organic vegetable gardening courses, growing tips and homegrown recipes.
'Two bolts in a bag' is a family idiom for making a small amount of progress on a project every day. It is a quote from a friend who was doing a long-term restoration of a classic car and said that he always made sure he did something towards it every day, even if it was just to put 'two bolts in a bag'. I hope he labelled them as … [Read more...]
Soup is a great winter lunch option - leek and potato, pumpkin or watercress are all delicious and relatively portable. They're a wonderful way to get kids to eat more vegetables, if that is your aim. I managed to scavenge a few winter salad leaves (rocket, red dandelion chicory, mibuna and a beautiful red mizuna) that the slugs and sparrows had … [Read more...]
Once your done with the top seven winter crops and more winter crops, here are six winter staples to serve stir fried, to add to soups or steam as a side dish. And then there's always coleslaw. Or pear, celery, walnut and blue cheese salad. Winter perfection. … [Read more...]
Seeds keep well for at least a couple of years, often much longer. They need a cool, consistent temperature and above all, need to be dry. Seal them in an airtight container (not a tin or cardboard box) and add some silica gel dessicant. Don't let the packets get damp. I have a plastic index card system in a plastic food storage box where I keep … [Read more...]
I've come to the conclusion that a tunnel house or greenhouse is almost more useful in the winter than in the summer in Wellington. On a sunny day with a big southerly blowing, it is of course the perfect place to hide. I don't heat my tunnel house so I'm not about to produce summer crops throughout the year. It just means that winter crops grow … [Read more...]
I'm always trying to start things early and get ahead of myself in the garden. Nature however does little to cooperate. The reassuring thing is that if you get behind, you may well have success. I sowed a couple of extra zucchini seeds and some dwarf beans in early January. I'm now picking from those plants, while all the others have succumbed to … [Read more...]
If your beans are doing as well as mine, you'll need one of these bean slicers that strings and slices flat beans in one. If the bean won't go through the slicer it's too old and tough to eat. It took me a while to realise that not everyone is given one of these as an essential item of kitchen equipment when leaving home for the first time. If … [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...]
It's time to buy seeds for your winter crops - a sowing before the end of February and another one before the end of March will make your garden more resilient to the variability of weather. Some might be ready before winter, others during and some not harvested until spring. I use a grid of 30x30cm squares made of bamboo stakes tied together with … [Read more...]
I'll be running the final fresh food garden course of the season on Saturday 6 March 2010 12 noon to 5.30pm. Just nine places so please book early. The next courses will be in early October 2010. Although it's very suitable for beginners, some of the people who've enjoyed the course the most have been experienced gardeners. There's a mixture of … [Read more...]
