Advice. Ideas.

Inspiration

Anita’s Garden
Volume 3, Issue 32 26 February 2021

Useful Links Editorial

Webpage

Blog Welcome to the thirty-second issue Cauliflower Macerata and Cauliflower

of my newsletter for Volume 3. Romanesco. All of these varieties did
Newsletter back issues extremely well last year. Here’s a little
I hope you are all well. I’d like to throwback.
Facebook warmly welcome the new subscribers
Instagram to my newsletter in the past week. I
hope you find my newsletter informa-
Twitter tive and interesting. I try to keep the
content as fresh as possible, so if
Linkedin you’re looking for a particular topic,
chances are that I have covered it in
Pinterest
the past. You can view previous is-
sues by following the link in the left
hand column on this page.
Contact me
Autumn is rapidly approaching. One
 Feedback sign that it nearly here is the appear- Cauliflower Macerata and Broccoli Cal-
ance of our Naked Ladies (Amaryllis abrese from Franchi Seeds
 Newsletter input Belladonna), which always rear their
(tips, recipes, gar- heads when the seasons change. Just a little reminder that Franchi
den photos etc) Seeds are distributed by the retailer
Italian Seeds Pronto in New Zealand.
 To be added to my
mailing list I always wait until March to plant my
winter seedlings for two reasons. First-
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com ly, they usually go in the spaces occu-
pied by our melons and pumpkins,
which are sometimes still ripening in
early autumn. I therefore don’t want to
Inside this issue: pull them out prematurely. Secondly,
the white butterfly is a terrible nui-
sance for brassicas, as the caterpillars
eat the leaves. You can use derris dust
P ot te r ing aro u nd 2 (I have some that is organic) but you
Anita’s Garden have to reapply it when it rains or you
water the garden, for it to be effective.
A pink Amaryllis Belladonna Timing is a useful way to control it.
Top 5 gardening tasks 2
for the week
This week, I have been very busy pot- Useful links
ting up all my seedlings for autumn  Italian Seeds Pronto
and winter into seed raising trays.
News 2
For autumn, I’m growing beetroot,  Awapuni
fennel and kohlrabi. This winter, I’m
growing broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower,  Bulbs Direct
Gardening for individuals 3 kale, lettuce, pak choi, silverbeet and
spinach. I’m excited to be growing Kind regards,
and smaller families
three brassica varieties in the Franchi Anita Kundu
Seeds range— Broccoli Calabrese,
PAGE 2
Pottering around Anita’s Garden
Our Malabar Spinach has done
really well in its new location
along the fence with our new
neighbor. It has full sun. This is
a vining type of spinach that is
delicious steamed or consumed
raw in green smoothies. It is
known as aloobati in the Philip-
pines.
Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
1. Sow herbs for autumn
You can sow coriander, chives and
parsley (flat leaf/Italian and curly)
now. Lately we have been growing
coriander as a micro-green in foil
baking trays and harvesting it as
we need it. We find this a much
better alternative to growing it in
containers or the ground
2. Harvest any ripe
News
Italian Seeds Pronto is still stock-
ing the tomato Red Pear in its
range of Italian heirloom seeds. I
grew this variety for the first time
this year and was very impressed.
The three plants I put into the gar-
den in November were tall and
very healthy. This tomato is a
beefsteak-type, with a lovely fla-
vour. They are very easy to grow.
A must-have for next season!
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
I gave this mixed bouquet (or
“tussie mussie”) of naked ladies
and zinnias to my Aunty Joan as
an early present for her birthday
in March. Both flowers are ideal
for a late summer/early autumn
garden, when usual summer flow-
ers such as dahlias and sunflowers
have done their dash.
pumpkins and squash
I noticed that some of my spaghet-
ti squash and pumpkins have al-
ready started dying off the vine so
I harvested them immediately.
The danger of keeping them on the
vine unnecessarily is that rats and
mice are more present as it gets
cooler and they may nibble on
them.
Earlier this week, Bulbs Direct
were selling bunches of gladioli via
their Facebook page for residents
in the Paparoa region. They were
meant to be headed for the flower
markets in Auckland but never
made it there due to the lockdown
last week. It’s worth keeping an
eye on their Facebook page for
such offers. They have also sold
bunches of Café au Lait dahlias.
V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 3 2
These are just some of the spa-
ghetti squash and pumpkins I har-
vested from our vines. I always
wait until they die off the vine first
before picking them, as they taste
and store better.
3. Spray celery with liquid
copper (organic)
This helps to avoid rust.
4. Plant jonquils
