Gardening Styles

If you follow Maramataka Māori….

August 17, 2019 By SandRa Timmins 1 Comment

Me te rangi i whānau ai a Horu

A whakataukī (proverbial expression) for an unpleasant day

For that is what it is today here, which is a shame. For one; I’m sick of the rain and I’m ready for summer now. For two; Today is Rākanui, the day after full moon and according to Maramataka Māori (Māori moon calendar) “He rā tino pai mō te ono kai….” a very good day for planting and general gardening.

If it wasn’t ~~pissing~~ heaving down with rain.

I had grand intentions on doing my spring divisions today, basil mint, soapwort, mint, peppermint, some more bergamot and St John’s wort.

Fortunately, the weather is set to get better by Monday, Takirau māheahea, I have a window from dawn to midday where it is OK to do planting (Rākaumatohi, which is tomorrow is a very good day for planting and fishing – but I don’t think our weather will be complying by then).

I like to do my rooted divisions after the full moon, the plants still have energy in their leaves but that energy is moving down to the roots as the moon starts losing its brightness (waning). Perfect timing for the new plants to settle their roots into their new home and for the mother plant to recover its losses.

Come Tangaroa piri a roto (moon in its last quarter, 24th August) it will be all on for seed sowing. Being in a cool climate zone I’ve learnt that there’s not a lot of point in going crazy with seeds in August, unless they’re destined for the glasshouse or under cover. But Go! temperate NZ, Go!

As an aside, did you know that September is Mahuru Māori? It’s a nationwide challenge to kōrero te reo Māori (for whatever space of time that suits you) to normailise te reo in everyday life. If you get in quick to register you may be eligible to receive resources to help you as well as there being lots of online resources available. My friend did it last year and to promote te reo Māori and her business Dye Happy (beautiful hand dyed yarn) she posted on facebook Māori words for her craft, like “knitting” “yarn” etc, it was really cool. I’m not on facebook anymore, but I think I’ll do the same on here, (but you know, more plant based!) for me and for you~

Kei a koe mō te kawe i te mānuka? (Are you up for the challenge?) Go here for more information and to register for Mahuru Māori.

Fill Your Life with Plants!

August 11, 2019 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

I have always loved herbs- they were the first plants I grew when I was a child (oregano and thyme, growing them is child’s play, you should buy your child/mokopuna a pot of oregano!)

Origanum vulgare, wild marjoram — **Origanum vulgare**

But I have another plant passion and that is house plants (my first was a cast iron plant). For the last 10 years that passion took a backseat, from when I had to give away my 60+ plant collection to friends when we moved from Wellington to Picton (we were going to live on a boat~ I really couldn’t keep them!). Thereafter we just moved around so much and had young children with fiddle faddle hands – there has never been much appeal to start the collection again…

And then along came kokedama… and me oh my, how I’m kicking myself for letting go of those plants! But nothing like starting afresh eh.

So let’s talk about indoor plants for a spell then we’ll get back to kokedama..

Herbs are wonderful plants with a variety of features that make them useful and beneficial for humans (and animals). From gladdening your heart with their scent (I’m looking at you pineapple sage) or taste (basil), to their bittering principles (hello dandelion) and healing properties (all of you).

It’s my real belief though that indoor plants can be placed on the plant healing spectrum too. This plant healing spectrum below is of my own making, therefore it’s purely my opinion, you’re free to agree or disagree!

Plant healing spectrum, from preventative to healing/cure. Indoor plants have their place on this. — **Prevention is better than cure!**

You perhaps have heard of certain plants that help with air purification in the home or office?

There’s a surprising amount of toxins in our indoor air, coming from our furniture, plastics, cleaners, cosmetics etc. there are certain plants that do a particularly swell job of absorbing these pollutants, filtering them through their leave s as they respire.

NASA did a whole lot of research on the subject and they actually examined the levels of various toxic chemicals in the air that could be reduced by indoor plants. Chemicals like, benzene, xylene, toluene and formaldehyde. You can see their results here.

Possibly more relevant for office spaces (and space stations) and/or poorly ventilated buildings than our homes that have doors and windows opening letting in outdoor air..

