Gardener's Notebook
Follow the Village Gardener as he carries out his tasks throughout the year.
2011
July – Planting Heritage
My research has turned up the names of several thousand fruit tree varieties that our forebears grew in New Zealand. To enhance the visitor experience within the village I have sourced a number of these older fruit varieties from around New Zealand. I am now planting this year’s selection of heritage fruit trees in the village to help visitors come into contact with food of the 1800’s period. The photo shows our Medlar being planted; this European tree produces hard fruit that have to be left to ripen (blet) before they could be eaten in mid winter.
June – Rats
Rats where a major problem for our settler forebears. The rodents enjoyed our mild climate and abundant food increasing in numbers and size. Rats often killed chicks & ducklings in the nest and there were several reports of rats attacking babies in their cribs.
Today we carry on the battle to keep the village rodent numbers down. Students from Howick College are testing out their own rat trap designs in the village as the cooler weather brings the rats inside for shelter.
May – Prickly Teasel
This prickly plant (Dipsacus sativus) was an important part of the 1800’s cloth making industry. The prickly seed heads where mounted on rollers and becoming a natural comb to raise the nap of fabric. The seed head has now been replaced by metal combs and the plant relegated to the garden. The flowers are much loved by bees and butterflies and at this time of the year dozens of finches devour the dry seeds.
Now the teasel is considered a pest plant in many countries, including parts of New Zealand as it invades waste areas and competes with native plants.
April – Victorian sweet tooth
Sugar was a very expensive item on the Victorian New Zealanders shopping list. Solid cones 50cm tall of sugar were imported from such places as Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. In the early 1880’s there was an attempt to grow sugar cane in Auckland led by Justice Thomas Gillies. The broad acre sugar crop did not thrive and in 1884 the Chelsea sugar works was set up to process raw sugar from Fiji. In the village our sugar cane thrives on a north facing wall showing though we are not subtropical, we are definitely warm temperate in climate.
March – Victorian fruit are ripe
The Flowering Quince is one of many fruit trees producing fruit this month. It is a kind of misnamed (all quince have flowers) member of the Chaenomeles family. The flowering quinces are cousins of the orchard Quince (Cydonia oblonga) and Chinese Quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis). Also referred to as a 'Japonica' which is the wrong species name, the garden varieties most people have growing are in fact hybrids (C. x superba). The harvested fruit are usually way too hard to eat, but can be made into a jelly. Jelly making is easy with the fruit as it has more pectin than apples (helps the jelly set) and more vitamin C than Lemons.
February – From Herb to Flower
This month the herb Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) is putting on a fine flower display in the herb garden and around the village. We now love the flowers it puts out, but it was once part of our forbear’s medicine chest to treat jaundice and venereal diseases. Also a decoction of the root or leaves of soapwort produced a saponaceous froth which was used domestically as soap. Amazingly the soapwort plant is still used in museums today as it is much gentler than modern cleaning agents to help clean old and delicate fabrics.
January – Caterpillar to Butterfly
This Monarch caterpillar is just beginning to pupate. We have placed it in our special hatching cage to protect it from birds and wasps. Several species of small wasp species lay their eggs into the pupae where they devour the butterfly. This is great when it happens to the likes of the white cabbage butterfly but not so good for the Monarch. The Monarch butterfly was recorded in New Zealand during the 1840’s and may predate European contact. The butterflies love all the flowers and shrubs available in the village and stay around all year.
2010
December – Time to wait (& water)
The vegetable garden is now growing at great speed as the temperature gets hot. The hard clay soil in the village has dried right out and the gardens require lots of watering to keep the plants developing. Our heritage vegetables are appreciating the addition of compost to the soil and the modern garden hose & sprinkler to deliver lots of water.
The 1800's gardening books state that your garden needs strict attention this month and your hoe should never be idle at this time as the weeds grow forth.
November – Showy Vegetable
The bright blue flowers of Salsify are lighting up various corners of the village. This vegetable (also known as Vegetable Oyster) is rarely grown in home gardens anymore, but its root has great flavour. The roots could be left in the ground over winter to be harvested when needed.
Now the plant is kept about the village for its beautiful flower, but its dandelion like seed heads means it pops up all over the place much to the consternation of my volunteer gardeners.
October – Expensive Beauty?
