Today, I spent several hours re-potting my seedlings into larger pots. I started with the zucchini and pumpkins which recently came off my heat pads. These seedlings went into individual 10 cm pots. In particular, I’m really pleased with my Queensland Blue pumpkin seedlings from Yates seeds. Although they expired last August, the packets I sowed germinated perfectly! I’m embarrassed to confess I sowed three packets, but by now many of you will know that I take gardening to extremes! This says a lot about the high quality of Yates products. It probably helped that I hadn’t opened the seeds, as that causes them to lose their freshness faster.
The smallest seedlings in the greenhouse (some tomatoes, chillies and capsicums) went up from an undivided black plastic punnet to a six-cell punnet. I also re-potted some tomatoes, chillies and capsicums that had outgrown 10 cm pots into some larger circular pots. Why re-pot? As seedlings grow, so do their roots and they need more room to spread out so the plant can continue to grow and form more leaves. It’s always a good idea to move plants up a size gradually as they grow. If you put a very small plant in a large pot, it won’t do well, even if you think you’re saving yourself time in the long run. There does come a point, however, when you can no longer re-pot but by then, it will probably be time to put the plant into the garden. When the weather is nice, as it has been recently, it’s always very tempting to plant out veggies earlier than Labour Weekend. I’m still not sure when I’m going to start planting my summer veggies such as tomatoes, chillies, capsicums and zucchini outdoors but it probably won’t be until at least mid-October. The weather can be very erratic in spring. Sometimes it’s not just the cold that lets us down, but there can be terrible winds even into November which can cause plants to break. This has happened to me before and it was heartbreaking to see my tomatoes snap in two. The elements can be quite cruel. But at some point, you have to put your plants in the garden and after that, all you can do is hope for the best! Take heart, this affects commercial growers as well and explains why sometimes produce is more expensive or scarce than normal. Remember the potato shortage a few years ago? Boy was I glad I had planted lots of spuds in the garden that season! In the picture, you can see my largest tomato plants. These didn’t get re-potted today but I needed to tie them higher up to their stakes with some more string. For now, I’m keeping them in the greenhouse with the view to moving them outdoors in our patio in October (even overnight) so they acclimatise to outside temperatures before being planted into the garden.
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Since the beginning of September, I have been feeding our strawberries with Yates Thrive Strawberry and Berry Fruit Liquid Plant Food every week. They’re looking very healthy and many of the plants have developed flowers. Today, when I was walking around the garden, I even noticed some green berries that had developed. It won’t be long before I have to cover the patch with bird netting!
We grow strawberries every year and really look forward to harvesting them in early summer. This year, I decided to devote even more room to growing strawberries. Normally, we have just a row or two, but I created four rows in the area we usually use to grow potatoes. To prepare the soil, Felia (the wwoofer who was staying with us at the time) and I worked in lots of compost and sheep pellets. As I needed lots of plants to fill the space and individually potted plants from the garden centre can get expensive when you’re buying so many, I purchased quite a few bare-rooted plants from a commercial strawberry grower in Katikati back in May. They are all “Camarosa”. These plants occupy three of the four rows. The other row contains runners from my plants from last season, mixture of “Camarosa” and “Pajaro”. Awapuni also gave me a complimentary bundle of “Ventana” strawberry plants to apologise for a mix-up with an order, so I used these plants to fill any gaps in the patch. I have never grown this variety before, so it will be interesting to see how these plants perform, not that I’ll probably be able to tell them apart from the others as I forgot to label them! Once the plants were planted in the patch, I mulched around them with pea straw which I found on special at the Warehouse. I read somewhere that commercial strawberry growers use black plastic and make holes to plant the strawberries, but I was concerned that the strawberries might get burnt on very hot days. Next year, I might use black plastic for one row as an experiment. I do use black plastic for planting melons, with very good results as it increases the soil temperature considerably. I know it’s not great for the soil, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices in order to succeed in the garden. The key to growing great strawberries is lots of sunshine, water and regular feeding. Don’t forget that birds also love strawberries, so make sure you cover plants with some netting to prevent them from being eaten before you can pick them! Obviously, pick berries as soon as they have ripened to encourage further fruiting and avoid being beaten to it by the birds! After the strawberries stop producing fruit (for me, this is usually after Christmas), you will notice that the plants produce runners, which are new strawberry plants that are connected to the parent plant. Let these develop and by autumn, when you’re starting to think about tidying the patch for the following season, you will have new, free strawberry plants! All you have to do is snip them off from the parent plant. Normally strawberry plants lose their vigour after their second season, so it might be worth investing in some new plants to complete your patch if you don’t have enough runners and your parent plants are past their prime. Today, I planted ten punnets of beetroot “Detroit Red” seedlings in a large area that we had used to grow brassicas during winter. Normally, I sow beetroot from seed in September, but I couldn’t resist purchasing seedlings when Kings Plant Barn had a special on punnets for just 99 cents each about a month ago. I left the seedlings in our patio so they could grow a bit bigger before I planted them out. I also wanted to wait for the weather to warm up a bit as the beginning of spring can be quite temperamental.
