Tag Archives: Vegetables

Gardening

Clean up time in the garden (Wally Richards)

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Time flies that’s for sure we are now only about 2 months away from the shortest day and after that has passed we are into a new season of gardening.

Now during this quieter time we can do some tidy ups in preparation for the new season ahead.

Starting for those that have glasshouses or tunnel houses if your summer plants are about finished and ready to remove then it is time to fumigate the house and kill off all the pests that maybe on the old plants and in the nooks and crannies.

The cheapest way to do this is to burn yellow sulphur powder inside the house.

Leave any plants still in the house that are finished as why take them out with likely pests to later infect your outdoor gardens?

The sulphur fumes will likely damage most plants in the house so any that you want to save you should remove their containers or dig them out of the soil and put them in pots.

Move these preferred potted plants to a protected place such as under a carport or on a veranda where they have some protection against the winter chills.

You could spray them with Vaporgard before or after moving them to reduce their shock of being out in the real world.

Close down all your vents leaving the door open for your escape route.

Place about three tablespoons of sulphur powder onto a steel plant such as a spade or hearth shovel.

To light it you need a very strong flame such as one used for burning weeds.

If you do not have then wet a little of the powder with some mentholated spirits and light that.

Once the Sulphur powder starts burning it is hard to put out and all should burn creating sulphur fumes which choke and kill the pests that are inside the house.

Once it starts to burn quickly exit the house and close the door.

Leave the house sealed for a day or two before entering the house which should be safe with only a lingering smell of sulphur.

As it is winter there is no need to open vents or leave the door open to let any pests from outside enter the house.

If you grow in soil or in raised beds in the house you may like to wipe out any possible soil diseases from last growing season.

Some gardeners like to change the soil in the house each winter with the idea that it will remove any soil born diseases.

Outside of a lot of work to do so the only likely advantage is the psychological aspect you gain.

Soil born diseases are very difficult to remove as only a small amount left behind can re-infect the new soil brought in.

Also the new soil brought in may also have diseases in it and so then a waste of time.

In the past injecting steam into the soil was used by commercial growers later to be replaced by chemical sterilization.

For the home gardener this was to use a now banned product called Basamid.

Basamid killed soil diseases, pests and weed seeds and from what I saw in the spring seemed to give the soil a new lease of life as plants seem to take off.

Jeyes Fluid was also another popular disinfectant used to kill bacteria in the soil.

The product is not easily available in NZ anymore but maybe available by mail order.

The problem with Jeyes fluid is that it not only kills the pathogens in the soil but also harms the beneficial microbes which you want for a good healthy soil.

A new natural product is available called Wallys Terracin.

Terracin contains a bacteria that produces antimicrobial compounds which, when introduced to the soil,

resets the existing soil biology.

It contains powerful beneficial microbes that beat up on the pathogens.

As it contains microbes you should only dilute it to the instructions using non chlorinated water as you do not want to kill what you paid for.

Used as a soil drench on lightly moist soil to give the soil a nice soaking as to the instructions on the label.

Two weeks after applying Terracin I suggest that you mix Bio Marinus™ ( manufactured by the enzymatic hydrolysis of fish offal, blended with humate, seaweed and biology including Bacillus subtilis, Trichoderma and other beneficial microbes) with Wallys

Mycorrcin in a watering can using non chlorinated water to dilute.

Once mixed apply to the moist soil immediately as the food content in the Mycorrcin will start the microbes breeding and it would, if left in the watering can, overflow the liquid.

Also if you were to put the two products together into a plastic bottle and seal the bottle will expand like a balloon before it explodes.

Powerful microbes for sure.

Also you may like to apply the same treatments to your vegetable garden or other preferred gardens to increase the microbial soil activity making for significantly healthier plants this coming season.

Remember that once used you do not want to destroy what you have created later on by watering the areas with chlorinated tap water.

See www.0800466464.co.nz for a housing and filter system you can easily connect to an out door tap.

Filtered tap water will make am amazing difference to your gardens and plants.

It means healthier plants with less problems as the soil life is not harmed by chlorine poison.

Also if you do not have a filter in the kitchen for drinking and cooking water then you can easily fill flagons or bottles from the filter outside which is much better for your health and the health of your pets.

With this crazy world currently you want to have the best soil possible so you can feed your family with

highly nutritious foods, home grown.

As always for those that are interested send me an email for other non gardening bits.

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at  www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

Gardening, News

Grow Potatoes in a Cardboard Box

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Going to try this … EWR

Self Sufficient Me 1.59M subscribers

In this video, I show you how to grow potatoes in a cardboard box container as a great gardening hack to recycle, reuse, and be more sustainable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUGXSetN5wc

Photo: pixabay.com

Food

Top 11 Leafy Greens (& Their Benefits)

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From draxe.com

Diets rich in antioxidants — which help to fight against free radical damage that contributes to aging and disease — are recommended for people of all ages. One group of foods that provides some of the highest contents of antioxidants, in addition to many other essential vitamins and minerals, is leafy greens, such as popular types like kale and spinach.

Researchers have found that a diet inclusive of dark leafy greens can defend the body against experiencing cellular damage, which is associated with health problems, such as:

  • neurodegenerative diseases
  • heart disease
  • diabetes
  • certain types of cancers
  • earlier mortality

Top 11 Leafy Greens

Which are green leafy vegetables?

Leafy greens are considered to be any type of plants with leaves and/or stems that are eaten as vegetables. This category includes various types of salad greens, pot herbs, vegetable greens and microgreens.

Which are the best leafy green vegetables?

“Dark leafy greens” are among the healthiest because a rich/deep green color indicates a high level of antioxidants. While there isn’t necessarily just one type of green veggie that is the best, some of the richest in nutrients include:

  1. Watercress
  2. Kale
  3. Swiss chard
  4. Microgreens (like broccoli, kale and cabbage sprouts)

READ AT THE LINK

https://draxe.com/nutrition/leafy-greens/

Gardening

Growing food in a raised garden (Wally Richards)

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I wrote this article 8 years ago and to this day I have found it to be
the best and less expensive way to make and grow in a raised garden.

Extract from the original article:
I wanted a raised garden that could be worked without bending down and the cheapest way for that would be to use roofing iron. Three new sheets of galvanized iron 1.8 metres long and two 100 x 100 fence posts were also purchased the length of which was half the width of the of the sheets of iron. When you cut the fence post in half and no wastage.
The fence posts are treated with chemicals so to overcome that problem
a couple of coats of acrylic paint was applied all over the wood surface after cutting them in half. The posts are not going to be dug into the ground and the whole raised bed will sit in the ground on concrete.

(Now this is very important that you have a concrete pad to sit the
raised garden on. If not robber roots from plants, shrubs and trees will find your garden and fill it nearly to the top of the soil with feeder roots.
After one season the raised garden will be useless and will grow
nothing.)

Construction was simple; lay the two painted fence posts on the ground
and place one sheet of iron over the posts to completely cover the two
posts. Check to make sure its square fitting and then drill holes of suitable diameter to take the roofing screws. On a roof you would fasten the ridge part of the iron sheet so water would flow down the gully part.
For your raised garden the reverse applies. Screw in the roofing
screws at both ends of the sheet. The reason for using screws as apposed to roofing nails is they are easy to unscrew if you want to move the raised garden or extend it. The same is done on the other long length of iron. You now have two sides so next the ends.

The final sheet of iron is cut in half making it 90cm long, a nice
width to work on from one side or both. The posts are going to be
inside the bed. The two ends are screwed to the fence posts. It is best to assemble where its going to sit which ideally one long side should be facing in a northerly direction..
One very important aspect about where you are going to place the
garden and that is as far away from trees, shrubs or other plants as
possible. (Unless its is on a concrete pad).
If anywhere near say a tree or too close to a drip line, the tree will
send out feeder roots to your raised garden and then upwards to take
all the goodness out. The garden becomes a dense mesh of feeder roots over a couple of seasons and nothing will grow in it. I found this out the hard way as my first raised garden was about a metre away from a fence that had a cocktail kiwi fruit growing on it. Within two seasons it had become a mass of fibrous roots and resulting in a very big vine on the fence. If your raised garden is sitting on concrete no problems.

Now you have the raised garden ready to fill.
Any trimmings of trees and shrubs goes in onto the pad along with any
organic material which can be grass clippings (not sprayed with herbicide for over 18 months) sawdust, newspaper, old spent compost, old potting mixes and even some top soil (which is likely to have weed seeds in it)
filling the raised garden to about half the depth. You can even trample it down and add more to about half full. Over this you put several layers of newspaper. Cover this with purchased compost that is NOT made from green waste.

Daltons & Oderings Composts are two safe ones along with straight
mushroom compost.

The fill will take it to about 35cm from the top of the raised garden. Now you spread some goodies such as Blood & Bone, sheep manure pellets, Neem Tree Granules, Wallys Unlocking your soil, Ocean Solids, chicken manure and cover these with another layer of purchased compost about 5cm deep. This should then be about 20 to 30 cm from the top of the raised garden and ready for you to sow seeds or plant seedlings. After planting you can stretch some netting or crop cover across the bed and hold secure with a nail in each corner post. This will stop birds and cats from getting in and destroying your plantings and if crop cover is used it will stop most insect pests as well including butterflies. Having one long side facing north will heat up the contents through the iron; warming nicely the mix.

The gap between the mix and the top creates a wind break and so you
have your own special micro-climate and plants will grow twice as fast
compared to if they were in open ground. When a crop is harvested just place more goodies into the bed and cover with more compost. You will get years of pleasure and nutrition dense vegetables for your health.
You can easily extend the raised garden with two more 1.8 sheets and
one more post cut in half. Unscrew one end that you want to extend, removing the end section. Unscrew the sides at that end so your new sheets will overlap onto the existing and be screwed on together.
Posts at other end will take the end half sheet and now you have 3.6
metres of raised garden. Fill this as previously. You may need to place a brace across the middle to posts to prevent it bowing outwards.

Happy Raised Gardening.

Mentioned previously in several articles about a pending food shortage
I see this week that The UN has announced a catastrophic world wide
food shortage pending.
I also see that; “Farmers in England have been given taxpayers’ cash to rewild their land, under plans for large-scale nature recovery projects announced by the government. These will lead to vast tracts of land being newly managed to conserve species, provide habitats for wildlife and restore health to rivers
and streams.6/01/2022 The ambition at Rewilding Britain is to see nature recovering across 30% of Britain’s land area by 2030. That’s equivalent to approximately 7 million hectares.”

