Garden tasks
Winter is coming
When autumn progresses, it’s time to think about the winter garden and any damage the cooler weather may bring.
It is so much easier to sort out frost and rain protection before it’s needed. It’s no fun wrestling with cloches and making frames to support frost cloth or plastic in rain. Frames should be big enough to hold frost cloth above foliage without touching it so a layer of air acts as insulation. For young citrus trees, it’s worth building a wood or wire frame to cover the whole tree if your garden sits in a frost pocket.
Tidy away anything that is likely to blow around, get filled with water during heavy rain or damaged by frost – plastic pots and trays, unused plant supports, hoses, sprinklers and garden furniture. Cover the wood pile and compost heaps too.
– William Hansby
Gardening by the maramataka
This is the true season of ngahuru and harvest is paramount. This is te ngahuru tikotiko iere, meaning when the crops are gathered they will be plentiful. Avoid the early month (11-14th) for harvesting as that follows the new moon.
Thereafter focus on getting the crops out, graded and cured (for kūmara) before selecting those for storage.
Near the end of the month is known as ngahuru pōtiki (late autumn) or the last phase of the season. This period is one to clear the māra, and to allow other biology to help clear remaining pests. Our manu (birds) are valuable contributors to the māra in this way.
Winter crops, especially shorter-term ones such as brassica can be planted from the 9th to the 14th and again at the full moon around the 24th.
For the remainder of the māra, let it rest coming into winter. If you are resowing for a green or cover crop then this must be completed by the end of the month.
– Dr Nick Roskruge