Plants for dark places
**Plant Life Balance**

But how’s this, there are some plants that actually work their photosynthesis magic (turning carbon dioxide into nutrients for themselves and oxygen for us, using the sun’s energy) at night! It’s called CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) photosynthesis. Want a more relaxed, sleep conducive atmosphere? Put these plants in your bedroom…

Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis)
Bromeliads
Moth orchids (Phalaenopsis spp.)
Mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata)
Air plants (Tillandsia spp.)
Zebra cactus (Haworthia fasciata)
ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia)

(Take note of those botanical names in italics, there are many plants with different common names, for example you may of never heard of a Mother-in-law’s tongue but you do know what a snake plant is- they’re the same thing).

**ZZ plant** **(Zamioculcas zamiifolia)**

For more science-y information go here to Plant Life Balance; they also have beautiful pictures for your eyes to inspire you to have many plants in your home (I’ve used a lot of their images on this post).. You’ve been warned!

Mindfulness

The other health benefit of house plants, mindfulness and wellbeing. Studies have shown that plants in indoor spaces boost mental wellbeing. After spending time living and working alongside plants, those taking part in the studies found that, on average;

Their mood levels improved
They felt less stressed
They felt more productive
Their attention span improved (in some studies)

Even just one plant in a room can make a difference to the feel (and look) of a place. Here’s our (in need of repair) bathroom as an example!

Bathroom, so plain! — **BEFORE. So plain!**

Bathroom made new by plants — **AFTER. A plant based transformation!**

Lots of people have a fear (fact based or otherwise!) of killing house plants. Perhaps in the past (or right now) you’ve gotten the right plant but in the wrong place. A lot of indoor plants don’t appreciate direct sunlight for instance.

I used to be store manager at Ambience in Mt Victoria, Wellington. We specialised in unique and unusual indoor plants- I learnt a lot there. the owner Nicola Byrne was/is so knowledgeable and generous to boot. Not only did I learn from Nic but also the customers and I learnt that a super common mistake by those whom really want plants but keep on killing them – kill by love.

YOU CAN OVER WATER A PLANT! A more common mistake than clear neglect. Browning on the tips of leaves can be a sign that your plant is getting too much water. Some good advice can be found at this website Plants are Alive.

Most indoor plants come with light and watering requirements on their label, if in doubt ask the person that you’re buying the plant from. (Which could be me soon, once I get stock levels up~).

Right, I think kokedama can wait for its own post. I’m going to be doing a workshop on how to make them for our homeschool group in a couple of weeks, by then I would’ve had a lot more practise!

Two books that I’ve been perusing at the moment and where I’ve gotten some of this info from are, Yates, Top 50 Indoor Plants and RHS Practical House Plant Book.

Making the Most of Your Smashings

May 12, 2019 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

Do you have kids under the age of 14?

If you answered yes, I’m guessing that like me, broken cups, mugs, bowls and plates are a part of life.

I actually save our flour bags specifically for broken glass (we do have hard tiled floors). Plastic isn’t an option – and you know, it’s good to learn that not everything bounces!

Not all goes in the flour bags though. we usually have quite pretty plates (ie. random selection of floral op shop finds) and I can’t bear to throw them out nor have the patience (or desire) for mosaic crafting.

So in the garden they go…

Sometimes, cups and mugs don’t smash but merely crack- usually unbeknown to me until my coffee starts pooling up under and around my cup! If the cup is another can’t-bear-to-throw-out number they make lovely containers for succulents or small cacti. Goes for bowls too.

what to do with cracked mugs — Cups new lease of life

Do make sure you put small stones in first for drainage.

What about broken plant pots? Terraced garden! Almost tempting to break a pot on purpose for this one~

what to do with cracked mugs, plates and pots — Or you could make it into a fairy garden..

I’m sure there are plenty of other fantastic ideas out there for broken crockery, which ones are yours?

Aphids happen to the best of us…

October 27, 2018 By SandRa Timmins 1 Comment

I’ve just come back from a wananga with Robert Guyton at the Oxford Street Community Gardens in Masterton~ and I’m feeling all very inspired as well as comforted by the fact that good things do take time – more so with gardens and forest gardens than even cheese!

Of course I knew this, we all know this, but it’s good to get reminded now and then…

One thing Robert talked about that I was going to bring up on here (I have several drafts) and that is of aphids.

