Readers' Tips
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Mind you - speaking of official growing seasons - last Saturday was the official day to plant garlic (windsor park at Te Horo sell NZ garlic).
The story is: plant them on the shortest day, harvest on the longest. But unofficially, it doesn't have to be so precise, a few weeks either side will work just as well.
So... this weekend plant garlic - around your roses they say, it keeps the bugs away.
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(I hate celery)
You're killing me here, Russell!
Tip for Cajun cooking, should any of you be so inclined: *use celery*. Always. Do not think you can get away with making jambalaya, gumbo, etouffee or any other dish without celery. It is the lifeblood of the cuisine!
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And where's all the Feijoas for crissakes?
my tip is to walk around your neighbourhood. i did this in melbourne and found one tree. then i just pinched everything that hung over the fenceline.
also works for figs, apples, plums, peaches...
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Andrew, great - thanks. This sounds like a good project to commence with my youngest. Small courtyard-based gardening is all that's possible (planning bucket-based tomatoes for summer).
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planning bucket-based tomatoes for summer).
did that too, in one place we lived with a sunny courtyard - I used black polythene planting bags - big ones (20 litre). Smaller varieties seemed to grow better like that, but probably depends on watering.
My wife did something clever last year though (not that unusual), she planted corn one weekend, about 6 of them in a circle, then a few weeks later, she planted runner beans around the corn - ready made climbing frame!!
Nice beans & corn too.
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my final tip. get yourself 2 goldfish swimming in a reasonable-sized bowl.
let the water turn fairly green before you change it, then use that poo-water to feed your potted vegetables.
high in nitrogen and phosphates, that poo-water.
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Its not about guilt - see what I mean about reactionary responses?
Russell asked for tips on improving the lives of everyone. It was a tip, not an order. Jeez, you meat eaters are angry
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* The chef at an Indian takeaway in Australia told me that "fenugreek and spinach is the heart of a saag".
Traditionally fenugreek was used mainly to hide the smell of meat and often fish . I do prawn curry with it and it gives a tangy zesty flavour. ( like lemons) .the Saag above is good for a few meats (goat, chicken I hear) but replace meat with a firm fish or prawns and you're away.
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Jeez, you meat eaters are angry
well, I wasnt angry until I got called a murderer...
Anyway here's my tip....I'v found that if your car is going too fast, putting your foot on the middle pedal will fix it.
Also, you can confound criminal types who might be looking over your shoulder when you enter your eftpos PIN by typing in the wrong number....
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Andrew, can you start growing potatoes by this method anytime of the year?
Potatoes will grow in your garden year around. They're fairly frost resistant, I believe the important thing is to make sure that they are well covered with dirt - potatoes that show on the surface will go green and don't survive the winter so well.
The story is: plant them on the shortest day, harvest on the longest.
See I was told to plant in September, and not take out until it gets cold and you get the first frost!
Wikipedia:
Garlic is easy to grow and can be grown year-round in mild climates. In cold climates, cloves can be planted in the ground about six weeks before the soil freezes, and harvested in late spring.
I guess it depends on whether you consider your home to be a cold climate.
How unusual to plant year around in warm climates, but in winter in cold climates? You'd think it would be summer only in cold climates.
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See I was told to plant in September
Yikes, about 100 cloves of garlic were planted last weekend - I do hope the chief gardener got it right :)
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I was told to plant in September, and not take out until it gets cold and you get the first frost!
I am not a gardener at all, but that sounds like distinctly northern hemisphere advise....
In the southern hemisphere, assuming you get frost at all, its either still frosty in Sept (so the "first frost" could be the following day), or frost has finished and you wont be getting any frost for another 9 months....
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Yikes, about 100 cloves of garlic were planted last weekend - I do hope the chief gardener got it right :)
You've got it right, Andrew, I do this every year. In on the shortest day, out on the longest. Garlic is a cold climate plant. If it's too warm the tops fall over too soon before you get decent bulbs.
