To celebrate the passing of the shortest day, this week we head off into the garden. Mary has a little trick for winter gardening. “We have a number of raised garden beds. This is an ideal base to add a mini green house. We built one that was only about 500mm high with a sloping […]
I make raised gardens out of discarded pallets. There is a business not far from us that puts them outside their premises for people to have free. I dismember them and re-cut the timber to suit. The result is a raised garden about 800mm by 500mm by 300mm high. It takes about three pallets to […]
Instead of throwing out tin cans I punch some holes in the bottom and use them as plant containers for herbs. I have them sitting in a sunny spot in the kitchen. [Painted bright colours, they are also good for a kid’s garden. – Oily Rag Ed’]
Bev has responded to last week’s column about fire ash as a garden fertiliser. “There are a couple of kitchen waste products that are also good fertilisers for the garden. Egg shells are high in calcium so do the same job as lime. I store the shells for a week then bake them for about […]
Now is also a good time to tend to last year’s strawberry plants, by removing the runner plants which can then be planted. If your plants are a few years old it may be worth replacing them. The best runners are the ones closest to the mother plant. It is good practice to replace about […]
For many oily rag gardeners’ comfrey is an essential part of their gardening regime. The leaves are rich in nutrients and break down quickly in a compost bin. To make a comfrey fertiliser soup, half fill a container with comfrey leaves and top it up with water. Cover and let it brew for a month […]
We have a number of raised garden beds. This is an ideal base to add a mini green house. We built one that was only about 500mm high with a sloping lid which can be propped up using some old casement stays we had in the shed (my hubby never throws anything out!). It’s perfect […]
Anita says she loves winter fires. “We use our freestanding wood fire to slow-cook winter meals in our cast iron pot. The bonus is we save on electricity, and we have ash from the stove to put on the garden”. Using wood ash is a very good oily rag trick. Spreading ash onto plants gives […]
Anita says she loves winter fires. “We use our freestanding wood fire to slow-cook winter meals in our cast iron pot. The bonus is we save on electricity, and we have ash from the stove to put on the garden”. Using wood ash is a very good oily rag trick. Spreading ash onto plants gives […]
Your letters and queries have been keeping our mailbags full. Fred from Northland has this tip. “I have a birthday coming up so I redeemed $250 worth of credit card reward points for Farmers vouchers. I used some of those to buy clothing, which I have now given to my family to give to me […]