The process of planting beetroot is fairly simple. I don’t like using compost in areas where I grow root crops, as I’ve noticed they can become forked due to too much nitrogen in the soil. However, I mixed a little Yates Thrive Natural Blood and Bone (for heathy leaves) and some superphosphate (for strong roots) into the soil prior to planting. Make sure you leave enough space between plants so they have enough room to grow. If you’re growing beetroot from seed, you should find that your seeds germinate fairly easily. I normally just sow them in a punnet with a little seed raising mix and leave them in our patio until the seedlings are large enough to transplant outside. Alternatively, you can try sowing direct. I have done this successfully using Yates beetroot “Detroit Red” seed tape in the past. The seeds are already spaced out evenly, so you won’t need to thin your seedlings. Beetroot also grows well in autumn. In winter, I find that the plants tend not to bulb up due to cooler temperatures but gardeners in other regions might have a different experience. In previous seasons, I found beetroot matured fairly quickly, in 2-3 months. Beetroot can be consumed raw or cooked. We love having it grated in salads and on homemade hamburgers. Is anyone else growing beetroot in their garden this year? The weather forecast for today wasn’t great, so I put in some extra work in the garden yesterday. After I lifted our first lot of Swift potatoes (which you can read about in my last blog post), I prepared the soil and sowed some parsnip seeds in the same area. Please don’t do what I do! This goes against the principle of crop rotation. It’s not a good idea to follow a root crop with another root crop due to the increased risk of disease in the soil, but I didn’t have much choice as there’s no space for the parsnips anywhere else in the garden at the moment. I needed an area that I could dig down quite deep to accommodate their long roots, which limited my options. There are many parts of our garden that contain parts of tree roots from trees that were previously on the property before we purchased the house. These areas are fine for things like lettuce and zucchini but are not so great for growing root crops.
I had a terrible year for parsnips last season. Despite sowing several packets of seed, not one single parsnip germinated! This year, I’m determined to grow parsnips successfully. To cover myself, I’m growing “Guernsey” from Kings Seeds, “Hollow Crown” from Egmont Seeds, “Supersnip” from McGregors Seed and “Yatesnip” from Yates Seeds. Some seed from each of the major suppliers in NZ! After lifting the potatoes, I spent several hours digging the area over and breaking up large clumps of soil. I thought growing potatoes was supposed to help with that, but there were lots of large “rocks” of soil. The idea was to refine the soil so that the roots of the parsnips can travel downwards without hitting an obstacle, thus causing them to become forked. The process of growing parsnips is very similar to carrots, so I usually prepare the bed in a similar way (although these days I grow most of our carrots in large containers to save space). I like to add a little superphosphate fertiliser to encourage the growth of strong roots. I also added some Yates Thrive Natural Blood and Bone fertiliser to the soil to encourage healthy foliage above ground level. As with carrots, sow parsnip seed direct as transplanting seedlings may cause them to become forked. Parsnips can be a little tricky to germinate. It helps if the seed is fresh. The best parsnips I have ever grown were from seed given to me by Carol Jane saved from her own plants, several years ago. I still remember Carol, thank you for the seed! I also store parsnip seed in the fridge, which is supposed to help, too. September is a good time to sow seed as the ground is still cool and moist (but not too much so). Parsnips normally take around four months to mature. After that time I find it’s best to harvest them otherwise they can go a bit woody if left in the ground any longer. We enjoy parsnips as an alternative to potatoes, as they’re normally ready by the time we’ve run out of garden grown spuds (we get through them fast!). We enjoy parsnips roasted with some fresh rosemary from the garden and a bit of salt. You can see the area I sowed parsnips in the picture I have included with this post. Is anyone else growing parsnips this spring? Reproduced below is my latest blog post in the Yates spring veggie growing challenge