In NZ we also see Government encouraging tree planting and conservation programs to reduce the land that is farmed. There are moves to apparently introduce Frankenfood: (Perjorative term
for genetically modified food whether it be derived from genetically
engineered plants or animals.)
All sounds like conspiracy stuff but if the arable food growing land
is reduced and major food suppliers like Russia and Ukraine no longer
exporting food stuffs from crops there is a problem. Best you grow as much as you can and also stock up with essentials like flour, rice, pasta and tins of food.
Remember money is only as good as what it can buy and if there is
nothing available to purchase money is useless. Food then becomes very valuable along with fuels.
Also other bits if you email me.
Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at  www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

The Nazi doctor, Josef Mengele, known as the Angel of Death, said:
“The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing
it.”
_NEW ZEALAND BILL OF RIGHTS ACT 1990_. Part II of the Act covers a
broad range of Civil and Political Rights. As part of the right to
life and the security of the person, the Act guarantees everyone:
1The right not to be deprived of life except in accordance with
fundamental justice (Section 8)
2The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, degrading, or
disproportionately severe treatment or punishment (Section 9)
3The right not to be subjected to medical or scientific
experimentation without consent (Section 10)
4The right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment (Section 11)
Furthermore, the _New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990_ guarantees
everyone: Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion.
This includes the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion,
and belief,
INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO ADOPT AND HOLD OPINIONS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE
(Section 1)


Regards Wally Richards

Food, News

GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD (Wally Richards)

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You may ask why is it important to grow your own food?

First and most importantly it is your Food Security. Not nice to be hungry 24/7.

Second is that the food you grow yourself; if grown naturally without man made chemicals, will be healthier compared that which is grown with chemical fertilisers and sprays.

Thirdly it will have great flavour unlike the bland produce that you buy from commercial growers/supermarkets.

Naturally grown produce; when natural minerals are used, such as Wallys Ocean Solids, Wallys Unlocking your soil rock dust and Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL)… then the plants take up all these wonderful minerals and elements and the result is great flavour and so very tasty.

There is a simple formula ‘Great Flavour/taste = Great nutitional value/health’

My Friend Jack sent me an email this week which promted me to write this current column.

Here is what Jack wrote…

This morning I was waiting to have a haircut here in Tauranga, New Zealand.

The customer in front of me getting his haircut was the owner of a big transport company in the area and was talking to the barber. This is how the conversation went:

“Barber; How are things with you young man?

Answer; Not bad, but I have a lot of drivers off with Omicron at present which is not the best.

However, my biggest concern at present is that AdBlue, an essential additive now used in most modern diesel trucks and cars worldwide, is rapidly running out AND MAY CLOSE DOWN THE ENTIRE GLOBAL DIESEL TRUCK FREIGHT INDUSTRY within a month or two creating global chaos in supply chains.

Barber; Awe, that sounds a bit extreme doesn’t it? Are you pulling my leg?

Answer; No I am deadly serious.

Barber; Well why is it getting in short supply?

Answer; AdBlue is manufactured from Synthesized Urea and is used also for fertilizer and manufacturing conventional explosives.

RUSSIA is by far the biggest manufacturer and exporter in the world with China not far behind.

As a result of the Ukraine crisis, and the sanctions against Russia, Russia in turn, in collusion with China, is turning off the global supply lines.

It actually started last year. Here in NZ and Australia, unless this supply shortage is urgently rectified.

In my own case within a month I will have to park up all my trucks and stand down all my drivers!

That is how serious it may be.”

So everyone. I have no idea if this situation will be resolved quickly or not.

However, in a very short space of time it potentially could turn very nasty!

After all, every can of baked beans doesn’t walk into the supermarket on its own – it comes in by diesel trucks! Do I have to say any more?

Jack

Ok if there are little to no trucks to move stuff the empty Super Market shelves will be more apparent than currently also mail order stuff will not only have long delays as currently with drivers isolating but maybe reduce to a trickle?

So you should stock up now with essential items as well as plant up your gardens with vegetables as the day light hours are getting shorter and growth is slowing.

There is one fresh food you can do without a garden or day light hours to worry about and that is healthy seed sprouts.

Grow your own, fresh, nutritious, tasty sprouts. Mr Fothergills Kitchen Seed Sprouter makes it simple and affordable.

You will find these multi-compartment sprouters at Egmont Seeds in their mail order on line.

https://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/accessories-c-27/seed-sprouter-mr-fothergills

From their web site they have:

Sprouts are often referred to as Natures Super Foods, and rightly so, they are packed with powerful vitamins and minerals.

A study that involved scientific analysis of the vitamin and phytochemical content of 25 types of micro-greens, found that there were higher concentrations of vitamins and carotenoids (precursors to vitamin A) than the full-grown versions of the plants!

Now you can use the sprouter and make the seeds even more nitrous by adding a very small amount of MBL and Wallys Ocean Solids dissolved in the water you sprout the seeds in.

If possible avoid using chlorinated tap water for sprouting as you dont need the sprouts to take up the chlorine poison.

To overcome this problem place a bucket of chlorinated tap water outside in a sunny spot.

Take a cup of this water lift up and pour back into the bucket when the sun is shining.

This quickly removes the chlorine from the water and after a couple of days it should be free of the poison.

Also a couple of buckets outside to collect rainwater is also great value.

You change the water in the sprouter as to the instructions and ideally the sprouter should be on a window sill where it gets some natural light to green up the sprouts as they germinate.

Kings Seeds NZ is another good source of seeds to sprout with most of them being organic see

Gifts

Then you can always pick up seeds from places like Bin Inn such as mung beans etc.

Once you obtain a collection of seeds to sprout you then need to store them inside their packets, open or unopened and placed inside a glass jar with a lid and put inside your fridge.

That will keep them fresh for years and ready for you when you need or want to sprout.

With both Russia, Ukraine and China not supplying the West with fertilisers means that a lot of commercial growers are going to come unstuck and what vegetables that are available will be too expensive for many people.

Happy Growing…….

Photo: pixabay.com

Chemicals, Food

How to Wash Vegetables and Fruits to Remove Pesticides

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From foodrevolution.org

Get proven tips on how to wash vegetables and how to wash fruits so you can protect your health and your family.

Almost everyone should be eating more fruits and vegetables. You know that. But do you know why it’s important to wash your produce before eating it?

In our modern world, almost no food is 100% free of pesticides. Surprisingly, even organic produce may contain some pesticide residues.

Washing produce is important to prevent foodborne illness and substantially reduce your exposure to pesticides.

To reduce your pesticide exposure, the conventional advice is to choose organic food when you can, especially for the foods most likely to be contaminated with pesticides. And then, to wash your fruits and veggies before eating or cooking with them.

But, what foods are the most important to buy organic? And what is the best way to wash your produce to remove pesticides?

Science has given us answers. And we’ll share them with you. We want to help you make the best use of your time and money and to ensure the food you eat and serve is as safe as possible.

https://foodrevolution.org/blog/how-to-wash-vegetables-fruits/#wash

Photo: pixabay.com

Gardening, News

GROW YOUR OWN SEEDS (Wally Richards)

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Raising plants from seeds is a great sense of achievement for most gardeners and when the seeds are the ones you collected for free it is even better.

All plants that you have growing in your gardens seed at sometime, with some plants that maybe years away but with annual plants it is at maturity each year.

Annual plants that are left to seed and die back will have produced fertile seeds if pollination has occurred successfully.

If these seeds are left to fall naturally to the soil then at some ideal time for them, they will germinate and produce seedlings.

Two things prevent this happening the first being; you removing the dying plants before they can distribute seed or in the case of many vegetables you have harvested before the crop goes to seed and removed flowering vegetables before they set seed.

When you have left something to flower and drop fertile seeds; then later on if you don’t recognize those seedlings as preferred plants, you may kill them thinking they are weeds.

It is a learning curve to know what is a wanted plant and an unwanted plant but with a little close observation you can score a lot of free plants by allowing mature plants to seed.

When plants produce seed pods that are drying out, then more than likely there are fertilised seeds in the pods which you can harvest for sowing sometime.

This applies to a wide range of plants from roses with rose hips, natives, ornamentals, flowers, vegetables and fruit.

How many of us have eaten a ripe plum off their tree and spat out the stone?

Months or maybe even years later up pops a plum seedling which will eventually grow into another plum tree, similar or even different from your named plum tree.

There are a number of fruits that we buy that have seeds, which we can collect at no extra cost.

This includes tomatoes, capsicums, beans, peas, pumpkin, passion fruit, melons, apples, citrus, stone fruit, figs, even strawberries (which are not a fruit as their seeds are on the outside.)

I have at some time grown all in the list from purchase fruit (Fruit, the definition is one that has seeds inside, which includes beans, capsicum etc).

If you come across a special fruit or one that is more difficult to get the seed of from seed packets then you should certainly save the seed and plant them some time.

Whether it is successful or not it really does not matter as its free and a bit of a challenge.

Recently we found two Asian foods one type of snake bean and two types of bitter melon.

I collected a few seeds from them and with the snake bean just sat the whole bean on a late afternoon windowsill to dry out and mature the seeds inside.

They are now all growing happily in one of my glasshouses and later we shall find out if they have come true to form.

Sometime ago I found Dragon Fruit for sale and now have a big specimen which should be approaching flowering time soon and also a number of baby ones.

Collecting some seed from fruit you have grown or purchased is just the matter of removing them from the fruit, laying on a bit of paper towel to allow to dry. Once they are dry you can either plant them or store them.

The best way to store is to write on the paper towel what they are then place inside a sealed glass jar and then into the fridge where they can wait till you are ready to plant.

Several types of seeds can be stored in the same jar. The fridge storage means they will keep very well for a long period of time.

I have tomato seed over 30 years old that will still give me about 20 to 50% strike rate.

The fridge also gives the seeds a false winter so when they come out they will think its spring and germinate better as a result.

Spring is normally the best time to bring out seeds you wish to sprout as the day light hours are extending and many seeds relate to that.

Self sown seeds lay dormant until the conditions are ideal for them to sprout, that means light hours, temperature and moisture levels.