Aphids on a White Sage (Salvis apiana) plant

Aphids on a White Sage (Salvia apiana) plant

They’re having a bit of a field day here at the moment. I think because we had a relatively mild winter here (so we’re told, I though it was cold enough!) so their cycle didn’t really get broken.

I’m all for squashing them. They love white sage and calendula, actually I’m not sure what they don’t like! But at least squashing them on the aromatics you have nice smells whilst you’re at it.

When squashing you’ve got to do it every three days for at least a couple of weeks if you want be effective. You’ll always miss some and the poor blighters are born pregnant. If you have plants in pots you can dunk them in water and rub the aphids off. If you have well sturdy plants you can try blasting them off with the hose. And repeat. Check for ants as well; they are industrious farmers that literally farm/manage aphids for the sweet substance they excrete after sucking your plants.

Robert Guyton talked about some plants he has in profusion on his land, for example Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum), Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) and (gasp!) Hemlock (Conium maculatum). All Umbellifers/Apiaceae and all attractive to hoverflies, and hoverflies loove aphids. Dill, you may flower!

Now that is a long term solution that I am into. Ladybird larvae also eat aphids. You are not going to get these predatory/beneficial insects if you spray with chemicals though so put them away. Please!

It will take some time but Nature will find its balance, that’s what it does… you could almost say it’s an expert~

Climate Change

August 27, 2018 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

Things have been going a bit tits up here at Stoney Ground Herbs. I’ve been throwing blame about but have now cottoned on to what actually is the issue.

We are now living in a completely different climate that we have ever lived in. My gardening and Stoney Ground Herbs has always been in temperate New Zealand, coastal and warmer. Eketahuna is in the bronx of the cool/mountain climate. I somewhat foolishly haven’t adjusted my growing practices to reflect the differences between coastal and mountainous. And in actual fact, without some massive tunnel houses a lot of my plants aren’t going to be ready until November. My mother plants are still adjusting to the change so I have limited stock for some plants and none at all for some of my stock standards…

Very limited stock;

Motherwort
Southernwood
Oregano vulgare
Purple sage
Soapwort
Lemon thyme
Vietnamese mint
Bergamot, wild
French Tarragon
Pineapple sage

Plants that won’t be available this year;

Echinacea
Rose geranium
Common sage
Nutmeg geranium
Creeping thyme
Thyme, English winter
Summer savory
Stevia
And I’m thinking I’m going to flag the tomatoes this year as well as the zucchini.

In so saying though I do have new plants available!!

Basil mint (I love this herb, the taste is great but mainly because it sounds slightly bedazzling!)
St Johns Wort
Greek oregano
Elder
Dill
Silver Posy thyme

Give me a bit and I’ll start updating my website accordingly.

Other changes are that courier prices have gone up so I’m having to change my costs accordingly. Whilst we’re on the subject of couriers they just get too crazy busy during the Xmas period so I will not be sending any plants after the 10th December until the new year.

Here’s to learning curves!

Maramataka Māori, Gardening by the Moon Aotearoa Styles

August 4, 2018 By SandRa Timmins 1 Comment

This year I’m planting according to the moon, not just any moon, but our moon, marama.

Haha! Don’t worry, I’m still on the same planet as you – (most of the time) and I’m well aware there is only one moon for us earthlings.

I’m following Maramataka Māori, the Maori lunar calendar for fishing and horticulture. Maramataka means literally, turning of the moon.

(Artwork by Wiremu Barriball of Revolution Aotearoa)

When Europeans arrived in Aotearoa (the ones that knew these sort of things) they were well impressed with Māori horticultural practices; neat, weed-free and obviously productive. Of course Māori weren’t vegetarian and they lived in a mixed economy of gardening, gathering and fishing.

Long long before “gardening by the moon” became hip and before even your grandparents or great-grandparents talked about planting with the moon (lucky you). Māori were walking the talk with Maramataka. In fact the moon and the cosmos were reference point and guide in all aspects of pre-european Māori life. Matariki didn’t start happening in the 1990’s.

So. In my admittedly complete amateur understanding of Maramataka – like most cultures, time was cut up by the cycles of the sun and the moon. (Month = moon. My bet is women cottoned onto the rhythm of the moon before men!). But instead of breaking the month up into weeks then days, Māori had a different name for every single night (which also typically marks a day) in a lunar month.

