Instead, sow seed in punnets and raise your own seedlings for transplanting later. You can't beat the satisfaction of growing a plant from seed and biting into a sun-warmed tomato or harvesting a pumpkin you've grown yourself Then you can start the cycle over, saving seed from your best plants and sharing your success with others. Grow non-hybrid or heirloom varieties if you want to save seed.
Tips for trouble free seed sowing:
• When sowing tiny seeds, pre-water seedraising mix in trays or punnets and allow to drain well.
• Sow seed thinly, then sieve a fine layer of seed-raising mix over the top and gently press to ensure good soil-to-seed contact.
• Cover tray in a clear plastic bag until seeds have germinated to keep moisture in and place in a sunlit, warm spot.
• Use a spray-mister to prevent soil surface drying out. Young seedlings can die in soil that is too dry or constantly wet. Just ensure soil stays damp.
• Large seeds can be sown straight into the garden. Cold-tolerant broadbeans can be sown now, but hold off sowing summer bean seed and other summer veges until the soil is warmer, or sow in punnets before planting out later.
Raise it up!
Raised beds warm up quickly and have better drainage, which means you can plant earlier in spring. A garden bed can be whipped up in next to no time.
A couple of friends of mine were concerned at the price of sleeper raised beds, imagining the bed had to be 2-3 sleepers high. That's not the case, in fact they're easier to access properly for digging if they're only a sleeper above ground. This means you won't need to buy as much garden mix to fill the beds, and the plant roots will be in touch with real soil.
Taller beds of multiple-sleeper height are the perfect solution for those with mobility issues, but will need gravel drainage in the base.
Bed construction tips:
• Choose a spot that gets good sun for much of the day and build your bed with non toxic materials such as untreated macrocarpa sleepers.
• Drill and countersink galvanised 150x12mm coach screws to connect sleepers. (Helpful instructions are available online at mitre10.co.nz).
• Dig "foundations" by removing topsoil where sleepers are to lie, ensuring they are level, then add fine scoria to the foundation for drainage so you're back at ground level.
• Aerate soil by levering a fork back and forth every 20cm or so. Add gypsum and sand to improve heavy soil.
• If you've located the bed on top of lawn, cut and skim off the turf, roots and all, then place sods upside down and cover with garden mix (avoid this method if you have kikuyu grass).
• For a no-dig bed, place a thick layer of newspaper or brown cardboard and overlap on top of existing lawn, then add organic vege garden mix to the height of your sleepers. In a year or two when turf has broken down you can dig to combine garden mix with the mineral-rich earth below.
Planting to get on with
Asian greens will grow quickly while it's still cold, and provide a useful stop gap before you plant summer crops. I love the look of tatsoi with its ornamental rosette shape and it's so easy to grow.
It's also a good time to plant other brassicas such as broccoli before rampant egg-laying white butterflies appear.
September is Bee Awareness month. Bee-friendly and beneficial insect flowers are great in and around your vege garden to encourage pollination of fruiting plants. More diversity in your garden equals fewer pests.
Support the National Beekeepers Association and purchase bee-friendly "wildflower seed rescue remedy' seeds. wildforage.co.nz
