Paeonies or Peonies? Doesn’t matter, they’re still pretty

Things I learnt about paeonies today:

• The peony rose will guzzle through water like no other cut flower. A vase with only five peony stems can drink up to one litre of water every day.
• In New Zealand, they’re only in season for about 10 weeks and that window of opportunity is here.
• This feathered rose needs a frost to grow so they are mainly grown in cooler climates. A cold frost will help set the buds in the ground, encourage stem strength, and even affects the colour quality of the peony.
• If you want your cut peonies to open sooner, put them in warm water or in an area that gets lots of sun. If you prefer your peonies to last the distance, keep them in cold water and place them in cooler areas.
• Originally from China, the peony has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese art as a symbol of riches and honour.
• For the Japanese, peonies are a common subject in male tattoos. Used in conjunction with other motifs, connoting elements of strength such as tigers and dragons, peonies became a masculine symbol associated with a ‘bad boy’ attitude.
• And the New Zealand Paeony Society has a new website with great peony cultivation information, upcoming events and links.

Spring Bloom: Phytoplankton

Plankton is the key to ocean life.  Phytoplankton convert energy from sunlight into food for tiny animals called zooplankton. These in turn become food for larger animals.

They also provide nearly half of the earth’s atmospheric oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When they die, they sink to the ocean floor where the carbon they took from the atmosphere is stored for thousands of years.

In spring, more light penetrates the surface waters and phytoplankton grow rapidly, reaching a peak in New Zealand around September and October.

Off the east coast of New Zealand, cold rivers of water that have branched off from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current flow north past the South Island and converge with warmer waters flowing south past the North Island. The surface waters of this meeting place are New Zealand’s most biologically productive. This image of the area on October 25, 2009, from the MODIS sensor on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows the basis for that productivity: large blooms of plantlike organisms called phytoplankton.

Phytoplankton use chlorophyll and other pigments to absorb sunlight for photosynthesis, and when they grow in large numbers, they change the way the ocean surface reflects sunlight. Caught up in eddies and currents, the blooms create intricate patterns of blues and greens that spread across thousands of square kilometers of the sea surface.

Photo Credit: NASA/MODIS Rapid Response/Jeff Schmaltz. Caption Credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA Earth Observatory.

To learn more about New Zealand’s plankton, visit Te Ara – the encyclopaedia of New Zealand

Growing magic beans

To me, seeds are mini miracles. When I hold them in my hand I get terribly excited by all that potential inside them. And eating something that grew from a little seed I planted and nurtured is simply incredible.

Some seeds themselves taste delicious and some just look beautiful – some are both. I have twenty varieties of different beans at home and no two look the same – spotted, speckled, stripey and squiggly in a range of colours, shapes and sizes.

If you’ve never dabbled in the wonders of seeds, beans are a great place to start. They’re keen beans, they grow fast. Satisfyingly so. They’re easy – soak them overnight in some warm water, then direct sow them into your garden keeping them moist. In seven days you should see them coming up. Be vigilant for slugs though!

Magic beans

Our modern beans are derived from plants that once grew wild in Central and South America. But we’ve been cultivating beans for ages and archaeologists have found traces of domesticated types that date back more than 7000 years. Heirloom gardeners have hundreds of varieties of bean to choose from. So I’m just going to focus on a few of my favourite shelled beans, all available in New Zealand, some of which have been available through Seedy Sunday.

Edible landscaping

A big yay for whoever planted the roadside verge in Plimmerton, near Wellington. They’ve done a fantastic job with big, colourful Swiss chard, calendula and parsley. It looks amazing and completely edible. There is the issue of a highway right next to it so I don’t know if you would actually want to eat anything out of that garden. But if this was located somewhere else, it would be a fantastic resource for the community.

I love edible plants in landscaping.

Maara Kai project ‘sowing seeds of potential’

Setting up a maara kai (community garden) is an act of reclaiming Māori culture, self-reliance, and rangatiratanga, according to Māori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples.

