Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
New Zealand's leading source of information on Organics & Sustainable Living
Levin Branch - November-December 200701-11-2007Organic Growing News Newsletter 245 End-of-year social - Sunday 25 November at 1.30pm Our final meeting for the year will be at Deirdre Kent and Malcolm Murchie’s 2-acre property at 202 Otaki Gorge Road. The property features a huge number of different fruit and nut trees in park-like grounds. Unfortunately Deirdre has been unwell recently and will not be there, but she has kindly allowed us to proceed with the visit. Instead of a catered event, the meeting will now be a pot luck afternoon tea. Members are asked to bring a plate of food to share, a cup for hot drinks and a chair if desired. There will be no gate charge. This meeting is strictly for members and their guests only. It is our annual informal branch meeting, a chance to socialise and swap notes – on organics or any other topic! Numbers are no longer an issue, so there is no need to book a place – apologies to those who already have. Deirdre and Malcolm’s property is certainly one to see, and a perfect venue for our pre-Christmas get-together. We look forward to seeing you there. Home Garden Visit with Paul Knight, Levin. About 56 enthusiastic people came to this visit to Paul’s sunny and sheltered garden and to learn his gardening techniques. Gardening has been in his life as far as he can remember; his family have been gardeners for generations. Before Levin he came from a 3 acre property in Mt Albert. Paul came and started this garden in 1999, previously the property had been a commercial strawberry farm and Paul could see the soil needed some tender care to bring it back to health again, early crops had disease but this is no longer a problem. The amount of blackbirds who now visit Paul’s garden, he thinks is due to the lack of other vegetable gardens in the vicinity! The ‘Weed Flame Thrower’ was shown as a successful way of dealing with weeds, but Paul warned of taking care to be fire security conscious. These are available on the internet at www.goatheads.com, $US 34.89 (match start) or $US 47.89 (electric start) plus freight. The main vegetable garden consists of two approximately 8m x 2m raised beds. Growing there were garlic, celery, cauliflower, red cabbage, leeks, strawberries, silverbeet, peas, kale, fennel, parsley and lettuce, plus two beds of asparagus. These are mulched with a mixture of composted calf manure and wood shavings, which Paul gets delivered from a farm source. Much interest was given to Paul’s Bokashi compost bucket talk and his worm bin. The EM (effective micro-organisms) Bokashi liquid was sprinkled on the garden at one teaspoon per litre. The food was buried in the garden after it had fermented to a white mould on the top; it can also be added to the worm bin or compost heap. The worm bin also provided much valued information. Scraps etc take 3-4 months from start to finish. Weed seeds are to be avoided, and the bin also needs to be out of direct sun. Newspaper on the top layer keeps it moist – worms don’t like it too hot. The worm leachate from the bin is sprinkled around at weak tea strength. Although the lemon tree was giving some problems with verrucosus or citrus scab and lemon tree borer, it was still producing abundant lemons and Paul was trying to improve its health with liquid from Bokashi, worm leachate and the “Bert Munroe of ‘The Fastest Indian’ movie” treatment (aka human wee)! It helps also to take ripe lemons off the tree. Good advice was to use the tricoderm products from Grow Max. “Root Mate” for rust and fungal diseases on cucurbits and tomatoes at planting time, one teaspoon at each hole. “Plant Max” could be used as a liquid and watered in. “Bob’s Beans” is the name given by Paul to his heritage beans originally brought to NZ by Catholic Priests. These have been a long time in his family and are a favourite – a near riot almost developed (just joking!) with enthusiastic people eagerly being handed out samples of dried beans to take home – thanks Paul, I hope you all have success in growing them. Of particular note were: “Black Russian Radish” winter grown with an atomic taste and health benefits. Cranberry used with stuffings. Celandine added to a health drink of Kombucha mushroom herbal tea with grated ginger. Miner’s Lettuce can be eaten or steeped for a herbal drink. Advice for white butterfly on cabbages – spray with garlic, pyrethrum or neem and plant companion plants. All in all a really enjoyable and informative day and Liz thanked Paul for having us visit. Deirdre Kent reminded us of the Christmas afternoon tea. Worms were sold at the Sales Table and names taken for Paul’s supplier of mulch. Dave Johnston’s contact details for the Bokashi bucket system are lao@ihug.co.nz, phone 03 364 6101. - Val Nicol and Wendy Batterbee December and January in the Organic Garden Our Organic Garden Calendar for Horowhenua and Kapiti is now with the illustrator, and we have received a number of quotes