October

We can feel the spring rush!  Gardeners are taking advantage of the warmer weather to ramp up production from their vegetable gardens! Zucchinis, pumpkins, tons of tomato varieties, sweetcorn are already available and more warm-season varieties are on the way!  Now is the time to plant your herbs and flowers that help protect and improve the yields of your summer vegetables.

Garden Maintenance

• Deadhead flowers to encourage more growth
• Clean your garden tools, apply some olive oil to prevent rust.
• Remove moss from paths and driveways.
• Plant companion herbs & flowers.
• Keep mulching for soil moisture retention and to reduce weed growth. 
• Maximise your garden spaces by planting quick consumables like lettuces. 
   

Edible Garden

You've been waiting and here they are: Kumara, Sweet Corn, Pumpkin, Zucchini, Tomato, Onion, Celery, Lettuce.

For new gardeners, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuces are easy vegetables to grow.

Kumara is here, an all-time favourite.  Kumara has a wonderful taste and can be cooked in many different ways: roasted, steamed, boiled, and even candied.   Kumara prefers a non-acidic soil. We have a quick video that may help in growing Kumara. Click here to watch Henri's guide to growing Kumara.

Stagger planting quick consumables like lettuces and spring onions.  

Flower Garden 

You will love the greater selection of flower varieties this month:  Petunia, Phlox, Peony, Sweet Pea, Coreopsis, Cupflower, Dahlia, Daisy, Foxglove, Gazania, Gypsophila, Lavender, Lobelia, Alyssum.  Planting flowers in your garden attracts pollinators. Plant a mix of annual and perennial flowers to make sure that there are flowers in bloom in your garden at the same time your vegetable plants are flowering. This will help increase your yield. 

Plant marigolds and petunias next to your tomatoes to improve their yield! Not only will their blooms bring you good cheer in the garden, you'll get more pollinators too. 

Herb Garden 

Get your herb gardens established before summer. Planting herbs next to vegetables also helps repel pests. Coriander, parsley, dill, oregano, thyme seedlings are already on our website.

Basil is the highlight this season. Basil improves the flavour of your tomatoes. It's a natural pest-repellant. Keep watching our website herbs category because we have many exciting, flavourful basil varieties!

This is the time to experiment! You may want to try growing: Basil, Catnip, Dill, Coriander, Marjoram, Parsley, Rocket, Mint, Thyme. Try new vegetables and grow new flowers! We have many more surprises coming soon.

Happy gardening!