Ocean Organics NZ

01/10/2025

NICKI'S GUIDE FOR OCTOBER IN THE GARDEN

October is go-time in the garden, but don’t rush heat-loving crops. Soil temperature - more than sunshine - is the real decider of success. Tomatoes, capsicums, chillies, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, basil, beans and corn all need warmth at the roots. As a guide, most crops won’t thrive until soil temps reach 16°C, while tomatoes and chillies prefer 18–20°C. Don’t be fooled by sunny days - if nights are still cold, pot seedlings into larger containers with a rich compost/ potting mix and keep them sheltered indoors.

Crops to plant now: leafy greens (lettuce, spinach, bok choy, kale, celery, and herbs like fennel, rocket, coriander, mizuna, parsley and dill). Sow a little every few weeks for a steady supply. Legumes (peas and beans) don’t like their roots disturbed, so start them in cardboard tubes, such as toilet rolls, that can be planted straight out, tube and all.

Root crops: direct sow potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, radish and onions. Keep bird protection handy - cloches or netting work well. If you haven’t already, start sprouting your kumara, or look out for established tipu at farmers’ markets or garden centres. Here in the Waikato I plant mine in early November, once frost risk has passed, but planting in Northland can begin now.

Seed sowing - As a general rule, plant the seeds twice as deep as the width of the seed. A handy way to control the amount of mix you place over the seed is to 'dust' the seed mix like icing sugar on a cake through a plant pot with large holes. Space your seeds so that they won't get overcrowded in the tray as they grow.

Seedlings need a gentle introduction to the outdoors. Pop trays outside for 3–4 days before planting. After transplanting, give them a liquid seaweed feed to reduce shock and support strong root growth.

Spring winds are hard on plants and soil. Layers of protection works best: larger shelter trees on the boundary, evergreen shrubs and perennials close to the garden (citrus, feijoa, globe artichoke, Chilean guava, rosemary and pineapple sage are all excellent), plus large pots at the ends of raised beds for extra shelter.

Tall crops such as tomatoes, beans and sweet peas need solid supports - trellises, teepees or reinforcing mesh between posts. Stakes alone often aren’t enough. My tomato trellis has a cross bar across the top, with plants winding up taut strings from a loose noose (lol) at their base. Kings Seeds also recommend growing cucumbers on trellises, to improve airflow, reduce disease and produce straighter fruit. I usually grow mine along the ground over a thick layer of pea straw, but am going to go up this year - that way I can fit more in!

Flowers to sow this month: alyssum, borage, cosmos, sweet pea, poppy, nasturtium, echinacea, snapdragon, zinnia (my favourite companion plant - and the monarchs’ too), marigold, calendula, cornflower, salvia and sunflowers (in warmer areas). Plant dahlia tubers now as well.

In the orchard, plant citrus, passionfruit, tamarillo and avocado once frost danger has passed. Stake young trees, feed, and mulch well. If your trees had leaf curl last year, apply a copper spray as soon as fruit buds start to swell, then again two weeks later - ideally early in the morning before bees are active. Regular foliar feeds with seaweed or worm juice will keep trees strong and resilient. Plant a living mulch of herbs, garlic, chives, comfrey, borage and calendula at the base of fruit trees for health, protection and to attract pollinators and beneficial insects.

Preparing beds: loosen and aerate soil with a fork (don’t turn it over - come to a workshop and I’ll explain why!), add compost plus a broad fertiliser such as Ocean Organics NZ Soil+, then mulch with pea straw, untreated sawdust or wool. Wool is excellent for retaining moisture, suppressing weeds and deterring slugs.

Next Edible Gardening Workshop: 18th October. We’ll cover soil health, seed sowing, succession planting, composting and worm farming. Suitable for both beginners and seasoned gardeners. Message Vital Harvest to join.

Happy gardening!
Nicki – Vital Harvest

19/09/2025

Ocean Organics Spring Specials are on NOW- https://mailchi.mp/agrisea/deals-to-nourish-your-health-and-gardens
Whether your feeding your garden, sipping on seaweed health teas or nourishing your skin with our range of soaps and creams - there is something for everyone this Spring.
Spend $70 and get 10% off your order or spend $150 and get 20% off your entire order.

