I have unpicked 3 jumpers this weekend, with a view to reknitting them into jumpers and hoodies for my kids. Here's a "How To" video I made on what to do! Note, this is the knitters "Dark Side"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ2UmA7snt0
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Monday, August 10, 2015
Annual preparation of the Strawberry Bed
It's 5C outside and I'm grovelling around on my knees with a weeder in my hand, preparing the strawberry beds for Spring. Madness! yesterday it snowed, today it's freezing. My fingers are purple and white and I am huffing the air in and out of my lungs in an effort to warm the air up.
The reason for this is because I just haven't got around to doing this job in my vege patch yet.
What to do? pull off any dead leaves, pull out runners and suckers, replace unproductive plants with new suckers, and replace 3rd year plants with new suckers.
When to do it? in Winter when the plant is almost dormant (tho I see some of mine have been making flowers despite the frigid weather).
One of the best benefits of all of this, apart from massive strawberry production this coming year, is that you then have lots of suckers to give away to friends
The reason for this is because I just haven't got around to doing this job in my vege patch yet.
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| Before |
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| After (you can see I am reluctant to pull out all the suckers, and I always leave a few, I just cant bring myself to pull them all out |
What to do? pull off any dead leaves, pull out runners and suckers, replace unproductive plants with new suckers, and replace 3rd year plants with new suckers.
When to do it? in Winter when the plant is almost dormant (tho I see some of mine have been making flowers despite the frigid weather).
One of the best benefits of all of this, apart from massive strawberry production this coming year, is that you then have lots of suckers to give away to friends
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Snow!
Not a lot of gardening going on today, despite my good intentions...its all put on hold because its snowing!
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Picking today
This may not look like a very exciting haul, but what you see there are the first and only Brussell Sprouts I have ever managed to grow
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Who Needs Snow when you have -5C Frost?
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| The Vege Garden |
But this morning Jack Frost made up for it by deliverying a hefty -5C frost for us to enjoy.
It really does make our garden a winter wonderland!
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| Mt Grey |
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| The Paddocks |
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| Frost adorning everything |
Monday, July 6, 2015
Good Golly - there are Cauli
Winter in the garden can be a time of waiting, watching and hoping for spring. At least in past years this has been my experience.
This year I have tried harder to keep the garden going, and think about what might actually be grown achievably. Brassicas are an obvious choice, they grow well in colder weather, and don't bolt. With the added advantage of a lack of white butterflies. So this year, in late summer, early autumn I planted Brussell Sprouts, Broccoli, Cabbages and Kale. It is with my happiness I can announce that soon I will have Cauliflowers to eat. The plants have good full leaves and pudding bowl sized caulis maturing in their centres. I have tied them up once when we had a threat of snow (which never eventuated), as the top of the white cauli will go brown if frosted off. Today I will have to go out and do that again, as we have more bad weather forecast.
The broccoli are forming up well, with tennis ball sized heads, the curly kale are edible, and we have been using the leaves as they grow, for both kale chips and kale in butter etc. The brussel sprouts I'm not sure about, growth wise. They are much maligned, but I love them, however although there are tiny "sprouts" at the base of each leaf, I'm not sure if they will be dense enough to be a proper brussel sprout or of they will bolt to a loose leaf shape. Time will tell here.
Lettuces under cover have grown really well, and we have eaten several butternut lettuces as "Caesar Salad", they seem to tolerate the cold much better than I had imagined, and the tunnel cover just gives them a bit of shelter from the frost.
In other news, I planted out 3 rows of Garlic, from my own bulbs from last year. I had so much garlic last year, we still have bags of it stored, and I had plenty to use as seed garlic. I also planted "Pukekohe Long Keeper" white onion sets, they actually look a bit "sad" but I am hoping they will perk up.
The seeds I put in for both Mange Tout peas and pod peas have not germinated well, with only a few small plants showing above the soil. I haven't given up on them, but hold out hope that come spring the rest will germinate eventually.
This is my Garden Share Collective post for July, you can have a look at all the other gardens if you google it.
Jobs Undertaken this Month: planted Garlic, Onions, Coriander, tied up Cauliflowers.
Harvesting Now: Spring Onion, Lettuces, Parsley, Leeks, Kale
Jobs to do this Month: Weed, watch for Frosts, prune the last Grape, add more soil to the planter beds
This year I have tried harder to keep the garden going, and think about what might actually be grown achievably. Brassicas are an obvious choice, they grow well in colder weather, and don't bolt. With the added advantage of a lack of white butterflies. So this year, in late summer, early autumn I planted Brussell Sprouts, Broccoli, Cabbages and Kale. It is with my happiness I can announce that soon I will have Cauliflowers to eat. The plants have good full leaves and pudding bowl sized caulis maturing in their centres. I have tied them up once when we had a threat of snow (which never eventuated), as the top of the white cauli will go brown if frosted off. Today I will have to go out and do that again, as we have more bad weather forecast.
The broccoli are forming up well, with tennis ball sized heads, the curly kale are edible, and we have been using the leaves as they grow, for both kale chips and kale in butter etc. The brussel sprouts I'm not sure about, growth wise. They are much maligned, but I love them, however although there are tiny "sprouts" at the base of each leaf, I'm not sure if they will be dense enough to be a proper brussel sprout or of they will bolt to a loose leaf shape. Time will tell here.
Lettuces under cover have grown really well, and we have eaten several butternut lettuces as "Caesar Salad", they seem to tolerate the cold much better than I had imagined, and the tunnel cover just gives them a bit of shelter from the frost.
In other news, I planted out 3 rows of Garlic, from my own bulbs from last year. I had so much garlic last year, we still have bags of it stored, and I had plenty to use as seed garlic. I also planted "Pukekohe Long Keeper" white onion sets, they actually look a bit "sad" but I am hoping they will perk up.
The seeds I put in for both Mange Tout peas and pod peas have not germinated well, with only a few small plants showing above the soil. I haven't given up on them, but hold out hope that come spring the rest will germinate eventually.
This is my Garden Share Collective post for July, you can have a look at all the other gardens if you google it.
Jobs Undertaken this Month: planted Garlic, Onions, Coriander, tied up Cauliflowers.
Harvesting Now: Spring Onion, Lettuces, Parsley, Leeks, Kale
Jobs to do this Month: Weed, watch for Frosts, prune the last Grape, add more soil to the planter beds
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