July:Planning Your New Season’s Vegetable Garden

Today is very cold and wet in the part of the country I live in so I am opting for an indoor day today. The ground is too wet to dig, the paths are too muddy and it’s too cold and miserable to be outside for too long. I’ve been out and fed the chooks making sure I have given them plenty to eat as its miserable for them too. The cat has had her breakfast and we have as well. Today I have the guilt free luxury of getting time to think and write.

A wet winters day is a good time to plan your new season vegetable garden. For me, the winter solstice and the short winter days it brings is the start of a new gardening year. Garlic is symbolic of that first planting to make for the summer harvest. For those of you following my Crop Rotation Poster, it’s the one where I rotate to the next bed. Garlic comes under Group 4, and they now move to the bed where I previously had Group 3 Heat Loving Vegetables. The frost has made sure the previous inhabitants have long gone; the pumpkins stored,tomatoes relished, excess courgettes and corn in the freezer and the bed dug over and made ready for the root crops to follow.

So now I take a look at my own copy of the Crop Rotation Poster and remind myself what goes where. It is a jolly useful tool and if you have’t got one yet then see the link below.

To start you off with your planning here are some of my suggestions.

1.      Plant what you like to eat

2.      Plants you can preserve and store for winter.

3.      Plants that will supplement and extend the family budget.

4.      Match your specific needs.

5.      Plants that bring joy

6.   Make sure the size of the garden matches the size of the time you have available.

1. Plant What You Like To Eat.

   Come up with a list of vegetables you and the family like to eat. There’s no sense in planting vegetables that no one is going to eat.  When the lockdowns were first announced and we were given 2 days to go into hiding, you may remember that all of the garden centres were ransacked for vegetable seedlings – with the notable exception of brussels sprouts. Oh dear. I know lots of people do love them but they are not high on my list of favourites.  So think about what you and your family like and plan to plant those. Don’t forget herbs - there are plenty of easy grow herbs that you will thank yourself for planting when you want to flavour your dinner and need a bit of parsely, sage, rosemary or thyme.

2. Plants You Can Store or Preserve.

A common trap for new gardeners is to sow or plant everything at once and you therefore end up with a summer glut. That means you have 6 cabbages mature all at the same time for example.  However, there are some vegetables that you can grow, eat when they are ready but also store or preserve in some way.   Pumpkin is a great one for this.  They taste better after storing and are very delicious to use for roasts and soups over winter. Beans, courgettes and corn can all be blanched and frozen.  Tomatoes can be made into sauces and bottled or frozen. Most can be made into pickles or relishes for the larder.   So you can never have too many tomatoes in my opinion. Root crops can be stored in a cool place or left in the ground.

3. Plants That Extend the Family Budget

Never think that you have to either be self-sufficient in your backyard vegetable garden or you might as well not bother.  If you are short on time or have minimal space, then think of things that are easy to grow and available when you need it.  Silverbeet, courgette, celery, parsley for example.  You are going to go a long way to helping extend the family budget if you have even a small vegetable patch and can pop down and pick some leaves to go with dinner.  Lettuce is a great example.  They will grow most of the year around and you could easily harvest enough leaves each day for a healthy homegrown salad. Think about how you can supplement the family budget by adding what you have grown. You have the added advantage of the extra health benefits that come from spray free food as well. 

4. Match Your Specific Needs.

Have you heard of the Celery Juice craze? If you follow Tony Robbins or other motivational gurus you’ve probably heard of the Medical Medium who advocates for the health benefits of celery juice.  Now I personally don’t think we need and off-world entity telling us to eat more vegetables – its nothing that our mothers and grandmothers haven’t already told us - but if you do enjoy vegetable juices then plan to plant them in your garden.  Celery can be very expensive out of season – plus it is traditionally one of most highly sprayed of commercial crops. If you are juicing for health, then you are going to want a good source of organic celery. So grow your own. Same for beetroot, kale or the other plants you like to juice.

