Auckland Landscape: Vegetable Gardens - Bridget's Edible Garden Dairy

Vegetable Garden Tips - Bridget's Edible Garden Diary

Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +1200

Vegetable Garden Tips - Bridget's Edible Garden Diary for June

Vegetable Garden Tips. Bridget's Edible Garden Diary. What to plant, caring for your vegetables and edibles, what to do with your harvest, preserve or eat.

Heather (Living Earth) and I at the beginning of my veggie blog last June
Well I never! As I started to write this months blog, I realised it is one whole year since I began talking with you folk about my vegetable garden. In June 2010, Heather Tait and I gazed at my beautiful new vegetable planter boxes and planned a future where I would no longer pause to buy vegetables from the supermarket, or drag my sorry butt out of bed early on a Sunday morning (and by early I mean before 7am on a Sunday) to head off to the Avondale Markets. I know this sounds a little crazy, but it really is cheaper and fresher as long as you don't get conned by the veggie shop owners who are selling off their old produce. So where am I at after one year.....

1. I am planning more space, there are plans drawn for 3 more planter boxes out the front.

2. I have a green house, so I am raising at least half of produce from seeds.

3. The children are definitely eating a wider range of vegetables (although I do have to get a bit creative)

4. I am learning the art of preserving and pickling

but...

I am still shopping at the supermarket to fill the gaps, the main issue is trying to eat only in season and getting enough produce to feed us all year. (admit have given up going to the markets... its just too damn early!)

So its time to get tough, I was talking to a friend tonight about saying things out loud so that you have to do them. I am saying out loud that within 2 months I will reduce my weekly fruit and vegetable bill from a whopping $50.00 to $25.00 by being smarter about what I plant and making my family eat in season. I will even go further to say that by next June I plant to have it down to $10.00 per week (I am giving myself a year because my fruit trees are still pretty new so will need another growing season before they bear me any decent harvest.

By next month I really need my new planter boxes to be finished so that I can really make sure I have enough stuff planted. MIKE, HELP!!!!!

PS: I had a major breakthrough, we have had soooo many radishes and my children wouldn't have a bar of them until I grated them up and mixed the radishes with grated cheese. A wonderful lunch box snack or before dinner filler to ward off those hunger pains.

Source: Vegetable Garden Tips - Bridget's Edible Garden Diary

Bridget's Veggie Patch - May

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +1200

Bridget’s Veggie Patch – May

Growth has begun to slow down already, even though we have not officially had a frost in Auckland. My peas, sugar snaps, broccoli and beetroot are growing well though, and my radishes are ready for harvest.

This month Mike (my gorgeous husband) was going to extend the vegetable garden for me, however he has been very busy at work, driving the St Johns delivery truck actually. And the very small amount of time he did get was spent making our property secure for our newest edition, whoa! Hold your horses; I’m talking about a dog not another baby. (Surely three children are enough and yes, they are VERY excited).

Down to Business

You should find that bugs and pests are less of a problem now, luckily this will be the case for most of winter, but do remember to keep a check on those slugs!

Jobs this month

Secure the Peas, Sugar Snaps and Tamarillo’s onto their growing frames. This helps to train them to where I want them to grow as well as keep them stable from the weather.

I know it seems early, but you can start to plan your strawberry bed for summer by thinning offshoots and planting the new runners.

I am going to plant out my next round of broccoli seeds in the greenhouse, so that they are ready for transplanting in the garden bed in 3-4 weeks time. This will ensure we have broccoli coming on throughout the winter (a vegetable we eat a lot of).

I have planted my first round of Cauliflower and Red Cabbage seeds in the Greenhouse.

I have also sowed my spring onions directly into the garden bed. I had previously started them in the greenhouse, but when I transplanted them they all perished. (I am trying very hard not to buy seedlings, although I desperately want to)

You could also plant your Broad Beans, Carrots and Onions now. I haven’t because last year after a bumper crop of Broad Beans we actually decided that our family doesn’t really have a taste for them and Carrots and Onions tend to be fairly inexpensive, so I chose to use the space for other stuff.

Source: Bridget's Veggie Patch - May

Bridget's Veggie Patch - April

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +1300

Bridget's Veggie Patch in April

Autumn is actually my favourite time of the year to garden. There is something about autumn mornings. That still, blue sky matched with a crisp slightly damp air. Often warming up to a beautiful sunny day. I like that there is not the wind of spring, the heat of summer or the rain and cold of winter. Yes autumn is definitely my favourite season of the year!

