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Weekly Round-Up #1

22/9/2013

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As Spring has sprung, and we are now entering the busiest time of year in the garden, I have decided to post a weekly summary of what has been going on over the past week, starting with this one.

Last Tuesday (17th) was the last day for sowing or planting above-ground crops for the month, according to the moon calendar. So early in the week I was busy sowing lots of seeds in trays and pots in the greenhouse. While in the past I have tended to focus on only plants for human food, the more I read and learn the more I realise how important it is to plant things that benefit bees and other beneficial insects as well. This month so far I have planted:
Fruit & Vegetables: I have sown seeds of heading lettuce, gherkins, cucumber, spinach, watermelon, green zucchini, crown pumpkin, freckle lettuce, leeks, silverbeet (green and coloured), tomatoes (three varieties) and I also planted four feijoa bushes, and set up a bin full of potting mix and compost in which I planted some extra raspberry canes, and dug up the black currants that have been growing in a corner from cuttings I was given last year, and moved them to pot until I have a permanent place for them.
Flowers & Herbs: I have sown bee balm, borage, thyme, dill, chives, marigold, nasturtium, zinnia, Mexican sunflowers, alyssum, snapdragon, phacelia and cosmos. Many flower and herbs are both edible or medicinal for us, as well as providing food or shelter for bees and helpful insects, such as ladybirds, hover flies etc.

On Wednesday morning I awoke to a very frosty morning, with the outside taps frozen, ice on the troughs and all over the plants. This is why tender warm season crops need to be nurtured under cover at this time of year!

This week, my strawberries are flowering well (the photo above was taken on Wednesday morning, and they are all frosted but strawberries are pretty hardy plants and it doesn't bother them). My dwarf peach tree is in bloom too. The raspberries have all burst into leaf, and are showing signs of developing flowers, and the boysenberries are just starting to leaf up. The first of the buds have burst on the grapevine. Mmmmmm can almost taste the summer fruits to come!

I finally got around to going to say hello to a guy up the street who grows and sells herbs and veges, and we had a nice chat about his garden. He told me that last year he had a bed full of gorgeous cabbages in the middle of summer, when everyone else around here has all their brassicas decimated by white butterfly. At first he couldn't understand why, and then finally realised that prior to the cabbages, the bed had been full of garlic! So guess what I'm going to plant this summer after I harvest my garlic bed?? Normally I don't even both with brassicas over the summer, but maybe........

Speaking of garlic, I have a bed planted in garlic, in two halves. Traditionally, one is supposed to plant garlic around the shortest day of the year, and harvest it on the longest. This year, June 21st was the shortest day. I planted the first half of the bed on June 7th with cloves from garlic I bought from the supermarket (not knowing anywhere else to get it). I planted about 48 cloves. Four or 5 sprouted a while later, but I nearly gave up on the rest until I read they can take up to 6 weeks to show, so I decided to be patient. I planted the second half on August 25th (about the last chance for the year) with cloves from garlic purchased at a local market garden. Those are now just about all showing through the soil, and more of the first half have come through, but in disappointing numbers. I'll give the first half a little longer before just planting something else in the gaps. I've never grown garlic before, but I've read they can take ages to show above the soil, but meanwhile are developing strong root systems underneath. We'll see. I've had to cover the bed in netting to keep the cats off - when it's no longer needed there, I'll move it over to the strawberry bed.

My Frugal Fortnight concluded successfully - I did manage to stay away from the store and not spend any more money on food, and we certainly ate just fine! I saved some $500 over the two weeks that way. On Thursday, I did a regular fortnightly shop, but am thinking of making it last a month, as we still have some things I'd like to use up in the pantry. Meanwhile, I have more recipes to post over the next few days.

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By Thursday, the weather had turned bleak, with lots and lots and lots of rain over the last few days. Today (Sept 22nd) is the Equinox (day and night of equal length) and one expects unsettled weather at that time. Earlier in the month it was gales, now it's heavy rain. A lady I know who has grown a lot of food for years not far from here tells me gales are the norm for late November too (when tall plants are vulnerable if not staked). Local knowledge of what to expect is invaluable to gardeners - always talk to those around you who are experienced, and make note of what they can share, as well as keeping a diary of your own to record weather conditions so you will begin to see patterns.

