Do you remember Stone Soup, the traditional tale about hungry travellers who persuade villagers to contribute bits and bobs to a stone in a pot of boiling water resulting in a delicious soup they all share? Similarly, you’ll always be able to make soup if you’ve got a vege patch.

Even the slimmest of pickings, when boiled with good quality stock, make for delicious soup. One carrot, one onion, a handful of spinach, silverbeet or kale, a celery stalk plus parsley and a bayleaf – just use what you’ve got. And, if you like soup with a creamy consistency, fling it in the blender and add a dollop of cream at the end.

READ MORE: * Citrus trees: how to grow, feed and harvest * Common citrus tree problems & how to deal with them * Q & A: What lemon tree varieties will grow in the South Island?

It’s well worth switching your salad growing to pots and containers in cold, wet areas. Not only will the soil temperature in your containers be significantly higher than the soil in your garden, but pots also have much better drainage.

Another benefit to potted salads is that you can move your greens to a sheltered area for more convenient harvesting.

Salad greens you can sow and plant now include: mizuna, mibuna, miner’s lettuce, kale, cress, mustard, rocket, minutina, Asian greens, red-leafed or cos lettuces and all the winter friendly mesclun mixes like ‘Kale Blend’, ‘Simply Red’, ‘Winter Greens’, ‘Oriental’– all from Kings Seeds.

’Tis the season... to roast veges, from ‘Agria’ spuds to Southland swedes and sweet yams.

Yams are a species of oxalis (Oxalis tuberosa), which is worth remembering when you’re digging your crop. If you don’t get all the tubers – even the tiny ones – out of the ground, they’ll sprout like weeds next spring.

Yams are ready to harvest as soon as their shamrock-like green tops die down, though their flavour will be sweeter if you wait until after the first few frosts. If you’re not digging them up all at once, it’s worth marking the position of each plant so you know where to dig once they’re dormant.

To ensure you get all the tubers out, dig deep and dump the soil into a wheelbarrow for easy sifting and sorting. Give them a scrub, but don’t peel yams before cooking.

If you’ve never grown (or eaten) yams before, buy a bag from your local greengrocer or supermarket and save a few tubers to replant in spring, when all risk of late frosts has passed. Plant in fertile, free-draining soil and mound up.

As the citrus season cranks into full swing, be prepared to protect your trees from frost. Some citrus varieties, such as kumquats and ‘Meyer’ lemons, can cope with a light tickle by Jack Frost but as a rule these subtropicals will sulk if caught in the cold. Keep a roll of frost cloth handy to drape over young citrus trees on clear, still nights when frost threatens. Even a few sheets of newspaper, opened out and pegged to the outer branches, provides adequate cover. You can also spray citrus trees with organic Liquid Frost Cloth (order from countrytrading.co.nz). This wax-based spray, also sold in garden centres as Vapourgard, offers six weeks protection.

What happens if citrus trees do get frosted? For starters, you can expect severe tip defoliation, as the previous season’s tender foliage shrivels and falls off. An early frost can knock off as much as 30cm of new growth. When you cut open ripe citrus that has been hit by early frosts, you can often tell which segments were on the upper side of the fruit (and thus exposed to frost) because they will be dry and juiceless.

There’s no need to fertilise citrus trees in winter as their roots won’t be able to take up the nutrients from the cold soil. If, however, the leaves are looking yellow, a shot of Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) can be beneficial. Mix 1-2 tablespoons per 5 litre bucket of warm water and apply on a dry day for the best results.

Be careful not to let citrus trees, especially those planted in clay soil, sit in waterlogged soil in winter. If you’re noticing water pooling after rain, dig temporary drainage ditches to direct it away from your trees. Scrape away summer mulch too, as citrus trees are shallow-rooted.

If the leaves of your citrus trees are covered in black sooty mould, this indicates an infestation of sap-sucking insects such as scale. These secrete sugary honeydew as a by-product, which feeds the mould. If you deal to the original pest with a general insecticide combined with spraying oil (as an adhesive), the mould will clear itself up. Or you can douse your tree with the soapy greywater from your washing machine to hasten its retreat.

Watch out for birds attacking citrus, particular mandarins. Fling netting over small trees if silvereyes are pecking the fruit before it’s barely ripe. And set a Timms Trap for possums too: those nocturnal furry fiends are to blame for peeling the fruit while it’s still on the branch.

From May 27-30, set up cloches to warm soil for seed sowing ahead. The fertile period begins on May 31 and continues until June 13. Sow spinach, lettuce, peas and broad beans. Transplant brassica seedlings into the soil warmed by your cloches.

Naumai ki te ngahuru pōtiki (late autumn). We are at the tail end of the harvest season. Long-term annual crops need to be off field by now and the process applied to their storage complete. As we head to Matariki, ensure remaining tasks in the māra are completed and then we can look to rest during the short days as we head to the hōtoke or cold period.

Be mindful that more northern regions have a milder climate so their rest period is shorter but based on day length rather than temperature. The new moon falls on the 1st of the month and full moon on the 16th. But we end the Pākeha calendar month on another new moon (on the 30th) which means we have a month dedicated to, and influenced by, this phase (Whiro) and for which we should be recognising the influence of the moon on our energy levels. Rest following the harvest work. Dr Nick Roskruge