My son rescued three tomato plants and a butternut pumpkin from a nursery. He said in a very loud voice how sad he was for the plants and that they needed watering. Very quickly a assistant came and watered them. I also came home with a tamerillo plant and I have no idea what colour it is. I had to agree the plants looked very sad and sorry. I told that he could have handled that a bit more diplomatically. He just looked at me and said but the plants did get watered didn't they mum. I just hugged him.
juliewn,
Feb 2, 10:50pm
Hi Jules. Fingers crossed for lots more gentle rain there. I hadn't realised you are in Northland - have seen tv coverage about the drought up there. and really hope it's broken now for you all up there.
jules.,
Feb 3, 2:29am
well. looks like ive missed the boat on the tomatos. i tried a couple of places on sunday, but they had none left. never mind, i havnt pulled them yet, so will try and nurture a couple along and see how they go. the kids are off to school tomorrow, they will have lovely fresh fruit from the trees in their lunch and a couple of carrots too. better go and get organised, i get lazy in the hols with not having to rush to get everyone out the door by 8am. cheers, heres to being hectic again!
kiwiscrapper1,
Feb 3, 2:35am
IFlossy 21, I have just read you message Do you still want the book, seen as you asked first, if not Inc can have it, let me know. I dont look at the messages everyday so will check in the next day or two. Thanks
jules.,
Feb 3, 4:05am
we had 24 hours of solid rain, giving around 50 (ish) mm, and another 24 hours of hard on and off showers. its a break from the drought, but its said we need 120 mm before the drought is offically over. its definately give the garden and grass and all the farmers water tanks a much needed boost, but too little too late really. dont even know when we had to mow the lawn last, its just burnt, dry, brown patches and even in a few places the grass has died completely leaving dry, cracked dirt patches!
for all the watering i have given the garden, its been a shocking season.the cucumbers have done next to nothing (2 this season compared to last years 40+), the sweetcorns are 1/2 the size of last years, courgettes started off with a hiss and roar but soon fizzled out early on. the tomatos are doing well as are the capsicum and chilli plants. the radishes i put in 2 weeks ago are doing well and it took 10 days for the carrot seeds to come thru.
its been great to have all the wonderful weather and nice hot days while we were camping, but hopefully next season will be a better one for the garden.
flossy21,
Feb 3, 9:31pm
Yes I am still interested Please list it and I will pop back later tonight. I've got wild pumpkins and they have gone mad. Anyway I lifted up one of the vines and popped it up on the blackberry bush so I could mow the lawn and left it overnight. Came back the next morning to find it had well and truly attached itself to the blackberry so I though oh well it can stay there now as I will never get the tendrils untangled. Yesterday I was looking at the blackberries and blow me down if there isn't a pumpkin the size of a small soccer ball hanging alongside the blackberries. Looks very amusing.
jules.,
Feb 3, 9:39pm
that was off only 3 plants! this year i had 6 plants, 3 died and the other 3 only managed to produce the 2 cucumbers for this season!
jules.,
Feb 4, 12:58am
helllloooooooooooooo! where is everyone!
juliewn,
Feb 4, 5:13am
Hi Temco. thanks so much for the link to the indoor vege growing site. it's a big help thanks. :-) . Hi Flossy. pumpkins sure are fast growers. I have one growing along near a boundary line. it keeps trying to climb up through the fence there, and I keep gently pulling it back so it's growing along the bottom the fence. I think I'm winning, though it's trying very hard to head upwards! I have vines and geranium's planted to grow up through the fence, and want to keep the pumpkin off it, so they have a better chance. Wish me luck!
stevee6,
Feb 4, 5:31pm
Bump for those starting to think about late summer/autumn plantings.
misskittydragon,
Feb 5, 10:02pm
woohoo Finally plum time. We have got one tomato ripening. Harvesting wise I am still getting from the garden lettuce, silverbeet, pinapple sage, basil, ummmmmmm Apple cucumbers. Our Apples have been hit by the codling moth.Have heaps of earwigs. It is keeping me on my toes wondering what is going to happen next. lol. I am trying to think what to plant next.
juliewn,
Feb 6, 6:30am
How are your gardens growing. the growth is amazing here. had a light sprinkle of rain a few nights ago - could do with several days more - as could most of the country. I'm thinking of you all in the drought affected areas. hope it rains for you all very soon. I am so enjoying the fresh veges from our garden - I haven't grown much in the way of veges for a few years, so it's very good to have them growing again. The yellow and the red cherry tomatoes are ripening fast now. it's the privilege of the person who waters the garden to wash a few under the spray of water, and enjoy them as the garden is watered. Guess who get's the tomatoes, cos guess who waters the garden. C'est moi!