The spring garden wouldn’t be complete without potatoes. I hope it’s okay to discuss potatoes in the challenge. Technically mine were started from “seed” as I always use certified seed potatoes to try and minimise diseases. Normally, I plant potatoes in September but this year I started earlier in the hopes of an earlier harvest. I read that you can start planting potatoes as soon as the shortest day has passed, provided plants are protected from any frosts which are usually rare after May in Auckland. As a little experiment, I planted about a dozen Swift potatoes on 19th June, just a couple of days shy of the shortest day. Ordinarily Swift is incredibly quick, as the name suggests, taking just 60 days until maturity but I left them in the ground a month longer because I grew them in winter. Today, I dug up my plants and to my amazement, there were lots of potatoes! I used the rest of my Yates Thrive Vegie and Herb Liquid Plant Food on this lot of potatoes, so it must be a very good product! I have included a photo of our harvest. They are so delicious. Today, we had some minted potatoes for lunch and I think it’s on the menu for dinner, too! At the beginning of August, I also planted 10-12 each of Liseta, Jersey Benne, Agria and Heather potatoes, as well as about two dozen more Swift potatoes. They are all doing very nicely and I have been feeding them with Yates Thrive Naturals Fish and Seaweed fertiliser every fortnight. I like to grow early, mid and main varieties to ensure a steady supply of potatoes during summer. Early varieties such as Swift, Rocket, Jersey Benne and Liseta are waxy in texture and are perfect for boiling. They don’t keep very well so use them quickly. Main varieties like Agria and Rua are usually floury and are perfect for baking and roasting. If you wait until the tops start to die before lifting main varieties, they should keep for many months if stored correctly. If you haven’t already planted your potatoes and you fancy spuds from the garden on the Christmas table, it’s not too late to get them in the ground. Look for early varieties such as Jersey Benne and Liseta, which mature in around 90 days. If you purchase seed potatoes at this time of the year, you may find that they have already started sprouting in the bag, which signals that they’re ready to be planted. Otherwise, you’ll need to “chit” them first. The easiest way to do this is to leave them in a dark area so they develop sprouts. I usually put them in trays in May and keep them under the bed so they’re out of the way. By the time I want to plant them, they are ready to go. For a great crop, work lots of compost, sheep pellets and fertiliser into the ground. I used some Yates Dynamic Lifter plant food formulated for root crops which I purchased a long time ago, but I don’t know if this specific product is still available as I haven’t seen it in gardening centres lately. To lift potatoes, I use a garden fork. I put aside any that are speared in the process and we eat these ones first. One problem that I have found in previous years is that potatoes don’t store very well, even main crop varieties. Once lifted, we keep them in hessian sacks in a cool, dry place out of the sun but they sometimes turn green and/or start sprouting. This year, I’m trialling a new product, Propham Potato Dust from Morton Smith-Dawe, so that they hopefully keep a bit better. I can’t say I’m thrilled to use chemicals on produce, but I also hate waste. Later on in the challenge, I will report back with feedback about the effectiveness of this product. Today, I’m having a little break from gardening. This morning, I completed a 10k running race in the Auckland Domain and am feeling exhausted! I always train in the mornings and have lots of energy to get out into the garden during the day but events are always a bit different. They’re more intense, as you’re competing and you usually run faster than during training runs. I’ve decided to talk a bit about our asparagus beds which are very active right now, as I don’t have any gardening activity to report today other than spraying the seedlings on my heat pad with some water.
