Receive Ask Mum Now articles by email
In the garden...
Watching our parents tending a large vegetable garden and seeing the results on the table for dinner is a dim memory for many people today. How about recreating those scenes on the balconies of our apartments or the patios of our townhouses?
Turning dough into free seeds
October 19, 2011 | Filed under Growing vegetables
Thousands of packets of free organic vegetable seed are being made available to gardens at schools, kindergartens and kohanga reo across the country by Paraparaumu’s award winning Purebread.
For more information go to Get Kids Growing with Organic Seeds
Growing sunflowers
October 6, 2011 | Filed under Soul food
Sunflowers are easy and quick to grow and are spectacular when they flower.
Sunflowers are great for children to grow because of their fast growth and amazing flowers.
You can sow sunflower seeds directly into a sunny spot in the garden or into deep pots if you don’t have much garden space. Water gently and wait a week or so for the shoots to appear.
Be prepared to stake the plants as they get taller, especially if you live in a windy area. Or if you have them on a balcony you can tie the stems to the balustrade or a pole to help them stand up straight.
Home Harvest raised garden beds
July 4, 2011 | Filed under Growing vegetables
Do you appreciate the quality of fresh, chemical-free, organic vegetables?
If you would like an organic vegetable garden but don’t have the time or the knowledge to build and maintain one all by yourself then Home Harvest can help you. …Read more
How to prune roses
June 20, 2011 | Filed under Soul food
A rose bush, unlike a tree, does not grow by producing shoots which steadily increase in size every year. A rose stem grows actively and bears flowers for only a few years, after which the upper portion becomes exhausted. A new shoot then appears from a bud lower down the stem. The part above the new shoot dies.
This means that a bush left unpruned becomes a tangled mass of dead and live wood bearing flowers of poor quality on spindly stems. …Read more
Saving water in your garden
February 23, 2011 | Filed under In the Garden
Save water this summer by watering your plants deeply but less often. This process encourages your plants to develop deep, drought-resistant root systems. …Read more
