Poppies are a flower that I only discovered fairly recently thanks to my friend Catherine Orr, who gave me some Fire Circle poppy seeds to try a few seasons ago (pictured above). Poppies are very easy to grow and bring so much beauty to the garden. Planted en masse, they make for a stunning display.
I normally sow poppies in spring and autumn. For spring sowings, it’s best to wait until the risk of frosts has well and truly passed. For autumn sowings, you need to ensure that the ground is sufficiently moist to aid germination, so wait until around April when it starts to rain occasionally. In saying that, it does depend on where you live. New Zealand’s climate varies dramatically from region to region and I do have to remember that not all of my audience lives in Auckland or even New Zealand for that matter. My personal gardening experiences are limited to our urban homestead in the Auckland region, so please take this into account when considering my advice. On the same token, what grows well in my environment may not necessarily thrive in your own microclimate. So please don’t blame me if things go wrong and varieties I’ve recommended don’t grow well in your garden! Sowing poppies from seed It’s really easy to grow poppies from seed and it allows you to grow unusual varieties which aren’t found in garden centres. It depends on the variety, but it normally takes about 90 days until maturity if you sow seeds in spring. Mine usually flower in December and January. Autumn sowings will grow slowly over winter and flower in late spring, for me, it’s normally around November. It’s nice to sow poppies in both spring and autumn for a staggered display of flowers. For the best results, sow poppy seeds directly where you want to grow them. Poppies don’t transplant very well as they have a delicate root system, so it’s best to sow them from seed. In the past, I have tried raising poppies in punnets for transplanting later, but I found that germination rates were very low. If you’ve left it too late or don’t want to start them from seed, look out for poppy plants in garden centres from October onwards. Just be careful not to disturb the roots too much when you transplant them into your garden. You can try your local Palmers store. Awapuni also sell poppy plants and deliver direct to your door. Delivery is free if you order seven or more bundles of plants. Awapuni currently have Iceland, Oriental, Shirley Mixed and Peony Mixed varieties in stock. Poppy seeds are very fine, so when you scatter them, you may find that they end up very close together. You can try thinning them out by transplanting seedlings, but be careful when doing so as you don’t want to disturb their roots too much. Poppy varieties If you’re planning to grow poppies from seed, you’ll find that they come in an impressive array of colours, sizes and heights. Poppies come in red, orange, yellow, white, pink and purple. It’s also possible to find poppy varieties which are bicoloured. My favourite poppy, Fire Circle (pictured above), sadly isn’t available for sale anymore. It used to be part of Koanga’s collection and as mentioned above, a friend I met through gardening circles on Facebook kindly gave me some seeds. However, I have some good news. Later in the season, I will be saving the seed and making it available to customers of Anita’s Garden. Keep an eye out on my seed catalogue, which I will publish in my weekly newsletter, for when it becomes available. Egmont Seeds have an amazing range of poppy seeds which are sure to look lovely in your garden. I’ve already sown poppies for the spring and summer season, but in autumn I plan to grow Bridal Silk, a beautiful white poppy, and Ladybird, a red and black poppy, as the name suggests. To order seeds from the very extensive Egmont Seeds range, visit http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/. How to care for poppies Poppies need at least 6 hours of sunshine per day, so be sure to sow or plant seedlings in the sunniest spot in your garden. They are not a plant for the shade. Before sowing poppy seeds, take the time to prepare the bed properly so plants receive adequate nutrition. Dig the area over that you wish to plant your seedlings in. Mix plenty of compost and some sheep pellets into the ground. Rake the ground so that it is nice and level. Be sure to water plants every day, preferably early in the morning or in the evening. Liquid feed poppies weekly to encourage the growth of healthy leaves and the formation of flowers. Poppies don’t last very well in a vase so I tend to leave them to admire in the garden rather than using them as a cut flower. Poppies are an annual which means that they will grow, set seed and die after one growing season. If you are growing heirloom varieties, you can save seeds from your plants so you will be able to sow those varieties next season, as I have done. Wait until the pods are completely dry on your plants. Break them off the plant and leave them to dry out a bit more inside. The seeds are contained inside the pods which should have holes if you are harvesting them at the right stage. If you harvest the pods prematurely these holes will be closed, so that’s a good way to know whether it’s time to harvest your poppy seeds. Carefully empty the seeds from the pods and store in an envelope in a cool, dry place. Don’t forget to label your seeds so you know what variety they are! It’s also a good idea to note the date that you harvested the seeds for future reference.
0 Comments
I’ve been so busy here at Anita’s Garden! The summer season is well underway. Now is the time to plant all your favourite summer veggies and flowers! Our garden is positively blooming. I’ve been busy clearing the last of our winter crops such as cauliflowers and broad beans to make room for lots of summer vegetables we enjoy growing and eating every season. I thought it was time for an update which captures all of the activities that have been happening at Anita’s Garden recently. Here’s a round up of what has been happening in the past week. Plant nursery The plant nursery is open by prior appointment only. I have had a steady stream of customers come and purchase plants for their summer garden and I have been happy to provide them with growing advice. To make an appointment to visit the plant nursery which includes personal one-on-one advice and assistance, please contact me on 021 02762091. Thank you. Free weekend workshops during the month of November! During the month of November, I am offering free one hour gardening workshops at Anita’s Garden to help members of the public get their summer garden sorted. Afterwards, I invite you to browse my plant nursery for cheap flower and veggie seedlings for your garden. I held the first of these workshops last Saturday. My morning session at 10 am was attended by three people and my afternoon session was attended by two people. I don’t prepare a lecture beforehand but cover the basics of how to grow a range of summer veggies. I allow each session to evolve organically (excuse the gardening pun!) and there is plenty of time for questions and answers. I don’t like to deliver a rehearsed speech as everyone is at a different level in terms of their gardening knowledge and I tailor each session to suit the group’s needs. I covered how to grow the following vegetables: o Lettuce o Tomatoes (including how to remove laterals) o Zucchini o Pumpkin o Squash o Silverbeet o Herbs, including dill, coriander and parsley I also discussed the basics of companion planting and the importance of planting bee attracting flowers to aid pollination. There’s still space in my weekend workshops for the rest of November but be quick as slots are limited! Location: Anita's Garden, Papatoetoe, Manukau in Auckland. I am offering the following dates and times: Saturday 11 November - Morning session and afternoon session (AM session 1 space left; PM session 4 spaces left) Sunday 12 November - Afternoon session only (1 space left) Saturday 18 November - Morning session and afternoon session (AM session 4 spaces left; PM session FULLY BOOKED) Sunday 19 November - Afternoon session only CANCELLED, SORRY Saturday 25 November - Morning session and afternoon session (4 spaces left for both AM and PM slots) Sunday 26 November - Afternoon session only CANCELLED, SORRY Morning sessions commence at 10 am. Afternoon sessions commence at 2 pm. The workshop lasts for an hour. Afterwards I invite you to browse my plant nursery for cheap flower and veggie seedlings for your garden. I will be available to help you and advise on the best varieties for your family's needs. To register, please email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com or text me on 021 02762091. Visit from Papatoetoe walking group who toured Anita’s Garden last Friday Last Friday, I was delighted to host a Papatoetoe walking group who asked if they could visit Anita's Garden for a guided tour. I was a little nervous as it was the first