|
Post by snooka01 on Dec 11, 2006 13:50:40 GMT 12
|
|
Dalbyj
Chief of Staff
Hope Springs a Kernal
Posts: 2,378
|
Post by Dalbyj on Dec 11, 2006 14:56:58 GMT 12
This is brilliant snooka, thanks for that!
I usually get books out of the library but as you say, they are almost always geared at the US or UK ... this will be very handy!
|
|
|
Post by meandog on Feb 22, 2007 16:09:55 GMT 12
This is brilliant snooka, thanks for that! I usually get books out of the library but as you say, they are almost always geared at the US or UK ... this will be very handy! A couple of books that I recommend are: "Gardens for Free" by Geoff Bryant. A propagation handbook for NZ ers. Can save one, heaps in doing your own propagation. The other very interesting book is : "NEEM" A tree for solving global problems. Report of an Ad Hoc Panel of the Board on Science and Technology for International Development National Research Council. There is a lot of technical stuff in there but there is a lot of easy reading about an amazing tree. Pity it does not like the colder climate, but would grow well north of Auckland.
|
|
|
Post by snooka on Feb 22, 2007 18:12:30 GMT 12
Ya know what, If I click on Gardening I still get this ;
Page cannot be found The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
And it has been like that for some time...
Gardening is 1 subject I do know about...
|
|
|
Post by meandog on Feb 22, 2007 18:58:56 GMT 12
Mention it in the Whinge section. Snooka, admin should be able to sort it.
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Aug 30, 2007 16:48:29 GMT 12
Collecting seeds and building up a seed archiveI usually let the best plant grow to seed. When the seeds are ready I collect them on a dry sunny day. Sometimes I take the whole plant and hang it up to dry more and sometimes I collect the seeds directly where the plant grew. I keep the dry seeds in envelopes which have the name of the plant and the year on it. I keep the envelope closed with a peg. When I buy seeds I make sure they are not hybrid plants. Hybrids are bred to make one good crop then you have to buy seeds again to get a good crop. If they are right with the oil crises then it could be that seeds will become very expensive and not that easy to get (forecast from a Nelson group which discuss the oil crises on a regular term). More and more people will buy seeds and plant their own vegetables. It is worth to keep some seeds. Especially from plants you like. Beans: Leave the beans till they are fully ripened. Remove, dry and keep in envelope. Brassicas, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Mustard, Cabbage: Be aware that there should no other brassica flower at the same time because they will easily cross breed. Cross breed seeds will produce wimpy plants. The seeds of brassicas are long and similar to beans but much smaller. I cut off the pod with the seeds and keep them that way in envelopes. If I have heaps of them I open the pods and take the seeds out. Coriander: I always plant coriander between the potatoes. They are a complementary plant to potatoes. Coriander has a very strong smell and potato beetles don't like it. When the coriander is ripe I take the seeds and use them in the kitchen as a spice and use some for sowing again. The green coriander plant can be used in the kitchen as well. I have read that coriander is a good companion plant to tomatoes as well. The coriander seeds are 2 – 3 mm in diameter. Fennel: You might not eat fennel in New Zealand but I do plant them and keep the seeds. Sometimes I use these seeds as a spice as well. Leek and Spinach: Can cross breed. I let the best plant to grow to seed. When the seeds are ready I remove them from the stems. One plant is enough for hundreds of seeds. The seeds are easy to pick. Lettuce: The seeds from lettuce have some woolly bits around the seed, similar to dandelion. I give the seeds into a plate and rub them slightly with the fingers. The woolly bits are lighter than the seeds and can be blown away easily. Potatoes: Keep enough potatoes in a dark cool place and plant them next season. If I need to buy potatoes I usually buy organic ones and plant them. Tobacco seeds: The husk of the tobacco plants holding the seeds is very sticky. I rub the husk open and the very small seeds fall out. I sieve them and remove impurities. All small seeds can be cleaned by putting them through different grade sieves. Tomatoes: The nicest tomato will be cut open and the seeds removed. There are different ways to keep the seeds of tomatoes. Sometimes I put the seeds in a sieve and let water run over it. With a brush I brush over the seeds and the rest of the flesh from the tomato washes away. I tip the cleaned seeds onto a towel and leave them to dry and store them in an envelope. Another way is: Spread the tomato seed onto a paper kitchen towel and leave them to dry. Next year you can remove the seeds from the towel with tweezers and put them into seed raising mixture or you can put the whole towel on a seed raising tray and cover it slightly with seed raising mixture. Tomatoes can be easily grown from cuttings.
|
|
|
Post by meandog on Aug 30, 2007 17:09:43 GMT 12
I have used the laterals as cuttings, but although they produce fruit it is not as good as the parent plant, but by the time the cuttings have produce, one would have had enough of tomatoes so I now discard the laterals.
