Strong case made for seed sharing

successfully, thus saving the day.

Also, over-the-fence sharing is the first step towards establishing a seed saving network in your neck of the woods and your community, and you could be the one to get it started. about now are truly in danger of quickly disappearing into the undergrowth, not to be found till autumn, and that’s not ideal, especially if you need them for other gardening activities such as potting up young plants. Get them out now, while you still can!

FEED YOUR GARLIC AND SHALLOTS

Both need generous dollops of whatever you can get your hands on, in order to grow to full potential.

I’m using sheep dung, mixed with a little wool, as it presents underneath the woolsheds we’ve been invited to collect from. The farming world is rich with manures of all sorts, and crutchings and dags from sheep are perfect for the home garden – rich and easily handled, where cow manure is more awkward.

The advantage daggy material offers is the combination of the quick hit the dung provides and the longer, slower feed provided by the wool. Sheepy stuff doesn’t smell too bad and looks okay on the soil. If cow pats are all you can find, use them, as they are good too, but don’t expect them to have quite the punch sheep dags have.

Better still, go avian and get some pigeon poo into your ground. Pigeons produce the Rolls Royce of manure, rich and intense, and you’ll want to weather it well before application, or risk burning your plants. Dove poop, scraped from your local cote, is similarly strong. Chicken manure is good, not so burny and easier to find, but also needs a period of ‘‘relaxing’’ before it is applied to your vegetable garden.

RECORD THE BLOSSOMING

Every year, at this time, blossoms appear, promising fruits later on. It can all seem overwhelming, especially when you’ve a range of

GET GROWING

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 varieties in your orchard or home garden. Record what blossoms are presenting and what the weather’s doing – wind speed, temperatures, frosts that might fall. Compare this data with the crop at the end of the season, to learn of any correlations that might exist. Did the absence of bees mean the fruit harvest was patchy? Did the wind help or hinder the fruit set? Information is power. Now’s the time to start gathering some.