When the weather is too nasty to work outside, it's a good time to work in the kitchen! I finally found time to begin harvesting and bottling my beetroot. I got half the bed done on Friday, before running out of time and energy. I will post my Pickled Beetroot recipe separately.

I've been keeping a record of how many eggs are being laid by which group of chickens over the past fortnight. As of yesterday, we've gotten 206 eggs over the last 13 days! That's a lot of eggs! I'm going to try out some methods of preserving them this week, but then I also need to start selling the on-going surplus, which will help to pay for the chicken feed. Free-range eggs anyone?

And lastly, I've begun planning a gardening talk I'll be giving at the local library on October 12th. If you're local, I hope you will come along!

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How to Know What to Plant When - 3 tools and tips

12/9/2013

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Yesterday I sowed seeds of: hearting lettuce, gherkins, bee balm, borage, thyme, dill, chives, zinnia, cucumber, spinach, watermelon, zucchini, pumpkin and freckle lettuce in my greenhouse, and I have more seeds to sow, both undercover and directly into the garden.

So, how do you know what to sow, when and where? It is very helpful to have a local gardening guide, and here in New Zealand, www.gardengrow.co.nz is very, very useful. This website lets your choose your gardening region, then shows you what to plant this month and next, with details of how best to plant it, plus all plant names are linked to a page with more detailed growing and harvesting information. You can also subscribe to the email list, and get a weekly or monthly list of what to plant directly into your inbox. I find this an excellent tool.

On top of that, it pays to use local knowledge, as each area has it's own microclimate. So talk to your neighbours and those in your area who garden, and ask them when they plant specific things. In time, you will build up your own local seasonal knowledge. Keeping a gardening diary is an invaluable tool in achieving this - I'll post another article soon about my own gardening diary, what is in it, and why.

One more consideration - gardening by the moon calendars can be very useful too. Many people are certain the moon makes a big difference to plant growth, and my own experiments this year have shown that to be true. If nothing else, it is helpful to have a plan as to when in the month to concentrate on planting above-ground crops, when to plant root-crops, and when to concentrate on prepping, pruning and harvesting. All these things need timely attention, and something that helps you plan a monthly cycle can be a useful tool. I like NZ Gardener Magazine's downloadable moon-calendar. This is reusable one because each month you just turn the disc to line up with the new moon date for the month, and it tells you everything else. I keep a copy in the front of my gardening diary. You can find it here: http://nzgardener.co.nz/moon-calendar/ 

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September - Spring Planting Begins, Wild Weather Happens

10/9/2013

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Spring has officially sprung, and all keen gardeners are chaffing at the bit to get growing! However, caution is needed at this time of year, as the danger of frosts is by no means over. Some plants can be sown straight into the garden now, but soil temperatures need to be high enough for them to germinate. Most crops will do better if sown in trays and kept under cover until the weather is warmer. This photo is of some of the seeds I will be sowing this month (except the corn, that pack shouldn't have been in the pile). I already have trays of broadbeans, celery, beetroot, celery, lettuce and onions germinating happily in the greenhouse. From September 7th - 17th is the optimal time for planting all but root veges, according to the moon calendar, so I plan to get busy. Larger seeds such as pumpkin and zucchini will be planted in individual pots or in toilet rolls and then potted up later, to keep them growing under cover until it's safe to plant them out. Most of the rest will go in seed trays in the greenhouse and be planted out in a few weeks. I also need to purchase a few more packets of seeds - especially silverbeet and sunflowers.

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September is also a time when wild, windy weather can pretty much be guaranteed. As we approach the Spring Equinox on September 22nd, the weather is always very unsettled. Gales, thunderstorms and heavy rain are all par for the course. Right now, New Zealand is experiencing intense gales and thunderstorms around the country, and many towns are without power tonight. At my place, it's very, very windy, but our power is still on, and I don't think there has been any major damage done at this point. A couple of simple explanations you might find interesting:

The Equinox happens twice a year, and is the point at which day and night are of equal length.