for the printing. In the meantime, here are a few extracts from Kath Irvine on what we can do over the next two months. Summer Hurrah! Summer is here. Oh the relief when the equinox winds have blown themselves out! Here come the long hot days, river swims and tea at the beach, and enough heat and light to ripen our summer vegies and fruit … Summertime we need to be busy in the garden keeping our vegetables and fruit trees nurtured through their growing season. They have a lot of work to do – keeping strong in the face of heat, pests and disease while going into full production. We can greatly support them by being disciplined with regular liquid feeds, consistent waterings and careful observations to nip problems in the bud. The advantage of being a home gardener is that solutions to pest or disease need not be complicated and can be as simple as sending the children out to squash caterpillars… Now is the time to begin harvesting herbs for tea, medicine and cooking. For flower harvest, collect the flowers on a fine dry morning and lay on newspaper on trays in a dry airy space out of direct sunlight. Once dry, store in jars. For leaf harvest, collect herbs on a fine dry morning just before they flower. Tie in small bunches and hang in a dry airy spot out of direct sunlight. They keep their flavour best if left as whole leaves and crumbled just before use … December Surely one of the busiest months of the year!… It can be hard to keep up with all your gardening chores at this time, but it’s well worth the effort. If you are going away over summer you may need to be on the look out for a reliable garden sitter so that all your hard work doesn’t go to waste … See if you can keep your Christmas simple and genuine. What can you create out of your garden? … Homemade gifts are from the heart. They create a genuine and special feeling. How simple and delicious is a jar of pesto? A packet of sweetpea seeds? A homemade soap? A pretty windchime made from driftwood and shells? A painted rock? A basket of plums? They teach our children how to be creative and to enjoy the wholesome pleasures of life… Another round of salad sowing. I hope you are using a variety of salad greens. There are lots of different varieties and each one is suited to a different time of year … A mix of plant varieties provides you with a multi-coloured and textured garden – so beautiful to look at! It also keeps the genetics strong in your seed. Observe which varieties suffer pest and disease and which don’t. Over the years you will find a selection best suited to your garden. Sow successional crops of zucchini, cucumber, corn, beans, peas, red onion, silverbeet, pumpkin. Direct sow beetroot and radish. Plant out kumara slips and yams. Kumara go best in a sandy loam. Add potassium rich fertilisers like seaweed and potash, also add rockdust. Kumaras don’t need a high nitrogen content …Transplant last tomatoes and basil … Plant out another lot of zucchini, corn, beans, red onion. If your first lot of cucurbits (zucch’s and cuc’s) got mildew then plant the second lot somewhere away from the infected bunch … Plant out pumpkins … Leeks can be planted out now for winter harvest. Flowers – sow zinnia, gaillardia, cosmos, mignonette, late sunflowers, marigold. Plant out a collection of salvias for autumn/winter colour and insect food. Plant bulbs of crocus, anemone, dahlia, freesia and snowdrops. Tasks in the vegie and flower patch – Hill up potatoes; Liquid feed everything; As your broad beans finish, chop them off at ground level leaving their vast roots in the soil to provide structure, air and drainage. Use their tops for a wonderful source of carbon; Make more comfrey tea; Lift onions …; Seed collecting …; Regular tomato care; Pack up your cloches …; Prune back summer-flowering perennials …; Deadhead and feed roses; Sow a greencrop if you have time in the bed you are preparing for brassica plantings in February; Keep up compost making; Chop in any Spring greencrops. Add compost and rockdust before the next crop goes in. A good rule is to begin to prepare the ground for a crop at the same time as you sow the seed. … Go easy on the weeding. Can you leave them in place till the autumn clean up? If not, slashing is better than pulling in the heat of summer, and easier on your body. It’s just as easy to trample your weeds and mulch right on top of them with wet newspapers and/or hay. However, some weeds need to go – like ones around the onions and garlic and under the citrus trees. Have a pause before you weed! … January Gardeners always need to be thinking of the season ahead. If you want to be enjoying brassicas this winter/spring, now is the time to plan for them. Brassicas mature at different rates. Plant a variety to make sure you have some maturing at different times through the season - that way you will have a steady useful supply rather than a glut all at once … Sow seeds of cress, mustard, spinach, lettuce, silverbeet, peas, radish, brassicas, dwarf beans. Direct sow carrot, radish, beetroot, parsnip. Flowers - sow