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I am very conscious of people that have only small sections or live in flats, retirement villages and apartments which means they have either no land or very little land to grow food in. For people in those places they need to make the most economical use of their land available and also to grow […]
Posts Tagged ‘richards’
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About plant diseases & how to control them (Wally Richards)
July 30th, 2023 
Awake Goy Plant diseases appear when a plant is lacking in one or more elements or the plant is in stress for what ever reason. Normally we spray a fungicide to prevent or control a plant disease which sits on the surface of the leaves and branches. Dependent on the disease we use a copper fungicide or […]
FRUIT TREE TIME (Wally Richards)
June 25th, 2023 Awake Goy About this time each year; fruit tree nurseries lift the new season Delicious fruit trees out of the ground and either wrap the roots or bag them into planter bags, secured with twine as the roots have been cut. It is very important that as soon as the tree is out of the ground the […]
It’s time to plant garlic (Wally Richards)
June 19th, 2023 Awake Goy The traditional time of the year in NZ to plant garlic is on the shortest day and then harvest will be about on the longest day. (Can pay to leave till later in January as it may increase size of the bulbs.) The reason for this is that after the shortest day of sun light […]
Time to plant new season’s strawberries (Wally Richards)
June 11th, 2023 Awake Goy New seasons strawberry plants are now available in garden centres. The nurseries that grow the plants lift them after the autumn rains have moistened the soil sufficiently, then they are distributed to garden centres. I find that the sooner you can get your new strawberry plants into their new beds the better results you have […]
WET FEET IN THE GARDEN (Wally Richards)
May 21st, 2023 Awake Goy With some areas experiencing a lot of rain lately it is a good time to look at how to prevent damage and losses in your gardens. There is a range of plants we call bog plants and they just love living in wet soil and even in water which makes many of them suitable to […]
VISITING LIFE UNDER GROUND (Wally Richards)
May 16th, 2023 Awake Goy There is a saying which reads as… As Above So Below and with plants and trees what is above the soil level is replicated to what is below the soil level. With a tree it is the trunk and branches we see and mirrored under the soil is the tap root and the root system […]
The importance of phosphate in your garden (Wally Richards)
May 11th, 2023 Awake Goy Phosphorus stimulates budding and blooming. Plants need phosphorus to produce fruits, flowers, and seeds. It also helps make your plants more resistant to disease. Phosphorus helps plants gain more energy from sunlight and with cloudy, hazy skies we are seeing too often; plants need all the advantages possible to gain energy from sunlight. Phosphorus doesn’t […]
GROWING HIGH HEALTH VEGETABLES (Wally Richards)
May 11th, 2023 Awake Goy I have always enjoyed growing different plants that are not commonly available. This is one of the aspects that makes gardening more enjoyable and exciting when you have successes. Three vegetables that I have grown in the past and am writing about are not rare but not common for many gardeners. The first of these […]
FOOD AND HEALTH (Wally Richards)
April 9th, 2023 Awake Goy The father of medicine; Hippokrát s ho Kôios; (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) apparently said the historic words; ‘Let Food be Thy Medicine and Let Medicine be Thy Food’ Fairly logical and common sense; if you eat healthy you will be healthy. But what is healthy food and where do you get it from? […]
GRASS GRUBS: NOW IS THE TIME (Wally Richards)
April 2nd, 2023 Awake Goy I am often asked is it the best time to do certain things in the garden and more often than not when asked it is not the best time. Gardeners sometimes miss the boat and only later when the damage is done or the plants are out of season, that they look for the solution. […]
About sprayers and spraying in your garden (Wally Richards)
March 30th, 2023 Awake Goy Gardeners and horticulturists can at times take things for granted as we are often doing certain chores and don’t stop to realise that what we do and why we do it, is not common knowledge with everyone who gardens or are attempting to garden. One of these is spraying plants for whatever reason we spray; […]
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS THAT ARE USEFUL IN THE GARDEN (Wally Richards)
March 22nd, 2023 Awake Goy There are a number of items that can be used in your garden to the benefit of plants. For instance a year ago I wrote the article about using Apple Cider Vinegar on fruit trees to increase their performance and to reduce disease problems. The formula is 250mil Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) mixed with 5 […]
WINTER PREPARATIONS IN THE GARDEN (Wally Richards)
March 19th, 2023 Awake Goy This week I noticed a distinct chill in the air, first thing in the morning, which could be described as a very light frost. Others must have noticed it in their localities as orders started coming in for Vaporgard, the spray on frost protection. Now if you think back to Marches in the past years, […]
Gardening: beating the veggie shortages … (Wally Richards)
March 6th, 2023 Awake Goy It is certainly interesting times we are living in … there are also some gardening problems to overcome. Recently I went looking for some vegetable seedlings and seed packets of vegetables that I wished to add to my gardens at this time. I was after cauliflower seedlings to grow and harvest in winter and some […]
WEEDS – A NEW WAY TO DEAL TO THEM (Wally Richards)
February 27th, 2023 Awake Goy This week I received a book from an old friend of mine, Julia Sich which she has written and called ‘Julia’s Guide to Edible weeds and Wild Green Smoothies’. Many of you will know the ‘Weed Lady’ through her previous book and workshops. In your gardens you will likely have a number of plants we […]
Wake up call! (Wally Richards)
February 19th, 2023 Awake Goy Our heart felt sympathy to all those that have suffered from the adverse weather events of recent. It is already past the time that we needed to future proof ourselves and homes against adverse events be it weather, earthquakes or volcanoes. Comments I saw this week were; ‘Our Government giving away tax payer money to […]
Pollination in your garden (Wally Richards)
February 18th, 2023 Awake Goy Most plants flower to produce seeds so their line will continue through their off spring. When it comes to our gardening efforts we want plants such as tomatoes, zucchini and pumpkins to produce fruit which in every case contain the seeds for the next generation of those plants. When pollination does not happen then the […]
Surprising facts (and cover up) about copper (Wally Richards)
February 12th, 2023 Awake Goy On a brighter note (well kind of) with impending storms and things on the horizon … latest from Wally Richards … EWR Recently a reader sent me an article which I found very interesting so I will share this with you…….. Iron gardening tools versus copper gardening tools: What we were never taught. Iron or […]
PLANTS AND YOUR HEALTH (Wally Richards)
January 18th, 2023 Awake Goy Readers that have followed my weekly columns and books will be well aware of how I have combined gardening with health. I know that naturally grown vegetables and fruit will be very beneficial to your health and well being and when you add all the 114 known minerals to the growing media then the same […]
