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What to plant and harvest in your garden this August
Get busy in the garden this August.
PLANT
+ Plant globe artichokes or divide existing plants and replant in well-fertilised soil. These gorgeous, silver-leaved perennial vegetables need plenty of space so don’t plant them too near other crops.
+ Watercress can easily be grown from pieces you have bought from the vege shop. You don’t need a creek in the backyard; a bucket of waterlogged planting mix will do nicely.
+ If you live in warmer areas get those early potatoes in or at least start the sprouting process. In colder places you may need to protect plants from frost. Recommended early starters include Jersey Bennes, Agria and Ilam Hardy. Always choose certified seed potatoes, guaranteed to be virus and pest free.
+ Plant fruit trees (deciduous only in colder areas) and berry plants including strawberries.
+ Plant chive seedlings in pots or directly into the garden if it’s not too frosty in your area. Chives are a versatile vege useful in salads, omelettes and virtually any style of cooking. Although the pink flowers are pretty, it’s better to cut them off to encourage plants to produce more leaves. Now is also a good time to plant shallots, spring onions and onions.
HARVEST
+ Pick silverbeet regularly to encourage more leaves to develop. The large outer leaves can be bitter so use those for soups and stews. Silverbeet is a stalwart of the traditional Kiwi vege garden, deservedly so as it’s highly nutritious and easy to grow. But if your lot are not so keen, consider surreptitiously adding it to pizza, pies and lasagne.
+ When preparing freshly picked broccoli, spinach and other green veges it can be easy to miss tiny snails and caterpillars. A good trick to ensure no creepy crawlies invade your dinner plate is to wash your greens in cold, salted water before cooking.
+It’s a shame to see citrus trees laden with unpicked fruit when so many people could benefit from that vitamin C. If you can’t eat all your grapefruit, mandarins and lemons, rather than let them go to waste, think about dropping some off to the local school, rest home, kindergarten or homeless shelter. Your neighbours might also appreciate some.
SOW
+ Rocket is an indispensable green for the winter garden. Its peppery flavour will add interest (and a big dollop of nutrition) to salads, casseroles, sauces etc. Don’t forget that the flowers and seed are edible too. Easy to grow, sow rocket in the garden or in pots if soil is wet, heavy and cold.
+ If your garden is warm and sheltered sow silverbeet for a continual supply right through to spring when you can expand your range of leafy greens. Sow seed 2cm deep into the garden or in punnets for planting out when seedlings are established (particularly in colder areas).
+ South Americans and those in the Deep South of the US love collards, but they’re not grown much here. They should be as they are said to have unique cholesterol-lowering and anti-colon cancer properties. Sow now for a spring harvest, either into the ground or into trays of seed-raising mix for planting out later. Cook as for kale.
+ Not all of us like to grow veges in winter but rather than let vege beds fill with weeds, sow a green manure crop which can then be dug into the soil in spring. Green manure crops not only keep weeds at bay, they help restore nutrients to over-worked soil and act as a mulch in cold areas when they die down after frosts. Common crops are legumes, mustards, lupins, barley and oats. Kings Green Manure mix combines peas, oats and lupins.
+ For those who like to experiment try direct-sowing black radish. Not as peppery as summer radishes, this Spanish variety has a black skin and white succulent flesh that’s lovely in soups, stews or salads. It matures in 60 days.
+ Swedes are a much underrated root vege. Sow in rows 38-45cm apart from now until weather warms up, in a sunny spot. When large enough to handle, thin out seedlings to 25cm apart.
TIP: Not enough space for a tree? Try spring-flowering shrubs like azaleas, choisya, dwarf bottlebrush, grevillea, hebe, roses, lavender, rosemary and viburnum.
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Poll: Have you ever had a scary flight?
A plane flying from Christchurch to Wellington on Sunday had smoke billowing out of the engine and upon landing, passengers had to open the emergency exit and jump out. Have you had any scary flying experiences?
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56.7% Yes!
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43.3% No, it's always been smooth flying
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ALEXANDER ROAD SPEED LIMIT
Alexander Road in Trentham-Wallaceville of which 50% separates a golf course from a military encampment enclosure and the rest has mostly high fenced off industrial and residential areas on both sides, should have a 70km speed restriction.
Only a short time ago the road had a 80km restriction and was reduced to a pedestrian 50km much to the frustration of many. It has never been an accident prone stretch of road.
The several round-abouts ensure speed is reduced to 30-40km when these things occur.
I recently stayed a few days in Feilding - often given the title of the best town in NZ - and one of the lengthy main streets has a 70km speed restriction despite a predominance of unfenced residential properties on both sides.
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LIVE Q&A: Financial well-being with Cat Rikihana
Today (Wednesday) we're having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with Cat Rikihana who is a financial mentor, educator and financial capability practitioner at Financial Freedom Trust in the Manawatū.
Cat Rikihana (Ngai Tahu) like many financial mentors around Aotearoa, works with individuals, groups and whānau to successfully navigate financial stress and hardship. Mentors work alongside whānau to increase confidence and skills in personal money management and advocate with and for clients. Cat enjoys delivering online and face-to-face workshops which provide opportunities to normalise money conversations and encourages people to make time to consider their financial well-being.
Cat is also an independent financial well-being coach, educator and indigenous life coach at Restore Wellness Network. She is a published writer and currently in the process of writing her first non-fiction book: 'A financial self-care guide for women in Aotearoa.'
She'd love to answer any questions you may have around your budgeting and spending habits, strategies for saving, retirement planning and debt. (Don't be shy, but be mindful about what you disclose!)
↓ Share your questions now and Cat will reply to your comment below ↓
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