stevee6,
Feb 6, 2:31pm
Lynda was on Sunrise this morning with vege gardening in raised beds - brilliant for the starter gardener. We've had some of our new heritage tomatoes grilled with a bit of basil on top - easily the nicest tomatoes I've tasted in a long time. Also had some rain - not much but it's a start.
jules.,
Feb 7, 3:01am
go miss kitty, with all your plums :) we are totally inundated with plums at the moment. i have made plum jam, given bags and bags away to family and friends and still can hardly tell where they have come from. i am going to stew and freeze some tomorrow. i have made cucumber pickle and now have cauli pickle on the go to, it needs to soak in the brine over night. im still waiting for the golden queens, but im walking a very thin line with them. they normally mostly rot before they are ready, but this year (touch wood), all is well so far.
juliewn,
Feb 8, 6:04am
Hi Steve. I missed Sunrise. is Lynda on there weekly! Thanks for your help.
stevee6,
Feb 8, 1:57pm
Yes - I think at around 8.15. On her Friday email she has a link to the show fortunately for those who missed it.
juliewn,
Feb 8, 3:33pm
Hi Everyone. hope all your gardens are growing well. we're away from home. just catching up on the thread. My Daughter has moved to Wellington to study and we're still in Wellington. three days ago we planted veges in big planter boxes at the front of their apartment, and more in long planters she's placed at the back of her desk, by the window in her room. The growth in her room is amazing. tlast night she took leaves off the outside of three kinds of lettuce, ridicchio and some basil, to make a salad sandwich for her first day of training today. After we finished the planting, she said 'y'know Mum, this feels like home now." Feels good that she feels that way. her very first home away from home. Take care all. Julie.
mim5,
Feb 8, 3:57pm
OMG went out to the vege patch last night after missing Thursday night and discovered three enormous courgettes, having picked two huge ones Tuesday, and so many ripe tomatoes! Just wish my many chillis would hurry up and turn red so I can get more heat from them although they are nice as they are
juliewn,
Feb 9, 5:14am
Thanks Steve. :-) Lynda's latest email includes that there are now 2,500 new and novice vege gardeners signed up for the Get Growing weekly email. isn't that great!. I wonder how many of them/us are Trademe members! Hi Mim. I wish my courgette plant was like yours. the flowers are not setting and forming fruit at all on my plant. I've never had this before. the flowers aren't fully opening even before they fall off. Borage is planted beside the plant, bees and bumble bees are often in my garden, as well as butterfly's, so I don't know what else to try. Suggestions welcome please . Thanks.
kiwiscrapper1,
Feb 9, 4:14pm
flossy21 sorry havent been here for a while, have listed book under - books-magazines-home&garde- n- only for 2 days $16.00 covers TM fee. My daughter lives in the Hutt so I could get it to her if you want to pick up and save on postage, I may be going down next week but hubby could drop off if I dont.
kiwiscrapper1,
Feb 9, 4:16pm
or. just email ian underscore w at that xtra place and I can just get it to you for the normal price $15.
willow4,
Feb 9, 6:36pm
Flossy. I always feed my pumpkin scraps to my chooks, they have a large run to scratch around in. This year we have wild pumpkins growing all through their run,up all the sides and over the roof. There are pumpkins growing stuck through the wire mesh and we are watching them with interest to see if they keep growing or break away. The chooks are loving living amonst them :) They've also grown out of two compost heaps, and where I actually planted some - we're going to have enough to feed the whole neighbourhood!
flossy21,
Feb 9, 7:42pm
Willow that sounds really amusing At least you don't have to worry about keeping the pumpkins off the ground! I love the idea of having chooks so they are on my wish list of things to have in the garden. I also have wild tomatoes everywhere as well as the seeds were in my compost so I am just letting them go as well.I think I should say my vege patch this year is a wild one.
kiwiscrapper1,
Feb 9, 8:57pm
pumpkin last year hubby bought the biggest pumpkin I have ever seen for $1 we kept some seeds and planted them but they have not taken off, but through the rest in the compost and we have about 12 seedlings come up growing at a medium pace so it will be interesting to see how well they grow. I want chooks too, did the pumpkin seeds grow from what they didnt eat!I too have more seedlings of toms coming up in the garden, not sure where they would have come from, too early for the toms to go to seed!
stevee6,
Feb 10, 2:48pm
Bump Hey guys, best to save this thread in case it suddenly disappears as our rose one did. Apparently there are a group of trolls going through the boards voting off threads just for the hell of it, and one like this with lots of posts is just the sort of thing they're looking for.
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