The lunar month starts with Whiro. Ko te rā i muri iho ō tā tō Pākehā new moon (the day after the new moon on the calendar) and ends with Mutuwhenua… E hara i te rā pō pai tēnei kua hinapouri te ao e ai ki ngā kōrero ō neke rā. It is not a good day at all: The world is in darkness!

It takes a bit of working out if you haven’t been brought up knowing Maramataka and I’m going with the very basics. I imagine that, especially back in the day, it would have slight variances between iwi’s depending on the Tohunga’s readings of the Matariki stars at the start of the year and a lot of other nuances non-related to fishing and horticulture. (Please, if you know more, enlighten me and others in the comments section below!)

My journey has just begun, literally, two days ago. when I bought my seed potato and thought I better start planning when I’m going to start everything.

Old Blue Taewa

Last year I noticed I had pretty rubbish outcomes with seed I sowed during the new moon but had much better luck during the last quarter. I’ve acknowledged moon calenders and they’ve been pretty useful for reminding and planning of things to do in the garden. Koangas Garden Guide (by Kay Baxter) has been my guide, but not my ruler!

Then I read a book earlier this year called Moon Gardening by John Harris, head gardener of Tresillian Estate in the UK. He explained really simply, the moons effect on the water table. (Rises as the moon is coming up to full – waxing, whilst the water table drops when the moon is waning and at its lowest during new moon).

I recommend this book if you can get your hands on it. In it, the author mentions how a television crew came from New Zealand to interview him about moon gardening and he over-heard a crew member murmuring to a mate “Why’d we have to come 18,000 km’s to hear about something the Māori have been doing for hundreds of years?” Fair bloody call. White validation?

Anyway, the good man devoted a whole chapter to Maramataka Māori.

I also have a booklet called NGĀ PŌREAREA ME NGĀ MATEMATE O NGĀ MĀRA TAEWA, Pests and Diseases of Taewa (Māori potato) Crops. You can get this through Tāhuri Whenua the National Māori Growers Collective. This, amongst other good things to know has the Maramataka Maori (Te Āti Awa version) in it. And it is from here that I’m getting my info from.

I’m not going to go over the whole Maramataka here but you can join me on my journey…

Right now (the 4th August 2018) it is Tangaroa piri a mua – the 23rd day after the new moon. He rā pai tēnei ki te ono kai, ki ngā mahi hī ika koura. A very god day for planting, fishing, crayfish and eels, especially from noon until sunset.

According to Maramataka Māori it’s a pretty good day for planting (and fishing) from midday til sunset three nights before last quarter, called Korekore tūroa (which was the 2nd August). and we’re all good for sowing and planting and fishing until Mauri (a couple of night before new moon), the 9th August, E hara i te rā pai tēnei he oro mauri te kai ka omo. Not a very good day for planting or fishing. fish, eels and crayfish are very elusive.

I have sown white sage, licorice, thyme, motherwort, common sage and spillanthes so far (with use of a heat-pad). With dill, parsley, chervil, shiso, savory, tulsi and catnip to go. It’s a bit early for some but I always like to push the boundaries! (My early potatoes will go in next month).

Another book I highly recommend if you’re into this sort of thing is A Tohunga’s Natural World, plants, gardening and food. by Paul Moon. Gardening from a Tuhoe Tohunga’s perspective.

I’ll be updating on here on how I go and what I’ll be doing next according to the Maramataka. Have you done this/do this? Please comment below on how it works for you~ ngā mihi!

Matahiwi ~ A Food Forest

May 20, 2018 By SandRa Timmins 1 Comment

Our local home ed group had a picnic at Garry and Ali Fosters‘ food forest, Matahiwi, this week.

This is the old school house, now a live in studio rented out by a local artist.

Their property just out of Masterton used to be a school that closed down in 1971. They’ve been there for 30 odd years, brought up their three children there and in the last four years Garry has been developing their food forest.

For those not in the know a food forest is the ideal permaculture garden where all layers from the top most canopy to the roots (seven layers in all) live in a symbiotic relationship feeding and protecting each other whilst also providing for you and ideally the community. Go here for an article about 5 pretty amazing food forests from around the world.

