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 …

On my list of favourite things to grow pumpkins are well up there and come in a very close second to my all time favourite, yes you guessed right, tomatoes.

This past season I grew four different varieties:

Whangaparaoa Crown (Weighed in average 3.6 kg)

I’ve been growing this grey skinned variety off and on for over 30 years because it’s a reliable producer, seven to nine pumpkins off each vine this year. As a dry pumpkin it stores well and makes for a tasty soup and is equally good when roasted. These two are about half way to maturity and will double in size.

Marina Di Chioggia (Weighed in 6.4 kg)

This Italian heirloom originally from Chioggia in the province of Venice, Italy came highly recommended so it will be interesting to see how it tastes. Upon checking this last week I discovered dry rot developing in the stem so I decided to bring it in.

It was planted in an area where the soil hadn’t been prepared as well as it could have been and as a result I’ve only ended up with a few of these. The one pictured above is the biggest and best of the crop. I intend to save the seeds and plant in a better spot next season.

As it grew the changing colours have been quite amazing and it has grown from a handsome adolescent into this ugly old ogre shown below.

Guess you can’t judge a pumpkin by it’s skin and based on what I’ve read about this variety it should be well worth the effort. Probably need an axe to open it up when the time comes to savour this gastronomical wonder.

Queensland Blue (Weighed in 4.7 kg)

Normally I wouldn’t let an Aussie near my garden but I guess there comes a time to let bygones be bygones. Also I feel the need to see if Australia can produce anything worthwhile besides Midnight Oil, Victorian Bitter and Fosters.

To be sportsman like I will hold off passing judgment until this one hits my taste buds.

Strange as it may seem I suspect this Queensland heirloom could prove to be “fair dinkum”.

Now lastly I should mention the most prolific producer of this cucurbita foursome.

Waltham Butternut (Weighed in average 2.3 kg)

Along with one Whangaparaoa Crown these were planted in the the corner of my garden as there was no where else for them to go. By doing this I broke one of my own rules as I never plant pumkins in my main growing area as the tend to take over.

The crown pumpkin was true to form and set about smothering everything in sight but the butternut only took up a minimal amount of space but yet produced a bumper crop. This variety therefore would be a good choice if you only have a small garden.

For me the success in growing pumpkins is:

• Plenty of space where they can grow undisturbed.
• Good soil with plenty of organic material such as compost and aged animal manure.
• All day sun.
• Ongoing feeding.
• Regular watering if things become too dry as happened this season just past.
• Having plenty of bees included bumble bees to handle that all important task of pollinating all those flowers. A little hand pollination also helps.

Now that I have a beehive situated within a stones throw of where the pumpkins grow it will be interesting to gauge next years pollination results against the current ones.

If you have the space I’d suggest growing pumpkins as they are easy to grow and don’t require a lot of effort.

]]> http://www.justaddworms.com/2010/05/04/how-to-grow-pumpkins-aplenty/feed/ 7 http://www.justaddworms.com/2010/04/02/how-to-save-tomato-seeds/ http://www.justaddworms.com/2010/04/02/how-to-save-tomato-seeds/#comments Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:17:13 +0000 Rodney http://www.justaddworms.com/?p=7552 In spite of the slow start to spring it’s been a great season for growing tomatoes and to ensure bumper crops again next season I’ve been setting aside some of the choicest tomatoes for seeds.

Tomato seeds are encased in a gelatinous type sac which prevents them from sprouting whilst inside the fruit therefore this needs to be removed before they can germinate. The easiest way to do this is by a process of fermentation.

If you’ve never saved your own seeds before hopefully this video will make the whole exercise a little easier.

Seeds should be left in a warm dry spot where they can dry naturally. Moving them about on the paper on a daily basis will prevent them from clumping and sticking to each other and allows even drying.

Once the  seeds are completely dry, say a week to ten days store in a cool, dark, moisture free location.

Lastly, if you’re anything like me you’ll forget what’s what so apply a label with the name and date of your seeds.

“Was it something I fed them?”

There may have been other reasons why the worms died but my intention here is to summarise their dietary likes and dislikes.