5. Plant things that bring joy

Don’t just make your vegetable place a prosaic practical business end of the section. Add a few flowers for your own joy, and for all the beneficial insects. Butterflies and bees will love you for it.  So will your children.  If you have children (or grandchildren, or great grandchildren!), then one of the best things you can do for them is make the vegetable garden a happy place to be. I have always grown peas for that very reason.   They are not the best crop really for the home garden because you probably need a few acres to have enough to warrant growing, but if you have toddlers or young ones, nothing beats eating peas straight from the pods.   Let them have their own patches if you can and grow what they want.  I remember having my own childish imagination inspired by the petals of the Iceland poppy – so pop a few of those in for fairy frocks.

6. Match Size of Garden to Time Available.

Finally, you want to make sure you have the time to care for the garden you want to grow. Nothing beats the enthusiasm of the bright new gardener and if you love it you will make the time.  But watch out for making a rod for your own back.  There’s nothing worse than seeing the weeds taking over, the jobs piling up but you are tied up working long hours on your day job.  It can be heartbreaking.  So start with what you can manage and grow from there. There are ways to plan for and manage your time in the garden and I will be writing about that later, so I don’t want to discourage you from starting your garden but just be a little mindful. Your garden should be a place of nourishment for the soul just as much as for the body so make sure you don’t overload yourself.

June in the Kitchen Garden

June has arrived and with it the beginning of winter proper.  This is the month of the winter solstice where we experience the shortest day/night around the 21st of the month. We call it mid-winter but it’s really only the beginning of the 3 main winter months here in the southern part of the globe of June, July and August.  Of course if you live on the other side of the equator it is the summer months.

There will still be beautiful cold clear days and still a bit of warmth in the air if there is no southerly or westerly air flow.  So still some days to get out into the garden – and some days to sit by the fire dreaming of your future garden.  I always like to have some flowers on the go to use on cakes or just to bring indoors to cheer up the grey days. I would never be without the self sown calendula with its bright sunshiney colours and shape.  I’ve just found a self-sown one in the garden that is exactly like the calendula (or marigold) we had in the garden when I was a kid! Funny what the memory selects to remember.

Its still a tidy up and prepping for the next season month with some cultivation of those vegies still growing.   Here in New Zealand we now have a national holiday to mark Matariki – the Māori name for the Pleiades star system rising in winter over the eastern horizon and indicating the time to finish harvesting the old season’s crops and turn attention to the new year. For those of you using the Crop Rotation Calendar, this is when I start rotating around to the next season.  I have a free template you can use if you want to start planning your new season garden now or just want to use it to keep tabs on your garden cultivation.   Click here to get your copy.

Garlic

Traditionally of course it is garlic planting time and this is the crop that kicks off my gardening New Year. You will be rotating your root crop bed (Group 4) to where you had the heat-loving (Group 3) fruiting plants – most of which will be long frosted and died back Clear back any foliage, dig out weeds and where you are going to plant garlic and onions, dig in plenty of manure and compost.   Note: Don’t compost the whole bed – leave the area where you will be planting tap roots such as carrot and parsip free from fresh bulky manure. A little bit of ash from the wood stove (as long as its chemical free of course) will provide potassium needed for these plants.

It’s the shortening of the day length and the chilling of the air that is going to trigger bulb growth and a good crop. I think everyone should grow a few rows of garlic at least. It doesn’t take up too much room and you can grow a year’s supply with some extra to give away or save for replanting.  This year I took some braids of last year’s crop up to Auckland and gave some back to my brother-in-law, Trent. They were ones I had grown from seed he had given me years ago.  I must check with him that he is going to plant some – just in case I lose mine and need another supplier!

 You can use some of your best and biggest corms from the last season, buy some in from specialist seed growers or from our local garden centres. When you are ready, mark out the rows and plant pointy end up about 5 cms deep and about 20 cms spacing. Mark your row and mulch. Make sure you can hoe easily down the rows for ongoing weed management.

Other Crops

It’s not all about the garlic though. There’s plenty of other jobs you can get up to on the days you can get outside – remembering to never dig over waterlogged beds. If you haven’t done so already, turn your attention to perennials such as rhubarb, asparagus and strawberries.  My rhubarb must have felt the mildness of May as it is only just dying down now and some that I replenished a month ago has produced new growth. If you are in warmer parts it will still be providing you with delicious stalks for a bit longer still. Pull off any dead or dying foliage, weed any sneaky weeds and then give a good dressing of manure and straw to take it through winter.  If it has been in the same space for more than 3 years then dig up, divide and replant into well manured deep soil then water well and mulch as described.

