Keeping it local
This Ecofest (21–22 August) is about keeping it local.
Being a Golden Bay local and being “eco-minded” is different for everybody. Farmers are planting streams and fencing remnant bush blocks. Hunters do their bit by culling the wild animal pests (and getting a good feed). Those keen on fishing and wild food gathering will appreciate how abundant Golden Bay is, and the importance of looking after the environment too. To garden as locally as possible:
Use local resources such as manure. Talk to farmers or support roadside horse manure sellers. Source spoilt silage, baleage or hay. Make compost from weeds, crop residues, grass, manure and hay. Use mulches such as seagrass (Puponga is the best source), seaweed (Parapara, Patons Rock on spring tides, or Pohara beach) and grass clippings. Edge gardens with driftwood, off-cuts, rough-sawn wood from milling, or rocks. Mussel buoy seconds make easy container gardens. Hire a tractor (etc) from Lifestyle Hire or contract Phil Langford to create a large-cropping garden in no time.
Grow seeds. Try saving your own family heirlooms or last year’s open-pollinated varieties (check for cross-pollination, though). Selecting the best plants over time will give you locally adapted varieties. Collect local plant material in the form of cuttings (eg, currants), root cuttings (eg, raspberries), divisions (eg, daisies), bulbs (eg, garlic), offsets (eg, multiplying leeks), layerings (gooseberries), tubers (eg potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes) and seed for an abundant garden the following year.
Provide ongoing plant care with home-made liquid fertiliser from comfrey, seaweed or manure. Spray plants for pests and diseases with home-made nettle tea for aphids, milk for powdery mildew. Make stakes out of branches, driftwood or bamboo. Tie stakes with flax or cabbage-tree leaves.
Gather produce in baskets or trugs made from local willow (ask Peter Greer or Brett Hutchinson). Connect with local flax weavers and make your own kete.
Gather garden information from the garden club, show gardens, local gardeners, courses and The GB Weekly.
Buy from local growers. Buy from local growers at markets or shops, or stalls. They do such a good job.
Of course, life’s not all about gardening, so keep supporting the amazing products, art and craft that Golden Bay produces. H.A.N.D.S. is a worthwhile local trading system. And don’t forget the local tradespeople who make living here possible, too!
Fruit care
Plant fruit trees/shrubs. Stake and tie (bicycle innertubes are great). Protect from wind and animals.
Prune pipfruit (apples, pears etc) and berryfruits.
Mulch fruits with woody compost.
Prepare new strawberry beds. Add compost, leaf mould, and mulch with pine needles.
Prune citrus when harvesting. Frost protect young plants. Spray with all-purpose oil. Mulch.
Divide rhubarb.
Spray everything with diluted seaweed solution. Copper spray and lime sulphur on fruit trees.
Vegetable care
Prepare for main spring sowing late August/September.
Prepare beds for hot crops (tomatoes, cucumbers, etc). Add lots of compost, blood and bone, organic NZ fertiliser.
Prepare seed beds for upcoming sowings of root crops.
Complete planting of garlic and shallots.
Prepare weed-free asparagus beds. Plant crowns when available.
Keep turning compost.
Continue planting brassicas into fertile beds.
Sow/plant salads under cover (cloche or plastic bottles) and winter greens for ongoing supply.
Sow/plant beneficial flowers, eg calendula.
Hothouse: Clean for better light and look for hibernating snails. Plant winter salads or sheet mulch for spring sowing/plantings. Tidy propagation gear and organise seed-raising mix. Make indoor compost to raise temperature.
For transplanting: All seeds 23rd August. Leafy greens (spinach, spinach beet, silverbeet/chard, lettuce, endive, and cabbages)(best 6th August). White and red onions (best 13th-15th August). Broccoli, cauliflower. Flowers, eg lobelia.
Sow direct: All seeds 23rd August. Mesclun salad and spring onions (best 6th August). Peas (cover). Radish, carrots, beetroot (cover), turnips, swede (best 13th-15th August).
Plant: Best 5th August. Salad greens, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, Chinese cabbage. Early potatoes in frost-free areas. Flowers, eg dahlias.
General garden care
Fix and clean garden tools. Lime the lawn.
Take a soil test (try www.hillslaboratories).
Prune for light and tree shape. Shred prunings.
Collect seaweed/seagrass.
Sol Morgan, GroWise Consultancy
