i think this thread is going to die, sadly, no one seems interested in keeping it alive anymore, sad as its full of good info and all the people on here are all so friendly and helpfull :)
juliewn,
Feb 21, 5:51am
Hi Steve. this is from another thread, re the lettuce spray: "You need to repeat the spray about every fortnight to cover any new leaves that have grown since the last time, the butterfly will investigate and when it senses the lettuce flavour, will fly off looking for her desired brassica host plants, white butterfly do visit lettuce plants but do not lay eggs on them, the leaves are poisonous to their caterpillars."
skin1235 (45 )11:45 pm, 21 Feb
juliewn,
Feb 21, 5:53am
Hi Kiwi. I hope you get lots of tomatoes from now on. my Supertom Money maker is not doing great at all - the tomato's are small and hard looking - even though the Supertom Sweet100 planted nearby has masses of growth and fruit - and we're using a good sized handful every day.
juliewn,
Feb 21, 6:01am
Hi Revenge. it might help to remove any leaves that are being eaten. maybe you have a rabbit visitor! We have a night-time visitor to our garden - I call our cat inside late evening - sometimes as late as just now - and while I'm looking out for her to come, a hedgehog scuttles around the trailer and the edges of the garden near the verandah - I've been putting some seeds, bread, etc. near the trailer at night, after birds have gone home wherever they go to sleep - so the hedgehog has a leisurely nibble, and the birds have the rest in the morning before our cat is again outside. It's interesting to see how fast the hedgehog goes to move out of the light.
stevee6,
Feb 21, 1:52pm
Juliewn - ty for that. I'm clearing the summer plants now to start my brassicas, so I'll give it a shot. The cats are doing their bit(oriental cat looks like she's on springs jumping up & down after them) but the spray should certainly help.
kiwiscrapper1,
Feb 21, 4:55pm
Juliewn I have about 8 very large green toms but as soon as I see them turning I will be picking and hopefully they will ripe inside in the sun, again this morning another 1/2 eaten and it wasnt even ripening - still very green. oh well next year I will have a cloche (sp) I hope.
stevee6,
Feb 21, 4:57pm
Just back from a short holiday break and the garden is overflowing with tomatoes, courgettes, corn, silverbeet and bloomin' passionfruit hoppers! Don't worry jules - as autumn approaches people start getting more interested again.
jules.,
Feb 21, 9:42pm
oh, i am please stevee, i like sharing and hearing about everyones gardens and ideas etc. hope you had a nice break, sounds like you have come home to some 'work' though :)
naphtha,
Feb 21, 11:36pm
Has anyone mentioned the book 'Square Foot Gardening', by Bartholomew! Ideal for the smaller garden.Well worth a look, but have to alter the seasons to suit NZ, as it's a USA book. I guess I'm allowed to put this in here!
em007,
Feb 21, 11:39pm
I am interested in that book as well naphtha! The latest newsletter was a bit boring and didn't have much practical stuff in it but its still good.
lisa37,
Feb 21, 11:48pm
In this weeks get growing campaign, it says to plant leek seedlings, does it mean seeds or punnets of seedlings from the garden centre! is it too late for seeds, I have never seen seedlings for leeks.
juliewn,
Feb 22, 1:41am
I'm here. :-). Hi Everyone. home again to everything very overgrown. especially on the piles of topsoil from the house site & drive, which will be levelled around the new house soon. when I'll also be able to begin new gardens. am looking forward to that. Hope you're all enjoying great harvests.
1mumof4,
Feb 22, 2:00am
Keep the thread going please. Maybe everyone is just busy with the harvesting at this time of the year.8:)My capsicums have taken off almost overnight and I've been slicing them thinly and popping them in the freezer.The beetroot has been pulled up but haven't done anything with them yet.The new raised garden bed is up and going with leeks and cabbages growing in it.I'll be off to get some more timber this week to make some more beds.Must get some carrot seeds to try growing, I'm not happy with the price of them in the shops at the moment.
tehenga288,
Feb 22, 2:52am
Hope this thread keeps going it's very interesting I lurk in here but haven't posted for ages.I don't have a lge garden but have lots of things in buckets & pots & in an old wheelbarrow. Most things are thriving silverbeet;radish heaps of lettuce;cherry toms; beetroot; parsley; basil(4 types);chives;dill; mint;sageI've just planted broccoli & sown mesclun & more dill & mint.The disappointment has been the potatoes in buckets, thankfully my 82yr old neighbour kept me supplied
tehenga288,
Feb 22, 3:07am
Picked a bucket of mushrooms from the paddock over the back today. Had them for tea - yummo.