In addition to harvesting peas and kale (which I covered in my previous two blog posts), we have also been eating asparagus from the garden. Five years ago, I sowed some asparagus seeds (“Jersey Knight” and “Mary Washington” from Kings Seeds) and it was the best thing I’ve ever done for the garden. It takes three years for asparagus to become ready to be harvested, but once it’s established, asparagus can continue to crop for 20 or more years. For this reason, it’s a good idea to choose your site wisely! The year that I planted those seedlings started from seed, I also put in some one year old asparagus crowns purchased from Bunnings, in a separate bed. Interestingly, these crowns don’t perform as well as the ones I raised from seed. We were so impressed with our asparagus bed that I decided to sow more “Mary Washington” seeds two years ago. Last month, the French couple who were wwoofing with us at the time helped me plant these two year old crowns in a third bed. At the time, they were dormant and I was a little doubtful as to whether they would grow, but since the beginning of September, little spears have already started to surface which is very exciting! In just another year, we will be able to harvest them. I simply cannot wait! The other day, I was looking through my seed collection and I discovered ANOTHER large unopened packet of Mary Washington asparagus seeds! I guess I will just have to sow some more asparagus seeds! Since space is limited, I might take out the purchased crowns which never crop well and replace them with my own seedlings. Growing asparagus from seed is very easy. As it takes three years to maturity, I’m normally in no rush to start seedlings in September. I like to wait until the weather warms up in November before sowing seed. Using a little seed raising mix (I like Black Magic from Yates), I sow seeds in punnets and leave them to germinate in our patio. A few months later, when seedlings are large enough, I plant them in trays with potting mix. I usually wait until they’re a year old before I plant them into the garden, which gives them time to establish a good root system. However, I was so busy in the garden at this time last year as I was running a boutique plant nursery that I didn’t get around to planting my last lot of asparagus crowns until they were two years old. However, this didn’t seem to matter and they have already started surfacing, as I mentioned above. The key thing is to make sure you set up your asparagus bed well, as it will be here for a very long time. I like to use compost, sheep pellets and fertiliser (I recommend Thrive Granular All Purpose Plant Food) at the time of planting. While asparagus certainly needs some sunshine, two of our asparagus beds are at the back of our house and definitely don’t receive as much sun as out the front. It still crops well from September until the beginning of November, when the weather warms up and it starts going to seed. Like all bulbs, you’re supposed to leave the foliage to die down once the plants go to seed, but be warned that it can get very tall and untidy! This is why most of our asparagus is at the back rather than infront of our house. Around May each year, once the foliage has died, I usually cut it down to ground level and sprinkle some bulb food over the patch. Generally speaking, once established, asparagus requires very little care. From the start of September when the crowns start producing until autumn when the foliage dies down and gets cut back, I liquid feed plants regularly with Yates Thrive Natural Fish and Seaweed liquid fertiliser. During spring when plants are cropping, check for new asparagus spears daily and pick them as they become ready, otherwise plants will start going to seed. If you’re interested in growing asparagus yourself but are unsure how to go about it, I have written a comprehensive blog post on this subject, which you can read here: https://www.anitakundu.co.nz/blog/growing-guide-asparagus. Does anyone else have asparagus growing in their garden at the moment? At the moment, we’ve been eating a lot of kale from our garden. I’ve attached a picture showing some of our Cavolo Nero kale. It’s a great veggie to have on hand at this time of the year, when pickings from the garden can be quite sparse. Like peas, I tend to sow and plant kale in autumn rather than in spring for two reasons. Firstly, it’s something we enjoy a lot of during the cooler months. Secondly, I find that kale starts going to seed when the weather warms up in September. Some of our kale has already started bolting. Once it starts going to seed, it becomes bitter.
