Webpage Contributions Blog I welcome all contributions to the Newsletter back issues Welcome to the thirty fifth issue of newsletter, including: my newsletter Anita’s Garden for Facebook Feedback 2020. Instagram Requests for articles I hope you have all had a good week. Twitter Plant nursery Suggestions Linkedin In light of Coronavirus, I have made Input (tips, recipes, photos of Pinterest the decision to close my nursery for your garden etc) the remainder of the season. Please email me at anitakun- Cut flowers from Anita’s Garden du.nz@gmail.com and I will incorpo- Contact me rate them into future newsletters In parallel with selling plants in my Feedback nursery, I am trying to develop a side- Collaborations business selling cut flowers from our Newsletter input garden. In the winter months, plant I am pleased to announce that I am a (tips, recipes, gar- sales in the nursery are slow as peo- brand ambassador for the following den photos etc) ple aren’t as active in their gardens. gardening businesses: It is during this time that our garden To be added to my Awapuni Nurseries is arguably at its best. As many of mailing list you are aware, Anita’s Garden is re- Bulbs Direct anitakundu.nz@gmail.com nown for its display of spring bulbs every year. Egmont Seeds
At this stage, I am looking for some- Italian Seeds Pronto (the NZ
one or an entity to supply cut flowers distributor of Franchi Seeds) Inside this issue: to on a regular basis, rather than sell- ing them on an ad hoc basis. If you or Mailing list someone you know may be interested, If you haven’t already subscribed to please contact me at anitakun- Po t t eri n g ar o u n d 2 my newsletter, you can do so by email- du.nz@gmail.com Anita’s Garden ing me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com Social media and writing “subscribe” in the subject field. Advantages include receiving Top 5 gardening tasks 2 I am currently developing my social the newsletter direct to your inbox eve- for the week media accounts (see useful links, left), ry week and being the first to know especially Twitter and Pinterest. about specials in the plant nursery. Tips for growing hyacinth 2 Blog I hope you have enjoyed this week’s column. Have a great weekend. Please don’t forget that I maintain an active blog on my website. Due to its Anita Kundu How to grow spinach 3 brevity, I’m not able to cover every- thing in this newsletter so feel free to persue my blog posts to inform your- self about all things gardening related PAGE 2 AN IT A’S G AR D E N V O LU M E 2 , ISSU E 3 5
Pottering around Anita’s Garden
Here is a selection of photos from around Anita’s Garden for you to enjoy.
Homegrown watermelon and rock-
My Atlantic Giant pumpkin grown melon. from a free seedling from A self-seeded passionfruit Awapuni. Despite not being the greatest of summers, we have had a glut of We have also been having a great This is the first time that I have season for passionfruit. We are melons! So far we have been har- grown this variety and I am very vesting rockmelon and watermel- still getting fruit from our three impressed with the results. This on, but it looks like there may even vines. As a bonus, we now have an kind of pumpkin is suitable for be a couple of honeydew melons as extra vine thanks to a self-seeded pumpkin growing competitions, as well if I’m not mistaken. passionfruit plant that popped up the name suggests. during winter!
Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
4. Order spring bulbs 1. Harvest melons 3. Sow kale To avoid missing out on popular By now, your melons should be It’s not too late to sow kale if you bulb varieties, get those orders in ready to be harvested, so you can haven’t already. I have just plant- quick! My preferred supplier is remove them from the vines. ed out our first seedlings but Bulbs Direct. sowed some more seeds about a 2. Plant spinach week ago. I highly recommend 5. Plant kale This winter staple is incredibly Cavolo Nero in the Franchi Seeds range (distributed by Italian Seeds Now is the perfect time to pop your easy to grow. Put in seedlings now Pronto in NZ). It’s great for mak- kale seedlings into the ground, so so they can become established ing kale chips and using raw in they become established before before cooper temperatures set in. green smoothies winter.
Tips for growing hyacinth
it’s best to pre-chill bulbs prior to You can also grow hyacinth In last week’s column, I covered planting. Don’t do so any earlier in a glass vase growing daffodils. This week, I thought I would provide some tips than April or it will damage the Sprinkle a little a slow re- for growing hyacinth. Bulbs Direct, bud formation lease bulb food prior to have a fantastic range. It’s not too planting late to get your order in but don’t Opt for firm, healthy bulbs. leave it any longer or you may Hyacinth look stunning I find that hyacinths are miss out on popular varieties. grown in containers. Be only good for a season and sure to use a high quality are not worth replanting the Here are some of my top tips: following year, so order container mix fresh bulbs next season. For warmer climates, V O LU M E 2 , ISSU E 3 5 AN IT A’S G AR D E N PAGE 3
How to grow spinach
Spinach is a staple vegetable in Tips for growing spinach Ideas for using spinach our garden. It grows year round. Spinach is easy to grow and in- Spinach can be grown year Spinach is a very versatile vegeta- credibly versatile. It can be used round. You may find that it ble and can be used in many ways. in many dishes. It is also incredi- bolts to seed as the weather Here are some ideas to get you bly nutritious. warms up in spring. started.
Growing spinach from seed Seeds usually germinate Steamed
easily, with the exception of Spinach is incredibly easy to grow NZ Spinach. I usually soak Sauteed from seed. If you are a new gar- seeds for a few hours in dener or have run out of time, you Creamed lukewarm water beforehand may want to start from plants ra- to improve the germination Used raw in green smooth- ther than seed. Awapuni stock a rate ies really good range of seedlings and deliver direct to your door, which Don’t prick out seedlings for U s e d r aw i n s al ad s is convenient. potting on to individual 6 (especially baby leaf) cell punnets or seed raising Here is some advice for starting trays too early. It’s best to Soups spinach from seed. Simply sprin- wait until plants have devel- kle the seeds in a punnet filled oped three large leaves first. Quiches with some seed raising mix and cover lightly. Always look for a When working with seed- Muffins seed raising mix that is fine in tex- lings, take special care to avoid damaging the roots. Paneer ture. Some contain pieces of bark which are no good when trying to Pasta germinate fine seeds! The seeds Spinach is suitable for grow- are very fine, so don’t sow too ing in containers if you are Risotto many or place them too close to short on space each other. Water regularly, as Pizza As a leafy green crop, spin- plants tend to dry out easily in the ach can be grown in part Pancakes heat of early autumn. March can shade but it be quite hot! When seedlings are Lasagne does best if it large enough, prick them out of the receives lots “Spinach is easy to grow punnet and pot them up individu- and incredibly versatile. Curries of sunshine ally into 6-cell punnets. If I have It can be used in many lots of seedlings, I sometimes plant Water plants Stews dishes. It is also them into a seedling tray. At this regularly. incredibly nutritious” Pies, past- stage it’s fine to use potting mix. They need it, You don’t need to use an expensive ies and tarts especially as (i n c l ud i ng one. I find that Dalton’s potting temperatures in early au- mix from Bunnings is sufficient Spanakopita) tumn can still be quite for potting up all my seedlings. warm. Pilaf Recommended varieties 8. For best results, liquid feed With eggs plants weekly with a soluble Perpetual (Egmont) plant food or tonic such as Frittata NZ spinach (Egmont) Seasol Quesadillas Malabar spinach (summer) 9. Like most veggies, spinach is an annual and will go to Gratin Matador (Franchi) seed when temperatures increase in spring. For this Dips Merlo Nero (Franchi) reason, I have found it is Dahl best planted in autumn for Teton Baby (Egmont) the winter garden. In spring, it starts running to Have a great weekend Oriental Imperial Green seed. (Egmont) Happy gardening!