GREEN DESK GARDEN UPDATE – 17.06.08

Well we’ve had a busy few weeks and thanks to the weather we have done a bit more planting. Managed to get our hands on some seedlings and so our raised bed now has a couple of silverbeet plants, some Cos lettuces and a row of spinach – all for a only few dollars. Things did get a bit dodgy for a couple of days when the wind blew and the Cos started growing horizontally but thanks to some sun and calmer days they are upright again. Most excitingly of all is that we have several garlic shoots showing above ground already!! Only about 25mm but definitely green above ground. Also we splashed out on three fruit trees – a Lemon Meyer, a Satsuma Mandarin and a Tahitian Lime. They have spent the last two weeks being moved in their bags around the garden and its now time for the Lime to get into the ground. We were out fishing on Saturday and after all the filleting I kept the fish heads, bones, guts and skin in a bag for this very day. I have dug a hole that is just a little bigger all round than the bag the tree came in and I am putting some of the fish bits in the bottom, next I’ll be covering the fish with a layer of compost before putting the tree in the hole – checking that ground level in the bag matches with ground level in the garden. The hole is then backfilled with a 50:50 mix of garden soil and planting compost.

BROAD BEANS

We’ve got a batch of good-looking broad beans that need to go into the ground - spaced about 6 to 9 inches apart and at the back of the bed where they won’t shade smaller growing stuff such as broccoli and kale.

A few tips on planting seedling plants:

Because it’s mostly mild in the Auckland area we can plant seedlings out now. But these delicate young plants need the right care and attention if they are to get off to a good start in the ground.

Buying – look for a tray that has good, strong growing seedlings and avoid those whose contents are spindly, hanging or laying about.

Caring – until you get round to planting them, keep your seedlings sheltered and well watered. Don’t leave them out of the ground for too long or else they will put on loads of root and the plant with begin to struggle for nutrients and become weak.

Planting – make sure the ground is well prepared and take note of the planting distance. This info is usually on the back of the plastic label that should come with the tray. Your tray should have a number of cells each with a seedling in it. To get your seedling out of the tray push up gently from underneath so that seedling and its roots loosen and come away together. Avoid lifting the seedling by its leaves but let it sit in your cupped fingers. Make a hole that is as deep as the root block of the seedling and pop it in. Fold the soil back nice and gently and don’t firm around it too hard. As the plant grows it will gain a firmer hold on the ground with its developing roots.

Watering – even though it says its winter on the label that doesn’t mean it’s raining all the time so keep an eye on your seedlings and keep them well watered. Best to use a watering can with a rose (one of those heads with loads of holes in them) to reduce the amount of flow hitting your delicate young plants. If you have to use a hose make sure that you use a gentle spray and not a jet which will only blow your seedlings over and possibly out of the ground.

WATER CONSERVATION

With rain around and about you may want to look at setting up a form of water collection for your garden. We have a largish corrugated iron drum connected up to the garage roof that stand close enough to part of our vegetable garden that gets fairly dry in the summer. You can hook up a recycled wine barrel or two to your shed or garage or even divert some of the run-off from your main roof into a water butt – these come in a bunch of different shapes and sizes and the exercise can be as easy or as complicated as you want it to be. A few helpful links on the subject are:

http://www.sustainablehouseholds.org.nz/actionpdfs/save_water_action.pdf

http://www.bb.net.nz/barrels_plastic_steel.htm

http://www.sustainability.govt.nz/water/rain-barrels

SOIL MIX

Jose asked about the ingredients in our soil mix – the three biggies are seaweed from the beach, sheep pellets and pea straw. We chop the lengths of seaweed up into rough credit card-sized pieces by putting a whole load into a wheel barrow and then attacking it with the garden shears. We shuck about tow spades-full of the small pieces on every square metre of garden bed along with a couple of hands full of sheep pellets and a light dusting of pea straw. On top of this we put about a spade full of our own home-made compost and turn the whole lot into the soil. Ideally you should then leave it all for about four weeks - whilst the worms, bugs and micro-organisms do their stuff and break everything down – before you plant into it…

GET READY FOR SPUDS

Which just gives you enough time to get your garden prepared – if you haven’t already done so for the great potato planting in our next show. It is time to buy or order up some seed potatoes which, if you get them in the ground in the next month, you will be harvesting and munching your way through in time for Christmas. We will be getting some of the heirloom varieties from Koanga Gardens www.koanga.co.nz as well as some other mainstream varieties from local garden centers. If you want to plant your’s with us then in about 2 weeks’ time hopefully you will have your seed potatoes and can get on with sprouting or ‘chitting’ them. Place them your seed potatoes on a tray in a sunny place for about 7 to 10 days, you will notice shoots appearing from some of the ‘eyes’ on the surface of the potato, these are delicate so inspect them with care. Ideally they should get to about 1 to 2 inches in length before planting time. Whilst the sprouting is going on you can pop outside to make sure that your soil is deeply dug – at least a spade’s depth so that roots will easily find their way through it. If you are not too flash in the soil department then never fear because on the show we will be telling you how to plant potatoes in stacks of car tyres, bin bags and also in piles of mulch. Catch you on the next show!