alyssum, hollyhock, stock, calendula, chamomile. Plant out the last of the zucchinis, corn and beans; and another lot of red onion and salad greens. Keep beans well mulched to keep their roots cool; Stop pumpkins growing any more by keeping their runners pruned back. This way they will put all their energies into maturing their fruits; … Continue to collect and dry seeds; As garlic and onion are ready, harvest, dry and store them in a cool, dry spot; … Cut the grass under the nut trees for an easier harvest; Remove old leaves and fruiting stalks off strawberries; Water orchard for plump fruits; Summer prune early stonefruit as they finish …; Remove old raspberry canes after harvest to encourage a late crop; Trim grapes and kiwifruit to allow sun to get to the fruit; Keep new growth on vines tied up; Keep up codling moth inspections. Moon Planting Guide - Dec 07 & Jan 08 December 2007 Sat 1- Rest day. Node noon. Ascending. Sun 2 - Weeding. Last Quarter. Mon 3- Weeding. Wed 5 to Sat 8- Apply compost. Fri 7- Apogee 6am. Mon 10- New Moon. Tue 11- Descending. Wed 12, Thu 13- Leaf crops. Sun 16- Node 2am. Moon opp Saturn Mon 17- First Quarter. Tue 18- Fruit crops. Fri 21, Sat 22-Fruit crops Sat 22- Summer solstice. Perigee 11pm. Mon 24- Full Moon. Ascending Tue 25, Wed 26- Root crops. Fri 28- Rest day. Node 4pm. Mon 31- Last quarter. January 2008 Tue 1- Ascending. Tue 1 to Sat 5- Apply compost. Thu 3- Apogee 9pm. Tue 8- Descending. Wed 9- Leaf crops. New Moon. Sat 12- Node noon. Moon opp Saturn Sun 13, Mon 14- Leaf crops. Wed 16- First Quarter. Thu 17, Fri 18- Fruit crops. Sat 19- Perigee 10pm. Sun 20- Ascending. Mon 21, Tue 22- Fruit crops. Wed 23- Full Moon. Fri 25- Node midnight. Mon 28, Tue 29- Root crops. Wed 30- Apply compost. Last Quarter. Thu 31- Apply compost. Apogee 5pm “Leaf crops”, “Fruit crops” and “Root crops” show beneficial days to sow and harvest, when the moon is in a fertile sign and in the appropriate phase (first quarter, second quarter and third quarter respectively). Days in bold are especially good. “Weeding” in barren sings and “Apply compost” in fertile signs during fourth quarter. Ascending - the moon gets higher in the sky. The earth breathes out and growth flows upwards. A good time for sowing seeds. Descending - the earth breathes in, activating the lower parts of the plant. A good time to make and apply compost, cultivate ground, harvest root crops, cut firewood, prune fruit trees. Rest days- no work is recommended for a few hours either side of node, perigee or apogee. Node- moon crosses the ecliptic. Perigee- moon closest to earth. Apogee- moon furthest from earth. Moon opposite Saturn- Believed to be a strongly positive time. Sow seed or apply preparations up to two days beforehand. Full moon- liquid feed plants three days before and after full moon. 2008 Organic River Festival There are now only nine weeks until the festival on the Saturday and Sunday of Wellington Anniversary weekend, 19 and 20 January 2008. This is our biggest event of the year, our main chance to advertise our message of “Healthy Soil – Healthy Food – Healthy People”. It also helps us to fill our coffers so that we can cover our expenses for the year ahead. We rely on the generous donations of you, our members, whether by way of plants, produce, baking or staffing the stall. If you can volunteer for a few hours on one of the days, please contact Winifred or Singa. We are pleased to announce that The Kiwibackyard Company has once again donated one of their untreated macrocarpa kitset garden beds as first prize for our raffle. You can view their products at www.kiwibackyard.co.nz/main.html We are also looking into some other possibilities for second and third prizes. We had a good response to the raffle last year, particularly when the tickets were being actively sold to passers-by. We need more volunteers this year dedicated to the raffle - if you are personable with perhaps just a touch of a silver tongue, we would like to hear from you. Time is fast running out for sowing seedlings or potting up divisions and cuttings. Vigorous, well-rooted plants in standard sized pots or potting bags are preferred, labelled with the name. Berry plants and herbs have been popular in the past. There have been a couple of requests on where to find further information on the Organic River Festival. Their website is www.ecofest.co.nz Future Meetings 19-20 January 2008 – our annual stall at the Organic River Festival, Kimberley Reserve, Levin. 30 March 2008 – AGM and visit to Riverslea Retreat, 733 Otaki Gorge Road. 27 April 2008 – visit to Debbie Laing’s 16 acre lifestyle farm, 98 Derham Road, Te Horo. If you are coming from Wellington for any of our meetings, you might like to call Shirley Hampton on (04) 934 3621 to arrange a car pool. The next committee meeting will be held on Monday 7 January 2008 at 10am with Winifred and Ray, 23a Fairfield Road, Levin. All members are welcome to attend. |
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Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