time I had done a tour. About six months ago, a lovely lady called Louisa Hustwick who came into the plant nursery to purchase some passionfruit plants got in touch with me via my Facebook page and asked if she could visit Anita’s Garden with her walking group for a tour with guided commentary. At that time, there wasn’t much to see in the garden, so I suggested we make a booking for spring, when flowers were blooming again. After introductions, we began taking a detailed tour of the garden. We spent a lot of time in the nursery, where I explained how I start the process of propagating plants from seed. I was also asked about seed saving. We then made our way to the front where we looked at the rows of potatoes and discussed why it’s better to plant certified seed potatoes rather than supermarket ones, and why it’s better to plant potatoes whole rather than cutting them up, which exposes them to diseases. The mini orchard was a talking point for us. The group was fascinated by our dwarf fruit trees and berries in containers. Another stopping point was my row of seven roses along the path leading up to the house, which are in bloom. Afterwards, we looked at the other garden beds filled with different sorts of vegetables – kohlrabi, celeriac, corn, lettuce, broad beans, leeks and celery. We also spent time talking about our other fruit trees, including feijoas, the newly planted avocado tree and the banana tree. There were plenty of questions which I answered. Katie, a young wwoofer from Germany who is currently staying with us and can be seen second from the left in the photo, did take a video of us. Once I have found someone who can help me edit it, I will upload it to my website and on social media. All in all, everyone had a wonderful day. This is something that I would really like to continue to do in future. If you would like a guided tour of the garden, please get in touch with me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com. Here is some feedback from Louisa after the tour: Hi Anita Thank you for giving Manukau City Baptist Church walking group your valuable time on Friday. Your little tour of your garden was very informative and there was so much to take in. Every plant was amazing in beauty and health. Such an inspiration to many, just shows you what can be done in your own backyard. Visit from Aimee Walker and her children for home schooling education and workshop at Anita’s Garden Last Tuesday, we received a visit from my friend Aimee Walker and her lovely three children. Aimee lives on the North Shore with her husband Dave and their kids. Aimee and I became friends while we were at law school. Although we stayed in touch over the years, we hadn’t seen each other in 13 years! Aimee recently decided to home school her kids and came to Anita’s Garden for a day of gardening education for Mischa, 11, Isabelle, 9 and Lucas, 2. After introductions, we began with a detailed tour of the garden. The swan plants were a talking point for us. The girls had already studied the life cycle of the monarch butterfly and really enjoyed looking at the many caterpillars on the plants. Another stopping point was my patch of wildflowers. Everyone (including Lucas) was taken aback by the number of bumble bees drawn to the blue flowers. After our tour, we took a break for lunch, enjoying some fresh produce from the garden. Afterwards, the girls each planted a cherry tomato in a container to take home and look after. We also harvested some vegetables together – broad beans, kale, silverbeet, leeks and celery. There was also plenty of produce from Anita’s Garden and some plants for the Walker family to take home, as you can see from the photo. All in all, everyone had a wonderful day. This is something that I would really like to continue to do in future. Here is some feedback from Aimee after her family’s visit to Anita’s Garden for my home schooling programme: Thank you so much for having us! The kids loved being out in the garden with you! They would love to come back when you're harvesting - that was one of their favourite parts of the day, getting to help you cut everything in the garden! Will definitely keep in touch about another visit xx If you would like me to run a similar gardening workshop and tour of the garden for your kids, please get in touch with me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com. First order for fresh flowers from Anita’s Garden!
I have received my first flower order! I have been waiting for this for a while and am excited, but saddened by the purpose for which they will be used. I am supplying flowers for the tangi (the Maori word for funeral) of my friend’s aunt which will take place in Northland this Friday. Stay tuned for an update in future as to how this went for me. I hope to expand the scope of my services to encompass flower orders in future. For all enquiries, please contact me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com. Zinnias are among my favourite summer flowers and always feature prominently in our summer garden. They are very easy to grow and are a great way to attract bees and butterflies to the garden.
I normally sow zinnia seeds from early November onwards, when the risk of frosts has well and truly passed but the ground is at the same time sufficiently moist to aid germination. In saying that, it does depend on where you live. New Zealand’s climate varies dramatically from region to region and I do have to remember that not all of my audience lives in Auckland or even New Zealand for that matter. My personal gardening experiences are limited to our urban homestead in the Auckland region, so please take this into account when considering my advice. On the same token, what grows well in my environment may not necessarily thrive in your own microclimate. So please don’t blame me if things go wrong and varieties I’ve recommended don’t grow well in your garden! Sowing zinnias from seed It’s really easy to grow zinnias from seed and it allows you to grow unusual varieties which aren’t found in garden centres. It takes about 90 days until maturity, usually around 70 or so days in the case of dwarf varieties. For the best results, sow zinnias seeds directly where you want to grow them. Over the years, I have tried raising zinnias in punnets for transplanting later, but I found that germination rates were very low. If you’ve left it too late or don’t want to start them from seed, look out for zinnia plants in garden centres from October onwards. You can try your local Palmers store. Awapuni also sell a range of zinnia seedlings and deliver direct to your door. Delivery is free if you order seven bundles or more. Zinnia varieties If you’re planning to grow zinnias from seed, you’ll find that they come in an impressive array of colours, sizes and heights. Zinnias come in red, orange, yellow, light pink, cherry pink, peach, white, lime green and purple. Zinnias are either dwarf, medium or tall in height. There are some fantastic varieties of zinnia seeds on the market. Popular dwarf varieties include Fairyland Mix F1 (Egmont Seeds) and Profusion Mix (Egmont Seeds). The Zahara range produces lovely medium sized flowers. Try growing Zahara Double Raspberry Ripple, Zahara Raspberry Lemonade Mix and Zahara Yellow (all from Egmont Seeds). For tall zinnias, you can’t go past Queen Lime (Egmont Seeds). To order seeds from the very extensive Egmont Seeds range, visit http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/. How to care for zinnia plants Zinnias need at least 6 hours of sunshine per day, so be sure to sow seeds in the sunniest spot in your garden. Before sowing zinnia seeds, take the time to prepare the bed properly so plants receive adequate nutrition. Dig the area over that you wish to plant your seedlings in. Mix plenty of compost and some sheep pellets into the ground. I highly recommend Gardn Gro’s Wonder Nuggets, which are 100% organic and function as an excellent fertiliser. Rake the ground so that it is nice and level before sowing and covering the seeds. Be sure to water plants every day, preferably early in the morning or in the evening. Liquid feed zinnias weekly to encourage the growth of healthy leaves and the formation of flowers. Zinnias are an annual which means that they will grow, set seed and die after one growing season. You will need to re-sow zinnia seeds for next year as in my experience they do not self-seed readily unlike many other annuals. Dahlias are one of my favourite summer flowers, together with sunflowers and zinnias. Together, they make an incredibly attractive display and are a powerful magnet to attract bees and butterflies to the garden. Dahlias provide non-stop colour from December until even as late as May, when the first frosts start to set in. They are an excellent cut flower and last for a long time in a vase. Furthermore, they are excellent value as like all bulbs, the tuber will die down over winter and reflower in subsequent summers.
