ESOL World Gardeners planted garlic, parsley and broad beans
Tun Hla harvested 5 kg of yacon
Yuri sowed blue lupin green crop to cover a bare plot
Hukanui School Sustainability Class visited Grandview Community Garden and learned how to plant garlic and use mulch
Grandview gardeners grew grapes, figs and berries from cuttings
Hamilton House held a working bee to clear concrete and wood, and mulch fruit trees at Grandview Community Garden
Zaw Mai shared freshly harvested carrots with Ran Won and Hyoung
How to Plant a Fruit Tree
Before planting: thoroughly wet the roots by soaking in a bucket until bubbling stops.
1 Set tree out according to your plan, to get the right plant in the right place.
2. Dig a hole wider and deeper than the root ball (about twice as big)and loosen soil in the bottom of the hole to help roots to grow down.
3 Remove plant from the bag or container without pulling on the stem (slice the bag, or tip upside down and shake, holding onto the bottom of the bag and the soil around the stem).
4 Put the plant in the hole so the top of the root ball will be level with soil when planted. Fill in around the plant with fine soil. Firm the soil around the plant with your hands
Water well and mulch 20cm thick with woodchippings around plant to keep moist and stop weeds
Fruit Tree Sale
Tree Crops Fruit Tree and Plant Sale
this Saturday 6 July 2013 9.30 am to 1 pm
Where: Hamilton Gardens, Camellia Carpark Enter Gate 2 from Cobham Drive. A short distance down, on the left, is the entrance to a large car park. Apple, peach, pear, mandarin, lemon, plum, lime and many other plants for sale. For more information contact Don Harwood, phone 07 843 9007
Visit Grandview Community Garden
Hukanui School Sustainability Class visiting Grandview Community Garden
Your group is welcome to visit the community garden and have a tour. Schools, garden groups, ESOL classes, church groups all welcome. We can show you how to sow seeds, store water, make compost and use mulch in the garden. Contact Clare 0210387623 for more information
July Gardening
Plant garlic until the end of July. Plant each clove 10cm apart and 5cm deep.
Sow parsley, spinach and silverbeet in sunny places
Winter cold makes broccoli, cabbage, carrots and pak choi sweeter!
Cold also brings out the colours in red and purple vegetables like beetroot and red silverbeet
plant spring onions and keeping onions
Tidy up pieces of wood and old pots where snails and slugs hide
Now is the best time to pull out weeds-they are too weak to grow back
Pinch back the tips of your broad beans when the plants are a metre high, to make them bushy.
Keep picking peas, brocoli, carrots and greens
Plan for spring sowing
What do you want to grow in spring? Basil? Watermelon? Celery? Have a look at seeds in the shops or online :Pak’n’Save, The Warehouse, New World, Bunnings (Te Rapa), Palmers (Lincoln St), Oderings (Rototuna) www.kingsseeds.co.nz, www.koanga.org.nz. http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/vegetables
Swap seeds with friends and family to save money and have a bigger variety to sow.
Care for your soil
In winter the soil is wet for weeks. Do not step on the soil when its wet because this squashes the air out. The soil will be hard when it dries. Light, fluffy, airy soil is best for growing vegetables.
Keep your soil airy by:
- mulching. Spread a 15 cm layer of woodchippings or straw on top of the soil. Do not dig or mix it in. Mulch is like a blanket.
- Covering bare soil. Nutrients leak out of bare soil and all the tiny helpful bugs move away, too. If you are not growing anything in winter, sow a green crop of lupins, oats or mustard.
- Making paths through your vegetable plot. Use mulch to cover the paths so everyone knows where to walk.reaching across is better than stepping on the soil
Stop Lawn Prickles 
Do you have prickles in your lawn in summer? Now is the time of year to stop the prickle plant, Onehunga weed. This plant needs lots of light. Do not mow your lawn in July and August and let the grass shade the Onehunga weed. This kills the prickle plant. Easy!
Winter vegetable recipe
Cabbage is less expensive than other greens at this time of year. Heres a recipe from the Otago Farmers Market for Simply Cooked Cabbage. It says to use a savoy cabbage but you could use any type of cabbge (red or green)
Happy Gardening
