At the time of writing this, here in Marton, we have a beautiful sunny day and all the signs of Spring with the beginnings of a new gardening season.
The winter blues will be washed away as we get out into that sun shine and start building up our Vitamin D levels.
It’s vitamin D that lifts the spirit and Vitamin D is a nutrient the body needs, along with calcium, to build bones and keep them healthy. The body can absorb calcium only if it has enough vitamin D. Calcium is a major part of bones.
Vitamin D also has many other uses in the body. It supports immune health and helps keep muscles and brain cells working.
In days gone by before the advent of sunscreens we learnt to only exposing our skin for short time each day to build up the pigments and natural protection.
But back then everyone (most, especially younger people) were very healthy and that is what gardeners should strive for this spring, growing a few vegetables either in open ground or in containers such as grow bags.
I suggest growing a lettuce called Drunken Woman which you harvest the outer leaves and they keep producing.
Silverbeet and the coloured varieties as well as the dark green leaf types which you can keep harvesting outer leaves till they go to seed.
A tomato plant or two like Sweet one Hundred to use in salads and a beefsteak one for sandwiches.
Russian Red is also a favourite of mine as it is a medium size fruit on a bush type tomato plant.
A telegraph cucumber to grow in a sunny sheltered place if you don’t have a glasshouse.
Home grown; using natural manures with minerals added such as Wallys Unlocking Your soil and Ocean Solids.
For tomatoes you can’t beat Wallys Secret Tomato Food with Neem Granules as it grows healthy plants and fruit with real tomato flavour.
To complete the picture you spray the plants weekly with Wallys Magic Botanic Liquid which is also used to improve the germination of seeds by spraying them before covering.
The improved flavour of the produce that you grow naturally, tells you of the high nutrient content of the vegetables.
Unlike commercially grown produce that lacks flavour; as they are low (if any) of healthy nutrition values and are likely to be full of chemical poisons your body can well do without.
From my phone conversations I notice many people are wakening up to this knowledge and by growing their own stuff their health is vastly improving along with their families health.
Healthy is a condition you can’t buy but you can grow it.
One gentleman this week in a retirement village told me that he buys every few days fresh sprouts that are naturally sprouted from a local family business.
He told me that his health has improved significantly along with energy and mobility. The sprouts he has in sandwiches or as part of a salad and even as a side dish with a meal.
I told him that if The Magic Botanic Liquid was used while the sprouts were growing that they would be even better. He told me that he would tell the family that grows them for sale that information.
Of course you can grow sprouts yourself so easily with one of the Mr Fothergills 3 tier spouters which cost only $20.00 from Egmont Seeds.
They say: ‘Grow your own, fresh, nutritious, tasty sprouts. Mr Fothergills Kitchen Seed Sprouter makes it simple and affordable.
Simply sprinkle the seeds into the trays, then water as per the instructions included. We offer a Mixed Microgreen Pack 58620 however, you can sprout any seeds you like individually.
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! Instructions included. Ensure any seeds that you sprout have not been chemically treated.’
You simply add a little of Wallys Magic Botanic Liquid to the water you sprout with and you make them Super Sprouts with even more minerals and flavour!
There are jobs you need to get done now and the first that comes to mind is pruning of grape vines, roses, fruit trees and berry bushes.
If you are not sure how to do any of these then Google it and you have all the info at your finger tips and even videos showing what is what.
After you have pruned spray the wounds with potassium permanganate as well as the plant/tree etc to neutralise any disease spores.
If you have stone fruit with curly leaf problems them spray them with Wallys Copper Nutrient and sprinkle our Soda Ash under the tree from trunk to drip line.
Spray your strawberry plants once or twice a week with Wallys Mycorrcin to increase your overall cropping by 400%.
Weeding….. in gardens remove any winter grown weeds ideally by cutting them off just below the soil surface with a sharp carving knife and leaving the foliage on the soil to be absorbed for food like a green crop.
Talking of Green Crops don’t dig them in; instead cut the foliage off at ground level. Leave foliage on the soil then sprinkle Wallys Calcium & Health over the foliage to aid break down and to sweeten the soil.
Placing a layer of newspaper or even better, cardboard over them, on top of which you spread purchased compost such as Value Compost about 5 or more cm thick.
Now you can plant seeds or seedlings straight away in the compost.
The heat from the breaking down of foliage underneath with give seeds and seedlings warmth to get them away to a good start.
For late frosts use the new Wallys Spray on Frost Protection it will prevent damage down to minus 16 degrees frost within a day of application.
Also if you have deciduous fruit trees, stone and pip fruit a late good frost when in bud and flower will ruin them and the potential crop will be dismal if any fruit at all.
But a spray at 50 mils per litre over the buds at the time when they are showing colour will protect them and the flowers for one month and give them time to set fruit, a very later frost a month later can be protected with another spray at 25 mils per litre.
Growing garlic and have you had the dreaded garlic rust problem which later affects the size of the bulbs?
Well try spraying the foliage now with a combination of Vaporgard and Molasses.
The Vaporgard film prevents the spores of the disease from settling on the leaves and setting up a colony/Rust.
It also protects the leaves from UV allowing the plant to gather more energy from the sun and a bigger better result.
This is a table spoon of molasses dissolved in a litre of hot water and 15 mils of Vaporgard added. Spray over the foliage for complete coverage on a sunny day in full sunlight.
Repeat again once a month till harvest time… See how that goes with your crop.
Time to get motivated and garden.
Image credit: Roman Synkevych
Products mentioned are from Wallys Range of products and can be found in some garden shops or by Mail Order on www.0800466464.co.nz
Problems ring me at: 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
