Cascading harvest

There is so much choice during the warmer weather with bean, tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant and corn the staple crops of the warm season. But don't forget about all those wonderful vining summer crops like zucchini, cucumber, squash, pumpkin and melons. Include these in your garden and you'll maximise your summer harvest.

One of the most productive plants in the summer garden is zucchini, and if you've grown zucchini before, you'll know a couple of plants go a long way.

Cucumbers are also highly productive and are a must have in summer salads. Try growing some for pickles, cornichons as well as salads.

Watermelons and cantaloupe (musk melons and rock melons) need several months of hot weather to ripen. While best sown directly in warm climates, start in pots in cooler areas to give plants a head start when the warm weather arrives in late October.  

Another crop that's perfect for transplanting out in late October is pumpkins. Planted in spring around Halloween in Australia, (the opposite to America where they harvest at this time during their autumn), the bigger the pumpkin, the longer they need to reach maturity, but they are so worth the wait, giving you ample produce from autumn through winter.

Allow your vining crops to sprawl over the edge of garden beds, or train up a trellis, to help to extend your season and bring the full flavour of summer to your kitchen and garden.