Baby beet

Sowed the babybeet straight into the soil and they have started to
grow. I suppose I should thin them out at some stage but I find it
very difficult to do this to healthy baby plants.

Potato sightings

These potatoes came to the surface to say hello. They were quickly
covered up as they could turn green and poisonious otherwise.

Grapes

Just thought I'd post a picture of a few grapes on the grape vine.
They are Albany Surprise, a red table grape which are normally ripe in
January. We have had quite a bit of rain recently so they are plumping
up well. I need to find some way of preserving them as we have a glut
for a week or so and then the birds seem to win the battle and eat
them all before we can :-(

The cactus area

Sophie and I planted up this area last weekend and to kill the grass
we have put down some board that used to be under the carpet in the
lounge. We intent to cover this area with stones, large and small.
Large to stop the cats from using it as a litter tray and small to
stop the weeds and grass growing. It should look good as most plants
will fill the space we have given them. Also it is another area of
grass I won't need to mow - hurray

The oasis has gone

The chickens are enjoying the newly dug area Sophie and I emptied
last weekend.

The worms have arrived!

Ended up buying worms from Wormz Away and found them on Trademe. $21 +
postage and a good service. They are tiny, but will eat their own body
weight in one day. I have followed the instructions and torn a hold in
the bag and placed them upside down so they can make their own way
out. I also put a bit of food too. Very cosy.

Pumpkins

Veggie garden

I know it's not big, but it's a start :-) I have tomatoes in spaces
1,2,3,4,7
Onions in 13,14 & 16
Peppers in 5,6,8,9,10,11&12
Silverbeet in 15

Potatoes 2008

Well, Sophie kindly planted my potatoes for me while I was away in the UK. I had already been sprouting them for wayyyy too long and they were trying to grow out of the cupboard out of the sink. She planted the, in very nutrisious ground, although a bit shallow. Today they are looking very good plants.

Tui Certifified Seed Potatoes $9.50

Desiree - Early main crop, likes reasonably fertile soil. Oval shape with a red skin and distinctive yellow flesh. Good all yound cooking potatoe, excellent for chipping.

Feeding - potatoes are gross feeders, fertiliser should be mixed in the soil and watered in well

Maintenance - Carefully hoe around the shoots to keep the crop weed free. Mound up more soil as the plant grows which gives protection from the woind and frost and prevents light reaching the tubers and turning them green. When watering, water the soil not the foliage to avoid blight. if blight does occue, srpat\y the foliage regularly. aphids, potato tubers moth and wireworm and other insects you may need to spray for if found on the plants.

Harvesting - to harvest, gently move the soil away and then use a fork to carefully lift the tuber. Early varieties are ready to harvest when the flowers are fully opened, approx three months after planting.

Storage - being able to rub the skin off easily with your thumb means potatoes are not good for storing, so eat these first. Earlier varities are unsuitable for storing. As soon as potatoes have been dug, dry throughly and store tubers in sacks, paperbags or shallow boxes in a cook dark well ventilated position. if using boxes, cover with soil or dry sacks to stop light getting in. do not leave poattoes exposed to light. carefully stored poattes should last up to 6 months.

Butterfly

I was working inthe garden yesterday and this beautiful Monarch
butterfly landed right next to me. Vesty was licking his lips

Norfolk Pines

Araucaria heterophylla

In my garden, I have four beautiful Norfolk Pines, they are very pleasing to the eye. However the debris that you have to put up with, as a Norfolk Pine owner, is quadurapled as I have one on every corner of the property.

As the tree is actually a conifer, these plants leaves are not ordinary and around our house we call them 'Monkeys tails'. They drop all year round and are not good to put into the compost as they would take an eon to decompose. I have tried hiding the evidence around the garden but these areas are now all full, so now I put them through a garden shredder and use them as mulch.

The cones are another issue, they pop and fall to the ground in lots a nut pieces, these make a clattering noise when lawn mowing, but dont seem to do any harm to it. Disposing of these is also a problem and during a storm the cones seem to smash against the roof making a hell of a noise and after the storm they just cover the garden, gutters, driveway.