We just pick kale as we need it. You can treat it a bit like cut and come again lettuce. You don’t have to pull out the whole plant. Although I planted out seedlings purchased from the garden centre back in autumn, kale is pretty simple to grow from seed. My favourite variety of kale is Cavolo Nero, which you can purchase from Kings Seeds. In the past, I have also grown Kale “Edible” and “Red Russian” from Yates, which I also recommend. Next winter, I’m keen to try “Jagello Nero” from Egmont Seeds for the first time. I normally start sowing kale in punnets with a little seed raising mix in late summer and find that the seeds germinate quickly just left in our patio. When the seedlings are big enough, I plant them outside. To encourage healthy green foliage, I like to use a little Yates Thrive Natural Blood and Bone at the time of planting. If the white butterfly is still around, I protect seedlings with a little organic derris dust from the Yates Natures Way range. One year, with the help of the wwoofers who were staying with us, we even created a little “tent” to protect the seedlings, by draping old net curtains over some hoops. This worked really well and as the fabric was mesh, the plants were able to absorb moisture when they were watered and it rained. Once planted, I’ve found that kale requires very little care. Every fortnight, I liquid feed plants with Yates Thrive Natural Fish and Seaweed soluble fertiliser. We enjoy kale in green smoothies with coconut water. We also discovered a delicious kale and brown lentil recipe by Eleanor Ozich which we enjoy as a side dish. When we have lots of it, we sometimes make kale chips. Does anyone else have kale growing in their garden at the moment? Over the past few weeks, we have been harvesting “Easy Peasy” peas (Egmont Seeds) from our vines which have been cropping prolifically (see picture attached to this post). It is the first time that I’ve grown this variety and it’s one that I’d definitely sow again. Normally, I sow “Alderman”, also from Egmont Seeds (Kings Seeds stock it too), but last year the lovely folks at Egmont Seeds sent me an ENORMOUS box of seeds to grow in my garden and follow up on in my blog and on social media. “Easy Peasy” peas were one of the seed varieties given to me to try. I sowed these peas back in April, as I’d rather be harvesting peas in September than sowing them from scratch. The great thing about growing peas is they’re so easy, compared to, say, eggplants (read my last blog post which describes my disappointment so far this season). All I did with a wwoofer called Berengere from France was work a little compost and garden fertiliser into the soil (I used Thrive Granular All Purpose Plant Food from Yates), dig a trench along our fence line and sow the pea seeds in a row, covering them as we went. To help them to germinate, I soaked the seeds in some water overnight. This can be beneficial for any type of seed with a hard coating.
Peas generally require very little care once sown. I liquid fed my plants every fortnight with Thrive Vegie and Herb Liquid Plant Food from Yates. But even if you don’t liquid feed your plants, you’ll probably still be okay as plants don’t require as much fertiliser during the cooler winter months. One of the great things about sowing peas in autumn is that they grow steadily during the winter and start flowering in the cooler months. Before you know it, it’s spring and you’re harvesting fresh peas from your garden. This is great at a time of the year when there aren’t many veggies in the garden that are ready to be picked. It also means that when they’ve finished producing, it will be time to sow beans in the same area. This ensures a good, continuous use of space in the garden. When I first started gardening I used to sow peas in September, but found that they developed mildew as the weather warmed up in November. Sowing them in autumn avoids this problem. As with all fruiting veggies, the more you pick, the more the plants will produce so make sure you check for new peas every day! I don’t have children, but I imagine that this would be a task which kids would enjoy. If you missed the opportunity to sow peas in autumn, it’s not too late to sow them now. You’ll probably be looking at harvesting them in December. What could be better than peas fresh from the garden on the table with Christmas lunch? You might have noticed that garden centres sell pea seedlings in punnets, but personally I wouldn’t bother with them as they’re so easy to grow from seed. Besides, peas don’t transplant very well. Just make sure that you protect young seedlings from slugs and snails. Peas also require some support as they climb. We nailed some plastic trellis against our fence which is ideal, but you can be more creative and use an obelisk. If you’re handy, you could even have a go at making one yourself from some pieces of wood. I once saw such a DIY project in an old issue of the NZ Gardener magazine. At the end of the season, you could do what I normally do and have a go at saving some seeds from your plants. All you have to do is let the peas on one plant remain (ie don’t harvest them) and allow the pods to dry on the plant. The process is very similar to saving seeds from beans. Are you growing peas this season? If so, which varieties are you growing? Or are you harvesting peas right now, like me? Reproduced below is my latest blog entry in the Yates spring veggie growing challenge
