October is here! A big sowing and planting month in the garden. Labour weekend is the traditional New Zealand tomato planting weekend, as not only do many of us get an extra day off to spend in the gardens, but we’re usually beyond the last frost by then.
I should have a few seedlings available for a click-and-collect before labour weekend. Very limited numbers, so please make sure you’ve signed up to the mailing list so you don’t miss out when these go online.
If you or someone you know would benefit from a couple of tomato seedlings, but are having financial difficulties, please let me know using the website contact form. Feel free to share this among social media, any unsold stock will be given away.
Bird of the Year!
https://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/long-tailed-bat
I will be supporting Pekapeka-tou-roa for Bird of the year this year. Some may consider this a controversial choice, as this little creature is a mammal not a bird. However, the fact that New Zealand only has two endemic mammals (and both are bats!) means that there will probably never be a mammal of the year competition, so it makes sense to let this endangered and furry little cutie join in with the Birds.
You can vote for Pekapeka-tou-roa here: https://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/long-tailed-bat
What I am sowing and growing in October.
The tomato seedlings I planted last month are looking good. I have Amish Paste, Black Krim, Yellow Pear cherry, Orange cherry, Cocktail tomatoes, Beefsteak (mixed), Black Cherry, Whipper Snapper. I will have very limited numbers of the Yellow Pear cherry and the Amish Paste seedlings available before labour weekend.
This month I’ve sown; Butternut Pumpkin, Cocozelle Bush Courgette, Red Kuri Pumpkin, Luffa, White Eggplant, Rainbow Inca Corn, Purple Pod Bean, Genovese Basil, Port Albert Cucumber and Chamomile.
I will have limited numbers of Butternut and Red Kuri Pumpkin seedlings available during November. Butternut and Red Kuri are from different pumpkin families so will not pollinate each other, so the seeds of your pumpkins will be good for seed saving.
Out in the garden I am snowed under with broad beans. Seed saving can make your garden look a little messy. I need to leave the broadbeans long enough for the seed pods to dry out, and by then the plants are usually looking pretty dry themselves! Last year I inadvertently crossed some red seeded broadbeans with my usual green ones, so I’m seeing the occasional pretty pink broadbean seed now. Both kinds have been good growers and great to eat so I’m not too worried about my usual green broadbeans showing a little pink. I am slightly more concerned about growing my red-seeded broad beans next year, that some of them may come out green! I’ll keep a close eye. In the meantime, it is what it is. And it’s all part of the fun of growing open pollinated plants in garden conditions instead of strictly controlled conditions.
Halloween
Something else October is associated with… Halloween. I have mixed feelings about this event. On one hand, I love that people have fun with this, on the other hand it’s just so clearly a northern hemisphere Autumn thing that feels completely out of place in New Zealand early-summer/late-spring. Pumpkins are not ripening in October in New Zealand Gardens. Well, at least not as far as I know. If you’ve ever managed to grow a pumpkin for October I’d love to hear about it!
Well, that’s about all from me for now.
Thanks for reading, and please say ‘Hi’ in the comments and let me know what you’re up to in the garden this October.