This site below describes how you can have these beautiful trees as a pot plant, as I have several baby trees in the garden, this is something I could try.

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/norfolk.html

Interesting facts (well at least to me :-)) from Wikipedia page about these trees

• It is sometimes called a 'star pine', due to its symmetrical shape as a sapling, although it is not a true pine.
• The trees grow to a height of 50-65 m
• The cones are squat globose, 10-12 cm long and 12-14 cm diameter, and take about 18 months to mature. They disintegrate at maturity to release the nut-like edible seeds.
• Large numbers of Norfolk Island Pines are produced in South Florida for the houseplant industry. The bulk of these are shipped to grocery stores, discount retailers and garden centers during November. Many of these are sprayed with a light coating of green paint prior to sale to increase their eye appeal.
• Some people may experience a strong allergic reaction if they touch the leaves.
• The Norfolk Pine is classed as Vunerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/30497/all

Town flowers

Here is a cute succulent flower found in my town.

A garden Fairy

I have had a friend staying the house and she has been helping around the garden over her weekend. She asked what needed doing, and when I came back from work - Pouff - it was done. The next day the same happened again - it is just like having a garden fairy come and give me a renewed sprit to get clearing out my garden again.

First she raked over the whole garden, making piles of leaves, Norfolk Pine Cone seeds and smalls branches blown down from the storms we have had over the last couple of weeks.

Then, and this is most important, she made the piles dissapear, and that is worth loads to me, as when I make a pile of rubbish I can aggonise over where I am going to put it - compost, bin or hide it (there is not many hiding spots in my garden any more). The next day she cleared the jasmine from the lovely jade plants I have at the bottom of the garden.

That evening when I got home she also helped me clear the bank by the pongas and stag horn fern clump. We even found an egg, hidden by one of the girls :-)

We had a massive bonfire to clear up the debris and again my garden was tidy with no piles of rubbish.

A good weekend for the garden.

Flowers around the town

Since I have been stopping to 'smell the flowers' I have also noticed a lot of flowers in my towns plant beds. There are some really cute flowers so I thought it may be worth posting them here too.

Quite a few, if not all, will also be natives so also easy to grow in my garden.

After the Storm

We had one mighty storm come through this country over the last couple of days and we are set to getting another one on Tuesday night.

So while the sun is out people are reflecting on the last storm and enjoying the weather we are having, the wind has dropped and everything seems normal again - Yeah!

I brought my camera to work today to take a few photos of the flowers in the town center, so I will post them on here later on

Using Wood ash in the garden

Having some pretty grotty days, with storms coming over the Island, I thought that it was a good idea to stop using up the electricity bill with heating costs and start lighting the fire, which hopefully is cheaper.

So I googled Wood Ash Recycle and came up with the following information from gardenwiseonline.ca

If you intend to recycle ash from these sources, burn only plain paper or newsprint and wood; do not include glossy paper, staples, nails, charcoal or bones.

Wood ash is a rich source of potash, with an average N-P-K rating of 0-1.2-2. It provides calcium and many trace minerals and will raise the pH of the soil, commonly referred to as sweetening the soil.

You can also compost ashes - just be sure it doesn't make up more than five per cent of your total compost pile.

For established plants, sprinkle 1⁄4 cup (50 mL) within the drip line every two years.

Ornamental plants that prefer sweet soil:
- lilacs
- clematis
- Virginia creeper
- Passionflower
- sweet peas
- Japanese anemones
- Nasturtium
- Zinnia
- Peonies
- Phlox

Herbs that prefer sweet soil:
- lavender
- thyme
- rosemary

Vegetables that prefer sweet soil:
- Beets
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
- Swiss chard
- Leeks
- Melons
- Onions
- Parsnips
- Spinach

Book: Organic Growing with Worms, Murphy

This book is a very detailed book about essential for anyone interested in worms, farmers, prospecting worm farmers or gardeners.

If what you want is an indepth knowledge about worms this is a book that you should buy, I borrowed it from the library, and 4 weeks will never be enough to read and digest all this information.

As a amature gardener, who has a worm farm (no worms yet) it has a bit too much information for me to take it all at once, so I figured that if I write a quick review on here, I will remember it in the future and can borrow it again from the library.

