spinach My spinach planted in November has just gone to see, so I've pulled it out. I recommend the NZ Spinach variety as it doesn't seem to go to see as easily, and will grow right thru winter too.Tastes and looks pretty much exactly like the regular kind of spinach.
marge_s,
Jan 13, 9:19pm
Just registered so hopefully will get emails My cherry tomatoes withered while we were away on holiday, they were in a plant-box on the deck and the people feeding our animals forgot to water them.Lots of fruit still ripening on them, but all the foliage gone.Shame as they were doing so well and were so easy.Next year I'll plant them in the vege garden.
jules.,
Jan 13, 10:55pm
we just had a heavy thunder storm, it seemed to go as fast as it started. it went dark, rained for about an hour, let out some really loud thunder and left, just like that. well i wont have to water the garden tonight :) just hope the nearly ripe fruit on the trees will be ok. my son got new chook on sunday too, she has 5 fertile eggs with her, seems to have helped with the greiving process too.
misskittydragon,
Jan 14, 12:50am
That is lovely for your son to have a new hen to look after. I am glad the Thunderstorm didnt stay around long. I am just inside after spending the whole day pottering outside. I have one new garden in. My son and I braved some scary looking weeds and found another garden so we have cleaned it up. My other work in progress garden has just had some herbs and cosmos put in and it looks lovely. Finally found out what was eating the cabbages. Birds, my son scared three out today so we have put some net curtains over them. The veggies are all looking good. I am so wrapped with the veggie garden and love watching it grow. We have discovered that we have massive amounts of ants. So I planted some penny royal and catnip and it seems to have done the job at getting rid of the ants in that part of the garden. I have never seen so many.
jules.,
Jan 14, 1:54am
hi misskitty, sounds like your new place is very exciting with finding new gardens all the time, busy and hard work, but fun. when hubby built my big raised garden i thought it would be plenty big enough, but i was wrong. im already planning the next one (may have to build it myself, lol). i have more veges in large planter troughs, old recycle bins, the kids old plastic toy box that had a crack in the bottom, large plastic plant pots, and it goes on. its so rewarding when you sit down to dinner and a lot came from the garden. we had a BBQ tonight, lettuce, carrots, beans, spuds all from the garden and eggs from the chooks :)
juliewn,
Jan 14, 7:37am
Hi Katelin. NZ Spinach grows so well too. and is more like a perennial plant I found. sure gives lot's of spinach to enjoy.
stevee6,
Jan 14, 8:00pm
Bumping again :-) TY Juliewn - we were fairly fortunate as the tomatoes only lost a few stems. And we've harvested our first courgettes so the concrete on their roots must be working!
gr8tymz,
Jan 15, 1:38am
Happy New Year everybody Finally had some time to stop and catch up on what you've all been up to. Great stuff! I came home from the office today to find a row of sparrows perched neatly on the edge of my 'greens' trough pecking at my lettuce like it was a salad bar. My darling cat Sid was sitting in the shade about 2 metres away. obviously too well fed and far too hot to move. I never really thought about birds eating lettuce before. the strawberries were completely untouched! Astounding.
simplesean,
Jan 15, 5:47pm
Anyone want some free pepino plants! see my other thread.
simplesean,
Jan 15, 5:50pm
Also. a gardening tip. Don't leave your bag of blood & bone anywhere the contents can get wet. I accidentaly got mine wet in my glasshouse, and came back a few days later to an almighty stink and the contents riddled with maggots. yuk. What is it about maggots that make me dry retch!
hannah-lee,
Jan 15, 6:09pm
Hi guys Thought I would jump in. I have been getting the weekly emails which are great, and also won a packet of spinach seeds which I was very chuffed about, lol. I am growing my first garden of two large raised beds 4m by 2.5m which have been made with untreated macro and filled with organic and mushroom compost worked into the soil. I am learning A LOT on the way, for example I have planted far too many tomato plants and didn't cut the laterals so they are like a huge wild bush of 30 plants! all diff mixes, romas, large ones, cherry ones. Other than that I have planted a pumpkin patch from seed which is also going wild, rhubarb patch, yellow and green zuchinis, capsicums, eggplants, watermelon, cucumber, strawberries and celery. Also have lots of potted herbs and am about to start make and start a new mini mesclun garden.cont.
hannah-lee,
Jan 15, 6:11pm
cont. We are in our first house, have a one and a half year old daughter, and we are slowly learning about gardening and turning our bare (apart from a couple of big trees) section into a vegie and flower paradise, haha. I am 23 years old, glad i got the gardening bug now, and think that gardening will be a major hobby for the rest of my life. Love NZ Gardener mag, buy it every month (might have to get a subscription!) and also love the Homegrown mag to bits!
letto,
Jan 15, 6:36pm
Enjoy hannah-lee, you bring back memories of when i was a stay at home mum,I love gardening and it was my way of keeping sane when the little ones were driving me nuts----my litle ones are now young adults and live overseas, but I still love pottering around the garden and grow lots of vegies, its great to be self sufficient. Happy Days to you and yours.
