I have grown cauliflower for many years and it is not uncommon to have only a few leaves covering the cauliflower. The leaves are delicious & can be used anywhere silverbeet, or puha is. My daughter loves this green better than any other. I’ld be interested to see what others think.
Here’s a tip to stop the neighbour’s cat from ‘using’ your garden. Scatter the rinds of oranges or lemons – cut into chunks or strips – around the garden. It won’t harm the pesky cat but they really don’t like the smell. Adds a bit of colour and breaks down into compost after a while. […]
If requiring a small amount of fresh cabbage at a time, simply cut a wedge from the cabbage and leave the rest growing.
Instead of expensive sprays to protect your brassicas try potting up mint and placing the pots in and around your young plants. The cabbage white butterflies do not seem to like mint at all and stay away. Just don’t plant the mint in your garden direct or it will take over.
Forget about buying expensive netting to protect your strawberry plants from greedy birds! Go to your nearest 2$ shop and buy a couple of lengths of Christmas tinsel and drape them around your plants. I did just that and have just eaten the most perfect, juicy berries ever!
Place crushed eggs at the base of plants, on top of leafy greens to avoid being munched/sabotaged by slugs/white butterflies/caterpillars. They don’t like the feeling of sharp bits under their bodies so you may be able to go a whole season without a half munched garden.
To keep the birds from scratching your seeds out and eating your vege plants, get any old DVD, CD or PC disc and thread fishing nylon through the centre hole and tie to a garden stake. Place stake in the ground where needed on an angle so the disc can spin in the breeze. Works […]
A friend gave me some Basil mint with the caution not to let it spread out of its container. To stop it spreading I trim it weekly and make a batch of Basil mint pesto. Basil is a real oily rag plant – so good to have it providing us with such delicious pesto.
Once you have cut the head off your broccoli plant instead of pulling out and starting again, leave it in. smaller heads grow out just above where the leaves join the stem. You can keep eat broccoli for months. I did this a few years ago and we eat broccoli at least 2 or 3 […]
It’s easy to grow produce in NZ, but especially if you are in the North Island. If you don’t grow your own produce, plan for next spring now. My Auckland garden has very poor soil, and a previous owner skimmed off the top soil when the house was built so we have been left with […]