I am SO busy at the moment that it’s getting harder and harder to blog. Is anyone else finding this too? But it’s something that I make time for because I really enjoy writing about what I’ve been doing in the garden. Today, I decided to focus on planting my largest tomatoes and cucumbers into the garden bed which already contains ones that I planted over Labour Weekend. Because it takes awhile to set up my work station, I thought that it would be better to focus on just this one task rather than doing bits and pieces. For this task, I needed compost, Nitrophoska fertiliser, Yates Gro-Plus tomato fertiliser (which I also used for the cucumbers as it’s suitable for other fruiting plants), stakes for the tomatoes, obelisks for the cucumbers, a watering can, a bucket filled with water and a little Yates Thrive Natural Fish and Seaweed Liquid Fertiliser for soaking the plants in prior to planting, string and a pair of scissors (for tying the tomatoes to the stakes). Tools I needed were the spade and a trowel. By the time I get everything out, it makes sense to put in quite a few plants rather than to go to all this trouble for just one or two, only to have to then put it all away again!
Cucumbers love to climb, so I decided to use obelisks again, having had success growing them that way in previous seasons. Varieties I planted today were Beth Alpha (Franchi), Long Green (Yates), Apple (Yates), Bush Crop (McGregors) and Marketer (McGregors). The tomatoes I put in were ones I purchased as seedlings in Kings Plant Barn’s sale in August. Varieties put in today included Moneymaker, Potentate, Beefsteak and some unknown types (because the labels came off somehow). While I was working in the area, I noticed that fruit has started to form on a few of my Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes (see photo). I am very excited about this development! In the afternoon, I spent some time tidying up the remainder of my tomato plants, mostly which are still in 10 cm pots. These were the ones I grew from seed. There are also around a dozen more tomato plants which were purchased from Kings as seedlings. I won’t get around to planting these in the garden for awhile, until space becomes available. I removed the laterals which had started to develop, as well as the lower leaves (they needed to come off as I plant tomatoes very deeply, to encourage lots of roots to form along the trunk. They’re also the leaves that are the most prone to disease, as they come into contact with the ground, so it’s a good idea to get rid of them). In addition to keeping an eye on tomatoes planted in the garden, it’s a good idea to check your potted plants regularly and get into the habit of doing this, so your seedlings concentrate their energy into forming a strong main stem (the leader) rather than lots of side shoots and leaves. Working so closely with my tomatoes also gave me a chance to see which varieties performed well. I grew a lot of different varieties from Egmont Seeds, as John McCullough sent me a huge box of seeds last year so I could trial them in the garden and follow up on their progress through my blog and on social media. Varieties from Egmont Seeds in 10 cm pots at the moment are Big Beef, Big Boy, Dr Walters Special, Heirloom Marriage Big Brandy, Heirloom Marriage Genuwine, Heirloom Red Pear, Heirloom Yellow Pear, and Tumbling Tom Red (I only have one plant, which I potted into a hanging basket before I finished work for today). All are looking incredibly healthy. As part of my daily routine, I also check on plants in the greenhouse and walk around the garden to monitor how plants are doing. I noticed the following problems:
The weather improved in the afternoon. It was lovely and sunny, so for the first time, I moved my largest eggplants and rockmelon seedlings which were inside the greenhouse to outside, as I need to start hardening them off. I’ll continue to do this and hope to plant them out in the next ten days or so, weather permitting of course. What did everyone else get up to in the garden today? In this post, I’m going to cover problems with getting seeds to germinate. In short, you don’t always reap what you sow. Seeds fail to germinate for a number of reasons.
