What to plant in April!

VEGETABLE GARDENER'S DIARY - APRIL

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Tomatoes, capsicums and chillies will be coming to an end in cooler parts of the country, where the nights are beginning to draw in and the earliest frosts may start to appear. In warm regions, these crops will last another couple of months.

Replenish the soil with a new layer of compost, Tui Super Sheep Pellets andTui Vegetable Food.

SPECIAL ATTENTION

• Beans - tie up floppy plants, and keep them well watered - they should keep producing for another month or so.
• Brussels sprouts - stake taller plants to prevent them from falling over.
• Carrots - thin rows of carrots to ensure the roots develop evenly.
• Sweetcorn - pull out plants once they have finished, and add the stems to the compost heap.
• Tomatoes - in cold areas, pull out plants and leave any green fruits on a windowsill to ripen in the sun (this may take a few weeks).

SOW

• Broccoli, cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, lettuces, mesclun, radishes, rocket, spinach, silverbeet, coriander, parsley.

PLANT

• Beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflowers, cavolo nero, celery, kale, silverbeet, spinach, spring onions, coriander, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme.

FERTILISE

• Feed established plants once a month with Seasol plant tonic.

SPRAY

• Mildew can be a problem on cucumbers, courgettes and marrows; spray with Tui Disease Control for Fruit & Veges to control it. Lay Tui Quash to control slugs and snails, and spray aphids and whitefly with Tui Insect Control for Fruit & Veges if they are still a problem. White butterflies and their hungry caterpillars will be lurking about too; deter these with derris dust.

HARVEST

• Beans (all types except broad beans), beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, capsicums, carrots, cauliflowers, celery, chillies, courgettes, cucumbers, lettuces, marrows, peas, potatoes, sweetcorn, tomatoes.

What to plant in April!

VEGETABLE GARDENER'S DIARY - APRIL

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14 people recommend this

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Tomatoes, capsicums and chillies will be coming to an end in cooler parts of the country, where the nights are beginning to draw in and the earliest frosts may start to appear. In warm regions, these crops will last another couple of months.

Replenish the soil with a new layer of compost, Tui Super Sheep Pellets andTui Vegetable Food.

SPECIAL ATTENTION

• Beans - tie up floppy plants, and keep them well watered - they should keep producing for another month or so.
• Brussels sprouts - stake taller plants to prevent them from falling over.
• Carrots - thin rows of carrots to ensure the roots develop evenly.
• Sweetcorn - pull out plants once they have finished, and add the stems to the compost heap.
• Tomatoes - in cold areas, pull out plants and leave any green fruits on a windowsill to ripen in the sun (this may take a few weeks).

SOW

• Broccoli, cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, lettuces, mesclun, radishes, rocket, spinach, silverbeet, coriander, parsley.

PLANT

• Beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflowers, cavolo nero, celery, kale, silverbeet, spinach, spring onions, coriander, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme.

FERTILISE

• Feed established plants once a month with Seasol plant tonic.

SPRAY

• Mildew can be a problem on cucumbers, courgettes and marrows; spray with Tui Disease Control for Fruit & Veges to control it. Lay Tui Quash to control slugs and snails, and spray aphids and whitefly with Tui Insect Control for Fruit & Veges if they are still a problem. White butterflies and their hungry caterpillars will be lurking about too; deter these with derris dust.

HARVEST

• Beans (all types except broad beans), beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, capsicums, carrots, cauliflowers, celery, chillies, courgettes, cucumbers, lettuces, marrows, peas, potatoes, sweetcorn, tomatoes.

April!

FRUIT GARDENER'S DIARY - APRIL

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Once the autumn rains arrive, while the soil is still warm, it’s another good time to plant fruit trees and plants. Planting in the autumn allows the fruits to establish their root systems over the winter in preparation for the following fruiting season.

PICK

Grapes, apples, Chilean guava, pears, rhubarb, walnuts, passion fruit, late peaches.

PLANT

• Plant evergreen frost hardy fruits such as feijoa (see the feijoa growing guide here) and Chilean guavas.
• Remove runners from strawberry plants and pot up into Tui Strawberry Mix ready for planting out in the winter.
• Remember - fruit requires a position in full sun. Shelter from prevailing winds is preferable.

TASKS

Protect

• Aphids, whitefly and scale insects may be about, spray with Tui Insect Control for Fruit & Veges to control.

Prune

• Once nectarines, peaches and plums have finished fruiting prune to shape and to remove any dead or diseased branches.

Weeds

• Keep orchards and the areas around fruit trees weed free.
• Only use weed sprays that are non-residual near fruit trees.

Mulch

• Add a layer of Tui Mulch & Feed around the base of fruit trees, to keep the soil warmer over the winter months and keep the area weed free.
• As the mulch breaks down it adds nutrients to the soil as well.