The Spring Equinox brings the wildest weather - and this is because in spring, Antarctica is at it's coldest for the year, while the Equator is very warm - the biggest differential in temperatures occurs and causes strong winds. In Autumn, Antarctica is at it's warmest, and so the temperature difference between it and the Equator is much less, though we can still expect unsettled weather close to the Autumn Equinox.

Weather can be unpredictable, but when regular patterns occurs, it pays to be aware of and prepared for them. The high-winds of September are another reason to keep seedlings protected, and are why I haven't already got all my seeds planted. I'm hoping for a few calmer days soon. This is also why I prefer to have our sheep lamb in July - our lambs are a good size before September, and much more able to withstand cold, wet, windy, miserable weather.

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Lambing and Planting

19/8/2013

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The last few weeks have been insanely busy! Added to everything else, it's lambing time, which has had it's own challenges. I've had very little time to do much in the garden.

As readers will be aware, I've been trying to plant mostly according to the moon calendar. This month, the main planting dates are Aug 9-19, but a combination of weather, visitors, lambing and illness has prevented me doing any planting so far. On Saturday I had planned to plant as much as possible - but an earthquake on Friday caused a leaking drain in our wall which needed urgent attention, we woke to torrential rain, and that morning my youngest ewe gave birth to twins, but had no milk so I spent most of the day getting them feeding (she's now managing to feed the boy twin, but I'm having to bottle feed the girl). The ones pictured above are another set of twins, born on Wednesday morning. They're a boy and girl too - so cute! My last ewe gave birth this morning to a hefty male lamb - that makes 2 singles and 5 sets of twins this year.

Yesterday we had visitors, and so today is planting day, no excuses! I've got 3 Chilean Guavas to plant, along with a bunch of polyanthus. I'm also going to soak some peas and plant them this afternoon, clean out my seed trays and start seeds of everything possible. It's technically still winter here, though very mild, but I have to assume we'll get more hard frosts, so will be starting seeds and keeping them covered for now (except the peas which will go right in the garden). I also have some celery seedlings I've been nursing over winter - I'm going to go ahead and put them out in the garden and see what happens.

In addition, I need to dig and create a new garden bed and then transplant my raspberry canes into it, and also another one for my boysenberries. I also intend to create a bed and transplant the black current plants that have been quietly growing from cuttings I was given last year.

I'm needing to add sides to my impromptu compost bin, and then dig out the main chicken run and refresh it with new sawdust. I treated those hens for worms a couple of days ago, so now is the time to do it. The loose stuff from the top will go in the compost, the old rotted sawdust/manure will go straight into the new garden beds.

So, all in all a full day ahead.

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The Green Bean Experiment - Does Planting by the Moon Make a Difference? Is it OK for a Christian to use Moon Planting Guides?

6/4/2013

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When I first began thinking about growing food this season, I was seeing quite a lot of mention of gardening by the moon in magazines and on the internet. Now, I'm not into astrology etc - in fact due to my Christian beliefs I avoid anything that leans in the direction of astrology or witchcraft, divination etc. Over the years I've tended to ignore "planting by the moon" ideas, subconsciously writing them off as at least "a bit weird."

But then I got to thinking...What IS planting by the moon really all about? Is it science or fantasy? Good or evil?Commonsense or nonsense?

Now, there are some folk who add the whole moon-planting idea to their own various beliefs and leanings and then talk about goddesses and so forth in the same breath. But just because some folk use a tool in a certain way does not mean that that is the only way it can be used.

So what is moon-planting? It is the idea that the cycles of the moon affect the sap and growth of plants in much the same way as it affects the tides of the sea, and that being aware of those cycles, one can recognise that there are certain times in the cycle which are best for planting different things, and other times when it's best not to plant at all.

Now, I doubt there is any educated person on earth who would dispute that the moon causes or affects the tides, right? Though no doubt at some point in history that idea was considered witchcraft.

Though it is an area of dispute still, it's widely believed that there is a correlation between lunar cycles and the behaviour or moods of humans and animals too. I know several people who work with mental health patients, and they attest that there is an obvious increase in restlessness and aggressiveness in their patients when the moon is full.

