Anita's Garden
Volume 1, Issue 2
It’s October…
We are now well into spring. The days are now longer
thanks to the start of daylight saving last month.
Temperatures are also becoming noticeably warmer.
This means more time outdoors in the garden in the
evenings.
October is a busy time for gardeners, as we start to
prepare for planting the spring and summer garden.
See page 2 for a comprehensive list of what to sow and
do in the garden this month.
While summer is getting closer, don’t be in a rush to
plant heat-loving veggies such as tomatoes, peppers,
eggplants, zucchini, cucumbers and pumpkins
outdoors. Traditionally, the time to plant these veggies
is Labour Weekend, which starts on 21 October but
night time temperatures can still be quite cool at this
time. To err on the side of caution, it’s maybe better to
wait another week or so before planting these veggies.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
2 What to sow and do in October
3 Being a brand ambassador
6 Growing guide: Tomatoes
8 Q & A: Composting (Part II)
October 2017
Editorial
Welcome to the second issue of my monthly newsletter
filled with news fresh from Anita’s Garden.
I’m thrilled to be running my first ever competition.
See page 2 for details on how to enter the draw for a
$30 voucher from Awapuni Nurseries.
I’m also excited to announce that I have recently
become a brand ambassador for a number of reputable
New Zealand gardening retailers. To read all about
which other businesses I am supporting, see page 3 of
this newsletter.
To stay up to date with what is happening around
Anita’s Garden and follow my journey as a new
business owner, please follow my blog:
http://anitasgarden.weebly.com/blog
For gardening advice, ideas and inspiration, check
back on my website regularly and follow me on my
social media accounts:
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Mailing List
To receive this newsletter direct to your inbox, please
send email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com so I can
add you to my mailing list.
1
What to sow and do in the garden in October
Edible garden
INDOORS
o Now is the time to sow all your favourite
cucurbits, including cucumbers, pumpkins,
zucchini, squash and melons. As night time
temperatures can still be quite cool, use a heat
pad or place your seed punnets in a warm place
like your hot water cupboard
o You can also try sowing exotic veggies such as
okra and gourds, but be sure to keep them nice
and warm indoors for at least the next six
weeks as they thrive in warmer temperatures
OUTDOORS
o Look after your tomato, chilli, capsicum and
eggplant seedlings and liquid feed weekly
o Sow carrots, parsnips, radishes and beetroot
directly into the ground
o Sow lettuce, rocket, spinach, silverbeet, celery,
leeks and spring onions in punnets for
transplanting into the ground later on
o
Sow peas and snow peas directly into the
ground as they hate being transplanted
o Plant lettuce, silverbeet, spinach, spring onions
and celery
o Sow parsley directly into the ground as it hates
being transplanted
o Sow borage directly into the ground as it has a
long root and hates being transplanted
o It’s not too late to plant seed potatoes into the
ground. Look out for quick maturing varieties
such as Rocket and Swift in order to have fresh
boiled potatoes on the table for Christmas
dinner. Alternatively, plant Rua and Agria seed
potatoes, which can be harvested after 150
days and stored for future use. NZ Bulbs have
a great range of seed potatoes for planting.
Fruit Trees
o Plant sub-tropical trees such as bananas and
avocados. Keep an eye out for the exciting
release of the avocado variety “Cleopatra”, the
first semi-dwarf avocado on the market in NZ
Flower Garden
o Sow sunflowers directly into the ground around
mid-month, when it becomes warmer
o Wait another month before sowing zinnias
outdoors as they thrive in warmer weather
o Hold off another month before planting marigolds
outdoors as day and night time temperatures can
fluctuate dramatically even in October
o Continue to plant gladioli corms
o Plant new dahlia tubers
o Plant tuberous begonias in pots and hanging
baskets
o Feed roses with a granular or slow release
fertiliser specifically designed for roses
o Spray roses with liquid copper to prevent black
spot
COMPETITION TIME! Win
with Awapuni Nurseries
The lovely folks at Awapuni Nurseries have given me a
$30 voucher to give away to one lucky gardener in New
Zealand. The voucher has no expiry date.