In late March I persuaded my husband to purchase a wee hot house so that I can stop spending money on seedlings and grow directly from seeds. We got a great little one from Bunnings for under $100.00. It is a great size, I can work inside it standing up and I have shelves on both sides to pot onto. Another advantage is that I can grow vegetables that are a bit frost sensitive for a longer season and have a constant crop of lovely herbs. I have planted my Broccoli, Rhubarb, Coriander, Italian Parsley, Heirloom Tomatoes, Spring Onions and radishes into beds in the hot house. These are now (end of March) established seedling which I am ready to plant out.

My Hot-house

I have also directly sowed some of my other crops. This year I have erected a series of growing frames for my peas and my snow peas. These I have directly sowed into my vegetable patch.

One issue I do have is space. I have spoken to Mike (dear husband) about extending the vegetable patch. He has agreed enthusiastically, however where I was meaning a quick conversion of the front utility area, he has more grander plans of more raised gardens. Don't get me wrong his ideas are great and will be both functional and fabulous to look at, my concerns are about when he will be able to get these done! So at the moment I am waiting and squeezing seedlings in where I can.

Problems in the Garden this month

There are still a lot of pests out there attacking the garden. Remember to get rid of slugs using little lids of beer, egg shells surrounding seedlings or slug pellets. I also have a wee problem with mites across the garden and have decided to spray my Tamarillo tree and my Passionfruit (which did not fruit this year) Drastic action as I usually prefer to use chemical free options but the bugs are just doing my head in at the moment. I have opted for an organic Pyrethrum which is not quite so horrible.

Lack-lusture soil needs a boost after hungry summer crops have used up much of the nutrients. You can either dig in some compost, black gold or garden mix (all available for pick up or by delivery from us at Auckland Landscape Supplies)

Existing crops will benefit from a good feed. I like Living Earth Liquid Compost which is a great all rounder and can be used on other ornamental shrubs as well.

On the left my peas, snow peas, radishes and broccoli. On the Right my Beetroot, Lettuce and Broccoli. Below my Aunty's Vegetable Garden in Katikati - very motivating to see such a mature vegetable and fruit fulled property!

How things are growing now

The lettuces and the beetroot are looking great, as are the radishes which I have already planted out and the peas and snow peas which I sowed directly.

A little while ago I sprayed my citrus with Seaweed and they have now taken off.

I have tomato seedlings popping up everywhere, I have transplanted a few of these to grow in my hothouse just to see what they end up like.

Baby spinach is taken over, I have pruned a whole lot of this and given much of it away to friends.

Two weeks ago I went to visit my Grandfather and my Nana who are living in Rotorua. They are from a farming background and well into their 80's they are both raving vegetable garden enthusiasts. While there I spent time looking through Nana's recipe book. Many of her recipes have been handed down through generations of our family from both her side and Grandad's side. What I like about these is that they are simple, tasty and make great use of crops that are commonly grown in New Zealand. I am going to share some of these with you over the coming weeks.

Source: Bridget's Veggie Patch - April

Bridget's Veggie Patch - March

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1300

Bridget's Veggie Patch - March

I started out with bumper crops of just about everything. But in January we went away with our family and I just ended up staying in the Coromandel until school started again in February. I did not heed my own advice and did not get anyone to feed, water or harvest my crops. As a result when I came back by corgettes had contracted some awful rot and were disintegrating as fast as they were growing. I had sooo many cucumbers that I didn’t know what to do, my lettuces had all gone to seed and my beloved tomatoes (that I had so many ideas for) were overgrown and many falling off and rotting.

My disaster of a vegetable garden at the end of January

So for the clean up!