Similarly for asparagus, chop back old foliage, weed and mulch well with seaweed and straw. Prepare any new asparagus beds now ready for late winter or spring planting by weeding thoroughly, filling with manure and seaweed then backfilling with good soil.  Should be just right for planting in a month or two.  New strawberry plants can be replanted from now on.

Keep liquid feeding your green leafy crops, broad beans and celery and leeks.  Those last two along with stored root crops will provide the basis of your winter soups.  Keep planting a couple each of brassicas every 2 weeks or so to keep up a supply.  Remember you can still sow or plant winter greens such as rocket, meslun, corn salad, mustard and some lettuces. If you haven’t got a suitable warm well drained spot in the garden then plant in pots and pull inside when frosty.  Chop or pull leaves as needed – the  most nutritious way!  Herbs also can be potted up and brought closer to the house for ease of use.

Pruning season is coming up so get your tools ready by getting them cleaned and sharpened ready for a dry day to get to work on your fruiting plants.  So always something to do if you want to but always a good time to be inside and think about next season while eating the preserved produce of this last season’s harvest.

The Time Poor Gardener. (or the Fair-Weather Gardener)

For those of you short on time and who prefer to hibernate for winter, clear each bed in your garden and then check what the requirements are on the Crop Rotation Poster for the plants you plan to grow in each bed in spring.  Compost where it says compost, feed where it says feed and make sure you match the fertiliser to the crop you are planning on growing as per the advice under “what to do in Winter”.   Water well if needed, maybe chuck over some lawn clippings and then cover each bed with a sheet of plastic, weedmat or thick cardboard. By the time the sap has risen and your gardening blood has warmed up you will be ready to go come spring with a lovely new blank weed-free canvas!

Garden Jobs for June

Sow indoors; brassicas such as broccoli, cabbage, cauli and winter greens.

Plant: Garlic and Shallots, broad beans, green crops, flowers such as pansies and violas.   Plant brassica seedlings such as broccoli and cabbage, cauli and bok choy for spring eating.  Strawberry and rhubarb.

Cultivate: Use liquid manure to feed your leeks. Keep weeded and mounded up. Cut back asparagus fern, weed and mulch crowns. Split big clumps of rhubarb and replant. Keep weeds hoed, green crops sown and mulches laid.

Harvest: Silverbeet and spinach, broccoli, parsley, and any other herbs and vegetables you have growing in your garden.

Early Summer in the Backyard Vege Patch

Peas growing beautifully - Sown in Spring. 

Water, weed and Feed

Its mid-November now and those of you who are gardening down here in the part of the world where I live in the southern hemisphere (New Zealand) are in the midst of peak planting time. By November the ground should have warmed up enough for you to get most of your vegetable plants in to the outdoor garden and you should have a good planting of everything in the ground.   Even if it is the first row of something that you are going to keep succession planting – but the combination of day length and increasing ground temperature means that the conditions are just right for peak growing.

That includes those more tender heat loving plants such as green beans of any sort, climbing, dwarf, butter, French etc that will emerge from the soil when the ground temperature is right.   If you have the more perennial type bean such as scarlet runners already in place in your garden, they will only emerge when that temperature is reached.  You will then know that its time to get beans in. The exception is of course broad beans which prefer cool growing conditions so go in autumn and early spring. You can still pop some peas in but they also prefer cooler temps so we normally get those it the ground earlier in spring and autumn.  So your Group1 bed can be all planted up by now.

Everything in Group 3, the heat loving group that includes tomatoes, courgettes or zucchini, cucumbers, chillies, aubergines, pumpkins, squash, sweet corn – anything in those family groups can go in now if you haven’t already got them in.  We often try to plant these a bit too early – it might work if you can protect them from frost and cold snaps, but sometimes its best to wait.  For those in cooler temperate regions, if you are growing pumpkins to store for winter, then get them in as soon as you can.   They will need plenty of heat and compost to get their full lifecycle done in time to produce a crop.  You many still need to watch for late frosts and cover to protect.

