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Anita’s Garden
Volume 3, Issue 47 11 June 2021

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Inside this issue:
P ot te r ing aro u nd 2 early autumn are positively thriving
Anita’s Garden
Top 5 gardening tasks 2 purchased from the garden centre
for the week
Collaboration news 2 ed them and temporarily potted them
Growing Italian tomatoes 3 we have Iceland poppies growing in
Welcome to the forty seventh issue
of my newsletter for Volume 3.
I hope you have had a good week. We
started off with quite a bit of rain
here in Auckland, so I spent some
time indoors wiping the writing off my
old plant labels so I can reuse them in
spring. They are getting expensive to
purchase from China and it is taking
a lot longer for things to arrive due to
Covid. It’s also important that I recy-
cle more around the garden and do
what I can to protect the environ-
ment. I have found that the most ef-
fective way of doing this is by rubbing
the writing on the labels with some
jiff squirted on old rags. I like to use
socks as I can put my hand through
them and it’s easier to work that way.
Now that the rain has subsided, it’s
time to pot up some more rhubarb. At
the moment my seedlings are in six-
cell punnets but they have outgrown
them so I am moving them into 10cm
pots. As you may have noticed if
you’re a regular reader of my newslet-
ter, I have been doing this for awhile
but it seems to be a never-ending pro-
cess. There are so many plants! The
ones I raised from seed and planted in
and it won’t be long until we are har-
vesting fresh stalks. We are currently
enjoying rhubarb from the plants we
that we planted in the garden a few
years ago. They were in the garden
bed alongside our driveway but I lift-
in large containers because I wanted
to clear that area so I can dedicate it
to growing annuals. At the moment,
that bed and in late spring when they
have finished flowering I will remove
them and sow quick-maturing early
sunflowers. Once these have finished
by December, I will remove the spent
blooms and plant zinnia seedlings I in-
tend to propagate from seed. At least
that is my plan if everything goes well.
While it was raining, I have also spent
many an hour dreaming about dahlias.
This is driven by the fact that I am cur-
rently reading Erin Benzakein’s book
Discovering Dahlias, which I got out
from the library. It is filled with so
much good advice about growing dahl-
ias and lots of beautiful images of dif-
ferent varieties. My wishlist has grown
immensely. I am thinking of taking a
summer off the garden and devoting the
spare beds to growing dahlias. Awhile
ago I wrote about how seasoned garden-
ers might want to consider taking a
break from gardening if it gets too
much for them. I absolutely love gar-
dening and it’s pretty much my whole
life but I am exhausted. I have been on
the trot for nine years now and feel re-
ally burnt out. While there is obviously
work involved with raising and growing
flowers, it is much less than veggie gar-
dening. I might keep the veggie garden
to a minimum and stick to growing easy
things like silverbeet and beans. It is
just a thought at this stage and I will
probably be so tempted when the seed
catalogues are released in July that I
end up ordering and growing tons of
veggies!
Useful links
 Italian Seeds Pronto
 Awapuni
 Bulbs Direct
Kind regards,
Anita Kundu
PAGE 2
Pottering around Anita’s Garden
Isn’t this pansy beautiful? I filled
the plastic troughs at the back of
our house with them. Pansies are
one of my favourite winter annu-
als. If you’re after some pansy
plants, don’t forget that Awapuni
stock them and deliver direct to
your door. Their plants are very
eco-friendly and come wrapped in
newspaper.
Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
1. Prune roses
It is still a bit early but I don’t
think there’s much harm in prun-
ing your roses now. Our garden
bins needed filling so we thought
we may as well prune them and
dispose of the clippings.
2. Spray roses and fruit
trees with lime sulphur
Collaboration news
Italian Seeds Pronto stock celeriac.
There is a lovely variety called
Bianco del Veneto. The plant is
medium size with ample leaves
that can be used in soup. You can
sow seeds in spring. It does take a
long time for them to germinate, so
be patient. Even after then, it
takes a long time for the seedlings
to grow and bulbs to form but it is
well worth the wait.
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
We are continuing to enjoy winter
veggies from our garden. The cel-
ery and leeks went into a veggie
soup while we have been having
the broccoli and cauliflower
steamed. The cabbage is stir-fried.
In winter, there is only one spray I
use on roses and fruit trees and
that is lime sulphur. I cannot rec-
ommend it highly enough for pre-
venting fungal diseases.
3. Plant strawberries
You can start planting strawber-
ries now. It gives them enough
time to establish strong roots be-
fore flowering and fruiting.
Bulbs Direct now have Kakanui
seed garlic in stock! Be quick to
get your hands on some as it won’t
last long. If that doesn’t take your
fancy, there is also regular Printa-
nor. Don’t forget to plant some
shallots on the shortest day. We
love having them on toasted
cheese and onion sandwiches.
Bulbs Direct stock the variety
French Red.
V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 4 7
As mentioned below, I planted
some lettuce seedlings in a round
bowl which we are keeping in our
patio. Lettuce is very good for you
and is an essential ingredient in
salads. In winter, we just enjoy
green salads because accompani-
ments such as tomato and cucum-
ber are too expensive to buy out of
season.
4. Plant garlic
Now is the perfect time to plant
garlic.
5. Plant more lettuce
I recently planted some more let-
tuce seedlings in a large round
container as I found them on spe-
cial at the garden centre. Or you
can order some plants from
Awapuni.
