cont. .and on the way into the soil soon will be more silverbeet, celery, onions, kale, kohlrabi and we'd like to do some garlic also at a later stage.We are loving it and really enjoy going out and picking dinner right at the last minute.I got some preserving jars from my mother in law and will be bottling the tomaotes into a bolognese sauce and will preserve some of the beetroot.I've already frozen a fair amount of broccoli and cauli and will do the same with the capsicum.It's such a nice feeling to know that all our veges are fresh out of the garden and haven't been sprayed with any pesticides.Next I want some chooks, a pig, a sheep, a cow so I can make my own butter (have you seen the price of it lately!) Some fruit trees.We have a fig and some citrus but i want a passionfruit, a golden queen peach, a black doris plum and a white flesh nectarine.Is that asking too much!
temco1,
Jan 7, 12:38am
I think the council and neighbours may have something to say about the animals!But dreams are free.
quantum_leap,
Jan 7, 1:26am
I think you've come to the right place temco for support and encouragment! I'd like to get a few bantams to free range in our garden, but I'm not sure how much damage they'd do. Can anyone advise me!
juliewn,
Jan 7, 4:58am
Hi Everyone- ohh. it would be so lovely to have eggs to collect freshly each day. I think hens/chooks are allowed in urban areas so long as there isn't a rooster to waken the whole neighbourhood.Have a lovely week. and enjoy your gardens.
em007,
Jan 7, 8:10pm
temco did you plant your fig! I woulkd love one and am curious to know how long after planting you get a good amount of fruit!
temco1,
Jan 7, 9:20pm
No.It was already here when we bought the house. We've tried to kill it off several times but it keeps coming back!It's about 3metres tall before we know it!Considering we have cut it back to the ground, sprayed it, cut it back to the ground, sprayed it, covered it in weedmat and bark, cut it back to the ground, sprayed it.anyway.We've gone out of our way to try and kill it but have come to terms with the fact that it's a stubborn B. and have decided to let it do it's thing.It's in full fruit despite the punishment so I would think that if you planted one it would fruit within 12 months.
juliewn,
Jan 9, 5:04am
Bumping. another email from NZ Gardener due this Friday, if anyone would like to register for it.
lythande1,
Jan 9, 2:33pm
How nice But there are a few problems with that idea. Auckland has a longer growing season than say Southland. You need lots of room. There are an awful lot of sub 500sqm sections around these days. It doesn't cover all your needs. Flour for instance. Meat. Eggs. Butter, milk. Fine if you want to eat nothing but a vegetable all year long.
em007,
Jan 9, 2:36pm
I bought a bay leaf tree and put it in a nice large pot and it looks gorgeous. After the rain yesterday I see lots of lovely birght new leaves so its settled nicely I think. What have you planted recently!
juliewn,
Jan 10, 5:03am
Isn't it lovely when rain falls and nurture's our gardens. and at this time of year, the growth is visible day by day. I have more plants to add to my garden - including some berries, and will plant them over the next few days. hopefully rain will gently water them in.
juliewn,
Jan 11, 7:25pm
Part of this weeks Get Growing email from NZ Gardener: "Ask the experts There's nothing that Dennis Greville, NZ Gardener's edible gardening guru and the author of Get Fresh doesn't know about growing fresh fruit and veges. If you've got a question, he's got the answer. Email us with your queries and we'll publish as many as possible in Get Growing each week.".
stevee6,
Jan 20, 2:23pm
Black aphids - annoying wee buggers too. Soap and water mix works well, or in severe infestations you can use Neem oil. If your garlic is ready to harvest - go ahead as it will break the cycle(check your chives and other members of the onion family).
jules.,
Jan 22, 3:56am
Thanks for that Stevee, I grew laods of garlic.one lot on the deck in a planter box was totally wiped out and the others in the garden are very small, think it has been our very dry summer. We have rain at the moment, so will keep them in as long as I can and see what happens :)
juliewn,
Jan 22, 5:21am
Happy New Year to you all. hope it's going well for you all.
Hope you're getting good rains there after the drought conditions recently Jules. hope the drought is over.
It got really dry here, ground cracking, and just found from reading another thread that my raspberry plants not doing well, and having a shiny sticky substance on parts of them, is due to dry weather. raining gently outside now, so fingers crossed for it to continue.
Hi Stevee. just reading your reply to Jules about garlic. I planted shallots around the end of July - have you grown them! The leaves are still very green - how do I know when to harvest!