· The seeds may not be fresh. The germination rate of seeds decreases every year after the expiry date, but it’s still worth giving it a go if you have some expired seeds in your collection, especially if they’re unopened. Even if you use seeds before the expiry date, Gerard Martin (the owner of Kings Seeds) did warn me that their viability will be shorter once the packet is opened · Some seeds, such as NZ Spinach, have inherently low germination rates · Some seeds might require stratification in order to germinate. Parsnips and echinacea benefit from a cold spell in the fridge prior to sowing. Some seeds, such as beans, corn and peas which have a hard coating, benefit from soaking overnight to aid germination · There might be something wrong with the actual seeds. They may have been improperly harvested (generally, they have to be ripe and mature when they are collected). They may not have been stored properly (keep them in a cool, dry place). Sometimes, the whole batch is bad. A couple of years ago, I tried to grow the pumpkin “Winter Luxury Pie” from Kings Seeds (which Collette put me on to when she added some of her seeds to the travelling seed box) but not one single seed germinated. I got in touch with Kings Seeds and Gerard informed me that there was a germination issue with the whole batch that year · You might not be using the right growing medium. Use seed raising mix when sowing seeds in punnets, not soil or potting mix. For optimum germination rates, use a high quality mix like Yates Black Magic Seed Raising Mix or Nature’s Way Organic Seed Raising Mix · Research the ideal temperature for germination, as it can vary. Some veggies need warmth, such as eggplants, peppers, capsicums and chillies so a heat pad can be helpful, as it is cool in July and August, when these veggies are typically started from seed. Others like lettuce, spring onions and leeks are fine to leave outside to germinate, but I tend not to start them during the winter months, waiting until the temperatures increase in September. Don’t forget that as it gets warmer, heat loving veggies such as cucumbers and zucchini can be raised outdoors, either in punnets or even sown directly where you want to grow them. Using a heat pad in summer can cook your seeds and they won’t germinate! · Ensure that you’re sowing seeds at the right time of the year for your region. If it’s too hot or cold, they might germinate at first but will fail soon after or they may just not germinate at all · Dampening off is a problem that sometimes occurs after germination, especially when it gets cold in the mornings. This occurred one year when I sowed my winter seedlings in late March/early April. To prevent this from happening, start them earlier, in February so they’re nice and established when autumn sets in · Sow seeds at a sufficient depth outdoors to prevent them from being scratched up by birds, cats and rodents · Be patient. Sometimes it takes awhile for seeds to germinate, depending on what you’re sowing and the temperature. It took just over a fortnight for my beans to start poking their heads above the surface. They were sown on 27th October and I only noticed one appear on 7th November. A few years ago, I tried growing capers and they took a long time to germinate · Ensure you’re sowing seed the right way. Some things prefer to be sowed direct, while others are better transplanted into the garden. People have different experiences. I’ve never had a good strike rate with sunflowers sown in punnets, but Carol didn’t seem to have any trouble getting her Ginormous Zilla sunflowers from Yates to germinate in peat pots made of toilet rolls Don’t forget that while you may not always reap what you sow, you sometimes reap what you haven’t. It balances out in the end. Plants which self-seed freely in our garden include poppies, calendula, borage, sunflowers, lettuce and malabar spinach. Yesterday, mum and I noticed that some passionfruit seedlings popped up by themselves in the place where we had a huge vine last year. The photo is of my Zucchini Zephyr seedling which has already developed tiny fruit. It’s strange as it didn’t have flowers on it beforehand and the other seedling in the garden is the same. Has anyone else who is growing this variety noticed this as well? Gardening exposes you to a number of hazards and can take a toll on your entire body. Look after yourself this summer, not just your plants. Here are some tips:
· Slip, slop, slap – the sun can be fierce, even on cloudy days. Try to wear long clothing which offers more protection. Make sure you apply sunscreen regularly. Wear a hat and sunglasses. Use a lip balm with an SPF · Stay hydrated – drink water regularly throughout the day. I like to keep a jug filled with water and a glass in the garage, so it’s easily accessible while I’m working in the garden · Protect yourself from insects – use a good insect repellent (the one which I’ve found to be most effective is Bush Man) to prevent mosquitoes from biting you. I sometimes forget to apply insect repellent and recently had to see my GP to get some antibiotics because of some bites that had become discoloured and infected. · Ensure your vaccinations are up to date – gardening exposes you to soil, rusty nails and so on. In particular, make sure you have been vaccinated against tetanus. I do realise that there is a new trend against immunisation which didn’t really exist when I was growing up (not that my mother, a retired nurse who is as old school as they come, would have bought into it). Do what you feel comfortable with but be sure to research the risks and make an informed decision about inoculation · Take care of your feet – make sure you wear protective footwear around the garden. This is particularly important for diabetics as any cuts can easily become infected and in extreme cases, lead to amputation. I used to wander around the garden wearing jandals while harvesting, until I got a cut on my toe. I was very lucky that it healed quickly but after that, I started wearing gumboots all the time, even in summer. For extra protection, I wear thick socks, too. · Take care of your hands – I recommend wearing gloves while gardening. I have a few different types. I use disposable surgical gloves for anything fiddly, such as sowing seeds and potting up seedlings. I use thicker gloves for pruning my roses, as they offer more protection. At the end of every day, use a brush to remove dirt underneath the finger nails. I recently had an issue with some dirt getting trapped deep underneath a fingernail when I was bandicooting some potatoes. It was very painful and took some time to remove (I soaked the finger in Dettol and had to use a toothpick to get it out. Ouch!). At the time, I was only wearing thin disposable gloves but I have since learnt to wear thicker gardening gloves over the top when harvesting potatoes as I like to remove as many as I can with my hands to avoid them being speared by the garden fork · Pamper your hands – gardening can leave your hands quite dry. Invest in a nice hand cream to use before you go to bed every night · Pamper your feet – being on your feet around the garden all day can leave your feet worse for wear. Treat yourself to a nice foot soak, scrub and cream which you can use after a hard day in the garden · Wash produce before consumption – don’t eat things straight from the garden as tempting as they may look (that includes peas and strawberries!). You never know what was sitting on them before, which might cause you or other members of your family to fall ill · Use protection when spraying – use a mask and goggles when using sprays in the garden · Beware legionnaires disease – use a mask when using compost and potting mix. This is especially important when opening fresh bags. · Take it easy – gardening can cause repetitive strain. I continually suffer from tight forearms and traps, weak wrists and lower back pain. Take care when lifting heavy objects. See a physio for injuries. Using a wheat bag on sore areas can help. Take regular breaks when out in the garden. Have days off so the body has time to recover and repair. · Take care when operating machinery – for example, the lawn mower, chainsaw, weed eater, electronic pruner. They can be dangerous. Protect hearing by wearing ear muffs Does anyone have any other tips on how to stay safe in the garden this summer? The photo is of our tomatoes, which I planted over Labour Weekend. Last night, I attended the Mitre 10 garden club event at my local store in Manukau. As always, I had a great time thanks to Maureen and the team. The key message of the evening was the importance of liquid feeding. Two points arose from this:
· Granular fertiliser isn’t a substitute for regular liquid feeding, but it’s better than nothing · Seaweed is a tonic and doesn’t have NPK I had prepared some questions to ask the Yates expert in advance. I thought I would summarise Shaun’s advice, incase other gardeners had the same issues. · Rust on garlic – Shaun had a look at a photo of my garlic and confirmed that it has indeed been struck by rust. It’s too far gone to do anything about it this season (as I suspected) BUT the good news is that he said it should still produce, even though it may mean the bulbs are a bit smaller. Next year, Shaun advised to spray plants with Yates Liquid Copper from the time they emerge (not when they’re too small), every 2-3 weeks, to prevent rust. He said that I can replant any cloves from my stock and it shouldn’t cause rust in future, as it’s not spread that way. If storing cloves for planting, Shaun advised to dust them with flowers of sulphur powder, which I use on my daffodils, dutch iris and other spring bulbs after I lift them in summer · Fruit trees – Shaun said not to spray my fruit trees with Yates Liquid Copper now that the weather is warmer, as it may burn the leaves. The same goes for my roses. Since I sprayed the fruit trees regularly over winter with Yates Lime Sulphur, Yates Liquid Copper and Yates Copper Oxychloride, Shaun said I didn’t really need to worry about spraying them anymore but if I wanted to, Yates Fungus Fighter was the product to use. He said I should be using Yates Super Shield or Yates Fungus Fighter spray on my roses from now until the end of summer. · Yates success spray – Shaun recommended I use this product to protect seedlings which are being munched in the greenhouse. It’s hard to say what has been attacking them but some plants have been completely decapitated, others have holes in the leaves. I have a bottle of Yates Success which I won in a gardening competition run by the NZ Gardener magazine a number of years ago, but haven’t needed to use this product until now · Destroy Bravo but Confidor is ok – As you might recall from one of my earliest photos, I have SO many Yates products stockpiled in the garage and I needed to quickly check which ones have been pulled from the market due to environmental concerns. Shaun told me not to use Yates Bravo, which I used to use on my roses, as a link with cancer was found. However, he said Confidor is still on the shelves. I have had to use Yates Confidor in the past when our lemon tree had borer and still have a bit left. Shaun said spraying is best done in early autumn, so I’ll wait until then. Today was an exceptionally beautiful day and I was extremely productive. I always work more efficiently when the weather’s fine. I powered through my task list, which included: · Planting the tray of silverbeet shown in yesterday’s picture (I intended to do this yesterday afternoon but ran out of time) · Lifting the row of Heather potatoes planted on 20th August (see photo of harvest) · Planting a row of Agria potatoes in the same place after mixing compost, Nitrophoska fertiliser and potato food into the soil · Liquid feeding the entire garden. I used Yates Thrive Tomato Liquid Plant Food on my tomatoes, chillies, capsicums, cucumbers, pumpkins and squash; Yates Thrive Strawberry and Berry Fruit Liquid Plant Food on my strawberries; Yates Thrive Natural Citrus and Fruit tree Liquid fertiliser on my fruit trees (which I won in Mini Challenge 2) and the Yates Thrive pods that I purchased on special from Bunnings for $1 each on the rest of the plants · Sowing two rows of tall sunflowers on either side of the melon patch – Skyscraper, Taiyo, Zohar, Fantasia, Evening Sun and Chocolate Cherry (all from Kings Seeds). I inserted some stakes as doing so later on might damage the roots of the plants · Sowing a container of basil (McGregors seed mats) · Sowing more beans on the heat pad (Kentucky Pole climbing beans from McGregors) · Taking some photos of the garden. Sometimes I am so busy working in the garden that I forget to capture and admire all the plants! All these tasks took me 7 hours in total, with a half hour break for lunch in the middle. Tonight, I’m going to have a think about what needs to be done tomorrow. I definitely won’t do 7 hours again, as I have the YMCA 10k run in the evening. Last week, I had a lighter Thursday in the garden and was 5 mins faster than the previous week. I think doing less gardening helped as I wasn’t so exhausted by the time of the race. I set a new PB for the course of 1 hour 7 mins 7 secs. Wish me luck! Firstly, I’d just like to say that I’m really enjoying being a part of the Yates Veggie Growing Challenge and can understand why so many of you participate year after year. There is a real sense of community and I often forget it’s a competition! I love reading posts from other bloggers. It has motivated me to do more outdoors and write about our garden more often.