Dahlias can be grown from seed or tuber. I will cover both growing methods in this blog post. Sowing dahlias from seed Dahlias can be started from seed indoors in October or even earlier if you live in a more temperate zone and have a hot house to protect them from the cold. Dahlia seeds need warmth in order to germinate. I germinate seeds in punnets filled with seed raising mix from Gardn Gro. I like Gardn Gro’s seed raising mix as it is very fine in texture, enabling seeds to push through the mixture easily as they rise to the surface. I place the punnets inside plastic incubators which you can purchase from garden centres. I then place the incubators on a heat pad indoors and spray plants with water once daily or twice if the seed raising mixture is very dry. If you don’t have a heat pad you can also use your hot water cupboard which will also provide seedlings with a warm environment so they can germinate successfully. Dahlia seed varieties Most dahlia seed tends to be the bedding varieties, but it is possible to grow cactus and pompom varieties from seed too. Two popular dwarf bedding varieties are Dahlia Deco Dwarf Green Leaf Mix and Dahlia Diablo Dwarf Bronze Leaf Mix (both from Egmont Seeds). To order seeds from the very extensive Egmont Seeds range, visit http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/. How to care for dahlia seedlings For new gardeners, those who don’t wish to start their dahlia seedlings from seed or if you’ve simply left it too late, plants are available for sale in nurseries from October onwards. Palmers stock a great range of dahlia seedlings. Awapuni also sell high quality, large grade dahlia seedlings delivered direct to your door. Look out for Bedding, Figaro, Red Skinned Mixed and Tall Cactus Mixed varieties. If you order 7 or more bundles of seedlings, delivery is free. I plan to sell dahlia seedlings in my own boutique nursery later in the season. Keep an eye out for details in my newsletter, on Neighbourly and my Facebook page as to when they become available. During October and November, I will also circulate updated lists of available stock in my plant nursery to subscribers of my free weekly gardening newsletter. To be added to my mailing list and receive these notifications, please email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com. Dahlias need at least 6 hours of sunshine per day, so be sure to plant seedlings in the sunniest spot in your garden. Before planting dahlia seedlings, take the time to prepare the bed properly so plants receive adequate nutrition. Dig the area over that you wish to plant your seedlings in. Mix plenty of compost and some sheep pellets into the ground. I highly recommend Gardn Gro’s Wonder Nuggets, which are 100% organic and function as an excellent fertiliser. Rake the ground so that it is nice and level. Be sure to water plants every day, preferably early in the morning or in the evening. Liquid feed dahlias weekly to encourage the growth of healthy leaves and the formation of flowers. Snails adore dahlia plants, especially when they are young, and can completely decapitate your seedlings. Protect young seedlings from snails by placing snail pellets around the plants. Dahlia seedlings will form a tuber underground which means that they will grow again in future seasons. If you save seeds from your plants, note that they may not come true to type. This is not necessarily always a bad thing. Who knows, you might even breed a new and interesting variety! Growing dahlias from tubers It’s definitely easier to start your dahlias from tuber. If planted in the spring, tubers should flower prolifically in summer. Palmers stocks a great range of dahlia tubers every spring. You can also order dahlia tubers direct to your door from NZ Bulbs, who stock some unusual varieties which can be hard to find in garden centres. As with planting dahlia seedlings, take the time to prepare the ground well. Dig the area over that you wish to plant your tubers in. Mix plenty of compost and some sheep pellets into the ground. Dig a hole deep enough to bury the tuber, leaving any shoots above the surface. It’s a good idea to place a stake at the time of planting for support as your plants grow, to avoid injuring the tuber later on. If you are planting more than one dahlia, make sure you leave enough space between tubers. I recommend spacing dahlia tubers at least 1-1.5 m apart. As shoots emerge, sprinkle a little sulphate of potash from Gardn Gro around your dahlias, to encourage healthy and plentiful flowers. Liquid feed dahlias weekly in spring to encourage strong, healthy growth and flowering in summer. From Labour Weekend onwards, water plants regularly, preferably early in the morning or in the evening. Once your dahlias have finished flowering in autumn, the foliage will start to die down. Sprinkle a little bulb fertiliser around the base of your plants to nourish the tuber so it flourishes in future years. Dahlias can be left undisturbed underground for several years. It’s a good idea to divide your tubers every 4-5 years otherwise the clump will become very big, making it harder to break into pieces. When dividing your dahlias, make sure that each piece has an “eye” from which the shoots will emerge, otherwise the tuber will not grow. I advise not making the divisions too small. You can swap excess tubers with other gardeners to obtain different varieties or plant the extra tubers in different places in your garden. Dahlia tuber varieties Dahlia tuber varieties fall into several categories: Cactus (spiky flowers), Decorative (large flowers with round petals), Pom Pom (as the name suggests, pom pom shaped flowers) and Collarette (small daisy-like flowers which are incredibly attractive to bees). There are so many dahlia varieties I wouldn’t know where to begin! One of my favourites is a bright yellow pom pom dahlia which came from a mixed bag of tubers I purchased from a garden centre many years ago. In addition to the existing varieties in our garden, I am growing some new varieties this summer, including the following: o Caballero o Pink Silk o Catching Fire o Flashback o Iceberg o Mom’s Special o Blue Wish o Nagano o Seduction o Sunlady o Crazy Love o Hapet Blue Eyes o Hy Trio o Leila Savanna Rose o My Love o Salvation I will follow up with a further blog post later in the season, reporting on the progress of these varieties in the garden. Beans are a favourite in the summer garden and children usually love growing them. Beans are usually green, but come in a variety of other colours, including yellow, purple, white and black. If you want to eat coloured beans, you’ll probably have to grow your own as they can’t be found in supermarkets, at least not in New Zealand.
