Greens

New greenhouse

Carol — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:24:16 +0000

The last few weeks we’ve been making a small greenhouse. When it gets to this time of year I am always short of places to propagate seeds. My shed has only one small window and a small bench, so I can only grow so many seeds at once.

I’ve also come to the conclusion that to have a good long harvesting period for aubergines and chillies/capsicums, they should be started quite early under glass.

So I found this home-made frame on Trade Me. It was being used as a climbing frame in a kindergarten but I’m sure it must have started life as a glasshouse. After it was painted, Simon fixed up some shelves and screwed on a solid back (seeing as it would be up against a fence). We got a couple of old windows from a local demolition yard and some clearlite for the roof.

I put down a (not particularly flat) brick pad and eventually I’ll make two zip-up plastic panels for the front. It’s now warm enough that I don’t really need to worry about that yet.

Little bug(ger)s

Carol — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 01:28:04 +0000

It’s only just officially become spring and already I have these little bug(ger)s in my garden. They are green vegetable bugs, an import from somewhere else in the world. They are pretty looking things, starting off as little round black bugs with yellow spots (not unlike a large black ladybird) and in the adult stage are these smooth shield-shaped insects, which are pretty hard to spot on most foliage.

They suck the sap out of plants and cause general havoc. The best way to deal with them is to pick them off and squash them, which causes a stink! I am germinating some cleome seeds as a catch crop for them but they are nowhere near ready, so for now, digital control will have to do!

One year’s worth of produce

Carol — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 09:42:13 +0000

Blog fail. I haven’t posted since this time last year. The garden has been growing well though, here are a few photos in summary:

I have been busy though, over the last year we’ve been weighing all the garden produce as we pick it. It’s been weighed in the same way as you’d buy it from the greengrocers (e.g. rhubarb without leaves, carrots without tops, etc.). Here goes:

August 2009-August 2010

Asparagus: 4.73kg
Broad beans: 760g
Strawberries: 2.86kg
Courgette: 3.5kg
Potatoes: 8.56kg (new Jersey Bennes: 6.4kg; main crop (Rua?): 2.16kg)
Beans: 11.02kg (King of the Blues: 2.98kg; Scarlet Runner: 8.04kg)
Tomatoes: 30.59kg (Bloody Butcher: 5.68kg; Roma: 7.61kg; Brandywine Pink: 13.32kg; Beefsteak: 4.03kg)
Sweetcorn: 800g (pitiful!)
Hungarian Yellow chillies: 615g
Purple capsicum: 975g
Kumikumi pumpkin: 3.5kg
Aubergine: 1.55kg
Spring onions: 445g
Celery: 2.79kg
Rhubarb: 10.58kg
NZ spinach: 2.89kg
Silverbeet: 225g (plus undocumented kilos fed directly to the guinea pigs)
Radishes: 1.59kg
Peas: 855g (could do better…)
Beetroot: 1.43kg
Onions: 970g
Carrots: 3.1kg
Borlotti beans: 125g (dry weight – will try harder this year!)
Serrano chilli: 870g
Jerusalem artichokes: 9.86kg
Mandarins: 560g
Olives: 60g (though I did brine these in a very small jar)
Strawberry guavas: 885g
Cabbage: 340g
Feijoas: 400g
Lemons: 430g
Broccoli: 200g
Florence fennel: 670g (these were just thinnings – lots more fat bulbs imminent!)

Seeds have arrived!

Carol — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:37:41 +0000

My spring Kings Seeds order arrived today:

I think I’ll need to make some more veggie patches in the garden.

It’s spring! Officially!

Carol — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:14:25 +0000

Today I picked and ate a good bunch of asparagus for lunch. Brilliant.

At the weekend I planted peas and Jersey Bennes and dug in the winter lupins. Thought it was time to replace the woody herbs in the herb garden (they’re 5 years old) so I bought some sage and thyme. I’ll leave the rosemary in there.

Also picked the few daffodils that are growing and stuck them in a vase. I should be a florist.