It’s official, vege gardening is the hottest topic around and everyone is eager to know more! Last year, the Autumn home show surveys filled in by attendees indicated that vege gardening was the No.1 interest that people wanted to find out more about. In response to that Patch from Scratch were invited to exhibit there […]
A new insect pest is attacking tomatoes, potatoes and related crops in New Zealand gardens. The tomato/potato psyllid from North America was first found in New Zealand in 2006, and is still spreading throughout the country. The psyllid can transmit a bacterium, Liberibacter, that is believed to cause the disease ‘psyllid yellows’ in tomatoes and […]
These days, it’s a rare kid that chooses the fruit bowl over the pantry. Nostalgic tales from the ‘olden days’ of apples nicked from a neighbour’s tree, for them, seem hard to fathom. But today as always, stolen or not, the mouth-watering crunch of a freshly picked apple just can’t be compared to the one […]
Autumn is a great time to plant a new garden, but for those of us averse to digging, the hardest part can be getting started. Spadework is at its most off-putting where heavy soil is hard to dig, let alone being conducive to healthy plant growth. Poor soils, both heavy and light, can be renovated […]
Stress in plants is very similar to stress in people. When we are under stress our immune systems are weakened and we are more likely to catch colds and have other health issues. Stress in humans comes with side effects, such as being unable to get a good night’s sleep; rushed meals or fast foods […]
March 1st is officially the beginning of autumn and a signal to vege gardeners that we are moving onto the next season. No no no! I’m not ready to start thinking about soups and stews yet! Hopefully it will be a long summer like last year. Have you noticed little brown moths on your beans […]
March is the first calendar month of autumn and a great time to garden. We are about two months past the longest day and just about four months before the shortest day, and one can certainly notice the shortening hours of daylight. This time of the year brings the autumn rain which a number of areas […]
It’s a wonderful time in the vege patch just now, with all that sunshine really helping you to reap the rewards of your hard work. My prize plant this year is a Rockmelon that is coming along nicely. I have put an old brick underneath it to keep it warm and encourage it to grow. […]
