May 2021

Words: Mrs Darling

I’m falling for you.

_{^{Painting of Waiteata Park in autumn by Zoe Alford}}

It’s that time of year when the nights are closing in, and the temperatures are dropping. I’ve fished out my possum and merino socks (my precious), and my ugg boots (my other precious). The volume of leaves falling from the deciduous trees in the park across the road from where we live is increasing exponentially. Some of the leaves are flying rather than falling, as they float many metres high above the house from the tops of the huge London plane trees. The liquidambars are dazzling, with all their leaves still to fall.

Dr Darling spends a lot of time raking leaves in May and June. Between you and me (shhh), he puts the leaves from the ditch in the council verge on the wheelbarrow and takes them back over to the park. He says they come from there, and it’s only right they should go back. It’s better for the environment (he says) to have them composting under the trees rather than burning them which we used to do back in the day before we understood its effects. Before you write and tell me to use the leaves for compost, rest assured we do that too but we would need compost bins the size of shipping containers to use them all. We wait for the oak leaves which are a lot smaller and make beautiful compost.

The question this month is, what shall I plant in the Crystal Palace (CP = our glasshouse) to grow over the winter?

This time last year I planted zucchini and tomato seeds which came up very quickly. I was expecting the tomatoes and cucumbers I’d been growing over the summer to be nearing the end of their usefulness, but they just didn’t give up and I was forced to give the tomato seedlings away. I did plant one of the zucchini seedlings I’d grown, but it didn’t thrive. I’ve had great success with zucchini in the past though, so thought I’d give them another go this winter.

In autumn I often find self-seeded tomatoes growing wherever I’ve used our home-made compost. However I couldn’t find a single one this year when I went fossicking around to pluck one out to plant in the CP. Similarly when I went to the local nurseries to look for seedlings last month I couldn’t help but notice the complete absence of zucchinis or tomatoes. Fair enough. The nurseries aren’t growing seedlings for glasshouse owners. They must reason that if you have a glasshouse you can grow your own plants from seed. Yes we can.

I decided to plant some Sweet 100s because I have lots of winter recipes for using them cooked. I don’t like eating cold food in winter and am always amazed at people who tell me they eat salads all year round. Are you mad? The last thing I want on a freezing cold day is to bite into a cucumber. No siree Bob.

I also planted two zucchini seeds (an heir and a spare). None of the seeds had germinated five days later, so I decided to put them on the heat pad. Within 48 hours the first two tomatoes had germinated, and a couple of days later the first of the zucchini had come up. Those first seedlings will be the ones I keep. They are quite clearly the strongest.

A week ago I planted onion seedlings in the glasshouse – Italian long keepers I’d grown from seed, and Pukekohe long keeper seedlings I bought from the nursery. They’ve taken off in the soft heat of the glasshouse. It’s such a wonderful feeling to have onions growing. They’re so easy to grow, and I use them almost every day.

Also in the glasshouse at the moment are basil plants, cut back into bushes from being almost a metre tall by the end of summer. Some of their leaves are turning black though, so I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep them going. I still have King Sweetie capsicums growing. One of the plants has been in over 2 years now and is still producing fruit. The others I grew from seed in September. All are doing well, although they were covered in whiteflies until a few weeks ago. Read here how I got rid of them.

I have broccoli and kale seedlings ready to plant out in the main garden (they take up too much room in the CP). The only other thing I’m going to plant soon is sugar snap peas. Last year I planted them in July and they did spectacularly well. I want to see how they do if I plant them now. I’ll report back.