June – Food Gardening in Subtropics and Warm Regions of Australia
by Ewa Bekiesch, DipSustLiv. – Permaculture designer, consultant, and healthy food advocate.
Winter is here, and it’s the perfect time to tackle garden projects—like expanding existing beds or building new ones. After all, there’s never enough growing space—who agrees?
I’ll share my two favorite raised bed designs: simple to build and highly effective! Use the guide below if you’d like to make your own. For the walls, you can use almost any material:
- Rocks, bricks, or whatever you have on hand!
- Timber (untreated only)
- Metal sheets (galvanized works best)
Also, a herb spiral next to your kitchen window might be a good project for winter. You can watch the video about how we have built it below at the end of this article.
General Gardening Jobs (Subtropical & Warm Australia)
The Great Garden Bed Competition!
Some veggies bolt quickly if overcrowded. Harvest young greens like bok choy, radish, and carrots early to enjoy them while freeing up space for others to thrive.
Key Tasks:
Sowing, planting, harvesting (see list below)
Weeding and mulching (refresh beds as needed)
Compost tea boost – Apply a 1:4 compost tea/water mix every 4 weeks. Winter crops (brassicas, garlic, beetroot, carrots, etc.) are hungry—help them flourish! (Watch my compost tea tutorial here).
What NOT to Do in June
Hold off on heavy pruning:
- Evergreens (established/overgrown) act as windbreaks, shielding young fruit trees from cold winds.
- Deciduous trees (Mulberry, Peach, Nectarine, Apple, Nashi Pear) should only be pruned just before new growth—not now!
Bananas: Leave old leaves on trunks for winter insulation.
Avoid planting new tropical fruit trees/bushes—June is too cold for them to establish well.
Sowing, planting, harvesting
One of the reasons for providing all the information is to encourage everyone to grow their own healthy food, build resilience and confidence, and taste the difference of homegrown food! Your seeds and plant orders in our online shop at www.foodforestseeds.au are greatly appreciated, as they enable us to continue doing what we do.
All the seeds, cuttings, and plants I have on offer are naturally grown, non-GMO, heirloom, untreated, and open-pollinated, most of them coming from my food forest.
Sowing
Many of them are self-seeding in our food forest. If you don’t know some of the plants in the list below, check my Food Forest Guide or visit my online store for more info about the plants, how to grow them, and how to use them, along with some other tips and tricks. (FREE with any order in my online shop) for more info.
- Asparagus
- Indian Lettuce, Chinese Sword Lettuce – Lactuca indica
- Ethiopian Cabbage – Brassica carinata
- Borage
- bok choy, pak choy
- Cape Gooseberry
- rocket lettuce
- radish
- beetroot
- broad beans
- carrots, the All Season Carrot is best
- cauliflower
- celeriac
- celery
- coriander
- chives
- dill
- kale
- mizuna
- mustard greens
- leeks
- peas
- Sage
- silverbeet
- garlic
- potatoes
- edible flowers
- Pigeon Pea
- Poor Man’s Bean
- Sage
- Tomatoes
- Carraway
- Lettuce
- Marjoram – start seeds in trays
- Onion – start seeds in trays
- Parsley
- Radish
- Rocket Lettuce
- Red cabbage – start seeds in trays
- Silverbeet
- Sunflower
- white cabbage – start seeds in trays
- Wombok Cabbage – start seeds in trays
Planting
This list focuses on smaller plants, as there are too many fruit tree varieties suited to warm climates to include here. For inspiration, explore our Food Forest Guide and follow our Instagram and YouTube channels (links below) to see the trees we’re growing!