Beans are rich in many nutrients, including protein, carbohydrates and fibre. Beans also contain many vitamins and minerals. Beans can be consumed in a variety of ways. My favourite way to eat homegrown beans is freshly boiled, served with some butter, salt and pepper. Simply delicious! Beans are extremely versatile and can be used in other dishes such as salads, shepherd’s pie, curries and casseroles. You can expect to pay an average of $8-$10 per kilo in supermarkets in New Zealand during the summer when beans are in season. Homegrown beans taste so much fresher, sweeter and nicer than store bought ones. They are also very easy to grow and the yield is usually very high for the space they take up in the garden. Beans of course can be grown vertically, which means they take up less ground space that can be used for other veggies that need room to spread out, such as pumpkins and squash. There are so many different varieties of beans on the market. There are dwarf beans, climbing beans, broad beans (which are usually grown over the winter and crop in spring, and are sometimes grown as a cover crop), dry beans (which can be used in casseroles and soups) and snake beans (which are used in Asian cuisine and are delicious in Thai fish cakes). When to sow Beans need warm conditions in order to grow well. In the Auckland region, start sowing beans from late October onwards. For tall varieties, you don’t want to leave it too late otherwise you run the risk that your beans won’t mature in time before the cool weather sets in again. To be on the safe side, it’s a good idea to sow tall beans by early December at the latest, but you can sow dwarf beans until January as they are much quicker to mature. To soak or not to soak? There are two broad schools of thought on this issue. Some gardeners prefer to soak hard-coated seeds prior to sowing them, including beans, in order to aid germination. Other examples of seeds that gardeners might soak include edible sweet peas, snow peas, ornamental sweet peas, corn and okra. Some gardeners believe that there is no need to soak the seeds and that doing so may cause them to “drown”. I’m going to do a bit of both and hope for the best. Sowing beans directly from seed v transplanting seedlings raised in punnets Opinion is also divided on this issue. As with the question of whether or not to soak seeds prior to sowing, there are two schools of thought. For best results, sow bean seeds directly where you want to grow them. However, sowing directly leaves bean seeds vulnerable to rot, as well as being scratched up and eaten by mice and birds. Then there are snails who will quite happily decapitate your seedlings! Therefore, try to protect them if you can. It’s for this reason that I became attracted to the idea of sowing beans in punnets for transplanting later on. In the past, I’ve found that bean seeds sowed direct to the ground germinated but the seedlings were subsequently consumed by snails. As with the issue of whether to soak seeds prior to sowing or not, I’m also going to both sow bean seeds directly and transplant my own seedlings raised in punnets to see which works best. Sowing beans directly from seed Make sure that the soil is well drained in the area you are planning on growing beans. Add compost, sheep pellets and some general garden fertiliser. Dig into the soil and rake the area so that it is nice and level. Sow beans at a depth of 15-20 mm maximum. Space the seeds 10-15 cm apart. Bean varieties If you’re planning to grow beans from seed, you’ll find that they come in an impressive array of colours. Traditionally, beans are green, as mentioned above. There are quite a few different varieties on the market in New Zealand. This season I’m growing the following selection of tall beans from the Heritage Food Crops Research Trust, as these varieties performed so well for us last year: o Peruvian Goose dry climbing bean o Fat Goose climbing bean o Hidatsa Shield Figure dry climbing bean o Cherokee Cornfield climbing bean o Hopi String climbing bean o Talla Matua climbing bean o Cornplanter purple climbing bean o Tarahumara dark purple climbing bean o Indian Hannah climbing bean o Hopi Black Pinto climbing bean o Apache red dry climbing bean o Persian climbing lima bean o Hopi Beige climbing bean I’m going to grow snake beans from the Egmont Seeds range later in the season, when the weather is a bit warmer. I’m also going to grow the following varieties of dwarf beans, all of which are available in the Egmont Seeds range: o Climbing Butter bean o French Hicock o Cherokee Butter o French Top Crop To order seeds from the very extensive Egmont Seeds range, visit http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/. Bean seeds will last for many years so you don’t have to sow them all at once. Store them safely in your seed collection for sowing in future seasons. Growing beans from transplanted seedlings raised in punnets Beans can be started from seed indoors in October or even earlier if you live in a more temperate zone and have a hot house to protect them from the cold. Bean seeds need warmth in order to germinate. I germinate seeds in punnets filled with seed raising mix from Gardn Gro. I like Gardn Gro’s seed raising mix as it is very fine in texture, enabling seeds to push through the mixture easily as they rise to the surface. I place the punnets inside plastic incubators which you can purchase from garden centres. I then place the incubators on a heat pad indoors and spray plants with water once daily or twice if the seed raising mixture is very dry. If you don’t have a heat pad you can also use your hot water cupboard which will also provide seedlings with a warm environment so they can germinate successfully. How to care for bean seedlings For new gardeners, those who don’t wish to start their bean seedlings from seed or if you’ve simply left it too late, plants are available for sale in nurseries from September onwards. Palmers stock a great range of bean seedlings. Awapuni also sell high quality, large grade bean seedlings delivered direct to your door. If you order 7 or more bundles of seedlings, delivery is free. I plan to sell a variety of different bean seedlings in my own boutique nursery later in the season. Keep an eye out for details in my newsletter, on Neighbourly and my Facebook page as to when they become available. During October and November, I will also circulate updated lists of available stock in my plant nursery to subscribers of my free weekly gardening newsletter. To be added to my mailing list and receive these notifications, please email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com. I’ll probably be selling seedlings a bit later than stores because I’m merely a home gardener, germinating and caring for seedlings in our patio at home without the help of the horticultural technology that you would expect to find in a commercial operation. Without a hot house, I simply don’t have a head start on the season like large-scale nurseries. To compensate for this, I do try and offer seedling varieties which are unusual and can’t be found in garden centres or online retailers. This is a good thing as it enables me to collaborate with other businesses in the industry and promote their brands. You can achieve a lot by working with other people in the same field (no pun intended), as opposed to simply trying to compete with them. To read my further thoughts on this issue, please click here. Whoever you decide to buy plants from, take care to keep seedlings undercover until early October as beans are frost sensitive. The weather can be temperamental in spring and the nights are often still quite cool. From then on, start “hardening them off”. This is the process of exposing plants to the outdoors incrementally, for example, for two hours in the middle of the day for the first week, increasing to four hours per day for the next week. Continue to bring the plants indoors at night. By the third week of October, it should be safe to leave plants outdoors overnight. How to care for beans plants With the exception of dwarf varieties, beans are usually planted against a trellis for support. Be sure to water plants every day, preferably early in the morning or in the evening. In November and December, plants are in their most active growing phase. Liquid feed beans weekly to encourage the growth of healthy leaves and the formation of fruit after pollination. Tall beans usually grows to a height of around 200 cm. Pollination of beans Bean plants will produce flowers as they grow. Generally, beans need to be pollinated in order to set fruit, but bees should do this job for you. Harvesting your beans It can take what seems like forever for your first beans to be ready for picking but be patient! It depends on the variety, but normally it takes around 100 days for beans to mature. Got a glut of beans that you can’t get through all at once? Beans can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks prior to consumption, or you can do what we do and give some away to family, friends and neighbours. Sunflowers are my all-time favourite flower and always feature prominently in our summer garden. They are very easy to grow and are a great way to attract bees and butterflies to the garden.
