The Last Word for the Season
Monday, March 22 by Hamish Dodd
Well sadly it’s time for me to wrap up my blogs for the season. As we all know, home vegetable gardens are really back in vogue with a vengeance, and that means there is a whole new generation of gardeners out there that we at Yates hope to have helped and inspired with my blog.
I will be off the air for a short while, however, if you still feel that you are an ‘L’ plate vegie gardener, then join the Yates on line garden club and have monthly tips emailed to you, or pick up a copy of the Yates Garden Guide, truly an incredible resource. It’s as kiwi as the Edmonds Cookbook and pavlova!
I have thoroughly enjoyed the time I have had to get back into the purity of growing your own vegetables. It is something that I have missed over the past few years as one always seems to think they are too busy and never enough hours in the day to take time out to grow your own vegetables. I have particularly enjoyed seeing the developments of my tomato plants, particularly with my son Hunter, as every day there was more fruit or something changing. The best bit was, he loves to play with water, so finding a volunteer to take up that duty was never a problem.
Finally, special thanks to all the team at Yates for giving me this opportunity to get back into something I really enjoy and for helping inspire the next generation of vegetable gardeners.
I can’t wait to get back into it next spring and I hope that you have enjoyed growing your own vegetables.
PS. Don’t forget to check out the tomato growing competition results.
Thanks
Hamish Dodd
How did Hamish’s garden grow?
Hamish Dodd reckons his vegie patch has saved him more than a few beans. $194.49, in fact and still going.
Hamish Dodd, landscape designer from TV’s ‘My House, My Castle’, knows a thing or two about gardening. So this summer, Yates put his know-how to the test to see exactly how much growing his own vegies could trim off his grocery bill. Back in spring, Hamish created an inner-city Auckland garden from scratch, using several different methods: an open ground bed, a raised bed, an Arthur’s greenhouse and Yates Tuscan Edge self-watering pots.
Big results. Small fortune saved.
Hamish calculates that he’s saved more than $194.49* over four months and will save even more as his plants continue to produce vegies. “The numbers really stack up. A packet of Yates lettuce seeds works out at less than 1c per lettuce, compared to around $3.20 for the average bag of mixed lettuces. And cost is only one of the benefits,†says Hamish. “You’re going to end up healthier because you know exactly what your produce has, or has not been sprayed with. Gardening is fun and interactive for children and yes, it does count as exercise! There’s also a huge sense of pride and satisfaction when you see your own produce on your dinner plate.â€
Hamish’s growth strategies.
So, how did his garden fare? Hamish reports that the in-ground bed yielded the most produce, partly thanks to the use of Yates Bio-gold pellets, regular compost and all day sunlight. The raised bed did particularly well at the start of the season, due to good drainage. His seedlings initially ‘took off’ in the Arthur’s Glasshouse, which was ideal in unseasonably damp October, but it became quite hot during summer and all plants needed a lot of watering (although a shade cloth helped).
Hamish was thrilled with the Yates self-watering pots, especially during the scorching holiday weeks. Says Hamish, “I can’t rate them highly enough. My purple beans, tomatoes and zucchinis are just going from strength to strengthâ€.
Other products that he reckons he couldn’t live without are: Yates Success to control white butterfly infestation; Yates Thrive for feeding all vegies grown in pots and raised beds; Blitzem for pest control; and Yates Tomato Dust for his prized tomato plant.
Tricks of the trade
Hamish has plenty of tips for gardening ‘greenies’. “Make sure you stagger your planting to keep you in produce throughout the season. Prepare your soil well, feed your plants regularly and control pests so you can get the most out of your vegies. And above all, experiment and have fun!†For more advice on how to ‘give it a grow’, check out www.yates.co.nz.
And remember, there’s still plenty of warm weather left to plant winter and autumn vegetables, so you can keep reaping the benefits all year round. So, get sowing and get growing!
To get the best results from your vegie garden, Yates have everything you need. Make sure you always have Yates Black Magic seed raising mix, Yates Thrive plant food, Yates Blitzem, Yates Success, Yates Tomato Dust and Yates Bio Gold, Derris Dust and of course your seeds! All these are more great Yates products are available from your local garden centre, supermarket or hardware, nationwide.
*Savings based on cost to buy vegies (Source: Supermarket pricing Feb 2010). Cost to buy will vary due to seasonality.
Here’s an example of what you can produce from Yates seeds and how much you could save through out a full season of growing:
“Back to blog >”:/hamish-dodd/
Comments (2)
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Dale
Yates site member
12:34, 05 May 2010
Thanks Hamish, that was great. Now for all you gardeners who don't want to starve this winter or live off of nothing but onions... Yates has a great range of seeds that you could still plant and your local nursery can probably supply the rest. Plus Yates has a brilliant range of products that you could use to make your late autumn and winter garden a super success. And the stressful time of winter ahead is one of the most important times you and your family need fresh produce from your own backyard Yates garden. To learn more just visit www.daleharvey.com and we will help you to work with all those fine Yates products to create a garden that you will be proud of and that will keep you and those you love as healthy as possible. When you think of gardening, think of Yates, and of course...Spring! Happy Gardening!
Denys
Yates site member
20:32, 08 February 2011
Have successfully growh all my veges from seed and had a wonderful crop of all veges ( excellent above average results ) BUT for the first time this year my scarlet runner beans have been a failure plenty of greenery but no beans I have spoken to other gardners in our area and they have all experienced the same problem. Plenty of cucumbers, cabbages,lettuces even butter beans but no success with scarlet runner beans can you enlighten us
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