When they germinate they send down (in most cases) a long tap root just as the trunk sprouts upwards.

This long tap root has secondary roots formed off it making the plant sturdy and deep rooting.

This enables the plant to gather food & moisture better than transplants.

So where possible sow your seeds where the plant is going to grow to maturity.

Seeds germinated in cell packs don’t have the advantage of deep rooting but they do have the advantage of less root disturbance when transplanting.

Punnet grown seedlings will suffer the most root damage when you separate the seedlings, but another aspect comes into play, the damaged roots will be quicker to produce side roots and also generate a bigger root system.

Normally this time of the year germinating seeds is not a problem as the soil temperatures are supposed to be over 10 degrees.

In a glasshouse where the air temperature is warm seeds in containers will germinate better as long as adequate moisture is applied to the medium.

Before you cover your seeds spray them with a solution of Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) at 20 ml per litre of water. This natural product stimulates the germination to kick in.

When germinating in trays or cell packs use a good compost such as Daltons or Oderings as the base then with a sieve you sieve some of the same mix to make a nice layer of friable smaller particles.

It’s onto this you spread your seeds, spray with MBL and cover by sieving more compost.

In the garden sieve the soil for a seed raising bed. Forget the seed raising mixes they are a waste of time as well as being too expensive when compared to the herbicide free two brands I have mentioned.

Keeping seeds of your favorite vegetables is very important because seed strains disappear overnight as seed companies replace varieties.

Also certain companies want to control all the food seeds in the world and they buy up smaller seed companies then provide only the seeds they have sole rights to.

One of these companies has in certain countries persuaded the Governments to pass laws making the collection of one’s own seeds illegal.

This has made life for the native farmers intolerable and to compound matters often the seeds that are then sold to them are not suitable for their growing conditions and result in either poor or no crops.

Can’t happen in NZ you say? Us older gardeners know that plenty excellent named varieties of vegetables have disappeared and the newer varieties are not half as good.

Happy Gardening.

Food, Gardening, News

Beat the food price hikes & grow your own food

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I’ve posted many articles over the years on growing your own food. It is like printing your own money one person has quipped. We also post here NZ Gardening Guru Wally Richards’ info. Wally’s been in action for many years, a fantastic go to for advice. (Search his name in the search box).

Right now folk are talking about the food price hikes. $7.50 for a pound of butter! Same price I also heard (and dearer) for one cauli. What better time then to get gardening if you’ve been putting it off. Not only that your own home grown will be far healthier. More goodness when harvested right before eating … not weeks in transit and storage before getting to your table. Remember too you can grown veg in pots, hanging containers, small spaces in your yard, just about anywhere. There is plenty of info on Youtube on topic. See this article for inspiration. Better still watch their video.

Anyway having resolved it’s time to grow more myself I returned to my previous source of heirloom seeds so am adding a link for Kiwis. The author of the site, Carol Rathael, is currently offering a course that teaches you to save your own seed. Remember, those controlling the seed supply long ago began tampering with seed so it does not reproduce. Thereby they ensured the unaware would need to return to the store to buy more of their seed. Do you still think it’s all about your health and well being? Their specialty is to patent everything … control, control, control. They have thereby destroyed many farmers in poorer countries who swallowed their lies of greater productivity. Listen to Dr Vandana Shiva on that topic.

FYI, check out Carol’s site for her beautiful, reasonably priced, heirloom seeds. Most are organic. Here is a link:

https://www.carolraethel.com/catalog-carols-heirloom-garden

RELATED: Keep your heirloom seeds … they’re gold … Monsanto is buying up the heirloom companies

Food

“Who controls the food supply controls the people …” (Wally Richards)

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A renowned or maybe infamous states man, Henry Kissinger is known for, amongst many other things, his quotes one of which is:

‘”Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world.”

If you have been keeping up with what has been happening we see on main stream media a energy crisis in Europe with rising costs of fuel,

we hear of the implementation of proposed Cash Less Society and food is not as abundant as previously due to shipping and supply chains.

An example: I have for several months now being trying to ship a container of Neem Granules and Powder from India. My Shipping agents, Toll Global could not find a ship to transport it.

I was able to get my supplier in India to find a German shipping line that would take a container which after all this time will hopefully land in NZ in March.

I was told that most shipping lines do not want to come to Australia or NZ because they are made to sit off shore for a long periods of time waiting for permission to come in and disembark their cargo.

In the meantime using up fuel and paying their sailors wages for doing nothing.

Now we see fertilisers including urea are either not been exported by China, Russia or from some other suppliers and what is being imported now takes months instead of weeks to get here.

On TV news we see that this is causing a problem for our truckers.

(An automotive grade of urea will be injected into the vehicles’ exhaust stream to “scrub” nitrogen oxide (NOx) from the diesel exhaust. NOx, a major air pollutant, contributes to smog,

which causes asthma and respiratory and heart diseases.)

Now here is the countries food problem in a nut shell.

Commercial NZ growers of our vegetables have been using chemical fertilisers for many years and in doing so have killed the soil life in their soils.

This makes the soil void of microbes, beneficial fungi and no earth worms.

To grow crops in dead soil is a bit like hydroponics, you keep feeding the plants chemical nutrients to make them grow (NPK fertilisers)

The plants are not only forced to grow but to also grow quickly which means they do not obtain the nutritional quality plants obtain when grown naturally without being forced..

The vegetables thus grown are stressed and weak which makes them targets for every pest and disease under the sun.

To ensure that the vegetables look perfect on the supermarket shelves they need constant spraying of poisonous chemicals to prevent damage from diseases and pests.

This not only ensures that the soil life is continuously suppressed but also means you are eating produce that is chemically saturated and has little nutritional value or taste.

Food growers in NZ have a problem then, if they cant get loads of chemical fertilisers to grow their produce you will not see much fresh vegetables on the shelves.

What fertiliser is obtained will be up to 300% more expensive and that has to be paid for by you the consumer along with all the other costs involved in living, taking great price hikes.

Any imported food stuffs will also greatly increase in price due to shipping costs as well as manufacturing cost increases.

Here is your problem in regards to food security, we are now in the middle of February only 4 months till the shortest day.

Every day now till then, there is shorter day light hours.

Plants need sun light to grow, the less hours of sun light the less growth.

Ideally hardy crops such as cabbages need to be planted in summer to mature in winter.

That means the best time to plant your winter crops was in December and January.

It is not too late to plant seedlings in February and even into March but that is it as any planted after that will only slowly grow in less day light hours and later in spring when the hours of light increase they will go to seed.

Give you an example I can plant Drunken Woman lettuce (My favorite) now as purchased seedlings and they will be ready to harvest outer leaves in about a month to 6 weeks.

But if I plant the same in say May they will hardly grow and in August go to seed.

A waste of time other than used for the chickens to eat or dug under as a green crop to enhance the soil life.

So you need to plant seedlings now for your winter use.

They will grow during the diminishing light hours and reach near maturity going into winter when the growth is very slow but the cold temperatures

keeps the crop in Natures Refrigerator till you want to harvest for use.

Produce that you have ready now you need to harvest, freeze, pickle, dehydrate, bottle and store for the coming months.

Our grandparents knew this and they had larders full of preserved food and gardens full of mature greens to harvest fresh.

My mum used to say, ‘Better Safe than Sorry’

If you have been using a lot of chemical fertilisers and watering your vegetable garden with chlorinated tap water then you really need to restore the soil life.

Here is a remedy plan I saw on the Internet:

From Dead Dirt to Healthy Soil in 7 Simple Steps

  1. Stop using NPK fertilizers. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (NPK) fertilizers are commonly used for trees, shrubs, and grass. …
  2. Stop using herbicides and chlorinated tap water.
  3. Leave the leaves. …
  4. Be mindful of disturbing the soil. …
  5. Use wood chips. …
  6. Use compost. …
  7. Use animal manures.

Happy Gardening..

Gardening, News

Beating those insect pests in your garden (Wally Richards)

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Having a neat summer for a change has brought a problem for many gardeners and that is the number of insect pests such as leaf hoppers, whitefly and vegetable beetles that are ravaging our gardens. When one finds hundreds of these types of pests attaching our plants; the plants will be suffering and in some cases will succumb and die. A common problem is that we may repeat spray our plants for control but never seem to get on top of the problem. I had an example of this recently with leaf hoppers and discovered why when I decided to pull out an area of bracken ferns nearby. The ferns were covered in leaf hoppers, young fluffy bums and adults. By getting rid of this source or breeding plant I then was able to get control over my preferred plants. If the breeding ground happens to be over the fence you either need to get permission to control there or just hang in with lots of repeat sprays till winter knocks them back..

I had a lady call me the other day to say that everything was ok in her garden till the owner of the section next door decided to clear the vegetation to build. Within days all those pests that were living on the weeds and plants next door, invaded her gardens.

The safe way to maintain some sort of control is to place Neem Tree Powder on the soil in the root zone of plants and then to do repeat sprays, late in the day using Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil and Wallys Super Pyrethrum. Only spray just before dusk when the pests are settled for the night and the sun is down so foliage is not damaged by the oil.

Repeat sprays would be between every 3 to 7 days till the situation is under control or till the weather turns cold and nature knocks back the breeding cycles.

Just one of the things we gardeners have to face on a good summer.

GLYPHOSATE AND KIDNEY FAILURE

Using the herbicides containing glyphosate such as Zero, Roundup etc are a cheap convenient way of killing weeds and unwanted plants but there can be a price to pay that you are not aware of.

Generally speaking if you wear protective clothing, rubber gum boots, a chemical protection mask and eye shield, rubber or vinyl gloves; you are reasonably protected. If you are using a back pack sprayer you should have on a raincoat so any leakage does not run out and down your back/spinal cord. The eye shield is important as minute droplets can enter through your eyes.

Do you remember this statement by our esteemed Prof Michael Baker (whom appears on TV frequently) on the 29th February 2020? He said “The virus can also infect you via your eyes. It basically likes to land on mucus membranes, and then, from your eyes, go down to your nose anyway. So I think people should not bother with face masks.”

Thank you professor and also harmful chemicals can enter through both exposed skin and eyes. Best to have a shower straight after using any chemicals to reduce and dilute. Clothing worn should be washed separately and not with other clothes.

