Advice. Ideas.

Inspiration

Anita’s Garden
Volume 3, Issue 25 8 January 2021

Useful Links Editorial

Webpage

Blog Welcome to the twenty fifth issue of  More cucumbers

my newsletter for Volume 3.
Newsletter back issues  Cherry tomatoes (for cropping in
I hope you have all had a good week. autumn)
Facebook
January in the garden  Chillies
Instagram
January is a fairly quiet month in the  Okra
Twitter garden, as most of your summer flow-
ers and veggies should have already  Rockmelon
Linkedin
been planted out. That said, it is pos-
 More basil
Pinterest sible to sow and plant the following
this month.  Coriander (keep it in the shade to
prevent it from going to seed)
Seeds to sow
Contact me
 Parsley
 Lettuce
 Feedback  Mint
 Rocket
 Newsletter input  Oregano
(tips, recipes, gar-  Mesclun
den photos etc)  Thyme
 Fennel (for planting in late
 To be added to my February)  Sage
mailing list
 Beetroot (for planting next  Chives
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com month)
 Zinnias
 Cucumbers (for harvesting in
autumn)  Marigolds
Inside this issue:  Parsley  Petunias

 Chives  Bedding begonias

P ot te r ing aro u nd 2  Oregano  Tropical impatiens
Anita’s Garden
 Thyme  Hibiscus

Top 5 gardening tasks 2  Asters  Protea

for the week
 Pansies and viola Useful links

Starting a garden— 2
 Sunflowers  Italian Seeds Pronto
useful resources Plants you can put in  Awapuni