The root crop bed should also all be planted by now – at least your first or main crops. (Group 4).  Garlic planted before or around the shortest day should be growing well and putting effort into growing some good size cloves. Keep liquid feeding it and making sure it has enough water while it is still at the growing stage. From next month you will start to ease off on the water to allow the maturing to occur.   Like garlic, onions are very much connected to day length – they will grow as the days get longer and then start to mature and finish off their lifecycle as the days get shorter.  Keep watering well to ensure good bulb growth, feed and weed.

Carrots you can succession sow but you should also have your main planting in by now. Any of those root crops that you can store like carrots, parsnips and potatoes, you should have a good planting in by now. You don’t have the problem with too many coming ready at once like you would do if you planted all your brassicas at once for example because roots crops are designed to store. Keep sowing beetroot – if you use them like we do in our household, you can never have too many! Juiced, grated raw into salad, sliced and pickled.  My husband loves them and I never seem to be able to have enough of a steady supply. 

Potatoes are another crop that you can never have too many of.  They store well and are a staple for us over winter. You should already have a good planting of those in the ground but you can keep sowing if you have the room. 

Weed and feed.

Every year I advise to weed and mulch in spring as soon as the ground gets warm enough for the weeds to take off growing.  If you can get that done then, you will save yourself a lot of time now trying to keep up with the weeding.   I am sorry to say that parts of my garden where I didn’t get the mulch on in time have been overrun and now I have to weed all over again. My poor flower garden gets a bit neglected in that regard and I always promise myself that I will do better next year.  So make a note for yourself If you are a planner to set aside time in spring to get that done in a timely manner. 

So your work for this time of the year is keeping up with the weeding and also keep up with the feeding. I usually have a liquid feed that I make with comfrey and seaweed etc that I water down and water in once a week.  Keep water up if you are in a dry area.

Take the time to get out and enjoy the long warm days of early summer and enjoy your growing garden with its promise of beautiful healthy food for you and your family.

How to avoid overwhelm in the garden

Not a pretty picture! Weed overwhelm in the garden. 

There’s nothing more soul-destroying than getting all excited about growing vegetables for you and your family and within a month or two your little patch of paradise is overrun by wild weeds. There is so much joy and satisfaction that comes from growing and eating your own vegetables that it is important that you don’t give up.  So here are a few pieces of wise old gardener advice that I can give you to help with that problem.

1. Start with what you can manage.

First of all, don’t bite off more than you can chew.  Weigh up how much time you realistically have and match that to the amount of space you are prepared to allocate.  If you are working fulltime and running a household, then there may not be huge amount of time available for your project – its better in that case to start small and extend as you have the resources to do so.

 Having said that, once you have planted out your beds, especially if you are following a system like I have laid out in the crop rotation poster, you don’t need a lot of time but you do need consistent regular time which, if you are organised, you can plan for. I suggest allocating one weekend a month for the big stuff like sowing your next batch of seeds and giving your garden a good going over, paying dedicated attention to care and cultivation.  Then follow the little and often principle. You will be surprised about how much you get done in 10 minutes a day. Even if you set aside 15-30 minutes a couple of days a week to maintenance, hoeing, tilling, hand weeding, then you should be able to keep up with everything.  Catching those weeds before they get any bigger than little seedlings will be what you are aiming for.  

2. Make your vegetable garden an attractive place to be

Who doesn’t know how you can wander out to the garden in the evening with a cup of tea or a glass of wine in your hand and then pull a weed, then the next one, then the next one until you have just cleared a whole row.  But you can’t do that if your garden is so far away that you need to pack a picnic to get there.  Out of sight out of mind applies here.  I always advocate having your garden clearly in sight, close to the kitchen in a nice sunny spot.  Put a table and chairs in there, plant some edible flowers, fragrant herbs and plants to attract the butterflies and bees. Then there is nothing nicer than spending time in it.

3. Don’t do it alone.

Get the family involved. You will be doing yourself and your children a big favour if you can instill a love of gardening in them.  Or if they are not showing much inclination in that area, then you will still be doing them a favour by teaching them how to work and sharing in that part of family life.  If you are worried you will put them off gardening for life – I wouldn’t worry too much about that.  When I was first married to a young Airforce officer and living in a married quarter on Hobsonville Airbase in Auckland, he used to tell me about how his father ‘forced’ them the weed the garden every week and they had to remove any little piece of greenery so no weeds dared show their face there again. Neither of us showed any interest in gardening until we moved into our wee house together and then we both literally became mad gardeners overnight.

