Looking after your vegetables
Water vegetables daily, or twice daily when it's hot and dry. Frequent watering washes nutrients out of the soil, so feed fortnightly (monthly in winter). Use liquid or soluble fertiliser or sprinkle complete plant food alongside each row. A tip? Mulching vegetables with rotted manure means they won't need fertiliser and also helps conserve soil moisture.

Crop rotation
Rotating crops into different beds over a three- or four-year cycle deters pests and helps keep soil healthy. Pests that feed on particular plants die when their food source isn't replanted. Here's a three-year crop rotation plan based on a vegetable garden divided into three beds (grow all or some of the vegetables suggested for each bed).

Bed one:
Peas, beans, peanuts, sweet corn, silver beet, spinach, lettuce.

Bed two:
Cabbages, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, turnips, radishes, kohlrabi.

Bed three:
Tomatoes, carrots, leeks, potatoes, cucumber, celery, beetroot, onions, zucchini, garlic.

Rotation:
The following year, grow the contents of bed one in bed two, of bed two in bed three and of bed three in bed one. Repeat the process after every harvest.

Source: Gardening: A Commonsense Guide (Murdoch Books)