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.

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!

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/ 

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.

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.