Our own children had to put up being “dragged around” garden centre after garden centre and then squashed into a car full of plants, peering through a tree branch to see where we were going.  The youngest, in particular, used to say that she was never going to a garden centre again when she grew up. However I can safely report that she has now ventures there often and although she lives in the city there is plenty of growing going on in the space she has available to her.

The oldest one has made a career out of growing and plant knowledge with a Degree in Medical Herbalism and then a Bachelor of Culinary Arts. Her “thing’ these days is edible flowers.  She makes and sells the most beautiful flower decorated cakes under the brand Botanical Kitchen, most of which she has grown herself. Plus she creates healing and wellbeing products from plants. So don’t worry about putting them off but do be careful about not making it too much of chore.  There’s lots of ways of making it fun and there is nothing wrong with training your kids up to understand what it is to be part of a family. Everyone may participate in the work, but then everyone also participates in the fun and pleasure that comes from eating your own food.

Daughter number 1 and her daughter number 1.  Penelope Maguire - Botanical Kitchen. 

4. Mulch, Mulch, Mulch

I am a big advocate of mulching your garden.  Nature itself is pro-mulch, always clothing herself with a layer of fallen leaves, ground cover plants or autumn-fallen perennial or annual plants that have completed their annual cycle.  Weeds themselves are just nature’s way of covering the earth with what is available. So if you have bare earth, you need to cover it with something of your choice or nature will cover it with something of her choice.  You also are working with nature because when you use spent plant mulch, you are adding to the soil.  The process of composting continues to take place, the worms love it, and you are not only reducing the amount of work you have to do, but you are feeding the soil, regulating its temperature and conserving water.

Use what you have available.  Just be careful about anything that is full of seed or has been sprayed with something nasty.  I used grass clippings but am very careful to not use when the grass has gone to seed. Straw, your own leaf mould, old rotted wood chips are some ideas. You can also layer it like you would compost.  So you may start off in spring with some lawn clippings, then do another layer of pea straw on top of that etc. When you do use wood chips you may need to add a bit of lime or nitrogen to the soil underneath as the soil uses nitrogen when it breaks down and wood is also more acidic than some plants like.  I know a garden where the gardener had used fresh wood chips and was wondering why his silverbeet was yellowing. The application of a bit of nitrogen helped but the more rotted the chips the better.  

Also remember, especially if using fresh lawn clippings, to not put them right up to the plant itself. Make a little circle of space around the stalk of the plant and this will stop the plant rotting where contact takes place. For this time of the year in my cool temperate climate, the warm grass can create a little microclimate buffer of warmth for the wee seedlings as well.

5. Rest when you need a rest.

And finally, especially if you have created raised beds similar to the way I do mine, if this year you don’t think you are going to be able to manage the time at all, then cover the beds with mulch and leave them until you are ready.  Sometimes over winter, I just lay down weed mat and leave it.  By spring when I’m ready to plant, the ground is all clear and ready for me as well. Or you can compost the bed, chuck in a bit of fertiliser, lay down a good layer of wet newspaper or cardboard and then cover with a good layer of woods chips or other plant-based mulch and then leave until you do have time. It will still look great, you are feeding the soil, and it will reward you with strong healthy plants when you have the time.  You can see from the picture I have used of the garden covered in snow, how the raised beds can look good even when empty of plants.

I hope this helps. There is so much joy in growing your own food and creating beautiful places around us that it is important for you to keep the enthusiasm up and not give up.  The pleasure really will overcome the pain and anything good and worthwhile often takes a bit of work. So let me encourage you to keep going.

References in this article.  Crop Rotation Poster.  Click here to purchase yours online. https://professionalcountrywoman.com/useful-and-beautiful-things-to-buy/Crop Rotation Poster

Botanical Kitchen – to check out Penelope’s products or to order online click on this link. https://nzbotanicalkitchen.com/

August in the Kitchen Garden

“Spring stands at the gate with her finger on the latch”

I love this line by Patience Strong where she is perfectly describing this month where even though it is still winter, the promise of spring is in the air and popping up around us. She was of course writing in Northern Hemisphere so it was February she was writing for but the euivalent month for us down at the bottom of the world is August.