jules.,
Feb 22, 3:37am
my sister has 'mushrooms' growing on her lawn. they are pale, but turn brown underneath after a day or so, they are flatish and there are heaps of them. would they be mushrooms or toadstools!
em007,
Feb 22, 2:31pm
Either or lisa37 you can plant seedlings or grow the seeds.
stevee6,
Feb 22, 5:25pm
Em007 - some fabulous recipies though. With all the harvesting right now these were timed perfectly!
mim5,
Feb 22, 11:04pm
Did you know Julie that hedgehogs love cat food! I know some people loathe them but would love one to help the birds eat all the slugs and snails! My daughter visited today and I went to get her some veges to take home to her flat and couldn't believe my courgettes - the rain has helped them to become ENORMOUS! Think it's time to try freezing some. Am really enjoying my steady stream of tomatoes. My shallots had dried their leaves so harvested them last week along with my late planted garlic. Bit disappointed with the garlic - lovely large strong plants and very small bulbs underneath. Maybe better luck next year.
stevee6,
Feb 23, 2:17am
Jules - yep, lots of work. But developing a new garden is what I like doing, so a battle against the damn hoppers is great exercise :-)
tehenga288,
Feb 23, 2:48am
jules these sound like mushrooms I can tell usually by the smell but it's better to be safe than sorry so you need someone who knows to check them out. We have some that are very white & elongated like a tube & turn really black as they get older called inkcaps I think. They are apparently a delicacy that chefs love to use but none of us is game to try them lol.
jules.,
Feb 23, 2:50am
we had the hoppers too, as we do each year, but not that many this year. what do they actually do!
juliewn,
Feb 23, 3:36am
Hi Mim. your garden sounds lovely. I bet your goodies taste great. isn't it just the best feeling to share lovely fresh veges from our gardens.I hope the rain we've had a little of (along with strong gusts of wind) over the past 24 hours or so will help my courgette's - there were 3 tiny ones there yesterday. the first ones showing, so I'm hoping they're beginning to fruit now. Will be so good to be able to pick, wash, top and tail them, split them in half lengthwise then cook on the bbq or the electric grill.Can't wait. Thanks for posting about hedgehogs loving cat food. our cat doesn't like one of the boxed type we have here at the moment, so I'll sprinkle a little of that out each night. It's lovely seeing the hedgehog. I may even get tempted to wait outside one night and watch where it goes home to. mmmmmm we might have to choose a name for our little visitor! :-)
juliewn,
Feb 23, 3:46am
Hi Lisa. leeks are sometimes sold in the vege plant racks at supermarkets - and they'll be at garden centres also. they're usually in bundles -last year we bought one of the newspaper wrapped bundles at a supermarket - on the side of the pack it noted that there were approximately 30 plants in the bundle - from it I planted around 40 here, and gave away the rest - which turned out to be another 30. All for just a couple of dollars. They're excellent to plant - and easy to grow. From when they are little-finger sized in diameter, they can be chopped or sliced to add to stirfry's, added to white sauces, cheese sauces, smoked fish pies, soups, etc. I use them in place of onions in many recipes during the season. I use both the green and white parts - just removing any damaged parts, then top and tailing them.washing them well to remove soil, etc that can get into the lower parts of the green section. then chopping or slicing them to use as you want. I hope this helps. if you decide to grow them, let us know how you go. and enjoy your goodies. :-)
juliewn,
Feb 23, 3:52am
ps.Mim. you mentioned finding ways to freeze your courgettes. and you also mentioned your tomatoes. Lynda, in her latest "Get Growing" email, has included the following, which might be of interest to you: "My tomatoes are having a bumper season so I'm already freezing lots of pottles of tomato-based sauces for pastas, casseroles and lasagne in winter. I just boil roughly chopped tomatoes, courgettes (my plants are going bonkers!), onions and garlic with lots of salt and pepper, a splash of white wine and a generous dollop of olive oil. Depending on the flavour I'm after I'll also add cumin seed, big handfuls of fresh basil or a little smoked paprika (don't add too much smoked paprika though as it has a tendency to dominate the vegetables.) If I was growing eggplants, I'd also add these to this mix, and I throw in green beans too if I've got too many to eat." Hope this helps. Cheers. Julie
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