This review is from the sustainable products website:

ORGANIC GROWING WITH WORMS - A Handbook for a Better Environmentby David Murphy
We live in rapidly changing times. Global warming is having a substantial impact on our way of life. We need to adapt to some of the changes, and transform the way we live to prevent or at least slow others. Worms can help. They have been on earth for 650 million years and survived more change than any other animal.
Organic growing with worms contains all you need to know to:

• introduce worms to your soil



• create an instant garden bed



• recycle household waste



• build your own wormery



• set up a waste management system



• and much more.

An expert in worms and organic waste stabilisation, David Murphy writes from experience in his own entertaining style. His book will help you to cultivate worms to your advantage – in your backyard or on your farm, or as a commercial worm grower, a waste manager or a conservationist.

Book: Citrus in the Home Garden

Citrus in the Home Garden, New Zealand Department of Agriculture. Bulletin no. 393 26p 1972

A little dated but a nice beginners guide to citrus. Explains how to choose trees,rootstocks and buds and varieties of citrus available. There are probably a lot more varieties now, so only useful if you know you have an old variety.

As the trees have tohave good drainage, it suggests that if you have clay soil, planting the treein mounds a few centimetres off the ground to avoid waterlogging, but take care to water plant in the sumer to stop drying out. Do not plant too deep or you will get collar rot. Plant in April to September when frost has passed.

A common reason for citrus trees to fail is not enough food. Yellowing of the leaves and stunted growth is caused by nitrogen deficiency. Blood and bone has nitrogen and phosphorus (.75kg pre year of tree uo to 6.75kg), supplement this with muriate of potash (.5kg per 6.75kg of blood and bone). Apply in two dressing a year, 2/3 in August and 1/3 in February up to 1 metre past the drip circle. They love poultry manure but keep away fromthe trunk.

"Grass clippings, weds, leafmould, compost and other organic material can be thrown under the tree, but take care to keep the mulch away from the tree."

Mulch also conserves water. Cultivate around the tree to keep weeds down so the tree doesn't need extra water and fertiliser.

Lime may need to be added if a lot of animal manure is added to the soil.

The best way to store citrus fruits is on the tree as oranges, manadrins and grapefruit do not ripen after been cut from the tree.

Some good old fashioned advice.

Growing potatoes

New Zealand sites which give advice on seed potatoes and growing them


http://www.palmers.co.nz/index.cfm?componentID=379

Potatoes are planted in furrows approximately 10cm deep. Early maturing varieties are spaced 25cm apart and main crop varieties 35cm apart. Space the rows 80-100cm apart. Cover the seed potatoes with soil taking care not to damage the shoots.
As soon as shoots appear through the ground, mound soil around them to protect the new growth. Mounding prevents developing potatoes from "greening" and prevents attack from the Potato Tuber Moth. Mounding is essential to produce abundant crops as potatoes form on the stems. Continue mounding until the potatoes start to flower and growth slows down. Mounds should be kept weed free.

http://www.tuigarden.co.nz/potatoes.php

Once you have your seeds spuds, you need to sprout the before you can plant them. You do this by laying them out in a single layer on a seed tray or box in a warm, dry and airy place. Sprouts appear from the "eyes", which are small buds. The "eyes" grow into shoots. When the shoots are 3-4cm long they are ready to plant out. Remove all but three of the strongest shoots for planting. Sprouting usually takes 4-6 weeks. Wood sheds, garages, under benches are all good spots. Once your spuds have sprouted and the threat of frosts has passed you can now plant out your crop.

Desiree

Good for all general cooking, great to microwave
Early main crop, approx 90-100 days

http://nzpotatoes.co.nz/seed_potato_certification.html
info on seed potato certification

http://www.mitre10.co.nz/how_to_guides/gardening/passionate_about_potatoes.cfm
If you want lovely waxy new potatoes (home grown) in time for Christmas dinner then you should plant seed potatoes in August / September.

Potatoes are “gross feeders” in that they require regular feeding throughout the growing season. Use a specially blended potato fertiliser at the recommended rate.