Then the main problem is the amount of glyphosate in our food chain and from overseas studies there is a lot in cereal crops, plant based oils such as soya. Glyphosate from Roundup Ready GE crops (not grown in NZ but in processed food stuffs imported.

Hence why I am publishing this article I received this week..

Ways to Remove Glyphosates from the Gut

While watching a mitochondrial summit video, Don Huber PhD, who has been studying glyphosates and their effects on the human body and the earth for many years, said that there are some ways to remove Glyphosate from the body, and especially the gut.

The bacteria that are in raw apple cider vinegar, sauerkraut and other ferments will degrade Glyphosate in the gut all the way down to carbon dioxide, water and phosphorus.

And for those that don’t consume much ferments, he said that humic fulvic acids are good too, and move glyphosate through the feces rather than the kidneys which is really good. He said in Brazil 1/4 of the people working in the sugar cane field die of glyphosate toxicity, which some would call end stage kidney failure. Other crops were mentioned like rice and wheat, and not just in South America. When glyphosate chelate with the minerals in crops like these it is too big for the kidneys to filter, so it plugs them up.

There are many other problems with Glyphosate that he discusses too. He explains and shows how many diseases have increased since glyphosate has been used. I would suspect it’s not just the glyphosate.

You cannot escape glyphosate completely, even if you eat all organic. It really is important to learn safe ways to detox in today’s world. One simple way is to eat sauerkraut and other ferments with each meal, and drink ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) with water before meals, and even after meals. Make sure it’s raw, organic apple cider vinegar with the mother. I think Bragg’s is the best brand. (UPDATE: I now prefer Fillsingers, tastes more like apples).

It will also increase your stomach acid therefore help in digestion. ACV is likely the best thing for acid re-flux as well. While Fulvic humic acid may be a great thing, it is not cheap. (MBL is ).

 It is far more affordable to learn to make things like sauerkraut and other ferments if you don’t already. It is not very hard to put water, salt and cabbage in a jar!

Problems ring me at 0800 466464
Email wallyjr@gardenews.co.nz
Web site www.gardenews.co.nz

Photo: Erik_Karits @ pixabay.com

Gardening

Did you realize you could garden without soil? 10 tips to straw bale gardening most don’t know

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From diyeverywhere.com

Poor soil? No soil? Do you have a hard time bending down or over to garden? If any of these affect you, then straw bale gardening is a fantastic gardening alternative! Straw bale gardening uses decomposing straw bales instead of soil to grow vegetables. It’s similar in concept to raised bed gardening, but with a much cheaper price tag.These tips will help you set up and garden successfully using straw bales!1. Use straw balesBales come in two varieties: straw and hay. Straw is the byproduct of the grain industry and contains only the hollowed out stem of plants such as wheat, barley and oats. Hay bales often contain a variety of dried grasses and many seeds; they are usually cheaper but will become weedy and break down too quickly. Bales can be purchased at some garden centers or sourced directly from farmers.

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https://gardeningtips.diyeverywhere.com/2017/08/21/10-tips-to-straw-bale-gardening-/?src=fbfan_60978&t=fbsub_gardeningtips&rp=20220130&fbclid=IwAR2lo4taXsukoYzCLhhEOv6uQlg-VSqw4cS-prHyE7hgDx8xPPmjGap0dv0

Photo: pixabay.com

Gardening

How To Grow And Harvest Dandelions (more nutritious than most fruits & veg you buy)

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From gardeningknowhow.com

Why You Should Be Growing Dandelion Greens While dandelions can be a nuisance in the lawn, they are also a surprising source of nutrients. Dandelion greens contain vitamin C, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, thiamin, riboflavin, beta carotene, and fiber. They are actually more nutritious than most of the fruits and vegetables you can buy in the grocery store. It is also touted as being beneficial to your liver, kidneys, blood, and digestion. Not to mention that it supposedly helps with acne, weight-loss, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. It is nearly a perfect food.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Dandelion Growing Info: How To Grow And Harvest Dandelions https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/dandelion/growing-dandelion.htm

Gardening

A Beginner’s Guide To Gardening: How To Get Started With Gardening

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If this is your first time gardening, what to plant and how to start are undoubtedly making you anxious. And while Gardening Know How has plenty of beginner gardening tips and answers to many of your gardening questions, where to begin searching is yet another intimidating roadblock. For this reason, we have compiled “A Beginner’s Guide to Gardening,” with a list of popular articles for starting a garden at home. Don’t be intimidated by the thought of gardening – get excited about it instead. Big space, small space or not much at all, we’re here to help. Let’s dig in and get started!

Read more at Gardening Know How: A Beginner’s Guide To Gardening: How To Get Started With Gardening https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/beginners-guide-to-gardening.htm

Gardening

Vermicomposting – Learn How To Make A Worm Tube

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From gardeningknowhow.com

Exactly what are worm tubes and what good are they? In short, worm tubes, sometimes known as worm towers, are creative alternatives to traditional compost bins or piles. Making a worm tube couldn’t be easier, and most supplies are inexpensive – or maybe even free. A worm tube provides a perfect solution if you have a small garden, if you just don’t want to bother with a compost bin, or if bins are frowned upon by your homeowner’s association. Let’s learn how to make a worm tube! Worm Tube Information Worm tubes consist of 6-inch (15 cm.) pipes or tubes inserted into the soil. Believe it or not, that’s really all there is to making a worm tube! Once the tube is installed in your garden bed, you can drop fruit and vegetable scraps directly into the tube.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Worm Tube Information – Learn How To Make A Worm Tube https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/vermicomposting/making-worm-tubes-for-garden.htm

Learn more about vermicomposting here:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/vermicomposting

Photo:PortalJardin @ pixabay.com

Food, News

26 Foods High in Zinc for Overall Good Health

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Zinc is an important mineral for the body, and a deficiency can result in hair loss and diarrhea. The National Institute of Health says that the average adult male should be getting 11 milligrams of zinc each day, and adult females need 8 milligrams daily. It’s important to keep in mind that this is cumulative throughout the day, so you shouldn’t try to meet that requirement in one sitting, or with one food. The list of foods below will help give you an idea of how you can incorporate different foods into your diet that will help you meet your zinc needs.
 

Why do we need zinc in the body?

Although minerals are not needed in amounts that are as high as vitamins, they still play an important role in keeping you healthy. Zinc is a mineral that is needed in every cell in your body. It’s especially helpful for keeping your immune system healthy and properly functioning by fighting off bacteria and viruses that make you sick. Zinc is also needed for the production of DNA and protein. It plays an important role in the proper development and growth of infants. Lastly, zinc is needed to help heal wounds and keep your sense of taste and smell working at their best.
Research shows that zinc may be able to help you get through the common cold. According to one study, taking at least 75 mg of zinc within 24 hours of the onset of a cold reduces the symptoms of the cold in healthy people. Another study found that taking zinc lozenges reduced the duration of the common cold by 33 percent. One study even found that supplementing with zinc can help increase free testosterone in the body, which plays an important role in men’s health. Even women need to make sure they maintain their testosterone levels to keep their strength up.

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https://healthwholeness.com/nutrition/foods-high-in-zinc/

Food

17 Potassium Rich Foods That Pack More Than a Banana

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Asparagus being just one of them!…

From healtwholeness.com

Potassium is an essential nutrient that is, thankfully, naturally present in many foods. It is also readily available as a dietary supplement to boost your potassium intake. Potassium is required for normal cell function because of its role in maintaining intracellular fluid volume and transmembrane electrochemical gradients. (1)

According to multiple scientific studies, the regular adult is recommended to have over 3.5 grams of Potassium a day. Most of these will come from a proper healthy diet along with fibre, protein, and other essential vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, over 98% of all US adults are not getting their recommended daily intake. (2)

An essential mineral and electrolyte, Potassium can be found in a lot of whole foods such as leafy vegetables, legumes, and fish. Potassium plays a very vital role in your body, such as regulating muscle contractions, heart function, and managing the water balance. (3)

 When considering to go on a diet, it is crucial to be aware of the amount of Potassium that you are consuming to successfully determine the health impact of your food on your body.  In fact, it is recommended by specialists that we must consume 4,700 mg of Potassium to have a balance of acids and bases in the body that has not yet dissolved in water. (4) 

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https://healthwholeness.com/nutrition/foods-loaded-with-potassium/

Gardening

Gardening tasks for December (Wally Richards)

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December, the first month of Summer and at this time our thoughts are more on Christmas rather than the garden. If we neglect the garden completely this month then much of our previous efforts will have been wasted.

Spend a few hours making the garden Xmas ready, so you can relax over the festive season.

Check for plants and shrubs that might need stakes and supply them with soft ties. Ensure climbing beans and peas support frames are sturdy and reinforce if needed. Staking and support is most important as heavy fruit will break branches with resulting losses. If you are, by chance, growing the extra large tomatoes that can weigh about a kilo each fruit then see if you can find some old bras to support them.

Thin crops of apples and other fruit if the wind and the trees have not done this for you. You may like to do summer pruning of your fruit trees which means snipping off the new growth that is happening just beyond a bunch of fruit. This puts growth into the fruit rather than new foliage growth. The spring growth may have caused some shrubs or trees to over shadow their neighboring plants, cut back so all share the sunlight.

Hand pollinate pumpkins, squash and courgettes to ensure fruit set.
This means checking your plants first thing in the morning for new female flowers (they are the ones with the embryo fruit behind the petals.) When you find any then look for a male flower that has a stamen covered in pollen. I like to pick the male and remove its petals so I can touch the centre of the female flowers with the male pollen. That ensures fruit set and overcomes the young fruit from rotting on the vine later on due to lack of pollination.

Dead head roses (and other flowering plants) to create another blooming on those that are capable of doing so. Cut back the young stems to a point before a leaf to encourage new growths and more flowers. Check for aphids and other pests at the same time and if found spray with Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil with Super Pyrethrum added just before dusk. If you find spider mites with their little cobwebs then treat them with Sulphur powder. Place the yellow sulphur powder into a nylon stocking and form it into a ball shape inside the stocking. Lightly mist the affected plant with water and then with a flat stick, hit the ball of sulphur to create a cloud of dust to settle on the plant and kill the mites. If you have Liquid Sulphur spray with that instead.

