CHANGES TO YOUR COLLECTION DAYS DUE TO ANZAC DAY

Summer In The Garden - January

by Connec+

It’s time to reap the rewards of your efforts as you enjoy harvesting fruit and vegetables, picking flowers or just enjoying the abundance of colour and growth of all of your plants.

January is a main harvesting month with lots of delicious summer crops ready to harvest in both the vege patch and the fruit garden.

It’s also the perfect time to plant more of your fruit and vege favourites to ensure a continued supply of homegrown delights.

If you are planning on going away on holiday, organise someone to water your plants while you are away so they don't dry out.

With a bit of planning there will always be a beautiful bloom to pick and brighten up the house of gift to a friend.

PLANT

Basil, beetroot, beans, carrot, celery, coriander, courgette, cucumber, lettuce, mesclun, parsley, radish, silverbeet, spring onions, sweetcorn, tomatoes.

Tips:

  • Plant new lettuce and herbs regularly to ensure consistent harvesting. In season: dill, fennel, parsley and chives.
  • Weed, mulch, liquid feed and slug bait regularly to keep your patch in top shape.

HARVEST

Basil, beetroot, beans, broccoli, cabbage, capsicum, carrot, celery, chilli, coriander, courgette, cucumber, eggplant, leek, lettuce, mesclun, parsley, parsnip, potatoes, pumpkin and squash, radish, rocket, silverbeet, spring onion, sweetcorn, tomatoes.

Tips

  • Pick your sweet corn cobs when the end tassles have begun to dry brown.
  • Pick veges every day to encourage continuous fruiting - especially peas, beans, eggplant, cucumbers and courgettes.
  • Don’t forget to remove new side shoot laterals from tomato plants and tie the main stem to the stake regularly. Removing old bottom leaves will help air circulation and reduce the risk of fungal diseases.

MAINTENANCE

  • Dig in Tui Compost and Tui Super Sheep Pellets before planting to replenish nutrients used by previous crops. Compost is also an excellent water saver.
  • Tomatoes: plants will be growing vigorously now and more fruit sets will be appearing. Fruit will be ripening from now until late autumn. For the best flavour, leave the fruit to ripen on the plant. Birds enjoy tomatoes too - bird netting may be required to protect the ripening tomatoes. Continue staking tomatoes, keep pinching out new laterals that appear and keep plants well watered.
  • Potatoes: for main crops still in the ground, mould up soil around the leaves to encourage more tubers and to keep the sun off them. A side-dressing of Tui Potato Food will give them a boost.
  • If aphids and whitefly are still a problem, try blasting with a hose or spray with an insect control product from your garden centre.
  • Mulch long-serving summer vegetables with Tui Pea Straw Mulch.
  • Onions and garlic: these are traditionally harvested within a month or so of the longest day. The leaves of both onions and garlic will tell you when they are ready to be harvested: the tops will begin to wither and die down. Harvest by digging up the plants with a fork, knock off the excess soil, and leave to dry in the sun for a number of days until the skin resembles paper. Store in a well-ventilated, dry place.
  • Adding Debco SaturAid to your vegetable garden will reduce water use by up to 50 per cent. SaturAid draws water into the soil and directly to the root zone, reducing run-off and waste.

FLOWER GARDEN

  • Summer flowering annual and perennial plants can still be planted in gardens and pots, but will need to be watered regularly until established.
  • Pick flowers and ‘dead head’ spent or dying flowers to encourage new blooms on all flowering plants.
  • First summer flowing bulbs like gladioli will be ready to flower. Check these plants and their flower heads for insects or diesease and spray with Enspray Oil if required.
  • Weeds grow as fast as plants do at this time and compete for valuable moisture so pull or hoe them out before mulching for best results.
  • Water regularly and deeply during the month to keep the garden healthy and vibrant.
  • This is the best time to enjoy those beautiful rose blooms, especially in a vase.
  • ‘Dead head’ rose bushes regularly to encourage more blooms. Water regularly to keep your roses in top condition and feed with Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic weekly.

WATERING RESTRICTIONS in your area? Try these tips:  

  • Soak your garden every four days, instead of short shallow watering.
  • Water early or late to ensure the water gets to where it needs to.
  • Water the roots not the leaves for maximum plant benefit.
  • Use a sprinkler with a timer to deliver just the right amount of water.
  • Mulching with Tui Mulch & Feed around your plants can reduce the need to water, keep roots cooler and even conserve up to 70% of the available water.

Sounds like that Greenwaste bin is going to be full. Give the team at Bay Enviro Bins a call  for collection or to talk you through the best option for you!

 

Sources: Tui Garden + Palmers Garden Centre

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