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Aug 30, 2007 17:39:45 GMT 12
I have used the laterals as cuttings, but although they produce fruit it is not as good as the parent plant, but by the time the cuttings have produce, one would have had enough of tomatoes so I now discard the laterals. Thanks a lot for the comment! I love to hear what you know about seed collecting. I am still a learner and I want to give my children as much information as I can get.
|
|
|
Post by manuela on Aug 30, 2007 18:04:14 GMT 12
great stuff Ivy!!!!! I had my helpers out in the garden yesterday: they were off school AND really happy to muck around outside ;D
|
|
|
Post by OasisNZ on Aug 30, 2007 18:16:42 GMT 12
Hi Manuela, I'm just checking out that Facebook thingy....
|
|
|
Post by meandog on Aug 30, 2007 19:06:47 GMT 12
Hi Manuela, I'm just checking out that Facebook thingy.... My niece got me to sign up to that. LOL. Her company had blocked Bebo. LMAO.
|
|
|
Post by manuela on Aug 30, 2007 19:53:23 GMT 12
facebook is good - I've found a few "lost" friends from the other side of the world on there ;D
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Aug 30, 2007 20:30:49 GMT 12
great stuff Ivy!!!!! I had my helpers out in the garden yesterday: they were off school AND really happy to muck around outside ;D Well done! They look sweet and they are in the age they still want to help and even enjoy it.
|
|
|
Post by manuela on Aug 30, 2007 20:34:54 GMT 12
I am going to let them plant beans and peas this summer - they loved growing Broccoli & cabbage during the winter, but winter veges are easier to grow, they don't need watering... last year we had sweet corn and by the end of summer we were sick of it LOL
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Aug 30, 2007 20:43:38 GMT 12
I am going to let them plant beans and peas this summer - they loved growing Broccoli & cabbage during the winter, but winter veges are easier to grow, they don't need watering... last year we had sweet corn and by the end of summer we were sick of it LOL That's a good idea. I can still remember helping my grandmother in the garden. I was probably about the age of your girls. It's something they never will forget.
|
|
|
Post by manuela on Aug 30, 2007 20:57:45 GMT 12
I can remember grandma's garden... the trĂ¼bli & stachelberri (wouldn't have a clue what you call them in English) and the grapes YUM BUT there was also the lettuce..... after the first frost it tasted REALLY bitter, and grandma would sprinkle sugar over it to make it taste "better"
|
|
|
Post by OasisNZ on Aug 30, 2007 21:26:57 GMT 12
Now that folks, is the classic "Swiss Way"... Nothing goes to waste, even the bitter frost bitten salat, LOL! I was amazed when over in Switzerland I saw farmers out with the scythe cutting every last blade of grass in the paddock where the big machinery didn't reach...
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Sept 7, 2007 19:58:50 GMT 12
Hopefully the weather is fine next week. I want to go in the garden. In spring is always heaps to do. Does someone know the Brompton Stocks. We have received a bunch of very fragrant flowers today. The lady said they are frost tolerant and even gave us some seedlings.
|
|
|
Post by OasisNZ on Sept 8, 2007 7:45:08 GMT 12
Here are the Brompton Stocks...
|
|
|
Post by meandog on Sept 8, 2007 8:00:19 GMT 12
Now that folks, is the classic "Swiss Way"... Nothing goes to waste, even the bitter frost bitten salat, LOL! I was amazed when over in Switzerland I saw farmers out with the scythe cutting every last blade of grass in the paddock where the big machinery didn't reach... I can recall my grandmother,who had property at Beachlands (east Auckland). She used to scythe the long grass between her fruit trees. She fed the cut grass between her feet and when finished there was these long rows of stacked hay. My job was to remove this and spread it around her garden as mulch. She was on tank water so watering the garden was out of the question. I tried to use her scythe but just could not get the hang of it. I can still remember the long oval shaped stone she used to sharpen it with.LOL.
|
|