 Lettuce (just make sure you  Bulbs Direct

Starting a garden 3 grow it in a shady place to
avoid it going limp in the heat Kind regards,
of summer)
Anita Kundu
PAGE 2
Pottering around Anita’s Garden
This summer, I am growing a
large number of dahlias in our
flower garden. Most of these come
from Bulbs Direct, who I highly
recommend for their excellent
quality, reasonable prices and
friendly and efficient service.
Here are some photos.
Labyrinth
Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
1. Sow more lettuce seeds
While lettuce does better in cooler
temperatures, it is possible to grow
it in summer if you keep the plants
in a shady spot.
2. Sow more dwarf beans
Just remember to water them eve-
ry day to aid germination in this
dry weather
Starting a garden: useful resources
There are many books, magazines
and online resources to help you
get started but here are a few
which I have found helpful.
 The Yates Garden Guide—
quite possibly the bible of
gardening. This is my go-to
book if I have a question.
Available from your local
bookshop
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
Café au Lait
I was first introduced to Café au
Lait by Bulbs Direct, who kindly
gave me a tuber back in 2018. Un-
fortunately, it got dug up acci-
dentally by a wwoofer, so I planted
three tubers in spring. They are
putting on a dazzling display.
3. Plant zinnias
I’m in the process of transplanting
my many zinnia seedlings into the
garden after an unsuccessful at-
tempt at sowing them direct back
in November
4. Plant okra
You can move okra plants from
your greenhouse to outdoors now.
 The NZ Gardener Maga-
zine—NZ’s leading monthly
gardening magazine which
contains lots of advice
 NZ Gardener Special Edi-
tions, such as the Home-
grown series— these books
are a very good investment.
Topics are far-ranging, from
garden design and landscap-
ing to growing flowers, fruit
V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 2 5
Penhill Watermelon
This variety gives Café au Lait a
serious run for its money! I’m
growing Penhill Watermelon for
the first time this year.
5. Keep on top of weeds
It always surprises me when
weeds grow in summer, but we
have been getting a bit of rain late-
ly. Don’t leave cleaning up until
autumn otherwise it will be a very
big job. I’m weeding and tidying
the garden as we progress through
summer, so I’m not inundated.
Amaranth is my most annoying
weed and has taken over crops.
trees and veggies.
 Facebook groups—there
are loads of Facebook
groups dedicated to gar-
dening. NZ Vege and
Edible Gardening is one
which I highly recom-
mend.
 The Get Growing e-zine.
 V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 2 5
Starting a garden
Lately, I have been receiving quite
a few requests from family friends
wanting help to start a garden. So
far, all of the articles in my news-
letter presume that readers al-
ready have a garden, but I thought
it might be helpful to write an arti-
cle with some tips for people who
are looking to get started.
Things to consider
 How much space you have.
Even if you have a lot of
room, it’s a good idea to
start small and extend the
garden as your interest
grows, as we did. If you
start too big, you might find
it difficult to manage and
give up.
 Where you will plant—in
the ground, in raised beds or
containers.
 Soil—sometimes you need to
work on the soil before you
can start planting. One of
the best tips given to me
was if you get the soil right,
everything else will follow.
 Sunlight. Bear in mind that
some things need full sun in
order to grow.
 What you want to grow—
flowers, veggies, fruit trees,
roses, natives, low care
shrubs or a combination of
the above.
 How much time you have to
devote to your garden and
whether it’s something that
you enjoy doing. Veggie gar-
dening is generally higher
maintenance as you’ll forev-
er be sowing seeds, planting
new crops, harvesting, pull-
ing out old crops and plant-
ing new ones. It’s a thor-
oughly enjoyable but labori-
ous cycle. Similarly, grow-
ing annual flowers is a tedi-
ous seed-raising process
whereas perennials are less
work.
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
 How much you wish to
spend. Gardening can be
quite expensive but there
are ways you can reduce
what you spend, for exam-
ple, obtaining cuttings from
other gardeners.
 How you will water your
garden. Will you use a wa-
tering can, hose or irriga-
tion? Do you live in an ur-
ban area or rurally? If the
former, it’s not a good idea
to rely on town water supply
given the recent drought
situation and watering re-
strictions. You may want to
look into installing a water
tank to collect rain water. If
you live rurally, consider
whether you have to use
precious tank water or if you
have access to a bore or
creek.
 What sort of climate you
have. How cold does it get
in winter? Are the summers
long and dry or on the short
side? This will influence
what you are
able to grow “It’s a good idea to rotate
successfully. crops to avoid the build up
of diseases in the soil”
 Whether you
have the fi-
nances to engage specialist
help in designing and set-
ting up your garden or if you
will DIY. There are lots of
books and resources online
to help you if you are going
it alone, so don’t feel too
daunted if you don’t have
the means to pay for help
 How will you manage pests
and diseases? Will you use
fertilisers to nourish the
soil? Do you wish to keep
things organic? If you de-
cide to use sprays for pest
and disease control, have a
think about which ones are
acceptable. Remember that
there are organic means of
PAGE 3
preventing pests and diseases and
building up the soil. There are
also inexpensive homemade reme-
dies you can use rather than rely-
ing in commercial products
 Before you begin, there will
be an initial financial outlay
as you’ll need to purchase
some basic equipment, such
as a spade, a trowel, a wa-
tering can and so on. If you
decide to use raised beds,
you’ll have to factor in the
cost of building or buying
them, plus top soil or veggie
mix to fill them, which can
be expensive.
 Don’t start digging up your
lawn without putting pen to
paper and planning first.
As mentioned before, it’s a
good idea to start small, so
when you start designing
your layout do so in a way
which allows you to expand
gradually if you wish. I find
graph paper (with squares)
particularly useful for plot-
ting where to put your
plants in.
 Crop rota-
tion. It’s a good
idea to rotate
crops to avoid the
build up of diseases in the
soil. When planning your
garden, try to allow for this.
 Setting up a composting
system. This is a good way
to recycle garden waste,
keep your fertiliser for the
garden organic and avoid
purchasing expensive
bagged compost from the
garden centre
 Having a storage shed or
clearing some space in the
garage for putting away
your garden tools
Have a good weekend
Happy gardening!