I normally sow sunflower seeds from mid-October onwards, when the risk of frosts has well and truly passed but the ground is at the same time sufficiently moist to aid germination. In saying that, it does depend on where you live. New Zealand’s climate varies dramatically from region to region and I do have to remember that not all of my audience lives in Auckland or even New Zealand for that matter. My personal gardening experiences are limited to our urban homestead in the Auckland region, so please take this into account when considering my advice. On the same token, what grows well in my environment may not necessarily thrive in your own microclimate. So please don’t blame me if things go wrong and varieties I’ve recommended don’t grow well in your garden! Sowing sunflowers from seed It’s really easy to grow sunflowers from seed and it allows you to grow unusual varieties which aren’t found in garden centres. It takes about 90 days until maturity, usually around 60 or so days in the case of dwarf varieties. For the best results, sow sunflower seeds directly where you want to grow them. Over the years, I have tried raising sunflowers in punnets for transplanting later, but I found that germination rates were very low. If you’ve left it too late or don’t want to start them from seed, look out for sunflower plants in garden centres from October onwards. You can try your local Palmers store. Sunflower varieties If you’re planning to grow sunflowers from seed, you’ll find that they come in an impressive array of colours, sizes and heights. Traditionally, sunflowers are bright yellow, but they also come in pale yellow, red, bronze and orange. Sunflowers are either dwarf, medium or tall in height. The sunflower seeds I’m sowing this year were saved from last year’s plants. However there are some fantastic varieties of sunflower seeds on the market. Popular dwarf varieties include Pacino Cola (Egmont Seeds) and Dwarf Ballad F1 Hybrid (Egmont Seeds). A lovely medium sized variety I have grown in the past is Musicbox Mix (Egmont Seeds), which contains a lovely variety of shades. For tall traditional yellow sunflowers, you can’t go past Russian Giant (Egmont Seeds). The best red variety I have grown is Moulin Rouge F1 Hybrid (Egmont Seeds), which produces tall red and bronze flowers on branching stems. The best sunflower for picking is by far Sunrich Irish Gold (Egmont Seeds). I have grown this variety in previous years and it produces excellent cut flowers on long stems. To order seeds from the very extensive Egmont Seeds range, visit http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/. How to care for sunflower plants Sunflowers need at least 6 hours of sunshine per day, so be sure to plant seedlings in the sunniest spot in your garden. Before sowing sunflower seeds, take the time to prepare the bed properly so plants receive adequate nutrition. Dig the area over that you wish to plant your seedlings in. Mix plenty of compost and some sheep pellets into the ground. I highly recommend Gardn Gro’s Wonder Nuggets, which are 100% organic and function as an excellent fertiliser. Rake the ground so that it is nice and level. Be sure to water plants every day, preferably early in the morning or in the evening. Liquid feed sunflowers weekly to encourage the growth of healthy leaves and the formation of flowers. Sunflowers are an annual which means that they will grow, set seed and die after one growing season. If you are growing heirloom varieties, you can save seeds from your plants so you will be able to sow those varieties next season, as I have done. Sweetcorn features commonly in many edible gardens in summer around the world, whether in the northern or southern hemisphere. Children usually love sweetcorn. Corn is usually yellow, but it also comes in a variety of other colours such as red, orange, purple, blue, white and black. If you want to eat coloured corn, you’ll probably have to grow your own as it can’t be found in supermarkets, at least not in New Zealand.
Corn is rich in many nutrients, including protein, carbohydrates and fibre. It also contains many vitamins and minerals. I probably shouldn’t grow and eat a lot of corn myself as a diabetic, as it does contain a lot of carbohydrates compared to other vegetables. To put things into perspective, let’s consider how corn would fit into a diabetic diet. There are 25 g of carbohydrates in one medium fresh cob of corn or per cup of tinned corn kernels. Ideally, diabetics should aim to have between 30-50 grams of carbohydrates per meal three times daily. So you can see that the carbohydrate content is quite high in relation to my body’s needs. Not everyone would agree with me about how much carbohydrate I should be consuming as a diabetic. Remember that everyone’s bodies process sugar differently and you need to learn what works for you through trial and error. Mum and I both find that we’re able to control Type 2 diabetes naturally without recourse to any medication such as insulin or metformin by structuring our diet around the 30-50g of carbohydrate per meal rule. This is really all thanks to mum who is a retired nurse and has a very good understanding of health and the human body. Remember that as a matter of overall health, we all need some carbohydrate in our diet, whether we have diabetes or not. In my personal opinion, it’s best to opt for carbohydrates in moderation which are found naturally in fresh vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips and corn. They keep your blood sugar level rather than highly processed packet foods which are filled with sugar and will cause your blood sugar levels to spike dangerously. Corn can be consumed in a variety of ways. My favourite way to eat sweetcorn is freshly boiled or microwaved, served with some butter, salt and pepper. Simply delicious! Sweetcorn is extremely versatile and can be used in other dishes such as salads, fritters, frittata, stir fries and curries. You can expect to pay an average of $1 per cob in supermarkets in New Zealand during the summer when sweetcorn is in season. Homegrown sweetcorn tastes so much fresher, sweeter and nicer than store bought cobs. I can’t believe I’m writing a growing guide to corn, because I’ve never had much luck with growing it in the garden in the past. Problems I have encountered include: o Low germination rates o Poor pollination of kernels (ie gaps on the cob) o Very small cobs o Corn not maturing in time before it becomes cool again I should also say that I didn’t originally plan to grow corn this season due to space limitations. The reason space became available is because my parsnip seeds (sourced from a different company for whom I’m not a brand ambassador) failed to germinate. Given my previous bad track record with growing corn, it’s necessary for me to bring an expert on board for some advice. I decided that the best person qualified for the job is no one else but John McCullough, the owner of Egmont Seeds, New Zealand’s largest seed supplier for both commercial growers and home gardeners. We have gotten to know each other well over the years and I am proud to be a brand ambassador for Egmont Seeds. John is of the view that sweetcorn is very easy to grow and that any failure is sure to be due to cultural issues. With his help, I have managed to put together some advice which will hopefully help gardeners to grow corn successfully this season, including myself. To view a short clip about John and learn more about his company Egmont Seeds, please click here. When to sow According to John, sowing corn seeds too early is by far the biggest reason for failure. Corn needs warm conditions in order to grow well. In the Auckland region, start sowing corn from mid to late October. On the other hand, you don’t want to leave it too late otherwise you run the risk that your corn won’t mature in time before the cool weather sets in again. To be on the safe side, it’s a good idea to sow corn by early December at the latest. To soak or not to soak? There are two broad schools of thought on this issue. Some gardeners prefer to soak hard-coated seeds prior to sowing them, including corn, in order to aid germination. Other examples of seeds that gardeners might soak include edible sweet peas, snow peas, ornamental sweet peas, beans and okra. John’s view is that there is no need to soak the seeds and that doing so may cause them to “drown”. Because I’ve had such bad luck with growing corn in the past, I’m going to do a bit of both with each of the varieties I’m trialling and hope for the best. Sowing corn directly from seed v transplanting seedlings raised in punnets Opinion is divided on this issue. As with the question of whether or not to soak seeds prior to sowing, there are two schools of thought. John’s advice is to sow corn