Pink rhubarb is prettier, but not necessarily sweeter than the green variety. Rhubarb tolerates acid soil and some shade but will do better in good sun. It’s resilient to droughts as it’s deep rooted. Keep well mulched and spread with compost in winter. If you have a young plant, don’t pick any stalks in its first season and pick only lightly in the second year until the ‘crown’ has time to build up. I’ve made rhubarb gingerbread, rhubarb crumble and rhubarb shortcake recently. If I’m cooking something in the oven, I chop up a few stalks of rhubarb and put in a covered ovenproof dish with the juice and zest of an orange, a sprinkling of sugar and a teaspoon of ground ginger. After about 20 minutes the rhubarb is tender and much less bashed about than if I simmer it in a pan. Marvellous under mouse muesli for breakfast or morning tea.
I visited ‘Zealandia’ earlier in the month. We were treated to a fascinating tour by one of the guides and saw tuataras and many birds. The ‘Sanctuary by night’ tour is on my list for the summer break.
I showered you unintentionally with photos from my website. You may have realised that I now have a limited supply of boxes or bags of produce. I’ll put up a link to order when I get through the backlog of supplies. My apologies if I can’t supply you when you’d like some. Your best bet is to come on the fresh food garden course on Saturday 17th January 2009 so you can grow your own. If you’d like to treat someone to a place on the course as a gift, I’ll provide a gift card for you to send to the recipient. You may hear me interviewed about the course on Summer Report on National Radio in January, together with some of the previous participants talking about their fresh food gardens.
Lucy the hen, has raised three little chickies. She’s been teaching them important things like scratching for food and drinking out of puddles. From time to time she plonks herself down and they tuck up under her for some warmth and a rest. It’s easy to see why chicks raised by a hen do so much better than those in a brooder. We’ve acquired a young Rhode Island red rooster as a replacement for Henry. One of Henry’s sons who’s still silly and awkward. No match for the hens yet, so no fertile eggs at the moment.
We haven’t needed to water much outside but the tunnel house has needed water and plenty of seaweed tea to feed the tomatoes. I pinch out the tomato shoots a couple of times a week. The cucumbers and melons are climbing up their strings rather elegantly using their tendrils. I’ve sown more bush beans silverbeet, spinach, pak choi, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, spring onions, beetroot, carrots, radishes, basil, parsley, coriander and turnips this week. The radishes I picked on Saturday only took a month to grow. We served them as part of a crudite plate with carrot, cucumber and zucchini sticks plus a big pile of raw snow peas and herb and sour cream dip .
There are now two dates available for the fresh food garden course - Sunday 7th December 2008 or Saturday 17th January 2009. The Ohariu Valley Garden tour had a glorious sunny day and proved a popular outing. It was lovely to meet so many people enjoying the gardens.
I’ve been sowing more seeds this week - brocolli, cabbage, pak choi, lettuce and spinach in pots. In the garden I’ve sown carrots, beetroot, turnips, spring onions, dwarf beans and radish. Despite the mixture of sunshine and showers, a daily gentle watering is vital to ensure they germinate well and don’t shrivel up on a warm day.
My parents are staying with us and the tunnel house in particular has benefitted from my Dad’s diligent and experienced watering skills. Bush tomato ‘tumbler’ is doing well in a pot, still with a few stakes for support. I’ve put up strings to train up my vining tomatoes and I’m pinching out the side shoots every few days. I feed them with ’seaweed tea’ (the liquid from seaweed soaked in a barrel of rainwater) at the same time.
I had much more success growing corn in pots and transplanting it than I did with the seed I sowed directly at the same time. I’ve planted out my cucumbers and melons this week, again with strings for support. The peas needed propping up too.
We’ve picked some delicious turnips (Tokyo White Cross) and some beautiful not so delicious ones (a pink, heritage variety). When I’m asked about heritage seed I suggest trying both new and old varieties side by side to see which are best for taste, resistance to pests and size of crop.
If you live in Wellington and find building your own raised vegetable beds too daunting, Dave and Rebecca Denham in Upper Hutt can build them to order.
I’m still referring to my books for some good ideas. I always return to Joy Larkcom even though it’s English so the seasons are upside down. Dennis Greville’s Gardening in New Zealand Month by Month is good if you want some help with what to do when in New Zealand. Gardeners in the lower half of the North Island will find the ‘Organic Garden Calendar for Kapiti to Manawatu’ from the NZ soil and health association particularly relevant - you can buy it at Commonsense Organics.
Our guests have enjoyed toasted mouse muesli. Cheaper and greatly superior to boughten muesli.
