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WIC Harvest Celebration
You are invited to the Waikato International Community Gardening Project Harvest Celebration
Where: At Grandview Community Garden
When: Friday March 22nd 5.30pm
- BBQ provided
- Please bring a plate of food from your garden
Join us at Grandview Community Garden and celebrate the achievements of the WIC Project with a harvest meal and tour of the garden.
Please park on Grandview Road and walk in the gate opposite 183 Grandview Rd. Questions? phone or txt Clare 021 0387623
Garden Diary
Papaloloa harvested yellow tomatoes
Desmond and Shirley's dwarf beans are up
Annie’s lemongrass is enjoying the hot weather
Fungai’s maize corn is flowering
Paul transplanted pack choi and cabbages
Sam and Rara planted out spinach and pak choi seedlings
In Tokoroa, the SWPICS garden is producing tomatoes and crookneck squash
The first butternut pumpkin is nearly ripe in the Iris garden
Ma’ara’s yacons are over a metre high
Phil's sunflower is taller than him
Kora's and Valeti’s lettuce seedlings are ready to plant out
Ali and Yuri picked and saved silverbeet seeds at Grandview Community Garden
How do you know when your vegetables are ripe?
Some vegetables ripen after you have picked them, and other vegetables do not. Here are a few tips:
Rock melon (cantaloupe) is ripe when the fruit smells sweet and perfumed. Some have grey skins, other types have yellow or green skins when ripe.
Watermelon is ripe when it sounds hollow when you tap it, and the tendril nearest the fruit is dry and brown
In the photo: unripe watermelon with green tendrils
Pumpkins and butternut are ripe and sweet when they have a hard, coloured shell, the stalk is brown and the plant has died away. Leave the stalk on when you pick the pumpkin. It stops rot getting in.
In the photo - a ripe pumpkin with dry stalk and hard skin
Zuccini, courgettes, kamo kamo and squash can be picked and eaten at any size. They grow a hard skin as they get bigger. At this stage you can pick and store them in a cool dry place.
Pick tomatoes when they are pale green, yellow or red. Unripe tomatoes ripen after they have been picked. Keep them in the fruit bowl.
Sweet corn is ripe when the silks or tassel at the end of the cob is dry.
Capsicum and chilli are ready to eat when green or red. The flavour is sweeter when they are red
Whitefly
Have you got tiny white flies on your cabbage, pak choi or broccoli? They suck sap from the plant, and make leaves yellow and wilted. Whiteflies like the warm weather but die when the cold nights arrive.
Tips to control whiteflies:
- Fill a trigger bottle with water and squirt the undersides of the leaves in the early morning, 3 days in a row..
- Soap spray: Use only pure soap, as detergents will damage your plants. Liquid soap: 2 Tbsp (30 ml) per litre of water. Dry soap: 5 grams per litre of water. Rinse plants afterwards
Drought in the Waikato
Our region is now at Water Alert Level 3, which means hand watering only.
Seedling vegetables: three times a week (one litre per plant = one milk bottle full)
Vegetables: twice a week (two litres per plant = one 2L milk bottle full)
New fruit trees: once a week (ten litres per tree= one 10L bucket full)
Tip: half full buckets are easier to carry than full buckets. Use two buckets and have the tap half filling one while you are watering with the other.
Preserving your harvest
Have you got too many apples or peaches? March is the traditional month for preserving fresh fruit
In the photo - cox's orange apples
Here you can read about preserving fruit using the overflow method.
Recipe
This Tomato Relish recipe is a good way of preserving tomatoes. It tastes great in sandwices or with a curry. You can add chopped chilli to make it hot.
This week at Grandview Community Garden
Water wise vege growing - come and see how mulching and careful watering can keep your garden growing.
Community Garden Mentors will be at the garden to answer gardening questions and help you get your garden ready to grow autumn vegetables.
When:
Tuesday March 5th 9am to 11am
Thursday March 7th 5.30pm to 7pm
Saturday March 9th 5.30pm to 7pm
Wear boots or shoes and a sunhat. Bring tools and seeds if you have them.
Please park on Grandview Road and walk in the gate opposite 183 Grandview Rd. Bus route number 8 (Frankton)
Call us if you have any questions Clare and Tim ph 021 0387623 WIC Community Garden Mentors
Events
Hamilton Italian Festival is on Sunday March 10th at Hamilton Gardens, There will be food, entertainment and cooking demonstrations.
Waikato Community and School Gardens Network Meeting is on Monday 18th March 1pm to 3pm at Grandview Community Garden.
Happy Gardening
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