Grow a Climbing Bean Teepee
Home-grown treat that doubles as a play area for kids
Teepees are a great outdoor place for kids to play, hide and relax. Youcan grow yourownliving teepee of climbing beans using of a pyramid of bamboo poles or tomato stakes. The teepee creates a funand sheltered area to play and provides kids with delicious and healthy garden snacks.
Here are the simple steps to create yourownliving teepee:
1. To build a pyramid shaped teepee, tie the top of 5-10 2mlong poles or stakes together with twine and push the ends well into the soil so they’re stable and secure. Makesure there’s enough roominside the teepee for the kids!
2. Also wind the twine around the poles closer to the ground, to give the bean plants extra places to climb and help strengthen the teepee.
3. Dig in some YatesDynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food into the soil around the base of the teepee to help give your beans a great start.
4. Sowa fewclimbing bean seeds, such as Yates BeansHumongous MegaPods, at the bottomof each pole or stake, and water in well. There’s no need to water again for the next few days.
5. The tiny seedlings will emerge in 7-10 days and gradually start to climb theirwayup the poles.
6. Water the bean plants regularly and feed with YatesThrive Vegie Herb LiquidPlant Food to help them grow.
7. Yates BeansHumongous MegaPods develop enormous beans, up to 60cmlong! The pods are deliciously tastywhenpicked at normal size, but you can leave a couple on the plant to keepgrowing intomega pods!
8. The first tasty bean pods can be picked fromaround 11-13 weeks after sowing.
Beautiful blueberries
If home grown, freshlypicked blueberries sound tempting, then it’s time to find a spot at your place for a blueberry bush or two.
‘Climax’ is an early season variety withmediumto large dark blue berrieswith a very good flavour. The bush has an open andupright habit. Climax is a ‘Rabbiteye’ type so is selffertile but will produce heavier crops if cross pollinated with another Rabbiteye variety like ‘Tifblue’ or ‘Centurion’.
Rabbiteye varieties grow well inall areas ofNZand are partially deciduous. Blueberriesprefer an acidic, well-drained soil. In areas with alkaline soil (a pHhigher than 7), applications of Yates Soil Acidifier Liquid Sulfur everymonthwill help lower the soil pH.
Some blueberries can also be grown in pots.
Choose good qualitypottingmix such as Yates PremiumPottingMix and a large pot to give themenough roomto grow.
Blueberrieswill benefit from regular applications of a complete plant food during spring.
YatesThrive Strawberry Berry Fruit LiquidPlant Food is ideal for blueberries as it’s fortifiedwith extra potassiumto encourage fruiting.