Remove larger weeds and hoe up the small ones to let them die in the sun. If you have Oxalis then treat with Wallys Super Compost Accelerator (600 gram jar) – place content into a watering can with 3 litres of water. Stir to dissolve all the crystals and then water that over the foliage of the Oxalis and down into the soil to compost the bulbs in the soil. This is best done in full sunlight when the soil is on the dry side but not bone dry as you want the mix to penetrate down to the bulbs.
Repeat as need be till no more oxalis in that area. This product is also available in a 2kg jar. Do not disturb the soil as there maybe a few bulblets still dormant; instead cover soil with weed free compost so you can plant into it. Do not pour over preferred plants as it will damage them.

Water soils well and then apply a mulch to conserve the moisture and suppress new weeds. Lawns that have not been de-thatched should now be done using Thatch Busta. This will reduce the early brown patches seen, as the soil dries.

Potatoes sown for Xmas dinner should be kept watered and maybe lift a plant to see how they are progressing. (No point of lifting on Xmas morning and finding they are not ready and you have no spuds.)
Pick peas as the pods fill so you have nice young peas and this will encourage more flowers. You can blanch the peas and freeze them for Xmas day. A two weekly spray of Wallys Super Neem Tree oil with Raingard added will prevent powdery mildew taking hold.

Saucers can now be placed under container plants outdoors to provide the extra water they may need to get through each day. (These must be removed before winter). Shade glasshouses if they are becoming too hot during the day. If the temperature in the glasshouse gets up over 30 degrees than plants stop growing till it cools down. During the heat plants are expiring moisture through the edges of their leaves trying like we do when we sweat to cool down. Even when soil is moist there may be situations where the plant can’t take up enough water to transpire through foliage and we see wilting of the top foliage occurring. To cool down the glasshouse and increase the humidity sprinkle water on the concrete floor (if not concrete then on the gravel stone walkway.)
The water evaporates and cools the house and reduces stress on the plants from the high humidity.

Inside your glasshouse and even out side, pests such as whitefly breed very quickly so you need to take early control programs. The sticky yellow whitefly strips are ideal for catching hundreds of whitefly adults along with other pests. Regular spray programs under and over the foliage just before dusk combining Wallys Super Neem Oil and Wallys Super Pyrethrum will help prevent population explosions. (If you start early enough).

If you have psyllid problems on tomatoes, capsicums, chili, okra and egg plants you may reduce the problem by using the Cell Strengthening spray already combined with the Super Spreader spraying the foliage every week. The silicon toughens up the cells making it hard to impossible for the young nymphs to feed thus breaking the life cycle.
I have used this spray on my garlic this year and now have great plants with bulbs filling out nicely and NO RUST; first rust free crop for about 3 seasons now.
Place Bird Repellent Ribbon over strawberry beds and around tomatoes to reduce the birds damage to the crops. For a final treat to the garden mix up MBL (Magic Botanic Liquid) and Mycorrcin together and spray the foliage of plants this increases their health and stops many of the normal diseases from happening.

Work in the above order and then put your feet up and enjoy your efforts.

Problems ring me at 0800 466464
Email wallyjr@gardenews.co.nz
 Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at  www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

Natural Health Care

20 Diuretic Foods to Lower Blood Pressure and Lose Weight

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Have you ever woken up to swollen fingers or ankles? What about the feeling of a tire around your waist? When your body holds onto excess fluid, things can get really uncomfortable. And we’re not just talking about the feeling of bloatedness. Thankfully, there are a few ways you can beat fluid retention.

Along with cutting back on the iodized salt intake and working out more, your diet plays a large role in beating fluid retention and losing weight. Below are 20 diuretic foods from vegetables, herbs, drinks and fruits that work to stimulate the kidneys to produce more urine and relieve you of uncomfortable bloat. Along with helping you to de-puff, these foods will help you drop a few pounds and lower high blood pressure.

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20 Diuretic Foods to Lower Blood Pressure and Lose Weight

Gardening

Which vegetables to plant right now (Wally Richards)

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That is, in the Southern Hemisphere, this being a NZ blog.

I was asked the question this week about what we should be planting vegetable wise at this time of the year.

A lot depends on how much room you have and how keen you are on growing your own vegetables. If you are fortunate and have a good size section such as quarter an acre then you can be fairly self sufficient in fresh produce. If you have only little land around your home then you have to be innovative with your limitations.

There are some nice planters you can purchase such as on Trade Tested 150 litre and 112 litre made from durable plastic at reasonable prices. These can be sat on concrete or at the edge of the lawn or where a garden used to be.

Place weedmat under them where ever you choose to put them.

I have several of these which arrived in a Flat Pack and were easy to assemble. Filled two thirds full with compost (I prefer Daltons Compost) and then I spread the likes of chicken manure (or any animal manures), Blood & Bone along with Wallys Calcium & Health, Wallys BioPhos, Wallys Unlocking your Soil and Wallys Ocean Solids.

This means your vegetables will have all the nutrients, minerals and trace element that they would like which means the produce will be super healthy, have marvelous flavor and so good for your immune system. Over the top of the goodies you put a further layer of compost about 4 cm thick. It is into this layer that you can plant seeds or seedlings.

With the longest day of the year next week we have optimum hours of daylight for growing stuff. You should have salad crops currently growing and harvesting as they mature such as lettuce, radish, spinach, silverbeet, spring onions etc.

The key here is to have small plantings every 2-3 weeks so you will have succession crops for harvesting. For instance you might plant 4-6 lettuce plants now and in about 3-4 weeks another 4-6. When the first lot are being harvested you plant the third lot and that will take you well into winter before you find that the low day light hours take much longer to mature the plants. Thus you can harvest the larger outside leaves and let the plant grow more leaves. Silver beet is a great one for this type of harvesting.

Now here is a little secret that you can use when you buy a punnet or cell pack that has many seedlings much more than you want to plant at one time. Before you try to separate them put the punnet into a bucket of water and after it has finished bubbling remove all the seedlings from the plastic. Now working underwater you can separate off the number of plants you wish to plant. Only take the bigger more developed plants and plant them. You are left with one or more clumps of seedlings so rather than throw them away plant into the soil as a clump. Because they are over crowded they will hold and not grow much.

In two weeks time you can lift the clump and under water separate those you wish to plant. This can be repeated a few times before the seedlings become too stressed and not worth planting.

December is also the first month to plant your winter crops of brassicas. The 6 packs that have two cabbage, two cauliflowers and two broccoli are ideal for succession planting so about every two weeks you plant another lot. The last month for planting these winter crops would be end of March.

If you have ample land and grow potatoes for Christmas or storage then likely the early crops will have been harvested or ready to harvest soon. It pays to either bandy-coot a few potatoes out from under the plants to determine size and health. If you don’t feel any good size tubers under the plants then lift one or two and if only small marble size potatoes are found and they are re-shooting then you have had attacks from the potato psyllids. If the tubers are of good size then cut one in half to inspect the inside for dark rings if found then the crop is ruined from psyllid attacks. If neither of these problems exist then harvest your crop as soon as possible so you do not lose good potatoes to late attacks.

Last year about this time some gardens lifted a plant or two to find good tubers but left the rest of the crop in. Later when they lifted the remained of the crop had been attacked and was ruined. If you do not want to lift then cut the tops off and cover the stubble so the Psyllids have nothing to destroy.

My thoughts are lift crop and use that ground after applying more goodies for planting up winter crops. Root crops such as carrots, parsnips, onions and beetroot can be planted by sowing seeds into loose fertile soil. Sprinkle the seeds into a furrow or broadcast over say a square metre, spray the seeds with Magic Botanic Liquid before covering to speed up germination.

Keep moist by regular waterings. Later on when you have a good strike you can thin out the planting to give the bigger better plants more room to develop. Root crops are always best grown from seeds especially carrots and parsnips as they do not transplant well and you only get short stubby carrots to harvest.

You can buy coloured carrot seed from some seed suppliers for a bit of novelty and each has different health benefits also but all taste like carrots even the black and white ones.

It is also a good idea to start off a couple of tomato plants now which if you can’t purchase then grow from the laterals you are removing from your exist plants.

Now is about the last chance to grow heat loving plants such as capsicum, chili, egg plants, cucumbers, pumpkins. All of which are gross feeders so you could not only use Wallys Secret Tomato Food but also a drink every week of Wallys Liquid Plant food.

For the Cucumbers and pumpkin a weekly kick along using our Cucumber Booster that has two powerful nitrogen components.

That’s the gardening bit done and for those that like to know what they do not want you to know have a wee look at this link.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/vaccine-acquired-immune-deficiency-syndrome-vaids-we-should-anticipate-seeing-immune-erosion-more-widely/5764177

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at  www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

Photo: pixabay.com

Gardening, News

Dealing with bugs and pests in the garden

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This is the time of the year some of a gardener’s bug enemies get out and cause damage. I have had my first phone call this week in regards to grass grub beetles eating the foliage of plants. The beetles are nocturnal, they will come out at dusk to mate and feed, lay eggs during their short life span. One beetle might consume a few leaves but hundreds and even thousands start to become a biblical plague.

I remember a few years ago about this time a lady phoned me with a sad story. She had purchased a horticultural block of land with hundreds of blueberry plants which she had figured out; that the income from the harvest would cover her mortgage repayments. What she had not calculated on was the block being surrounded by paddocks which were full of grass grubs. The beetles were out in their thousands feeding on the blueberry foliage and shredding the plants.

What to do?

When this happens in towns; plants get eaten at night and there is no sign of any culprits in daylight hours then it is beetles that are doing the damage. Take a torch after dusk and go check the plants that are being eaten for the beetles. When you see them then spray them directly with Wallys Super Pyrethrum at commercial strength. That is 2.5 mils per litre of water. It is a strong knock down affecting the pest’s nervous system and killing them.

You need to go out each night to check and spray till after a few nights there are no more beetles. If you are not able to go out then just before dusk, spray any target plants with Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil with the Super Pyrethrum added. When the beetles arrive later on they will get a dose of Neem when they feed and also have contact with the pyrethrum so a double whammy.

There is another way to control the beetles because they are attracted to light. This is an old method where you set up a strong light inside a window facing out to the area you want to control. Under the window you place a wall paper trough or similar against the bottom of the window pane. The trough is half filled with water and a little kerosene added to float on top of the water. The beetles fly at the light hit their heads on the window pane and they drop down into the trough below. The kerosene prevents them from climbing out and next day you can either feed the beetles to the chickens or flush them down the toilet. Have your light trap working every night until there is no more activity.