Tiger worms (Eisenia fetida) also known as compost worms, manure worms, or red wiggler prefer a diet of 70% fruit and vegetables with the remaining 30% made up of carbon (eg. cardboard, paper, paper towels, egg carton etc)

Worms like:

Avocados.
Tea bags.
Aged grass clipping and leaves in moderation.
Coffee grinds.
Crushed egg shells.
Aged animal manures ( eg. horse, cow, sheep and rabbit)
Banana skins.
Fruit (not citrus)
Vegetable waste from kitchen and garden (avoid material that may have residues from chemical sprays)
Vegetable peelings.
Hair.
Watermelon.
# Shredded paper and card board (non glossy)
# Paper towels.
# Toilet roll centres.
# Egg cartons.
# Vacuum dust.
# Note …  these items should be soaked in water and then wrung out prior to being used.

Chopping food and other waste into smaller pieces helps to speed up the decomposition process.

Worms don’t like:

Fresh grass clippings produce too much heat and will cook your worms.
Bread & pasta (in smaller stacker type worm farms)
Chicken manure as it’s to potent.
Dairy products.
Flour products.
Kiwi fruit (in excess)
Meat and fish.
Spicy or acidic foods.
Garlic, chili & onions.
Large amounts of cooked food.
Processed food that may have salt and other additives.
Glossy paper or cardboard.
Perfumed or chemically treated tissues.
Treated wood shavings or sawdust.
Pet faeces (risk transfer of disease, better to be safe than sorry)

Feed worms once a week taking care not to over feed as uneaten food will only rot, smell and attract flies.

Adding a handful of garden lime (calcium carbonate) every 3 to 4 weeks will help to maintain a neutral pH level, lower acidity and sweeten the whole mixture. Aerating the contents within your worm farm every month or so also ensures adequate air circulation and reduces bedding compaction.

Ten digits in some rubber gloves is the most effective method as there’s no risk of harming the worms and if you have one damaging the weed mat that lines the inside of a bath tub worm farm.

Worms need air but not light as they are photo phobic.

You can’t go wrong if you treat your worms in the same manner as the politicians treat their constituents “keep em in the dark”.

Finally covering food scraps with dampened newspaper, sacking or old carpet encourages worms to the surface to feed on decomposing matter. This also means that both the bedding and food remain moist and in the dark, just as the worms like it.

If you’re thinking starting a worm farm our Garden Shop is a great place to check out your options.

Interesting worm facts.
Best temperature range for compost worms is 15°C to 25°C.

When I wrote to the NZ Gardener recently to make them aware of my bumper crop of tomatoes I certainly didn’t expect my letter to be made into a full page feature. You could say I almost “fell off my ladder” when the neighbour dropped by to show me their copy (details are on pages 8 and 77).

Since planting my main crop on the 5th of October I’ve spend many hours diligently tending the tomatoes so this article in the “2009 magazine of the year” certainly ended my tomato growing season on a high, excuse the pun.

As the above photo has been reduced from A4 the text is rather difficult to read so I’ve reproduced my unabridged version below.

• I first started growing tomatoes about 30 years ago and along with pumpkins they normally dominant my garden. Not only do I enjoy growing them I also love to eat them. This season I decided to be a bit more adventurous and try some vegetables that I’d never grown before. Normally it’s just Beefsteaks and Money Makers but this year I purchased some heirloom seeds from Kings Seeds. Currently I have about 40 plants including Black Krim, Brandywine, Tommy Toe, Beefsteak and Money Maker. Once the seedlings are planted out I apply worm juice to the root zone every fortnight. I have three bath tub worm farms which produce about 9 litres each week. Worm juice is great as it’s totally organic, environmentally friendly and simple to apply.

• Tomatoes are very easy to grow but to have a good crop you should continually remove the laterals as well as any surplus or diseased foliage. Doing this on a regular basis ensures water and nutrients are directed to the fruit. I use waratah standards for stakes as it easy to attach wooden extensions to them as the tomatoes grow. I drive these well into the ground with a sledge hammer.

• Many of my tomatoes are more that 2.5 meters tall which makes life interesting. Every few days I spend time tying them up with strips cut from truck tyre inner tubes to ensure they don’t fall foul of the wind. Lastly I’m very careful not to overlook the important aspect of watering. Using a soaker hose directs the water only to the roots plus it saves time and water.