Even though it is still winter, there are signs that the miracle of spring is just around the corner. One of the miracles is that despite the ongoing cold weather, the occasional warm day will get the sap rising in the gardener as much as the plants!  However you will need to resist the urge a little longer as it is a bit early to sow much outside just yet. Transfer that energy instead into preparing your garden beds and into getting your potting shed in order and prepared for sowing indoors which you can start to do this month. If you live in a warmer area, your spring is going to be earlier than where I am gardening in the south so adapt these notes to your conditions

Watch out too for signs of weed growth this month – this is a good sign that the soil is warming enough to germinate seed.  Early peas, broad beans and onions can be sown direct this month.  Even a row of early potatoes can go in the ground but continue to protect from frost.  Others can be started off by chitting in a warm spot indoors. I would also sow extra peas and onions indoors as well just to keep all bases covered. Its easy to jump the gun a bit and sometimes it’s better to wait another month but I get that gardeners are ever optimistic.

If you haven’t done so yet, check your Crop Rotation Poster

Crop Rotation Poster

and look under the Pre-season preparation in the cultivation notes around the outside and you will see what you need to do to prepare each bed for the family of crops you will plant.  Legume beds (peas and beans) will appreciate lots of compost, wood-ash, blood and bone, lime and carbon from spring mulches dug in.  Same for the next bed of green leafy vegetables. 

Beds destined for root crops such as parsnips, beetroot and carrots will not like too much bulk or fresh manure so are happy to rely on the leftovers of the previous season. On the other hand, garlic, onions, celery and leeks that I grow in the same bed do love plenty of manure and compost so I usually divide that bed in half in terms of cultivation.  They all appreciate deep well dug soil. The beds set aside for heat loving plants such as capsicums and tomatoes prefer more acidic soil so I don’t add lime to those beds but plenty of compost. 

Those of you who have gown green crops over winter can chop and drop now and get that dug into the top 15 cm of the soil where all those lovely bugs can do their work of breaking it down. Whatever you do,  never dig in wet ground though – wait until it is less sodden. Raised beds have the advantage here as the drainage is improved automatically and the soil can often be a few degrees warmer than ground based beds.

Seed potatoes are appearing in the shops. Potatoes can be chitted from now on or planted in a warm spot and protected from the frosts that will be expected for the next few months.  Use old egg cartons, sit each potato on end and put on in a warm light space. 

You may find you will need to water the garlic you planted in June and July to get them swelling and moving.  It has been very dry here in Otago and we all need rain.  Once the young shoots are up, liquid fertilise every couple of weeks.  They will respond to plenty of feeding while growing and you will be rewarded with lovely big bulbs in summer.

Parsnips

I have come to the conclusion that I am a bit of a selfish gardener.  I don’t tend to grow plants that I don’t really like to eat – and that includes parsnips. I am married to a proper southerm man though who does like them as well as those other cool climate root crops such as swedes and turnips so I am going to give them a go again this year.  As for all of your root crop a deeply dug, well drained bed without any bulky bits in will produce the best results. The fertility from the previous year should be enough for parsnips and carrots but you can add a light dressing of lime and general purpose fertilizer if you wish. No fresh manure though – that is often a cause of forked roots and too much nitrogen leads to plenty of green leafy growth above and not much root growth.  Parsnips need a long growing period so you can start sowing from late August onwards. Fresh seed is best and I have heard that pouring a kettle of boiling water over the seed row is helpful.  Maybe that is something you can experiment with – try it on one row but not the other and see if it works.

August Cultivation

If it is still too early for outdoor sowing in your area you can start off in seed trays in a warm spot. Asian greens, Lettuce, cauli, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, silverbeet, peas, broad beans, Parslely, coriander, rocket. Later in the month: onions, beetroot, carrots, celery, leeks, parsnips (direct), turnips, parsley.  Sow early peas and broad beans direct and in some trays indoors just to be on the safe side. Get your garlic in if you haven’t already.

