Well the end of another busy year in the food garden. The last bed of summer veg was planted out about three weeks ago – a bit of a jumble of crops, but no space to plant them together with their own kind. So in the bed with the beans on a teepee went sweetcorn, rock melons and capsicums. They were planted as we did the tomatoes and cucurbits – soil forked through, then chicken manure, compost or vermicast from the worm farm, or both, applied, worked in all together with the fork, then after planting, a handful of Morganics or other multi-mineral fertiliser round each plant, watered in well and netted. Just the watermelon to plant now – those seedlings have been extremely slow for me this year.
Now three weeks later, they’re getting going and have been mulched.
The little sunflower seedlings are just pulling away now. Always a few replacements needed with these guys until they get a nice strong stem/trunk.
Tomatoes have all been delateralled. I think I’ve been a bit more dramatic with them this year, and I’m not sure if it’s the days on end of weather that’s perfect for delateralling (blue skies and slight wind) but they’re all looking pretty damn good at the moment. We live in Auckland and in fear of the blight arriving at any moment, but touch wood, we’re clear of it at present.
I untie the plant I’m working on, examine where the main stem is and snap off (by lifting the lateral up and down) or snipping it with secateurs (that have been dipped in methylated spirits to sterilise them) if it looks like it’s not going to come off cleanly. I start at the bottom and clean it all up to where you often find it branches into two strong stems (20-30cms up from the bottom). As you remove each lateral, dob on a bit of Flowers of Sulphur with a paintbrush to stop any infection getting into the plant via the wound. Leave a good moptop on each plant. Remove the little leaves that grow in the crooks of laterals.
Tie the plant up firmly to your stake. We use the ribbon ties and encircle the stem before tying it to the stake so it doesn’t rub on the metal.
Little basils go in with the marigolds that are already growing as companion plants for the tomatoes, water well, pile up mulch, and water the mulch again to keep it from flying away. Our mulch is barley straw from a horse supplies place.
As soon as the fruit starts to colour up I’ll put the nets on. It’s a hassle once they’re on, so I wait until the last minute.
Then it’s time to harvest our onions. The Pukekohe Longkeepers are a good size, but I’ve had a bit of a fail with the Californian Reds.
By comparison, Rob’s Californian Reds were a bumper crop this year, ready early and huge. We’ve enjoyed some of his. What made the difference? Maybe old seed on my part, maybe not enough fish and seaweed applications at the end?
Anyway, I hang my good ones up until they’ve well and truly dried. Our drying arrangement is on the south side of the house and covered, but in the open air. Be careful not to put them in a space that’s too warm – they’ll rot from the inside out and if they get wet, they’ll rot from the outside in.
Our last job was to tame the espaliered pears. With all the rain and the spring feed, they sprouted loads of vertical shoots.
If the shoots come out of the main branch, cut back after the third or fourth leaf. If they come from a previous shoot, then cut back after the second or third leaf.
Much tidier now. Still no fruit, but Rob says it can take 4-5 years to fruit.
And remember to leave the ends pointing upwards. This is because the branches of a fruit tree naturally grow upwards, so this gives the tree the feeling that it’s growing naturally.
So, we’ll get some leafy greens in finally now that the onions are out and making way. And fingers crossed that there are enough potatoes to go round two families for Christmas Day!
In the meantime, Rob is experiencing way earlier than usual maturing of his vegetable garden. Just look at these pics… the pumpkin is Triamble and the beans Scarlet Runner…
We wish you a safe and happy time over the festive season and we look forward to re-connecting in the New Year 🎄🎄🎄
Jan and Rob ❤️
8 Responses
I think your soil has a lot of nitrogen (chook manure) so your onions are growing tops instead of bulbs. Probably same for garlic? You have an ideal setup to experiment with the tomatoes, to delateral or not to delateral, mulch or no mulch etc.
Thanks Tony. No nitrogen went in the onion bed this year but it could be a hangover from the previous crop in this bed.
Thank you for your helpful information all year, it keeps me on track and inspires me to give time to some new processes. This year I have started all my tomatoes from seed, some from a packet named Heritage, so that will be a lucky dip until fruit is produced and some from seed I kept. I got to get some Morganics, am hoping that will be the underlying boost to all my crops.
Garlic has not been as successful here in the Waikato, I planted early as knee surgery would be keeping me out of action when best to plant but the wet Winter and similar Spring has proved to be its downfall, I have harvested walnut sized bulbs which was very disappointing but better than buying something that has accumulated a ton of air miles!
Happy Holidays to you both.
Hi Helen Good luck with the tomatoes – I’m sure you’ll have lots of success. Did your garlic get rust? Agree smaller and homegrown is better than buying garlic from outside NZ. Happy holidays to you too 🎄
A little rust on the garlic but plants just did not get big and strong like the previous year(which was a bountiful harvest). Unsure whether that had as much input as the wet conditions did.
We think if you can grow garlic, then your conditions are good. Nature has a way of having some great years with some crops and other years are a disappointment. Most likely the wet conditions as you say 😊
Dear Jan and Rob,
Thank you for your helpful advice all year🙏🏻🌻
Merry Christmas 🎄 and all the best for a Happy and Bright New Year!🌟
Thank you Diane 🎄