My Beet and Lettuce Seedlings
	I began by pulling out all of the corgettes and lettuces and harvesting all of my cucumbers. I have composted these parts of the garden and planted new lettuce and beetroot seedlings. (I wanted instant gratification so I went for seedlings instead of seeds)

With my 20 or so cucumbers I made Bread and Butter Cucumber, which is a yummy sandwich pickle. This I have stored in jars, kept some and given some away. This is a great recipe for surplus as it doesn’t matter if they are a little over ripe. (See recipe below)

I needed desperately to tend to my tomatoes, I picked lots to use. But also found that I had a lot of green ones that I just was going to need to thin out so that the plants were not competing too much. Luckily I found a great recipe called Green Tomato Relish, and this is really yummy, great for sandwiches and cheese and crackers. (Recipe also below)

I was disappointed with my crop of Roma Tomatoes as they seemed to get attacked by something. If I had a bit more time I really should have harvested this to make tomato sauces and base for winter cooking. Unfortunately I was not very organized and sadly I am just about to rip them out. On the plus side I have learned a lot and now I can focus on getting this area of the garden ready for winter.

So where to from here

I recently started watching a TV show about an urban couple who turned most of their garden into vegetables. Mike and I decided that we needed to put more effort into attempting this ourselves. So he is currently designing a way of turning another section of our property into vegetables.

I have also decided that while seedlings do give me the instant gratification that I like when gardening that I would get better value for money and more overall satisfaction from growing my veggies from seed. Rather than use my house as a growing room I have invested in a little hot house kit from Bunning’s. This cost me $99.00 and is big enough to walk into. There are cheaper ones starting from $20.00 and of course you can just cover seedlings with a plastic bottle or grow them indoors.

So now I am busy, tending my new lettuce and beetroot seedlings as well as clearing room for the resting of my winter vegetables. I am also cultivating radishes, broccoli, spring onions, Heirloom tomatoes, Rhubarb, snow peas and regular peas. Mike is getting excited about the new building project he has, ha ha. (Looks like he won’t be on the golf course as much as he hoped)
Just as a note.

I am going to use our Living Earth Premium Lawn Mix to propagate my seeds. A little birdie told me this will work as well if not better than seed raising mix.

Other Fruits and Veggies Growing in our Garden

Green Tomato Pickles

Preparation Time: 25 minutes + overnight soaking
Total cooking time: 40 minutes
Makes: 1.25 litres

Ingredients:
1.25 kg green tomatoes
2 onions
½ cup cooking salt
1 cup sugar
2 cups cider vinegar
½ cup sultanas
½ teaspoon mixed spice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons curry powder
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons corn flour

Method
1.   Slice the tomatoes and onions into thin rounds. Combine with the salt in a large non-metallic bowl and add enough water to cover. Place a small plate on top of the vegetables to keep them submerged. Leave to stand overnight.
2.   Drain the tomato and onion and rinse well. Place in a large pan and add the sugar, vinegar, sultanas and spices. Stir over low heat for 5 minutes, or until all the sugar has dissolved.
3.   Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often, or until the vegetables are soft.
4.   Add 2 teaspoons water to the corn flour, mix well and stir into the mixture. Stir over medium heat until it boils and thickens.
5.   Spoon immediately into clean, warm jars and seal. Turn the jars upside down for 2 minutes, then invert and leave to cool. Label and date. Leave for 1 month before opening to allow the flavours to develop. Store in a cool, dark place for up to 12 months. Refrigerate after opening for up to 6 weeks.

Bread and Cucumber Pickles

Ingredients:

    * 4 pounds pickling cucumbers
    * 1 large onion, quartered, sliced about 1/4-inch thickness
    * 1/3 cup kosher salt
    * 3 cups cider vinegar
    * 1 1/2 cups sugar
    * 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
    * 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
    * 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds, or use half pickling spices
    * 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

Method
Wash cucumbers and cut off the ends. Slice crosswise into 1/8-inch slices. Toss in a large bowl with the salt and onion slices; cover with about 4 to 6 cups of ice cubes. Cover and let stand for 4 hours or refrigerate overnight.

Prepare the boiling water bath. Add water to a large canner with rack and heat to about 180°. The water should be high enough to be at least 1 inch above the filled jars. I usually fill it about halfway and I keep a kettle or saucepan of water boiling on another burner to add to the canner as needed. Wash jars thoroughly and heat water in a small saucepan; put the lids in the saucepan and bring almost to the boil; lower heat to very low to keep the lids hot.

