HOUS - Herbs Of Unusual Size

Parsley - around three foot tall and just starting to go to seed. The Auckland winters evidently suit it.


Ever wanted to know what a four-and-a-half foot tall out-of-control rosemary bush in full flower looked like? Now you do.

Spring strawberries

It's spring (well, pretty much, winter and spring came early this year). The strawberry plants from last year are already flowering, a month earlier - probably a mix of the warmer temperatures and already being well-established.

There are four Camarosa in the square planter - two are the originals and two are runner babies. There are four surviving Pajaro in the long planter, all originals so very thick and sturdy. Over in the main garden, there's one original plant (don't ask me which type) and at least a dozen of her runner babies that are all established and thriving well.

Today I removed a snail colony from the Pajaros, along with the odd snail from the Camarosas, and gave the two planter boxes a feed using liquid tomato fertiliser. The only strawberry food I've seen for sale clearly isn't organic so I didn't want to feed them that. Apparently tomato fertilizer is a good substitute, and I already have an organic one!

Pea free

No sign of any germination as yet on the pea front. Given the size of the peas planted, I imagine any sprouting should be fairly sturdy and easy to spot! I did note that the beatifully even soil now looks suspiciously cat-raked though.

Pea

Pisum sativum, Wando Select from Kings Seeds (an English heirloom pea suitable for fresh use or freezing)

Peas are a cool season crop, so in Auckland should be sown from autumn to spring (late spring is probably too late). Direct sow generously at around 4cm deep, and thin out later to around 12 cm apart. You can presoak the seeds for 4 hours before sowing. Peas take 7 to 10 days to germinate (but sometimes as long as 4 weeks), and need watering at sowing, flowering and as the pods swell. Sow successively and pick pods regularly to encourage more growth.

Peas are a climbing crop and can grow up to 2m high (although mine apparently only get to 45cm or so) so they need support - a frame out of bamboo stakes is a good idea. I'm sowing mine in a small bed (prob 50 cm by 30cm) in the back corner of our garden. It's too small for stakes as it's fenced on two sides so I'm planning to tie several layers of string across the diagonal to give the plants something extra to cling to.

I've sown some this morning, and if they don't germinate another batch can be sown in a month's time when it'll be a bit warmer.