The Get Growing Garden Diary Hi again, the Garden Diary will be in the shops on Monday. It's a week late because there was a technical delay at the printers but we've got the first copies in the office and I think it's pretty darn cool! If you ordered copies through Get Growing or from our website, they're being posted out now so you should get them by the weekend. Yay! I've already started writing in mine. I've just sown a second crop of okra because the snails have had a field day with the first.
As for the coffee beans, it's amazing. I've had the plants in for a year and the berries changed colour last week on one bush. And they've about doubled in size. Plus the plants are finally perking up after a really hard winter. They were looking very, very unhappy for a while there.
stevee6,
Dec 10, 2:58pm
#899 How about putting in some courgettes! Otherwise you might start looking at doing your seeds for autumn planting. I've already put in some silverbeet as my early stuff went to seed, but I'm planning another seed order from Kings for crops this autumn and winter.
stevee6,
Dec 10, 3:00pm
TY Lynda - appreciate the news as my local magazine shop is getting pretty tired of seeing me every day :-) BTW - loved the Sunrise episode this morning - no chance of getting one of those heritage grapevine cuttings I suppose! I've got just the brand new arch to put it on :-)
jardinet,
Dec 10, 4:17pm
I think I got mine from. The Auckland Heirloom Seed Savers network. They're on the net.
simplesean,
Dec 10, 4:19pm
This thread is getting big. nearly at 1000!
simplesean,
Dec 10, 4:22pm
We've made an offer on a bare section with ultra fertile soil. I can't wait to get out there and put some plants and trees in. It will be a lot better than the sand we've got now. I'm doing heaps of reading on permaculture and will incorporate this into our design.
daleaway,
Dec 10, 5:44pm
Good luck with your section offer - we switched from sand to good soil last year when we moved and it makes my eyes stand out on stalks how well things grow. So it wasn't just me! Stevee, sorry you can't make it on Thursday but we'll get there yet.
nfh1,
Dec 11, 12:03am
thanks stevee - should I get seedlings for courgettes or seeds!
nfh1,
Dec 11, 12:04am
I won a prize from the Get Growing email! How exciting!
stevee6,
Dec 11, 2:56am
nfh1 - how about both! Get a seedling to carry on with and plant some seeds at the same time. That way you get courgettes sooner and have them for longer:-) Congratulations on the win! What did you get!
nfh1,
Dec 11, 3:07am
Good Thinking stevee6 - I will do both and get some tomorrow.I won a tub of Yates Acticote.I was so thrilled to win something!Thanks for your help by the way.
juliewn,
Dec 11, 6:19am
Yes. congratulations to Lynda and The Hunk from Hunua, as she calls him in her writing of the email and the magazine. I had a feeling a Bubby might be on the way when I saw the Get Growing programme last weekend.
Lynda. may you feel well and enjoy your pregnancy, and your new Babe arrives in this world with all good health. and that a wee pair of gumboots and gardening gloves are among the first of the clothing that'll be worn.
Very best wishes to your new Family.
misskittydragon,
Dec 11, 9:33pm
We are so excited Both our vege gardens have been rotary hoed. One cant be used straight away as it needs compost and top soil. There heaps of stones through it as well. We are having fun deciding what to plant. I have some lettuces and onions at the moment to go in. On Tuesday was looking at cabbages, broccoli, brococauli, cauliflower, beetroot and bright light silver beet to buy.I have just realisedthat I have a small bag of spuds that I can plant as well. This thread has been a real motivation to me to get me going.
jules.,
Dec 12, 7:36pm
well done misskitty! this gardening thing is very addictive!
misskittydragon,
Dec 12, 7:41pm
It sure is The lettuces are now in and the onions and capsicums. I am a little concerned that the soil might not be dug deep enough. How deep dose the soil have to be dug over. It was so fun this morning with the three of us writing down what we want to plant and where it needs to go. Have discovered Radicchio and was thinking of giving it a try.
jules.,
Dec 13, 2:21pm
im getting VERY impatient :) it seems to take so long for the veges to grow, but i know it will be worth the wait when they are ready. we have had just about all the peas and sugar snaps, the stawberries seem to be on their second wind (YAY), the carrots are getting to be a good size, might pick some today and give them a go (have found a yummy sounding recipie in this weeks womans day(!), spicy carrot salad, hoping to get some spuds for christmas day, the lettuces have gone crazy, there are so many now, but its great! its showering again here today, so they are having a nice drink, just looked at the forcast for the next few days and they are all the same, showers. as long as they are gone before christmas!
jules.,
Dec 14, 3:37am
VERY exciting Lynda, big congratulations to you and your Family!