directly where you want to grow it. He believes there is very little advantage in sowing corn early in punnets because the stress of transplanting will quickly undo any small advantage gained by sowing corn a few weeks early. Sowing directly leaves corn seeds vulnerable to rot, as well as being scratched up and eaten by mice and birds. Therefore, try to protect them if you can. It’s for this reason that I became attracted to the idea of sowing corn in punnets for transplanting later on. In the past, I’ve found that corn seed sowed direct to the ground simply failed to germinate. The seed was fresh, leading me to conclude that it either might have rotted or was consumed by mice or birds. As with the issue of whether to soak seeds prior to sowing or not, I’m also going to both sow corn directly and transplant my own seedlings raised in punnets to see which works best. Sowing corn directly from seed Make sure that the soil is well drained in the area you are planning on growing corn. Add compost, sheep pellets and some general garden fertiliser. Dig into the soil and rake the area so that it is nice and level. John’s advice is to sow corn at a depth of 15-20 mm maximum. Space the seeds 15 cm apart. If spaced too closely, the result is smaller cobs of corn. Corn varieties If you’re planning to grow corn from seed, you’ll find that they come in an impressive array of colours. Traditionally, corn is yellow as mentioned above. There are quite a few different varieties on the market in New Zealand. Thanks to Egmont’s generosity, this season I’m growing Florida Staysweet F1, Super Sweet Lumina Bicolour F1, Supersweet NZ Hybrid F1 and Tender Yellow F1 Hybrid. As we live on a suburban section, space is very limited. I was very lucky that John selected these four varieties for me as Egmont Seeds have an extremely extensive selection and I couldn’t decide which varieties to grow. There are other varieties on the market as well. You could also try growing Bicolour Honey N Pearl, Bicolour Xtra Tender Stellar, Early Marika, Super Sweet NZ Yellow and Xtra Tender Yellow F1 Hybrid, all of which are part of the Egmont Seeds range. To order seeds from the very extensive Egmont Seeds range, visit http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/. According to John, corn seeds will last for many years so you don’t have to sow them all at once. Store them safely in your seed collection for sowing in future seasons. Growing corn from transplanted seedlings raised in punnets Corn can be started from seed indoors in October or even earlier if you live in a more temperate zone and have a hot house to protect them from the cold. Corn seeds need warmth in order to germinate. I germinated seeds in punnets filled with seed raising mix from Gardn Gro. I like Gardn Gro’s seed raising mix as it is very fine in texture, enabling seeds to push through the mixture easily as they rise to the surface. I placed the punnets inside plastic incubators which you can purchase from garden centres. I then placed the incubators on a heat pad indoors and sprayed plants with water once daily or twice if the seed raising mixture was very dry. If you don’t have a heat pad you can also use your hot water cupboard which will also provide seedlings with a warm environment so they can germinate successfully. How to care for corn seedlings For new gardeners, those who don’t wish to start their corn seedlings from seed or if you’ve simply left it too late, plants are available for sale in nurseries from September onwards. Palmers stock a great range of corn seedlings. Awapuni also sell high quality, large grade corn seedlings delivered direct to your door. If you order 7 or more bundles of seedlings, delivery is free. I plan to sell a variety of different corn seedlings in my own boutique nursery later in the season. Keep an eye out for details in my newsletter, on Neighbourly and my Facebook page as to when they become available. During October and November, I will also circulate updated lists of available stock in my plant nursery to subscribers of my free weekly gardening newsletter. To be added to my mailing list and receive these notifications, please email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com. I’ll probably be selling seedlings a bit later than stores because I’m merely a home gardener, germinating and caring for seedlings in our patio at home without the help of the horticultural technology that you would expect to find in a commercial operation. Without a hot house, I simply don’t have a head start on the season like large-scale nurseries. To compensate for this, I do try and offer seedling varieties which are unusual and can’t be found in garden centres or online retailers. This is a good thing as it enables me to collaborate with other businesses in the industry and promote their brands. You can achieve a lot by working with other people in the same field (no pun intended), as opposed to simply trying to compete with them. To read my further thoughts on this issue, please click here. Whoever you decide to buy plants from, take care to keep seedlings undercover until early October as corn is frost sensitive. The weather can be temperamental in spring and the nights are often still quite cool. From then on, start “hardening them off”. This is the process of exposing plants to the outdoors incrementally, for example, for two hours in the middle of the day for the first week, increasing to four hours per day for the next week. Continue to bring the plants indoors at night. By the third week of October, it should be safe to leave plants outdoors overnight. How to care for corn plants Be sure to water plants every day, preferably early in the morning or in the evening. In November and December, plants are in their most active growing phase. Liquid feed corn weekly to encourage the growth of healthy leaves and the formation of fruit after pollination. Sweet corn usually grows to a height of around 150 cm. Pollination of corn As with all grasses, corn is pollinated by the wind. John’s advice is to sow seeds in a block formation rather than in rows. Sown in a single row, corn will be pollinated poorly with only scattered kernels on the cob. He believes that it is best to sow four short rows in an area that gets good wind movement, rather than one long row. John also attributes poor pollination to caterpillars who will eat the tassels later in the summer, preventing the pollen from reaching the cob. This will again result in scattered kernels only. Harvesting your corn It can take what seems like forever for your first sweetcorn to be ready for picking but be patient! It depends on the variety, but normally it takes around 100 days for sweetcorn to mature. You will know that corn is ready to be picked when the silks on the ends of the corn become dry and brown. Normally each plant will produce only one cob of corn. Got a glut of corn that you can’t get through all at once? Corn can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks prior to consumption, or you can give some away to family, friends and neighbours. Follow up I will report back later in the season regarding the progress of my sweetcorn growing trial. Win a complete New World Little Garden seedling set!
The lovely folks at New World Supermarkets have kindly given me a complete highly coveted Little Garden seedling set to give away to one lucky gardener in New Zealand! The popular Little Garden promotion ends this Sunday 15th October but never fear. YOU could be the lucky winner of an entire Little Garden seedling set, which contains a variety of different veggies, flowers and herbs. Your children will love you for it! Children find Little Garden seedling kits irresistible. It’s a great way to get the whole family involved in the garden. To enter, please go to my Facebook page (or search for Anita’s Garden) and see the pinned post for details. Don’t forget to LIKE my page and the post, and TAG your friends to spread the news about this amazing giveaway! Closes Monday 16th October 2017 at 5 pm. Terms and conditions Open to New Zealand residents only because the prize contains agricultural materials which may be intercepted at the border. A winner will be chosen at random. Giveaway not associated with Facebook. I am happy to post the prize but if you live in a nearby suburb of Auckland, I would really appreciate it if you are able to collect it from our home. Marigolds are a flower which always features in my summer garden. They are very easy to grow and make a great companion plant for many veggies growing in the garden as they are said to repel insects. Marigolds are also known for improving the quality of the soil, especially when they have been planted as a cover crop. Marigolds are commonly used in South Asian culture for worship and rituals.
