January – Permaculture Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia

by Ewa Bekiesch, Permaculture sustainable living designer, consultant, and healthy food advocate.

The summer is here. This is the time when we try to slow down mostly because of the high temperatures during the day. However, there are still some jobs you can do if you love your green space and if you want to harvest all year round! I have prepared a list for you below and I am aware that this might be just a fraction of what is possible in January in subtropics. I have purposely limited it to the edibles I have in my food forest and got the best experience with them over the years. The list is quite long and I am pretty sure that I have forgotten a few species so will update the list if required.

Since I am being asked where to get the plants I grow – we do sell many of our food forest plants and seeds online through our website www.foodforestseeds.au. You will also find the link below at the end of this article.

For easy-to-grow vegetables in the hot summer, check my video below at the end of this article or on my YouTube channel.

Note: This is the monthly edition about gardening in that particular month. If you haven’t read my ‘summer gardening jobs’ article yet, start there: Summer – Permaculture Sustainable Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia

Sowing

I have most of them self-seeding and taking care of themselves in the food forest so not much for me to do but if you don’t have them yet, you can sow now ( check the ‘Food Forest Guide’ for more info about the plants listed below).

• Asian Pigeonwings, Butterfly Pea – Clitoria Ternatea
• Bottle Gourd, Calabash – Lagenaria siceraria and other gourds
• Cape Gooseberry – Physalis peruviana
• Egyptian Spinach – Corchorus olitorius
• Winged bean, Asparagus Pea – Psophocarpus tetragonolobus
• Luffa – Luffa aegyptiaca
• Tromboncino, Summer squash – Cucurbita moschata 
• Rosella – Roselle
• Okra – Abelmoschus esculentus
• West Indian Gherkins, Maroon Cucumber – Cucumis anguria
• Orange Cosmos Flower – Cosmos sulphureus
• Indiana Lettuce, Chinese Sword Lettuce – Lactuca indica
• Pigeon Peas – Cajanus cajan
• Cranberry Hibiscus – Hibiscus acetosella
• Jicama – Pachyrhizus erosus
• Capsicum and Chilli
• Different sorts of Corn, Sunflower, Zucchini, Sweet Corn, Beans, Squash, and Pumpkin will do well, too

Planting

I am not mentioning any trees here, mostly because there are too many trees you can grow in a subtropical climate so simply choose what you enjoy eating and what suits your garden. Talking about planting trees, you should resist planting any young fruit trees during the summertime as they may struggle to get established. Especially during a very dry and hot summer. If you want to know what trees we are growing, check our ‘Food Forest Guide‘.

There are many plants that don’t mind the heat. Make sure they are sun-trained before you plant them and also check where they grow best, sun, half-shade, or shade.

• bush basil – Ocimum oxcitriodorum
• Cranberry Hibiscus – Hibiscus acetosella
• Galangal – Thai Ginger –Greater Galangal, Alpinia galangal
• Goldenrod – Solidago
• Gotu Kola – Centella asiatica
• Lemongrass – Cymbopogan citratus
• Longevity Spinach – Gynura procumbens
• Okinawa Spinach – Hawaiian lettuce – Gynura bicolour
• Peruvian Parsnip – Arracacia xanthorrhiza
• Jicama – Pachyrhizus erosus
• Pepino Solanum – muricatum
• Rosella – Roselle
• Yacon – Smallanthus sonchifolius
• St John’s Wort – Hypericum perforatum
• Goldenrod – Solidago canadensis
• Tarragon, Estragon – Artemisia dracunculus
• Cassava – Manihot esculenta
• Pigface, Baby Sunrose – Aptenia cordifolia
• Brahmi-Memory Plant – Waterhyssop – Bacopa monnieri
• Bana Grass – Pennisetum purpureum x amaricanum
• West Indian Arrowroot – Maranta arundinacea
• Sugarcane Red – Saccharum officinarum
• Sweet Leaf – Sauropus androgynous
• Yacon – Smallanthus sonchifolius
• shallots
• garlic chives
• pineapples
• sweet potatoes
• bananas
• passion fruit
• chilly, capsicum
• eggplant
• mint

Harvesting

We are harvesting daily and as required, depending on what we like to eat and cook, and/or what needs to be harvested. The January harvest list includes and is based on what grows in our food forest and what is possible, including fruit from our fruit trees. As you may think, we don’t harvest all of it every day. Many of them simply keep growing and wait patiently for their turn to end up in the kitchen, or as green mulch ‘chop and drop, go to compost if they are taking over, or as food for our chickens, ducks, or worm farm. The possibilities are endless.

Perennials crop in January:

• bush basil – Ocimum oxcitriodorum
• Cranberry Hibiscus – Hibiscus acetosella – leaves
• 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
• Pepino Solanum – muricatum – fruit
• Rosella – Roselle – leaves and calyx
• St John’s Wort – Hypericum perforatum – flowers
• 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
• West Indian Arrowroot – Maranta arundinacea – root
• Sugarcane Red – Saccharum officinarum – cane
• Sweet Leaf – Sauropus androgynous – leaves
• Elderberry – Sambucus Nigra – berries and flowers
• Yellow Cherry Guava/Lemon Guava – fruit
• shallots
• garlic chives
• pineapples
• sweet potatoes – leaves and roots
• bananas
• passion fruit
• pawpaw – leaves and fruits
• grapes
• Loganberries – leaves and fruits
• Horseradish leaves – leaves and roots
• limes
• Boysenberry – leaves and fruits
• star fruit – fruit

Short-living perennials and annuals we harvest in January:

• squash, tromboncino, zucchini, pumpkin
• chilly, capsicum
• eggplant
• cucumbers
• tomatoes
• celery, celeriac
• parsnip
• beans
• Asian Pigeonwings, Butterfly Pea – Clitoria Ternatea
• Okra – Abelmoschus esculentus
• West Indian Gherkins, Maroon Cucumber – Cucumis anguria
• Indiana Lettuce, Chinese Sword Lettuce – Lactuca indica
• Pigeon Peas – Cajanus cajan
• sunflower
• Bottle Gourd, Calabash – Lagenaria siceraria, and other gourds

I’m pretty sure that I forgot about one or the other plant which we sow, plant, or harvest but I will update here as we progress into the month. Any questions or comments? Simply comment below. Are you looking for seeds, cuttings or plants? Check out our online shop at www.foodforestseeds.au

Would you like to support our work? You can do so by sharing our articles and videos and subscribing to our YouTube channel which also helps other people to find us more easily.

For design, consultation, workshops, and courses check our website here.

If you would like to buy us a coffee, you can do so here.

I hope that my article helps you to plan and organise your garden, and brings you one step closer to growing an abundance of food to become self-reliant sooner than later 🙂

What are you sowing, planting, and harvesting in your subtropical garden at the moment? Leave your comment under this article. Happy Gardening! Ewa