Awapuni offers high grade large vegetable, flower and
herb seedlings ready to plant into the garden, delivered
direct to your door. Whether you’re a new or experienced
gardener, Awapuni seedlings are a valuable addition to the
garden. Over the years, Awapuni seedlings have
functioned as fantastic instant gap fillers around Anita’s
Garden.
To be in to win:
1. LIKE my Facebook page, Anita’s Garden
2. LIKE Awapuni Nurseries’ Facebook page
3. LIKE the competition post on the Anita’s Garden
page and TAG 3 friends in a comment below
4. SHARE the competition post for a bonus entry
Closes Monday 2nd October 2017 at 5 pm. T & C: Open to
New Zealand residents only. Giveaway not associated
with Facebook.
2
Being a Brand Ambassador
I am excited to announce that I have recently become a
brand ambassador for a number of reputable New Zealand
gardening retailers. This marks a major step in my
development into what I hope to become in the future. My
dream is to transform myself into a leading New Zealand
gardening personality and educate others about how they
can grow their own food, feed their families, improve their
health and reduce their grocery bills.
The brands I am endorsing range from small homegrown
businesses such as my own to leading national gardening
retailers. While the range of products and services offered
by these different entities varies somewhat, they are linked
by a common thread. I have been a loyal customer of these
businesses ever since I started gardening just over five
years ago. The quality of their products and services are
absolutely amazing. I completely stand by these businesses
which I am eager to promote to other gardeners.
I am proud to promote the following New Zealand gardening
businesses and retailers here at Anita’s Garden. I have set
out a bit of information about each entity below, as well as a
brief explanation of why I am happy to support and promote
their products.
ITALIAN SEEDS PRONTO
Italian Seeds Pronto is the New Zealand distributor of
Franchi, a range of Italian heirloom seeds. Franchi is the
oldest family run seed company in the world. The quality
and range of their heirloom seeds are absolutely amazing,
not to mention the irresistible packaging! I highly recommend
Franchi seeds to other gardeners. Those in New Zealand
can source Franchi seeds directly from Gillian Hurley-Gordon
who owns Italian Seeds Pronto
(http://www.italianseedspronto.co.nz/) and also from selected
stockists throughout the country. Gillian is a wonderful
person who has become a close contact of mine over the
years. Those overseas can source the wonderful Franchi
range through their own local distributor online (for the UK
see Seeds of Italy’s website http://www.seedsofitaly.com/
and for the US see Seeds From Italy’s website
http://www.growitalian.com/) or find stockists in your home
country.
GARDN GRO
Gardn Gro is a small, family run business that is owned and
operated business by the lovely Merv and Treena Snell in
Papakura, South Auckland. Gardn Gro stocks a range of
quality fertilisers and growing mixes. Merv has also become
a good friend of mine over the years. I originally became
aware of Gardn Gro when our close and amazingly
generous family friend Jonelle Douglas gave me quite a
few of their products as a gift. The best thing about Gardn
Gro is that they deliver straight to your door. In summary,
Gardn Gro offers prompt delivery, very reasonable prices
and high quality products. Visit http://gardngro.co.nz/ for
more information and to place an order.
MEADOWSWEET HERBS AND FLOWERS
MeadowSweet Herbs and Flowers is a boutique nursery
situated on Auckland’s Hibiscus Coast and is owned by
my friend Minette Tonoli, who shares my passion for
plants. We met through New Zealand gardening forums on
Facebook a few years ago and from then on became firm
friends. Over the weekends, you can normally find Minette
at local farmer’s markets, where she sells a very wide
range of herb, flower and vegetable seedlings. Heirloom
tomatoes are one of her specialities. Every season,
Minette grows an incredible selection of exotic and
unusual tomato varieties. MeadowSweet Herbs and
Flowers is developing an online shopping system, so you
can order plants from Meadowsweet and have them
delivered direct to your door. Minette also holds
workshops and gives talks on various gardening topics.
