oh, we were down at #157! im bumping so this thread is not lost, as it has so much good advice! please help to keep it going!
juliewn,
Dec 3, 6:01am
My garden is flourishing. how are your gardens growing!
books4nz,
Dec 3, 6:38am
We were away overnight on Monday night - and came home to everything looking bigger - there must have been some rain - it sure made a difference. Hopefully some more will come - it's quite dry here.
stevee6,
Dec 3, 3:39pm
Good grief - forgot all about this thread - ty julien for bumping it! Garden is certainly flourishing - we've had a lot of strawberries and redcurrants already, the herbs are marvellous as is the lettuce, while the baby carrots and cucumbers, also the courgettes aren't far off. The stone fruit is looking good(first plums and peaches from the trees I planted a couple of years back are looking good) and my baby Monty's Surprise apple tree is loaded - clever wee twig! What's your garden news juliewn!
jules.,
Dec 3, 10:04pm
we are forcast for a bit of rain over night tonight, so that should give everything another jolt :) it feels really good to look at the garden and know you have put all the effort in and it is paying off!
juliewn,
Dec 4, 3:20am
Hi Stevee. :-)
Great to have all those goodies from your garden. I'm looking forward to the first few fruit from trees that have been planted two years too. can't wait!
Is Monty's Surprise the apple that has been found to have the most nutrients, that is a dwarf size tree! Sounds like a great crop coming for you.
My garden is growing well - has been fairly dry here though, so watering often. the rain that's fallen over this weekend is very welcome. It's amazing to look out at my gardens, and see how they've grown, when it was just two years ago last month, when I began planting gardens here.
I've got a lot of tomatoes, cucumber's, brown onions, red onions, garlic and shallots growing this year, to use for pickles, chutney, sauces, relishes etc. I grew shallots last year, got a great crop of 90 shallots (yes I counted them lol - isn't that what gardeners do with their first crops!) - and loved using them for meals, etc. so kept some to plant this season.
I'm hoping to have tomatoes, cucumber's and beans ready for Christmas Day. didn't get potatoes in early enough so they'll be ready later.
Lynda's Get Growing garden show is currently being repeated 4.30pm Sunday's on Prime - saw it earlier, where the family set up a water tank with a pump that activates when the tap is turned on. I like the sound of that. they're setting up a timer, so their garden will be watered automatically.
Enjoy your gardens. :-)
juliewn,
Dec 4, 3:23am
ps. a gardening show titled Maara Kai is on Maori TV at the same time, 4.30pm Sunday's. looks great too.
whiskey13,
Dec 4, 3:56am
Hi juliewn, thanks for visiting my other thread, I've been so busy in the garden that i forget to post about it lol. I've copied and posted the following from my earlier thread so you don't have to go looking for it.
Hey juliewn, hows it going. My garden is coming along great.I've got 17 tomato plants (3 diff varieties) and the nectarine tree i received for my birthday is loaded. The birds have gotten the half ripe cherries (but i don't mind lol) I love this time of the year, all my seeds are up and I'm itching to plant more (just need to find space for them all lol) The strawberries are fat and juicy, only half make it into the freezer container for jam lol.I could go on and on and on but this is not the gardening thread lol
Disregard the final bit lol I was given a greengage last year and i swear it was a dead stick but you should see it now, no fruit this year but i can't wait until next year.There is just so much to do in the garden at this time of the year and it's great to get out and get some fresh air.
whiskey13,
Dec 4, 5:58am
I had my first feed of new spuds,silverbeet, peas, with fillet steak. For pudding was rhubarb with honey. All the above was home grown and home-reared. Yum yum yum
jules.,
Dec 6, 1:39pm
bump. what a lovely sunny day!
stevee6,
Dec 6, 3:21pm
I'm feeling rather smug about my tomatoes. I've raised them from seed(8 varieties of heritage) and they're now looking lush and healthy with flowers popping out every day. Can't wait for the first fruit.
goodbooks,
Dec 7, 4:58am
Mine are still sitting in the large polystyrene container that I transplanted them into - life is very busy with moving and they're still not planted!
juliewn,
Dec 7, 5:59am
Hi Everyone. we need rain here too. black clouds moving over-head all afternoon - I asked them to stop and let us have some rain. don't think they're gonna listen. lol.
I have the best-looking tomato plants I've ever grown - only planted a few weeks ago, and growing well. flowers are about to show from the first of the buds.
I've started a new area with potatoes - also planted a few weeks ago - Red King and Ilam Hardy - the first time I've purchased seed potatoes - have usually just planted what's beginning to sprout in the kitchen. so will see how they go - they're looking very strong and healthy.
