After reading the (somewhat funny) special issue of NZ gardener "Homegrown 2: Live off your land for less" (which is cheaper direct than at the supermarket) I was inspired to grow borlotti beans - the photo in the magazine is of these fantasticly coloured spotty beans and pods. It turns out theyre actually called borlotto beans, demonstrating that the editor can't spell (but consistently can't spell).
After getting a price from Trademe I (to ammuse myself) compared the price to Kings Seeds's price. It wasn't amusing, Kings was a fraction of the trademe price. So I got inspired by the Kings web site and was up until late choosing seeds (consider me a Kings convert). It didn't help that you get 2 free packets of seeds if you spend $40 (so I did). Here's what I got:
Broccoli Italian Precoce
Cabbage Copenhagen Market
Cauliflower Green Macerata
Cauliflower Violet Sicilian
Pumpkin Austrian Oil Seed
Radish Oriental Watermelon
Spinach Bloomsdale
Turnip Tokyo White Cross F1
Turnip Red Round
Bean Borlotto Fire Tongue
Eggplant Black Beauty
Zucchini Black Beauty
Turnip Golden Ball
Cauliflower Snowball Improved
Spinach Strawberry
And for my free packets I chose:
PARSLEY BARTOWICH LONG - this is a kind of root vegetable
ONION BORETTANA
This should do for seeds for the whole season - but then again those yellow zucchini look good, as do the multi-coloured squash.
3 comments:
many thanks for the lead to Kings. I just spent $60!! well, I saved my order for when I have $60 :)
Fruit trees are coming up.. Sutherland nurseries is a local I found out about at the Polytech's Permaculture course...
Hey Andrew,
Borlotti is the plural. One borlotto bean, lots of borlotti beans :)
Good luck growing 'em!
The Golden Ball turnips are delicious, although I grew the Tokyo White Cross variety last year and found that, although it tastes ok, it stinks out your house with a very earthy smell as you cook it.
I'm going to try the Austrian Oil Seed pumpkins this year too... I want to make my own muesli from homegrown grains/seeds/nuts/dried fruit.
Have you got a glasshouse to extend your growing season?
Lynda H
Hi Lynda.
Let me start by saying how much I enjoy reading your articles in NZ Gardener. Whereas most gardening magazines (and books) are extremely dry, your articles are very funny. I saw you talk in Dunedin about a year ago and it, too, was very funny.
I've grown white turnips and purple turnips and we find the white ones taste great if you pick them small (easy in Dunedin's climate), and roast them. The skins on the purple turnips tend to be a little tougher than the white ones. As we like the turnips so much I decided to try a few other varieties. Did you try uncooked turnips? Raw turnips taste like mild raddishes (no surprises there) and make a good addition to a green salad.
I don't have a greenhouse because we don't need them in Dunedin (honest). The real reason is that it seems unnecessary (and expensive). Brassica and carrots survive the winter here without much problem so if care is taken with when seeds are planted the vege patch can be kept active regardless of the season. As an example, the last leek left in the garden at the end of summer has done well over the winter. Carrots make a good winter crop if left in the ground too.
I had no idea pumpkins would grow well here. After last year's success my eye turned to orange coloured pumpkins - time will tell if this was a good idea or not.
Andrew
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