In love with the pictures of the
pansies from our garden that I
have been sharing lately? Now
you can have your own! Awapuni
has a great promotion this week
for you. Grab a regular bundle (9
seedlings) of pansies for just $4.
The price has already been dis-
counted on the online shop. This
deal is valid until 9 am 14 June
2021 or while stocks last.
 V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 4 7
Growing Italian tomatoes
Following on from last week’s arti-
cle about growing an Italian herb
garden, this week I decided to
write about the perfect accompani-
ment, Italian tomatoes. The lovely
Gillian Hurley-Gordon at Italian
Seeds Pronto has a wonderful
range of tomatoes on her website,
many of which are in the famous
Franchi range of Italian heirloom
seeds. I have grown some of these
varieties over the years and want-
ed to share just how good they are
with you. Spring may seem a long
way off but there’s no better time
to start thinking about what you
might like to grow in the summer
garden and start jotting down a
shopping list of seeds. It certainly
pays to get in quick because stock
is limited and sourcing seeds from
overseas in Covid times has proven
difficult in the past year.
Below I will set out a bit of infor-
mation about some of the varieties
in Italian Seeds Pronto’s range.
Costoluto Fiorentino
This is the ultimate beefsteak to-
mato and is a must-have in the
garden this summer. This variety
comes from the fabulous Florence
in the Tuscany region of Italy.
Even though a trip there won’t be
on the cards anytime soon, isn’t
this a great way to bring a bit of
Tuscan flavour to your home! This
tomato is rich and meaty, with lots
of juice. It is perfect for using in
salads and of course making sand-
wiches. One slice is all you need to
fit on a piece of bread. There is a
limit of one packet per order but
with an extremely generous seed
count of 300, I can’t see how you
would need to buy multiple pack-
ets, even if you were planning to
germinate seeds en masse and sell
seedlings commercially, as I have
done in the past through my
nursery Anita’s Garden.
Principe Borghese
This is hands down my absolute
favourite tomato variety, both
within and outside the Italian
PAGE 3
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
Seeds Pronto range. We are very are plenty of seeds to share with
lucky that it made its way back family, friends, colleagues and
into the catalogue. This is a mid- neighbours who are keen garden-
late small egg-shaped vine tomato. ers. Also they store well so you
It is aesthetically pleasing, not don’t have to sow them all in one
that any tomato plant is unattrac- season.
tive, in my opinion. Principe Bor-
Cuor di Bue
ghese is a prolific producer. The
tomatoes are in clusters of 7-10 This is the one variety in the Fran-
fruits that hold on well to the vine. chi range that Gillian offers that I
It is good for eating fresh, drying haven’t grown. That is because it
and roasting. This variety will is a fairly recent addition to Italian
grow just about anywhere. Again, Seeds Pronto. Cuor di Bue (or
out of fairness to all customers, it “Heart of the Cow”) is a pinky-red
is limited to just one packet per heart-shaped heirloom tomato.
order but with an extremely gener- There are few seeds and it is low
ous seed count of 200, I can’t see acid. It is incredibly sweet and at
why you would need more than its best when not too ripe. This is
that anyway. a very large and vigorous plant
which produces early. It will grow
Red Pear
well in most provinces in New Zea-
I grew this variety for the first land. This is an indeterminate
time last year, after Gillian kindly variety. As with the other tomato
gave me a packet of seeds. We had varieties in Italian Seeds Pronto’s
three of these tomatoes last year range, there is a limit of one pack-
and they were all brilliantly pro- et per order but once again the
ductive. Red Pear is a pear- seed count of 200 is extremely gen-
shaped tomato, as the name sug- erous.
gests. It is not to be confused with
Beeline Tuscan Red
the other Red Pear variety which
is a small cherry This variety isn’t in
tomato, and is also “Spring may seem a the Franchi Seeds
pear-shaped. Ital- long way off but there’s range and is part of
ian Seeds Pronto’s no better time to start the reputable Bee-
Red Pear variety is thinking about what line range, which
large and meaty. you might like to grow Italian Seeds Pronto
Although it is juicy, in the summer garden also stocks. I haven’t
it is not a wet toma- and start jotting down grown it before, but
to. It is ideal for a shopping list of that isn’t to say that
s t u ff i n g. In seeds” it isn’t a good varie-
Gillian’s opinion, ty. After all, there is
this is one of the best tasting Ital- only so much space in the garden
ian tomatoes out there and I would and the seed count of Italian Seeds
have to say I agree. She has spent Pronto’s tomato packets are so
a lot more time in Italy, whereas I generous that I end up only grow-
used to live in France so I am more ing a few varieties but have a lot of
familiar with what was sold at the plants. Tuscan Red is a large beef-
Parisian farmers’ markets, which steak variety from Florence in
was mostly French produce. Like Tuscany. This plant is vigorous
Costoluto Fiorentino and Principe and productive. It has sweet tast-
Borghese, there is a limit of one ing thick semi-scalloped fruit that
packet per order, but the overall grows consistently well throughout
seed count is 180 so I don’t think all NZ provinces. The seed count
you’ll need more than that. Indeed is 40. Note the limit of one packet
one of the things I love about the per order.
Franchi Seeds range is how gener-
ous the packet sizes are. There Good luck with your tomatoes this
year!