When costs are high – get gardening

We eat in season at our house, so tomatoes are not on the menu yet and that is just as well, with loose red tomatoes currently $14.99 a kilo – approximately $3 each.

Prices are expected to drop in summer, but may still be high compared with previous years.

So, now is the time to try growing your own – as long as there’s some shelter, it’s time to plant tomato seedlings. 

Tomatoes are gross feeders and one of the secrets of super tomatoes is nutrient dense soil, so soil preparation is key. My tomato bed has been made up with home-made compost, fish waste, cow manure, seaweed and coffee grounds trenched in, and covered to keep out hungry birds.

Although I saved seed, especially from the green tomatoes, which were such fun and gave a great crop (as the birds didn’t recognise, they were ripe) it is too cold for planting seeds, so I will keep them until the night temperatures are warmer.

I buy seedlings of the large vigorous types that need staking as opposed to the bush varieties. That’s because it is easier for me to keep these types pruned as they produce leaves and flowers continuously, but choose whatever suits the size of your garden – smaller varieties can be grown in pots too.

I have discovered tomatoes will grow bigger root systems if planted along their stems. I plant the seedling in a J-fashion, laying it horizontally in a shallow scrape and covering the stem with soil up to the first set of leaves. Plant about 50cm apart and once they pop upright, stake them.

During the three months of growth, I keep the soil warm and moist with mulch. I use a mixture of grass clippings, seaweed and compost, as well as ground up eggshells combined with coffee grounds. I water regularly with my liquid manure – a mixture of seaweed, fish frames, nettles and comfrey – kept in a covered rubbish bin.

As the summers have got warmer, I can now keep planting tomatoes until early February, and I often use the pruned suckers as cuttings to grow new plants. Planting each month ensures a continuous supply of tomatoes for canning, freezing whole, making sauce, and of course eating fresh all summer.

Parsnip pleasures

To my horror, I saw that parsnips were $7 a kilo, although they grow like weeds, almost all year round. At that price, they could be considered a luxury item, but a little patience and some fresh seeds will allow you to enjoy homegrown parsnips.

Parsnips are a hardy, cool-season crop, and the ones we are eating now were planted in May. The crop my granddaughter planted in July will be ready to harvest in October and the seeds I have just planted will be ready in January.

Sow seeds directly in the garden in loose soils that allow the roots to penetrate deeply. 

Sow individual seeds by hand in shallow rows, 6-10 mm deep and lightly cover with fine soil.  Space seeds 10 cm apart to allow for plants to mature.  Seeds can take 2-3 weeks to germinate so cover with green shade cloth to protect them from birds while keeping the soil damp.

Once they are growing, they are pest and disease free and do not need protection from slugs and snails. To keep the plants weed free and retain moisture in the soil, I mulch between the rows with arborist tree chippings.

While they grow, I apply a side dressing of ashes, well-rotted compost, and water with a liquid manure of nettles and comfrey when necessary. Parsnips can form a 30cm-long root but avoid excess nitrogen which causes poor root development.

I always leave a couple of plants unharvested, as parsnips are biennials which produce flower stems in their second year. Once the parsnip has flowered the roots become woody and are not suitable for eating but the yellow flowers make excellent food for pollinators. They are arranged in umbels which are followed by broad flat seeds. When the seeds turn brown and dry off, I cut the umbels and store them in a brown paper bag in a dry place. 

Having a bag of fresh seeds makes it easy to plant parsnips for a continuous supply throughout the year. They take 18 to 20 weeks from planting to harvest, so I sow small compact crops which allows room to place summer vegetables in between.

Centuries ago, they were even used as a sweetener in cooking and were a commonly grown staple before the potato arrived in Europe in the 16th century.