Drain the cucumber mixture. In a large pot (nonreactive) over medium heat, combine the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Add the drained cucumber mixture and bring to a boil. With a slotted spoon, loosely pack the vegetables in prepared jars. Ladle the liquid into jars, dividing evenly among the jars. With a clean damp cloth (I keep a little bowl or cup of the boiled water handy for this step), wipe away any drips around the rims of the jars then cover with 2-piece jar lids. A lid lifter comes in handy to get the flat lids out of the water, or you could use tongs. Adjust the screw on rings firmly but do not over-tighten. Place filled in the prepared boiling water bath, adding more hot water as needed to bring the water up to about 1 inch above the jars. Bring the water to a boil. Cover and continue boiling for 10 minutes. Lift the jars out of the water and place on a rack to cool.
Makes about 6 pints.

Source: Bridget's Veggie Patch - March

Bridget's Vege Patch - January

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1300

Bridget's Vege Patch - January

This year I have all my relatives coming over to our house for Christmas, so much of my attention has been on finishing the other parts of the garden. Although I have been keeping an eye on my veggies because my Grandparents were farmers and Nana always had a prolific vegetable garden and my aunty lives on a lifestyle block in Kati Kati and also always seems to be bring gorgeous, advocados, tamarillos, kiwifruit and the like.

Originally I was concerned that I had not planted enough, in winter I had spaced everything a little too widely and as a result ended up with not enough to fully sustain us throughout the winter. However I am learning with Summer vegetables, that they often require more room. I planted two corgette plants and two cucumber plants in one box. I was planning on planting climber beans here as well, but in just a short space of time the corgette and cucumber have taken over this garden entirely.

My tomatoes are large and busy, some have outgrown their stakes, there are lots of fruit, but not quite ripe yet.

Lettuces are going well, but I am noticing that some have bolted (gone to seed) so even though I am getting a lot from each lettuce, by picking the outer leaves and leaving the center, there is still a need to replace some plants.

We are harvesting strawberries, corgettes, lettuce, spinach, carrots on regularly. I can also see that the cucumbers, capsicums and tomatoes are coming along and should be ready soon.

My youngest daughter really wanted a watermelon, so we have planted that and it looks like it will take up a lot of room in the coming months.

Anyway, apart from that this month I will be giving my veggies another good feed. This month I am going to try a seaweed feed. I have brought mine already made, but I am told it is easy to mix up. Seaweed (well rinsed in fresh water) leave this soaking in fresh water for 2 weeks, remove the seaweed and feed the garden with the left over "juice".

Also don't forget to water your garden, morning and night if you can manage it. This is a great job for the kids, usually done in togs is a good idea in my experience.

Don't forget to check out Heather Taits gardening tips and jobs for January which you can find in the list of articles on the left column of the home page.

I hope everyone has a happy new year and a wonderful 2011!

Source: Bridget's Vege Patch - January

Bridget's Vege Patch - December

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1300

Bridget's Vege Patch in December

I was able to harvest all of my Broad Beans over the last two weeks. I have to admit to being at a bit of a loss as to what to do with Broad Beans, I blanched them and added them to salads mainly but I harvested so many that some did perish before we were able to eat them. Many other vegetables are still going strong, we are getting lots of snow peas, carrots, lettuce, cabbages (both red and green) I can see that my strawberries, corgettes, pumpkins, cucumbers, and tomatoes are getting ready to really come on some time in December. I am still going to plant some more capsicums, summer beans and maybe peas.

My poor old garden is taking a little bit of a back seat at the moment to my general garden. For those of your who have read my blurb in our Gardening Tips letter you will know that we are trying very hard to get the rest of our landscaping completed before Christmas, because I am hosting my first official Christmas lunch.

How to care for your vegetables AND go on holiday

1. Ask a neighbour or a family member to water your plants. This could be someone who is already feeding your cat or checking security while you are away. This is a wonderful job for a young person. I asked my neighbour's 6 year old daughter to feed our cat, collect our mail and water our plants once a day. While she did her chores, her mother hung out a bit of washing (makes it look like someone is home) I paid my wee friend $2.00 a day. I felt a bit cheap, but her mother ensured me that this was more than enough. Hannah had a tough time decided whether to go to the $2 shop or save it up for something a bit more substantial.

2. Set up an irrigation system on a timer. These systems come as a DIY kit and they are as simple to put together as lego. These kitsets can be purchased at Auckland Landscape Supplies as well as other building or gardening supply centers.

3. Set up temporary shade over your vulnerable plants. This will help them to retain moisture because there will be less evaporation. It will also protect your plants from wilting, while they are a little moisture deficient.

