Spring at last

Banish the winter blues

Spring has finally arrived and everything is growing. You can see the new growth on the trees and the paddocks are finally coming away again. Just a little less rain would be nice for a change. I was not surprised to read our Kapiti Coast has had the wettest winter on record. My outdoor garden is still waterlogged and way behind where I wanted it to be for this time of year. At least the green house here at the shop is in full swing, in fact we're running out of room in the green house and perhaps I need to get a bigger one. The Potato competition has had 66 entries - a new record! I'm really looking forward to the 2^nd of December when we all get together to harvest our efforts. We have some amazing suppliers who are generously supporting the event. Devan Tanks is once again joining us and providing a 1000L water tank as a prize. Primehort have donated not only the grow bags everyone received but also a spectacular variety of the Gardeners Choice products they supply. Tui generously provided the Purple passion potatoes we are growing. Revital have offered bagged fertiliser as prizes. Kings seeds have given us 2 wonderful Microgreen Kits More suppliers are joining us to make this competition and harvest day a success.

Agrissentials promotion

Agrissential product has been streaming out the door and Ben from Agrissentials will be here on Tuesday morning to draw the lucky winner of theAgrissentials oil skin vest. Rok solid has out sold the Oceans 100 and Seabrew but they're all such amazing products. Check out this video of the well known David Belamy and his take on Agrissentials https://youtu.be/UuEDVMooVWA

Enjoy September with the challenge of growing your own vegetables from seed.

We've been getting a head start on our seeds using the Super 7 heated propagator. Our Spaghetti squash, Lebanese cucumbers and Costata Romanesco zucchini are the star plants at the moment and we are already trying to harden them off. We're a little bit worried we may have jumped the gun too much and they'll get killed by a late frost so we have our fingers crossed. Our tomatoes are getting there. This year we're growing Bloody butcher, winter grape and tomatillo. Our Autopots are performing well and we have been harvesting some Broccoli and our Cabbage is hearting up nicely. We're also under attack from slugs and snails all due to me forgetting to bring down the beer to fill the Slug-X. Brett and I have had a huge learning curve over the last couple of months but we're both enjoying the change and the challenge.

September in to win with Kings seeds

September is seed raising month and to celebrate this change of season with every purchase of Kings seeds you can go into the draw to win a Kings Seeds seed tray overflowing with goodies from Kings Seeds. Seeds for the vege garden, the flower garden, seed raising mix, seed sieve and weed puller. Everything you need for the challenge of starting your garden from seed.

September special

With every sale instore of our Super 7 heated seed propagator ($98.90) we will add a free bag of Revital seed raising mix valued at $9.00

Heathers corner

It definitely seems to be feeling a bit like spring is here, the air is a degree or so warmer and the days are getting longer. We can't wait to plant some of our seedlings out but it is still way too early for those lovely summer crops. Thank goodness we have the hot house. It certainly lengthens the growing season. One thing I am doing though, is getting hanging baskets planted up. They are going to be very colourful and hopefully at their best at Christmas time. I had to walk past petunias at the garden centre yesterday as I think it is still too early for them. They'll go in to the baskets a bit later. I'll water them with our Mr Grow nutrient which is high in nitrogen to get them growing, then will change to Mr Bloom with high potassium to encourage flowering. Of course I'll use Rok Solid too, I never plant anything without that now. I have two new staff members working with me now. Julie and Petra are here working part time so if you come in when they are here they would be keen to introduce themselves to you. They are a great help with customers and also helping to keep the gardens looking spic and span