Traditionally, marigolds can be planted outside in New Zealand by Labour Weekend, which is a long weekend with a public holiday falling on the Monday after the weekend (like a Bank Holiday in England). Labour Weekend usually falls towards the end of October. This year, Labour Weekend starts on 21 October. While it’s natural to want a head start on the season, my advice is to not be in a rush to plant out seedlings. There is often a dramatic difference between day and night time temperatures at this time of the year and the weather can still be quite temperamental. Young seedlings are particularly tender. Once they’ve been hit by a sudden cold snap or exposed to consistently low temperatures, they never really recover. It’s therefore a good idea to wait until the beginning of November to plant marigold seedlings into your garden, when temperatures are warmer. This way, the seedlings you plant out will be a bit more established and strong enough to survive any setbacks along the way. In saying that, it does depend on where you live. New Zealand’s climate varies dramatically from region to region and I do have to remember that not all of my audience lives in Auckland or even New Zealand for that matter. My personal gardening experiences are limited to our urban homestead in the Auckland region, so please take this into account when considering my advice. On the same token, what grows well in my environment may not necessarily thrive in your own microclimate. So please don’t blame me if things go wrong and varieties I’ve recommended don’t grow well in your garden! Sowing marigolds from seed It’s much too early to think about planting marigolds outdoors. It’s still way too cold! However, I wanted to write a guide to growing marigolds now because you can start sowing marigolds under cover from seed. It’s really easy to grow marigolds from seed and it allows you to grow unusual varieties which aren’t found in garden centres. It takes about six to eight weeks from the time of the germination of a marigold seed to produce a plant that is large enough to transplant outside. Marigolds can be started from seed indoors in October or even earlier if you live in a more temperate zone and have a hot house to protect them from the cold. Marigold seeds need warmth in order to germinate. I germinate seeds in punnets or egg cartons filled with seed raising mix from Gardn Gro. I like Gardn Gro’s seed raising mix as it is very fine in texture, enabling seeds to push through the mixture easily as they rise to the surface. I place the punnets and egg cartons inside plastic incubators which you can purchase from garden centres. I then place the incubators on a heat pad indoors and spray plants with water once daily or twice if the seed raising mixture is very dry. If you don’t have a heat pad you can also use your hot water cupboard which will also provide seedlings with a warm environment so they can germinate successfully. Marigold varieties If you’re planning to grow marigolds from seed, you’ll find that they come in an impressive array of colours, sizes and heights. Traditionally, zucchini are red, orange and yellow. There are quite a few different varieties on the market in New Zealand. Two of my favourite varieties from previous seasons are Bonanza Deep Orange and Bonanza Bright Yellow (Egmont Seeds). The Durango series have also performed very well in the garden in past seasons (Durango Red, Outback Mix, Durango Mix and Durango Bolero, all from Egmont Seeds). This year, I’m excited to be growing some different varieties: African Ivory, French Vanilla F1 and Strawberry Blonde (all from Egmont Seeds). African Ivory is a tall bedding variety of marigold growing to a height of 90 cm. French Vanilla F1 is a fabulous white/cream African marigold with double blooms approximately 8cm across. Strawberry Blonde is described as being the “yesterday, today and tomorrow of the marigold world” on Egmont Seeds’ website. Flowers consist of multi-coloured blooms on the same plant, which is unusual for marigold plants. Each shade is beautiful, making for a beautiful display. I will post photos on my blog, in my newsletter and on my social media accounts to report on the progress of these new varieties in Anita’s Garden. How to care for marigold seedlings For new gardeners, those who don’t wish to start their marigold seedlings from seed or if you’ve simply left it too late, plants are available for sale in nurseries from September onwards. Palmers stock a great range of marigold seedlings. Awapunialso sell high quality, large grade marigold seedlings delivered direct to your door. Look out for Dwarf Red, Dwarf Mixed and Tall varieties. If you order 7 or more bundles of seedlings, delivery is free. I plan to sell a variety of different marigold seedlings in my own boutique nursery later in the season. Keep an eye out for details in my newsletter, on Neighbourly and my Facebook page as to when they become available. During October and November, I will also circulate updated lists of available stock in my plant nursery to subscribers of my free weekly gardening newsletter. To be added to my mailing list and receive these notifications, please email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com. I’ll probably be selling seedlings a bit later than stores because I’m merely a home gardener, germinating and caring for seedlings in our patio at home without the help of the horticultural technology that you would expect to find in a commercial operation. Without a hot house, I simply don’t have a head start on the season like large-scale nurseries. To compensate for this, I do try and offer seedling varieties which are unusual and can’t be found in garden centres or online retailers. This is a good thing as it enables me to collaborate with other businesses in the industry and promote their brands. You can achieve a lot by working with other people in the same field (no pun intended), as opposed to simply trying to compete with them. To read my further thoughts on this issue, please click here. Whoever you decide to buy plants from, take care to keep plants undercover until early October as marigolds are frost sensitive. The weather can be temperamental in spring and the nights are often still quite cool. From then on, start “hardening them off”. This is the process of exposing plants to the outdoors incrementally, for example, for two hours in the middle of the day for the first week, increasing to four hours per day for the next week. Continue to bring the plants indoors at night. By the third week of October, it should be safe to leave plants outdoors overnight. If you want to grow the bigger headed varieties, try Taishan Mix, Taishan Yellow and Taishan Orange (all from Egmont Seeds). To order seeds from the very extensive Egmont Seeds range, visit http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/. How to care for marigold plants Marigolds need at least 6 hours of sunshine per day, so be sure to plant seedlings in the sunniest spot in your garden. Before planting marigold seedlings, take the time to prepare the bed properly so plants receive adequate nutrition. Dig the area over that you wish to plant your seedlings in. Mix plenty of compost and some sheep pellets into the ground. I highly recommend Gardn Gro’s Wonder Nuggets, which are 100% organic and function as an excellent fertiliser. Rake the ground so that it is nice and level. Be sure to water plants every day, preferably early in the morning or in the evening. Liquid feed marigolds weekly to encourage the growth of healthy leaves and the formation of flowers. Snails adore marigold plants, especially when they are young, and can completely decapitate your seedlings. Protect young seedlings from snails by placing snail pellets around the plants. Marigolds are an annual which means that they will grow, set seed and die after one growing season. If you are growing heirloom varieties, you can save seeds from your plants so you will be able to sow those varieties next season. Cucumbers are a staple vegetable in the summer garden. They are very easy to grow and produce a prolific yield. Homegrown cucumbers taste so much fresher and nicer than store bought ones. I hope that with the help of the information in this guide, you’ll be able to grow some of your own successfully this season.
