Kakanui Garlic

Was in Kakanui and visited the man responsible for the Kakanui Garlic line. He calls himself the Dirt Doctor. Very nice gentleman who spent some time showing me his plot and talking about organic growing. His greenhouses are very well established with tomatoes, corn, pumpkin, zuccini, and other stuff too. It turns out you can be very successful growing vegies in the south of the South Island.

He recommended two books:
[1] Joseph Smillie and Grace Gershuny, The Soul of Soil: A Soil-Building Guide for Master Gardeners and Farmers. Chelsea Green Publishing Company ISBN:1-890-132-31-4.

[2] John Jeavons, How How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine. Ten Speed Press ISBN:0-89815-767-6.

The second in is held by the Dunedin Public Library. Also held at the library is Jeavons' other book

[3] John Jeavons and Carol Cox, The Sustainable Vegetable Garden: A Backyard Guide to Healthy Soil and Higher Yields. Ten Speed Press ISBN: 1-58008-016-2

So I borrowed [2] and [3]. The latter is very good. The take-away message is to double-dig to a depth of 2 feet, dig in tons of compost (1 inch into the top 4 inches of topsoil) and never to stand on the beds (loose compact for air and water retention).

The Dirt Doctor also gave me a tour of his compost-tea making methods. He uses the Encironmental Fertalisers home garden compost / fertaliser brewing kit. They have a Compost Tea which they call a microbial inoculant - what ever that means. Seems to be a one-size-fits-all cure for all ills while also being a liquid fertiliser. This stuff is being used by the Dirt Doctor to cure fungal infections and (I think) as a fertaliser.

Heritage Seeds

Couple of places that sell heritage seeds:

Konga Gardens Center for Sustailable Living. They sell organic heritage seeds from New Zealand including (subsequent generations of) those brought into the country by settlers.

Niche Imports (PO Box 8, Ashhurst, NZ (Ph:0800 115 343)). The garden center in Oamaru sells a seed range from niche seeds. This includes mostly seed mixes but there are some intereting combinations including "Carrot rainbow selection", a mix of different coloured carrots.

Ladybirds not Wasps

Zonda kindly replied to my email with the information that only one wasp has been recorded attacking Brevicoryne brassicae. I'll bet it isn't Aphidius colemani because there appears to be no appreciable difference in aphid numbers.

Zonda told me that the 11-spotted ladybird likes to eat my aphids. Anyone got a supplier?

Wasps

There are only two suppliers of wasp in the country, BioForce and Zonda. Neither can supply Diaeretiella rapae. Zonda tell me Diaeretiella rapae is, itself, parasitized.

No commercial suppliers of the wasp leaves two possibilities, either domestic supplies or source a different preditor.


Wasp mummies in an oragami basket put out in the hope they will attack the aphids.

Aphids

Aphids
The seemingly never-ending hunt for the cure for aphids has lead to a new experiment, but first aphids.

According to the Wikipedia article on aphids there are over 4,000 different species. There are even native New Zealand aphids. There's tons of good words associated with aphids - look these up: parthenogenetic, ovoviviparous. Pretty nasty hu?

Of course any nasty insectaside will kill these beasts, but I don't want to do that. One of the reasons for growing vegies in the garden is to avoid toxins. The alternative "naturals" include Yates "Natures Way Insect Spray" which you have to keep applying every week. I don't want to do this either, for the same reason.

According to this article - planting flowering plants to attract the hover flies doesn't work.

Removing and insinerating plants is hardly control - so I'm not doing that. The other often cited control method is to rub then off by hand (no thanks).

Aphid Control
Take a look at the photo, I think these are grey cabbage aphids. Actually, they aren't grey they are green but covered with a grey waxy substance. Species Brevicoryne brassicae. Populations peak in October-December and March-April.

They are seen in the vegetable patch on brassicas including: cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and sweed. They no-doubt also attack: turnips, cabbage, broccoli and others in the family.

There's a natural parasitic wasp Diaeretiella rapae that lays it eggs in this beast and will keep aphid populations under control.

Aphidius colemani vs. Brevicoryne brassicae
The experiment is this: I can't find a supplier of Diaeretiella rapae, but BioForce Ltd. supplies Aphidius colemani, a tiny 2-3mm parasitic wasp that attacks several species of aphid (hopefully including mine). 100 wasps for 10 bucks. With some luck they'll attack my aphids and the problem will be a thing of the past. BioForce doesn't have a web presence. I ordered 100 wasps, they come as mummues (aphids with the lavae in it) and I've released then in half a dozen places in the garden a couple of days ago.

Unfruitful Beginnings

Does anyone know how to grow good vegetables in Dunedin, New Zealand? If so, please let me know because I don't. I started a few years ago and got pretty much nothing. What did grow was covered with pests and was at best fit for soup.

Some vegetables grow very well in the open in Dunedin, (or at least in my back yard). Its taken time to identify them, to work out what varieties to grow, when to plant, and how to take care of them. The purpose of this blog is to try and keep track of what works and what does not, and to log some of the experiments.