Globe artichokes are lovely - on a par with oysters and camembert. I've grown them in a couple of gardens - they do need room as they can grow over two metres high and the same around. But they make a real focal point in the garden as well. Make sure you get artichoke plants, not cardoons. Cardoons look better as a plant but the chokes(the flower buds) aren't nearly as nice to eat. Cooking them is a bit of a complex business so you're best to google it for an explanation. Eat them with some lemon aoli and a salad, and you'll be a convert!
javlin,
Jul 1, 4:25pm
Garden update The bressel sprouts were a dissapointment - scrawny litle sprouts. Hardly any pumpkins this year. I think the frost got them. The beans that I stuck in the freezer are all stringy but I'm using them in soups and stews. Our goji plant died. The lettuce was bitter despite lots of watering. We got hardly any strawberries and most of the tomatoes didn't ripen. :( Right that's the downside now the good side - just harvested our first feijoas from two new plants put in last winter. We have finally after years of trying established a passionfruit which has really taken off. It's on a sunny wall sheltered by the eaves. We've just planted heaps og onions and garlic (left it too late last year),. We are still harvesting silverbeet, leeks, bak choy. We have just used up the last of the potatoes but still have two pumpkins left. I made heaps of chutney and green tomato jam with the green tomatoes. The chooks are happy and so are we :)
stevee6,
Jul 1, 5:15pm
Scrappy - if you are willing to invest in material for raised gardens, that might be your best bet. You can stack car tyres in a pyramid, fill them with tub mix and plant out with seeds or seedlings. Buy yourself a basic garden 'how-to' book - as you will get an incredible amount of useful knowledge from it. Your local library will have a good range you can test-drive first to get the one that works best for you and your family. Libraries also have up-to-date issues of garden magazines you can check through and photocopy items from if you prefer not to buy.
jules.,
Jul 1, 7:25pm
my garlic bulbs that i planted a few weeks ago have mostly popped there heads out of the soil and shoots 5cm tall already! I managed to get some red bulbs from a lovely trader on TM so Im off to plant them.a few days late but will hope for the best!
daleaway,
Jul 1, 8:32pm
Ta - I know how to cook and eat them as you can buy them in Sydney as a vegetable. (Just boiled and served with some salt and melted butter is lovely. Ignore the tough "petals" and pull out the central ones and dip them in butter and nibble.) But I have no idea where to get the plants from, or how much sun they need. Maybe I don't have room!
stevee6,
Jul 1, 9:52pm
Juliewn - your shed sounds brilliant and with the other two you'll be able to store pretty much anything you need! Now you just need a trapdoor and a cellar for wine. Jules - mine too - very pleasing! But the broccoli, while big and leafy show no sign of heads dammit. I moved the rhubarb into its new bed next to my precious elderberry bush and backed with trellis that is going to have passionfruit on it - I figure the mass feeding/watering might as well be concentrated in one place. One really lovely thing I can see from the French doors in my bedroom is the young lemon which is absolutely loaded this year, and they're just starting to turn yellow. We built a better shaped and structured herb bed around it this year so when the parsley is big and the chives blooming along with the marjoram, it's going to be a very pretty picture. I relented on the herbs only policy and put a dark red rugosa rose and a blue potato vine against the trellis on the south side, so that'll add zing, to say the least!
stevee6,
Jul 1, 10:43pm
Most garden centres will either have them(often in the herb area for some weird reason) or you can get the seeds online(don't ask me how long they take as I've always grown seedlings). They have silver leaves which means they can take lots of hot sun, at least six hours in summer and some sun in winter, but to make lovely chokes you also want plenty of organic matter at their roots plus a good mulch, and water well. Seedlings this spring will produce next spring/summer.
jules.,
Jul 1, 11:26pm
Stevee, I have been giving my caulis etc weekly feeds of potash diluted in the watering can, they seemed to heart up fast after that. Sadly the ones I planted earlier in the saeson only got to tennis ball size then went to seed, I think it was due to the draught :( But the later ones are strating to heart up nicely and have fuller leaves aswell. So heres hoping we get a few at least!
