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OILY
RAG
INDEX
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Send in your gardening saving tips.
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Gardening
off the smell of an oily rag
Compost
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When planting my strawberries I have given them a mulch of
wet shredded paper from my shredding machine. It matts
together nicely keeping light out to prevent weeds and I
should have nice clean strawberries to eat. Makes use of
your old bank statements too. Or your advertising junk is
very colourful when shredded. Will break down eventually and
feed the worms helping the soil. - Canny Scot, Christchurch.
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If you have the space available, a great place for
collecting your kitchen scraps is in the top draw! If your
cutting board is above a utensil draw, move these utensils
and create a compost draw. Of course you will need a plastic
container to put the scraps into. A long shallow dish works
best(similar to a kitty litter tray) but whatever fits. We
are using a old ice cream container at the moment. My mum
taught me this. So handy when tidying up the left overs on
the cutting board - open draw and sweep in. Does need to be
cleared regularly so scraps
don't end up jamming against the top of the draw. Also helps
to line draw with newspaper in case of any spills... Hides
the unsightly piles of scraps in the corner of your kitchen
as well. (My other half has taken to using newspaper to line
the plastic container as well to save him rinsing
constantly.) - T.B., Palmerston
North.
- I have four round black plastic compost
bins. I fill these with the household scraps and clean garden weeds. When
bin 1 is full, I start bin 2, etc. By the time bin 4 is full, bin 1 is ready
to use. If there is any uncomposted material in the "using bins",
transfer it to one at the far end of the line. It will eventually break
down. – G.B.
- To
make rich compose, place lawn clippings, weeds and other
garden waste into a big black plastic bag (such as a big
garbage bag). Seal the bag and leave. Turn it once a week an
after three months you will have good garden compost.
- Getting rid of Cutigrass. We
have the misfortune of having almost a dozen of these huge
weeds in our garden. After much pondering I decided to chop
down around the base & leave them to decompose. Instant
mulch. Not only has it covered some bear ground &
stopped numerous other weeds from taking hold, it has also
provided valuable humus on a steep clay bank as it breaks
down. No poisons, some effort but free compost. - S.P.
Fertiliser
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A dead electric
kettle/jug is good for watering plants and giving them
liquid fertiliser. The kettles with a gauge that tell you
how much water is in them are particularly useful if you're
mixing liquid fertilisers. Also, if you know how much water
a particular plant needs you can mark the water gauge with a
permanent marker pen (eg Sharpie) and/or write a list on the
kettle (eg "Venus fly trap 500ml weekly"): this
avoids overflows. A kettle with a small leak is fine if
you're using it outdoors. The kettles that have a detachable
cord usually use a common type that will fit other
appliances, so they're worth keeping (especially if you have
a habit of melting kettle cords!). -Boaz,
Auckland.
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Instead of buying blood
and bone for your Garden, get a Fisherman's heavy duty meat
grinder (Burly Maker) and Grind up the bones to use as
fertiliser. Dry the bone meal in the oven as you cook your
next Roast, or just dig it straight in. - TXMA,
Glenfield.
- Don't throw away your plastic milk
bottles. When they are empty fill with cold water. Place lid on and
shake. There is a good milky residue. Use the contents to water your pot
plants. It acts like a pick me up. My African daises thrive
as do my many other indoor plants. It saves you from having
to buy costly fertilisers. - D.B.
General
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Broken ceramic and earthenware pots? Knock them into small
pieces and use as drainage material at the bottom of tubs or
in soil. Larger shards of colourful glazed pots can look
very effective when used to accentuate borders in flower and
vegetable plots. - Thirties
Depression Baby, Auckland.
Kids gardens
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When my grandchild was a preschooler and I looked after her
during the day, we spent many long hours in the organic
veggie garden One thing Emma
wanted to do was to grow something herself, by her
self We chose the silver beet that we purchased, then Emma
planted, them watered them & cared for them Now I am
thrilled to say that she will go down to the garden, pick
the leaves, wash them & above all loves to eat her
silver beet. All you Nannies give it ago!!!!! - Nannie
Suzanne, Okere Falls -Rotorua.
Lawns
- Use a
push mower instead of a petrol driven mower. They are
cheaper to buy, cheaper to run, create no pollution, and
will keep you fit.
Planting
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Place seeds such as
peas, beans, luffa, etc in warm water for two days then
plant. We are having a gardening competition so we are
looking for ideas like this. We will be judging in December
and taking a bus around to see all the gardens. - Manawahe
School, Whakatane.
- If planting large seeds like beans, use the
inners of toilet rolls, part fill with seed mix, put in the seed and top up.
You can get about 12 of these to stand up in an ice cream container. And in
due course plant out the whole tube. No transplant shock. The cardboard will
rot away quickly. – G.B.
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Go to an organic shop.
Purchase lentils, chick peas, haricot beans (navy) etc and
come home and pop them in punnets. They will grow for you,
Plant them in the gaden as normal and harvest when ready. -
K.S., Morrinsville.
Plant
markers
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Be sure to write the name
on the lower part of the label as well
as it won't fade so quicly underground. - P.J.H.,
Waverley.
- Next time you think
about throwing out your old ice cream boxes cut them into
strips and make little plant markers with them. Make sure
you use a waterproof marker when writing on them. - Canny
Scot, Christchurch.
Plants
- When the milk bottle is
emptied fill with cold water with lid on shake well, and use
the residue on all your plants. If you have a fish tank,
when emptying save the water for pot plants etc. These hints
work well - you don't have to buy plant food. - D.M.
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We had no luck growing capsicum from packeted seed so
brought a fresh capsicum, scooped out the seed and planted
that fresh and Walah -
lots and lots of plants. - K.S., Morrinsville.
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Keep you packets of seeds in the bottom of the fridge in a
container and they will stay useable for years. I once grew
carrot seeds that were 5 years past the use by date. - K.S.,
Morrinsville.
Potting
mix
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Reuse potting mix safely .I fill a 3 ltre plastic ring basin
with the old mix (moist) and give it 12 minutes
on high in the microwave. Give it a stir at about 10
mintes. I test with my big thermometer
and if
its reading over 90 degrees so all the nasties have
been zapped. If
you don't have a
suitable thermometer give it 15 minutes in the microwave
to be sure. This
is much better than fresh potting mix for sowing seeds in
just as it is . But
for planting out plants some slow release fertiliser needs
to be added. - P.J.H.,
Waverley.
Silver beet
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I grow silver beet -
however don't always eat it all. I also had a problem with
the plants going to seed as I didn't pick it fast enough.
Now I just pick and chop up and freezing in bags works
nicely. Bags can also be reused. When I cook I just put the
frozen silver beet in.- Rocky, Napier.
Slugs &
snails
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Stop wasting money on
slug pellets, they don't work, slugs don't even like them.
save your eggshells , dry them in oven ,crush and sprinkle
round the plants you want to protect. Snails will not cross
them. They break down and benefit the soil too without
chemicals. P.S. I tried the newspaper tip but caught no
snails. - Canny
Scot, Christchurch.
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We
want to share a wonderful moneysaver I stumbled on. I
crushed a piece of newspaper and shoved it among plants to
save going to the house. Next morning I recovered and in it
were 20 slugs of all sizes. I was so excited I put more
crumbled paper around the plants. By the following morning I
had 110 slugs. Prior to this I used expensive slug pellets
that didn’t seem to work. Crumbled paper is the answer.
It’s a plant and money saver. - P.M.
Tomatoes
- One can grow tomatoes inside.
Transplant seedlings, when need be put in a warm sunspot
& you've got a plant growing! - P & J Funnell
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