Hi Jen. thanks for the comfrey info. I've been told that Mitre10 have comfrey plants so will check there for a plant. your info has inspired me even further. thanks :-)
jen92,
Apr 9, 2:38pm
Julie.I forgot to mention that when you plant your comfrey, make sure it's in a 'contained' area, somewhere where it can't run away and take over.It can get quite thuggish if you aren't careful.Otherwise it's great to have.Another thing I did was when I planted quite a few clematis hybrids last year, I added chopped up comfrey leaves to the dug holes, besides adding the usual blood + bone, fertiliser and compost.The clematis thrived and flowered for yonks.I did that with other plant holes too, and all those plants were so healthy, they withstood the usual diseases etc.
juliewn,
Apr 10, 8:57am
Thanks for the info Jen. it certainly sounds like a good plant to include for use as a fertiliser. I had a plant at our last home - and didn't think to bring some here. I planted it to let it spread, and occasionally chopped all the leaves off and added them to the compost bin. I'm learning through this messageboard and the Kiwi Maara TV gardening show about how beneficial it is for growing other plants. Go Comfrey! When we were kids, our mother often cooked comfrey like silverbeet, and we ate it as a vegetable. ughhhh. those furry type leaves are not nice to eat. What was she thinking! I think it can be toxic used like that (!). I can guarantee it will never be cooked for people to eat in this house!
jen92,
Apr 10, 3:54pm
Geesh Julie.what was your mother thinking! Maybe she thought she was cooking something else all those years ago.Glad you aren't serving it up for yours.Obviously didn't do you any harm, but those furry leaves in the mouth, yuck.LOLOL
juliewn,
Apr 11, 9:57am
Hi Jen. it sure will never be used here! Did you see the Get Growing info about growing chickpeas and peanuts!. it sounds really interesting. I've sprouted chickpeas to use in salads - I hadn't thought of planting them in the garden though - will definitely be doing that this coming summer though. I'm wondering if lentils could be grown too! It makes for interesting edibles growing possibilities. Have a great weekend Jen. :-)
jules.,
Apr 12, 3:24am
i cheated and went to the garden centre today, i got some cabbage, brocolli, cauli, lettuce, brussels sprouts, and red silverbeet. all pretty straight forward, but can you tell me what to expect with the brussels sprouts please. ive never grown them before. do they grow tall and need stakes etc! im going to put some seeds in to grow inside and get them in in a few weeks after the 'cheats' have grown a bit first so they will be ready at different times. we have a new kitchen going in at the moment, so i think a spell of gardening tomorrow is just the excuse to get away from all the mess!
jules.,
Apr 12, 3:32am
oh yeah, the feijoas are FALLING! we have so many, everyone that comes to visit has to take a bag. the kids and i just eat them off the ground as we are doing stuff outside. but tonight we had visitors for diner so i made 'feijoa parcels', sprrinkle the fiejoas in a sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg mix, roll out some sweet short pastry and cut in strips, roll each feijoa seperately in a strip of pastry, place together in a single layer in a baking dish (you can grease the pan or i just put baking paper down), cover each parcel with some more 'sugar' mix and bake at 180 for around 30-40 mins, serve hot with cream and or ice cream, YUM!
stevee6,
Apr 12, 7:34pm
Lynda - in the Dominion Post's Indulgence section this weekend was a review of a NZ published vege gardening book called Get Growing! I don't know if you have copyright of the name, but thought it was possible, and this book is definitely newer than the programme. It's written by Helen Cook and published by Random House.
jules.,
Apr 14, 3:51am
we are now officially classed as drought zone, we have harsh water restictions and if we are not carefull we will have no water.
i have put in more brassicas and weeded around the carrots (not easy). i have put in onions aswell, never grown them before but i thought id give it a go. i put more dirt and pea straw around the potatoes aswell. oh and pegged down 17 stawberry runners in small pots, i have been a busy bee.
now just have to keep saving the washing water for the garden a carring it all down the section to the gardens.
hows everyone elses winter planting going! anyone else having a hard time with the drought!
juliewn,
Apr 14, 7:37am
Yay. it's raining here - our first rain in a while - I hope it's raining everywhere rain is badly needed. Here in Whakatane, we've been put on water restrictions for gardening and washing vehicles - the river is so low, that higher than usual tides are flowing higher up the river, to past where the water treatment station is. The result! A high level of salt water being processed. and coming from our taps. Hopefully this rain will continue, so the river level rises higher and stops the salinity occurring. I'm buying water currently as it does not taste good from the tap and our water filter isn't able to filter it out either. Have a good week Everyone.
