Waikato International Community Gardening Project Update June 5th 2013

garden diary

Josie’s pak choi seedlings are up

Levi harvested kamo kamo

Fungai sowed snow peas and broad beans

Zaw Mai harvested pak choi and spinach

ESOL gardeners planted out beetroot and leeks

Taiohi Toa put their garlic in

Jody dug up some huge kumara

Angela picked her first broccoli

Recipe

Beetroot is a vegetable you can grow year round in the Waikato. They are full of great vitamins and minerals to keep your body healthy! You can use the whole plant in both sweet and savoury food:

The baby leaves (also often dark red) are added raw to salads. Older leaves are good steamed or boiled.

Try  the root grated in salad, boiled and sliced in vinegar or slow roasted in their skins. Roast with a little vegetable oil for an intense earthy sweet flavour – peel once they’re cooked. Leftover cooked beetroot can be eaten cold in a salad . The grated root is also used in baking.

What to plant and sow in June

cabbage, broccoli lettuce and spring onoin

Where to buy seeds in Hamilton

seeds for sale

Buy seeds online:  www.kingsseeds.co.nz,      www.koanga.org.nz.  http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/vegetables

Plants - If you prefer buying plants, have a look at http://www.awapuni.co.nz/category/Vegetables .

Or Oakdale Organics range available from Palmers, Lincoln st, Hamilton. 

Grow your own garlic

homegrown garlic

You can plant garlic any time from May to July. Garlic likes moist soil which has been dug well. Garlic likes sun. Don’t plant garlic where you have just grown onions or leeks. Garlic takes 6 to 8 months to grow.

Break up a garlic bulb into 'cloves'. Plant each clove, point upwards, about 4cm deep. Plant the cloves 10cm apart.

Where to get garlic for planting: Raglan farmers Rick and Liz grow and sell garlic by the kilo. Phone first to check availability. Ph 8257093  

Slugs and snails in the garden

Snails and slugs are back! They breed quickly in wet rainy weather. Here are some ways to get rid of them:

Pick them off - go into the garden half an hour after dark (about 6pm) with a torch. Pick off as many slugs and snail as you can. Destroy by squashing or put them out on the pavement for birds to eat in the morning. NOTE snails can travel up to 8 metres at night, so make sure they don't find their way back to your vegetables!.

Remove hiding places - planks, empty pots, pieces of wood and check for snails during the day.

Traps - make a trap out of a dish of sugary water or an upturned plate with bran underneath. Check and remove snails every day.

read more here 

Autumn leaves

Wet leaves are slippery to walk on. Sweep them off your paths and decks every day. Autumn leaves make good compost and mulch. Gather the leaves up and spread under fruit trees and shrubs. Keep autumn leaves off the vegetable garden because snails and slugs like to hide in them.

Plants for free - growing from cuttings

A cutting is a piece of plant stem which can grow new roots. Its easy to grow figs, berries and grapes from cuttings in winter.

Rev Tairea making grape cuttings

At Grandview Community Garden we will be showing how to grow new plants from cuttings later this month. If you would like to join us please email wicgarden@gmail.com

Matariki

Matariki is known as the Māori New Year. It is marked by the rising of the cluster of stars named Pleiades or Matariki. Matariki in the gardening year signified harvesting of crops and planting of new ones.

There are many cultural and outdoor events in Hamilton and Waikato throughout the Matariki season. Find out what is on at http://www.matariki-waikato.co.nz/

Fruit Tree Sale

Winter is the best time to plant a fruit tree. Come to the:

Waikato Branch  NZ Tree Crops Association - Annual Fruit Tree and Plant Sale

Saturday 6 July 2013 9.30 am to 1 pm

Venue:  Hamilton Gardens, Camellia Carpark Enter Gate 2 from Cobham Drive. A short distance down, on the left, is the entrance to a large car park.

fruit tree planting at SWPICS, Tokoroa

Happy gardening!