Garden update

​It’s been awhile since I have written a report summarising what I have been up to around the garden recently.  Over the past seven weeks since lockdown began, I have achieved the following:

• I planted all our garlic on 2nd April.  It is a mix of Elephant, Printanor, Turban, Ajo Rojo and Kakanui from seed stock from last year’s crop, which was sourced from the New Zealand mail order company Bulbs Direct.  Garlic is traditionally planted on the shortest day of the year (which is the 21st June in New Zealand) but I decided to plant ours early for two reasons: (i) to try and beat rust, which kills the crop.  The idea is for the garlic to do most of its growing before rust sets in during spring; and (ii) to see if planting earlier yields bigger bulbs.
• I planted most of our spring bulbs – daffodils, Dutch iris, freesias, gladioli nanus, anemones, ixia and ranunculus. I also planted miniature daffodils (tete-a-tetes), freesias and lachenalias in pots. I still have to plant our tulips and hyacinth, which usually go into the garden in late May, when it’s a bit cooler.  The tulips go into the ground and I grow the hyacinths in containers. The bulbs I planted were a mix of old and new.  My new seasons bulbs come from Bulbs Direct, who I highly recommend for the quality of their bulbs, as well as their friendly and efficient service
• I sowed carrots in all our 30 and 35 litre black plastic pots.  If you’re looking for interesting carrot varieties, I highly recommend Egmont Seeds’ coloured carrots – Ruby, Yellow, White and Purple.  The ones we sowed last spring have kept us going throughout summer and autumn and we still haven’t got through them all!
• I lifted all our dahlia tubers.  I had to do this to make room for all of our onion seedlings.  I still need to divide the dahlia tubers.  I plan to share the extra tubers with friends
• I planted our entire winter veggie garden – broccoli, cauliflower, red cabbage, green cabbage, fennel, leeks, silverbeet, spinach, lettuce, brown and red onions, broad beans and kale
• I pulled out all of last season’s plants, including chillies, capsicums and eggplants that had finished.  I also pulled out some very tall swan plants that didn’t look good
• I pruned our roses.  Traditionally, this should be done in June but our garden waste bins needed filling, so I did it a bit earlier than usual
• I weeded most of the garden (in stages, not all at once!)

Plant nursery
While we were at Level 3, I operated a contactless plant nursery from our home in South Auckland, selling a range of winter veggie seedlings.

Collaborations
I drafted and submitted collaboration plans for the coming year to the gardening businesses for whom I am a brand ambassador – Italian Seeds Pronto, Egmont Seeds and Awapuni.  I am proud to announce that I recently became a brand ambassador for Bulbs Direct, who kindly gave me an extensive range of tulips to grow in the garden this winter.

Garden alongside our driveway
I have plans to turn the garden to the right of our driveway back into a flower garden for annuals, which it originally was.    Previously, it had a mixture of things in it, including rhubarb, peas, swan plants, lilies, spring bulbs and dahlias.  For now, I have planted a mixture of brassicas but I have plans to sow annuals in it year round, starting with sunflowers this spring, followed by Iceland poppies next autumn.  To improve the condition of the soil, I added lots of compost and sheep pellets prior to planting the brassicas.

​Potatoes
Due to the Covid-19 situation, garden centres have been a bit late in getting seed potatoes in and I haven’t seen them in stores yet.  Normally I plant potatoes on the shortest day (21st June), for harvesting in early spring.  As soon as the varieties I like become available, I intend to purchase some as it takes a while for them to chit (sprout) before they can be planted into the ground.