The March edition of NZ Gardener magazine hit the stores on Monday so that afternoon I visited our local garden centre to purchase a couple of copies. Whilst doing so I mentioned to several of the assistants that my tomatoes were featured. I think they were impressed until I told them that I had bought the seeds from another supplier.

Looking back I don’t know why I did that?

Perhaps all this celebrity status is affecting my thinking.

Yes that’s the same tomato plant. Amazing what time, a little love and some worm juice can produce.

It was just 365 days ago that I wrote the first post for Just Add Worms, how time flies when you’re doing something that you enjoy. One year and 63 posts later, the blog and garden are both flourishing. The photo below shows the garden as it was back then.

This photo shows the garden as it is now.

Over the last year, a lot has happened to my garden; least of all its gotten bigger, much bigger. Back in November 2008,  it was 50 square metres but now its almost twice that. Looking back over the summer that is coming to an end, I’m more than satisfied with how the garden has performed.

The many hours spent shoveling horse manure and compost has paid big dividends as the soil is now nutrient rich and easy to work. It won’t be long before I’m able to boast about growing prize carrots as we all know that good soil is needed for this. I recently planted a couple of rows so watch this space.

Here in Auckland the season was slow to get going but the weather has been great over the last couple of months resulting in bumper crops of most vegetables. The most notable of these have been tomatoes, best I’ve grown in 30 years, beetroot, lettuces, potatoes and lastly pumpkins. They are still about six weeks from harvest.

The corn hasn’t been as good as last year and the onions didn’t stand a chance as they were jammed in what little space was left over and I’ve been tramping them underfoot ever since. My gardens are never big enough!

Unlike the previous year, I was better organised this year and had the majority of my seedlings underway by September. This meant that the growing season was three months longer and it certainly showed when it was time to harvest. This year I also grew a number of vegetables and herbs that were completely new to me and that has been interesting and lots of fun.

With the addition of the bath tub worm farms seven months ago and more recently a new beehive, its been a busy but enjoyable year in the veggie garden.

My plans for next year are to increase the garden by about 25 square metres and to grow more of those unusual untried varieties. After just a few months I’m addicted and fascinated by the bees, so more hives are on the cards.

“Gosh I’m gonna bee busy” ….  sorry I’m doing it again.

Also, a special thanks to my family for their ongoing help and support during the first year of Just Add Worms.

]]> http://www.justaddworms.com/2010/02/27/happy-anniversary-just-add-worms/feed/ 0 http://www.justaddworms.com/2010/02/16/tomatoes-high-on-worm-juice-part-3/ http://www.justaddworms.com/2010/02/16/tomatoes-high-on-worm-juice-part-3/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:45:03 +0000 Rodney http://www.justaddworms.com/?p=6974 Its been about 14 weeks now since I planted my first tomatoes and at last, they are ripening in reasonable numbers. I picked the first of the tomatoes about 3 weeks ago but they didn’t compare to yesterday’s harvest. I’m tickled pink (as in Brandywine Pink) with the results so far, since these are just the first of the crop. As there are so many, I’m sharing them with family, friends and neighbours.

Amongst those below are Black Krim, Brandywine, Brandywine Pink, Beefsteak, Moneymaker and Tommy Toe. Tommy Toe is a small cherry type tomato. They are great to eat straight from the vine as they are super tasty and sweet.

After all these months, my tomatoes are still receiving a fortnightly feed of worm juice and it’s certainly made a difference. As I have so many plants now, 41 to be precise, I pour the mix around the root zones, since the previous method of spraying was taking too long. Once diluted 10:1, it’s 15 minutes work with the watering can.

The two images below show the beefsteak tomato that has received the worm juice. After picking 3 or 4 tomatoes from it during the past week it still boasts a contingent of about a dozen good sized fruits. The photo doesn’t show it  off very well due to the fact that there are too many vegetables crammed into my garden.

I know it’s not good practice to jam them in like sardines in a can, because plants need space for the air to circulate. But sometimes my enthusiasm gets the better of me.

When time allows, I will make my garden “just a little” larger.

At the 1.4 metre mark.