No digging is involved here part from the action of harvesting roots and tubers like potatoes, yams, kumara (he harvested one beauty that weighed 2.4kg!), chinese artichokes and yacons.

Garry pulling up some yams

The amazing thing about their food forest aside from the diversity of plants they have is that a lot of it was built on top of a carpark (school carpark) and/or old riverbed, so the “soil” is actually arborist mulch.

Garry showing us the bounce and beautiful spongy-ness of the mulch/soil.

Garry is actively (and joyously) crushing long held gardening myths – firstly by growing in mulch alone. (In regards to his fruit trees he scratches into the mulch til he hits soil then plants the trees and lets their roots do the work). He doesn’t dig, doesn’t need to hoe (the weeds easily pull out from the mulch, though he does have the dreaded Italian arum). He doesn’t even make compost..but he does have a chook yard that gets moved year about, putting his mulch gardens on top of the scraps and garden rubbish that the girls have dealt with.

The chook yard..but check out those solar panels!

This hen “Bonnie” is impressive in size!

You could say Garry is a biological permaculture gardener whom believes the most important thing is the micro and macro organisms within the growing medium rather than the medium itself.

Garry Foster, renegade gardener!

The fungi and bugs do their job, deep rooted plants bring up nutrients alongside shallow rooted plants doing their business, nature is left to her devices and the reward is a bounty of produce. A lot of people aware of the importance of those micro-organisms often bring them in with EF products but Garry does it alone with his mulch and his mulch alone.

Their crop of Austrian Hulless pumpkins

Everything works together so well at Matahiwi and is quite the inspiration, particularly for us folk that live on impenetrable clay ground or old riverbeds.

We’ve been working on our grounds and honestly it feels more like mining than gardening.

Gardening on an old riverbed, the sound of grinding stones stays long after you’re done!

We’re using a spade to get the turf off then it’s all crow bar baby. At least my garden beds are making their own borders!

Team Timmins on the job!

But after our visit here at Garry and Alis’ place I’m re-thinking how I might do the rest of the garden areas.

Garrys’ other horticultural passion is Aotearoa’s native flora. This time round I didn’t get a full gander at them but I did see the biggest Muehlenbeckia astonii I’ve ever seen, they’re usually so wind blown it’s rare to see them at their full 2.5m height! Its seeds are designed to be spread by lizards. In turn it provides food and shelter from birds for them. Natures design is incredible.

Did you know New Zealand has 5 endemic species of mistletoe? I didn’t even know we had one! The one Garry showed me is Ileostylus micranthus. In rongroā (traditional Māori medicine) mistletoe bark was pounded and used to treat “the itch” caused by a type scabie known to the Māori as hakihaki.

Ileostylus micranthus

There was plenty of Poroporo Solanum laciniatum around Matahiwi too; when the berries are ripe (yellow-orange in colour) they’re a nice snack for people and birds, similar in flavour to the Cape gooseberry. The expressed juice of the poroporo was sometimes used in tattooing and again “the itch” could be treated with poroporo leaves. You can also use the leaves as a hair shampoo. You boil the leaves and use the water for washing your hair, leaving your locks lovely and shiny as well as apparently dandruff and grey free!!

So it was a great day in all – oh, the kids had a good day too!

Adventuring in the food forest~

Beehives in the background there

A little help needed getting off the tree overhanging the meandering river

Where once there was a carpark…

Look forward to going back in summer when everything is in full swing!

The mighty oak tree out the back

The Italian Siren

May 8, 2018 By SandRa Timmins 2 Comments

I have met my foe… she’s Italian, quite pretty (of course), impervious to cold weather and thrives in the rain.

I met her briefly in Spring (when we moved here) and she was all showy-showy-look-at-me-and-my-trumpets. I took her down a peg or two and she disappeared. I thought I’d won..until now.

She’s back and back with vengeance.

Italian Arum, Arum italicum, pest in New Zealand gardens

And there she is…

Italian Arum, Arum italicum, spreads by corm, seed and root, may as well have spores as well! (It doesn’t) So even if you think you’ve got all the corms (which you won’t have because a lot are brown and small and they can go about 0.5m deep in the ground) there’s proberly seed throughout anyway.

