We gave out some strawberry plants a few months ago that had been donated.
Sofia sent me this photo of one her family had planted and tells me that, "the kids check it every morning since they don't want to miss the time when the fruit turns red. No wonder they're so excited, it's their first strawberry plants." They have learned that they need to cover them.
She said that NZ strawberries are bigger and sweeter than the ones they had in Indonesia.
Beatriz (from the Wintec Horticulture school) kindly put together a handout on growing kumara for our workshop last Saturday. You can download a copy below.
Peni (Fiji) has been harvesting his spinach and herbs: his herb garden has chives (you can eat the pink flowers too), sage, thyme and marjoram. His strawberries are flowering and his brassicas (cabbages etc) are growing well. You can also see his silverbeet, red chard and nasturtiums (a trailing vine with edible flowers, leaves and seeds).
Thank you for sharing your photos, Peni! Your garden looks like a beautiful place to spend time.
1. Before you go buying something, can you RECYCLE something? eg containers such as plastic milk bottles cut down to make a useful potting mix/compost scoop.
2. SECOND HAND garden tools are much cheaper and often better quality that some of the cheap tools that you can buy new. WIC members’ favourite places for second hand bargains are:
Russell Recycling (sometimes called the Dump Shop) at the Waste Transfer Station, Lincoln St, Frankton, Hamilton
Opportunity shops (opp shops) – run by charities to raise funds, eg Red Cross, Salvation Army, Hospice…
Garage Sales – usually held at the weekend, people sell from their home. Garage sales are often advertised in the local newspaper as well as from the street.
Second hand tools can cost as little as $2, one WIC member got a lawnmower for just $20 from the dump shop!
3. You can BUY NEW garden tools from:
Garden Centres
Hardware stores such as Bunnings, Mitre 10, Farmlands, etc
The Warehouse
Dave’s Emporium, Hood St, Hamilton City – good for replacement handles, etc
If you are buying new tools aim to spend at least $15 for a small hand tool, and $30 for larger tools: cheap tools tend to be poor quality and break/bend easily.
If you are looking for traditional tools and can’t find them at any of these places, try some of the Asian trading shops.
4. There are also some NZ INTERNET TOOL RETAILERS:
The Western Community Centre Tool Bank: 46 Hyde Ave, Nawton, Hamilton. Everyone welcome! Has spades, shovels and hoes. You can borrow for a $10 deposit (refundable when you return the tool) + a gold coin. Ph 847 4873.
The Enderley Community Centre Tool Library: 66 Tennyson Rd, Enderley, Hamilton. Open to residents on the eastern side of Hamilton. Has lawn mowers, spades, shovels, garden forks, a wheelbarrow and a wood-chipper (a machine used to turn branches into mulch). They are planning to get weed eaters in the future. There is a $10 registration fee and a $5 hire fee for the lawnmower. Open Tuesday - Fridays, sometimes closed during wet weather. Register and pickup between 9 am-11 am, return tools between 4-5 pm. Ph 8557520 for more information: ask for Mere or Debbie or Harata.
6. You can RENT garden tools:
If you are looking for specialised, expensive tools that you will use only once or twice, you could rent the tool through a commercial hire company, listed under Hire-Building and Handyman Equipment in the Yellow Pages (a telephone book arranged by business type).
7. You can pool your resources and BUY AS A GROUP. Some groups or extended families buy tools together, particularly the expensive ones that you don’t use so often, sharing both the cost and the use.
Help with maintaining and repairing tools…
1. You can ask for advice at your local community garden.
2. HAMILTON COMMUNITY MEN’S SHED: Use the workshop equipment to maintain your garden tools, do woodworking, etc. They have experienced members (including our Community Garden Mentor Tim) who can give you advice and teach you how to use the equipment. There is a membership fee of about $15 for 6 months. The shed is open Wednesdays at 10am and 7pm and Saturdays at 10am, for 2 hour sessions.
Where: alongside the ArtMakers Community Arts Trust, corner of Seddon Road and Ward Street (at the bottom of Tainui Street), Central Hamilton. The public parking entrance is opposite Marama Street along Seddon Road.
I've seen several of these vertical gardens made from recycled pallets around Hamilton city.
A cafe uses some as free standing 'walls' that provide shelter to their outdoor customers, while this one brightens up an outdoor staff lunch area - much nicer than looking at a concrete wall! This would also work well if you only have a balcony space to garden on.