4. If you have pots that can be moved, move these to a shady place which is away from eaves. This will ensure that they can get access to any rainfall that does occur and that what moisture is available is retained as long as possible.

5. The wick method. I believe this is most suitable for pots but would be interested in hearing about anyone who has tried it in a garden setting. Take a piece of rope (make sure it is cottony so that it can soak up water) Make a hole in the soil, in a pot this would be to the bottom of the pot. Insert the wick to the bottom of the hole. Place the other end of the wick into a bucket of water, next to the plant. The wick will continue to absorb water into the soil, thus keeping the plant moist.

Easy, Inexpensive and Gorgeous! Give a homemade edible basket for Christmas!

Look these really are GORGEOUS, I have been experimenting with these as gifts this year and have had a wonderful response every time I gave given one to someone. So here is the down low.

1. Go to your local dollar shop, (I go to a great big one in Onehunga Mall Road) These normally have an array of baskets for a song.

2. Line your basket with weed-mat, to just below where you think the soil will end. We sell this by the lineal meter, or in rolls. It is very inexpensive and will stop soil from draining through the cracks when the basket is watered.

3. Fill 1/3 of your basket with Scoria (for drainage) One bag of Scoria will be enough for between 3-6 baskets depending on the size of your basket. We sell Scoria 25/7 for $7.20

4. Fill the rest of the basket with Garden Mix. We sell bags of Garden Mix for $10.20, obviously you will need twice the amount of Garden Mix to Scoria. So if you buy one bag of Scoria, you should buy 2 bags of Garden Mix. I think this would be enough for 5 baskets (give or take)

5. Choose either a few herbs, or a mix of lettuces, herbs or veggie seedlings that will suit the person you are gifting to. Get the value packs from your local plant wholesaler, this is a economical way to buy the seedlings and you will get enough to make up several baskets.

6. Decorate the handle.

VIOLA

Source: Bridget's Vege Patch - December

Bridget's Vege Patch - November

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +1300

Bridget's Vege Patch - November

I have been lucky enough to speak with lots of you this month, both through email and while I have been working at the yard. As is the usual pattern for November, many of you (including myself) are busy in the garden both generally and vegetables. I have been busy cracking with whip (we have a lawn that desperately needs to by laid) as well as busy harvesting vegetables. I have learned how to prepare beetroot both traditionally and for use in stirfrys. I have had a plentiful harvest of big cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage which is due, I think to all the regular feeding. In the process I have also found a great recipe for slightly Asian version of a coleslaw. (See below)

This month

Nutrients:

After harvesting the last of my winter vegetables I have now got a lot of space in my vegetable patch. The number one reason for crop failure is insufficient numbers of nutrients in the soil. Remember that topsoil has virtually no nutrients, especially after a busy growing season. It is really important that at this point you replenish the nutrients in your garden. I have topped all my gardens up with Living Earth Garden Mix. I found that over the last two seasons (which is the last time I topped up my gardens) that I have had a lot of earth settling or sinking, which is why I have decided to top up the gardens. You may find that you still have plenty of soil but need nutrients only. If this is the case you could use Living Earth liquid compost, work through sheep pallets, gypsum or another slow release fertilizer. (All of these products are available at either of our yards in St Johns or Henderson)

What to Plant:

I already planted my tomatoes just before Labour Weekend, they are still small and I can't rule out planting more, but at least I have some started. It is definitely not too late to plant tomatoes now, remember to have stakes ready for those ones that will require it. I have actually planted quite a few as I am planning to bottle them for recipe bases and pasta sauces.

Strawberries should be really taking off. Mine are a little bit slow, but they are not in the best spot in terms of how much sun they are receiving. I am going to leave them and see how they go...

I have already planted snow peas, which are already cropping and great for salads and stirfrys. My broad beans are really coming along beautifully, but will need a wee bit longer before they are ready to harvest. Lettuces are well on the way, carrots are being harvested (these I plant straight from seed, as I do beetroot and radishes) All of these vegetables I will plant in rounds, a new crop every six weeks.

In the last few days I have planted my capsicums, my chillis, my corgettes and my cucumber. This is a bit of a gamble as these seedlings really do need warm weather to flourish. The night time temperature really needs to be above 13 degrees C. I will see how they go this month and if they are not doing too well I will plant another batch in December.

Of course you can also plant a host of other things, sweetcorn, potatoes, watermelons, just about anything will grow at this time of the year.