A more modern way is what butchers in days gone by used to have to zap flies; but a modern compact version of those zappers. I purchased one recently to use indoors for flies. It is a Sansai Insect Killer SK-120C. Put that into Google and you will find a number of suppliers in NZ around the $50 price. Plug into the power and the UV tubes light up which are the light that attracts flies etc and the grid is electrified static electricity. Any pest coming towards the grid gets executed.

Now this could be used outside in a weather proof situation as you do not want to mix electricity with water/rain. Also ideal to use for mosquitoes and sand flies if outside having a BBQ. It will also incinerate untold moths and any other flying night insects. Likely it will be zapping away most of the night so next day you can unplug and clean up the burnt bodies.

Another pest that will appear about now is the pear-slug or cherry slug. It is a black slimy looking slug that feeds on the foliage of cherry and pear trees and is the larva of the sawfly. The first infestation is often not noticed because the numbers are often few but the second infestation later in January/February period is large and damage to the foliage is certainly seen. Being a slug like pest they are controlled by sprays of Wallys Liquid Copper with Raingard added

So check your trees for them and if seen spray. If you can eradicate the first wave of them then there will be few to cause damage later on.

For other pest insects now is the time to get on top of them before they can breed masses of their offspring. Whitefly, leaf hoppers, scale, thrips, mites, caterpillars, etc. Fill up your sprayer with Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil combined with Wallys Super Pyrethrum to spray any and all target plants just before dusk. You can add to this spray Magic Botanic Liquid if you want to also promote healthier plants.

If you do this say every two weeks before problems start to arise or if already a problem them once a week till you have control. Settled weather means population explosions.

Happy Gardening.

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at  www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

Photo: pixabay.com

Gardening, News

The importance of Phosphorous to the soil in your garden (Wally Richards)

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Phosphorus stimulates budding and blooming.

Plants need phosphorus to produce fruits, flowers, and seeds. It also helps make your plants more resistant to disease. Phosphorus doesn’t dissolve like nitrogen.

The soil will hang onto phosphorus, not releasing it into water.

Phosphate is needed by all life forms but if taken in too greater quantities it becomes harmful.

In the distant past phosphorus was obtain from manures especially bird or bat droppings called guano.

Phosphorus was also obtained from Reactive Rock Phosphate which is a hard phosphatic rock. In most soils it dissolves very slowly.

To make the rock phosphate more readily available to plants man discovered a process of using sulfuric acid, early in the 1900’s and a new agricultural fertilizer was created called Super or Super Phosphate.

It became a boon to agriculture and farming with tons of Super been spread to cause fast growth in fields and crops.

Unfortunately like a number of discoveries such as DDT and Asbestos, there was a hidden price to pay.

Super phosphate kills soil life and with their demise leads to unhealthy plants.

Not only that, it was also found that Super laden plants and grasses caused health problems in stock including cancers.

I read a very interesting book a long time ago called ‘Cancer, Cause and Cure’ written by an Australian farmer, Percy Weston.

Percy observed the results of the introduction of Super on his farm and the problems that occurred.

The book made me reconsider the use of Super in garden fertilizers.

Now days I would never use a chemical fertiliser or chemical sprays including any herbicides anywhere on my property.

But I have noticed that even though I obtained good healthy crops and plants, there is some factor that appears to be missing and the crops are not as lush as I feel they could be.

I have often thought that I am not getting sufficient phosphorus in my composts and mulches.

This caused me to do a bit of research on the Internet and found to my delight a company in New Zealand who make a product called BioPhos.

They take the rock phosphate and break it down naturally with micro organisms making it as readily available to plants as Super is.

The company sent me an email booklet and it showed trials that proved that not only did BioPhos work as well as Super, but actually better as it did not have a ‘peak’ growth on application and gave a much longer sustained release of phosphorus to plants.

Instead of killing soil life it actually supplies new micro organisms to the soil which carry on breaking the natural phosphorus down, meaning that only one application is needed per year unless you are cropping during the winter as well.

Some rose growers and rose societies recommend using BioPhos for better, healthier roses.

BioPhos contains phosphate, potassium, sulphur and calcium at the rates of P10:K8:S7:Ca28. BioPhos is Bio Certified for organic growing.

It is pH neutral and used at the following rates; new beds work in 100 grams per square metre, the same with lawns but water in to settle.

Side dressing plants; seedlings 8 grams (a teaspoon full) around base of the plant or in the planting hole. Same for potatoes (which do well with phosphorus)

Sowing beans peas etc sprinkle down row with seeds. Roses and similar sized plants 18 grams or a tablespoon full around plant or in planting hole.

Established fruit trees etc, spread at the rate of 100 grams per square metre around drip line or where feeder roots are.

Apply to vegetable gardens in spring and a further application in autumn if growing winter crops.

Can be applied to container plants also. Apply to tomatoes when planting or side dress existing plants.

When you obtain your BioPhos you will notice it consists of fine powder to granules with pellets of sulphur and odd splinters of wood.

These including the wood are all part of the product not messy packaging.

The lumps of granules actually contain 4,888,000 fungal colonies to aid the breakdown and enhance your garden soils.

If you have concerns about your health, the health of your family and you want to avoid illnesses such as cancer if possible, then grow as much fruit and vegetables as you can without chemicals.

BioPhos is biologically manufactured using an internationally patented thermophillic composting technology.

Natural products: whole filleted fish nutrient, microbes, inoculum, phosphorous rock and limestone are used to create highly available soil and plant food.

• Plant available phosphate

• Biologically activated lime

• Essential minerals and trace elements

BioPhos contains phosphate, potassium, sulphur and calcium at the rates of P10:K8:S7:Ca28.

BioPhos is Bio Certified for organic growing.

It is pH neutral and used at the following rates; new beds work in 100 grams per square metre, the same with lawns but water in to settle.

Side dressing plants; seedlings 8 grams (a teaspoon full) around base of the plant or in the planting hole. Same for potatoes (which do well with phosphorus).

 Sowing beans peas etc sprinkle down row with seeds. Roses and similar sized plants 18 grams or a tablespoon full around plant or in planting hole.

Established fruit trees etc, spread at the rate of 100 grams per square metre around drip line or where feeder roots are.

Apply to vegetable gardens in spring and a further application in autumn if growing winter crops.

Can be applied to container plants also. Apply to tomatoes when planting or side dress existing plants.

Photo: pixabay.com

Gardening

Encourage your children to garden (Wally Richards)

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We need to encourage our children and grandchildren to appreciate Nature by including them in some gardening activities.

I believe that young children have a natural affinity with plants and insects when they are allowed to explore our gardens.

Children learn many things by mimicking their parents and are often keen at a young age to assist in various gardening activities.

I remember as a toddler spending many hours in the garden collecting caterpillars off the cabbages and feeding them to our chickens.

I was given my own little spade and wheelbarrow when I was about three and had a lot of fun moving the weeds my mum cleared from gardens to the compost bin or to feed them to the chickens.

I can still remember how good it felt to be part of Nature back then and the same feeling pertains today when I work or wander around gardens.

It was about that time, when I was given my own little plot of ground to grow plants in.

Seeds would be planted and I would be taught which seedlings were weeds and which were plants.

My own little watering can would nurture the baby plants till maturity. A great ado would be made when one of my cabbages, silverbeet or lettuces was harvested for the evening meal.

Even though I hated eating silverbeet back then, I had to enjoy my own grown silverbeet, because I grew it!

It was the fuss that the adults made, that gave me a feeling of importance and likely kept me gardening for the rest of my life.

Plants that move have a fascination for children and a great one for this is Mimosa pudica, the Sensitive Plant, which folds up its leaves when touched. They are easy to grow from seed, as a pot plant for a windowsill.

Nice pink flowers also. As the plant matures it has thorns on the branches which incidentally are another attraction for children.

Cacti with their prickles often appeal to young boys and I had a small collection when young and still keep a few.

Two awesome plants for children to grow are the super giant sunflowers and pumpkins.

Called ‘My Giant Sunflower’ these extra tall sunflowers will grow up to 5 metres tall.(17 odd feet) Grown in full sun in soil that has excellent drainage and lots of manure.

The giant pumpkin is called ‘My Giant Pumpkin’ and these monsters can weigh over 1000 pounds at maturity. (Half a ton)

Another interesting aspect is to encourage the children to give their giant plant a personal name after it is established.

Naming the plant makes the giant more personal and helps the children to have respect for plants and nature.

If I was going to grow either of these giants, here is what I would do: In an all-day-sunny area, I would dig a hole about a spade depth and width,

chop up the bottom of the hole, so the soil is loose, then fill the hole with chook manure to about two thirds full.

(Other manure could be used if chook manure is not obtainable, but chook is best).

Fill the rest of the hole with a good compost and soil mix, 50/50 making a small mound about 12cm tall above the filled in hole.

Place one seed in the middle of the mound and wet it down with Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL), (20 ml of MBL to 1 litre of water.)

Water the mount to keep moist with plain water and then every 2 weeks with the MBL.

Overseas the biggest record vegetables have been achieved with products very similar or the same as MBL. Spraying the foliage of your Giants every 2 weeks with MBL

(10 ml to a litre) will also assist in a bigger healthier plant.

After your pumpkins are established and growing well, give them a drink using Cucumber Booster, once a week.

This is a high nitrogen product that is a combination of sulphate of ammonia and potassium nitrate, which you diluted in water.

Cucumber Booster is excellent for any plants that enjoys a boost of nitrogen after establishment. It is used for growing cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini and gourds.

The MBL and Cucumber Booster can be combined for watering into the soil near the base of the plant.

Because of the weather patterns we are experiencing, after you plant your seed, cut off the base of a 2 to3 litre plastic fruit juice bottle and place this over the mound,

with the cap removed. This will give your seed and seedling its own little glasshouse.

This is removed once the seedling starts to fill the bottle and needs more room. With the Giant Sunflower a tall strong stake should be put in the ground at seed planting time on the edge of the mound.

This will be needed later to give extra support to the plant.

Another interesting thing to do is once the sunflower gets up about a metre tall, plant 3 or 4 climbing bean seeds at the base of the plant.

These will grow up the sunflower and also provide extra nitrogen for the sunflower.

It is a lot of fun plus a great way to get the children way from the TV and video games, showing them there is more to life than a screen.

