Tag Archives: Abbie Jury

???????????????????????????????

Garden lore

“As for roses, you could not help feeling that roses are the only flowers that impress people at garden parties; the only flowers that everybody is certain of knowing.”

The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield (1922)

The value of growing your own veg

In strictly economic terms, the costs of growing your own vegetables can exceed the money you will save, particularly if you are buying plastic bags of potting mix and compost, fertilisers and sprays. Add in an hourly value for your labour and the economics look even more questionable. But of course the pleasure of harvesting your own vegetables and fruit, as well as the taste, the freshness, knowing what has been used on both the ground and the crops and the better nutritional value of eating straight from the garden far outweigh economic considerations.

That said, one of the predicted outcomes of the current drought is that the cost of buying fresh vegetables will skyrocket so it will be more economic now than before to grow your own. That is as long as you have water to spare for the vegetable garden. Asian greens will give you a very quick turnaround and you can be cutting tender young leaves in a matter of a few weeks. You can also be sowing salad greens and now is the time to get winter vegetables into the ground. They do their growing before winter and then hold in the ground when temperatures are low so that you can harvest when required. It is a bit late for root vegetables, though fennel is worth a try. The classic winter veg are the brassicas (cabbage, cauli, broccoli or cavolo nero for the sophisticates), winter spinach, silver beet and the like. Just remember, you are going to have to water thoroughly and often until the rains return.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.

Plant Collector: Calliandra, probably eriophylla

Calliandra (probably eriophylla) - like a strawberry pink starburst

Calliandra (probably eriophylla) – like a strawberry pink starburst

Oh my but the calliandra has been putting on a wonderful impersonation of candy floss (fairy floss) in recent weeks. What is more, this is its second flowering for the season. We are impressed. This plant is in the never-never land of our former nursery area where it has survived on complete and utter neglect, having rooted through from its pot. It is beyond transplanting out to the garden but fortunately we have a few grown from cutting which we will be rushing out to prime spots after this summer’s performance. We just don’t have too many areas in the garden which are hot, dry, desert-like even, frost-free and bearing much resemblance to its homelands of Arizona, Texas and Mexico.

If we are right and it is C. eriophylla, its common name is Fairy Duster, though it is sometimes referred to Mock Mesquite. The flowers are clusters of stamens almost like starbursts. Calliandras are members of the legume family (peas, please) which is evident when you look at the fine, leguminous foliage. They are apparently most attractive to humming birds which is not a lot of help to us here, though we wouldn’t mind some exotic humming birds added to our list of introduced species. Some calliandras are herbaceous (leafy, clumping plants) but this is one of the woody shrub types. It is probably our long, hot, dry season this year which has seen it flower so very well in both spring and again in summer.

First published in the , and reprinted here with their permission.

Garden lore March 8, 2013

Lawns tell lies. The grass will almost certainly survive the current drought

Lawns tell lies. The grass will almost certainly survive the current drought

Surviving the drought
As the drought conditions bite deeper, keep to priorities for water use. Vegetables have the greatest need. Dry conditions can force plants to bolt to seed early (their instinct under stress is to survive by ensuring seed set) and in some cases the produce becomes bitter or woody. Water the soil, not the plant because it is the roots that achieve the best uptake. Watering in the evening reduces how much will evaporate immediately and when you are not watering the foliage, it won’t encourage diseases. If you overhead water by sprinklers, do it early in the morning to give the foliage time to dry.

Most of our common herbs are Mediterranean in origin so are well used to being dry in summer. Don’t waste time and water on them.

Lawns can survive a remarkably long time without water, despite their appearance telling lies. Annuals will bolt to seed early and perennials will pass over more quickly. Trees, shrubs and hedges should all be fine unless they were recently planted from mid spring onwards, in which case you may wish to give them a drink.

Do not mulch your garden now. It will slow down the absorption of water when good, steady rain arrives – which it will at some stage. Mulch can keep water out as well as keeping it in. Just take heed and get a good layer of mulch on at the right time next spring.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.

Tikorangi News

Tikorangi-Butter-paper

Welcome to the first edition of Tikorangi News which your council has undertaken to write in response to complaints from a few local residents that they don’t know what is happening in their district. At New Lympouth District Council, we take our duty to consult local residents very seriously and we hope this newsletter will fill the gap. We would like to thank the guardians of the old Tikorangi Dairy Factory for making their butter wrapper available to use as letterhead, reminding us of the semi rural nature of the area. regular_smile

036• We at Council are deeply aware that traffic is a major issue for many Tikorangi residents but we have AWESOME news. We have brokered an arrangement between companies, their subcontractors and Tikorangi School. Starting next week, the trucks will be calling in to the school where the students will be painting happy faces on all the vehicles. We are confident that smiley faces will bring a smile to all Tikorangi residents as the trucks pass by. Drivers have also been instructed to give a cheery wave as they pass. regular_smile regular_smile regular_smile