Things move fast around here! It wasn’t that long ago that I was blogging about my successes and set-backs (as I prefer to call them) but today I realised that I need to update my list to reflect recent developments in the garden. Successes · Kumara. The kumara has finally started to form shoots in the greenhouse (from set back to success!). You can’t rush mother nature along, so I’ll just have to let them do their thing and plant them when they’re ready to go out. Given how horrible the weather has been this past week, I don’t think they would exactly thrive outdoors even if they were big enough to be planted in the garden · Parsnips. The parsnips I sowed in mid-September look healthy. They have lots of lush, green foliage but as with all root crops, time will tell whether it’s only just leaf or if they actually form a root! · Roses. You might recall me saying in an earlier post that in late summer last year, I took some cuttings from my standard roses, which I dipped in Yates Clonex hormone gel to improve the strike rate. I was overjoyed to see that one of my “Loving Memory” roses has buds. It would make a lovely Christmas present for someone. The roses I ordered from D & S Nurseries, Tasman Bay Roses and South Pacific Roses and planted during the winter are just about all flowering and look beautiful. · Bulbs. Scilla, our first lily of the season, is currently flowering. This is a patio oriental lily that I purchased from Garden Post and planted in August. Around the same time, I also planted 20 OT lilies, which are in bud. We also picked our first gladioli of the season, an enormous white flower. Speaking of Garden Post, just last week I placed a large order. For around $100, I purchased 18 dahlias, 60 giant gladioli, 60 miniature gladioli and 60 mixed lilies (LA Hybrid, OT and Oriental). I planted these in the bed which previously housed the cabbage and beetroot (soon to become the area for the melons). The Liseta potatoes are on the other side. When those come out in early December, I’ll have some more space for the melons (or something else, if my plants don’t look promising). You always need to have a plan B! · Annuals. We have a lovely display of poppies at the moment (see previous post for a photo of “Fire Circle”). The cosmos are also flowering and the cornflowers have buds (both were planted in mid-september and were purchased as seedlings from Kings Plant Barn) Set backs · Plant labels. The writing on my plant labels has faded, despite using a sharpie pen, which I thought was meant to be permanent. Fortunately I can still read the writing on most labels faintly but there are a few chillies and capsicums that will be a bit of a lucky dip this season · Tamarillos. While the two trees outside which I grew from seed last spring have gone from strength to strength (they’re nearly taller than their stakes), the two rounds of the same seed I sowed on my heat pad failed to germinate, as well as the seeds given to me by my gardening friend Rob Hammington. This means that I won’t have a back-up incase my plants die · Radish. The radish a German wwoofer helped me sow in 35 litre buckets in mid-October is very leafy, but failed to bulb up just like the row of radish which I sowed in the ground in mid-September. I’m not sure what went wrong as the potting mixture was old and had been used to grow capsicum and then carrots. Like I said in an earlier post, I often struggle with the simplest of veggies! Tonight is the Garden Club event at my local Mitre 10 store. I just hope Yates sends a sales rep again this year. I desperately need help with growing garlic, as mine has rust. It might be too late to take action now, but there’s always next year! NB the photo is of a tray of silverbeet seedlings I grew from seed, which I’m going to plant into the garden this afternoon. To help organise myself in the garden, I keep a monthly task list which I write on a large sheet of paper pinned to my notice board. I also write daily tasks in a notebook which I keep in the garage, so it’s easily accessible while I’m in the garden. It’s so satisfying to be able to cross things off the list. Funnily, I often end up getting side-tracked and doing things which I haven’t written down. Does anyone else have this habit, too? Sometimes things catch my eye as I walk around the garden and these tasks are more urgent, such as reviving an unhealthy plant or providing support to one which is leaning over. Even with these diversions, I’ve been powering through my tasks. As I plant out seedlings, stock in the nursery is gradually diminishing. I feel in control of the garden, despite experiencing some set backs along the way, which I have described in my previous two posts. The biggest loss was the wwoofers (which I covered a bit before that) – so I thought. It’s early days without them, but I’ve actually found that I’m less stressed, have more freedom and flexibility and even have more time on my hands! Sometimes it’s easier to just get on with it yourself without the hassle of delegating to others and having to supervise them.
