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. […]
Summer Revival Having just enjoyed the most spectacular holiday weather in years, it would seem churlish to lament its effect on the garden. After all, that jaded, post-holiday look is easily remedied. We’ll have to wait a while for perfect autumn planting weather. In the meantime, watering, feeding and grooming are the big three for […]
January marks the half way point of the gardening year and as we do in June, preparing for the following spring/summer, now we must prepare for the coming autumn/winter. Novice gardeners often miss this vital time in establishing vegetables for use later as the days shorten. It is those shortening daylight hours that brings urgency, […]
Well gardeners, the year is quickly drawing to an end and the gardens are bursting with produce and flowers planted in the spring. It is a time that you are rewarded for your gardening efforts with produce and flowers to grace your home and table. It is also the right time to plant up in […]
Firstly we would like to wish all our readers a very merry Christmas and a happy gardening New Year. We are now halfway through another gardening year with the longest day here. This is the time of year when our gardens are growing at maximum with only the moisture content of the soil to interfere […]
A senior researcher at GNS Science is using a novel test that can verify if vegetables in the supermarket have been grown organically. Karyne Rogers of GNS Science’s Stable Isotope Laboratory in Lower Hutt said the method was an inexpensive way to verify the organic status of vegetables by distinguishing between vegetables grown with organic […]
Pollination can be a problem for gardeners when it does not occur naturally.
