Keeping the sun off

On the really hot days you will need to give the plants a bit of a hand water in the morning. It is great if you can rig up some irrigation that supplies water directly to the base of the plant as this saves water and will get the water to where it is needed the most. Our famous killer tomato crop had an individual drip line right to the base of the plants which worked really well. If your plants are sensitive to the sun, you might want to consider rigging up some sort of shade for them. I think the best thing to do however is to get some large plants established in the cooler months of the year, which will act as shade for the root systems of the seedlings coming through. If it is your first vege patch it is near impossible to get it going in summer, as there will be no established plants to keep the sun off, and condition the soil.

Planting

Ok so it is time to plant. Not too much to be said except follow the directions on the packet, and keep in mind how large the plants are likely to get once they are fully matured. I once tried to cram as much stuff into one patch as I could and very little produce came from it, as the plants had to share a finite nutrient sources and the whole patch had stunted growth. I will go into more detail about individual plants in some of the other sections.