• Graymooth Petroleum have told us that they are very, very sorry that their drilling rig on Kowhai B allegedly broke their consented noise levels on one occasion and they promise they are doing all they can to remedy this situation. We are confident that this is the case because they even returned our wet bus ticket to us. The good news is that they have nearly finished this well and may shortly be moving their rig to the Stratford area which means it will no longer be our concern. sad_smile

???????????????????????????????• Tikorangi residents will be as thrilled as Council is that the Len Lye Centre has been given the green light. It is only because of Toad Energy’s wonderful generosity that this project is going ahead. In recognition of the special relationship between Toad and Tikorangi, residents will be guaranteed free entry to the new centre when it opens for a period of five years. regular_smile
???????????????????????????????• A few residents have suggested that Greymooth are not abiding by their declared number of light vehicles on their Kowhai B site. We are pleased to report that Greymooth have assured us that they are abiding by all conditions of their consent. We suggest that busybody residents who have counted up to 17 light vehicles parked in the two carparks at the same time should perhaps find something better to do with their time and get a real job. There are only six light vehicles a day travelling to the Kowhai B site. Similarly, Toad have assured us that they too are keeping strictly to the terms of their consent and there are only 8 light vehicles and 3 heavy vehicles driving on to their Mangahewa C site in any 24 hour period during drilling activities.

???????????????????????????????• regular_smileThe next edition of the Tikorangi News will be called the Todger News after your council successfully negotiated a sponsorship deal with both Toad Energy and Greymooth Petroleum. This is good news because it means the special needs of Tikorangi will no longer be a drain on the other ratepayers of the district.

• Residents are reminded that they are best to contact the company concerned in the first instance when they have worries. This cuts out the middle man and companies can let us know what queries they have logged. We recently requested the logs from both Toad and Greymooth and were thrilled at the positive entries.
“Thanks so much for our awesome new road. Now we can speed down it at 120km an hour” said one Tikorangi East Road resident (Good news, Otaraoa Rd people. Roadworks will be starting in your area soon!)
“ Thanks guys for the generous gift of a hamper. My wife and I loved it. Now we no longer notice the sound of your generators and drilling rig at night.”
“Don’t take any notice of the carpers and moaners, guys. These few greenies are probably the same types who spend their time buggerising around on Facebook and besmirching the reputation of NLDC. We think you’re great. I will be back at work next week, by the way.”
It was wonderful to read so many positive comments and to know that the companies are taking such good care of you all. ???????????????????????????????

• On a more serious note, Council is reducing the affected party zone for new sites to those people whose residences are 20 metres or less from the site. This brings it in line with the notional boundary ruling in the District Scheme where noise levels are monitored at a distance of 20 metres from the nearest neighbouring houses. Effects from this change should be less than minor and no parties will be adversely affected. The rural character of the area will not be changed by this minor amendment.

• Big thanks go to both companies and their active programme of retro fitting double glazing in houses where the owners do not even have affected party status. This is a wonderfully generous move on their part and one which they are under no obligation to make. regular_smile

???????????????????????????????•cry_smile We are acting on concerns raised by an elected councillor at a recent Council meeting regarding malcontents in Tikorangi “besmirching the reputation of the Council”. He suggested a public education programme might be required. Council categorically rejects any insinuation that this may be a case of shooting the messenger and is investigating models of re-education programmes pioneered in the Soviet gulags, the Chinese re-education through labour programmes and the Vietnamese voluntary relocation strategies of the 1970s. We are confident that any troublemaking dissidents in Tikorangi can and will be dealt with promptly and efficiently and will no longer be able to embarrass your council and to sully the reputation of Taranaki.

• Finally, in response to community concerns, we at New Lympouth District Council can assure Tikorangi residents that as far as disruption as a result of the petrochemical industry is concerned, we will leave no stone unturned in our quest to find where the buck stops. We think it may be with central government but we are mindful it may even be international – maybe WTO or OPEC.

• Kia kaha Tikorangi! And remember, you drive a car so you can’t complain. regular_smile

Tikorangi-Butter-footer

Garden lore

“ My garden is an honest place. Every tree and every vine are incapable of concealment, and tell after two or three months exactly what sort of treatment they have had.”

Journals by Ralph Waldo Emerson (published 1909-1913)

??????????????????????????????? The very hungry monarch caterpillars

There is something bravely optimistic in the sight of a diaspora of monarch caterpillars heading away from a swan plant they have totally stripped, in search of another food source. This is even more so if you know there are no more swan plants around and judging by online searches and discussions, the state of the monarchs’ food supplies at this time of the year is causing a great deal of angst.

Do not panic. Reach for slices of pumpkin instead. We have done it here in one crisis year with good success rates. The NZ monarch butterfly website (www.monarch.org.nz) tells me that you can also use cucumber and courgette. But these options are not a complete diet and are only suitable for caterpillars which are already half grown, or about 10 days old.

What we did was to confine the caterpillars to an extremely large carton (so they didn’t head off looking for swan plants) with plenty of twiggy sticks so they could pupate and hang as cocoons successfully. We replaced the sliced pumpkin every day or two. Being caterpillars, they feed constantly from one end and excrete from the other – their poos were an astonishing orange.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.