Words: Mrs Darling
Ka tangi te wharauroa, ko ngā karere a Mahuru – If the shining cuckoo cries, it is the messenger of spring
Māori whakataukī
On 26 September this year I heard the unmistakeable call of a shining cuckoo – pīpīwharauroa. It’s the earliest I’ve heard one in over 20 years. In fact in the past few years they haven’t arrived in Gisborne until November. A chap called Ray Paterson up in Northland, who’s paid attention to the arrival of shining cuckoos since he was a boy 70-odd years ago, heard one this year around the middle of August. He said they usually arrive in Northland in September. They fly to Aotearoa New Zealand from the Bismarck Archipelago every spring, and stay until autumn. It’s a journey of over 4,600kms and the bird is about the size of a sparrow. They’re not as sexy as godwits which seem to have their own marketing managers who encourage bird lovers to record the godwits’ every move once they hit our shores (ok, ok, they do fly about 12,000kms). But I reckon a journey like that for a tiny bird is pretty amazing. Once they arrive in Northland they slowly work their way south.
I know what you’re thinking – isn’t she supposed to be writing about glasshouses? Yes, yes, I am. But I’m just so excited I had to share it with you. And also shining cuckoos mean that spring is here. That means it’s a busy time in the glasshouse (there you go).
First, an update: The sweet 100 tomato I grew from seed planted in May is now covered in fruit. None have ripened yet – another reminder to get seeds planted in January or February for tomatoes I want to eat over the winter in the glasshouse. However, we will be eating our own glasshouse tomatoes a lot earlier than the ones I’m about to plant out in the garden, so growing the plant over the winter hasn’t been a complete waste of time. (Note to self: Must Do Better.)
The cucumbers and supermarket truss tomatoes I grew from seed are now more than ready to plant out in the garden. The tomatoes are too big for their pots, but I’m hesitating to plant them out because the nights are still quite cold – only 4 degrees a few days ago. The earliest day for planting them out for optimal growth and health is 9 October, according to the gardeners’ moon calendar, and the maramataka calendar compiled by my friend Ron Taiapa – kia ora Ron, and thank you e hoa. I don’t think the seedlings can wait for another week though (see below).
The courgette plant inside the glasshouse is still growing strongly and we’re picking a couple of courgettes a week. The butternut pumpkin seeds germinated and are also growing well. On top of all this abundance, we’re picking sugar snaps daily. This latter comes just in time for the school holidays when our two “nieces” spend their days with us while their parents work. The younger one gets a glint in her eye whenever sugar snaps are mentioned.
The most exciting arrival in September (apart from the shining cuckoo) was some tomato seeds from Heritage Food Crops Research Trust. I sent away for them after reading in the August issue of the New Zealand Gardener magazine about Mark Christensen’s research into high lycopene tomatoes. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant which has been shown to reduce the incidence of heart disease and some cancers. Two sorts of tomato seeds came, both for golden tomatoes – “Golden Bell” with high lycopene, and “Eye Drop” which is high in beta-carotene. HFCRT asked gardeners from around the motu to assist them in “citizen science work” by planting the tomatoes and watching to see how they develop.
One of the instructions was to put the seeds in the saliva in your mouth before planting them in moist seed-raising mix. My friend Robyn, who’s in her 80s, told me that her great aunt had routinely done this before planting her seeds. It made me wonder what gardening lore and wisdom we might have lost as I haven’t seen anyone else do this. I also wondered about the role of saliva, which has proteins and enzymes in it. Do these elements somehow prepare the seeds for germination? Soften them? The instructions also advised to wait two days before watering the pots which implies that the saliva is important, and not to be watered down too soon. I followed the instructions and now have four punnets of seedlings. I’ll be planting one “Golden Bell” plant in the glasshouse with the rest outside to take their chances.
The plants growing in the glasshouse right now are the healthiest I’ve ever grown. I reckon this is mostly down to using an auto-spray to keep the bugs off (thanks again Colin). Not only have the bugs been kept off, but there is absolutely no powdery or downy mildew on any of the plants. This is astounding as my plants have been plagued by mildew in previous years, even in the height of summer. My hypothesis is that mildews are carried by insects which bring the spores into the glasshouse on their legs and bodies. In our glasshouse the plants are clean because the insects either can’t get in (we have screens on the door and windows we open), or they die very quickly thanks to the auto-spray (if they’re small enough to get in through the fine mesh). It would be brilliant if they stay this way, and who knows, maybe, maybe, maybe, I can finally beat the psyllids. Fingers crossed.
Glasshouse NZ 