Autumn veggie garden

Autumn veggie garden is definitely my favourite season in sunny South Africa; that means April and May. There's the the produce, the mellow fruitfulness of the remains of summer and all the promise of the winter abundance to come; it is relatively mild in the Midlands of SA.

This page was last updated by Bernard Preston on 8th April, 2025.

I hated autumn in Holland; the stark, long winter lay ahead but ours is short-lived and the organic greens are sprouting in profusion. There are cold, frosty nights but daytime temperatures are in the upper teens; Celsius.

The beehives are smelling divine with the first harvest of the year just ahead. The scent of a million flowers is a wonder to the senses as the bees fan off the excess water in the raw nectar.

We are still enjoying the end of the summer vegetables. There are a few corn cobs to be had for lunch. The chaote squash are producing in abundance; we call them susus. They are a much neglected autumn gourd that has a very mild flavour and so is dismissed; but it each vine delivers over 100 fruit, richer in protein than expected and plenty of vitamin C.

• Chaote squash
  

The last row of green beans has just started bearing; we're holding thumbs against an early frost; that will finish them off.

There are still a few zucchinis to be had and the summer spinach and kale are yielding the last of their nutritious shoots; it's definitely time to plant more greens.

There are even still a few granadillas to be enjoyed but not many; my grandson gets all of them. At two years old he is very passionate about his food.

But it is the autumn and winter gardens that we now look forward to.

Twelve swarms of angry African "killer" bees will provide more than enough for the family and friends; in fact our hives produced more than 700 pounds of honey last year. And a nice bit of pocket-money for a few treats for the family; this year it will be an extra lithium ion to support our solar system.

Last night I harvested 40 bottles of honey from just one hive. This is one of the most rewarding hobbies that anyone could enjoy; but it is hard work, the supers are heavy and African bees have a way of showing their displeasure when their pantry is being robbed.

There is a caring relationship between the 'keeper and his pets; he provides them with a sound home protected from the elements, they give to him a sweet reward in return. Some would say he exploits them; a naive view in my opinion.

• Do some vegans eat honey?
  

Autumn veggie garden

Autumn veggie garden is about planting those organic winter greens before the cold sets in.

Citrus

It is been a long three months with little citrus from the garden but now the first limes, mandarins and lemons are turning yellow. The Valencias will not ripen for another six months; they are still grass-green. We freeze the pulp for our hummus that is enjoyed year round.

Fruit trees like full sun; just look at the profusion of fruit on this mandarin orange tree since we cut back a large azalea that was shading it.

Fruit trees need fertilizer. You either purchase the inorganic sort or provide your own from the compost heap and worm-farms.

I am passionate about backyard permaculture; that is the sustainable garden working with rather than against nature. Freshly-picked organic fruit and veg, not sprayed with toxic ecocides are priceless; how do you measure abundant health in dollars, pounds and rands?

Choice foods

Choice nutritious foods is where the long life enjoyed largely without medication starts. If you want to sit under those trees you once planted, sipping coffee whilst watching the grandchildren grow up, then it's time to think about organic greens, oranges and purples; and planting an autumn veggie garden.

An early miserable demise is on the cards for those still on a black and white diet; like TV it's long past time to step up to colour.

Those who eat 8 to 10 coloured foods every day have a 35% lower all-cause of death. That is massive; much less pain and misery. Organic gardeners consume few drugs and have little need to consult doctors and pharmacists; and the DC too.

Mind you one can strain a back digging the autumn veggie garden; and I have an aching shoulder from using the chainsaw yesterday, preparing timber for the wood-stove. Even in Africa, nights in winter can be moderately cold.

Avocados

Best of all, perhaps, was the first avocado this week; there was a battle with the grandchildren as to who was going to have the first taste.

We are unable to grow olives on the eastern seaboard with its summer rainfall, so avocados are the only other ready source of the exceptionally fine fruit fatty-acids. It's not been an easy season for the avocados with the Hass nearly killed with an unusual black frost last winter, and a hailstorm that struck just when they were in flower.

Despite that, the Fuerte and the Pinkerton should provide enough fruit for six months; it's all happening in the autumn veggie garden.

• Avocado fat, along with the olive is the best of choice food oils in the world.
  

Nutritious choice foods must include fat; remember the brain is largely made of lard, and most nerves are coated with a fatty myelin sheath. Without foods like avocados we would die within a short time.

Dieting certainly should not about cutting out all the fat. In fact, so important is this for our nervous systems we have started importing freshly-harvested olives from the Karoo and pickling them in brine for six months.

Controversially we have four cherry guava trees; they are listed amongst the world's top 100 most invasive species. At sea level, that is, but at nearly 4000 feet above sea level, they are not troublesome at all. Nevertheless, folk who think we should only grow indigenous plants frown upon us. These beauties mean we have fresh fruit every day for months, and the most divine jelly to go on our sandwiches.

Greens, Oranges and Purples

But it's the coloured vegetables that this autumn veggie garden blog is really about; remembering that those who consume eight or more coloured foods, most days, have a 35 percent lower all-cause of death.