- Brazilian spinach
- bush basil – Ocimum oxcitriodorum
- cabbage
- lettuce
- silverbeet
- wombok
- mustard greens
- Galangal – Thai Ginger –Greater Galangal, Alpinia galangal
- Goldenrod – Solidago
- Gotu Kola – Centella asiatica
- Longevity Spinach – Gynura procumbens
- Okinawa Spinach – Hawaiian lettuce – Gynura bicolour
- Pepino
- St John’s Wort – Hypericum perforatum
- Goldenrod – Solidago canadensis
- Tarragon, Estragon – Artemisia dracunculus
- Brahmi-Memory Plant – Waterhyssop – Bacopa monnieri
- Bana Grass – Pennisetum purpureum x amaricanum
- Sugarcane Red – Saccharum officinarum
- horseradish
- tomatoes
- oregano
- shallots
- onions
- garlic chives
- pineapples
- Rose Geranium
- sweet potatoes
- Strawberry plants
- mint
Harvesting
We harvest each day according to what we plan to eat and what’s ready for picking. The June harvest list includes and is based on what grows in our food forest and what is possible, including the fruit we grow.
Perennial crop we harvest in June:
- bush basil – Ocimum oxcitriodorum
- Ceylon Hill Gooseberry
- Cranberry Hibiscus – Hibiscus acetosella – leaves and flowers
- Galangal – Thai Ginger –Greater Galangal, Alpinia galangal – leaves and roots
- Gotu Kola – Centella asiatica – leaves
- Lemongrass – Cymbopogan citratus – leaves and stalks
- Longevity Spinach – Gynura procumbens – leaves and stalks
- Okinawa Spinach – Hawaiian lettuce – Gynura bicolour – leaves and stalks
- Peruvian Parsnip – Arracacia xanthorrhiza – leaves and roots
- Rosella – Roselle – leaves and calyx
- Tarragon, Estragon – Artemisia dracunculus – leaves and flowers
- Cassava – Manihot esculenta – leaves and roots
- Brahmi-Memory Plant – Waterhyssop – Bacopa monnieri – leaves
- Bana Grass – Pennisetum purpureum x amaricanum – leaves for mulch
- West Indian Arrowroot – Maranta arundinacea – root
- Sweet Leaf – Sauropus androgynous – leaves
- Elderberry – Sambucus Nigra – berries and flowers
- Alpine strawberries – Wild Strawberries – berries
- Aloe Vera
- Dragon fruit
- Loquat fruit
- Star fruit
- shallots
- garlic chives
- pineapples
- sweet potatoes – leaves and roots
- bananas
- passion fruit
- pawpaw – leaves and fruits
- Horseradish – leaves and roots
- limes
- grapefruit
- mandarines
- oranges
- pomelo
- Blackberry – leaves
- Dandelion – leaves
- Cotton balls
Short-living perennials and annuals we harvest in June:
- Bottle Gourd
- Winged bean
- Madagascar bean
- Poor man’s bean
- Pigeon peas
- chilly, capsicum
- eggplant
- tomatoes
- all sorts of herbs
- Asian Pigeonwings, Butterfly Pea – Clitoria Ternatea
- West Indian Gherkins, Maroon Cucumber – Cucumis anguria
- Luffa
- QLD Arrowrot – leaves for chickens and bulbs for us
- mustard greens
- bok choi, pack choi
- kale
- radishes – leaves and roots
- Mexican cucumber, cucumelons
- Cabbage
- Lettuce
I hope this article helps you plan and organize your garden, bringing you one step closer to growing abundant food and achieving self-reliance sooner rather than later!
Are you ready to transform your garden into a lush, productive paradise? Whether you’re starting a small veggie patch, a vibrant flower bed, or a thriving food forest, we’ve got you covered! Check out our online shop at www.foodforestseeds.au All seeds and plants in our online shop are heirloom, non-GMO, and grown naturally with love and passion.
If you would like to support our work, you can do so in many ways:
*Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you get notified about new videos. It’s free!
*Leave a comment under the videos you watch
*Follow us on Facebook and Instagram
*Buy a plant, cuttings, seeds, or my Food Forest Guide at https://www.foodforestseeds.au
*Buy us a coffee. Our PayPal email is permaculturehaven@gmail.com
How is your garden doing in April? I would love to hear from you! Comment below.
The next article is scheduled to be published in the first week of July.
Happy Gardening!
Enjoy your garden!
Ewa