What is important

It is most important to remember to water your plants through the summer. Thirsty plants will not crop well, so water them and mulch them. The mulch helps to keep pests away as well as hold in the much needed water. Feed vegetables every 6 weeks or so over the next few months.

My Summer Experiment

One of our supplier has told my about a study that has being carried out which proves that if you place a red mulch underneath vegetables that are red in colour you will triple your yield. I have mulched my tomatoes, strawberries and capsicums to see if this does indeed work. The coloured mulch that I am using has got a dye in it, but it is organic and toxin free.

Source: Bridget's Vege Patch - November

Bridget's Vege Patch - October

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +1300

Bridget's Vege Patch in October

I have to congratulate myself on such a beautiful vegetable garden. This year most everything (except my celery) is growing abundantly and I think that has much to do with this blog in so much that it forces me to do just a little bit of work in the garden each month. The key jobs that seem to have made a real difference is regular feeding with Living Earth Liquid Compost (by regular I mean once every 6 weeks) and regular harvesting of the vegetables.

I am now aware that in the coming months there will be a little bit more work to be done. Pests are now going to be more active (we will talk about that a little further down) and there is going to need to be some watering from about November onwards through the summer months. However lets start with some jobs.

Planting:

Make sure that you have most of what you want to plant for Summer in by the 1st of November. I like to plant Labour Weekend which is 23rd, 24th and 24th October. I use this date because my nana always did and as far as I am concerned she is pretty on to it. I am planning to plant tomatoes, corgettes, cucumber, pumpkins and capsicums (although depending on how warm it is I may start my capsicums inside) Everything else has already been planted earlier, (lettuce, spinach, cabbage, beans, strawberries, broccoli, beetroot, carrots, and celery which I am going to rip out)

Pest Control:

I always feel the biggest sense of loss when I am watching my beautiful garden flourish, only to walk out one morning and find that it has been all but destroyed in the matter of one night by garden pests. The main culprits in my garden seem to be slugs and snails, aphids and mildew sorts of infections. I am not opposed to using chemicals and sprays myself, but I know that many people are, so I am going to list all of the options that I have researched below. I just want to point out that I am going to start myself with the organic options and see where that takes me. If I find that this is not working I will probably go the chemical way, but as always I will keep you posted as to what is happening.

To Stop Snails and Slugs:

BEER and VINEGAR

A shallow lid full of Beer is said to attract the slugs and snails. They then drown in the fluid and you just dispose of the the dead pests every few days. Apparently you can use vinegar just as effectively.

EGG SHELLS

Snails and slugs do not like crawling over the sharp shells so crush up your egg shells into an ice-cream container or such and when you have enough spread these around your vulnerable plants and keep replenishing as often as you can. At the same time the calcium in the egg shells is excellent for the plants as well. (This is a great job for the kids, the crushing of the egg shells is fun and equally spreading them around the plants)

SAND

Border the whole garden bed with at least a cm width of sand. Raise the sand a bit so it is like a little mound. Alternatively ring the vulnerable plants with the sand. Snails and slugs are unlikely to craw over the sand as they don't like the texture.

To stop Aphids, White Fly, Mites and Caterpillars.

1. Pour boiling water over crushed rhubard leaves. Then leave this mixture to soak for 3 days.

2. Strain and add a good squirt of detergent and dilute this concentrate enough so that it looks like weak tea.

3. Spray over pest infected plants. Repeat every 10 days.

To Stop Mildew and Mould Growth

Spray full cream milk over plants that are beginning to show signs of any mildew, mould or fungus. Watch specifically your pumpkins, corgettes, peas and cucumbers. Repeat every week or so.

Alternatively there are lots of chemical based products on the market that are very effective, snail and slug pallets and spray for a host of different pests. So good luck finding what suits you!

Source: Bridget's Vege Patch - October

Bridget's Vege Patch - September

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +1200

Bridget’s Vege Patch in September

I am still feeling very motivated with my vege patch, partly because it is growing so well and partly because there is now a bit of light at the end of the tunnel with the first day of spring just passed.

I seem to be having a lot more success with my variety than in past years. Broccoli has always grown well for me, but this year they seem bigger. I have also managed to grow great cabbages which is a first as normally they don’t seem to head. I am not sure whether this is down to slightly different winter conditions or the liquid compost that I used 6 weeks ago. I have decided to apply more liquid compost because I think it is probably that I have never bothered to feed my veggies in the past and they happen to like it.