01/09/2025

NICKI'S GUIDE TO SEPTEMBER IN THE GARDEN

After the stillness of winter, the sudden burst of green, daffodils, and lengthening days feel like such a gift. With soil beginning to warm, it’s prime time for sowing and planting, although I’d keep the cloches and frost cloths handy, as Spring is never known for being settled.

If your garden beds are looking a bit wild, lay old carpet or cardboard over them to smother weeds and spent crops. Once everything dies back, cut plants off at ground level and leave the roots in place to break down in the soil and boost organic matter. Amendments to refresh your soil and prepare it for the high workload ahead, include Ocean Organics NZ Soil+ (a stimulator for microbiology), leaf mould, vermicast, home made compost and aged manure. Rather than digging and turning, I simply aerate the soil using my fork and blend amendments into the top layer of the soil with my fingers. The least amount of soil disturbance, the more you will preserve your soil biology. Mulch areas that are going to lie bare for another month or two, to prevent weeds from becoming established.

September is the month for peas, lettuce, bok choy, celery, kohlrabi, broad beans, spring onions, beetroot, radish, coriander, mizuna, rocket, fennel, parsley, and spinach. It’s also the perfect time to get your summer carrots underway. I am sowing mine in a pot this season, an experiment to ensure I can keep the seed consistently moist and the tops free from pests. Brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and cabbage) can go in now too, but make sure to net them with fine mesh to keep the cabbage butterflies, who will arrive without fail when things warm up, at bay.

Wind is one of the most underestimated garden stressors. Smaller shrubs and perennials, pots that you can move around, and temporary barriers of shade cloth close to the garden are all excellent filters to protect delicate seedlings. Don’t forget to put sturdy supports in place for climbing beans, sweet peas, and tomatoes. I love a ' bean wall' and find reinforcing mesh hung between waratahs is a brilliantly sturdy option.

Indoors, or in the greenhouse, sow dwarf beans, capsicum, chillies, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, watermelon, aubergine, and zucchini. Be patient about planting them outside though - summer crops rely heavily on soil warmth, and heat-lovers in particular won’t thrive unless night time air temps are around 13°C and soil temps 18°C. If seedlings are ready before conditions outside are, pot them up into larger containers in a nutrient soil mix and keep them indoors until things stabilise. A splash of Ocean Organics NZ seaweed tonic will ease transplant shock and build strong root systems.

Companion planting brings bees and beneficial insects flocking to your garden. Native plants such as manuka, hebes, and harakeke and flowers such as sweet peas, alyssum, cornflowers, cosmos, poppies, nasturtiums, marigolds, violas, calendula, snapdragons, zinnias, and (in warmer spots) sunflowers, can all be sown now to encourage helpful allies like ladybugs, praying mantis, hoverflies, and even parasitic wasps (don’t worry, they don’t sting, but they do lay their eggs in caterpillars and other pests which eat their host when they hatch – gruesome but effective!)

Plant seed potatoes now for Christmas harvests, and start sprouting your kumara tipu (in a damp sandbox or suspended in water) for planting in November. Feed fruit trees with fresh compost, seaweed, leaf litter, or mulch around the base. Alternatively opt for a living mulch like comfrey, herbs, or flowers to provide year round support. And of course, keep an eye on slugs and snails: night raids, beer traps, ducks, or simple DIY cloches made from cut-off soda bottles all help.

This month I am running two Edible Gardening workshops at my home in the Karangahake Gorge - 20th September and 18th October. We’ll dive into soil health, crop rotation, companion planting, composting, and worm farming, with plenty to offer both beginners and experienced growers. Message me if you’d like to join in or book your spot on my website.

Happy growing!
Nicki, Vital Harvest

31/07/2025

NICKI'S GUIDE IN THE GARDEN FOR AUGUST

The days are getting longer and we're getting a few sneak previews of Spring, but that doesn't mean our soils (with the exception of the greenhouse and the far North) are warm enough to support summer crops just yet. August is really about getting ready: stocking up on seeds, preparing garden beds, nourishing soil, and making any final layout tweaks before the real frenzy of sowing and planting kicks off next month.

Enrich your soil with organic goodies like leaf mould, vermicast, well-aged animal manure, homemade compost, and seaweed based fertilisers, such as Ocean Organics NZ Soil+. Top it off with a generous layer of mulch to help build structure and retain moisture.

