Yearning For Spring
It’s amazing to think that soon all those northern hemisphere gardeners will have to bid spring and summer farewell as it will be the turn of gardeners down under to savour their magic.
Just a few weeks away and already I’m feeling a little under pressure as I have so much planned for this growing season. The last few weeks have been very wet here in the city of sails therefore there’s not a lot I can do in the garden because it’s very soggy underfoot.
As always I’m keen to start preparing the soil but I just have to be patient and wait for the spring sunshine to warm and dry things out. Other than laying straw around the strawberries nothing much has been done.
The seeds from Kings arrived a few days ago so my garden fork and string line are at the ready.
This season it’s pretty much more of the same however there will be a few new comers to the ranks or more accurately speaking “the rows” in my garden. The plot has grown a “little bigger” and the challenge is to improve on what I achieved last year but most importantly to enjoy myself whilst doing it.
In that respect I guess I’m no different to gardeners the world over as we all seek to get the very most from our square metres of dirt.
Can’t wait to get growing again …
This post has 4 comments
August 31st, 2010
Hi Rodney,
Well I got in early and ordered my seeds from Kings about 4 weeks ago. I managed to get the Tommy Toe tomato seeds along with Celebration, Carmelita and Moneymaker. I’ve never grown tomatoes from seed so this is going to be fun (I hope). I took some Tommy Toe seeds with me down to Dunedin and gave some to my dad, step dad and my son to try. I want to see who can grow the best tomatoes. I’ve already planted 6 of each variety and some already have two sets of leaves. I recently planted a few more and they have popped their heads through the soil and have one set of leaves each. I’m so proud of my efforts. They seem to be doing well in an old fish tank in the garage which seems to be acting like a mini glasshouse. I know I’ve got too many tomato plants now but they won’t go to waste. I’m giving 6 away and if the rest all do well then I’ll be making heaps of tomato sauce, relish and spaghetti later on.
Can you give me advice to help me have a successful tomato crop this season? Thanks
September 1st, 2010
Hi Lydia …
… if you type in “growing tomatoes” into the search box above it will give a good idea of what I do with my tomato crop. If you still have any questions after checking out those blog posts just let me know … cheers.
September 7th, 2010
Hi Rodney, I am wanting to grow my tomatoes in grow bags and was wondering if I use just compost or a mixture of something else. Do I need slow release fertilisers too? My small vege garden is full to the brim so I was wanting to plant the tomatoes along the fence (on the side where they’ll face the north). I thought those black grow bags would be good if I put in some crystal rain or saturaid too. What do you think?
Cheers.
September 8th, 2010
I’ve never used them so I may not be the right person to ask. There are some special mixes for growing tomatoes (Tui put one out) but this could be rather expensive if you are a growing a lot. You could mix this in with your own compost of course. Bags will dry out quickly in summer so you will need to be diligent with the watering. I don’t think I would use black bags as they will attract too much heat?
To get good crops you need to feed regularly and control the amount of foliage. Yates Thrive, Nitrosol or something similar every fortnight should work OK.
I use diluted worm juice on my tomatoes and am fortunate that I have plenty of space. You might want to check out latest edition of Weekend Gardener (Issue 298) as they have a excellent feature about growing tomatoes …
cheers.