This month I was focused on extended my vegetable patch, problem is that I have kind of run out of room and Mike refuses to build anymore gardens. This has not stopped me, instead I decided to get a couple of wine barrels which look stylish and are great vegetable containers, in addition I found an old wood basket in the shed and decided to use this as well. Containers are great ways to contain veggies that spread and can take over other vegetables. I have decided to grow my baby spinach in the wood basket, snow peas in one of the wine barrels and lettuces in the other.

But we have been busy and my work did not stop there. August was a great time to plant trees, so I went off to Plantet Earth in Taupaki to buy some fruit trees. Jules is a landscape designer and the owner of a large nursery specializing in lots of things (but I think her fruit trees are particularly special) I convinced Mike to help me plant out an unused bank at the back of our section. We have ended up with 3 feijoas, 1 orange, 1 nectarine, 1 golden queen peach, 1 hybrid apricot, 1 hybrid plum. These trees will form the boundary of our section as well as hopefully screen a bank which is a bit unsightly and of course provide a place for the children to play, climb and pick fruit! I am also trying to grow fruit trees in the espalier style. This is new to me, it is a term I have not personally heard of before and that I find fascinating. On the fence we are going to grow a pear tree and 2 apple trees which will be trained to grow along the retaining wall on wires. This is a very European way of growing fruits and citrus. I am curious as to whether it will work at my house, especially give the spot is not the sunniest… we can only hope!

Well remember to keep feeding those veges; I am off to give mine some more Living Earth liquid compost now. I have not sprayed or worried about slug slam yet (not that I am too against it) but I have been told that you can lay out shallow bowls with beer in them and the slugs will be naturally attracted to these instead of the vegetables. I am going to try this before I revert to slug slam... I will let you know how it goes.

Another little tip we have just learnt is that surrounding your red veges/fruit with a red mulch will triple the yield that you will get. Give it ago. Grab a bag of our red coloured mulch and put it around the base of half your tomato or strawberry plants and see the difference at harvest time.

Source: Bridget's Vege Patch - September

Bridget's Vege Patch - August

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +1200

Bridget's Vege Patch in August

We had some great fun in the holidays planting our strawberries. The children ended up covered in mud, as did the deck. Mia and Kees really understood the whole process this time, they were very careful with the seedlings and asked a lot of questions about when the strawberries would be ready. Riaan on the other hand, pulled her seedlings out a couple of times and replanted them... hopefully they are fairly hardy.

As for the rest of the garden. It has mostly been a waiting game, and a watching game. Things are growing slowly as they normally do around the middle of winter but everything is looking nice and healthy. I did a wee bit of weeding, but there is not that much of that to do which is pleasing.

I am now thinking about how I am going to start my spring and summer varieties as Labour day is not too far away and spring appears to be coming early. I think that I will probably introduce some wine barrels to use for things like lettuces and herbs. I will need to do some juggling in order to place my tomatoes as I want them up the top where the broccoli are busily growing.

Thanks to Rosalind, mother to Nicholas and a bump on the way, who is a dear friend of mine and kindly allowed me to write about her. Rosalind grows so many tomatoes that she bottles them up for pastas, and bases for a wide range of dishes. Rosalind tells me that she has not brought a canned tomato product in years. Rosalind says that she and her husband also get a box of Golden Queen Peaches (seconds grade) when they go to visit family in Gisborne, she also bottles these to use on cerials and desserts for the rest of the year!! To add to that when I was there the other day she had just made jars of pumpkin soup which she freezes. I am in awe and I am going to give this a go this year, I have never undertaken in traditional bottling, but am very inspired. (Plus if I play my cards right Rozzi might teach me)

Rosalind there is a $20 ALS voucher on its way to you.

Source: Bridget's Vege Patch - August

Bridget's Vege Patch - July

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +1200

Bridget’s Vege Patch – July

No sooner had I planted all of my gorgeous new seedlings, did the rain begin to fall. Each day I have peered tentatively out the window at my plot and I have to say that the rain has not damaged my veggies as much as I expected. I do notice that my beetroot are not doing so well, but I read that beetroot seedlings are painfully sensitive, so I was expecting to lose a few.

