Personally, I have dwarf beans in - I don't think that's too optimistic - and some salad greens of various kinds. You could definitely do silverbeet or any brassicas. I've got capsicums in pots in a very sheltered location on concrete, and I have high hopes of them, but I'll be waiting a while for tomatoes etc.

I have self-sown parsley everywhere on this Hataitai slope (thanks Italians and Greeks!) so no need for that, but I'm thinking about getting basil started now.

Tomatoes and peppers need high temperatures to get going and there's no advantage to having them out early unless they're somewhere with a very warm microclimate. I'm thinking at least a month before it's worthwhile, whereas last year in Auckland I had seedlings on the back step already at this time.

But my recent vegetable experience is from the Waikato north, so I'm ready to be corrected about what can be achieved down here.

If you take the DomPost on a Saturday, Hannah Zwartz' gardening column in the "Indulgence" liftout covers whatever's timely for the week.