The Minister was speaking at the launch of a New Zealand programme to promote community gardens on marae and Māori community projects. 250 eligible maara kai can get grants of up to $2,000 to buy tools and composting equipment, or to build garden beds and implement sheds. The programme is a joint venture between Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Waka Kai Ora, the Māori organic food collective. Gardens must be non-commercial, to benefit a local Māori community.

Dr Sharples said the $500,000 Maara Kai programme achieves many outcomes at once.

“On the most immediate level it will result in measurable benefits in terms of healthy produce to eat. But there are other, less-tangible but just as significant benefits – healthy outdoor activity, and learning the skills of planting, growing, harvesting and storing fruit and vegetables.

Community and social benefits – a network of friends, people with knowledge passing it on to those who are keen to learn, crops to share amongst whānau, and the satisfaction of cooking and eating food we have grown ourselves.

All the activities involved in setting up, tending and harvesting maara kai bring us closer together and help us to remember the teachings of our tīpuna and the way they live. Our tīpuna worked together, they shared what they had, and they ensured younger generations were equipped with survival skills. This made them strong enough to survive the challenges of their world.

It is about encouraging collective responsibility for our health and wellbeing, while at the same time preserving our respect for our whenua, our land – the ultimate expression of kaitiakitanga.”

Human urine and wood ash make potent sustainable fertilisers

Results of the first study evaluating the use of human urine mixed with wood ash as a fertilizer for food crops has found that the combination can be substituted for costly synthetic fertilizers to produce bumper crops of tomatoes without introducing any risk of disease for consumers.

Read more at Science Daily

Link lovage

Handy little chart of how to store your fruit and vegetables.

Amazing things you can do with 500,000 dahlias.

There are new White House kitchen garden videos.

Edible Geography has a day out with mushrooms grown in an old railway tunnel.

Victory gardens in bomb craters?

Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire now on TV

Wellington’s gone all planty

Well, I guess it is spring.

One of the things I love about this city is how green it is. Not the city city but the hills surrounding it – houses peaking out from amongst the trees, it looks incredible. Love it. And then there’s the Karori Wildlife  Sanctuary and Otari Wilton Bush that are incredible conservation areas just 10 minutes from the city centre.

Anyway, the point of all this was to let you know about DOC’s Conservation Week, the Wellington Spring Festival including the tulip displays at the Botanic Gardens. Wellington Botanic Society are exploring the mysteries of lancewood at their September talk (despite two years of trying, I haven’t made it to a single event of there’s…I will keep trying).

And don’t forget Seedy Sunday in Kapiti on September 20. A chance to swap your seeds, plants and produce and learn a little about gardening and about your local community. Brooklyn Transition Towns also have a seed swap that day.

Seedy Sunday is next Sunday – September 20, 2pm – new venue!

Hoping to see you next Sunday! Because things have got a little bit tight lately, with SS becoming so popular, we’ve now had to move to a bigger venue – the Paraparaumu Memorial Hall on the corner of Tutanekai and Aorangi Sts. Click here to see it on Google Maps.

This month, Dave Johnston will be talking to us about Effective Microorganisms (EM). The concept of EM was developed by Japanese horticulturist Teruo Higa, from Japan. He reported in the 1970s that a combination of approximately 80 different microorganisms is capable of positively influencing decomposing organic matter such that it reverts into a ‘life promoting’ process. So essentially, we are talking about putting life back into our soil and growing healthier, nutrient-dense food.

The swap table has been huge! It’s fantastic to see such a variety of plants being grown in the area. Bring along any of seeds, produce or plants you have to swap.

This month, you may want to remember to bring some cash as there will also be a bit more of a sales table with books from Levin Soil & Health, Earth Whisperers/Papatuanuku DVDs, some Bokashi buckets and other EM.

I have to say a huge thanks Pat at the Kapiti Community Centre for looking after us so well. We are so lucky to have such great facilities available here.  I’ve also been very grateful for the support of the Kapiti Observer, Levin Soil & Health, Sam, Andrew, Jo, Sharon, Pam and Richard, as well as you all for making Seedy Sunday such a great event. Let’s do it all again this Sunday!

