Is it too soon to mention Christmas?

Given the cost-of-living crisis swirling around us, I suggest trying to make a few gifts this year! It’s not too late to try and strike a few cuttings if you have any nice plants that friends or family have admired. Quite a few houseplants – such as pothos, philodendron, monstera, syngonium, hoyas and more – will form roots within about four weeks if you cut off a piece and pop it in water. Look for a stem that has a couple of nodes and a couple of leaves, and cut just below a node on an angle. Remove any lower leaves that would sit in the water, dip the cut end in rooting hormone if you have it handy (if I don’t, I’d use cinnamon, aloe vera or honey instead), and pop the whole piece in a vase or jar full of water. Keep it in water, in a bright spot and change the water every four or five days. Once the roots are 5cm or so, take the baby plant out of the water and plant in a pot.

You can use the same method for edible plants too. Try it with mint, lemon verbena, rosemary, lemon balm or basil (I have tried it with currants, grapes and figs too, although they take longer and so won’t be ready for Christmas gifts).

If you have a walnut tree, or know someone who does, the green walnut liqueur nocino is a great gift. I use a recipe shared in NZ Gardener’s weekly ezine Get Growing years ago: 29 large green walnuts, 5 whole cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 star anise, zest of one lemon and one orange, 1 litre of vodka and 500g caster sugar. Quarter the walnuts (wear gloves or your hands will be stained black for days!) and place in a big jar with everything but the sugar. Shake the jar every day for a month and then add the sugar. It still needs to store for a few months more before you drink it so tell that to the gift recipients.

In my Auckland garden, winter and spring (and indeed last summer!) were so wet, it’s hard to believe we have a dry growing season ahead. But that’s what the forecasts are saying so start mulching now, if you haven’t already, to keep water in the soil, and keep weeds down which are using up the available water that you want for your crops.