​To read the thirty seventh issue of my FREE weekly newsletter filled with gardening tips, please visit the newsletters section of my website.  I have uploaded the latest issue here.

If you're using a smart phone, it's best viewed as a pdf document received by email. To be added to my mailing list, please email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com and write "subscribe" in the subject field.

Have a great weekend!

Anita

The outbreak of Covid-19 in New Zealand has seen a dramatic increase in the number of people purchasing veggie seedlings from garden centres.  While the circumstances are tragic, it is great to see so many people keen to get into their gardens, especially those who are newcomers to the garden.  Not all gardeners plant a winter garden in normal circumstances, so it is also fantastic to see more people willing to grow veggies throughout the year.

Unfortunately, garden centres will be closed now that we are at Level 3, moving towards Level 4 in the next 48 hours.  The good news is that I am running a contactless nursery in Manukau, Auckland where you can pick up plants outside our house.  For details of what I am selling, click here or see the pinned post on my Facebook page.

Veggies you can plant now

• Beetroot
• Bok choy (pak choi)
• Broad beans
• Broccoli
• Cabbage (red, green and Chinese)
• Carrots* (sow from seed)
• Cauliflower
• Fennel
• Lettuce
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Microgreens
• Peas (dwarf and tall)
• Rocket
• Silverbeet
• Spinach

Container gardening
If you’re short on space or don’t want to dig up your lawn, you can grow the following veggies in containers: beetroot, bok choy/pak choi, carrots (just make sure the container is deep enough), lettuce, kale, microgreens, rocket and spinach

Preparing the bed
Work lots of compost and sheep pellets into the ground prior to planting.  Turn the soil over with a spade to loosen it.  You may want to add some general garden fertiliser to the soil as well.

If you’re growing carrots you’ll want to skip all this and just dig the soil over and deep down, otherwise you’ll end up with forked carrots.

Spacing
Cabbages, cauliflower and broccoli need lots of room to grow, so give them a wide berth. 

Veggies that need about 10 cm between them include beetroot, fennel, spinach and silverbeet. 

​The rest can be planted about 5 cm apart.  Microgreens can be spaced more closely than this.  If planting in a container, you can place plants a bit closer together.

How to care for your plants
The good news is that the winter garden isn’t as high maintenance as the summer garden.

Here are some tips to care for your plants:

• Water your plants when it’s dry
• For best results, liquid feed plants with a water soluble plant food or seaweed extract every week
• Keep on top of weeds as plants hate competing with them for nutrients

Harvest
The time until you can harvest depends on the vegetable.  Microgreens are the fastest growing veggie, maturing in around three weeks.  Kale, lettuce and pak choi should be ready in 6-8 weeks.  Brassicas take the longest time to mature – around 3-4 months so be patient!  Once they develop, it’s a good idea not to leave them in the garden for too long otherwise they can start going to seed.

Some veggies can be harvested as you need them, meaning that you don’t have to pull the entire plant out of the ground at once.  These include lettuce (the cut-and-come again variety), rocket, microgreens, bok choy, kale, spinach and silverbeet.

For fresh carrots, leave them in the ground until you need them and lift what you require.

Saving seeds
If you want to save seeds for next season, simply allow one plant from each crop group go to seed.  Store them in a paper envelope and make sure you write the name of the plant so you remember what it is.
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Useful links
My Facebook page – for all the advice, ideas and inspiration you’ll ever need about gardening
My weekly newsletter – every week I write a free newsletter filled with gardening tips, advice on what to do around the garden and how to grow different plants
My blog – I maintain an active gardening blog filled with information about all things gardening related

​To read the thirty fifth issue of my FREE weekly newsletter filled with gardening tips, please visit the newsletters section of my website.  I have uploaded the latest issue here.

If you're using a smart phone, it's best viewed as a pdf document received by email. To be added to my mailing list, please email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com and write "subscribe" in the subject field.

Have a great weekend!

Anita

It’s been awhile since I posted an update of activity around Anita’s Garden.  So much has been happening here!  I can’t believe it’s almost autumn.  It’s certainly starting to feel that way.  The days are gradually becoming shorter and we have been busy harvesting traditionally autumn crops.  It hasn’t been the best summer, so I’m looking forward to the season ahead.

Plant nursery
My boutique plant nursery is open for plant sales. At the moment, I have a range of autumn and winter veggie seedlings for sale.  You can view my complete stocklist here.  To make an appointment to come around, please text me on 021 02762091.  We are located in Papatoetoe (Manukau side).

Anita’s Garden competition
As some of you will be aware, I recently ran a competition to win a selection of seedlings for autumn and winter.  This competition was limited to locals, who would be able to collect the plants but I promise to run another competition for those who live outside Auckland in future (I just need to find my gift certificates which I have misplaced). 
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Here is a photo of the winner Rita Prasad with her prize.  Congratulations, Rita!

​Feijoas!
For the first time in the history of Anita’s Garden, we have been harvesting feijoas in February!  Normally, they crop in autumn, from March through to May.  I’m unsure of the cultivar as the label has come off, but it is either Kaiteri or Kakariki from Waimea Nurseries.

The autumn and winter garden
While I have been busy sowing seeds, the wwoofers who have been staying with us have been helping plant our autumn and winter garden.  We have beetroot and kohlrabi growing in two of our large garden beds.  There was also some space after the celeriac and parsnips were pulled out so Mathilde and Justine planted some cabbage “Ranfurly Mini” seedlings from Egmont Seeds.  They also planted some Romanesco broccoli from Franchi seeds (distributed by Italian Seeds Pronto in New Zealand).
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Below is a photo of the “Ranfurly Mini” cabbage plants, which are looking incredibly strong and healthy just one week after planting.

​Below is a photo of some of my Romanesco broccoli seedlings from Franchi Seeds.

​A star performer in the plant nursery is my pansy and viola seedlings, raised from seed by Egmont Seeds.  The owner, John McCullough, kindly gave me a selection of seeds to grow in the garden this winter and I am very excited to see what they will look like.  I plan to plant them in the plastic hanging baskets which previously housed our Topsy Tom tomatoes (also from Egmont Seeds)

Spring bulbs
It’s now time to look through catalogues and order your spring bulbs.  The best and most popular varieties sell out fast so it pays to be in quick.  I find that the quickest and easiest way to purchase bulbs is by mail order. The selection, quality and prices are far superior to garden centres. By far the best company I have discovered is Bulbs Direct.  Their bulbs are fantastic quality, very reasonably priced and the service is superb.  They are the newest mail order company to the scene but have been giving the more established ones a run for their money.  I highly recommend them.

Anita’s Garden has a new collaboration with Bulbs Direct, which you can read more about here.

Facebook
Did you know that I have a Facebook page?  I have reached nearly 1.4k Likes!  Please help me to cross the threshold.  When I do, I promise I’ll run another competition!

Thank you for your on-going support.

​To read the thirtieth issue of my FREE weekly newsletter filled with gardening tips, please visit the newsletters section of my website.  I have uploaded the latest issue here.

If you're using a smart phone, it's best viewed as a pdf document received by email. To be added to my mailing list, please email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com and write "subscribe" in the subject field.

Have a great weekend!

Anita