Vegetable Gardeners Diary - February

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Being one of the hottest months of the year, February is all about reaping what you have sown; it's one of the main harvest periods. Keep feeding your plants with a fertiliser like NovaTec Premium.

It's important to keep an eye on watering at this time and to keep the soil moist, to prevent plants from wilting. When plants get water-stressed, they become susceptible to pests and diseases, which can be very quick to move in. A healthy plant is much more likely to stay that way if it's well watered.

Many summer crops will be harvested and pulled out of the ground now. While the garden is empty, take time to replenish the soil with a new layer of compost or Tui Super Sheep Pellets. If you have poor, dry soil, add Debco SaturAid to help retain more moisture. Add thick layers of compost or Tui Pea Straw Mulchto vegetable beds to conserve water, reduce weeds and add valuable nutrients to the soil.

SPECIAL ATTENTION 

• Potatoes - keep mounding up rows of potatoes to ensure a bigger harvest. When watering potatoes, water the soil and not the leaves. Keep the area around plants weed-free.
• Sweetcorn - protect plants from strong winds by staking them or erecting a windbreak.
• Tomatoes - remove the lower leaves of plants to allow more light to ripen the lower trusses of fruit. Immediately remove any diseased leaves or fruit that may appear, to limit the spread of the problem.

SOW

• Beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, cavolo nero, celeriac, celery, kale, leeks, lettuces, mesclun, radishes, rocket, spinach, silverbeet, chervil, corinader, parsley.

PLANT

• Beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflowers, cavolo nero, celery, courgettes, kale, lettuces, peas, silver beet, spinach, coriander, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme.

FERTILISE

• Feed established plants once a month with Seasol plant tonic. Some quick-growing crops, like pumpkins, cucumbers and melons, can be fed every two weeks.

SPRAY

• Mildew can be a problem on cucumbers, courgettes and marrows; spray with Tui Eco-Fungicide to control it. Lay Tui Quash slug & snail control to control these pests, and spray aphids and whitefly with Tui Eco-Pest if they are still a problem. White butterflies and their hungry caterpillers will be lurking about too; deter these with derris dust or spray with Tui Eco-Pest.

HARVEST

• Globe artichokes, beans, beetroot, capsicums, carrots, chillies, courgettes, cucumbers, eggplants, garlic, lettuces, marrows, onions, peas, potatoes, shallots, sweetcorn, tomatoes.

Regional variaton: remember that there will be differences between crop timings depending on where you live, and the variety of vegetable grown. Always factor in climatic differences when sowing, planting and harvesting.

• Vegetable Gardener's Diary

Eco-Warriors Update!

A big well done to all the Eco-warriors from Room 20 who got stuck in today and tidied up our vegetable gardens. You have made them look fantastic! - we are now ready to plant new vegetables

Pickled Beetroot Recipe

Ann's Pickled Beetroot

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Thank you to Ann from Auckland for providing this recipe for pickled beetroot. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 Kg Meduim size raw beetroot
• 300 ml white vinegar
• 100 g castor sugar
• 5 cloves
• 3 star anise
• 4 bay leaves
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 200 ml water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• pinch of salt

Method: 

1. Place Beetroot in a pot and just cover with water.
2. Add a pinch of salt and cook until you can put a knife through the beetroot (then you know they are cooked), then drain.
3. In another saucepan bring to boil the water, sugar, white vinegar, bay leaves and spices.
4. Once boiling bring down to simmer for 2 - 3 minutes, or until sugar has dissolved.
5. Switch off heat and add the balsamic vinegar.
6. Let the beetroot cool down a bit so you can handle them.
7. Remove the skin and either grate them, slice or keep whole (as you prefer them - I like mine grated).
8. Put them in a jar and pour the reduced mixture over the beetroot.
9. Let it cool then add the olive oil, seal, and put in the fridge.
10. Enjoy!

Transplanting!

In Focus: Transplanting Guide

Sometimes plants need to be moved and transplanted, and winter is the best time to do this for most plants, with the exception of bulbs. Over the coldest months when most plants are not actively growing their metabolism slows right down, which means there is less chance of transplant shock when moving. When transplanting dig out the plant, taking as much of the root as possible. Once planted in the new location, water in well with Seasol – a seaweed based plant tonic which reduces transplant shock. Not all plants transplant well - rosemary and lavender do not transplant well, and nor do plants with a long tap root such as cabbage trees - as soon as the tap root is cut, the plant generally dies. Citrus, blueberries, cranberries, feijoa, raspberries, dwarf apples, peaches and apricots will readily transplant before the plants get too established (or are less than 1 metre tall). Taller shrubs like camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas can be moved up until they are approximately 1 – 1.5 metres tall as they have a shallow root systems. Read on for more information