What to do in the garden this week Tidy up
Get your spuds in the soil, pronto! And plant more mint
If you want new potatoes on your Christmas table, don’t delay. Early varieties such as ‘‘Jersey Benne’’ and ‘‘Swift’’ take about 90 days to develop tubers once they burst through the soil, and if you haven’t pre-sprouted your seed potatoes (also known as chitting) that can add another three weeks to the process.
Dig trenches at least 20cm deep and space your seed potatoes 40cm apart (early varieties don’t grow so big, so they don’t need as much room as hearty main croppers like ‘‘Agria’’). Cover with soil, add a little fertiliser, backfill the trenches then mound up on top with another 10-15cm of compost or mulch.
Then all you have to do is wait. It’s much easier to mound up once, at the beginning, than to fuss about shovelling soil around the stems as the weeks pass. If your soil is still cold and wet, pot up some early spuds in 10L buckets of soil. (One or two seed potatoes per bucket). Keep wellwatered.
New potatoes pair perfectly with mint so tidy up your mint patch now so there will be lots of fresh leaves ready when you unearth your early spuds.
Over the winter, mint plants can get straggly – or die down completely – so before they burst back into full spring growth give your plants a good trim. Chop them right back to ground level if there’s any sign of rust – orange or brown spots on the leaves.
Mint will bounce back quickly once the temperatures rise a little so you needn’t fear being without a crop for too long.
Remember to confine mint in a big pot – where its wandering ways will be contained. The pot can be partially sunk in the ground to keep it cool and retain moisture. I love mint for its looks and the fragrance. My mint pot lives near an outside tap it gets a drink every time I use the hose and I enjoy the fresh smell.
September veges to sow and transplant
Two sunny days in a row spurred me into action in the vege garden. Out went the sprouting broccoli and a flourishing blanket of chickweed and in went lettuce seedlings plus radish, spring onion and beetroot seeds.
Although a few fine days, blossoming trees, daffodils, freesias and tulips galore are convincing signs that spring has sprung, September weather can surprise us with a cold snap or wild winds. Sow and plant seasonally appropriate crops now, but give plants protection with cloches or frost cloth as required.
There’s no need to plant everything in a hurry. Stagger seed sowing and transplanting so all your veges don’t ripen at once. Succession planting also ensures that if the first sowing fails you’ve got the time to try again.
In northern frost-free areas sow: beetroot, broccoli, capsicums (indoors), chillies (indoors), carrots, celery, Chinese cabbages, coriander, lettuces, radishes, rocket, silverbeet, spring onions, tomatoes (indoors). Transplant asparagus, brassicas, celery, salad greens.
In cooler southern gardens sow: bok choy, beetroot, carrots, kohlrabi, leeks, peas, silverbeet, spring onions, tomatoes (indoors), turnips. Transplant asparagus, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, leeks, lettuces, onions, silverbeet, spinach.
The weather is still prone to squalls and cold snaps, so working under shelter is a good idea. Under a plastic or glass roof, a warm corner of the garage there’s lots to be done in preparation for the warmer days ahead.
First up, tidy up! Clear away the clutter of pots, punnets, labels and other bits and pieces. Moss and mould can build in glasshouses, tunnelhouses, cold frames and cloches.
Give them a wash down.
Wash seed trays, pots and punnets and lay in supplies of fresh seed raising mix to avoid the risk of fungal diseases wiping out your young seedlings.
Cut down on plastic waste. If you’ve got old plastic plant pots, punnets and seed trays reuse them for as long as you can to keep them out of land fill. Many garden centres have drop-off points for recycling pots and punnets. Try DIY seedling pots out of newspaper.
Sow root crops direct
Carrots, kholrabi and even radishes can be bought in punnets, but it’s much cheaper and you’ll most likely get better results if you sow them directly into where you want them to grow. These crops hate having their roots disturbed. Transplanting slows down their growth and can lead to twisted roots. Other edibles best sown direct include peas, beans and coriander.
The exception is beetroot. An NZ Gardener trial found that transplanted beetroot seedlings grow as well as those sown directly as long as they are transplanted gently. If sowing in trays, transplant the seedlings when they are 4-5cm high. If you want to sow direct, then take the time to space the large seeds out about 5-10cm apart (otherwise you’re making a job for yourself thinning them out later on) and be sure to keep the water up so the soil stays moist – the faster the edible roots swell, the sweeter they will taste.
Gardening by the maramataka
Now is the move into kōanga (spring), the season to lift the kō. The relationship of the sun (te Rā) to his second wife (Hineraumati, the summer maiden) is evolving at this time and all activities should lead to a successful cropping season in the upcoming summer. This is the planting season once temperatures warm up accordingly. We cannot plant into cold soil, so know your site and recognise the warm areas to start early crops. Kūmara beds can begin to be prepared now and similarly the clearing of land for late spring planting of other crops. We start this month with the full moon tonight, again a cold night, and Whiro (new moon) is on September 26. Seeds saved prior to winter now need to be warmed to encourage new sprouts. This includes taewa, which should be brought out of cool storage and placed under trees for natural warming. Be aware of the solstice and influence of Tāwhirimātea around the 21st of the month.
Dr Nick Roskruge