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If you are interested in how things are going in the power savings/lake levels game you can watch progress at this nifty daily storage graph.
And whether it’s actually raining in the largest lakes : Lake Tekapo has a wonderful web cam you can point yourself. Check the Godley- Macauley valleys for the headwaters. (For some reason I can't link direct to the cam at present, just go from the 'whoops' page.)
There is also a webcam in Aoraki/Mount Cook Village. so you can see whether any moisture is heading towards Lake Pukaki.
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Its not about guilt - see what I mean about reactionary responses?
Russell asked for tips on improving the lives of everyone. It was a tip, not an order. Jeez, you meat eaters are angry
Nah, we're hungry.
Actually Michael, some of those points you listed do cross my mind now & then & I do question my meating practises on occasion.
Not that I'm likely to be converted to vegetarianism any time soon, but you can count on me being hypocritical enough (just plain too squeamish actually) to never work in an abattoir. Nor to be able to actually kill & eat any animals in my care.
Although a pig that broke into our property once was lucky I didn't have a gun handy.
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Heh. "meating" should be "meat-eating"
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my tip is to walk around your neighbourhood. i did this in melbourne and found one tree. then i just pinched everything that hung over the fenceline.
Perhaps in Melbourne, but not in Sydney I fear. I understand they also grow in Brisbane - I find this odd as I thought they were generally found in colder climes.
Apropos nothing in particular, I discovered there's lots of Pohutukawa in the southern beach suburbs of Perth. Lovely that. I've no idea what the WA locals call them. In the eastern suburbs of Sydney, Bondi et al, they're just known as a "Christmas bush" (bloody Aussies).
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Apropos nothing in particular, I discovered there's lots of Pohutukawa in the southern beach suburbs of Perth. Lovely that. I've no idea what the WA locals call them. In the eastern suburbs of Sydney, Bondi et al, they're just known as a "Christmas bush" (bloody Aussies).
Are you sure they're Pohutukawa? (genus Metrosideros). You'll know when they flower, in December. Auckland garden centres sell plants called 'Sydney Christmas Bush' and 'Christmas Bush.' One of them is Syzygium (much the same as Eugenia/Lilly Pilly) and I've forgotten the other one.
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I don't know for certain Susan. They certainly look like the same tree - not like Rata for instance - but I can't be sure they're the same genus.
They were flowering in August... does that answer the question? The lookalike trees in Sydney seem to flower other than at Christmas too; I'd put that down to the different weather?
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Although a pig that broke into our property once was lucky I didn't have a gun handy.
Mmm, bacon.
Oh no, I looked at the photo, too cute to kill.
Apropos nothing in particular, I discovered there's lots of Pohutukawa in the southern beach suburbs of Perth. Lovely that. I've no idea what the WA locals call them.
"New Zealand Christmas Trees". Or at least that's why my parents found them named as when they went trying to buy one in Perth.
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Oh no, I looked at the photo, too cute to kill
He was bloody destructive though - fences, trees - we were preparing to sell that place when he turned up, unbeknownst to us too, the real estate photographer had already been & took that photo thinking he (his name is Zeus) was ours & it became the centrepiece of the advertising for the property.
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Syzygium Wilsonii (pohutukawa lookingish in flower) is also more tropical (rich soil) and more likely to only grow to about 2metres in Oz. The Pohutukawa can flower at different times as I have 2 in front of our house(and down the whole st) both flower at different times. I think I see the first of one in Aug/Sept and then my Xmas tree. What you see may well be our native as they grow relatively easy.
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I'v found that if your car is going too fast, putting your foot on the middle pedal will fix it.
Fletcher, you'll have to do alternative instructions for automatic transmission.
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Tip for making hiccups go away: drink a glass of water backwards - works about 95% of the time for me.
Get the glass of water, lean over the sink/basin and drink out of the opposite side of the glass (i.e. the glass ends up kind of under your chin while you're drinking). People look at you funny but the relief is awesome :)
p.s. cheers for the lamb galette / pastry making tips & the potato bucket idea
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