There are so many interesting gardening blogs that it makes choosing one very difficult, but Collette Redman really stands out as my favourite blogger. I know Collette through gardening circles on Facebook and we have exchanged seeds in the past (she put me onto Blue Hubbard pumpkin, which is an excellent variety. Thanks Collette!). Collette posts regularly and it’s always nice reading her updates. Reading about what other people are doing in their garden every day like Collette motivates me to do even more in my own garden. Today, I sowed some cosmos seeds (“Lemonade” from Egmont Seeds) next to the wildflowers that I sowed yesterday, also from Egmont Seeds. I also potted up some of my tomato seedlings into six-cell punnets (“Big Beef F1” from Egmont Seeds, “Heirloom Mix” from McGregors and “Italian Dwarf Romadore F1” from Oderings, as well two varieties which my friend Minette gave me, “Pineapple” and “Lionel’s tomato”). Even though I’ve been gardening for awhile now, I’m definitely not perfect and have had my fair share of failures which I’m very upfront about. I’m a bit disappointed with my eggplants this year. You may recall me mentioning that I had a really bad year last year, with hardly any fruits from my plants. This year, I’m having trouble getting them started. I just placed most of my eggplant seedlings into the greenhouse and noticed that they look very unhealthy. They came off the heat pad some time ago and had been sitting in some incubators inside the house. Some of the seedlings died. Fortunately, I have a few larger healthy looking seedlings in the greenhouse. My best plants are Ping Tung from Egmont Seeds, which are in a six-cell punnet. I also have a couple of “Asian Bride” plants, as well as one “Dok” plant, all of which are in 10 cm pots. I just hope that these plants survive, as I don’t think my latest batch of seedlings look very good at all (refer to the picture I’ve included with this post). Has anyone else suffered from set backs so far this season? Every spring, I look forward to growing radish. They mature rapidly, in approximately 4-5 weeks, making them an ideal veggie for impatient gardeners. They’re also incredibly easy to grow, making it a great veggie for new gardeners. Radishes are the perfect accompaniment to our salads in spring which can sometimes be quite bare without cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes which normally only start to produce from January onwards.
This year, I decided to sow radish in buckets because I’m a little short on ground space at the moment. I remember reading in a New Zealand Gardener magazine that it’s possible to grow radish successfully in containers, provided that there is sufficient depth. Over the past few years, I have managed to grow carrots in containers successfully, so I thought it was time I gave radish a try. Over the weekend, I sowed the varieties “French Breakfast” (McGregors) and Cabernet F1 (Egmont Seeds) into two 35 litre plastic buckets. These containers had previously housed carrots sown in April, which I finished harvesting last week. I re-used the old potting mix, adding a little Yates Thrive Natural Blood and Bone fertiliser, as well as some superphosphate to encourage strong root growth. Like all root crops, radish is best sown direct, whether in a container or in the ground. Although it is possible to purchase radish plants (Awapuni sell them), they are so simple to grow from seed. Starting seedlings from seed is so much more gratifying than planting punnets of plants! Like lettuce, I’m intending to sow radish at regular intervals to ensure a continuous supply during spring. Every fortnight or so, I’ll sow another round. This year, I’m also going to grow “Fire Candle”, “Gourmet Blend”, “Scarlet Finger” and Halloween Mix” from Kings Seeds, as well as “Red Globe” from McGregors. I also have a packet of “Salad Crunch” from Yates, which I’ll sow as well. Probably my all time favourite radish is the yellow variety “Zlata” from Franchi seeds (distributed by Italian Seeds Pronto in New Zealand), which is unfortunately no longer available. I grew this variety a few seasons ago and it was the sweetest radish I’ve ever eaten. Needless to say, I really regret not saving seeds from my plants. Fortunately, the Golden Line radish mix in the Franchi range contains Zlata, so I’m going to purchase a packet from Italian Seeds Pronto which I’ll sow next month. If you’re new to gardening, you might want to try using a seed tape. Last year, I sowed “Red Rubin” radish seed tape from the Yates range. It made seed sowing incredibly easy, as the seeds are already spaced out on biodegradable paper. All you have to do is bury the seed tape in the ground and wait for the seeds to germinate. You can also get seed tapes for other veggies, including carrots, beetroot, spring onions and parsnips. I will provide an update on progress regarding my radish experiment in a few weeks. Fingers crossed I can grow them successfully in containers! Since my radishes haven’t germinated yet and there isn’t much to see except a plastic container with some old potting mixture, I’ve attached a photo of part of the garden in its current state, as promised yesterday. |
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