- Pruning Tips for Fruit Trees
I have been pruning the last of the deciduous fruit trees in the food forest. If you haven’t tackled yours yet, no stress, August is still suitable for apples and pears and stone fruit, particularly, can handle a summer prune. Citrus trees benefit from a tidy-up now: remove low-hanging, crossing or diseased branches, but a word of caution - borer insects are active from Spring to Autumn and are particularly attracted to fresh citrus cuts. Try to prune after the final frost but before spring really kicks off - tricky timing I know! Prune roses, feijoa and passionfruit vines.

If leaf curl or blackspot plagued your trees last year, apply a copper spray just as the fruit buds begin to swell, and repeat two weeks later. Always spray early in the morning, before the bees are active, as copper is toxic to them. Regular Ocean Organics NZ foliar sprays help to boost tree health, and neem oil is a great solution to overwintering pests. Mulch around your fruit trees and consider planting a “living mulch” beneath - comfrey, yarrow, calendula, borage, chives, and herbs are all excellent choices.

- What to Sow
Direct sow broad beans (an overnight soak in water will give them a head start) and radishes. While many people direct sow peas, I prefer to sow them indoors into cardboard rolls to avoid bird and snail damage. When the seedlings are about 10 cm tall, I plant them out, roll and all. Legumes have very large root systems that don't like to be disturbed, so they need deep pots.
Those with heat pads or room on a sunny windowsill can sow their heatlovers this month – tomatoes, chillies, capsicums.

- What to Plant
Plant out broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, celery, kale, onions, silverbeet, spinach, parsley, mizuna, tatsoi, rosemary, sage and thyme. Lettuces, beetroot, bok choy, rocket and coriander tend to perform better in the greenhouse this month, especially if you are in cooler regions. Don’t forget to 'harden off' your seedlings by putting them outside for a few days before transplanting. They may still need extra protection in the garden until they get established. Asparagus crowns, rhubarb and yacon can also go in.

- Plant for Pollinators
Beneficial flowers to plant include alyssum, borage, bishop's flower, calendula, cornflowers, cosmos, nigella, marigold, violas, poppies, sweetpeas, snapdragons and hollyhocks.

- Chitting Potatoes & Starting Kūmara Tipu
Begin chitting your potatoes by letting them sprout in a bright, warm spot - but not in direct sunlight. Choose seed potatoes or the best of last year’s harvest.
Start your kūmara tipu (sprouts) by placing kūmara in a moist sandbox or standing upright in half a glass of water. These sprouts will be your planting slips in a month or two.

- Garden Maintenance
Trim old strawberry leaves and remove runners for replanting as replacements for older plants. Strawberries need well-fed soils and a layer of mulch.
Liquid feed garlic twice a month to boost bulb development.
Divide perennials like daylilies, dahlias, bulbs, ornamental grasses, and flaxes, to prevent overcrowding and rejuvenate older plants. For those with a crown, use a sharp spade through the outer sections. Lift and divide bulbs and rhizomes. Trim any damaged roots and replant promptly then feed with compost and mulch. Delay dividing frost-tender plants until Spring.
Clean seed trays and pots with warm soapy water to remove any fungal spores, snails and insects. If you have a greenhouse, the surfaces may need a clean to eliminate mould or overwintering insects.

- Upcoming Workshops
Edible Gardening on the Home Block – 20th Sept & 18th Oct
Join me at my home garden for hands-on learning. Message me or visit my Vital Harvest website to secure your spot.

Happy Gardening,
Nicki

01/07/2025

NICKI'S GUIDE IN THE GARDEN FOR JULY

Matariki is rising and with it comes the Māori New Year. It's not just a date on the calendar; it’s a moment we can pause, reflect, celebrate the present, and look forward to new beginnings. Think of it as nature’s reset button: a time to release what no longer serves you, before shifting into a new season of growth.

This time of the year is also about connection - spending time with whānau, sharing kai, planting trees, and making space for a fresh start, both spiritual and physical.

