To sign up for Get Growing, NZ Gardener magazine’s free weekly e-newsletter about growing your own fresh fruit and vegetables, simply send an email to getgrowing@nzgardener.co.nz
And the second TV series of Get Growing with NZ Gardener, screening on Prime TV, is back on air at 7pm on Sunday nights. This year I teach West Auckland couple Chris and Lee-anne Coopey how to transform their backyard (and front garden) into an edible paradise complete with chooks, a glasshouse, a mini orchard, a berry bed and eight vege gardens packed with summer crops. Visit the official Prime TV website to catch up on any episodes you’ve missed here.
Having a newly landscaped back garden – veges and flowers, I’m appreciating the get growing newsletter. I downloaded the moon calendar, as in many years of gardening I have never tried lunar growing, so am interested to try it. A question about bulbs – I guess it’s time to plan them now, but should I wait until the lunar calendar says to plant root crops?
That’s a very good question and one which I have no idea what the answer is! I’ll ask Robert Guyton. He’s our moon man
Sue from Auckland asked how to keep cats off seedlings in the Feb 18 edition of the newsletter. To keep my two cats (garden supervisors) off my seeds and seedlings, I use plastic netting held down with weedmat pins (both from Warehouse; the netting comes on a roll that I cut to size). It is great for seeds, particularly for a patch. I grow Kings Seeds Mammoth Mangel Mix for my chooks. When the seedlings are big enough, I lift the netting and re-use it. For seedlings, I had some leftover galvanized mesh from my bean frames so I bent it into a tunnel that I use over seeds planted in rows like carrots and spring onions. Again I hold it down with weedmat pins.