They plan to plant strawberries in the bottom row: it will be easy to attach some netting to the 'shelf' above, keeping the birds out.
There are lots of other ways of using vertical space - what have you tried? Do you have photos you could share?
Growing Tomatoes - Preventing blossom end rot Blossom end rot (see picture, left, by Margaret Senior) is caused by two things: not enough calcium (Ca) and watering inconsistently. (It is not a fungus.)
You can prevent blossom end rot by:
Mulching to keep the moisture in
Water as necessary – don’t allow the plant to dry out or become too wet.
Having a soil pH between 6.5 to 6.7
Most importantly, making sure the soil has enough calcium.
Green kiwifruit generally grow very well in this area and can be grown in your back yard. It is a vine, so it needs support. You will need both a male and a female plant to get fruit.
The kiwifruit disease PSA has been found in the Waikato. There are photographs of the symptomshere. If you have a kiwifruit vine in your garden and it is showing these symptoms, please call the Kiwifruit Vine Health team - they need to know, and can give you advice: 0800-665-825.
ESL News NZ is written for people learning English as a second language. On their web site you can listen to New Zealand news, spoken slowly and clearly, using easy vocabulary, and read along. This can help improve pronunciation. ESL News NZ also have a vocabulary list with each news story.
Chitted (or sprouted) potatoes (see Propagating potatoes) can be planted in large containers, in black plastic rubbish bags (black makes the soil warmer), in a tyre tower (add up to 3 tyres as you earth them up – see below), or in the soil. They make an excellent first crop for a new piece of garden. Soil must be well drained and fertile.
In winter if you are planting in the ground, dig the soil to spade’s depth and ideally plant on a bed of compost or comfrey leaves about 8 cm deep. Do not add lime! Plant the seed potatoes no more than 5 cm deep, or place at ground level and cover, creating a ridge (as you would do with kumara) which will be warmer and better drained. Sow seed potatoes about 25 cm apart.
Plants need regular water to grow large tubers, so if it hasn’t rained for 7-14 days, give them some water.
Once the plants are about 15-20 cm high they need to be earthed up, ie draw the soil up (or use compost) to cover most of the plant, forming a ridge. This prevents the potatoes from being exposed to light which will turn them green, making them poisonous. Earthing up should be done about every two weeks.
Potatoes are ready for harvesting when the skin cannot be rubbed off easily or when the tops of the plant have started to wither. Harvest, or lift, the potatoes in dry weather and leave them on the surface to dry out for a few hours to firm up the skin before storing them in a cool, dark, dry place: a cardboard box or paper bag is ideal.
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My address is 33 Hibiscus avenue mobile 027 4961212
Cheers
Fungai
Strawberries
Sofia sent me this photo of one her family had planted and tells me that, "the kids check it every morning since they don't want to miss the time when the fruit turns red. No wonder they're so excited, it's their first strawberry plants." They have learned that they need to cover them.
She said that NZ strawberries are bigger and sweeter than the ones they had in Indonesia.
Beatriz (from the Wintec Horticulture school) kindly put together a handout on growing kumara for our workshop last Saturday. You can download a copy below.
Growing Kumara.pdf
Back Yard Garden in Hamiton - growing now
Peni (Fiji) has been harvesting his spinach and herbs: his herb garden has chives (you can eat the pink flowers too), sage, thyme and marjoram. His strawberries are flowering and his brassicas (cabbages etc) are growing well. You can also see his silverbeet, red chard and nasturtiums (a trailing vine with edible flowers, leaves and seeds).
Thank you for sharing your photos, Peni! Your garden looks like a beautiful place to spend time.
1. Before you go buying something, can you RECYCLE something? eg containers such as plastic milk bottles cut down to make a useful potting mix/compost scoop.
2. SECOND HAND garden tools are much cheaper and often better quality that some of the cheap tools that you can buy new. WIC members’ favourite places for second hand bargains are:
Second hand tools can cost as little as $2, one WIC member got a lawnmower for just $20 from the dump shop!
3. You can BUY NEW garden tools from:
If you are buying new tools aim to spend at least $15 for a small hand tool, and $30 for larger tools: cheap tools tend to be poor quality and break/bend easily.
If you are looking for traditional tools and can’t find them at any of these places, try some of the Asian trading shops.