Within the Matariki cluster, two stars stand out for gardeners: Tupu-ā-nuku and Tupu-ā-rangi. The first looks after food that grows in the earth, our vegetable gardens. The second, food that comes from the sky, fruit from trees, berries, and birds. Traditionally the brightness of these stars signaled what sort of winter to expect: clear and bright stars promised a warm and abundant winter, while hazy stars warned of a bleak winter.

This season marks the beginning of the gardening year. Now’s your chance to look back on the successes of last year, what thrived and what didn't. Time to tweak the garden plan, shift things around and add infrastructure if it's required. Check your seed stash, plan what you want to grow next year and don’t forget to order new fruit trees!

At this time of the year there is no pressure to be in the garden, but if you feel like getting your hands in the soil, late-season veg like broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, and cabbage can go in. These seedlings will need to be protected from slugs and snails with cloches, such as cut off soda bottles, and regular night raids with a head torch. Team that with pest deterrent companion planting - chives, rosemary, sage, thyme and lemon balm.

You can sow parsnips, radishes, celery, beetroot, globe artichokes, coriander, mizuna and rocket. Warmer zones (or greenhouse growers) can get in peas, snow peas, spinach, and lettuces. For colour, go wild with calendula, cornflowers, alyssum, violas, poppies, stock and snapdragons.

Plant crowns of rhubarb, asparagus, yacon, and Jerusalem artichokes, and divide up your strawberry runners. All of these will love a feed of liquid seaweed, compost or aged manure.

Get ready for kūmara season by sprouting your own tipu (shoots for planting). This can be done by placing a kūmara in half in a jar of water, or nestling it in damp sand. Once the sprouts are 20 - 30cm long, gently remove them from the kūmara and put them in a jar of water for a week or two for their roots to form.

Give some love to your perennials and shrubs. Deadhead flowers, cut back herbs to the base, and clear out spent veggie beds, but do leave roots in the soil to rot down and feed the micro-life. Leaf litter lying around? Shred it, compost it, or pile it up and let it rot into rich leaf mould for next season.

Rejuvenate tired garden beds with cover crops (like broad beans, oats, peas, lupins), compost, leaf mould, vermicast, or a good layer of well-rotted manure and Ocean Organics NZ full spectrum Soil+.

Fruit trees are top priority. July is when nurseries are sending out bare rooted fruit trees (the best way to order) - they will need to be planted immediately, staked, and mulched with woodchip. Prune existing trees, clear away any rotten fruit from underneath, and deal with fungal issues using a copper spray if you’ve had problems in previous seasons . Otherwise, stick to regular seaweed sprays and neem oil to fend off overwintering bugs (3 applications, spaced 7–10 days apart).

While you're at it, prune roses, hydrangeas, feijoas, and berries. Pruning is best done on a dry day in the week to 10 days following the full moon.

And when the work’s done? Grab a cuppa, curl up by the fire and contemplate what the next season will bring.

Mānawatia a Matariki
Nicki Murray-Orr Vital Harvest

16/06/2025

Apologies!
Our shop is closed today as our team are attending a Noho Marae to celebrate Matariki. ✨⭐️🌟💫

01/06/2025

NICKI'S GUIDE FOR JUNE IN THE GARDEN

June is the official start to Winter, Matariki is rising and solstice is just around the corner, it is a natural time to slow the pace in the garden. Here in Eastern Waikato, we’ve only had a light frost or two, and when the sun’s out, it’s Swanni off! We’re not quite into the coldest month yet, so if there are still projects to tick off, this is a great time to get them done. Take stock - what went well last season, and what could use a rethink? Sketch out your plans for any changes in the garden layout, make notes on which plants thrived or struggled, and consider relocating shrubs or trees while they’re dormant.

Clear out old crops by cutting them at the base - leave those roots in place to decompose and nourish your soil. Minimal soil disturbance helps keep your underground ecosystems healthy. Prune back spent crops, deadhead flowering plants and get those compost piles going.

To keep harvests ticking over, stagger your plantings. In June, you can still sow:
Veggies – broad beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, red and white onions, spring onions, radishes, silverbeet, spinach, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme and, in the greenhouse, beetroot, bok choi, celery, lettuce, coriander, mizuna and rocket.
Companion flowers – alyssum, borage, calendula, cornflowers, stock, violas, and poppies. These add colour to the winter garden and support pollinators too.