Some garden centres run competitions for the tallest sunflower and the biggest pumpkin with various prizes for the winners.

AROUND THE GARDEN

Aphids are likely to be found on your roses at this time and they can easily be controlled with a safe spray of Super Pyrethrum and Wallys Neem Tree Oil combined.

Spray very late in the day just before dusk to obtain the best results.

Stone fruit trees that had the curly leaf disease will now be producing new leaves free of the problem.

The damaged leaves will fall off over time. You can if you like, spray the newer leaves weekly with molasses at rate of a tablespoon per litre of water with

Magic Botanic Liquid Added.

This can help save some or all of the crop.

Codlin Moths will start to be on the wing about now so obtain a pheromone trap from your garden centre so you can monitor the best time to spray.

A number of gardeners have found that a spray of Neem Tree Oil with Raingard added over the young apples, applied about 5-7 days after an influx of moths into the traps,

has resulted in only a very small scar on the mature apple, where the grub took its first and only bite. The same can be used on all fruit that guava moths attack.

Tomatoes should be doing well if in a sunny, sheltered spot. Only remove laterals on a sunny day when it is not humid or moist.

Spray the wound immediately with Liquid Copper to prevent disease entering the wound resulting in the possible loss of the plant.

Ensure that the tomato plants are well supported on stakes during windy times.

If you are concerned about blights spray the plants with Perkfection as a preventative, once a month. The same applies for your potatoes.

For general health of any plants, especially roses and food crops, a two weekly spray of MBL and Mycorrcin works wonders. Spray both the soil and the foliage.

Avoiding the use of chemical sprays and fertilisers is a must for healthy plants.

I have a saying that if you work with Nature, you will have great gardens, if you try to work against nature, you have chemical warfare.

Happy, Healthy Gardening.

Photo: pixabay.com

Food

IT STARTS WITH SEEDS … and how to save them (Wally Richards)

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We’re a week behind with Wally’s newsletter. This is from last week, so this week’s will follow shortly. EWR

Nearly all plants start with seeds and the main functions of any plant is to reproduce itself by all means possible, which with many plants means flowering and seeding.

Think about that for a moment; the only purpose of a plant is to reproduce, it does not grow for show, to be eaten, to bathe in sun light, to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, to provide health benefits.

They do all those things but as far as the plant is concerned it just wants to produce more of its own species and with each generation in a natural setting to become a stronger better specimen. If all conditions to grow in are good then a plant will germinate from seed slowly move to maturity and then flower to produce seeds and die if an annual, or have a rest if a perennial, to repeat again flowering in its next cycle.

A few such as bananas, no longer produce seeds in its fruit though you can see where the seeds used to be in the cross section of some bananas. By the way there are over a thousand different types of bananas in 50 sub groups. Bananas sucker or produce off sets which over time would form a clump. Gardeners break up clumps and plant separately each sucker. Bananas flower and as the flower emerges it produces ‘hands’ which are the banana fruit-to-be.

As gardeners your most important job is to either encourage seeds from the plants that you want and prevent seeds on any plants you do not want. When a plant’s life is threatened it will immediately go to seed even if it is still a baby plant. We see that in summer in waste areas such as gravel driveways where weed seeds germinate and grow and if there is not going to be any rain for some time (plants know this) they will quickly go to seed while there is still enough moisture to do so before they dehydrate and die. They are only a small replica of what they would be in better conditions. The seeds will remain in the dust and dirt waiting for rains to come and then germinate. In gardens where you are watering regularly the same weeds (they realise this) will grow to normal maturity before flowering and seeding. The old proverb applies ‘One year seeding is seven years weeding’.

There are major changes happening in the human world the beginnings of which are now seen, broken supply chains, manufacture closures and hyper inflation. Not good outlooks but you can prepare yourself to have the basics of life, Food, Water and Shelter.

More people are gardening and I am sure more will join us as the cost of food sources rise.

Which brings us back to the topic, Seeds.

The knowledge here is not new but was learned thousands of years ago and is even mentioned in the Bible. You grow a crop shall we say of lettuce, a quick and easy crop to grow all year round, fast to grow in summer with long daylight hours, but slow to grow in winter when we are down to about only 8 hours of sunlight a day. You plant ten lettuces, if you have chicken manure available you put a nice blob of it into the planting hole, put a little soil over it and in with your seedling. I have never seen lettuce grow so fast (in the summer time) with a half a cup of chicken manure in the root zone. Spray the crop every week or two with Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) it will about double the size of the harvest.

Then you watch the crop’s progress as they head to maturity and you select one which you think is the best of the crop. You do not harvest that lettuce instead you let it stay on long after its fellows have been eaten so it goes to flower and then seeds. You will harvest more seeds than you are likely able to use in a life time if you harvest all.

When the seeds are dry you place them in a plastic bag with their type and date on the bag and you put that bag into a glass jar sealed with lid and into the fridge. You may have a dozen or more varieties of seeds in your jar, each named in their own plastic bags. Keep a few out to sow directly back into your garden or germinate to transplant. (Always best to direct sow)

Now you are going to do the same again; pick the best plant and let it go to seed, collect the seed and plant some for the third crop. Now that you have a new fresh supply of seeds you can give away to family and friends most of the seeds collected from the first crop. It pays to keep a small amount with the date. You are going to repeat the above and likely dependent on conditions where you are, you may have four or more crops a year.

Now an amazing thing happens; you will find that after a few crop cycles using the new seed from the latest crop that you have created a new strain of that plant which has adapted to your growing conditions and will be very superior to the initial plants.

If you are a miser and you only let the worst plant go to seed and you repeat that process crop after crop you will end up with some poor specimens. Vegetable crops that take longer to mature and seed will mean likely only two crops in a year and thus it will be much longer to get to your own superior strain.

Happy Gardening..

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at http://www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at http://www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at http://www.0800466464.co.nz

Photo: pixabay.com

Food

Inspiring Woman Growing a Huge Amount of Food in Her City Permaculture Garden

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Happen Films 352K subscribers

The Plummery is a suburban home where a tiny urban permaculture garden measuring only 100sq/m (1076 sq feet) produces over 400kg/900 pounds of food year-round. Kat Lavers describes her approach to gardening, including vertical and biointensive growing, and how important it is – and possible! – for city dwellers to be food resilient in the face of natural, financial and social crises. We were very inspired by how little day-to-day effort goes into creating such an abundance of food! ** More about Kat Lavers and The Plummery ** Website: https://www.katlavers.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kat.lavers

Food

What Is Daikon (Radish) Good For? (Mercola)

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An old Chinese proverb states, “Eating pungent radish and drinking hot tea lets the starved doctors beg on their knees.”1 There’s probably some truth to this saying, as radishes are among the most nutritionally loaded low-calorie vegetables you can enjoy today.2

Most radishes in the U.S. are known for their red skin and round shape, but have you ever tried the long and white Asian variety called daikon?3 Discover the various benefits and culinary uses of daikon, and why it’s worthwhile to add to your diet.

What Is Daikon?

You may know it as an Oriental radish, but daikon (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus)4 actually goes by many names, including mooli, Satsuma radish,5 Chinese radish and most notably, Japanese radish.6 In fact, daikon is Japanese for “big root.”7

Daikon is believed to have originated in the Mediterranean regions8 and eventually spread to Asian countries like Japan, China and Korea, where it is utilized in various dishes.9 It is easily distinguished from other radishes by its large, vibrant green leaves and a long white root, resembling a pale carrot. Daikon can grow up to 18 inches long, and weigh 1 to 4 pounds.10

Daikon’s flavor is considered milder and less peppery than other radishes. Served raw, it is subtle and tangy with a crisp and juicy texture. When cooked, it tastes similar to cooked turnips.11

Although the root is the most utilized part of daikon, it is technically a cruciferous vegetable.12 In Asian countries, the root is commonly pickled and eaten as a side dish, or grated, cubed, or thinly sliced for addition to main dishes. Nevertheless, the leaves should not be thrown away, as they offer their own plethora of health benefits.13

You can enjoy daikon sprouts (called “kaiware” by the Japanese), which have a pungent and peppery flavor that adds a kick to sandwiches and salads.14 They are best consumed raw or used as garnish.15

5 Daikon Health Benefits

You can’t go wrong with adding daikon to your favorite meals, as it offers a multitude of nutrients that can be advantageous to your health.

Daikon is known to help boost a weak digestive system.16 A 2017 study also learned that isothiocyanates, which give daikon its peppery and pungent qualities,17 were found to help reduce the risk of breast cancer.18

Daikon also contains considerable amounts of potassium, vitamin C and phosphorus19 — nutrients essential for good health.

While you may think that daikon’s benefits are only available through the root, you’ll be surprised to learn that its leaves have impressive nutritional value, too.20 They’re actually loaded with vitamin A, which is essential for eye health, and vitamin C, iron and calcium.21

Daikon may help optimize your well-being by:

  • Boosting digestive health — Daikon may help facilitate better digestion of proteins and fats,22 which in turn helps inhibit constipation.23 Its antioxidants were also found to help trigger bile flow,24 which is essential in breaking down and absorbing fats.25
  • Assisting in detoxification — As a diuretic, daikon may help stimulate urination, which is necessary for keeping the kidneys clean.26
  • Bolstering your immunity — Daikon’s antibacterial and antifungal properties may help reduce the risk of bone or joint infections, gastroenteritis, meningitis and pneumonia.27
  • Promoting bone and skin health — Its high calcium content28 may help alleviate osteoporosis.29 The liquid from boiled daikon leaves is also known to help reduce excess skin oils and odors.30
  • Helping with weight management — Daikon is a low-calorie and low-cholesterol vegetable, but it is high in fiber and many other nutrients1 — qualities that are ideal for people who want to maintain a healthy weight.32

Remember, if you want to reap all of daikon’s health benefits, it’s best to use the entire vegetable.

How to Cook Daikon: Tips to Keep in Mind

As with other radishes, the potential of culinary uses for daikon is endless. It can be cooked multiple ways, as a wonderful addition to your favorite soups, stews or meat dishes. You can roast, slow cook, boil, bake, steam or eat it raw, just as you would with a carrot.33 Daikon also works well as a substitute for recipes that call for other vegetables or other types of radishes, as it’s extremely versatile.34

As mentioned above, daikon leaves should not be thrown away, as they are just as nutritious and flexible as the root. However, they’re best when eaten fresh, ideally on the day they are purchased. Remember to rinse them before adding to your meals.35 If this is not possible, then you can preserve them: Place the leaves in a wire basket and blanch in boiling water, and then freeze.36

Here is a recipe from Cook for Good37 that uses both daikon leaves and root — nothing goes to waste!

