The ears have it
Sow sweetcorn
The sugars in corn rapidly convert to starch once picked, so even the best shop-bought corn is a pale shadow of homegrown.
Sweetcorn is easy to raise from seed. Sow direct into rich, well-cultivated soil once soil temperature reaches 16C. Always sow in blocks, to aid pollination. Feed regularly with compost, animal manure and a general fertiliser.
‘‘Honeysweet’’ (Yates) is an early-maturing variety with large cobs packed with super sweet, golden kernels. ‘‘Honey and Pearl’’ (Kings Seeds) is a main season sweetcorn with large cobs well filled with bi-coloured kernels.
When is sweetcorn ready to harvest? When the silks turn brown (and by brown, we mean dried up and dead, not just a little shrivelled). Peel the husk back a little to take a peek at what’s inside.
In the pink
Dianthus, aka garden pinks (crosses between Dianthus caryophyllus and Dianthus plumarius), are gardeners’ favourites because of their clean, spicy scent and the way they spill in wild, perfumed heaps over paths and walls.
Pinks are easy to grow providing their simple needs are met: full sun, excellent drainage and preferably an alkaline soil, although they will still perform in other situations provided the first two conditions are met and they are given a side dressing of lime. Because of their tendency to flourish in confined root spaces they also make ideal container plants. They are very hardy and will withstand extreme cold but do not like excessive wet.
They are easily propagated from slips and cuttings, their long-lived nature and ease of culture making them the quintessential cottage garden plant, ideal for spilling over sunny garden edges and including in posies and tussie-mussies with moss rosebuds, heartsease and scented pelargonium leaves.
Protect crops with mesh
Gardeners are reluctant to use sprays these days but crops still need to be protected from tomato/ potato psyllids, carrot fly, green shield beetles, cabbage butterflies, birds and wasps.
Physical barriers are effective for all crops that don’t need bees for pollination.
Fine-grade horticultural mesh (from garden centres and by mail order from the Biological Husbandry Unit, bhu.org.nz) prevents pests getting to your crops. Drape mesh over hoops or frames as soon as seedlings are planted.
If you put up the mesh later, pests may be inside already and you’ll have made a sheltered spot for them to wreak havoc undisturbed by their natural predators. Anchor in place carefully as pests will find the tiniest hole.
In areas where tomato/potato psyllids (TPP) are present, consider covering your potatoes and tomatoes. TPP are most active in mid summer but crops need to be covered well before the pests are present. The mesh also gives some wind protection and extra warmth too. Pollination is not an issue as there is enough air movement underneath for tomatoes to set fruit.