What is the best fertiliser for potatoes! On the Get Growing programme recently, they showed the older man placing fertiliser at the side of the mound of soil the potatoes were growing in - he said fertilising there would encourage the roots to grow out toward the fertiliser, thus increasing the growing area. has anyone tried this!
I've mounded the soil up around the plants - needed to every day as the growth was so strong - and when it got to about 40cm above ground level, I then placed compost from one of my bins down the sides of the mounds, then placed soil on top of that. the roots of the potatoes don't come directly into contact with the compost. I'm wondering if that would have a similar effect to the fertiliser used in the GG programme.!
Enjoy your gardens Everyone. and lets hope that rain comes soon for us all. a few minutes shower a short time ago here is a little of what's needed. more is very welcome.
jules.,
Dec 7, 10:03pm
well done stevee mine are looking pretty good also, they are just starting to get a few flowers. the rain lately and the lovely hot days that follow have been great for all the veges. have been having the umbrella up over the garden on the really hot sunny days so the lettuces dont cook. we are having a variety of lettuce from the garden tonight on our burgers. the kids have been picking huge strawberries too (not quite as big as the ones pictured in last weeks get growing newsletter, but still a really good size that the kids get quite a thrill ) :)
jules.,
Dec 7, 10:04pm
forgot to mention, mine are all from seed too, it feels such an accomplishment!
ords,
Dec 8, 1:47am
We have had a little bit of rain and are expecting more. Our spuds have flowered. but they are really small. We normally don't have such a dry spring.(after that hideous 50 year storm would you believe!) and I think I simply didnt water them enough. Took 4 shores for a meal. bit scared to dig them all up and run out lol.
I put some straw around the strawberries. they are all pretty thick in there so think they aren't getting enough sun to redden them up. heres hoping they do soon. Had my first rasberry today. yummo!
jules.,
Dec 8, 3:46am
We are officially in a drought :( We did have a showery day a few days ago, but just not enough!
The garden is still looking good, Ive got some apple cucs to plant tomorrow.
My Daughter had the first of the cherry toms yesterday. Second wave of strawberries coming on thick and fast too.
Bring on some rain.maybe we will have to organise a mass rain dance!
jardinet,
Dec 8, 4:20am
Hi all. time for firsts. Amazing that it has almost been a year since we started Get Growing. Which means it must be time to start celebrating the season's first summer crops again. I have my first purple beans, my first raspberry!, my first coffee beans have just turned red!, my first two 'Zephyr' zucchini, my first cucumber flower, and my first dahlia flower this week. The dahlia is a two-toned single burgundy and white collarette. Unfortunately the first flower was followed by. the very next night. the first earwig invasion. Little buggers ate all the petals. Not happy! How is everyone else's garden coming along! Lynda
whiskey13,
Dec 8, 5:48pm
Hi-ya Linda Am very interested in growing coffee beans but don't know much about them, please tell us more.My in-laws have recently given me a mandarin tree and a table grapevine, I'm really getting into self-sufficiency thanks to you and the get growing emails, not to mention the lovely posters in this thread
stevee6,
Dec 9, 6:59pm
Lynda! Any news on when the Homegrown diary is available in shops! Raspberries galore, strawberries galore, my tubs of mesclun are flourishing and my red onions have got great big bulbs(first time I've ever grown onions so I'm stoked!), potatoes have beautiful green leaves - no flowers yet, garlic is tall and green and we've finally finished the red currants. I have to say, I rather like this homegrown lark, and am looking forward to trying some of my 8 varieties of heritage tomatoes! We're dismantling an old shed so we have space to put in raised beds to expand our fruit & vege garden, and I've come up with a cunning plan involving old tyres to edge it(free!)so the main cost will be the soil mix.
daleaway,
Dec 9, 7:50pm
Stevee are you going to the H Garden Centre (the one we talked about before) Christmas function on this Thursday night! If not I can invite you as my guest. 6-9, music, nibbles and wine and all stock at sale price.
stevee6,
Dec 9, 10:47pm
Dayum! I've got a council thing on Thursday, sorry. Otherwise I'd have loved to come!
nfh1,
Dec 9, 10:52pm
Should I be planting anything at the moment! I have spinach, going to seed but have pulled those bits off and it is still growing.I have perpetual lettuces, peppers, cues, snowpeas in now and cherry toms.
whiskey13,
Dec 10, 5:00am
OMG. Lynda Hallinan is pregnant. CONGRATULATIONS and all the best for the future with married life and motherhood.
books4nz,
Dec 10, 5:17am
I've ordered two of the Homegrown Diary's through the website and haven't received them - my herb book I ordered the same day has arrived memo to me. check their site to see when they're to be sent. One is for a Christmas gift - and the other definitely for me!
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