What a fun morning it was with year 5 & 6 students from Riverdale School! We made so wonderful food – see recipes to the left – and enjoyed a wonderful tasty, healthy, lunch together. It always makes me so happy to see everyone working together to produce something outstanding. Cooking isn’t all fun though, everybody had to chip in to wash, peel, grate, weigh, mix, wipe, wash, dry and put away – but many hands make light work and the not so fun stuff goes quickly when you have your friends around to help you. I hope everyone enjoyed there lunch and has given one of the recipes a goat home with your whanau.
Unfortunately it was a very wet day so we couldn’t really get much done in the gardens – but as Easter was looming I had a plan! We made some really neat Easter plant gifts for whanau members and they looked awesome. I thought your creativeness was wonderful and I hope you enjoyed giving them to your special people. At least we got to get our hands in some soil for a bit.
It was a wonderful day and I hope everybody enjoyed themselves, I look forward to seeing some of you again next year.
Until then, happy gardening everyone! Jacinda
GARDENING ACTIVITIES
Growing an Avocado tree is so much fun! It does require quite a bit of patience – they can take up to 8!!!! years to produce fruit, but they are lovely trees and a challenge is good!
GARDENING TIPS
JOBS FOR THE AUTUMN GARDEN.
Autumn is the time to harvest the last of the summer produce, clear and prepare for the winter garden planting. I find the garden starts to look a little rough around the edges in autumn. Pruning fruit trees, pulling out the old zucchini plants and spent tomatoes to tidy things up is a great plan. Remember not to put your tomato plants in the compost bin as they can spread any diseases this way.
Once the garden has been tidied you can start to replenish the soil with compost, sheep poo or whatever you usually use. once worked into the soil get your winter vegetables in. Sow carrots, radish, swede and turnips directly into the soil and keep the soil moist. Brassicas – cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and kale – but make sure to watch for slugs and snails. Also, white butterfly caterpillars can destroy your crop in a few days. Kiwicare has a great organic spray you can use which won’t hurt our bees and other beneficial insects. Lettuce, silverbeet and spring onions are also great to plant this time of the year – Red lettuces grow better in the winter than green ones do, so they are a great option.
Gardens can be mulched after planting which will help to keep weeds done over the wetter months. It’s a good idea to turn your compost bin before it gets to cold and if you get frosts cover the bin. I use an old piece of carpet and some black plastic to keep the heat in.
Most importantly, enjoy the warm evenings outside before the cold sets in – walk around your garden and pick the last of the cherry tomatoes and strawberries.