Many European visitors to the village comment on the extensive display of Arum lilies growing around the village. This African plant is too delicate for most European winters and blooms are only available (at great expense) from glasshouse growers. Even in Victorian times to have an Arum lily growing in your Stovehouse (Glasshouse) was a rare treat. Imagine then how surprised visitors are today to find this plant growing wild on road sides & stream edges and to be considered a bit of a weed by farmers.
September – Rhubarb Crumble Anyone?
The village rhubarb patch has been providing the ingredients for deserts all winter. Our forebears where very surprised to find the latest culinary crop could be grown all year round in Auckland. In Britain the plant dies down over winter and there was competition amongst growers to get the first spring stalks to market. Back in modern Auckland we just enjoy the ability to pop out the back door any time to harvest a fresh desert ingredient.
August – Seeds Rain Down
The Norfolk Pine trees in the village have been shedding their seeds as the pine cones break up high in the branches. These seeds have been piling up around the trees and in due course little Norfolk Pine seedlings pop up in our gardens. Norfolk pines where introduced into New Zealand early on as Reverend Marsden brought a ship load of seedlings to New Zealand as a fund raiser for those exprisoners still on Norfolk Island. Many of the old Norfolk Pine that now grow in New Zealand towns today where purchased & planted as part of Rev. Marsden activities.
July –Saved Seeds are shared around
Seed saving is an important part of village life. The best of each crop are put aside for their seeds to be saved for next year. We are also a member of the Auckland Seed Savers Network and some of the village seeds are donated to the network. The sharing of seeds helps maintain many old varieties that might have been lost as seed companies reduce the number of plant varieties they sell. The village benefits hugely from being able to source these wonderful older varieties and grow them for the public to see.
June – What Winter?
The long drought has finally broken and the rain has brought a flurry of growth in the village. Some plants have been totally confused by the dry summer and autumn and are bursting into flower when they should really be settling into winter. Not only do I have some gorgeous rose flowers adorning the fence line but the daffodils that poked their heads up in May are also flowering! It can't last long before the winter storms wreck the flowers but it does liven up a winter's day.
May –Pumpkins are now in
May means putting the last of the summer vegetables into storage for winter use. In Howick Historical Village I have grown three different species from the pumpkin family. The stunning orange French heirloom pumpkin Galeuse d'Eysines (Curcurbita maxima) always lights up the garden. While the twisty Italian Heirloom squash Trombolino (Curcubita moschata) looks and tastes fantastic. The Maori heirloom squash Kamokamo (Curcurbita pepo) reminds us that we too have vegetables that are special to New Zealand. We only plant one variety of each species as they will cross pollinate with similar species and we would lose the old variety.
April –Bohemian style in Howick
The Hops plant growing in our village was collected from plants growing in the Bohemian settlement of Puhoi, north of Auckland. The hops are used to add bitterness to beer and aid its preservation. Hops also are a great soporific and a hops pillow will aid an insomniac in getting a great night’s sleep. The settlers brought many of their traditions to New Zealand, including hops to make the traditional Pilsner beers. The Puhoi settlers also formed a Militia which garrisoned Stockade Hill in Howick during the Land Wars.
March – Golden Harvest
A peek under the leaves in the cucumber patch revealed a wheel barrow load of ripe Port Albert Cucumbers. These torpedo shaped cucumbers come from north of Auckland where pioneers attempted to settle around the Kaipara Harbour. The Albertland colonisation in 1861 was the last large scale organised migration to New Zealand. The land was hard to break in and many people moved away, but they did leave us some wonderful old fashioned plant varieties.
February – Maize enjoy Fish food
Our heritage maize is flourishing in the garden that had been trench composted during the previous winter. One section of maize is noticeably taller and greener than its counter parts. These plants are enjoying the fish carcasses dropped into one trench – a smelly operation at the time but obviously worth it now.
The maize is an old fashioned variety that produces hard kernels that had to be ground for porridge or flour, not at all like our modern hybrid ‘sweet’ varieties that are soft and easily eaten when cooked.
January – Summer Workers
For some the summer is the busiest time of the year. In the Village the Bumble Bees are hard at work gathering nectar and pollinating our flowers. This little lady has a heavy dusting of carrot pollen as she hangs off part of a large heritage Carrot flower head.
The Bumble bee workers will only live through the warm months, dying with the onset of winter. The queen Bumble bee will ‘over winter’ in a hole and start a new colony in the spring.
2009
December –Roses aren’t Red!
