Down to Earth: Kids’ gardens
Wow that was some rain! Such a downpour is a good indicator of how good your soil is. If it has good soil structure then it will drain away reasonably quickly and stay together. If not then there's work to do improving the soil.
Encouraging children into gardening is an incredibly rewarding experience (as I'm finding working with Motupipi School kids). At home there are many ways to inspire and provide opportunities for them to get their hands dirty while growing yummy food. Here's a few ideas:
Design a mandala or funky shaped garden to make it more interesting.
Ensure easy access to the beds: e.g. raised beds 200-600mm high, beds 1-1.5 metres wide, keyhole pathways increase the edges which they can easily work on.
Make tyre towers for potatoes and tomatoes etc.
Plant lots of fruits, especially berries.
Have a strawberry pyramid or patch.
Grow much-loved foods like: water/rock melons on mounds, minature pop-corn, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, carrots, peas.
Plant lots of flowers especially sunflowers.
Use lots of climbing structures eg bamboo tipis and 665 builder's mesh archways/tunnels (for climbing crops to grow on and hang through).
Build a scarecrow together.
Incorporate seats and hang out places to rest and play: e.g. willow domes/tunnels.
Most importantly garden together and have fun!
Fruit care:
Prune citrus when harvest. Prune young trees for shape. Remove water shoots from centre of trees.
Thin pip-fruits.
Mulch fruit trees and berries.
Preventative sprays of seaweed on fruits and Copper spray on stone fruit vs leaf curl and pipfruit vs black spot.
Hang pheromone traps to prevent codlin and leafroller moth damage.
Herb Care:
Weed and mulch.
Sow annual herbs. Direct sow: dill, parsley & coriander for best results.
Vegetable Care:
Stay observant of young seedlings: remove/squash pests or spray with garlic and pyrethrum until established. Harden off seedlings before planting. Plant seedlings firmly and water.
Sow regulary for ongoing harvest: radishes, French beans, salads, annual herbs, carrots and sweet corn.
Mulch with grass clippings or seagrass when plants well established. Mulch asparagus heavily including compost/manure.
Mound potatoes, celery and carrots (after thinning).
Ongoing bed prep adding lime, natural fertilisers, manures and compost.
Spray Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) every 2-3 days on brassicas.
Tie and tip broad beans.
Set up stakes or frames for climbing crops.
Hothouse: Keep ventilated and no mist watering. Hang yellow sticky cards and watch for aphids.
Liquid fertilise weekly.
Add flowers & herbs.
Harvest early potatoes and garlic.
Sow for transplanting: Sow all seeds 11th December. Leafy greens (summer spinach, lettuce, endive, cabbages, Brussel sprouts, silver beet/rainbow chard and celery), Florence fennel & leeks. Broccoli and early cauliflowers (also 14th Dec). Sweetcorn, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, melons and pumpkins (also 17-18th Dec). Herbs: basil, parsley etc. Flowers (e.g. celosia).
Sow direct: Sow all seeds 11th December. Radish, parsnip, carrots, beetroot (also 20-22nd Dec). Spring onions, Florence fennel, leeks, salads, silver beet/chard. French/butter & climbing beans, sweet corn, squash, late pumpkin, cucumber, melons and zucchini (also 17-18th Dec).
Plant: 30th Nov - 12th December. Salad greens, spinach, cabbages, silver beet/rainbow chard, onions, beetroot and Florence fennel. Potatoes (also 14th Dec). Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, zucchini, cucumbers, melons and squash (best 30th Nov- 1st Dec). Annual herbs. Flowers.
General Garden Care:
Collect rain water in drums.
Set up or check irrigation systems.
Mulch mow lawns.
Make and turn composts.
Shred prunings.
Weed & mulch ornamental areas.
Sol Morgan, GroWise Consultancy. Ph 525 9110.