The Worm Book, Nancarrow and Hogan Taylor

The Worm Book by Loren Nancarrow and Janet Hogan Taylor 1998.

This is a very comprehensive book about worms, their life cycle, biology, their home and how to feed them and maybe go into business with them. There is even a section on cooking with them as they are a high source of protein and can be used in sweet or savioury meals.

Foods to feed them in the worm bin

Fruit and veg
coffee grounds and tea
bread
rice
pasta
cakes etc
crushed egg shells
cereal
composted or aged green waste

Foods to aviod
citrus
meat and bones
garlic
spiced foods
hair
fresh greens and fresh manure
oils
salt
wood ashes
poisonous plants

Worms cannot see red light so if you put red cellophane over a torch and look at them in the dark, they won't even know you have been there

There is a great troubleshooting section and loads of info about the best bedding and other creatures that might live in the worm bin as well.

Nice book and easy to read

Propagating succulents

This is a very simple task, with only a couple of points to consider

First the instrument you use to take the cutting should be clean to make sure no germs can get into the cut and second, leave the cutting to form a 'skin' before planting. This also ensures that germs will not enter the plant and kill it.

Thats all, I'm off to buy some seedling mix and wash my knife :-)

Worms, 250g of them plus compost

...makes a worm farm. I already have the farm and compost, I just need the worms and the knowhow.

Northland Worms in Kaeo have worms but no prices

http://www.gardenews.co.nz/worms.htm - great info

http://www.wormsrus.co.nz/WORMSFORSALE.html - have info plus worms for sale through the post for $30 plus p&p.

What is flowering in July

A quick walk around my garden has given me the idea of photographing flowers each month, this will give me a better opportunity to name each plant.



Rosemary, I have lots of this which makes a hedge.



This beautiful little flower was growing near the garage, by the roadside, I love the colour and the traditional flower petal thing going on.


I wouldn't mind trimming this plant at some stage, I think it is a Bottlebrush and I believe they come from S. Africa.


Could be a Camillia? I don't really like this plant, it is too old fashioned for me and reminds me of old ladys, lavender and purple hair.



a close up of a flower which belongs to...



...this plant which I rescued from a skip a few years ago.



a Poor Mans Orcard I believe and I think it has flowers all year, this particular plant needs cutting back and making back into a bush as it is a bit spindly.



Hyacinths - another plants I don't like, but it is doing a job at the moment of being a hedge below the succulent bed, hiding next doors neighbours garden


A really fast grower and I used to know the name but it escapes me.

This is growing all over the garden and is a bit of a weed, well actually, a lot like a weed, although in some places it can look cute and keep the grass back, in other places it is really hard to get rid of. It is a succulent and breaks really easily so it is hard to get all the roots and each leaf that falls grows into a new plant at a drop of a hat.

This must be some kind of bulb, it is growing in a old urn which did have a jade plant in, but this died just leaving this flower which is quite cute, maybe I should look at splitting it up at some point or feeding it at least.

The Flame tree is also looking good, the Tui's love this tree and I have seen over 10 on it at the same time, quite a feat as they are solitary birds

This Red Hot Poker was hiding from me and I missed it the first time I went around the garden, this must be a sheltered part of the garden as all the other red hot pokers are well past flowering.

Flower buds of my orchid, which has been very negected.

Red Hot Pokers

I have some Red Hot Pokers in my garden, otherwise known as Torch Lily or Kniphofia uvaria.

They have seeds on their stems and want to try and grow more plants....

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/ says

Seeds may be sown at any time. The seeds need 6 weeks of moist chilling in
the refrigerator, prior to planting. After sowing, keep them at 70-75 degrees F.
Germination normally occurs in about 20 days, but may take up to 3 months for
certain cultivars.


I wonder if I have to wait if they have dried first?

Cirtrus plants are suffering from Leaf curl and yellowing leaves

I have four citrus trees, three that came with the house and were nice a healthy, lemon, mandarine and ornamental grapefruit, and one that my parents planted when they were here a few years ago, a lime.