I got all the garlics in, maybe around 100 all up and put anither 30 shallots in today aswell. Carrots are great, I picked some good sized ones today and the onions are all coming along well also.
stevee6,
Jul 2, 12:24am
TY for that jules - I need to get some potash for the camellias so I'll give the broccoli a dose as well - nothing ventured nothing gained! This seems to be a good year for carrots - I agree.
jules.,
Jul 2, 3:31am
subscribe to this great weekely FREE email, [email protected] this always has loads on info, tips and competitions. if you grow veges in planter pots etc, you will have to be extra carefull with watering as they dry out alot faster than the garden does. make sure you put trays under the pots to catch the water instead of letting it run out the bottom and therefore dry out faster. at the moment you can plant cabbage, brocolli, caulis, silverbeet, some lettuces. ask at your local garden centre, they will be able to point you in the right direction. to get you started you should try planting seedlings rather than seeds. best of luck, and keep asking questions.
stevee6,
Jul 2, 5:02pm
Lynda had asparagus this morning, also the sweet pea competition. It figures I would have sown my sweet peas already, but I'm thinking two plots wouldn't be a bad thing!
stevee6,
Jul 2, 7:17pm
Wow - did you see! Lynda's engaged - the hunk from Hunua proposed!
javlin,
Jul 2, 8:05pm
scrappy re chooks Ask your local council as I think regulations vary from council to council. Ours is very tolerant of livestock. The only animnals banned within the town boundary are pigs. Council are more concerned about animals disturbing neighbours than anything else. Quiet chooks don't disturn anyone (some breeds are noisier than others).
javlin,
Jul 2, 8:24pm
scrappy you say you have access to some garden - dig that over and let a few frosts get at the soil to help break it down a bit. Start your main plantings in September when everything has warmed up a bit.Start a compost heap with food scraps (not meat), lawn clippings, untreated sawdust, animal manure ie anything organic that you can get your hands on except weeds which may multiply. When this has turned into compost you can dig it into the soil to feed your plants. If you add potato peelings you will inevitably get a few free potato plants. All the best - I know what it's like to struggle on a low income.
drewboy,
Jul 2, 10:09pm
I watched that also steve. .but have to admit I don't know if I have the patience for aspargus.as much as I love them.the problem is, where we are I don't know how long its before until they tell us its time to go to a new farm.
whiskey13,
Jul 2, 10:16pm
I got the best phone call this morning! From my local garden store, to let me know that my Bellarina Bolero Apple tree has finally arrived. YAY I'm so excited!
stevee6,
Jul 2, 10:28pm
Drewboy - they do take a couple of years before you get a feed. We used to have some old plants on a boundary fence that previous occupants had planted. They took no care at all and we got a couple of feeds each year. Our present plants are taking a while but probably due to being on sand even though we've enriched the soil.
jules.,
Jul 3, 3:13am
woohoo, go Lynda!
juliewn,
Jul 3, 10:13am
Hi Everyone. hope you're all enjoying your garden's. cold rainy days here. time to do some checking out of gardening magazines. At Countdown a few days ago, I found a new magazine- the "Launch Issue" of it is for June/July - it's called 'Good" - and is the first certified carbon neutral magazine in New Zealand, and "New Zealand's Guide to Sustainable Living". it's excellent - lots of information. suggestions. inspiration. etc.etc. Robyn Malcolm from Outrageous Fortune is on the cover, and is featured in the magazine. and there are articles on "Eat Fresh, Eat Local - Feating from New Zealand's Garden of Eden" and "Kiwi Communities - Small Towns - Big Ideas" - and "Renovating Green Dream Homes" - etc.etc.
juliewn,
Jul 3, 10:14am
Great thought provoking and interesting articles. It's $7.90 for the two-monthly isses - or subscriptions can be organised -$45.00 for 6 issues over 12 months. Francesca Price, who presents TV3's Wasted programme is the editor, and there are other names I recognise - including Emily Perkins, who has presented The Book Show. I might have to talk myself into a subscription!
juliewn,
Jul 3, 10:19am
For Jen92. Hi Jen. . the plum cuttings are nearly ready - the leaves are finally beginning to fall, after a few frosts here lately. I'll wait to hear from you through here, then put an auction up for some cuttings for you. they're at no cost to you. my gift. :-). Hope you get to read this soon. Cheers. Julie
trah,
Jul 3, 4:10pm
This is probably a dumb blonde question, but would the wood ash (untreated timber) from my fire do the same as potash!
stevee6,
Jul 3, 4:39pm
Julie - sounds worth a look.
stevee6,
Jul 3, 6:33pm
Never ever a dumb question when it comes to gardening - how else can you learn! Potash is potasium carbonate and originally meant wood ash - so yes, similar stuff and will have a similar effect. Glad you noticed untreated!
marge_s,
Jul 4, 2:27am
No Friday Get Growing email I'm wondering if I've been dropped off the list somehow.Did everyone else get theirs!
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