All in all, there is not that much for me to do, just a few maintenance issues as follows;

1. I have been emptying my expresso coffee grounds into various parts of the garden. This is a cheap way to add nitrogen to the soil, keep slugs at bay, encourage worm activity and it makes me feel just a bit green. Acid loving plants thrive on this the most, but I think all plants will benefit somewhat. (Tip, just make sure that you scatter the grounds before rainfall, or water them in if no rain is forecast)

2. I gave my gardens a boost with the Living Earth liquid compost. Normally I would top up my gardens with a traditional compost or black gold (compost mix) but I really wanted to try this new product. I have to say that it does smell interesting…. and I do recommend gloves for this one, but I am sure that the smell just reflects that it really is the genuine article. I do need to add that since first writing this a couple of weeks ago I have noticed it has given my seedlings a sudden growth spurt, so I urge you to give it a go. Check out the homepage for the special offer we are running on Liquid Compost for this month.

3. Heather Tait suggested that I cover my citrus to save from frost. But I have not done this as I just keep forgetting, despite Mike (my husband) reminding me that this was actually expert advice which I really should follow. You may choose to be a bit more diligent than me.

4. I also spoke to Heather on the 14th of June about planting for the shortest day, which I think is around the 20 something of June. I was set to plant out all of my strawberries, garlic and shallots, but Heather said that because the weather has been so mild that I could wait until the first week of July. I have decided to do this as it will give the children and I something to do in the school holidays.

Now I know that at least one person read my blog last month because I got an email! This person asked me what I do with my excess produce.

Well in the past I have actually ended up throwing a bit of it away, or giving it away to friends and family. However more recently I have been searching out recipes for certain veggies and specifically ones where I can prepare the veggie and freeze it as a base in a receipe, such as soups, lasagnes, ratatouliees, dessert dishes, etc. I would also love to hear how other people preserve their fruits and veggies easily or other receipes that freeze or keep well.

For every idea, tip or recipe that I publish I will send the contributer $20.00 ALS money. Email me bridget@aucklandlandscape.co.nz

Source: Bridget's Vege Patch - July

Bridget's Vege Patch - June

Tue, 18 May 2010 00:00:00 +1200

It started in May with a very random looking patch. Now I must point out that I have the tendency to get all excited and go out shopping for seedlings, only to fill up my area (making it look gorgeous of course) to find that in 100 days or so I have way too much of everything (thats if it managed to survive because I am snot so good at the maintenance side of gardening) This time I diligently planted six brocoli in the beginning of May which are now starting to look quite good.

Yesterday which was Monday the 17th of May I went on to buy the rest of my winter vege seedlings. I had in my mind a rough idea of what I wanted, I decided I was not going to buy anything that we don't eat and that I was not going to just buy things because they look interesting. I stuck to my plan, kind of... I have walked away with more brocoli (because we do eat a lot of it) cabbage, a tamarillo tree, broad beans, snow peas, celery and beetroot (I have never actually cooked with beetroot, but as I previously stated, I am a bit impulsive and it looked interesting) I already have carrotts which I planted from seeds, passionfruit, citrus (lemonade, mayer lemon, tahitian lime and mandarin) rubarb, and a variety of herbs, mint, basil, rosemary, parsley.

Today Tuesday 18 May Heather Tait from Living Earth popped around. Heather has promised to give me a wee bit of guidance and also to be our expert, so if anyone has questions then they can email me and I will ask Heather on your behalf. Heather is great, she is so down to earth and easy going. We chatted about where each of my varieties should go and have decided that the brocoli, cabbage and cauli should be in the sunniest position. (Of course most plants, even winter ones love sun, but unfortunately my vege patch is north west facing so it does miss out a little bit in the winter). I am going to plant my broad beans and beets in the next sunniest position and finally the tamirillo tree with the left over brocoli at the bottom. I have decided to plant my snow peas in a wine barrel so that I can place them in a sunny spot which is not actually part of the vege planter area.

So lets see how it goes... I would also love to hear about what you are all planting so if you want to share write me a brief paragraph about what you have planted and why with some photos so that I can post these to these pages. Also if anyone has any vege questions, please forward them to me and I will get the answers. Take care everyone and happy vege gardening.

Bridget Bryant.

bridget@aucklandlandscape.co.nz

Source: Bridget's Vege Patch - June