RECIPE AT THE SOURCE:

https://foodfacts.mercola.com/daikon.html

Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay

Food

Grow Your Own Food with Tips from A School Garden Teacher

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The coronavirus pandemic has inspired a lot of people to explore self-sufficiency in the form of scratch cooking and growing their own food. But for many first time gardeners, growing your own food is an intimidating task that brings up lots of questions: what to grow, where to grow it and, well, how not to screw it up? Is it as simple as throwing some seeds in some dirt, watering them and giving them sun? We asked an elementary school garden teacher for her tips: we figured, if she can teach young kids to grow their own food, she can teach you, too.

Sanaya Irani is a FoodCorps service member with Detroit Public Schools. She teaches kindergarteners through 6th graders how to turn nothing into something — how to feed themselves. She has found that “the detail-oriented aspects of gardening are especially challenging for students,” which is probably true for a lot of first time gardening adults as well. Here we dig into some of those details.

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https://foodprint.org/blog/grow-your-own-food/

Image from Pixabay

Food

How to Grow Your Own Food

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Growing your own is not only for survivalists, it’s for anyone that wants to save some money at the grocery store! There are also other benefits to growing your own food such as knowing what going into the soil, you get more food for your money, and you can feel good about yourself because you helped something grow. Even if you don’t know the first thing about growing your own food, we have a basic list below to help you get started.

Decide what to grow

The first step in this process is to decide what you want to grow. You may love to get lettuce from the grocery, but it may be worth considering trying to grow your own instead.

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https://survivallife.com/how-to-grow-your-own-food/

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

Food, News

Things to do in the garden right now (Wally Richards)

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GARDENING TASKS

Now that we are halfway through Spring and quickly heading towards the first month of Summer (December) there is a fair bit to do in our gardens so lets run a check list in case some things are missed. It will depend on what you have in your gardens as to whether any or all things concern you.

Roses: generally at this time we have new foliage, buds and some flowering taking place. If there is any sign of black spot or rust, spray the roses and soil underneath with a solution of potassium permanganate mixed at ¼ a teaspoon to a litre of non chlorinated water and spray. (It may stain walls etc temporarily). Repeat weekly till new foliage is clean.

Food for Roses ; ideal is horse manure, blood & bone otherwise sheep manure pellets with the blood & bone. These should be covered with some purchased compost. Add to this a sprinkling of Fruit & Flower Power once a month. If you want good roses avoid soil damaging fertilisers such as rose fertiliser and nitrophoska. Bio Boost is also a good natural slow release one and very well priced.

If you have roses that need recovery from past chemical sprays such as Shield (now banned) the chemicals will have broken down the natural immunity of your roses. You may like to start a recovery spray program which I wrote about originally just on 10 years ago.

On the first of the month mix the following at their label rates per a litre of water, PerKfection Supa for Roses, Magic Botanic Liquid, Mycorrcin & Wallys Neem Tree Oil. Spray late in the day just before sunset. Then on the 15th of the month repeat spray all the above except for PerKfection Supa. Only water with non chlorinated water so you don’t harm the beneficial soil life including the gardeners best friend, earthworms.

In some cases the health improvement of your roses will be quickly noticed; although some may have the additional problem of inherently poor breeding and always be a sickly specimen (even if they have brilliant flowers).

Lawns; I have had a number of inquiries about lawn problems starting with moss in lawns. Dont waste your money on sulphate of iron as it only burns the top of the moss which then it quickly comes back. Instead, jet spray the moss with Wallys Moss & Liverwort Control. It kills the moss completely without damaging the grasses. If there is a spongy feeling when walking on the lawn that indicates a thatch problem. Simply spray the lawn with Thatch Busta to clean up the thatch. (Do the moss killing first, wait about 2 weeks then the Thatch Busta.)

Bare patches in the lawn indicate the root damage caused by grass grubs in the autumn/winter period and these same grubs are now down deep, pupating to emerge shortly as beetles. They are too deep to do anything about them at this time so don’t waste your money on treating. The horse has gone so no need to close the gate.

Another bare patch problem with holes in the lawn indicate that porina caterpillars are at work eating at the base of the grass in the evening (while they are safe from birds) to return to their tunnels before dawn. A simple spray over the lawn with Wallys Neem Tree Oil will stop the damage and cause them to starve to death. In areas where porina are a problem treat the lawn this way every 3 months.

When the grass grub beetles emerge they are going to eat the foliage of several plants so after you have noticed holes in the leaves go out after dark with a torch and have a look. If you have beetles then spray then with a mix of Wallys Super Pyrethrum and Wallys Neem Tree Oil. Repeat nightly.

Also a bright light in a window facing the lawn with a trough two thirds full of water with a film of kerosene floating on the top; placed directly under the window pane, will trap lots of beetles (maybe a few Codlin Moths too) They fly at the bright light hit the pane and fall into the water where the kerosene stops them from escaping.

Feed the beetles to the chickens next morning or flush down the toilet.

Weeds; they certainly grow at this time of the year and as long as you deal to them before they set seed they are not too much of a problem.

In fact weeds are a excellent asset to your garden soils as they have taken up goodness which can be returned to great advantage. You could pull the weeds out, shake the soil off them and lay them back down on the soil. That is good but even better; with a sharp knife slice through the weeds just below soil surface. This leaves the roots in the soil to rot and provide food for the soil life and it does not disrupt the beneficial fungi in the soil. The foliage can be laid on the soil surface where it will be quickly devoured by the soil life and worms. Your soil will build up humus quickly if you spray the dying weeds with Mycorrcin.

Doing these things (sure it takes a bit of time but it is so therapeutic and anti-stressful) will over time make for dream gardens and plants.

Citrus; its a good time to sprinkle Wallys Neem tree Powder underneath the citrus trees from the trunk to the drip line. This will help prevent insect damage. If you have chook manure give a good sprinkling of that otherwise any animal manure or sheep manure pellets along with blood & bone. Cover with compost. Sprinkle Fruit and Flower Power once a month. A spray of Wallys Liquid Copper with Raingard added in the spring and autumn will help with any citrus diseases. If the trees are looking a bit sad add Perkfection Supa to the copper spray.

In cases where wet feet have rotted roots treat the area with Terracin to suppress the pathogens and help save the tree. Three weeks later drench the soil with Mycorrcin.

Note always use non-chlorinated water which is easily achieved with a special carbon bonded filter on your outside tap. (Cost $140)

Pear Slugs; In warmer areas and later in cooler areas the pear slugs will attack pear and plum trees, they eat small holes in the foliage and look like a black slug. Simply spray the tree with Wallys Liquid Copper to control. Remember be nice to your gardens by being natural.

For something different

I wonder why over 50 NZ Doctors and medical professionals would put their careers and incomes in jeopardy by making a stand?

You may not have heard of this group they call themselves NZ Doctors  Speaking  out With Science and they have some interesting things to say.

https://nzdsos.com/2021/10/08/the-rise-of-totalitarianism/?fbclid=IwAR1xBsoLwdGK5PGR86jXeovLleI3Tef3F5SO23riJyvahjW1aZ3hLCyEZu0

 Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at  www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Part II of the Act covers a broad range of Civil and Political Rights. As part of the right to life and the security of the person, the Act guarantees everyone:

1The right not to be deprived of life except in accordance with fundamental justice (Section 8)

2The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment (Section 9)

3The right not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation without consent (Section 10)

4The right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment (Section 11)

 Furthermore, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 guarantees everyone: Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion.
This includes the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief,
INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO ADOPT AND HOLD OPINIONS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE (Section 1)

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

QUESTION MORE

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Regards Wally Richards

Image by summa from Pixabay

Food

4 UNEXPECTED benefits of eating carrots

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(NaturalHealth365)  Carrots have a well-deserved reputation as a healthy food that can benefit eyesight.  These sweet, crunchy root vegetables are extraordinarily high in beta-carotene, the plant pigment responsible for their brilliant orange color.  The body converts beta-carotene to vitamin A, which is essential for vision.  And lutein – another plant pigment in carrots – actually reduces the risk of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older Americans.

While carrots’ most obvious health benefits center on protecting and enhancing vision, they do confer additional gifts – some of which may surprise you!

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https://www.naturalhealth365.com/benefits-of-carrots-3964.html

Image by klimkin from Pixabay

Food, News

How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden | Grow Food Not Lawns

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_yFuVnL0us

Rob Greenfield 366K subscribers Today I’m walking you through some simple tips on how to turn your lawn or backyard into a productive vegetable garden to grow your own food! Gardening Guide for Beginners: http://robgreenfield.org/freeseedproj… Rob Greenfield’s Guide to Gardening for Beginners in Orlando, Florida: http://robgreenfield.org/grow/ Thank you to Live Like Ally Foundation for their partnership in making this video. To learn more about Like Like Ally Foundation visit: https://www.llafoundation.com/ “Like” Live Like Ally on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livelikeally… Follow @live_like_ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/live_like_ally Meet Ally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhJoyz… Filmed and edited by John VonMutius http://johnvonmutius.com Rob Greenfield’s work is Creative Commons and this content is free to be republished and redistributed, following the terms of the creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 license. Learn about Creative Commons and see the guidelines here: http://www.creativecommons.org/licens… — Rob Greenfield is an activist and humanitarian dedicated to leading the way to a more sustainable and just world. He embarks on extreme projects to bring attention to important global issues and inspire positive change. 100% of his media income is donated to grassroots nonprofits. His YouTube channel is a source to educate, inspire and help others to live more sustainable, equal and just lives. Videos frequently cover sustainable living, simple living, growing your own food, gardening, self-sufficiency, minimalism, off the grid living, zero waste, living in a tiny house and permaculture. Find Rob Greenfield on: Website: https://www.RobGreenfield.org Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/RobJGreenfield @RobJGreenfield Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobGreenfield YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/RobGreenfield Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobJGreenfield @RobJGreenfield — Help us caption & translate this video! https://amara.org/v/C0JNV/

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