Thanks for your help. I grew a few last year, and thought I'd just leave them in the soil and harvest them as I needed them - a mistake though, as they went soft. this year would like to harvest when ready, then leave them on a netting frame to dry, and once dried, plait the stems together to store them. Thanks Stevee.
jules.,
Feb 13, 2:48am
Well with 2 cyclones in the past few weeks we have had more than our fair share if rain. Although our house escaped with minimal damage, others wernt quite so lucky :(
I have decided that container gardening in the summer for me is not the way to go. Its just too hot and dry up here and Im not the best when it comes to watering regularly. I have had a good crop of tomatos but think they would have been better in the ground. I have a lot of them in the freezer waiting to be made into relish. The cucumbers have all but failed and the capsicum and chillis are small and not very good crops either.
The plums have finished, we got 10+ buckets and have made 30 jars of jam and have 10kg in the freezer (washed, halved and stoned) waiting to be made into plum sauce and stewing when I have the time. We have eaten so many straight from the tree aswell.
Almost time for Feijoas and apples (Granny Smith and Golden Delicious).
I have planted 45 more spud plants that will be ready mid May, just in time for the Winter roasts, mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
whiskey13,
Feb 18, 9:25pm
Isn't it a great feeling when you can freeze produce for future use :)
stevee6,
Feb 19, 4:59pm
Wow, haven't been here for ages but thought I should drop in to wish Lynda and Jason congratulations on their marriage this weekend - hope the weather was perfect and they had a great time.
juliewn,
Feb 20, 8:06pm
Hi Everyone. yes, I hope their day was fabulous Stevee.
Best wishes Lynda and Jason. may your marriage be long, fulfilling and bring you both much joy and laughter.
I just got the emailed updates from Lynda's blog. their garden is just beautiful.
And my garden. a sad lack of potatoes from the two bags of seed potatoes I purchased. one tiny potato. am reading up on this potato/tomato psyllid as to whether its that. am really disappointed. my Daughter's 21st in April, I planned to use the potatoes for part of the dinner at her party.
The good news part though, is that for the first time ever I've harvested lots of tomatoes, enough so far to have made both tomato relish and tomato sauce. I've preserved several jars of beetroot, and made parsley, basil and lemon balm pesto, with added macadamia's - I was given a large bag of shelled macadamia's - they're great in the pesto.
All these are for the party, and have more growing.
My shallots grew well - I harvested just over 90, have given some to friends and stored the rest. will definitely grow these again and am keeping some of this years harvest to continue next season.
I'm picking a handful of blackberries every day from my one plant, many clusters hanging still - I've grown them on the under-side of my pergola, so they hang down in clusters. looks great and makes for easy picking.
Lot's of beans now my plants have grown - had trouble getting them to germinate early in the season - have three climbing varieties coming on now.
Have planted broccoli, several kinds of lettuce, lots of beetroot, and have onions, leeks and silverbeet to plant this evening when it's cooler.
I ate my very first Cox's Orange Apple yesterday, with my eyes closed as I bit into it, it tasted sooooo good! Feijoa's growing well, will be enough to preserve some this year. mandarin's have more fruit too.
How are all of your garden's. lot's being harvested I'd think.
Yes, congrats to them both( and baby lol) I don't feel like gardening much at the moment. Being in Christchurch and knowing someone whos lost their life. :(
stevee6,
Feb 25, 4:59pm
((((((((whiskey))))) Our hearts are with you down in Canterbury.
jules.,
Mar 16, 4:51pm
We cant even begin to imagine what you are all going thru down there, we watch the news and see the pictures, but being there.
The wedding pics on Lyndas blog are so beautiful, looks like it was a great day!
The last of the tomatoes are ripening and the capsicums have come to an end, as have the chillis. I have made 4 large jars of gherkins, cant wait to try them! Feijoas are falling everywhere, the kids are eating them like crazy, but give them a few more days and they will be over them. I will have to get into gear and start stewing them for the freezer, with 20+ trees, theres PLENTY to go round. spuds are growing nicely (well one lot, but the other lot.1/2 have not even sprouted and the other 1/2 are very spindly, maybe just needs more water!)
The mornings are definately getting a chill about them now, but the days are lovely. I love this 'in between' season.
juliewn,
Dec 17, 7:13am
Hi Jules. thank goodness you're getting rain up there. have seen on TV how dry it is. hope you have good steady rain to finish the drought.
We haven't had much rain here - a few minutes now and then, with grey clouds often overhead and - going on to water other gardens and pastures.
It is amazing the difference rain water makes. a noticeable difference.
Have a good weekend People.
jules.,
Dec 18, 2:02am
our plums are getting rather big now, no colour yet, but will have to get out there and put the bird netting over soon. hopefully we wont catch any birds this year, im not very fond of getting dead birds from the netting. it doesnt look like we will be getting many golden queens this year, they have all but dropped off, think its all the wind we have had lately, was really looking forward to bottling them :( oh well, will have to settle on the passionfruit and plums instead, YUM!
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