For an early display, plant erli-
cheer now
5. Feed roses for autumn
Use granular or slow release food
Get a free bundle of silverbeet
AND spinach from Awapuni with
orders this week. The minimum
spend is $40. This offer is on until
9 am, 1 March 2021 or while
stocks last. The bundles will show
up automatically in your cart once
the minimum spend is reached.
Spinach may be substituted for
Perpetual Spinach if needed.
 V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 3 2
Gardening for individuals and smaller families
Gardening often conjures images
of a glut of produce, most of which
goes to waste because it doesn’t get
consumed in time. Don’t let the
fact that you live alone or have a
small family put you off having a
garden! Gardening is a great hob-
by, whether you live alone, with a
partner or parent, or have a small
family. Kids love getting involved
and it’s nice for them to be out-
doors.
I’ve put together some tips to help
you keep your garden on a smaller
scale so it is more manageable and
it minimizes waste.
Plant propagation
Although I LOVE propagating
plants from seed, if you are gar-
dening for only one or a couple of
people it might be a bit of a waste,
as the number of seeds in packets
can be very high. In this case, it
may be more sensible to purchase
punnets of seedlings from the gar-
den centre. Only sow varieties
that are not available in punnets.
This makes gardening a lot less
work, too. Stick to regular sized
seed packets. Don’t buy bulk pack-
ets, even if it works out cheaper as
you’ll end up with too many plants.
Split punnets and packs of seeds
with friends, family and neigh-
bours if they’re too large.
Another tip when purchasing pun-
nets is to look for mixed seedlings.
Instead of purchasing, say, a six-
cell punnet of broccoli, it is some-
times possible to find one punnet
which contains two broccoli, two
cabbages and two cauliflower.
This allows you to have a bit of
everything. Awapuni sell mixed
bundles of veggies and herbs, and
deliver direct to your door.
Succession planting is a good idea.
By staggering the planting of veg-
gies, you ensure a continuous sup-
ply and prevent a glut of produce
that you can’t get through at once.
PAGE 3
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
Compact vegetables Growing potatoes
If you’re growing for just one per- Even if there’s just one or two (or
son or a small family, look for mini three) of you, you can still grow
veggies. Last year, we grew the potatoes. Look for a store that
compact green cabbage Ranfurly sells seed potatoes loose by the
Mini from Egmont Seeds. Regular kilo, so you can buy exactly how
brassicas can get very large, tak- many you need. That way you
ing up a lot of space in the fridge avoid having to buy a large bag.
and a long time to get through. For some people, even a kilo bag
Ranfurly Mini was the perfect size may be too much. Newton Seeds
for just the two of us. in Auckland is the only place I
know of that sells loose seed pota-
toes and they ship, too.
Container gardening
If you live alone, it may be better
to keep most of your plants in con-
tainers to make them easier to
look after. This is especially useful
if you don’t have a lot of space out-
doors. Many edibles can be grown
in containers and some even per-
form better in pots than in the
ground!
The cabbage Ranfurly Mini grow- Flower gardening
ing in our garden Want to have a flower garden but
put off by big flower packs? Look
For a small-sized pumpkin, you
can’t beat Baby for loose bulbs for sale in garden
centres. This
Bear and Gold Nug-
get. You can also way, you can buy
“Gardening is a great just a few. You
get compact melons.
hobby, whether you live can also get a few
Try Sugar Baby
alone, with a partner or different kinds,
watermelon and
parent or have a small so you have a
Sweet Granite rock-
family. Kids love getting variety.
melon.
involved and it’s nice for
them to be outdoors” Managing on
Dwarf fruit trees
your own
Planting regular
sized fruit trees for one person or a Although I live with mum, I large-
small family doesn’t make sense. ly manage the garden on my own.
There is so much surplus that you Two (or more) pairs of hands are
really need to preserve the excess better than one set, but you can
so it doesn’t go to waste, which still achieve a lot if you’re on your
may not be worth the effort for just own. My advice is to be realistic
one or a couple of people. Look for about what you can achieve in a
dwarf varieties, which are more day. Write a list of tasks that need
compact and can be grown in pots. to be done and tick them off as you
go. Accept that weather conditions
You’ll be pleasantly surprised by
how prolific the harvest from these and unforeseen circumstances (eg
an expected visitor) may limit
small trees can be (without being
too much). what you get done in the garden.
Have a good weekend
Happy gardening!