A journalist once asked me “Whats the best time of year to plant a garden?, and I said “Anytime!” There is not one food growing season, there are four!” As long as your garden isn’t under snow – you can continue to plant and sow all winter long. Things grow slowly, but still they grow, […]
A DIY Greencrop Seed Mix
Greencrops (also called greenmanures) are awesome! Diversity, homegrown fertility + living mulch all in one. Take your greencropping next level, and rather than sowing single greencrops, sow a mixture. Each plant attracts different soil organisms, draws different minerals and reaches different depths. The greater the variety of plants = the greater the variety of soil […]
July in the Vegie Patch, Peas, Pruning + Greencrops
Sharpen up friends! This month we’re pruning! I’m helping you with deciduous fruit trees, berries, grapes, currants, feijoas and avocado’s. If you haven’t found your pruning feet yet, know that you will. Pruning is a journey! Be content with becoming familiar with one new thing this winter. Perhaps seeing the framework for the first time, […]
Kumara and Ginger Loaf
June is the perfect month for this kind of baking. Dense, moist and gingery – its just the thing to make a grey day bright. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Steam or roast, 2 large orange kumara or the equivalent of pumpkin, to create a thick, dry-ish puree. 11/2cups of kumara/ pumpkin puree75g melted […]
How to Choose Your Fruit Trees Well
Your goal, in choosing your fruit trees, is to match them to your environment – both the rootstock (bottom) and scion (tops). When well matched, your trees thrive with very little inputs from you – easy orcharding awaits! To do this well, you need to understand: We tend to focus all our attention on the […]
How to Plant + Prune Deciduous Fruit Trees
Fruit trees perform better by far when grown in native soil – ie soil that’s original to your site. Deciduous fruit trees don’t need compost + fert around their roots – the original soil is perfect especially if you’ve matched your rootstocks to it. What they need is a fungal environment – one created by […]