Gardening with Madame Whitefly

by Janette Bartlett

Today I begin a new series on vegetable gardening.

Holding a flower

Over recent months I’ve been party to several conversations dealing with what we eat and who produces the things we do eat. Are shop-bought vegetables covered in lethal spray residues? Are they weeks old? Do they still possess the essential vitamins and minerals we expect?

To answer these questions I would encourage everyone to grow their own! Not only would we feel proud of the achievement, we’d also enjoy tastier food!

My advice will be directed to the novice gardener, maybe a young person in a flatting situation or a young couple in their first home. I am quite happy to answer any questions individually, so please email me anytime at gardening.

The basis for any gardening is to consider the soil. New Zealand soils vary widely – anything from hard clay to soft, crumbly sand. Ideally, the garden should sit in the sunniest spot of the section, and should be well drained and sheltered from wind. For a convenient guide, just look over the fences in your neighborhood: if there are lots of flowering plants, trees and vegetables you can safely assume that the soil in your area is fertile, and will only need to be dug over and fertilized before you plant. But if the neighbors’ sections show a meager display of weeds and little else, a bit more work will be required before you can begin.

A good way to defeat hard clay is to build raised beds. Recently we turned recycled wooden bins from The Warehouse into four raised vegetable beds, with recycled bricks in between for the paths. Both of these items were free! We three-quarters filled them with a compost or soil mix purchased through a recycling plant at the rubbish tip. This cost us $25.

Another secret to a good garden is to keep it weed-free and have the exposed topsoil lightly forked over to prevent a crust forming. Having small beds encourages you to do a little often, thus ensuring you keep to your good intentions.

Along with the beds, a climbing frame is almost essential (though not usually needed until springtime). A couple of 1.5-metre posts with wire netting or string strung across securely would do the trick. Also effective are three thin poles joined into a teepee arrangement.

With winter approaching fast, you can safely grow only a small selection of veggies. Silverbeet, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli could be planted now throughout New Zealand. But if you prefer to leave the planting until springtime, you could give your soil a bonus and plant a green crop. The purpose of a green crop is to discourage weeds growing through the winter, often spreading their seeds for next season’s headaches, to fix nitrogen in the soil and provide humus. A typical green crop is the blue lupin, which is sowed directly onto recently dug-over soil. Keep the soil moist while they grow, and when you see the blue flowers forming at the top of each plant, cut them down at ground level with hedge clippers. With a clean spade or shovel, dig the lupins into the soil, turning over each spadeful so that the green part of the plant is completely covered in soil. Allow four to six weeks before planting in that spot again while the lupins decompose into ready-made compost.

Next time, all going well, I will deal with planting, tending and harvesting …