WHAT TO DO IN THE GARDEN THIS WEEK
Mint sauce, new potatoes & mojitos
All of the above need a healthy crop of mint and now is the time to revive your plants, so that there will be lush fresh leaves ready to pick when the new potatoes and spring lamb are on the menu.
Mint is best grown in pots as it is very invasive. It needs moisture too put the container near the hose where the mint will get a drink every time you turn the tap on.
Mint can live for ages in a pot with only a trim now and then to remove rusty leaves. When the pot gets overcrowded or weedy or the leaves get smaller and smaller it’s time to replant.
Turf out the old plant, replace potting mix and replant sections of stem (pictured) each attached to a clump of roots. Cuttings sprout easily in water too. If you keep a jar of mint cuttings on the kitchen windowsill you won’t need to trek to the herb patch on wet nights. ever put surplus mint roots in the compost heap every bit will grow
Good riddance to rats
The long hot summer provided ideal conditions for rats to multiply. ow the weather’s chilly they’re moving indoors or sheltering in firewood stacks and compost bins.
Avoid close encounters with whiskery invaders by banging loudly on the compost bin before you open the lid. Turning the compost regularly discourages rats from setting up home there and so does adding plenty of brown matter (dry leaves, cardboard, wood shavings and egg cartons) on top of the green matter (weeds, vege peelings, etc). The combination will rot down more quickly without getting smelly. at proof your compost bin by lining the sides and bottom with chicken wire or galvanised steel mesh.
Stop rats climbing fruit and nut trees by placing a broad strip of smooth, unclimbable metal sheeting around the trunk. Check a couple of times a year to ensure the metal sheeting does not strangle the trunk as it grows.
Make sure your stored potatoes, kūmara, pumpkins, onions, garlic, fruit, bulbs and seeds are in rat proof containers.
Tidy up rubbish that could contain rat nests. Set traps baited with peanut butter, fat, chocolate and bacon or lay poison baits. A refillable bait station keeps poison bait secure, free of moisture and out of reach of children and pets.