Rocket Farming

Now that I’ve managed to make it successfully through winter, I can look back and say yes, it was a breeze! Truthfully, I’m not a fan. Living in temperate climates, I’m sure you get more colds, flus and generally nastiness than you do elsewhere. It’s these middling bits where one minute you’re warm, the next you’re freezing. Bug central.

One thing that keeps me happy over winter are my bonsai rocket gardens. Leaving the house for work when it’s dark and getting home in the some disposition, doesn’t allow time for garden therapy. So I’ve been bringing it inside. I spread them on to paper towels on an ice cream container lid, sprinkle water over it once a day and here in winter it usually takes 4 – 6 days to have yumminess. Then I just use them in everything.

High in nutrients and vitamins A, B, C and E, rocket (Eruca spp.) rocks over winter. The sprouts add a nice bit of warmth to any vegetable dish. I use them as a side vegetable for just about anything, sprinkle them on my tomato soup, add them to cheese sandwiches.

Living architecture – amazing plant pictures

“Plants are amazing: they provide food, air, medicine, and material with which we can create buildings, furniture, and art. But through an ancient yet obscure craft, still-living plants can themselves be turned into bridges, tables, ladders, chairs, works of art, and even buildings. Known variously as botanical architecture, tree sculpture, tree-shaping, tree-grafting, pooktre, arborsculpture, and arbortecture, the craft is, at its essence, construction with living plants.”

See the rest of this incredible photo article at Dark Roasted Blend

Fruit and vegetable washing

Lately,  I’ve noticed more ads for fruit and vegetable washes to get rid of nasties like pesticides and fungicides. I wash produce thoroughly when I get it home from the supermarket (I don’t live out of my garden alone).  And while I’ve generally been satisfied by this,  it may be a good idea to step it up. But, I’m not prepared to buy expensive sprays to do it. Lifehacker, and Re-Nest step in to provide more info for the clean and frugally-minded:

A produce wash has just enough kick to it to more effectively cleanse the surface of the fruit and wash away contamination.

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 20 drops grapefruit seed extract (available at your local health food store or you can substitute lemon juice in a pinch)
• Combine all ingredients and transfer to a spray bottle with a pump. Spray mixture on produce (avoid using on mushrooms), let sit 5 to 10 minutes and rinse.

Heritage Tomato Seeds in New Zealand

Fabulous list of heritage tomato seeds available from Bristol Plants & Seeds in Wanganui. They’ve been busy at work with Mark Christensen from Central Tree Crops Research Trust to grow and test heirloom varieties for superior levels of nutrition. I haven’t seen a report on the results but they do have a very impressive 170 varieties on sale within New Zealand for $3 a packet through the website.

This list is worth a gander just for the names alone. Who wouldn’t want to grow some Big Rainbow, Old Ivory Egg, Hawaiian Pineapple, Super Sioux Lakota, Zapotec Pleated.

Pictured: German Red Strawberry Tomatoes from Bristol Plants & Seeds.

Seedy Sunday – Kapiti – August 16

Yep, it’s that time again and we have Grant Lyon speaking about nutrient density in commercial and organic food and how to get those nutrients into your soil. He will be talking about Brix levels and refractometers and ways to get the best vegetables out of our gardens. I’ve found a bit of a basic introduction to brix here.

I hope you all have your seeds, plants or produce ready to go for the swap table. This has been such a huge success, with everybody eager to see what other people are growing and take home something different.

We’ve had a lot of press in the last month – appearing in the Kapiti Observer, the NZ Gardener mail-out and a lovely article by Hannah Zwartz in the Dom Post.  So I’m expecting a great event this Sunday. Hope to see you there!

Really?

Yes, I’m afraid really. Due to current ill-health and a predilection for self-torture, I’m going gluten-free and soy-free for two months. Starting today. I feel low. At least I’m doing this by choice, I’d feel lower if this was the end of these long-time friends. It’s not – this is just an experiment.