4. There are also some NZ INTERNET TOOL RETAILERS:
5. You can BORROW garden tools from:
6. You can RENT garden tools:
If you are looking for specialised, expensive tools that you will use only once or twice, you could rent the tool through a commercial hire company, listed under Hire-Building and Handyman Equipment in the Yellow Pages (a telephone book arranged by business type).
7. You can pool your resources and BUY AS A GROUP. Some groups or extended families buy tools together, particularly the expensive ones that you don’t use so often, sharing both the cost and the use.
Help with maintaining and repairing tools…
1. You can ask for advice at your local community garden.
2. HAMILTON COMMUNITY MEN’S SHED: Use the workshop equipment to maintain your garden tools, do woodworking, etc. They have experienced members (including our Community Garden Mentor Tim) who can give you advice and teach you how to use the equipment. There is a membership fee of about $15 for 6 months. The shed is open Wednesdays at 10am and 7pm and Saturdays at 10am, for 2 hour sessions.
Where: alongside the ArtMakers Community Arts Trust, corner of Seddon Road and Ward Street (at the bottom of Tainui Street), Central Hamilton. The public parking entrance is opposite Marama Street along Seddon Road.
For more information email hamiltonshednz@gmail.com
Note: The Men's Shed is an international group, so even if you don't live in Hamilton, there may be one in your area.
Growing Sunflowers
The Kings Seeds blog this week h
as tips on growing sunflowers, including how to prepare the seeds for eating.
Sunflower seeds are high in fibre and a good source of protein, vitamin Eand vitamin B5.
(Photo courtesy PDPhoto.org)Short on space? Try vertical gardening!
I've seen several of these vertical gardens made from recycled pallets around Hamilton city.
A cafe uses some as free standing 'walls' that provide shelter to their outdoor customers, while this one brightens up an outdoor staff lunch area - much nicer than looking at a concrete wall! This would also work well if you only have a balcony space to garden on.
They plan to plant strawberries in the bottom row: it will be easy to attach some netting to the 'shelf' above, keeping the birds out.
There are lots of other ways of using vertical space - what have you tried? Do you have photos you could share?
Growing Tomatoes - Preventing blossom end rot
Blossom end rot (see picture, left, by Margaret Senior) is caused by two things: not enough calcium (Ca) and watering inconsistently. (It is not a fungus.)
You can prevent blossom end rot by:
Blossom end rot is also seen in:
Not enough calcium will also cause carrots to grow with holes in them.
PSA disease on Kiwifruit
The kiwifruit disease PSA has been found in the Waikato. There are photographs of the symptoms here. If you have a kiwifruit vine in your garden and it is showing these symptoms, please call the Kiwifruit Vine Health team - they need to know, and can give you advice: 0800-665-825.
There is more information about PSA on the ESL News NZ Site.
ESL News NZ is written for people learning English as a second language. On their web site you can listen to New Zealand news, spoken slowly and clearly, using easy vocabulary, and read along. This can help improve pronunciation. ESL News NZ also have a vocabulary list with each news story.
Photo: healthy kiwifruit, rich in vitamin C
Chitted (or sprouted) potatoes (see Propagating potatoes) can be planted in large containers, in black plastic rubbish bags (black makes the soil warmer), in a tyre tower (add up to 3 tyres as you earth them up – see below), or in the soil. They make an excellent first crop for a new piece of garden. Soil must be well drained and fertile.
In winter if you are planting in the ground, dig the soil to spade’s depth and ideally plant on a bed of compost or comfrey leaves about 8 cm deep. Do not add lime! Plant the seed potatoes no more than 5 cm deep, or place at ground level and cover, creating a ridge (as you would do with kumara) which will be warmer and better drained. Sow seed potatoes about 25 cm apart.
Plants need regular water to grow large tubers, so if it hasn’t rained for 7-14 days, give them some water.
Once the plants are about 15-20 cm high they need to be earthed up, ie draw the soil up (or use compost) to cover most of the plant, forming a ridge. This prevents the potatoes from being exposed to light which will turn them green, making them poisonous. Earthing up should be done about every two weeks.
Potatoes are ready for harvesting when the skin cannot be rubbed off easily or when the tops of the plant have started to wither. Harvest, or lift, the potatoes in dry weather and leave them on the surface to dry out for a few hours to firm up the skin before storing them in a cool, dark, dry place: a cardboard box or paper bag is ideal.
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