jen92,
Apr 14, 4:48pm
YES !Been raining hard here and the ground is finally soaked.We even had some thunder storms during the night, at one stage our house shook and so did I as it woke me from a fitful slumber.hehe
springtime,
Apr 14, 9:01pm
Gosh, and we have to sit out an entire winter before we can try all these new fabulous suggestions and plantings from the Gardener emails. I'd love to try planting chickpeas too!
juliewn,
Apr 14, 11:44pm
It's raining steadily to heavy at times here now. My Daughter is 18 this coming Saturday - we're having a party here for her. with plans to usetarpaulines for a roof and sides to extend out from the deck. I hope it clears in time! Hi Springtime. you sure have the perfect name for the growing season. :-) I'd like to find out how to grow lentils too. I have an older NZ book called "Cooking with NZ Lentils" by the DSIR and Dalgety Crown Ltd - so it must be possible to grow them. I'm not sure which to try though, as some of them are split in half.
jules.,
Apr 15, 2:52am
YUM.i made feijoa cake today (and 1 for a friend), very easy and so good! what else can i do with them! we have about 25 trees and they are dropping EVERYWHERE!
goodbooks,
Apr 15, 7:46am
You could sell them on Trademe - there are many areas that can't grow them.
misskittydragon,
Apr 16, 4:54am
Finally back on the board What an amazing harvest time we had today. Cavalo Nero, Romanesco, grapes, apples, silver beet, potatoes and pumpkin. oooooooops better not forget the cauliflower. Phew.Have another big day planned. I am so wrapped as we suffered so much wind and rain damage over the season and still managed to get a nearly full freezer. I have found being in the garden so healing today after the events of the last few weeks. This was my first time in the garden in three weeks and it was so peaceful. My feijoas are not far away so I am looking forward to harvesting them.
jules.,
Apr 16, 5:17am
well done miss kitty, sounds like you have been very busy.and will continue to be also, preparing it all for the freezer. our feijoas are in FULL swing. any recipies are greatfully received:)
juliewn,
Apr 16, 8:20am
Hi Everyone. My Son and I have been to a very interesting talk about Permaculture tonight. last night now. It was by Finn Mackesy. the Co-Chairperson of Permaculture New Zealand (PINZ). This is the website addy: http://www.permaculture.org.nz/index.php .The talk was really interesting, and I left feeling more inspired than ever to grow our own fruits and vegetables, plus enough to share with friend's and our local food bank. He gives talks in a lot of places. highly recommended if you have a chance to go to one.
stevee6,
Apr 16, 4:41pm
Jules - I've had great success with banana cake using feijoas instead. Tarter and, imo, nicer. Also sliced over pork chops or steaks before baking in the oven, they add a lot of flavour.
jules.,
Apr 16, 4:42pm
argh. just hung the washing out, now theres a shower of rain coming over, typical! oh well, will wait for it to pass and get out in the garden and tend to the seedlings!
jules.,
Apr 17, 4:26am
thanks for the cake tip, sounds great will give it a go on the weekend. well think i can still use the oven, we are putting in a new kitchen. the sinks coming out tomorrow, so will have to go back and forth to the laundry tub for the next couple of weeks. i put in a whole lot of seelings today and smothered them with derist dust after i gave them all a big drink. i put some netting over them to keep the birds from scratching them up like the summer seedlings. also the blimmen chooks have discovered the silverbeet in there too.
stevee6,
Apr 17, 4:00pm
lol you need to plant a chook garden! Good luck on the new kitchen - you won't know yourself!
jules.,
Apr 17, 8:01pm
lol, i know i didnt know i could yell so loud when things dont go my way. i really just wanted the old wall and skody old kitchen back the other day when hubby kept coming up with all thse bright ideas to get the last 'beem' thing out of the ceiling so we gould gib over the hole and have a flat normal ceiling. i suggested getting a builder, but he knew better. so far it hasnt fallen in. hes pretty clever really and his dad came to help, together they made me feel better about the whole thing. and the chhoks like it better at the neighbours, they have more long grass and weeds to scratch in.
springtime,
Apr 17, 8:06pm
Hi Juliewn Hope the rain has stopped in your area and you have a dry area for the party so people can spill outside .we have some sunshine here today finally after four days of rain . it's great to get rain but also lovely to get out and feel the sunshine on my face!I'm busy potting up about 14 rose cuttings a friend has sent me:-)
smp11,
Apr 18, 2:17am
About gardening programmes My friend has developed a DVD which shows how to develop a garden in very simple terms, witha view to saving money. It is really good & I am trying to convince him to take the next step & market it, not just give it away to his adult gardening class. Do you think there would be a market out there!
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