Preparing my garden for time away in summer

With summer holidays on the horizon, I'm already thinking of ways to protect my veggie patch in the heat, so I don't return home to a crispy wasteland.

I live in Australia's driest capital city — Tarntanya (Adelaide) — which, this year, has had its driest spell since records began in 1839.

That makes for tough food-gardening conditions. Happily, though, thanks to a few simple yet strategic methods, my permaculture garden fares relatively well in the hot and dry — and, most importantly, still pumps out plenty of organic food.

Here are key ways I'm preparing my veggie patch for summer, helping it thrive through South Australia's heatwaves even when I'm not home to tend it.

Preparation is key — and it starts with soil

Well before I pack my bags and head off on holiday, I'm turning my attention to the soil. Bare soil quickly dries out in the sun, becoming hard, compacted and water-repellent.

The trick is to boost organic matter to feed the billions of beneficial microbes living in the soil. Microbes work symbiotically with plants, helping roots soak up more nutrients and reducing susceptibility to heat stress, while also retaining more water.

Throughout the year, I help my soil in four key ways:

• Continually adding organic matter: compost, aged animal manure, autumn leaves, straw and food scraps. I add a regular dash of activated biochar, which can help retain more moisture, too.
• Never turning my soil, which can destroy the structure and reduce its ability to hold water. Instead, I use the "no-dig" permaculture approach and layer organic matter across the soil's surface.
• Creating free mulch by "chopping and dropping" weeds (before they go to seed) and plant prunings, leaving them lying across the ground.
• Snipping spent plants off at ground level and leaving the roots intact within the soil, creating useful channels for oxygen and water as they decompose.

Handily, these tactics help during downpours too, reducing erosion, improving the soil's ability to hold water and increasing porosity to prevent flooding.

Choose the right plants and provide shade

Another key preparation method begins with the plants I choose. I stick to hardy, locally adapted varieties, which are more likely to cope with my local climate extremes.

I source these from my local independent nursery and by swapping seeds with fellow local gardeners. Over the years, I've also saved seeds from my own crops, replanting them each season to keep a resilient, homegrown supply.

As the weather warms up, I shield my plants by providing shade on scorching days. Shaded plants don't need to push as much moisture through their leaves to keep cool, saving water.

I use a mixture of 50 per cent shade cloth and umbrellas, plus the odd second-hand sheet strung across a couple of poles. It's a bit ugly, but it works. I've also experimented with using plants as cooling shade by growing vertically up trellises and garden arches.

Water smart to make the best use of every drop

Of course, giving my veggie patch a good drink is one of the most important ways to keep it thriving over summer.

To make life easier, I've installed drip irrigation lines connected to a cheap tap timer. Now, anyone can water with just the turn of a tap, and my plants get a soak right at their roots, where they need it most.

I aim to water early morning or late evening, when lower temperatures help reduce evaporation, and give the garden an extra soak before any forecasted 40+ degree days.

I'm often surprised by how much water edible plants need to thrive, and feel lucky to have five rainwater tanks holding a total of 25,000 litres — a huge boost to my garden's resilience in dry South Australia, which also helps reduce my water bill.

To supplement that supply, I reuse greywater wherever I can. While I don't have an in-built system (that's a future renovation goal for my little house), I make use of simple DIY strategies: a bucket in the shower, a bowl in the sink and a hose diverting water from my washing machine.

I still get a bit anxious leaving my garden behind in Adelaide's often-brutal heat, but supported by this careful planning and preparation, it usually comes through thriving and resilient.

Koren Helbig is a freelance journalist and sustainable city living educator who practises permaculture and grows organic food in the backyard of her small urban Tarntanya/Adelaide home.