February Garden in the Southern Hemisphere

February is late summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Autumn will come officially to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile on March 21.

Planting slows down in the late summer garden. Spring cabbage can be sown this month and so can parsley for winter harvest. Now is the time for the last sowing of lettuce. Spring cabbage that was sown last month can be transplanted into the garden now.

Harvesting is in full swing in the February summer garden. Lift onions and dry them in the sun before storing them. Continue to pick beans, courgettes, squash, and tomatoes as they ripen. Harvest these as they ripen and less mature crops still on the vine will ripen more quickly.

February Planting in the Southern Hemisphere 

• Temperate regions: Vegetables: beans, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chicory, cress, eggplant, endive, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard, spring onions, parsnip, peas, potato tubers, radish, rhubarb crowns, rutabaga (Swede), salsify, shallots, silverbeet (Swiss chard), spinach, turnips. Herbs: angelica, borage, chervil, chicory, chives, hyssop, parsley.
• Tropical and subtropical northern regions: Vegetables: artichoke suckers, beans, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, cape gooseberry, capsicum, carrots, celery, Chinese cabbage, cress, cucumber, eggplant, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, marrow, melons, mustard, okra, onions, spring onions, parsnip, potato tubers, pumpkin, radish, rhubarb crown, rutabaga (Swede), silverbeet (Swiss chard), squash, sweet corn, sweet potato, tomato, turnip, zucchini. Herbs: Angelica, basil, borage, caraway, chives, fennel, hyssop, salad burnet.
• Cooler southern regions: Vegetables: beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, chicory, cress, endive, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, spring onions, parsnip, radish, rhubarb crowns, rutabaga (Swede), salsify, shallots, silverbeet (Swiss chard), spinach, turnips. Herbs: caraway, chervil, chives, parsley, salad burnet.

February Harvest in the Southern Hemisphere

Here is a roundup of vegetables and fruits ready for harvest during February in the Southern Hemisphere:

• Vegetable Harvest: beans, capsicum (peppers), carrots, green chilies, corn, lettuce, melons, pumpkins, purslane, turnips, zucchini.
• Fruits and Nut Harvest: almonds, apples, late apricots, avocadoes, brambleberries, cape gooseberries, gooseberries, grapes, figs, hazelnuts, lemons, melons, mulberries, nectarines, oranges, passionfruit, banana passionfruit, peaches, pears, plums, raspberries, strawberry guavas, strawberries, tamarillos.

Also of interest: Year-round gardening tips for the Southern Hemisphere