Advice. Ideas.

Inspiration

Anita’s Garden
Volume 3, Issue 16 6 November 2020

Useful Links Editorial

Webpage

Blog Welcome to the sixteenth issue of my  Seeds)

newsletter for Volume 3.
Newsletter back issues  Topsy Tom (Egmont)
I hope you have all had a good week.
Facebook  Tumbling Tom Red (Egmont)
I thought it might be a good idea to
Instagram write a bit about some of the plants  Tumbling Tom Yellow (Egmont)

Twitter that I’m putting into the garden this Heritage

year. This week, I’m going to focus on
Linkedin tomatoes. I’m growing lots of excit-  Golden Green (Heritage Food
ing varieties. Here are some of them. Crops Research Trust—HFCRT)
Pinterest
Beefsteak  Golden Light (HFCRT)
Huge, meaty tomatoes perfect for  Mini Orange (HFCRT)
Contact me sandwiches and salads
 Moonglow (HFCRT)
 Feedback  Big Beef (Egmont)
 Olga’s Round Chicken Egg
 Newsletter input  Big Boy (Egmont) (HFCRT)
(tips, recipes, gar-
den photos etc)  Better Boy (Egmont)  Tangella (HFCRT)

 To be added to my  Red Pear (Franchi) Gourmet

mailing list
 Albenga Oxheart (Kings Seeds)  Midnight—Purple (Kings Seeds)
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com
Medium sized  Steakhouse—Super sized beef-
steak (Egmont)
 Moneymaker (McGregors)
 Sweet Hearts—Grape (Egmont)
Inside this issue: Low acid

 Roma (Egmont)
 Rapunzel—Cherry (Egmont)

