Grant Douglas's Garden Diary

Week 14: second week of April

Time to get those Pumpkins and Squash harvested before they get damaged by frosts. Tops should have died off by now so that the fruit has had its skins hardened by the sun. When harvesting, to reduce the incidence of rot, cut the plant stems either side of the fruit stalk, and store them in a dry, airy place. Preferably on something like slats or netting so that they do not have too much contact with a solid surface, check them regularly and use any that show signs of rot first. Buttercups, Butternuts and other Squashes will not keep as well as Crown Pumpkins, so don't expect to store them as long.

My apologies about recommending Carrots that can be sown at this time of year called Spring Market Improved. It is a while since I have sown them and after a bit of investigation this week I found out that the name has been changed to Vita Longa and is sold by Premier Seeds. The local Motueka Fruit Federation can get these seeds for you. Unfortunately it would be a bulk pack, so if you want them you may need to get together with some other people to share the cost.

Autumn is a good time for making a one-off heap of Hot Compost, which will be ready for the spring. Unfortunately, with the dryness at the moment, things like grass growth has been reduced and this can affect the amount of material available, but with the general garden clean-up both ornamental and vegetable, which takes place in the Autumn, you may get enough material together, with the addition of possibly purchasing some in eg Straw, Hay, Manures. The advantage of making a hot compost is that it is fast and is more effective in destroying diseases and weed seed.

I have prepared for this website a hand-out on Hot Composting from a course that I ran last year. The only extra comment I would make about composting is to ensure that you compact the compost as you apply each layer, not so much that you are making silage (squeezing all the air out) but that there is sufficient contact between the raw material particles for the bacteria to work. Will talk about household scrap (Bin Composting) next week.

Sowing or Planting this week:
Brassicas - Cauli, Cabbage, Broccoli, Broccoflower, Brocoflower (remember to choose Spring varieties of these brassicas eg Wintercross or Flower of Spring Cabbage, Snowmarch Cauliflower
Garlic
Lettuce
Parsley
Perpetual Spinach (Plants only)
Silverbeet (Plants only)
Spinach (winter varieties eg. Hybrid No.7)
Spring Onions

Sow Direct:
Carrots (If you can get hold of seed of a carrot variety called Vita Longa - they can be sown now for spring production - they are not a particularly good colour, but are very slow bolting)
Chinese Cabbage and other Chinese Greens
Corn Salad
Mescalin Mix
Radish
Rocket

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