juliewn,
Jan 16, 7:32am
Good for you Hannah-lee. it is sooo good to grow lovely fresh vegetables and fruits. and to have lot's of lovely flowers everywhere too. enjoy creating your own beautiful gardens.
em007,
Jan 16, 6:19pm
I sowed oregano spinach and some more lettuces today. Salads soon I hope rocket is coming along nicely but the birds are coming and eating it.
jardinet,
Jan 17, 1:42am
Hi everyone. I was down at my local garden centre this afternoon (the marvellous Kings Plant Barn, St Lukes, AK) and Heather told me to check this out on Trade Me. I'm the editor of NZ Gardener and a mad keen vege gardener. so thanks for all your fab feedback about Homegrown and our new Get Growing campaign. I'm determined to get everyone growing their own fruit and vege in NZ in '08. it's fun. altho slighty obsessive!
Steve: send me an email to getgrowing @ nzgardener.co.nz because you should have received our first three newsletters by now.
PS. If anyone here is reading this in Auckland, come down and say hi at the City Farmers' Market at Britomart on Saturday morning. I'm selling my extra globe artichokes and my cousin Cath has a bunch of organic beans up for grabs!
jardinet,
Jan 17, 1:44am
Oops. Forgot to say.
Cheers!
Lynda Hallinan, Editor, NZ Gardener
(and if you have gardening questions, you can also ask our team by emailing [email protected])
stevee6,
Jan 17, 1:47am
Lynda - so glad to 'see' you in person here. I'm a big fan(been so since your 'NZ Garden in Style' book came out) and love what you've done with the NZ Gardener. Re: get growing - I'd had a 'female' moment and forgot to tick the boxes in the application - no wonder I missed out. All sorted now, ty!
jardinet,
Jan 17, 2:06am
this is a great forum Hi Stevee6,
I've been reading all the posts about rhubarb, spraying, killing stumps. it's all good stuff. My biggest problem is buying plants. I bought three 'Ballerina' apple trees recently (they're the ones that grow only about 30cm wide and fruit up the stem, rather than on branches). so today I went to the garden centre to buy something to plant under them. Bought 4 red guavas, three more rhubarb plants and three pineapple lilies (Eucomis). now I'm wandering around the garden trying to find a place for them all!
Happy growing! Lynda H
juliewn,
Jan 17, 2:09am
I agree Steve. it is lovely to have you here Lynda. and a warm welcome to the thread too. I've enjoyed seeing your enthusiasm for growing your own goodies on TV interviews over this past year - and you've inspired me to increase the number of edible goodies I grow. currently I grow 40 different fruits, vegetables and herbs. with more to come. Thank you. Cheers. Julie
flossy21,
Jan 17, 2:30am
I have signed up as well as I think this is a wonderful idea. I have three vege patches so I can rotate the crops plus a glasshouse and I am looking forward to making them more productive throughout the year. I love gardening though I don't have the most fabulous garden yet as a lot of hard landscaping needs to be done to the section. We have a landscape design and are working towards implementing that.
mim5,
Jan 17, 2:54am
Welcome Lynda I love what you have done to the Gardener and love your Homegrown book. I haveg always loved home grown produce and love showing the children I teach how the food they eat actually grows rather than comes from the shops. Nothing better than watching a child's delight as they taste how delicious a pea from the pod or and apple off the tree is! I grew vegetables and flowers in the gardens of flats I was in 30 years ago, before the joy of my own garden, and I love how vege gardening is regaining in popularity, especially with your help and enthusiasm!
em007,
Jan 17, 6:20am
Hi Lynda Thanks for the inspiration! and we will have a toast to you when we eat our first rocket salad!
kiwiscrapper1,
Jan 17, 7:33am
This is a great thread I live semi rural and have posted other threads about pukekos and birds eating everything before us, but they have to live too. My rocket gone to seed and my oregano is a huge bush with purple flowers, should I cut it back! I only have beetroot and lettuce left, I planted a grafted tom thumb tomatoe and its has bardly grown but has lots of green tom's on it, also used the big black bags from the garden centre and planted 2 lots of beans, everyday I go out and there is always enough for just the two of us, my grandson had some last night too and he is a terrible vege eater but loved them, my rhubarb is the one that dies back in winter this year is year 2 and it growing like wildfire. I have 2 raised gardens but soon will be 3 (I hope.
kiwiscrapper1,
Jan 17, 7:35am
oh, I also planted a packet of strawberry spinach but they came up as tomatoes so I have a row of small tomatoe plants but no idea what sort they are! I also dug in some compost which had potatoe peelings in and they seeded themselves, they grew and we got enough for two meals but some were green and had lots of bug holes, next year I will try them in a drum or something. Whats good to plant now!
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