Recently I have had problems with my Citrus Trees, some of the problem was exposure to a weed killer and my lemon tree which has flowered and fruited each year decided to drop all its leaves and start dying back. A couple of months ago after I watched a program on the telly where they chopped back a tree back to a few sticks to prevent a disease, I took drastic action on my own lemon tree and chopped it back to a couple of feet off the ground. it is now starting the grow back, the growth is about 6 inches. I figured that it had a year from when I cut it to grow branches, flower and fruit.















Lemon Tree after drastic action















Leaves on Lemon Tree growing back

My mandarine tree has also started to die, on one side only, so this also needs attention. This tree fruits every other year with loads of fruit. In 2003 it fruited so it was not due to fruit this year anyhow. I can remember that I read somewhere that to stop the fruit occuring every other year that you should thin the tree out so it doesn't 'wear' itself out. Looking at this bush I noticed the other day that it's leaves have started to curl, and when inspecting one particually curly leaf, I must have interupted a snail party within the leaf as they all came toppling out.















Snail Party















Yellow leaf on Mandarin


Four Wind blowers are citrus growers so should know a thing or two and this is what they say;

Citrus Leaf Curl

If the leaves on your dwarf citrus are curling, there are three common
possibilities:

1. Some insect pests will cause some leaf curl. In spring, aphids might do this
   on soft new leaves. Look inside the curl for presence of insects. If none are
   present, consider 2 or 3 below.



2. Overwatering can cause leaves to curl or cup INWARD. Also, stress from very
   hot weather will do it.



3. Sometimes leaves will cup DOWNWARD in the late fall or early winter. This is
   not a problem to worry about, as the new growth will come out with normal shaped
   leaves in the spring and the trees seem to produce flowers and fruit in
   proliferation once established.

This forum post also has loads of info on looking and treating for bugs on lemon trees, which can also be a problem.

This guy here has posted pictures and life cycle of leaf miners which also cause leaf curl.

Another problem is the knobs on my grapefruit, if I remember correctly this tree is supposed to be ornamental and it has always fruited well, but as time has gone by the fruit s more knobbly each year. I will update when I have found the problem.

Knobbly, stunted grapefruits

Jobs for January

• Fertilise Citrus trees
  

Jobs for February

Jobs for March

Jobs for April

Jobs for May

Jobs for June

Jobs for July

Great website with tips for each month for New Zealand

http://www.garden-nz.co.nz/article/archive/925/

• Buy seed potates and let them grow eyes
• mow lawn for winter

Jobs for August

Jobs for September

• must have potates planted out by mid September otherwise no potates for Christmas :-(

Jobs for October

Jobs for Novemebr

Jobs for December

• Fertilise Citrus Trees
• When potatoes have died down, pull up potatoes
  

Waterfall and Hedge

If you come to our garden, the biggest feature I have to work with is the view we have of the waterfall. This is taken from directly in front of our house and only the bushes in the foreground are part of the garden. This means that for one aspect of the garden the plants have to be low growing. The hedge in the foreground is about 1 meter tall and I have to keep this trimmed to keep the view when sitting in the lounge. The building just the other side of the hedge is our neighbours, so having a hedge is necessary to block this roof out.
The hedge is made of two plants, Rosemary and Hebe, I hope to name these in the future.

One problem I have is that I have a grape vine which 'leans' on this hedge in the summer and I can't find any information about this on the Internet, but it seems to kill the rosemary. I have lost two bushes and have one very ill one at the moment.

At the beginning...

It all started with a garden, the Garden of Eden, so they say, but how could this garden exist without a gardener?

I am trying to create my own Garden of Eden, but having lived in this house for 6 years, all I have succeeded in doing is run around clearing sections and then let them grow over again. Not productive I can tell you.

Now the garden was a 'little overgrown' when we moved in, but I think it was probably was in better shape than it is now, and I seem to spend AGES in the garden. It is time to get into action and sort this out.

I plan to do this by first starting a garden diary (as I forget what to do and when to do it) and also take photos along the way. Photos of flowers and then I will try and name them and also when the flower etc.

Why is this the right time to get the garden sorted, when I have had 6 unsuccessful years? I'm not sure why, but now is a gooder time as any, as they say.

When I work out how to upload photos, I will get a few pictures......