Young seedlings benefit from extra protection at this time of the year - frost cloth, cloches or the greenhouse. On deck containers can work well for winter growing. Birds, slugs, and snails are out in force now - DIY cloches made from soda bottles and bird-deterring sticks can help, and for snails, nighttime torch patrols are surprisingly effective.

Now’s a good time to plant asparagus and rhubarb crowns. With strawberries, you can multiply your plants by removing and planting the runners. Large, older mother plants can be split or replaced with fresh runners to keep your patch productive.

Garlic growers, if you haven’t already, get those cloves in now. Choose the biggest cloves, plant in loose, well-drained, compost-rich soil, and mulch generously - garlic doesn’t like to compete with weeds. Feed regularly to support strong bulb formation. I’m experimenting with the less rust-prone Elephant garlic this year - whether it meets my culinary needs is yet to be determined.

Not growing edibles right now? Sow cover crops like mustard, peas, oats, lupins, or broad beans to enriched your soils. Cover crops suppress weeds, improve soil structure, and maintain microbial life. Legumes also fix nitrogen at their roots, benefiting your next crop. Planting broad beans or lupins in the beds where my tomatoes will go in spring is my go-to cover crop strategy.

June is perfect for planting deciduous fruit trees. Support them with stakes, mulch well with woodchip, and feed with compost. Pick up and compost any fallen or rotting fruit to prevent disease. When pruning, start by removing damaged or diseased wood, then shape the tree to open it up to light. Sterilise your tools after each tree to prevent the spread of disease. Only use copper sprays if you see signs of fungal issues; otherwise, maintain tree health with regular mulching and seaweed foliar sprays.

Seed catalogues are my winter gardening fix when all else is said and done.

If you need help with your garden, orchard design, pruning fruit trees, or any landscaping questions, jump onto my website for a free 15-minute consult or message me. I’m happy to help.

Nicki Murray-Orr – Vital Harvest

01/05/2025

📝 Sign the petition to stop the increase of glyphosate levels in New Zealand food!

📅 Deadline to sign: May 22, 2025

🔗 Sign the petition here: https://petitions.parliament.nz/66da9603-f385-44ff-abda-08dd8139b86b

New Zealand Food Safety is proposing to dramatically raise the legal limits of glyphosate residues in the food we eat.

Right now, the limit is 0.1 mg/kg for wheat, oats, and barley.

They want to increase it to 10 mg/kg - and to 6 mg/kg in dry peas.

Why? Because residue levels are already exceeding the current limits. Instead of reducing use, the proposal is to simply change the rules.

Glyphosate is the main ingredient in Roundup, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world. It’s absorbed by crops, stays in the food chain, and ends up in our bodies.

In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen.

A growing body of independent research links glyphosate exposure to:

- Certain cancers, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- Hormone disruption
- Neurological effects
- Gut microbiome damage
- Liver and kidney dysfunction
- Fertility concerns

Glyphosate has been found in urine, breast milk, placentas, and umbilical cords, showing how deeply it’s embedded in our environment.

We are being exposed through supermarket bread, grain-fed meat and dairy, public parks, gardens, and the air around sprayed fields. Every exposure adds up.

This isn’t just a human health issue. Glyphosate harms soil microbiology, weakens crop health, and contributes to nutrient decline. It affects pollinators, beneficial microbes, and long-term food resilience.

Over 30 countries and regions - including Mexico, Luxembourg, Austria, and parts of Germany, France, and the United States - have already banned or restricted glyphosate use. Meanwhile, New Zealand is considering loosening its limits.

We should not be raising the legal threshold of a chemical we don’t fully understand. Not while studies keep emerging. Not when there’s so much at stake.

📢 Take action:
🖊️ Sign the official petition to Parliament: https://petitions.parliament.nz/66da9603-f385-44ff-abda-08dd8139b86b

📬 Make a submission to NZ Food Safety: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/consultations/proposals-to-amend-the-new-zealand-food-notice-maximum-residue-levels-for-agricultural-compounds/

📄 Prefer a paper version of the petition? DM me and I’ll email you one. Just make sure to print, sign, and return it to me by post so it can be presented to parliament.

This affects every one of us who eats, grows food, or cares about our whenua.

