A couple of days before we went into lockdown in August last year, I had my laptop sent away for repairs. I only got it back three months later, which meant that I could not write any blog posts. While it is a long time ago now, I would really like to share a report on our spring and early summer garden. Everything went really well. It only went downhill in summer, but that is the subject of another post! Miner's lettuce A firm favourite in our spring garden is miner’s lettuce. In September, I prepare a small area by mixing in a bit of compost and garden fertiliser. I then sprinkle a 10g packet of seeds and cover lightly with soil. At this time of the year, it is not usually necessary for me to keep the area moist as it rains a lot. The leaves are tender and delicious. We harvest them as we need them. At the end of spring, it runs to seed and if left there, the plants will happily self-seed the following season. NZ Spinach Another favourite in our garden is NZ Spinach. I sowed our plants from seed over the summer and planted them out in autumn. NZ Spinach is difficult to get established but once it takes off it spreads and ends up growing in a bit of a bush. We pick the leaves for our daily green smoothies. The leaves can also be steamed as with any other spinach Sprouting broccoli In July, I planted quite a few punnets of mini brassicas that I purchased from Roger’s, including broccoli. After we harvested the main head, I left the plant in the ground and side-shoots began to form. This kept us with a constant supply of broccoli all spring, right up until mid-December when the plants started going to seed and I needed the space for the dahlias. Potatoes Last spring, I grew two varieties. I always grow Liseta, an early variety which matures in 70-80 days. I also grow Summer Delight, a main crop potato which matures in around 120 days and stores very well. We had a really good crop and have been enjoying eating potatoes from our garden right up until February. Broad beans We had an incredibly good crop last year. We ended up freezing lots. To freeze broad beans, shell and blanch them first. Strawberries Awapuni very kindly gave me two mega bundles of strawberries to grow in our garden. There were two varieties, Camarosa and Ventana. Each bundle contained 50 plants. They were honestly the best strawberries that we have ever eaten and I have been growing strawberries for many years now. I highly recommend Awapuni’s plants! Avocados We planted a Cleopatra dwarf avocado tree in 2017 and it cropped for the first time last spring. We harvested about 60 avocados which was a great result. Iceland poppies I grew Iceland poppies for the first time last year in a garden bed alongside our driveway. I was very inspired by the displays that I have seen in council gardens. Ours did not disappoint and we had a beautiful display in spring. Early summer poppies Every year, a number of different kinds of single and peony poppies self-seed merrily in the garden. Last year, we had a spectacular display. Tulips Last year, Bulbs Direct kindly gave me a number of different tulips to grow in our garden. We had the most magnificent display in late winter and early spring. Here are some of my favourites. Roses Our roses always look their best in spring and last year they put on a spectacular display. Here are some of our favourites. Bedding plants
Here are some photos of our bedding plants in early spring
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It’s been awhile since I posted an update of activity around Anita’s Garden. So much has been happening here! I can’t believe it’s almost autumn. It’s certainly starting to feel that way. The days are gradually becoming shorter and we have been busy harvesting traditionally autumn crops. It hasn’t been the best summer, so I’m looking forward to the season ahead. Plant nursery My boutique plant nursery is open for plant sales. At the moment, I have a range of autumn and winter veggie seedlings for sale. You can view my complete stocklist here. To make an appointment to come around, please text me on 021 02762091. We are located in Papatoetoe (Manukau side). Anita’s Garden competition As some of you will be aware, I recently ran a competition to win a selection of seedlings for autumn and winter. This competition was limited to locals, who would be able to collect the plants but I promise to run another competition for those who live outside Auckland in future (I just need to find my gift certificates which I have misplaced). Here is a photo of the winner Rita Prasad with her prize. Congratulations, Rita! Feijoas! For the first time in the history of Anita’s Garden, we have been harvesting feijoas in February! Normally, they crop in autumn, from March through to May. I’m unsure of the cultivar as the label has come off, but it is either Kaiteri or Kakariki from Waimea Nurseries. The autumn and winter garden While I have been busy sowing seeds, the wwoofers who have been staying with us have been helping plant our autumn and winter garden. We have beetroot and kohlrabi growing in two of our large garden beds. There was also some space after the celeriac and parsnips were pulled out so Mathilde and Justine planted some cabbage “Ranfurly Mini” seedlings from Egmont Seeds. They also planted some Romanesco broccoli from Franchi seeds (distributed by Italian Seeds Pronto in New Zealand). Below is a photo of the “Ranfurly Mini” cabbage plants, which are looking incredibly strong and healthy just one week after planting. Below is a photo of some of my Romanesco broccoli seedlings from Franchi Seeds. A star performer in the plant nursery is my pansy and viola seedlings, raised from seed by Egmont Seeds. The owner, John McCullough, kindly gave me a selection of seeds to grow in the garden this winter and I am very excited to see what they will look like. I plan to plant them in the plastic hanging baskets which previously housed our Topsy Tom tomatoes (also from Egmont Seeds) Spring bulbs
It’s now time to look through catalogues and order your spring bulbs. The best and most popular varieties sell out fast so it pays to be in quick. I find that the quickest and easiest way to purchase bulbs is by mail order. The selection, quality and prices are far superior to garden centres. By far the best company I have discovered is Bulbs Direct. Their bulbs are fantastic quality, very reasonably priced and the service is superb. They are the newest mail order company to the scene but have been giving the more established ones a run for their money. I highly recommend them. Anita’s Garden has a new collaboration with Bulbs Direct, which you can read more about here. Did you know that I have a Facebook page? I have reached nearly 1.4k Likes! Please help me to cross the threshold. When I do, I promise I’ll run another competition! Thank you for your on-going support. |
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