This stuff is evil man and all parts are poisonous to prove it. Her leaves start unfurling from the ground in autumn and then hits her stride the colder it gets. Flowers in early spring, bearing orange berries by late spring. And then it disappears for summer only to rear its green and white head again come autumn.

I’ll give it the benefit of being interesting for the fact that it’s one of few plants that thrives during the cold winter months with beautiful variegated lushness (which is why it’s celebrated in some gardens) and has the decency to go away in summer (though this is not helpful in a perennial herb bed!). Also has an interesting little quirk of generating its own heat through the spadix which supports the flower, enough that your hand can feel it!

But don’t be fooled. I have researched high, low and far and it appears this plant is nigh impossible to get rid of. I even went to the dark side to see what chemicals would do the job. Not even! One person involved in their own battle has come to the conclusion that spraying even makes them worse. People have tried boiling water, vinegar and covering, deep mulching, you name it – I believe it’s been done…and the Italian siren keeps on rising to the challenge. Check out this link to a forum discussion about its wild and wicked ways. you have to read through them all to discover that most advice given doesn’t work!

So. The big so. What am I going to do….

I’ve already tried digging them out, that worked for a couple of weeks and I swear it made them worse.

I’m now in the process of taking out my plants, cleaning their roots and putting them in a newly made bed.

I have some new cuttings that I’m currently growing to size ~ Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris and Wormwood, Artemisia absinthium (I’m quite stupidly excited about these plants!) which I will plant (in the “Arum garden”) along with my Southernwood Artemisia abrotanum (picking a theme here?) and Santolina (Santolina chamaecyparissus, not an Artemisia but it is grey/silver). My plan is that these plants will grow so big that they will smother any signs of the Italian arum.

In the meantime I’m going to cut all green growth off rather than fruitlessly dig out and definately not allow any- no matter where on the property- to flower.

Wish me luck! If you have had any experience with this plant, good or bad please comment below~

Harvesting in the Red, Green and Greener

March 11, 2018 By HMN Leave a Comment

It’s harvest season for tomatoes and I have a lot of fruit on my plants but they are taking their sweet time in ripening up and I fear Autumn is ~~fast approaching us~~ here. I know, I know, green tomato chutney, but we still have some from two years ago!

Albenga Oxheart, looking good…just not the right colour!

If I do end up missing the ripening boat I’m going to uproot them and hang upside down in our (warm) shed to slowly ripen over Autumn/Winter. This is an idea I read in Lifestyle Block magazine (April 2017). Another suggestion they made was to pick the fruit and put in a paper bag and place in a warm spot to ripen. Now, I’ve always put my unripe fruit on a sunny window sill to finish their ripening – and of course this works, but it’s actually the warmth from the sun not the light that ripens them up and if they’re really green and you leave them to ripen in the sun (off the plant) you might end up with overly dry fruit. Well I never!

Black Beautys beautiful foliage

My Black Beauty zucchini has been giving and giving and my Rampicante has wanted to but its been having issues with either a lack of calcium or my erratic watering (the fruit has been getting soft ends). we might be coming right now…just as the mildew is setting in…

Curly zucchini (Rampicante)! But it’s really more of a squash

We are still having warm days but with misty mornings and drizzly rain as well, it’s like an open invitation for mildew and other fungal diseases. If you’re getting powdery mildew on your curcubits (and you still have an appetite for zucchini or your pumpkins/squashes need more development time) you can spray your plants with milk which is said to help.

Lanterns of green goodness

Tomatillos, wonderful things, so hardy, are looking beautiful. I almost don’t mind if they don’t ripen up in time~ they make for nice eye candy whilst the rest of my vege patch goes to tatters.

Because we moved here in November and my veg seedlings (tomatoes, zucchinis and tomatillos) had to recover from the spray drift they copped in Foxton, everything got in a bit later than I like. Que sera sera; I’ve been getting enough toms to of not needed to open a can of tomatoes in the last month or so and that’s good enough for me! (Though I will miss our tomato sauce)

Tigerella toms were one of the first of my tomatoes to ripen

So enjoy your harvest whatever it may be; it’s your very edible reward for all that hard graft/loving you’ve given your garden!

Judging a Soil By Its Cover

December 10, 2017 By SandRa Timmins 4 Comments

I recall reading in Carol Deppes’ book The Resilient Gardener that one of the benefits of renting is the scope of experience you get with different soils and climates as you move around.