Recap of main activities in the past week · Harvested the rest of the cabbages (I gave a box of 15 to gym staff at Les Mills Howick, as mentioned in a previous post) and cleared the beetroot which failed to bulb up · Lifted a row of Agria potatoes. Prepared the soil with compost, Nitrophoska fertiliser and potato food. Replanted more Agria seed potatoes · Prepared the area where I intend to grow squash (between the Agria and Liseta potatoes). Worked compost and Nitrophoska fertiliser into the soil and laid down some old black plastic I had previously used for planting melons. It was quite spooky. The dimensions of the plastic were exactly right for the area and the holes were in exactly the right places, including spaces to accommodate some self-seeded flowers - a sunflower, some borage and wildflowers – in the middle of the patch. Initially, I thought it would take me a long time to do this, but it took literally a few minutes because it was already mapped out correctly. I couldn’t have crafted it better myself! · Planted kohrlrabi, spinach and silverbeet over the weekend Next steps · Dig over area which previously housed the cabbages and beetroot. Work in lots of compost and Nitrophoska fertiliser. Lay down black plastic in preparation for planting the melons later this month, when it’s a bit warmer (I don’t normally plant them earlier than mid-November) · Lift Heather potatoes which were planted on 20th August (harvest between the 10th and 20th of the month, as Morton Smith-Dawe suggest they take 80-90 days to mature). Prepare soil with compost, Nitrophoska fertiliser and potato food. Plant another row of Agria potatoes. · Plant remaining four trays of silverbeet and spinach (Carol, you’re allowed to laugh at me, I sometimes wish I only had six seedlings as it’s taking me FOREVER!) · Sow more sunflowers (direct, outdoors), cucumber and zucchini (indoors on the heat pad) · Harden off eggplants and melons which are currently in the greenhouse · Plant more tomatoes, capsicums and chillies in the garden · Check whether beans have germinated (sown direct on 27th October). If not, plant seedlings raised on the heat pad (which haven’t germinated yet). If these fail, sow more seeds on the heat pad. There’s still plenty of time for growing beans, so don’t worry if yours are a bit behind like mine! Later this month · Sow basil and zinnias (direct, outdoors) · Sow okra (indoors on heat pad) · Plant melons and eggplants outdoors What tasks are outstanding in your garden? NB the picture is of the poppy “Fire Circle” (ex Koanga). The seeds were originally given to me by my gardening friend Catherine Orr, but the poppy self-seeds freely every year. I had a productive weekend in the garden. Yesterday, I planted another tomato (Potentate) and four more cucumbers (Continental and Long Green from Yates). I also potted up some more melon seedlings which came off the heat pad (Inverno from Franchi and Honeydew from Yates) and moved them into the greenhouse. I planted two trays of “Classic Fantastic” cornflower seedlings (Kings Seeds), as well as a variety of flowers which I raised from seeds that Egmont kindly gave me last year. These were Candytuft “Fire Ice”, Carthamus “Grenade Orange’, Godetia “Satin Mix”, Linum “Blue Dress”, Lupin “Israeli Blue Admiral” and Nigella “African Bride”. All of these flowers are new to me, so I am excited to see what they look like when they flower. I potted my Dianthus “Jolt Cherry” and Lavender “Bandera Pink” seedlings (also from Egmont) into 6-cell punnets, as they are still quite small and I’d like them to grow a bit more before transplanting them into the garden. I sowed some more Baby Bear and Musquee de Provence pumpkin seeds on the heat pad, as the plants I put in outside have died (see yesterday’s post).
