PLANTING

SUCCESSIONAL PLANTING:
Too often with the normal gardening method it’s either a feast or a famine. I found that planting once a month gives a good succession of available vegetables right throughout the year. Depending on your requirements you can sow and plant up to three plots a month.

SOWING ROOT CROPS:
As the compost is of open texture it pays to press it down firmly with the board before sowing small seeds like carrots. They take a little longer to germinate with the open texture but the process can be speeded up by covering with a layer of seed mix.

PLANNED CROPPING:
I like planning down to the last detail but when I asked my wife to predict how many cabbages, cauliflowers and lettuces etc. she required each month, I didn’t strike oil. So I had to experiment and after a while was able to judge approximately what our capacities were.

PLANTING & SOWING BY THE MOON:
Years ago I acquired a moon calendar produced by a nurseryman, Mr. Frank Crafts of Tauranga. He had kept records for over 30 years and discovered that plants grew better when planted during certain phases of the moon. I must admit I was skeptical but tried it out. Everything above the ground did very well but the root crops fared badly. I was ready to consign the chart to the rubbish bin when I discovered that I had miss-read the sowing of the root crops. They were not to be sown at the same time as the leafy crops and when I adhered strictly to the schedule, carrots and beetroot flourished. Since then I have read that there is a range of scientific literature dealing with the influence of solar and lunar cycles on the planting, growing and harvesting of crops. There are many different moon planting guides but the one I use is simple and seems to work for New Zealand conditions. All you need is a calendar showing the monthly phases of the moon. Go through each month and mark the periods for sowing and planting.
All Crops Above the Ground:
Locate the first quarter of the moon, colour it in plus the four days other side of that day. You then have nine days in which to sow and plant all crops which grow above the ground.
All Root Crops:
Locate the last quarter day. Ignore it but mark in the third and fourth day before and the third and fourth day after that date. You then have two periods of two days to sow, transplant or plant out root crops.