The beefsteak that has received no worm juice is pictured below and is approximately 1.3 metres in height.

It has a similar number of fruit however they are fractionally smaller and as the photo shows, still rather green.

Even though the two are almost the same height, the tomato plant receiving the worm juice has grown at a much quicker pace with the fruit ripening approximately 17 days earlier. Both plants have produced an equal number of tomatoes, of similar size. The second tomato plant is about a week away from having ripe fruit so I’ve not been able to do any taste comparisons yet.

The rest of the tomatoes are also doing well on their worm juice supplement. Some have grown so tall that I need to use the ladder when tying them up! Out behind the garage, the bath tub farms are producing 3 litres of concentrate each week, so there’s more than enough for the tomatoes and the other vegetables.

If you’re keen on growing great vegetables, my advice is to get yourself a worm farm, because it’s helped to give me the best results I’ve had in 30 years of gardening. I also have smaller worm farms for sale.

Finally, special thanks to my tiger worms for all their hard work … thanks guys, I couldn’t have done it without you. Gosh, hope Rose doesn’t read this as she already thinks I’m half mad.

My philosophy for growing pumpkins is a very simple one. Find a good sunny site, dig in a generous quantity of compost and “watch em grow”. A regular watering regime is also necessary to ensure that the soil remains moist but not wet. Like most vegetables, pumpkins don’t like wet feet. Watering only the main roots as with tomatoes lessens the incidence of fungal growth and diseases such as powdery mildew.

Pumpkins are classified as a fruit and are part of the cucurbitaceae family.

If you’re new to growing pumpkins my advice is not to plant them in your main garden  as they have a tendency to take over to the detriment of everything else. An ideal growing location could be an over grown part of your garden or perhaps an area that is difficult or unsuitable for growing other vegetables. Unless you have a good amount of space forget about growing pumpkins.

I’m fortunate as we have a large section which means a separate area just for growing pumpkins. Assuming this year’s pumpkins do as well as last years they will cover most of this area and to boot will ultimately end up growing in and over the nearby cabbage trees.

Hopefully I will be able to post some more photos at harvest time around late March early April.

Growing pumpkins last year required very little effort and we ended up with a reasonable harvest but this season it’s could be a very different.

To begin with 2010 has brought with it more bird problems than usual and my pumpkins seedlings didn’t escape unscathed. The blackbirds and thrushes seemed to delight in scratching them out however some pieces of strategically placed netting solved this problem.

Now a couple of months later the pumpkins are growing well however many of the young pumpkins are changing from green to an ugly yellow and rotting off the vine. My first thought was that perhaps they were getting too much water but I now think its more likely due to not being pollinated.

There are plenty of bumble bees about and they’re busy amongst the pumpkins but there doesn’t seem to be many female flowers for them to pollinate.

Male flowers like the one below abound but as we all know “it takes two to tango”.

When I can find one the female flower looks like this.

Those female flowers that have been successfully pollinated are developing as usual, see the photos below.

This Marina di Chioggia has two pumpkins on it when in reality there should be at least four times that number. Sadly most of the female flowers have not been pollinated. When and if they reach this stage I feel comfortable that they will continue through to maturity.

This is about 10-15 days after pollination. Queensland Blue

That’s better, looking like a real pumpkin should. I’ve never grown this variety before but they came highly recommended. Purchased seed by mail order from Kings Seeds.

During this coming week I’m going to give my pumpkins a little help with some hand pollination. Don’t know how well this will work as it’s all new territory for me however it should prove to be interesting.

Watch this space for future updates.

Interesting pumpkin facts

]]> http://www.justaddworms.com/2010/02/02/pumpkins-and-the-powers-that-bee/feed/ 2 http://www.justaddworms.com/2010/01/23/tiger-worm-round-up/ http://www.justaddworms.com/2010/01/23/tiger-worm-round-up/#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 04:15:01 +0000 Rodney http://www.justaddworms.com/?p=6664

Back in September of 2009 I made two bathtub worm farms as I needed to increase my stock of tiger worms. Sales of my worms farms via the “Garden Shop” and Trade Me were going extremely well, however the demand had created a major problem.

Simply put, not enough worms.