I was thinking that if it all got too dire, I could live on chocolate for the two months. That was until I found out that nearly every chocolate I’ve ever loved contains soy lecithin! How very, very rude.

There will be informed progress reports, a little exploration of the issues… There may even be some whineing and a little gnashing of teeth…  But there won’t be any crackers, bread, pasta, tofu, sushi, beer, chocolate …

Got any great suggestions for gluten-free, soy-free products? Please let me know in the comments.

Worming

Our permaculture worm tower seems to be working well. But we have just noticed that lots of the thin white worms that were in the bin have gotten out and gone wriggling around the garden. There seems to be a heap of them. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we instantly knew what they were and what to do.

Entrachyadids are a type of earthworm, and not a nematode as I first feared. They are a sign that the soil is too acid which is a result of putting in too many kitchen scraps. Although, the entrachyadids don’t do any damage, we will be adding lime to the beds to reduce the acidity.

Watch the short video on permaculture worm towers.

Food Prices Rocket

This just in from Stuff.co.nz:

Food prices rocketed by 2.8 percent last month – the biggest increase in 20 years.

Figures from Statistics New Zealand show that food prices have soared by 8.4 percent in the 12 months to June.

SNZ said that all five of the food subgroups it measures increased in June. The most significant upward contribution came from a 15 percent rise in fruit and vegetables.

Government Statistician Geoff Bascand said that cold weather had hampered growing conditions.

Within this group there were stratospheric increases in the price of lettuce (up 122.8 percent) and tomatoes (66.7 percent higher).

There’s no time like the present to start growing your own food! Come along to Seedy Sunday at the Kapiti Community Centre this Sunday, at 2pm to learn how. Get support and inspiration for your gardening. Remember to bring something for the swap table.  Mark Howell from Te Ra school will be talking about compost and explaining planting by the moon.

Sweet Seedy Sunday

Loving our Seedy Sundays. Had a fantastic turn out last weekend to see the lovely Sarah Frater from Edible Gardens. With so much knowledge and experience, it was a really interesting session on fruit trees. It’s a popular topic right now – articles in the Kapiti Observer each week by Kath Irvine, a glorious NZ Gardener special (the species harvesting guide is pure gold) and fruit tree providers simply running out of stock. Mental note: must do lots of preservation posts this season.

Swap table was very exciting. I had been a little worried that we’d end up each month with swap tables where everyone had brought the same thing – absolutely wrong! I’m so impressed by the variety of things – feverfew seedlings, orach seeds, mini kiwifruit, plenty of lovely bunches of different herbs, three types of sunflower seeds, teasels…….

Lots of great conversations too – lots of really interestig people doing interesting things and really wanting to get involved. Lots of interesting local initiatives including:

- Transition Towns Kapiti Food Forest,

- A Gardening Group looking to form and help people in their own backyards,

- Raumati South Community Garden,

- And plenty of people interested in seed-saving and starting a Kapiti Community Seed Bank.

If you want to know anything more about any of these, email me and I’ll pass you on to the right people. Or come to the next SS.

Next Seedy Sunday is July 19, 2pm Kapiti Community Centre. Guest speaker to be confirmed soon.

The Queen Rejoins The Organic ‘Victory Garden’ Revolution

For the first time since the World War Two vegetables are being grown in the grounds of Buckingham Palace alongside ornamental plants. They’re also growing heirloom varieties for genetic conservation – YAY!

Jane Poynter – Biosphere 2: Ecophillia

I, like anyone else who has heard of it, am a massive fan of TED. To actually hear some of the world’s most inspirational, influential and downright clever people speak about topics for which they have a deep passion is simply phenomenal.

The next stage of TED evolution has begun with TEDx – a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. So expect a lot more content coming on any topic you may be interested in.

In this TEDx Talk, Jane Poynter tells the story of BioSphere2 and her experiences in relating to the ecosystem afterwards. Giving you a real sense of the connectivity of all things, this is a must-see for anyone interested in the natural world.

Thanks to Paul Reynolds for the heads up!