will thrive in a dry sunny corner of your garden. The succulent leaves can be steamed, stir-fried or used in any dish calling for greens. The taste is mild and sweet.

Potatoes are easy to grow by many methods, and they can be started any time over the next few months. In limited space grow them in a barrel or another large container. Put a layer of compost or garden mix at the bottom of the barrel and set the sprouted seed potatoes on it. Cover them with about 10cm of garden mix. As the stems and foliage develop add more mix to bury the stems so that only the top leaves show. Keep building up the mix layers until the potatoes begin flowering. When the flowers have finished and the stems have died down you can begin to harvest your spuds.

Tradition has it that garlic and shallots should be planted on the shortest day and harvested on the longest. Keep to this rule of thumb and plant them some time in mid-winter for summer taste treats.

If you have spare space sow lupin or mustard to revitalise the garden over winter. This green crop or living mulch will flourish in bare patches and prevent weed growth. A few weeks before planting in spring, dig the garden over and bury the green crop. It will add nitrogen to the soil and condition it for the summer garden and those colourful peppers and tomatoes.