Plant; Cabbage, Cauli, Lettuce, silverbeet, Rhubarb, Asparagus, Shallots, Onion, Garlic, Artichokes, Strawberries, potatoes (keep protected from frost) cabbages, silverbeet,lettuce, parsely, peas, broadbeans.

The Organised Gardener

July here in our part of the world is till the depths of winter and although I’m thinking and preparing for the new season – there is not much time spent in the actual garden. It is  great to get out there on frosty morning to see how the ground is chilled and laced with ice – and to think triumphant thoughts about slugs and other pests not surviving the winter chill to make it through to eat my precious spring plants.  And then there is the occasional warm day when you notice that the daffodils are emerging and you realise that even when you can’t see it, there is still growth and movement going on.

It won’t be long till spring will be upon us so use this time to get yourself organised.  Give your garden shed or whatever you use as your potting area a good clean up. My potting shed is in the hothouse so its not a bad place to be on a cold winter’s day. Get rid of old rubbish, stack all those plastic seedling trays that came with last year’s plants from the garden centre and recycle this year for your own seedlings.  If you have an old bath or tub around the place – give all the plastic pots and punnets a good wash first if you are worried about the transfer of disease.  At least give them a brush to get off any dirt and cobwebs etc.  Have them stacked ready to go for sowing time.

Tools can be sharpened and maintained.  Give them a good clean and oil with a bit of linseed oil and hang on the wall or at the very least put into the one space where you know they are and all ready to go.  I don’t know how much time I’ve wasted hunting around for my trowel or dibber or anything else I suddenly need and can’t find because I haven’t put it back where it’s supposed to go.  I have a lovely trug that I put all my bits and pieces in so I can just pick it up and take it to wherever I am working.

Make a list of what you are going to need for the new season. It’s quite helpful to have a blackboard in your space to be able to write on.  Potting mix, seed raising mix, tape measure, string line, dibber, trowel, garden fork, chalk, plant tags, notebook and pen, scissors.  Add what you need as you think of it.

One or the most important items in the organised gardener’s toolkit is actually some kind of permanent marker.  You’ve heard it said that the pen is mightier than the sword, but how much mightier is the sharpie than the gardener’s memory! How often have I planted or sown seeds and told myself I’ll remember what they are and when I sowed them. It doesn’t take long until I look at that tray on the bench a couple of weeks later (when the seeds are still thinking about coming up but haven’t emerged yet) and wonder what the heck they are!  Or even worse, sow a row of seeds in the garden and either not mark where the row is or name what I have sown.   If there is more than one of you gardening then the danger is even higher. The ‘other gardener” (also known as husband) might come along and not realise you have already sown seed in that row and merrily dig it over to do something else. More evidence for my theory that there should be separate spaces for men’s and women’s gardens.

Get yourself a good new sharpie and a good supply of plant tags so your are ready to record the variety and date sown or planted.  For my seedlings I just use wooden popsicle sticks. You can get these very cheaply from any craft store.  The trick Is you need to write on them before you sow the seeds as once you get a bit of moisture on your fingers they don’t work too well.  You can also get the bigger size wooden ones that are suitable for the garden bed.  They may only last the season but they do the trick. Hunt around your local garden centre for whatever they have there and get what suits you and your needs.  But always- always make a note of what you have sown. 

If you have lots of packets of seeds all over the place then a good rainy day exercise is to get them all organised.  My background is in librarianship so I have a thing about organising so that you can find what you are looking for.   It is a family joke about the spices in the pantry being sorted into alphabetical order but I put up with it for the pleasure of finding the ginger when I need it so I pay no attention to the smirking.

“Monty Don” potting box

When it comes to seeds, I find it best to sort into family or companion groups which is how I organise my planting in the Crop Rotation Calendar. If you don’t already have a copy you can order either a digital or hardcopy by going to this link. Crop Rotation Poster It is a good tool to help you with your planning.  I have divided up the planting into 4 main companion groups so file seeds under those headings. All root crops together for example, and all leafy greens together. Then have a space for herbs, perennials, and flowers. I use a plastic box with a good airtight lid to store them in so find a box the right size for you.  Cut up some card to make dividers and label them. Then sort them into their spaces, put the lid on and store is a cool dark dry place away from humidity and pests.

