Michael Coulter’s Top Tasks We are now getting well through Summer and have had to put up with some challenges, hot and dry weather especially, which has effected how the garden has responded. In the vegetable garden regular deep watering has given me abundant crops of high quality produce but I have needed extra fertilisers … Read More
Ingredients 500g green beans, trimmed 2 tbsp olive oil 2 cloves garlic, crushed finely grated zest and juice of ½ a lemon 2-3 tbsp finely chopped kalamata olives Method Drop beans into boiling water and cook 3 minutes. Refresh under cold water and drain without shaking off all the water (you want them wet so … Read More
Janet & Brian Lovelock’s stunning garden was awarded the following in the recent Summer Garden Awards: Premier Garden. Tosswill Memorial Award: 1st. 5 Star Garden. Doyle Award : 1st. 5 Star Garden Special feature award: 1st Perennials and Annuals Special feature award: 2nd Vegetables. See more from the garden in the slideshow above. Full results … Read More
Inaugural Oderings School Gardens Show 2015 presented by the Canterbury Horticultural Society. The Canterbury Horticultural Society (CHS) will host the inaugural Oderings School Gardens Show over the period 6-8 March 2015. The introduction of the schools category in the 2014 Ellerslie International Flower was a huge success and the CHS wished to build on this … Read More
How do you espalier fruit trees?
Ingredients 5 small beets (raw, tops removed) 1/4 cup sunflower seeds 400g strawberries 100g feta Rocket or salad greens 100ml balsamic vinegar 1 Tbs honey Boil the beets until they are tender when you stick them with a knife. Let them cool down then remove the skins and cut into quarters. In a heated pan, … Read More
Smart planting for healthy bees Why Are Bees Important? Imagine a world without strawberries, kiwifruit, apples, nuts, coffee, chocolate or even denim jeans! And that’s only the beginning. One mouthful in three and nearly ¾ of the diversity of our daily food is directly attributed to Bee pollination. Billions of dollars in NZ export earnings depend … Read More
Michael Coulter’s Top Tasks February is one of the busy months of the gardeners’ year, during this time we are harvesting fruit and vegetables, weeding, watering, Summer pruning fruit trees, dead heading flowers and roses and getting the garden ready for the coming Winter. Tree ripened fruit is for me the real highlight at this … Read More
Michael Coulter’s Top Tasks January is the month of many tasks in the garden. To keep plants healthy and in full production it is important to have a regular schedule of work that involves weeding, watering, harvesting and replanting for a continual supply or fruit, vegetables and flowers. It is better to try and have … Read More
To date we have received eight entries from the following schools: West Melton Primary, St Albans Catholic, Cathedral Grammar, Aidanfield Christian, Shirley Intermediate, Bishopdale, West Spreydon, and Bromley (1). Ideally we’d like a minimum of 10 schools so if any member can suggest another school even at this late stage we’ll follow it up with … Read More