Today, I planted some more zucchini, kohlrabi and spinach. I also spent some time planning gardening activities for the week ahead. I did some weeding both days to try and keep the garden looking tidy. I dread dedicated weeding days and they can be very hard on the back, so I’ve worked out it’s best to do a bit every day to keep on top of it! As I indicated yesterday, it’s not all a bed of roses in the garden. Here are some more problems: · An insect has been eating my Hale’s Best rockmelon plants (Yates) in the greenhouse · A tom cat in the neighbourhood has deliberately destroyed many punnets of seedlings in my nursery, including my rudbeckia and tithonia. I’ll have to sow more. He is spiteful because we adopted Ginger and not him! · Unfortunately I can’t follow up on progress with the Wildflower Bee Attracting Mix and Cosmos Lemonade which Egmont Seeds gave to me to trial in the garden, because some wwoofers pulled them out when they were weeding, despite being told a number of times that they were not weeds. I will add them to my shopping list for next year · It was just too cold outside for some of my chilli and capsicum seedlings. Despite gradually hardening them off and moving them outdoors to make room for other plants in the greenhouse, I noticed that many of them were dying so back inside they went! · The two passionfruit seedlings that I planted to replace the vine at the back of the house that died (see yesterday’s post) aren’t looking too good. If they die, I won’t bother planting more in the same place. We think the soil might be diseased, but it doesn’t seem to have affected the clivia To close, here are a couple of gardening tips: · Sunflowers - try not to plant sunflowers in amongst your veggies as they drain a lot of water. It’s better to put them in a separate bed, which I’m doing for the first time this year · Spring onions – don’t pull the entire plant out of ground, just chop what you want from the top and it will grow again · Roses – save banana skins and put them around your roses as they are high in potassium and will promote flowering The photo is of some eggplant seedlings in our greenhouse. What did everyone get up to this weekend? Here’s a roundup of successes and failures in our garden this spring. With a garden this size, you simply have to move on and focus on what you’ve got rather than what you haven’t!
Successes · Strawberries – it definitely paid off devoting more space to strawberries this year. I had a mad vision of having a mini berry farm on our front lawn to save us from driving to the one near the airport. I purchased 120 bare-rooted Camerosa plants from a commercial grower in Katikati back in May. Mum thought I had lost the plot. They started ripening in September and since October, we have been harvesting a big bowl of strawberries every day. The netting is draped over plastic hoops and secured with pegs, so the birds haven’t been able to get in. I liquid feed the plants with Yates Thrive Strawberry and Berry Fruit Liquid Plant Food every week. I hope our harvest continues until Christmas. After that, it gets really hot and plants stop producing fruit. Does anyone still get strawberries in January and February? · Asparagus – while not as prolific as the strawberries, our small patch has kept us well-supplied this spring and we haven’t had to purchase any from the supermarket. The crowns are the variety Mary Washington (Kings Seeds) and were sown from seed five years ago (see photo) · Potatoes – I discovered that it’s possible to grow potatoes during winter in our Auckland garden. I planted about a dozen Swift seed potatoes just prior to the shortest day and harvested a bumper crop in mid-September. Since then, we’ve harvested more Swift, Liseta, Jersey Benne and Agria potatoes. Heather, Liseta, Swift, Rocket and Agria are in progress · Peas – I removed the last of our peas a fortnight ago. I grew Easy Peasy from Egmont Seeds, which I sowed in April. We had a prolific crop and I highly recommend them · Broccoli and cabbages – I sowed a second round in June/July and they started maturing in September. Since then, we have been harvesting them every day. Last weekend, I gave the gym I go to a box full of cabbages as a gift to say thank you, as I managed to lose 20 kg over the past four months with their support and get into shape for the YMCA 10k summer series in the Auckland Domain, which I have been participating in every Thursday Failures · Garlic – most of it has rust, so I’m not expecting a good crop. In order to grow garlic successfully, I think I’m going to have to spray it in future. Next Tuesday evening is the Garden Club event at Mitre 10 , so I’m going to chat to the Yates sales rep about what products to use · Radish – the radish I sowed in the ground in mid-September failed to bulb up. I suspect the reason was too much nitrogen in the soil from the compost put in the area in August · Beetroot – the ten punnets I planted in amongst the cabbages failed to bulb up. I’ve never had much luck with spring beetroot (whereas the autumn crop usually does quite well), but I