Not everything is coming up roses in the garden in December. In fact many heritage roses find Auckland’s warm humid condition not to their liking at all! It was a rude shock to early colonists who had found various plants doing well in spring suddenly struggle with fungus and disease attack as the weather warmed and humidity soared. The down side of a mild climate that had allowed a much wider variety of plants to be grown outdoors was a moist heat that many plants were unfamiliar with and subsequently became prone to disease.
November – Random acts of Weeding.
It’s always pleasing to see the work volunteers do around the Village with gardens being cultivated and tidied. Imagine my surprise when I realised the kindly soul who had been pulling out weeds from our lawns was a Pukeko! They had been pulling out carrot like weeds to devour the tap root.
Unfortunately for every good deed there is a cost – Pukekoes also love my maize seedlings so I have to build a cage around my small plants till they grow up. They are also partial to the odd duckling and chicken chick which does not endear them to us at all.
October – Banksia Rose
This beautiful little rose flowers throughout September and October. The rose has no thorns and a light scent but is a strong climber reaching 10m tall.
Originally from China it was named in honour of Lady Banks, the wife of Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist on Captain Cook’s first exploration voyage into the Pacific. It arrived in England in 1824 and was popular in New Zealand with early colonists.
September – Camellia Put on a Show
Spring in the Village means the camellias are in flower. This variety (Helenor) came from Governor Greys’ collection on Kawau Island. Governor Grey imported many plants into New Zealand and trialled them on Kawau Island from 1862 to 1888 before sharing them with the nation.
We are lucky to be able to show off some of these early plant varieties to the public.
August – Pomelo
This crowd stopper is the world’s largest tropical citrus fruit. It should be 30cm across when ripe but it struggles in Auckland’s mild climate. This plant was brought to New Zealand by Colonel Morrow to remind him of his military service in India. The Pomelo is the parent of both the American and New Zealand grapefruit. The fruit and leaves have a wonderful citrus fragrance and we use it as part of our own village marmalade.
July – Old ways still relevant
The old Victorian method of trench composting is being used to lower my workload. Instead of making, turning and then digging compost back into a garden I simply dig a trench, fill it up with my green waste and cover it over with the soil from the new trench dug next to it.
A wonderful way to break up the hard clay base.
June – Heritage Flax Collection
I’ve just planted out a selection of Harakeke (Flax) cultivars by the pond to help future weavers in the village. Each Harakeke cultivar has specific properties, i.e. good for baskets or Muka (fibre) that Maori noted and grew on.
This selection comes from the Auckland Botanic Gardens collection and will expand as more useful cultivars are divided up.
May – 30,000 new volunteer gardeners
This month I introduced 30,000 new workers to the village. These ladies will help fertilise our heritage fruit trees and flowers and supply a new product for the shop.
The first honey bees arrived in New Zealand in 1839 and the earliest Auckland hives kept in East Tamaki. So it is nice to see another part of our local history back in action.
April – Butterflies in the nettles
At the Village I have increased the planting of nettles, to support our growing population of Yellow Admiral butterflies. We now have populations of Yellow Admirals laying eggs on the stinging nettles, and visitors may be lucky enough to see one of these beautiful butterflies feeding on the Michaelmas daisies or other flowers in the gardens here. These nettles deliver quite a painful sting, so they are growing safely behind a fence!
March – Quinces or golden apples
I am often asked by visitors what this fruit is. Although it is the size and colour of an apple, it is actually a quince, and more closely related to a pear. It is no longer a fashionable fruit, because it must be cooked, and cannot be eaten raw.
It is used for making a clear tart jelly, traditionally sliced into pieces to eat with cheese. Our quinces have a furry skin, except where they are polished smooth by curious visitors touching them!
February – Seed Saving
This is the time of year that we collect seed at the Village, so that we can share seeds with the Heirloom Seed Savers Network. We also use seed to raise plants for the following year, and sell surplus seeds in the shop. At the moment, we have plenty of Hollyhock seeds and Sweet Pea seeds available. It is important to pick over the plants on a hot and sunny afternoon, so that the seeds are completely dry when we store them.
January – Harvesting the Raupo
When the tips of the raupo start to turn brown, it is time to harvest the reeds, so they can be used for weaving or building projects. At the end of January, a band of volunteers waded chest deep in the pond, to cut the clumps down close to the root.
Each piece was then thrown to the bank where they were collected into bundles. Each bundle was tied with strips of flax, and put aside to be used later when we rebuild one of our raupo buildings. A very wet and muddy job!
