organic vegetable gardening courses, growing tips and homegrown recipes.
Pumpkins and summer squash are easy to grow, need little care and store through the winter. I've grown the smallest ones vertically and larger ones sprawling on the ground. You can even grow them on a rotting compost heap. Kings Seeds has a wonderful selection to tempt you but if you want to save seeds from your favourite pumpkin and sow them next … [Read more...]
There are some beautiful fresh New Zealand chestnuts in the markets and on roadside stalls. Buy them fresh, keep them in the fridge and use them as soon as possible after purchase. They're somewhat laborious to deal with if you're not just going to have a romantic evening, roasting them by the fire. Pierce each one with the point of a knife and … [Read more...]
Ask not what your soil can do for you.... ask what you can do for your soil. We've been picking, digging and pulling crops from the ground all summer. Some of us might be planning on doing the same for most of the autumn and winter. If you haven't got systems in place to replenish our soil, you'll be storing up problems for yourself later. You're … [Read more...]
You'll see most of these winter salad crops in the demonstration raised bed we'll have set up at the Festival of Flowers and Music 'market day' in Thorndon, Wellington on Saturday. Endive, red mustard, mizuna, mibuna, claytonia (miners' lettuce), misome, red chicory, turnips, radishes. … [Read more...]
We like to snuggle under a duvet as the nights draw in. So does the soil. Covering it up stops it being washed away by the rain and blown away by the wind. Covering the soil helps keep it aerated and gives a better environment for the microorganisms and worms to live in. … [Read more...]
Now's the time to sow your greens for winter - cabbage, broccoli, pak choi, lettuces, kale, silverbeet, spinach, rocket, mizuna, mibuna, claytonia and spring onions. If you want to read more about growing winter salad crops, Joy Larkcom is my favourite expert. Root vegetables can go in now too - sow radishes, carrots, turnips and beetroot. With … [Read more...]
Ideas for potatoes fresh from the garden Boil in salted water, flavoured with a sprig of mint for about 10 minutes until you insert the point of a sharp knife easily. Drain and serve warm with a knob of butter and finely chopped fresh chives p> or finish off with a sizzle on the barbecue plate. or cool and mix with equal quantities of … [Read more...]