Organic food green

Organic green food is what it's all about. Queen of the anti-tumour lobby is broccoli and here I must make a punt for the those grown in compost; and picked fresh from your own autumn veggie garden.

Recently I had commercial broccoli at a restaurant and I'm not surprised my grandchildren turned up their noses; it was insipid and tasteless. I did too.

We have three plantings of broccoli spaced about a month apart in our autumn veggie garden. The most mature are already forming a head, the youngest set out last week. We will be enjoying them for probably the next six months; the branching variety provide an abundance of shoots that continue for ages.

Helen's chicken and broccoli soup recipe is to die for. 

Here we have broccoli, forming heads in the foreground; beyond them cauliflower. In the centre row is a late crop of bush green beans, with beetroot in the distance. On the right there is radish in the foreground and green peas beyond; a procession of nourishing goodness.

It's now time to consider how to plant broad beans in the autumn veggie garden.

Above are three rows of broccoli plants about a month old, and below broccoli planted just one week ago.

• Organic food green
  

Organic oranges

Nothing demonstrates the power of humus better than a butternut plant, self sown, growing in a compost heap. Unlike pumpkins, big is better; this 17 inch beauty will feed our family of four adults and three children for a week. And it's still growing; soon we'll be having roasted butternut squash recipe in abundance.

• Growing butternut squash
  

Also in the autumn veggie garden I love this huge mixed butternut and sweet potato patch. The form such a good ground cover that no weed dares compete, making it easy on the gardeners.

It's May now and before too long the first frost will kill off the tops, and we can start reaping. They will last us the whole winter.

• Planting sweet potatoes
  

Organic reds

The humble lettuce is one of the most versatile in the organic garden; no one was more surprised that us when this red lettuce seeded itself.

As long as you keep them damp growing lettuce is very easy; they have a shallow rooting system.

Now Helen has transplanted a myriad of seedlings; we're in for a bumper crop. Currently we have at least seven different lettuce varieties in our autumn veggie garden; and they all count towards that eight plus count of coloured foods that reduce the all-cause of death by a massive 35 percent.

In short the autumn vegetable garden, in a mild climate, is a profusion of well-being; for those who take the time, and have the energy and stamina to make it happen.

What's the purpose of this page, you may well ask? Just boast about what we have achieved? Not so, we are just saying that with a little effort you too could do this and enjoy the amazing wonders of the autumn veggie garden. Good food never tasted so fine when freshly picked from your own patch.

Add to this the cabbage, jalapeno and peppadew, tree tomato and whole spectrum of herbs, and you have the wondrous expectation of more zest and greater wellness.

I just love these jalapenos above, manageable if you lightly blanche them, though Helen prefers to cooler pepperdews; they too can be hot. The active ingredient, capaicin, a strongly anti inflammatory agent,  is especially rich in the seeds and placenta; don't chuck them.

These cherry tomatoes are quite resistant to blight; you need more than one of these to qualify for a tomato a day keeps the prostate cancer away. There are few greater miseries for men; I usually enjoy at least 20 per day.

Organic purples

Because I suffer from a lazy colon, beetroot are a big part of our garden. It's soluble fibre is just the stuff to keep one regular. Pressure cook them or they take for ever, consuming a lot of electricity and time. Pickled beets are my favourite.

Read more about adult potty training from my other site.

Copy and paste into Site Search in the main menu above for more information.

Legumes

We are big into legumes, year round, but in early June there's a hiatus; the limas of summer are nearly over and the peas and broad beans are full of promise but no fruit as of yet.

Whilst the research is not unequivocal, we think it wise to enjoy less red meat and get more of our protein from legumes.

Bernard Preston

Bernard Preston's book are primarily yarns, true ones, from a DC's coalface. Then there is the lurid tale, A Family Affair, in which he explores the relationship between two young women; it has nothing to do with our autumn veggie garden, but both Santie and Janet are gardeners.

Have you found pages like this useful and interesting; then you'll certainly enjoy one of my six books. All are controversial, so be warned.

As ebooks they are dirt cheap, so nothing to lose if you don't like them. Can you afford one dollar? Enjoy it on your Kindle, and many folk who take public transport, enjoy them on the smartphone.

Then there are three books, anecdotes from the life of a skilled DC, starting with my first fledgling feet, and ending in Stones in my clog with a seven year sojourn in the polders of Holland. Do you want to know what a DC actually does every day?

They are light fun books that are easy reading.

---

Newsletter

Our newsletter is entitled "create a cyan zone" at your home, preserving both yourself and Mother Earth for future generations; and the family too, of course. We promise not to spam you with daily emails promoting various products. You may get an occasional nudge to buy one of my books.

Here are the back issues.

Did you find this page interesting? How about forwarding it to a friendly book or food junkie? Better still, a social media tick would help.

Address:

56 Groenekloof Rd,

Hilton, KZN

South Africa

Website:

https://www.bernard-preston.com

Create a Cyan Zone at your home; one which complements blue areas for longevity with green for protecting Mother Earth.