Couldn’t agree more~

(2016) Taking the mickey out of my “soil”!

We’re no longer renters but we have been til now and the soil I have here in Eketahuna is the polar opposite of what I had in Horowhenua. In our last place the kids were making sandpits out of my soil, here, they’re making pots and sculptures out of my heavy clay soil!

(2017) Jakobs clay pieces made from my garden!

My name Stoney Ground Herbs follows me one way or another (in Foxton we lived on a gravel road), here stones are a plenty within the soil. Although it grates my ears if my spade grinds along any and jars my wrists if my fork hits a big one, I am grateful, for the stones are sure to help with any drainage issues, I hope!

Ranunculus repens

Without doing any soil tests or even feeling the soil I can look around and take some educated guesses to its condition.. Firstly there’s buttercups aplenty which tells me the ground is pretty wet, mint and lemon balm is growing randomly in places and looking like its loving the wet ground too. Selfheal, Prunella vulgaris, is throughout the lawn (selfheal is a wonderful herb so yippee!!) as is broad leafed plantain, Plantago major, (again, not too upset about this!) both of which like damp lawns.

Within the gardens (the gardens were advertised as organic – as I’ve been working through them and looking at the trees, I’m guessing that if you do absolutely nothing to your property you can say its organic, a bit mis-leading mind!) anyhoo, within the gardens there is convolvulus (Calystegia silvatica) grrr, which could mean poor drainage and low calcium. Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis– useful herb for for skin conditions, but we’re ok and don’t need it right now) which could pertain to poor drainage, low pH, low calcium, high magnesium, clay soils. Cleavers (Galium aparine) yet another useful herb in the wrong place, can indicate low nitrogen. The creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens) also pertains to low nitrogen and poor drainage.

Must note, when we first moved here and was taking these notes we had arrived at the tail end of apparently 18 months of rain! Phew! Timing!

Looking at all the rhododendrons and camellias that grow in this neck of the woods I’d say acidic soils (low pH) are a characteristic of the soil throughout this area. Great for growing currants, blueberries and rhubarb too! I’m guessing that when my hydrangeas flower they will be a deep blue. Lots of walnuts, plums and apples around whom all grow best in heavy soils.

So, low calcium and low nitrogen, as well as low pH, with heavy clay soils.

And here it is…

Apart from removing all the plants in the wrong places, including a couple of walnut trees (who would put a walnut tree in their bloomin vege garden??…if you were thinking about doing it, don’t, walnuts exude toxins from their roots and as a drip from their leaves). I’m going to have to tutu with the soil quite a bit, particularly for where my herbs will grow. Most herbs prefer an alkaline soil that’s nice and light with great drainage. Oh dear! What sort of a challenge have I got myself into here?!

I love a challenge…well, if it goes my way!

We’ve got wild bergamot at the front there, purple sage and pineapple sage near the back, all relatively happy…

I added compost of my own brew (from our last place) plus some lime. Whilst digging I found a lot of dahlia bulbs, actually not a lot, an obscene amount! I love dahlias as much as the next person but it started getting ridiculous and I stopped caring if I stabbed one of the monsters, I had been carefully digging them out and planting them over yonder called New Dahlia Bed. So the dahlias helped my plans of double digging to open up the subsoil…I didn’t need to, removing them did it for me. I added chicken poo that was piled up in the old dove cotes (was well matured) for added nitrogen. Once I planted my dear plants I mulched them with seaweed mulch that a fellow stall holder at the Wairarapa Farmers Markets sells. So far everyone is looking pretty happy, I’m glad i got them in and settled before this heat wave (what a difference from last year eh!).

For my vegetable beds I got all inspired by how my friend Glen started his garden that you can read about here. Perfect solution for completely new beds, being that we don’t live near the sea I’m using a lot of animal manure instead of seaweed.

Three beds in different stages of development.

Anyway… The root of the story is this…before you pull out your weeds have a wee think of what situation they’re taking advantage of and/or what they may have to tell you.

(Most of the information about weeds as soil indicators was taken from Tim Jenkins article in Organic NZ magazine, July/August 2010, Vol. 69, No. 4)

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