Please sign and share. It matters more than most people realise.

- Copied from Jade

Edit: don’t stress if the Signed number doesn’t go up after you sign, I’ve been assured that the website will refresh the count every few hours, it’s just checking that there are no double ups. Thanks team!

About this consultation and the notice This consultation covers the next round of proposed changes to the Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) for Agricultural Compounds Food Notice. The notice: establishes MRLs for agricultural chemicals and veterinary medicines (Schedule 1) to manage residues that may oc...

01/05/2025

NICKI'S GUIDE IN THE GARDEN FOR MAY

Summer ended with a bang in the Waikato! Extremely dry conditions were finally alleviated by an ex-tropical cyclone, much to everyone's relief, but a fortnight later, it's still raining! The tanks are full, the ponds are refreshed, and the pastures are green, so a bit of sunshine would be nice now... Fluctuating extremes - that’s autumn for you.

This sudden shift in growing conditions is a great reminder of why it’s important to get a couple of months' growth into winter vegetables before sunshine hours and temperatures really drop. Hopefully, you’ve already planted most of your brassicas - broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and cabbages - because any new plantings from now on likely won’t be ready until spring. That said, don’t let that stop you from popping a few more in, especially if you’ve got a cloche or a greenhouse. Plants will take off as soon as warmer weather arrives. I also hope your potatoes, pumpkins, and kūmara are tucked away somewhere dry and rodent-proof by now - because the rats have discovered my Jerusalem artichokes!

After a long summer of heavy-feeding crops, your soil will be in need of a boost. My method is no-dig: I cut spent crops off at ground level, sprinkle on some Ocean Organics Soil+ or Combo, add a couple of cms of homemade compost, and finish with a blanket of mulch before planting new seedlings. I have a “no bare soil” policy, so where I’m not planting seedlings and mulching, I’m sowing a cover (or “green manure”) crop like lupins, broad beans or mustard. These will add nutrients, suppress weeds, and improve soil structure. Cover crops are a stress-free way to rest your garden over winter.

What to plant now:
You can still direct sow broad beans, peas, shallots, onions, coriander, mizuna, rocket, parsley, and radishes. Seedlings of silverbeet, beetroot, fennel, spinach, celery, bok choy, and lettuce can also go in this month. Choose specific cool season lettuce varieties like Oakleaf and Merveille des Quatre Saisons ('Marvel of Four Seasons'), available from Kings Seeds. Red leaf lettuces generally cope better with cooler temps and low light - perfect for winter salads, along with mesclun winter greens. Now’s also the ideal time to divide and plant strawberries. And don’t forget to feed everything regularly with an Ocean Organics NZ liquid seaweed - strong, vital plants are more resilient to pests and disease.

Garlic planting season is upon us! After being dealt a rough hand with rust the last few seasons, I’m opting for Elephant Garlic this year. It’s not technically garlic (it’s in the leek family) and is therefore less susceptible to rust. I’ll stagger my plantings across April, May, and June to see what suits my often humid, wet climate best. While the traditional time to plant garlic in NZ is on the shortest day (and harvest on the longest), it can actually be planted anytime from April through to the end of July.

Don't forget winter colour - now’s the time to sow or plant winter flowers like poppies, alyssum, calendula, cornflowers, stock, and sweet peas. It’s also your last chance to get spring bulbs into the ground before the soil gets too cold.

Tips & tasks:
Deter hungry birds from disturbing new seedlings by building a teepee of sticks over your plantings. Plastic soda-bottle cloches and a bit of 'digit control' (aka night missions with a head torch!) will help keep slugs and snails in check.

Clean and sharpen your secateurs and loppers - fruit tree pruning can happen once trees have finished fruiting. Prune grapes, roses and berries. The next couple of months are perfect for planting deciduous fruit trees, shelter trees, moving shrubs, and dividing perennials. Check fruit trees for stakes that are rubbing or ties that need replacing. As leaves fall, support tree health with an Ocean Organics NZ Liquid Foliar Concentrate spray.

And finally - collect as MUCH leaf litter as you can. It’s fantastic for adding to compost, using as mulch (especially if you run over it with the lawn mower), or making leaf mould, an excellent soil conditioner. If you do nothing else, your future self will thank you for collecting the leaf litter before it all blows away.

