Advice. Ideas.

Inspiration

Anita’s Garden
Volume 2, Issue 14 25 October 2019

Useful Links Editorial

Webpage
Welcome to the fourteenth issue of Benefits of being a host include:
Blog
my newsletter Anita’s Garden for
 Much-needed assistance around
Newsletter back issues 2019.
the garden
Facebook I hope you have all had a good week.
 Help from young, energetic and
Instagram In this week’s editorial, I thought I healthy travellers
would write a bit about wwoofing, as
Twitter some of my readers may not know  The opportunity to learn from
about it. As I have mentioned in pre- wwoofers –the exchange is very
Linkedin vious newsletters, mum and I host much reciprocal in nature

Pinterest wwoofers, that is, foreign travellers

Contact me
 Feedback
 Newsletter input
(tips, recipes, gar-
den photos etc)
 To be added to my
mailing list
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com
Inside this issue:
P ot te r ing aro u nd 2 hosts and volunteers can advertise for
Anita’s Garden
Top 5 gardening tasks 2 common feature is organic gardening.
for the week
Tips for growing broad 2 from them. We became friends with
beans
How to grow pumpkins 3 I hope you enjoyed this week’s column.
and squash
with working holiday visas who stay
with us in exchange for assisting us
around the garden. WWOOF has ex-
isted since the 1970s and is a world-
wide organisation, although each
country has its own website.
WWOOF stands for Willing Workers
on Organic Farms. On Wwoof, people
are either hosts (such as us) or volun-
teers. Both have their own profile
where they can write a bit about
themselves. Volunteers can read and
write reviews for hosts and hosts can
review volunteers who have stayed
with them. Typically, volunteers
write to hosts, asking them if they can
stay, usually specifying a time period.
Hosts are under no obligation to take
volunteers and can choose who they
want. One very helpful feature on the
Wwoof website is the hotlist, where
help and accommodation at short no-
tice. Most hosts, but not all, live on a
lifestyle block or on a farm, but the
The range of wwoofing locations in-
cludes both cities, towns and the
countryside.
Wwoofers usually work for 4-5 hours
per day. At our place, they do 5 hours
each day, but I give wwoofers a day
off each week. Food is provided (and
usually made for them) during their
stay, including on their day off.
 Cultural exchange
 The ability to travel without
leaving your home by hosting
people from all around the world
 Help is free and fair in exchange
for boarding and lodge
What may deter some people is the
idea of having people you don’t know
stay in your home. From a safety per-
spective, we have never had any prob-
lems. Both hosts and wwoofers who
belong to the Wwoof organisation are,
in my opinion, good people who are
committed to sustainable organic
growing practices. It is true that you
might encounter someone that you
don’t get along with, but this has been
the exception rather than the norm for
us. We have been hosts for two and a
half years now and can honestly say
that it has been one of the best deci-
sions we have ever made. We wouldn’t
be able to manage such a big garden
were it not for the help of wwoofers,
especially in times when I have been
ill. We have genuinely enjoyed hosting
wwoofers and have learnt a great deal
some wwoofers and still remain in con-
tact with them.
Anita Kundu
PAGE 2
Pottering around Anita’s Garden
Our first broad beans!
We have been harvesting broad
beans off our tall and flowering
plants.
Rhubarb and broad beans from
our garden
Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
1. Harvesting broad beans
Your broad bean plants should be
fruiting now. Pick beans regularly
to encourage further fruiting and
to avoid them from becoming
tough to eat
2. Plant lettuce seedlings
Now is the perfect time to plant
lettuce seedlings in the garden
Tips for growing broad beans
 Broad beans can either be
grown easily from seed or
you can purchase plants
from the garden centre
 Aim to put plants in during
autumn, to give them some
time to grow before the cold
sets in during winter. How-
ever, if you didn’t manage to
get around to putting in
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
Spring flowers
As you can see, we have been en-
joying the last of our spring bulbs.
3. Sow carrots
Carrots can be sown directly where
you want to grow them or in con-
tainers
4. Sow radish
Sow more radish. Seeds can be
sown either directly where you
want to grow them or in contain-
ers.
plants over autumn, they can be
planted in winter
 Prepare the ground well
with compost, sheep pellets
and some fertiliser. I like to
use some veggie food when
putting in each plant
 Stake plants at the time of
planting to avoid damaging
the roots later on. Tie each
V O LU M E 2 , I S S U E 1 4
Our coriander patch!
5. Mound up potatoes
Don’t forget to mound up the pota-
toes that you planted back in Sep-
tember. It’s always a good idea to
gently gather dirt around the
plants to keep the tubers under-
ground. This avoids them coming
into contact with light and turning
green, which makes them toxic.
You’ll also find you get more pota-
toes this way, too.
plant to the stake with some string
 Water well during dry peri-
ods
 Liquid feed plants weekly
 After they’ve stopped pro-
ducing, you can use the
plants to add nitrogen to the
soil by leaving the roots in
the soil
 V O LU M E 2 , I S S U E 1 4 A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N PAGE 3

