Timeline for the best kumaras
WHEN ARE KUMARA READY?
It can be hard to tell when to dig for kumara as the tops don’t die down when the tubers are ripe. As a rule, kumara take five months from planting to harvest, but last spring and early summer were so cold that tubers may not have reached maturity yet.
Before committing yourself to digging up the whole bed, do some careful bandicooting in a couple of places to see what’s happening underground. Size isn’t the only thing to look for. Only mature kumara will store well, so check the skin is firm and cut one into a couple of pieces. The cut sides will dry quickly if the kumara is ready to store. They’ll last for five months or so in a cool, dark place.
If you’ve got a lot of tiddlers, peel or scrub them well and cut into pieces roughly the same size. Blanch in boiling water for two minutes, then free-flow freeze. They’ll come in handy for winter soups and stews.
RESCUE BURNT BEGONIAS
Tuberous begonias have a lot of flower power, blooming on and on throughout summer and bringing colour to shady corners.
They prefer a well-drained spot out of the wind that’s shaded during the hottest part of the day. Now that the sun is lower in the sky, check that your plants that were in shade all summer aren’t being burnt. The leaves (pictured) were covered with droplets of water which magnified the sun’s rays with dire results.
When the flowers have finished, leave the foliage in place and keep watering as needed. Food made by photosynthesis in the leaves now will build up the tuber for next season.
Over the next month or so, the stems and leaves will start to die back and can be removed. Stop watering potted begonias about mid-April. Store pots on their sides or where they won’t get waterlogged.
If you need the pots for something else, or you live in a frosty spot, take the tubers out of the pots, leave them to dry for a couple of days, then store. Wrap them in newspaper to stop them touching and put in a paper bag, or put them in a cardboard box with dry potting mix or sphagnum moss to stop them rolling around. Store in a cool place. Begonias grown in the ground can be left in warm areas. Otherwise lift the tubers before the first frost and store as above. In late August put the tubers (concave side up) in a bright spot out of direct sunlight to sprout. Barely cover the sprouted tubers with fresh potting mix and begin the cycle all over again.
TRAP FRUIT FLIES
If, like me, you’ve got bowls of ripening fruit and tomatoes on the kitchen bench, you’ve probably got a cloud of fruit flies as well. Drosophila melanogaster are common in gardens, worm farms, rubbish bins and drains – any damp place where rotting plant material or fermenting liquid has gathered.
Drosophila have been used for genetic research for more than 50 years because they breed rapidly. Not only do they share 75 per cent of the genes that cause disease in humans but their large chromosomes have barcode-like stripes so changes to the genetic code can be easiy identified under a microscope.
In the garden they can be used as an indicator for potential problems. Drosophila have a keen sense of smell for the rotting fruit where they breed and the fungi that the larvae feed on. If you see them swarming around your tomatoes or fruit trees, take a closer look. Chances are there’ll be bird-pecked or over-ripe fruit, a fungal disease or a drain blocked with rotting leaves.
Don’t worry about fruit flies in the compost bin or the worm farm. They are just getting on with their recycling job. (Avoid a faceful of tiny flies when you lift the lid by burying fresh scraps under older material.)
In the kitchen, keep things under control by cleaning up the fruit bowl and vege bin. Also watch for spills around your bokashi bin or compost bucket, unrinsed bottles in the recycling bin and pet food bowls.
Make a trap for blowflies but bait it with fruit juice, wine or a piece of fruit or a spoonful of jam in a little water. Add a drop of detergent to lower the surface tension. The flies are lured in but can’t get out and eventually drown.
KEEP PLANTING
The soil is still warm, even though the days are getting shorter, so keep planting. Beetroot, carrots, coriander, leeks, spring onions, lettuce, radishes, spinach and silverbeet can be grown from seed but transplant broccoli, cabbages and cauli seedlings. It’s worth making an extra effort when planting seedlings into dry soil. Stand the punnet in a weak solution of fertiliser or worm wee until no air bubbles appear. Fill the planting hole with water and allow to drain. Firm the soil around the This column is adapted from the weekly e-zine, get growing, from New Zealand Gardener magazine. For gardening advice delivered to your inbox every Friday, sign up for Get Growing at: getgrowing.co.nz roots of the seedlings and water again. Mulch well. Water deeply so that the roots grow downwards from the start, safe from hot weather and drying winds.