Happy gleaning!
Nicki Murray-Orr
Vital Harvest

01/04/2025

NICKI'S GUIDE IN THE GARDEN FOR APRIL

It's the Summer that keeps on giving.. well in the Waikato anyway. It has been amazing for beach goers, but has us farmers and lifestyle block owners a little on edge re the water status, we are in desperate need of rain! Whether you are copping winds, storms or lack of rain, the mornings are getting crisp and growth is definitely starting to slow in the garden. There are however a few jobs we still need to tend to before we can slow down as well.. specifically harvesting the crops we want to store (pumpkins, kumara, potatoes, apples..), saving seed, planting out winter seedlings and making compost.

Don't race to rip spent Summer crops out of the ground, as they can be quite useful protecting the next round of tender young seedlings. Simply make a little space by cutting a few off at ground level, dollop on a fresh layer of compost and a sprinkle of Ocean Organics NZ Soil+ fertiliser and plant your seedlings. As these plants grow to fill the space, the older crops can be removed by cutting them off at ground level. Spent crops will make fantastic compost and if all things align, you will have been able to save seed from the old crops too!

Autumn is an excellent month of seed saving if you have the room to allow a few of your best varieties to fully complete their life cycle (NB these will need to be heirloom or open pollinated varieties, not hybrid, which have F1 or F2 on the seed packet, as these will not grow true to type). When the seed heads of flowers or lettuces for example have dried, shake them into a paper bag. Scoop out the seeds from your best pumpkins and tomatoes, rinse off the flesh and leave to dry on a paper towel. Leave the last few beans on the vines until they dry and rattle. Store all fully dried seed in a cool, dark and vermin proof spot. Seeds evolve very quickly and every year that we save seed from crops that thrive in our backyards, the better they will be suited to our soil type and environmental conditions.

Harvest potatoes, squash, kumara and pumpkin (once the pigtail just above the latter has shriveled and dried) and ideally on a ¾ moon, the week after the full moon, for optimal storage. Cut off and plant out strawberry runners in soil that has been well fed with compost or aged manure. Let your asparagus go to seed and cut it back to use as mulch once it starts to die back, then feed with seaweed or compost. Keep picking leafy greens to ensure they continue to replenish.

Direct sow carrots, radishes, daikon, turnip, broad beans, parsnip, parsley, rocket, coriander, mizuna and peas. Sowing peas and sweet peas into toilet rolls, to then plant out, roll and all, when the seedlings are about 10 cm high, this is a great way to prevent losing a few to hungry birds. Garlic can go in this month if you are looking to get a jump on growth in rust prone regions.

Plant out broccoli, beetroot, bok choy, celery, cauliflower, cabbage, chard, kale, kohlrabi, fennel, globe artichokes, leeks, lettuce (those that prefer cooler temps such as buttercrunch, canasta and drunken woman), onion, silverbeet, spring onions and potatoes (in frost free zones). Ensure you harden off indoor grown seedlings, this includes those bought from garden centres, by placing them outside for 4-7 days before planting out in the garden.

Keep all Brassica seedlings netted while the white caterpillar butterflies are about. The first frost should deal with these pesky critters. Slugs and snails will also be venturing out, so remain proactive with your night raids. Cutting the bottoms off soda bottles and placing over precious new seedlings makes a mini glasshouse and can deter snails, although it's not foolproof. Directly sown seed will also need to be protected with netting until they get established. Brassicas and leafy greens will appreciate regular liquid feeds for another month or two.

Flowers to plant include calendula, cornflower, dianthus, larkspur, poppy, sweet peas, stock, borage and spring bulbs.

Cover crops, such as mustard, buckwheat, broad beans, phacelia or a mix of peas, oats and lupins, are a great way to fill in gaps in a winter garden and to rest and replenish tired beds.

Prune stone fruit (peaches, nectarines and plums) and copper spray if required. Pip fruit will be pruned later in the winter and citrus in the Spring. This is the best time to feed and mulch citrus. Plant natives, ornamentals, citrus, feijoas and blueberries, divide perennials and move shrubs or small trees if you need to. Order bare rooted fruit trees from a nursery now for a June/July delivery.

Happy gardening,
Nicki
Vital Harvest