Now, if the moon can affect the water on the earth, and the behaviour of people, is it really such a stretch to think it could affect the growth of plants? If so, would this thinking be science, commonsense, or "weirdness"?

What does the Bible tell us about the moon?

Genesis 1:14 is part of a passage recording the creation of the sun and moon:

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide
the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for
days, and years"

Psalm 104:19 "He made the moon to mark the seasons..."

Deut 33:13-14

"Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious
things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
And for the precious fruits brought forth by the
sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon" (Emphasis mine)

God created the moon to be seen at night, and the movements of the moon, along with that of the sun, show us the seasons, the days and the years. This is simple fact - time can be measured by the passage of both sun and moon. In Deuteronomy, the passage quoted above is part of Moses' blessing on Joseph and his descendants, that his land may be blessed with rain from heaven, water from below, precious fruit which the sun causes to grow, and precious things that are brought forth by the moon! Within this is a simple reflection of the fact that both the sun and moon affect the growth of vegetation and ultimately the crops they produce.

We all know our plants need sufficient sun to grow and produce crops. We know that different things grow  better at different times of year, due to the rotation of the earth in relation to the sun and so the differing lengths and strengths of daylight. Any reasonable gardener knows that to ignore the sun and seasons when planning and planting their garden is folly. Why, therefore, should we not accept that the moon also has a physical effect on the natural world, and use that knowledge to our advantage?

Now, before I really had worked my way through all of the above thinking, I decided to conduct an experiment to see if planting by the moon made any difference to the end results, or not. I devised and carried out "The Green Bean Experiment."

I took one of my raised garden beds, 2m x1m, and divided it down the length with a string. I planted one side (the left) with dwarf green bean seeds during the first week of December 2012, when the moon planting guide said I should NOT be planting anything. I sowed the other side from the same seed packet on Dec 17th, when it was supposed to be the right time to do so. Both sides sprouted, both sides grew. Was there any difference?

Well, it turned out there were a number of differences! The photo above was taken on Jan 16th. Before I go on, please note that I had later filled some gaps in the bed, especially near the front and to the left, with some yellow dwarf bean seedlings I was given by a friend. Those plants/beans aren't counted in these results. The differences between the two rows:
1) Germination - I planted the same number of seeds on each side. Row 1 had 9 plants grow, Row 2 had 14.
2) Size and strength - the plants in Row 2 appeared taller and more vigorous, but on closer examination I found this was mostly because the plants in the first row did not grow up straight, but were mostly leaning over, collapsed on the soil. The plants in the second row were stronger and straighter.
3) Production - I harvested and weighed the beans from each row separately. At the time of posting this, Row 1 has yielded 1.962 kgs of beans, and Row 2 has yielded 2.508 kgs of beans (though planted later so slightly behind in age/production time)

I concluded that planting according to the cycle of the moon DOES make a difference. Now, one of the reasons for not planting at the "wrong" time, is that plants put in then tend to bolt to seed. With things such as beans, where it's the seed pods you're harvesting, this hardly seems like much of a problem, but germination, size and vigour are all good reasons to use the guides as a helpful tool. I also started to take more note of the difference in my sweetcorn patches and when they were each planted in relation to the moon calendar - for info on that, see
HERE.

So, where does one find a good moon planting guide? There are several available, but my favourite is from New Zealand Gardener's website - you can download and print the guide; I keep it in the front of my garden diary. This one works as a wheel - each month you turn it so the symbol lines up with the date of the new moon, and it shows you what dates are best for planting root crops, above ground crops, or concentrating on non-planting chores. I find it's also helpful to have something that helps me plant my month like this, so I keep moving along with all the different types of garden chores, rather than focussing on one and neglecting the rest. You can download the chart
HERE.

Speaking of New Zealand Gardener magazine, if you're a Kiwi, you can subscribe to their magazine (and several other inspirational publications) by using Flybuys points - 320 pts gets you a year's worth of mags. They have a lot of useful ideas and tips.


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    This page is my blog formerly known as Kiwi Urban Homestead.

    I'm a Kiwi homeschooling mother of 5 living in a small town. After growing 1000 kg of produce in my back yard in 2013, I'm now expanding my edible gardens even further.

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