If you want to get really organised I am going to do an online workshop on how you can preplan your new season’s vegetable garden so you are ready to go in spring. That’s when those garden markers and sharpies come in really handy!  So let me know if you want to find out more about that and I’ll let you know when its ready to go.

In the meantime – grab a moment on one of those lovely warm winter days and get yourself organised for a great new growing season. You will thank me when you spring hits and you suddenly feel the urge to get out and get growing – and you’ll have everything ready and waiting for that moment!

Ceremonial Planting Of Winter solstice Garlic

Well the mid-winter solstice is upon us now and today I am going to be doing a bit of a tongue-in – cheek ‘ceremonial” planting of garlic. It is traditionally planted on the shortest day and harvested on the longest and as I am a fan of tradition – I am going to plant some in a facebook live.   All going well.   Meaning – if I can get my husband to be the cameraman as I won’t be able to plant, talk and hold the camera at the same time.

The other reason I wanted to mark the occasion is that it is the point at which I rotate my vegetable beds around to the next year. So the beginning of the gardeners New Year. It coincides nicely with the traditional Maori celebration of Matariki – the rising of the star cluster of the Pleidies or Matariki in the eastern sky – the signal to finish gathering all the old year’s crops and start preparing for the new. Worth taking time to mark the occasion!

Although we always associate garlic planting with 21st of June, you can start planting anytime from the autumn equinox and aim to get it in by the shortest day.  For those with warmer climates and the risk of rust in the heat of summer, then planting earlier is a good idea. (note to self for next year)!,  Having said that, it is better to get it in the ground when you can rather than not at all so don’t be put off by strict rules but get planting.  I have planted well into July before and still get good results. 

Most imported garlic is treated with some fairly drastic chemicals so garlic is definitely on the list of things to plant in your family vegetable garden.  Not only can It be used as a culinary food but it has wonderful therapeutic qualities – great for our immune systems.   How much you plant depends on how much your family needs.  If you think that you use one big clove per week – then plant 52 plus a few extra for unexpected occurrences.  Then plant another 25 or so to ensure you have seed for next year.  Garlic seed is getting harder to come by these days and it is something you can grow yourself then do it. 

If you haven’t done so already, add plenty of manure, compost and blood and bone. Some wood ash and a little lime is also beneficial.  I mark out rows then lay out the cloves around 15cms apart.  Plant at twice the depth so between 2-5 cms apart.   Space between rows is up to you. I put mine 20-30 cms apart which is quite intensive but you do need to be able to hoe down each row if needed.  I then water in with a bit of liquid seaweed once they have started to grow and mulch with whatever is available. I also have to cover mine with some wire netting to prevent the occasional naughty chook from foraging for my precious cloves.

For me following the Crop Rotation Poster, I have completed a four-year cycle and so going back to the year one plan.  So it’s a good time to pick up your own copy of the Poster plan, join the Crop Rotation and Garden Calendar facebook group and follow along.  Great if you are starting out in the vegetable garden or don’t know where to start! You can also get the digital copy and print it yourself.https://www.facebook.com/groups/353726023718424

Wrap up warm and enjoy your forays into the winter garden in between sitting by the fire planning your spring garden.

April at a Glance

Sow:

Broad Beans, onions (in trays or outdoors if warm). Brassica seeds sown now will take 4 months to mature. Lettuce. broccoli, cabbage, carrots, Chinese cabbage, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsley, shallots, spinach.

Plant:

Cabbage, broccoli, cauli, kale, lettuce, parsley, silverbeet or spinach, strawberries, soft fruits such as currants, raspberries etc, fruit trees

Cultivate:

Mound up soil around leeks. Keep well-watered along with celery. Weed around asparagus.  Protect heads of cauli from the weather by covering with big leaves. Keep weeding and hoeing between plants to keep weeds down.

Harvest:

Beans, courgettes, sweetcorn, pumpkins, main crop potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, spinach and silverbeet, herbs

Prepare:

Dig beds where crops have finished, add compost to trenches, Sow green crops, make compost and mulch bare ground in preparation for winter weather and preparing beds for spring.