The Hawke’s Bay Garden Guide

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XX, Issue 227, 13 September 1930, Page 12

The Hawke’s Bay Garden Guide

(By

LEONARD A. GRIFFITHS.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 1930.

“A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot.”

The Flower Garden.

Spring unlocks another season and Dame .Nature is busy producing new growth in every direction. Trees and shrubs are blossoming, countless weeds are making their appearance, and the gardener’s hands are full with odd jobs that have been neglected through the colder months.

Flower Seeds; Nearly every variety imaginable may be set this month. The following should be sown in baxes and lightly covered with sandy soil. A sheet of glass over the box will keep the moisture in and help germinating. Sow now, , Asters Cosmos, Petuna, Kedi:-, Stocks, Delphinium, Salvia. Zinnia. Celosia, Portulacas, Gaillardia, Antirrhinum, Penstemon, Larkspur.

Open Borders: For sowing in open borders or beds, many varieties may be used. Gardeners must first study the weather, and if climatic conditions are not favourable a week's delay will not matter. Sow if ready, Linaria, Clarkia, Godetia, Phlox, French and African Marigolds, Mignonette, Virginian Stock, Alyssum, and Dwarf Nasturtium.

...Shrubs; Late plantings of some varieties of trees may still be carried out. Species that like the warm weather and are pot grown, such as Peppers, Flowering Gums, Acacias, Hibiscus, Lasiandra. etc., are not affected by late shiftings so long as they receive enough water until properly established.

Garden Pests • Slugs and snails are now taking vigorous toll of many choice annuals. A good dusting of lime or tobacco dust will prove effective. Sprinkle freely among the rockeries and along the hedges. Woodlice are breeding in countless numbers and may be checked by mixing Paris Green loz with 41b bran and sprinkling about their nests. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ The Kitchen Garden Green peas; What is lamb without green peas? Now is the time to get busy and fill the garden with necessary crops. For early and quick cropping the Dwarf peas are the best; William Hurst. Tattle Gem and American Wonder are the three best early sorts. For second crops to follow on a little later taller type is advised. Greenfeast, Stratagem or Richard Seddon are three good varieties, growing thirty inches high. For later crops and taller varieties that will require staking, hero are Yorkshire Hero, Glory of Devon, and Veitches Perfection.

Root Crops; The following root crops may now be sown in drills and thinned out when large enough. Beet, Radish, Turnips, Swedes, Spring Onions, Carrots, Parsnips and Kohl Rabbi. Work the ground up finely and covey the seed about its own depth. Firm the ground with the batk of the spade after sowing.

Summer Salads: During the warmer months much cold meat is eaten, and so plenty of greens will be required to make this'dish tasty. Sow in be>s and transplant when ready; Lettuce, Leeks. Celery, Beet, Spinach, Parsley, and Endive.

Tomatoes; Tomato plants can now be planted out in warmer districts. Those readers following our calendar will have their own plants ready now. Dig the soil deeply before planting, and scatter a little sulphur or White Island No. 1 into the ground a few days beforehand. Secure as many strong stakes as tomato plants, and mark out the rows with the stakes before setting. Set the plants deeply, as they will then root up the stem.

Beans; Dwarf Butter and French Bean seed should now' bo drilled in rows. Set the seeds from 2to 3 inches apart, and leave plenty _of room between the rows for hoeing freely. Have you ever grown the Purple Podded wax variety? They taste delicious and boil green when cooked. The same cultivation is required as for other sorts. Plant Runner Beans along fences or wires for training later.

Pumpkin and Marrow; In warm gardens these should now be planted. The richer the ground the better ,as this type of vegetable is a gross feeder. Dig in all garden refuse and manure, and set the seeds on top in clumps of three, and thin out, leaving the strongest plant, if the pumpkin patch is in a windy spot, sow a drill of sweet corn round the plot to ■ protect the crop

Vegetable Plants: Cabbage and cauliflower seedlings should now be planted in well manured soil for summer and late autumn use. When established, plants may be watered with nirate of soda, loz per gallon, to force the crop along. Onion seedling should be planted out 9 inches apart in ground that is rich in potash.

Fruit Trees: As soon as the apple blossoms are wilting they should bo sprayed with arsenate of lead to prevent the codliu moth itojn entering the young, undeveloped fruit. Peaches and nectarines must be sprayed with Bordeaux powder or lime and sulphur to prevent leaf curl.

Tidy Lawns: Now is the time to set to work and patch up the bare places in the lawns. Rake the patches over first and apply new soil if necessary. Ono pound of seed will sow 25 square yards of lawn. Lawns set in the autumn should be top-dressed with sulphate of ammonia, per gallon. This kills all annual weeds and produces new growth to help them over the coming dry period. <t ♦ ♦ ♦ Spring Mushrooms HOME CULTURE. Few vegetables are more widely appreciated or in greater demand than these delicious fungi, and few are more easily grown. And yet we have not yet realised the possibilities of musroom culture as a home industry. In commencing mushroom culture it is imperative to see that a supply of fresh manure is procurable from well-fed horses, these receiving hay and corn. The manure should be thrown into a heap when received, and will quickly generate a great heat, and will throw off in vapour most of the impurities of the manure. The heap should bo turned over every morning until the manure is in a fairly dry condition. This usually takes about a week. 11,y this time the manure is ready to make up into a bed. The bed or bods should be made up of at least a foot of manure, made firm by tramping and beating. After forming the Bed will agum beat up, and hero is where the most care is necessary, as no spawn should be inserted till the heat of the bed has fallen to about 70 degrees. To estimate this it is necessary to purchase a thermometer.

Culture under cover: The beds should be about three to four feet wide, as this permits them to be easily worked without tieading upon them. The beds may be made up in the open ground, but tho best plan is in sheds or cellars, where a more even temperature may be maintained throughout tho year. The absence of light is rather an advantage than otherwise. The length of the bed can be unlimited. If the grower has no suitable place for a bed, a good crop may be grown in large pots, boxes, etc., the container being filled with manure prepared as above. After preparing the bed, the next thing is “spawning.” This must take place, as we have said, when the temperature of the bed falls to about 70 degrees. Tho spawn is purchased from the seedsman in the form of “cakes,” and is broken up into pieces about the size of an egg. Place these pieces about a foot part, and one in-11 deep, all over the bed, making the manure perfectly hard and firm over the spawn. Cover the bed with an inch of fine clean soil.

No watering will be necessary till the beds come into bearing, which is usual about six weeks after spawning. A temperature in the beds of 50 to 55 degrees is most suitable, but if it occasionally rises to 60 no harm will be done. A good bed will produce for several months, and if a succession is desired new beds should be made accordingly. From the time the bed is spawned it is necessary that an even moist atmosphere be maintained when grown under shelter by damping the walls and floors mornings and evenings.

Culture In the OpOns Owing to the risk of chilling of beds by frost rtnd rain, this method is not recommended- However, if outdoor culture is decided upon, a ridge shaped bed, 3ft wide at th base and 3ft high. The beds are made very firm, and put the spawn on both sides. It is amazing what huge crops are produced in favourable years.

...Picking; In gathering mushrooms the stem should be twisted round to it from the bed, for it is most inadvisable to leave a cut stem in the bed.

Use of Cid Beds; Old beds are excellent for potting and building up the fertility of the garden. Very little of the value of the manure is lost in tho production of mushrooms, and the bed becomes thoroughly totted before the bed goes out oi bearing.