So far, I have planted Topsy Tom and

P ot te r ing aro u nd 2  San Marzano (Egmont)
Patio Choice Yellow in containers, as
Anita’s Garden well as three Red Pear (Franchi) in the
 Yellow Plum (Kings Seeds)
ground. I have a lot more planting to
Cherry do!
Top 5 gardening tasks 2
for the week  Baxter’s Early Bush Cherry Useful links
(Kings Seeds)
 Italian Seeds Pronto
Herb of the week: Cat- 2  Tommy Toe (Egmont)
grass  Awapuni
 Riesentraube (Kings Seeds)
 Bulbs Direct
How to grow basil 3 Container
Kind regards,
 Patio (Egmont)
Anita Kundu
 Patio Choice Yellow (Kings
PAGE 2
Pottering around Anita’s Garden
Don’t these ranunculus from
spring look gorgeous! Some are
like poppies, others are like roses.
They are a mixture I purchased
from Bulbs Direct.
Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
1. Sow corn
Now that it’s a bit warmer, now is
a good time to sow or plant corn.
2. Sow beans
You can also sow beans direct to
the ground. Don’t soak the seeds
beforehand or they may rot in the
ground.
3. Plant capsicums and
Herb of the week: Catgrass
Catgrass is appealing to cats, dogs,
rabbits and guinea pigs. They use
catgrass to eat, sit and lie on. It
must be said that some pets are
not fussed by it. Our cat Ginger
was never that keen on it. I’ll nev-
er forget the moment when she
finally did lie on it because it was
a momentous occasion! It can be
beneficial for animals as it aids
digestion, although our cat tends
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
Our cat lounging on our outdoor
furniture. Mum had just put the
cushions out for us and then Gin-
ger quickly jumped up on mum’s
chair! We created a little sanctu-
ary on our property with a table
and chairs on a slab of concrete
outside our living room. It gets the
afternoon sun and is surrounded
by plants—our passionfruit on the
wall, fruit trees in containers and
pot plants (polyanthus right now).
chillies
This is a good time to plant out
capsicums and chillies. I grow
mine in containers as I find they
do better than in the ground. It
also frees up the ground space for
crawling crops such as pumpkins
and melons
4. Keep spraying garlic
Continue to spray garlic every
to eat normal grass.
Sow catgrass seeds direct into the
ground if you have a space where
your pet likes to lie or in a tray in
spring and autumn. I avoid sum-
mer when it is very hot and dry,
making it harder for seeds to ger-
minate. When it grows, you may
wish to trim it regularly to keep it
a manageable size. Water regular-
ly.
V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 1 6
Our Golden Gift rose in bloom. I
purchased it from Kings Plant
Barn in Botany three years ago at
the recommendation of the then-
assistant manager, Nick. He made
an excellent suggestion. It is a
very low maintenance rose which
flowers profusely. I’d have to say
it is one of my favourite yellow
roses, along with Absolutely Fabu-
lous and Diamonds Forever.
fortnight for rust. Liquid Copper
is an organic spray so it is suitable
for those wishing to garden organi-
cally.
5. Feed roses
Give roses a big feed to see them
through the summer. I like to use
granular or slow release fertiliser
around our standard roses. Liquid
feeding can be beneficial, too.
Catgrass seedlings sown in a seed
raising tray
 V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 1 6
How to grow basil
Although I’ve been covering herbs
every week in my column on page
2, I decided that basil was worthy
of a full page article. We love bas-
il. It always features in our sum-
mer garden. Basil is a heat loving
plant and should not be started too
early. Now is a good time to sow
seeds. You can also purchase basil
seedlings from Awapuni.
This year, I’m growing two types of
basil from the Franchi Seeds range
(distributed by Italian Seeds Pron-
to): Italiano Classico and Bosollo
Napoletana. I grew both of these
varieties last year with great suc-
cess.
Tips for growing basil
 Basil is an annual herb so it
will need to be resown or
planted every summer. Bas-
il hates cold weather and
will die when the tempera-
ture drops in autumn.
 You can either sow basil
direct to where you want it
to grow (in the ground or
containers) or raise seed-
lings in punnets for trans-
planting later on. I have
always had more success by
sowing direct.
 Even at this time of the
year, it’s a good idea to use a
heat pad for germinating
seeds as the temperature
does drop at night.
 Make sure you keep seed-
lings moist. I mist mine
with a spray bottle twice a
day and wipe off the conden-
sation on the incubator lids.
5. Avoid shocking your plants.
When they come off the heat
pad, move them into your
greenhouse before gradually
exposing them to the out-
doors, an hour at a time.
Eventually, build up to leav-
ing them outdoors over-
night.
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
Basil in our garden
6. Grow your basil in a sunny
site.
7. Prepare the ground well
beforehand. Make sure you
mix in lots of compost, sheep
pellets and fertiliser.
8. Alternatively, basil grows
very well in containers. I
tend to grow it this way as I
don’t have much space in
the garden by the time I
want to sow it.
9. Get into the habit of liquid
feeding your basil weekly
with a water
soluble plant
food or sea- “Basil is a heat loving
weed tonic if plant and should not be
you’re gar- started too early. Now is a
dening organ- good time to sow seeds”
ically
10. Water your basil regularly.
Depending on where you
live, you may be on watering
restrictions, so this may
mean using a watering can
if you’re at Level 1
(Auckland at present).
11. Pick basil as you need it.
12. If you have a glut, you can
make up pesto and freeze it
for when it isn’t in season.
Nutrition
Basil is virtually calorie free. It
contains vitamins A and K, calci-
um, manganese and iron.
PAGE 3
Ideas for eating basil
 Torn and sprinkled over
tomatoes with olive oil, sea
salt and cracked black pep-
per
 Pesto
 In Thai green curry
 Potato salad
 Thai beef salad
 In stir-fries
 With pasta
 In lasagne
 Caprese skewers (cherry
tomato, bocconici mozzarella
cheese and basil)
 Caprese salad
 Ice cream and sorbet
 Cocktails and mocktails
 Tomato tart
 Basil butter
 Strawberry
basil jam
 Fruit salad
 With toma-
to soup
 On pizza
 Bruschetta
 Focaccia
 Infused oil
 Minestrone soup
 Panna cotta
 Hummus
 In frittata
 In fried rice
Have a great weekend
Happy gardening!