Most folk don’t want to purchase a farm without worms as that would be akin to buying a car only to discover that the gas tank is empty.

Once the bath tubs had become operational all seemed to going to plan and I believed that any worm production issues would soon be a thing of the past. I had also purchased a third bath tub which would help to further increase the worm population. Little did I know that a few months later things would go totally awry.

The first signs of trouble appeared when the tape I used to secure the weed mat to the sides of the bath started to come away. This happened due to a build up of moisture and hence the worms found their way into the bottom of the bath. Once in this area there was no way they could return to their food source and bedding above.

At this stage I realised that things would need to be changed as the worms were not staying where I wanted them and many were drowning in their own juice.

If you wish to see how the farm was originally put together it’s all detailed in this earlier post. It will also makes it easier to understand what I’m rambling about!

As shown below the problem was solved by using a larger piece of weed mat. This now meant that the upper part of the bath was escape proof.

Now the worms stay where they’re meant to and once again all is well down on “the farm”. Currently the tiger worms are producing about 5.9 litres of worm juice per week, all of which is used in the vegetable garden.

My motivation for writing this post is that others may have made a bath tub worm farm in a similar fashion and be experiencing the same problem. Hopefully this helps to set the record straight.

Do you ever wonder where all the bees have gone? It’ s no easy task to find bees whereas not many years back they were everywhere plying their all important trade.

I can remember many an occasion when one of our children would come storming into the house hollering that they had trodden on a bee on the lawn. Sadly it seems those times are gone as nowadays I often wander around our lifestyle block bare footed never fearing that I may get stung.

Like all avid gardeners I notice when the bees are about but this year more than ever they seem almost non existent. Occasionally a diligent bumble bee can be seen going about it’s business but the same can’t be said for the common “garden variety” honey bee. Spotted the bumble bee below just today whilst checking the pumpkins.

Much to my delight several months ago whilst working in the vegetable garden I found myself in the midst of a massive swarm of bees, however my joy was short lived as it was only a fleeting visit. From the time it took me to sprint from the back garden to the kitchen and back again yelling to my wife as I went, “quick come look at the bees, look at the bees” they were gone.

When Rose finally made it to the laundry door she casually commented “where are they” to which I simply replied, “you were too slow, they’re gone”.

The sky was black with this massive wave of bees and they cast a eerie shadow over a large part of the back lawn, it was an incredible sight. This was the second time I have seen this phenomenon in the 11 or so years they we have lived here.

As I sat on the back deck feeling empty and rather melancholy I couldn’t help but think how wonderful it would be to have them stay.

How does one catch a swarm of bees as large as that, don’t know that “yet”.

I’ve been thinking about getting some hives for some time now and seeing all those magical bees certainly set me a yearning. After many weeks of repeatedly telling my family “I’m getting bees” I finally decided to take action.

Two weeks before Christmas I called the president of the Auckland Beekeeper’s Club and was advised to attend their next meeting which was set for the 9th of January.

The outing proved to be very worthwhile and enjoyable and now I’m a paid up member of the Auckland Beekeeper’s Club.

Below are some of the photos I took and no I didn’t get stung, more good luck than good management.

Inspecting the hives.

Harvesting honey.

Cup of tea and a sandwich plus opinions from the experts.

Components of Langstroth beehive … as a “beeginner” let’s see if I can get this right.

From the top:

• Metal hive cover … protects the hive.
• Inner cover … creates airspace for insulation from heat or cold.
• Honey box/super… comb building and honey production.
• Bee escape boards.
• Queen bee excluder …keeps the queen bee in the brood chambers.
  
• Brood box … queens lays eggs here and honey stored for brood food.
• Botton/ landing board … forms the floor of the hive.
• Hive stand … for stability.
  

I think that’s correct but if not please let me know. I’m sure it will all “beecome” second nature “beefore” too long.

I’ve always “beelieved” that the best way to learn is to get doing so the next step is to purchase an active bee hive. Really looking forward to doing that, should “bee” a real “buzz” sorry, I’m all excited about getting my own bees.

Hopefully by doing this the presence of the friendly honey bee will again become the norm and I will no longer be able to wander down to the garden in my bare feet. A small price to pay if it means “the return of the bees”.

Some interesting bee facts

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