Normally we plant our winter seed in the nursery once the heat of summer has abated  - sort of Marchish/Aprilish. This year I went for mid Feb, with much trepidation as we were still creeping up to 40 degrees centigrade. The results were fantastic. I was able to get big healthy seedlings into a brand new contour garden in Mid March, and they have really produced well. Enough greens to supply 2 courses and Internships to some extent, turnip overabundance, and loking forward to more sprouting broccoli. It looks like we will be able to extend our winter season at least by a month earlier. Lets see what happens next year. We will be experimenting with clear refuse bag cloches over seed trays as we go into an early August planting - the frosty season can extend well into September.

Will keep you updated.

If you look at the Berg en Dal Project - you will get an idea of our climate extremes and water challenges.