don’t think it helped having to compete with the cabbages for light and nutrients · Kumara – back in August I buried a kilo of red kumara in a trough with some potting mix, which I kept in the greenhouse. Despite keeping the soil moist, the kumara have failed to form shoots so I guess we’ll have to settle for eating potatoes in autumn · Pumpkins – I may have been too quick to plant our pumpkins. I started planting them a week ago, but the weather proved too cold for some of the Musquee de Provence and Baby Bear seedlings. Luckily I didn’t plant them all at once, so I have a few reinforcements · Passionfruit – our vine at the back of the house by the clivia died suddenly, so I put in two plants that I grew from seed last spring · Dancing Lady orchid – despite having a thriving garden full of flowers, veggies, herbs, roses and fruit trees outdoors, I somehow managed to nearly kill our only houseplant. The irony doesn’t escape me. I’m going to give it some TLC and liquid feed it weekly with Yates Brigitta Orchid Food. Hopefully that will help revive it. What are your successes and failures this season? Yesterday, I started planting out our kohlrabi seedlings in a strip parallel to the pumpkins. They’re faster to mature, so I hope we harvest them before the pumpkins take over. We have been growing kohlrabi for the past four years. They are pretty easy to grow. Kohlrabi comes in purple (the type which I normally grow) and green (which I’m growing for the first time). I have three different kinds of green kohlrabi in my seed collection: “Green” (McGregors), “Emereld F1” (Kings) and “Green Duke Hybrid” (thanks to Yates, who sent me this complimentary packet of seeds when I joined the Spring Veggie Growing Challenge). I decided to sow the green variety from McGregors as it expires this year, whereas the other two packets had better expiry dates so I will keep them for future seasons.
The shape of kohlrabi is fascinating. Mum calls it sputnik! I think of it as a root crop (I’m not sure whether this is correct or not), but the bulb sits entirely above the ground. It is quite unlike most other veggies, which is what makes it so special. Kohlrabi is not something you can buy at the supermarket, making it a good thing to grow in your garden. In fact, I had never eaten kohlrabi until I started gardening and decided to give it a go after reading about it in the NZ Gardener magazine. While it’s not a common veggie in New Zealand, it is eaten in other countries, including Scandinavia and Germany. When I ran a boutique plant nursery last year, I had a customer from Kashmir who purchased four trays of plants. He and his wife told me that it is used in Kashmiri cuisine. Kohlrabi is very nutritious. It can be cooked like turnip but we enjoy having it raw, grated with a bit of salt. Here are my top growing tips: · Kohlrabi can be grown in spring and autumn. For spring, I normally sow seeds around mid-September. For autumn, I sow seeds in February · It is very easy to grow from seed, but you can purchase seedlings from garden centres. I sowed “Green” (McGregor’s) and “Early Purple Vienna” (Kings) on 11th September, which are now large enough for planting into the garden. I simply sprinkled some seeds in a couple of punnets filled with seed raising mix and left them outside to germinate. If you haven’t sown seed by now, it might be better to opt for plants · You can try sowing seed direct, but I’ve had better luck raising plants in punnets first and then transplanting them in the garden. Otherwise, I find the plants end up too close to each other · If you have sown seed, wait about three or so weeks until seedlings are large enough to be pricked out and potted up. I like using seed raising trays filled with potting mix, so the seedlings can grow a bit more before being planted outside · Plant seedlings in a sunny area, otherwise they might not form a bulb · Don’t use too much compost and fertiliser in the ground, or the plants will become too leafy rather than putting their energy into forming a strong bulb · Don’t put plants too close together otherwise they won’t bulb up. I made this mistake a few years ago. However, you don’t need to leave as much space between plants as you would for cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower · Liquid feed plants weekly for best results. I have been using Yates Thrive Natural Fish and Seaweed on my kohlrabi since they were seedlings and will continue to use this product now that they have been planted in the garden. Don’t forget that the dilution rate for young seedlings is slightly weaker than that for mature plants (check the back of the bottle) · Protect plants from the white butterfly by using Natures Way Derris Dust from Yates (organic) · Harvest kohlrabi as it becomes ready. Don’t worry if you can’t get through it all at once, as it stores well in the fridge Is anyone else growing kohlrabi this year? What varieties are you growing? The photo is of the Agria potatoes I harvested earlier this week, minus some that we had for dinner! |
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