Cucumbers are very versatile in different dishes. They don’t have a lot of flavour in themselves, but are great paired with condiments such as vinegar and black cracked pepper, which really brings out their taste. Cucumber makes a great addition to salads (in particular, I really love Greek salad) and sandwiches (cucumbers go nicely with tomatoes). You can also try making cucumber soup which is served cold and is delicious on a hot summer’s day. Traditionally, cucumbers can be planted outside in New Zealand by Labour Weekend, which is a long weekend with a public holiday falling on the Monday after the weekend (like a Bank Holiday in England). Labour Weekend usually falls towards the end of October. This year, Labour Weekend starts on 21 October. While it’s natural to want a head start on the season, my advice is to not be in a rush to plant out seedlings. There is often a dramatic difference between day and night time temperatures at this time of the year and the weather can still be quite temperamental. Young seedlings are particularly tender. Once they’ve been hit by a sudden cold snap or exposed to consistently low temperatures, they never really recover. It’s therefore a good idea to wait until the beginning of November to plant cucumber seedlings into your garden, when temperatures are warmer. This way, the seedlings you plant out will be a bit more established and strong enough to survive any setbacks along the way. In saying that, it does depend on where you live. New Zealand’s climate varies dramatically from region to region and I do have to remember that not all of my audience lives in Auckland or even New Zealand for that matter. My personal gardening experiences are limited to our urban homestead in the Auckland region, so please take this into account when considering my advice. On the same token, what grows well in my environment may not necessarily thrive in your own microclimate. So please don’t blame me if things go wrong and varieties I’ve recommended don’t grow well in your garden! Sowing cucumbers from seed It’s much too early to think about planting cucumbers outdoors. It’s still way too cold! However, I wanted to write a guide to growing cucumbers now because you can start sowing cucumbers under cover from seed. It’s really easy to grow cucumbers from seed and it allows you to grow unusual varieties which aren’t found in garden centres. It takes about six to eight weeks from the time of the germination of a cucumber seed to produce a plant that is large enough to transplant outside. Cucumber can be started from seed indoors in October or even earlier if you live in a more temperate zone and have a hot house to protect them from the cold. Cucumber seeds need warmth in order to germinate. I germinate seeds in punnets or egg cartons filled with seed raising mix from Gardn Gro. I like Gardn Gro’s seed raising mix as it is very fine in texture, enabling seeds to push through the mixture easily as they rise to the surface. I place the punnets and egg cartons inside plastic incubators which you can purchase from garden centres. I then place the incubators on a heat pad indoors and spray plants with water once daily or twice if the seed raising mixture is very dry. If you don’t have a heat pad you can also use your hot water cupboard which will also provide seedlings with a warm environment so they can germinate successfully. How to care for cucumber seedlings For new gardeners, those who don’t wish to start their cucumber seedlings from seed or if you’ve simply left it too late, plants are available for sale in nurseries from October onwards. Palmers stock a great range of cucumber seedlings. Awapunialso sell high quality, large grade cucumber seedlings delivered direct to your door. If you order 7 or more bundles of seedlings, delivery is free. I plan to sell a variety of different cucumber seedlings in my own boutique nursery later in the season. Keep an eye out for details in my newsletter, on Neighbourly and my Facebook page as to when they become available. During October and November, I will also circulate updated lists of available stock in my plant nursery to subscribers of my free weekly gardening newsletter. To be added to my mailing list and receive these notifications, please email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com. I’ll probably be selling seedlings a bit later than stores because I’m merely a home gardener, germinating and caring for seedlings in our patio at home without the help of the horticultural technology that you would expect to find in a commercial operation. Without a hot house, I simply don’t have a head start on the season like large-scale nurseries. To compensate for this, I do try and offer seedling varieties which are unusual and can’t be found in garden centres or online retailers. This is a good thing as it enables me to collaborate with other businesses in the industry and promote their brands. You can achieve a lot by working with other people in the same field (no pun intended), as opposed to simply trying to compete with them. To read my further thoughts on this issue, please click here. Whoever you decide to buy plants from, take care to keep plants undercover until early October as cucumbers are frost sensitive. The weather can be temperamental in spring and the nights are often still quite cool. From then on, start “hardening them off”. This is the process of exposing plants to the outdoors incrementally, for example, for two hours in the middle of the day for the first week, increasing to four hours per day for the next week. Continue to bring the plants indoors at night. By the third week of October, it should be safe to leave plants outdoors overnight. Cucumber varieties If you’re planning to grow cucumber from seed, you’ll find that they come in an impressive array of shapes, colours and sizes. There are so many different varieties of cucumber seeds on the market that like me, you’ll have trouble deciding which varieties to grow. Traditionally, cucumbers are long and dark green. There are a few different varieties on the market in New Zealand. This season I’m growing the cucumber Beth Alpha (Franchi Seeds). I’m also growing the cucumber Lebanese Paska F1 (Egmont Seeds). Other standard long green cucumber varieties include Green Slicer F1 (Egmont Seeds), Lebanese F1 (Egmont Seeds), Marketer (Egmont Seeds), Socrates F1 (Egmont Seeds), Spacemaster (Egmont Seeds), Tasty Green F1 (Egmont Seeds), Telegraph Bella F1 (Egmont Seeds), Telegraph Louisa F1 (Egmont Seeds) and Telegraph Tanja (Egmont Seeds). Miniature cucumbers can be incredibly prolific and are a lovely addition to lunchboxes in the summer. Last season I grew the Lebanese-style cucumber Iznik Mini F1 (Egmont Seeds). We simply couldn’t stop harvesting cucumbers from our two plants, even well into April. Iznik is definitely high on my list of varieties to grow this season. I’m also looking forward to growing the miniature cucumber Patio Snacker (Egmont Seeds) for the first time. It is also possible to grow white cucumbers. The most common type is apple cucumbers, such as Crystal Apple (Egmont Seeds) and White Wonder (Egmont Seeds). We have always found that apple cucumbers are extremely prolific and make a delicious addition to sandwiches and salads in summer. To order seeds from the very extensive Egmont Seeds range, visit http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/. To find stockists for Franchi Seeds or to order Franchi seeds directly from the New Zealand distributor Italian Seeds Pronto owned by Gillian Hurley-Gordon, visit http://www.italianseedspronto.co.nz/. How to care for cucumber plants Cucumbers need at least 6 hours of sunshine per day, so be sure to plant seedlings in the sunniest spot in your garden. Before planting cucumber seedlings, take the time to prepare the bed properly so plants receive adequate nutrition. Dig the area over that you wish to plant your seedlings in. Mix plenty of compost and some sheep pellets into the ground. I highly recommend Gardn Gro’s Wonder Nuggets, which are 100% organic and function as an excellent fertiliser. Rake the ground so that it is nice and level. Add some tomato fertiliser to each plant’s hole at the time of planting, to give plants a strong start to life. Be sure to water plants every day, preferably early in the morning or in the evening. In November and December, plants are in their most active growing phase. Try not to get too much water on the leaves, otherwise your plants may develop powdery mildew. Liquid feed cucumbers weekly to encourage the growth of healthy leaves and the formation of flowers, which will develop into fruit after they have been pollinated. Pollination of cucumbers Cucumbers need to be pollinated in order to develop fruit. As the flowers on cucumber plants are reasonably large (though not as large as pumpkin and zucchini), you’ll find that bees will do all the work for you. Personally, I wouldn’t bother going to the effort of pollinating them by hand, unlike melons which benefit from hand-pollination, which I covered in a previous blog post. Harvesting your cucumbers It can take what seems like forever for your first cucumber to be ready for picking but be patient! In early summer, it will usually be cooler so it might take awhile for them to grow to full size. You can pick cucumbers at any stage. I prefer to pick them when they are smaller because they are sweeter and you can stay on top of your harvest, which can sometimes get out of control. Got a glut of cucumbers that you can’t get through all at once? Cucumbers can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks prior to consumption, or you can do what we do and give them away to family, friends and neighbours. |
Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|