Comments

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  Ricardo Oscar Marques April 21, 2011 at 10:20am

  Hi

  I am in Mangere, I am looking for close people to swap stuff.

  I need a hand with my garden, especially where I am going to put my fruit trees. Also what sort of trees should I buy.

  I can offer a hand, but also I am developinng a project to use goats and sheeps in urban areas.

  I wait your answer.

  I am looking for active members, I wrote a while ago to all Mangere members and stll waiting reply.
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  Todd Saunders November 20, 2010 at 3:33am

  Yes everything will be taking off at the moment. Some of the varieties may be fairly vigorous but it will mostly be the heat.
  
  Could be - I can't recall all the seeds I sent you. The corn will be dark blue if I have or multicoloured. If its brown it might be hardneck garlic.
  
  If they are dwarf peas they need very little room as they won't grow more than about 50cm max. The bigger varieties grow similar to a bean - a 1.5-1.8 metre stake or a bit of fence would be fine - shouldn't need much space really. I use branches from fruit trees - complete with smaller branches for mine.
  
  The strawberries will basically be a set of leaves attached to a few roots. The raspberries will have smaller leaves at the top and tend towards long and thin - will be bigger than the strawberries.
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  Todd Saunders November 11, 2010 at 8:45am

  There should hopefully be tiger worms and some other variety that turned up by itself. The white ones might be immature worms. You can grow them ok in pots, although you'll often get better crops if they are in the ground.
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  Todd Saunders November 9, 2010 at 12:07am

  Hi Charlotte,
  
  I've popped some seeds in the post for you today. I've popped a small pack of worms in (I haven't sent them before so I hope they make it). I've also included a couple of woodland strawberries and some raspberries. Thanks, Todd :)
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  Todd Saunders November 8, 2010 at 1:46am

  Hi Charlotte,
  
  I use both. I also use mustard, borage and the like to sheet mulch which cuts down on work and improves the soil. I grow a couple of areas of comfrey, mustard, borage etc each year for chook fodder, compost tea, and mulch. If you have a small area free it may pay to do the same? Sorry I've been hugely busy at work and hadn't sorted all your seeds to be sent. A worm farm costs nothing aside from the intial outlay for the worms and the bins. You can use almost anything - I use a few large plastic pots stacked up on top of each other with a bucket at the base to catch the worm tea. I'll send you some of mine. Thanks
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  Todd Saunders October 24, 2010 at 10:57am

  Grass clippings are fine as a starter. If you turn it every day or so with a garden fork and add ripped up wet cardboard, newpaper and any other green matter.
  
  Perhaps you might like to try a worm farm?
  
  Everyone's got to start somewhere. That's fine - seeds don't cost me anything to grow and I'm more interested in giving seeds away than swapping them.
  
  You're most welcome. Its just a matter of finding the right people. Ooooby is probably a good place to start as you can get in touch with like-minded people. They seem to be a good source of advice and possibly a source of plants/seeds.
  
  I'll send off your stuff on Tuesday. Cheers :)
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  Todd Saunders October 15, 2010 at 12:47pm

  Hi Charlotte,
  
  What types are you currently growing? I have a few I really like but if you're in containers you may want a good bush or cherry tomato like Riebenstraube or a good cropping smaller variety like Russian Red. Some of the Italian types seem to do well too in small spaces.
  
  There's always plenty to learn when it comes to gardening - my garden constantly surprises me :) I have plenty of herbs and some capsicum and squash.
  
  You can if you like. I swapped with Kali recently and we each sent a bag of stuff. I'm happy to send you off some and cover the postage in any case.
  
  There are plenty of different ways to deal with white fly. Probably the easiest is soap. You simply add a good dollop of dishwashing detergent to water and spray it over the leaves of you plants.
  
  Another you could try is speading vaseline on a yellow plastic bag and place it close to your infected plants. Shake the plants and the white fly will fly off onto the bag and stick to the vaseline.
  
  If space allows I'd recommend some companion planting to attract beneficial predators and also some plants that may discourage them.
  
  I'm not familiar with what plants specifically would deter whitefly, but I plant garlic, borage, pyrethrum, marigolds and allysum and have had few issues with white fly. I'll send you some borage to help attract some bees.
  
  Yes buying dirt does get expensive. The old Yates guides recommend that method but I'd guess you don't want to dig up the lawn if you're planting in containers?
  
  Without spending any money, what do you currently have available in terms of green matter, soil and fertiliser? Do you have lawn clippings? Reasonable amounts of newspaper? Dry grass?
  
  Ideally you'd want to build a good compost heap. I can give you instructions on some of the methods, otherwise I have a few tips which I used to use when I grew in containers.
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  Todd Saunders October 4, 2010 at 12:01am

  Welcome to ooooby. No they are potatoes. They are commonly referred to as Taewa or Maori potatoes. Most are heritage varieties, some of which date back to the 1800s when they were introduced to New Zealand by early settlers/missionaries/sealers/whalers etc. I still have a few left if you want some.
  
  What seeds would you like? I'd expect you'll want some peas and beans and tomatoes? Do you have room for pumpkins?
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  Angie Gibbons September 16, 2010 at 3:41am

  Welcome to Ooooby, here are some links that might help you get started:
  
  https://ooooby.ning.com/group/sandringhamgardeners
  
  https://ooooby.ning.com/group/waitakerebackyardplots
  
  Angie