Seed Saving

Today Tess from Crafty Gatherer came to talk to us about seed saving – why and how we do it. We learned that 75% of the world’s seed varieties have been lost, so it's really important to preserve what we have left, to keep lots of variety and vigour in our plants. Tess showed us several ways of gathering seeds – one was soaking ‘wet’ seeds (those that come from inside fruits and veggies like pumpkins and tomatoes, where they are damp inside the fruit) and letting them ferment in water for a few days before drying them. With seeds that have dried on the plant, like flower seeds, broccoli and beans, we need to release the seeds out of their pods. One way to do this is by rubbing the pods in between our fingers, another is stamping on the dried out plants (a good way to keep fit at the same time). We then took what we’d crushed and shook it in a special layered sieve so the smaller seeds fell through the grid leaving the chaff behind. It was a really fun and engaging talk and we’re looking forward to putting lots of these techniques into practice over the coming weeks.

Thank you so much for your time, Tess!

Soaking ‘wet’ seeds.

Stomping ‘dry’ seeds.

Sieving the seeds from the chaff.

The Sun Shines at Last!

Today was Tahatai’s first garden club day where it wasn’t pouring with rain, and we made the most of it by planting up our refreshed garden boxes, filled with lovely, rich compost and garden mix generously donated by Tui.

As well as the peas we sowed a few weeks ago which are now healthy young seedlings, we planted several kinds of broccoli, kale, beetroot, onions and potatoes, and transplanted the strawberries. We also planted some nasturtium and calendula plants around the sides of the boxes. These companion plants will help our seedlings grow strongly, deterring pests as well as encouraging pollinating insects to visit our gardens when they flower.

We mulched around the newly planted seedlings to protect them and keep them warm, and watered them in using the ‘liquid gold’ fertiliser tea we made in Term 1. This was a gross mixture of horse and sheep manure, comfrey, seaweed and water. Stirring the bubbling mixture up and transferring it to the watering cans was nobody’s favourite task but our students rolled up their sleeves, held their breaths and got the job done. It’s hard to imagine that this revolting mix is actually great for our plants.

We also checked the rain gauges we made the week before the holidays, and they were all full to overflowing after all the rain from the cyclone.

Planting out broccoli seedlings.

Mixing up our fertiliser tea before diluting it and feeding it to our seedlings.

Hard at work in the sun.

Seedlings planted, fed, watered and mulched.

We Make Stinky ‘Tea’.

Today it was very wet, so once again we were based under cover. We checked on the seeds and there has been lots of germination happening. Luckily Greg our caretaker kept the seedlings out of the rain, or they’d probably have all been washed away by now.

We also got to work making some delicious ‘tea’ for our plants. We put comfrey leaves, sheep and horse manure, and seaweed into buckets, added water, stirred them up and put the lids on. These ingredients will ferment together, creating rich liquid full of nutrients that will be a feast for our seedlings.

Back in Action!

This was Tahatai Kai Growers’ first session this year, and we began by planting seeds to grow a Matariki vegetable garden. Hopefully by Matariki these seeds will have grown into big healthy plants whose produce we can harvest to make a delicious winter soup.

We also had an exciting delivery of pallets and pallets of beautiful compost and garden mix, which have been very kindly donated to us by Tui. As soon as the rain stops we can fill our planter boxes!