How to grow pumpkins and squash

Pumpkins and squash are staples 7. Remember not to plant your
in our summer garden. They are pumpkins and squash out
easy to grow, prolific and can be too early. Personally, I pre-
used in so many different and in- fer to wait until November,
teresting ways. One of the best when night time tempera-
things about them is that they tures have increased as it
store well, leaving you with veg- can still be quite cool in the
gies to eat over the winter months. evenings in October

Growing from seed 8. You can harvest some

squash while they’re young,
Pumpkins and squash are easy to like Kamo Kamo. Other-
grow from seed, so I usually start wise, leave pumpkins to die
them this way At this time of the off the vines (usually by
Blue Hubbard pumpkin from Eg-
year, it’s best to sow seeds under- April) otherwise they won’t
mont Seeds
cover as they’re a heat-loving plant be ripe.
and if temperatures are too low, pellets and general garden fertiliz-
seed won’t germinate. I recom- er prior to planting 9. Store pumpkins and squash
mend using a heat pad. With one, in a safe dry place. Be care-
you shouldn’t have any trouble 3. Before planting, I like to ful—mice love to nibble on
getting seed to germinate. I like soak each plant, whether them!
using egg cartons to raise seeds in raised from seed or pur-
rather than plastic punnets. Once chased from the garden cen- Ideas for using pumpkins and
plants develop two leaves, I usual- tre, in some Seasol diluted squash
ly pot them into individual 10 cm in a bucket of water. This
 Bread/loaf
pots. minimizes transplant shock
and ensures that plants get  Cake
Varieties off to a strong start
 Pumpkin
There are so many different varie- 4. I like to add a pie
ties of pumpkins and squash. I scoop of to-
recommend planting a range so mato fertiliz-  Frittata
“They are easy to grow,
you don’t get tired of eating the er to each prolific and can be used
same one! This year, I’m growing plant’s hole  B l o s s o ms
a few different pumpkin varieties in so many different and
prior to stuffed with
from Egmont Seeds - Blue Hub- interesting ways”
planting. Did goat’s cheese,
bard (pictured), Jarrahdale, yo u k no w either fried or
Crown, Triamble and Queensland that tomato baked for a
Blue. I’m also growing the marvel- fertilizer can be used for so healthier option
lous Tonda Padana from Franchi much more than just toma-
Seeds. For squash, I’m growing toes? It’s suitable for any  Soup
Kumi Kumi and Spaghetti Squash flowering and fruiting
Tivoli from Egmont Seeds. I’m  Lasagne
plant—zucchini, cucumbers,
also growing the butternut Rugosa pumpkins, squash, melons,  Roasted as a veggie salad or
from Franchi Seeds, which I have strawberries and so much accompaniment to a Sunday
grown successfully in the past. more. roast or hangi
Tips for growing pumpkins 5. Water well at the time of  Stuffed with feta cheese and
and squash planting and thereafter. herbs
Try not to get too much wa-
 For pumpkins and squash to
ter on the leaves, which can  Curry
do well, they need to be
be susceptible to powdery
grown in full sun (that is, at
least six hours per day)
mildew Have a great weekend
6. Liquid feed weekly with a
 Prepare the ground well water soluble plant food Happy gardening!
beforehand. I like to mix in such as Thrive or a seaweed
lots of compost, sheep tonic like Seasol