We had 3 hours of solid rain this afternoon! Just as school got out, so I had some pretty droopy drowned rats that turned up at my work :) Hope it was a slight relief to the farmers and their tanks/crops/stock/paddocks.- .
juliewn,
Dec 14, 6:07am
Hi Jules. wow. so cool you've had that rain.
I'd happily get drenched too if we had some here!
Have you got your tank set up! Hope so to gather all the rain it can.
simplesean,
Dec 14, 7:03pm
My mum bought me a Coffee plant and a tea plant for Christmas. I get them early cos she doesn't want them to die on her. lol.
jules.,
Dec 14, 9:52pm
Yep, its 3/4 full now! Its in place but not set up properly, just catching the rain water off the deck and the overflow when I was using the hose. I was thinking of getting a gutter witch thing that i can direct into the tank and when its full I can put it back in the main downpipe!
Its really hot and muggy here today, so we are paying for the rain now! haha. Its been upwards of 28* the past few days (and thats taken at the airport in wind/breeze and shade)
How are you doing for rain down your way Juliewn!
whiskey13,
Dec 14, 10:05pm
Nearly 3 months since i posted the above message and SOOOOO much has happened.
jules.,
Dec 15, 12:59pm
Rain here all thru the night and doesnt look like its going anywhere! although it has let up to a drizzle, but its better than nothing!
I was wanting to dig up the spuds today, but they will wait, the rest is looking great, surprising what a bit of rain does as opposed to tap water :)
misskittydragon,
Dec 15, 5:47pm
Coffee plant Have you found them easy to grow. At the moment we are looking at the Ugli fruit tree to plant. The lettuces don't look to bad that I have transplanted. The birds have been into the Apricots and the plums.
jules.,
Dec 17, 10:41pm
Wow guys, its been a while! How are we all doing! My gardens not as good this year as in previous years, I just havnt had that much time sadly. I have lettuce (that the chooks keep getting in and munching), spinich that has gone to seed (after only 3 weeks!), spuds that are almost ready (flowering steadily), courgettes (green and yellow), capsicum, chilli, tomatos, silverbeet, strawberries and the rhubarb is going strong as always.
We have had a few hot dry weeks, but it has turned to hot, muggy drizzle over the fast few days. I see that cyclone Evan (weakening) is on its way towards us for christmas, yay. I had planned on having a lovely outdoor christmas, sigh, I should know not to make these plans by now :(
Great to see this thread has still got life in it, long may it continue!
juliewn,
Dec 18, 6:56pm
I wrote this recently. how could I choose a favourite fruit tree. when:
From my garden diary.
7 days ago. I found the 13 cherries on my Stella Cherry Tree are ripe. I picked them all, wrapped them in foil and froze them. ready for my daughter when she's home next; she loves cherries so much she would buy a few cherries instead of lollies with her pocket money when she was young :-) Now I have a tree growing in her honour.
6 days ago. I found that the shine of red peeking from beneath a leaf of my dwarf nectarine tree is from one of a cluster of fruit that are there. when I thought I'd removed all the blossoms.
5 days ago. We'd had two days of rain - and the 9 Golden Haze Peaches that will ripen soon have suddenly grown large.
4 days ago. I noticed that my Tahitian Lime tree has 9 small fruit. exciting to grow my own limes.
3 days ago. Beneath the leaves of my Tamarillo Tree, I discovered tiny fruit among the flowers.
2 days ago. My Fig Tree, name unknown, however I've called it Karapiro Fig, as it's grown from a piece sold to me at a road-side stall near the lake there, is little more than knee high. with one large fig. I can't wait till it's ripe.
1 day ago. My Feijoa Tree. it's size filled with tufty red flowers, is often shaking! Because the birds that love it's goodies are here, and each shake means a flower has been pollinated. and next Autumn there'll be fruit to enjoy.
Today. I found the 5 nectarine's on my Queen Giant tree are almost ripe, so I picked one. and ate it. it was truly delicious. eyes closed, juicy kinda delicious.
Thanks Mother Nature :-)
Have the best Christmas everyone. and best wishes for a great year to come, with time spent and enjoyed in our garden's.
Julie :-)
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