Visit http://meadowsweet.co.nz/ for more information and
to get in touch with Minette.
NEW ZEALAND BULBS
NZ Bulbs is New Zealand’s largest online bulb supplier
and has been a family business for 60 years, started by
Len and Margaret Hoek in 1957. NZ Bulbs is part of
Aorangi Bulb Nurseries and is based in Manawatu. NZ
Bulbs grows more than 25 acres of bulbs throughout the
year for both bulb and cut flower production. Since I
started gardening, I have placed a bulb order with NZ
Bulbs just about every season. The garden is almost
always blooming with some of their beautiful flowers. Visit
https://www.nzbulbs.co.nz/ for more information and to
order bulbs and tubers for the spring and summer
seasons.
EGMONT SEEDS
Egmont Seeds is one of New Zealand’s largest seed
companies, supplying both commercial and home
gardeners. Wholly New Zealand owned, Egmont Seeds is
also a family business. Egmont Seeds was originally
established in 1996. John McCullough, the General
Manager and owner of the company, has been involved in
the business of seeds all his working life. Egmont Seeds
has a very broad range of vegetable, flower, herb and
3
Being a Brand Ambassador (continued from page 3)
fruit seeds. Over the years, I have been growing a variety of
vegetables and flowers from the Egmont Seeds range with
great success. To request a hard copy of their catalogue or
to shop online, please visit
http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/.
AWAPUNI NURSERIES
Awapuni Nurseries is a family owned business based in
Manawatu. In the mid-1990s, Paul and Henry Ham took
over Awapuni Nurseries from Lea and Ton Ham. Designed
with the busy gardener in mind, Awapuni offers high grade
large vegetable, flower and herb seedlings ready to plant into
the garden, delivered direct to your door. You can also find
Awapuni seedlings at selected retailers nationwide. They are
characteristically wrapped in newspaper and sold in bundles,
which is a more environmentally friendly way of packaging
plants rather than using plastic punnets. Raising plants from
seed can take time. Whether you’re a new or experienced
gardener, Awapuni seedlings are a valuable addition to the
garden. Over the years, Awapuni seedlings have functioned
as fantastic instant gap fillers around Anita’s Garden. To
shop online or find stockists, visit https://awapuni.co.nz/.
BULBS DIRECT
Bulbs Direct is a New Zealand business based in Paparoa,
Northland which grows and supplies home gardeners with
high quality flower bulbs year round. Owned by the Gravatt
family, Bulbs Direct is a tight knit, multi-generational family
business with extensive previous industry experience as
commercial bulb growers and exporters. Bulbs Direct’s
bulbs and flower growing operations are located on two other
sites in Waipu and Ruakaka. Since their launch in 2014, I
have ordered flower bulbs from Bulbs Direct each season. I
have been highly impressed with the range and quality of
their bulbs and am pleased to recommend their products to
other gardeners. To shop online, visit
http://bulbsdirect.co.nz/.
PALMERS
Palmers is a major New Zealand gardening retail chain with
branches throughout the North Island. Palmers stocks a
wide selection of plants and products to keep your garden
looking good all year round. Palmers garden centres also
include other retailers, such as cafes, florists and gift shops.
My local store is the Pakuranga branch, which I only
discovered this year. The store has a fantastic range of
plants, complemented by extremely warm customer service
from Garry, Colin, Jo and the team. I highly recommend
stopping by Café Botannix inside for lunch or a coffee. I
have quickly become a very happy customer and strongly
recommend locals in the East and South Auckland area
check out this amazing garden centre. For more
information, visit their website, http://www.palmers.co.nz/.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A BRAND AMBASSADOR?
The idea is to work alongside other businesses in the
industry so we can support and promote each other’s
products and services. I’m still exploring how this will
work in practice, but one example is where other
gardening businesses supply me with products to use at
Anita’s Garden. I then follow up by reviewing and
promoting these products and businesses through my
blog and various social media platforms. It’s a win-win
situation. Being a brand ambassador helps me to
finance an incredibly expensive hobby and stay up to
date with the latest plant and seed releases, as well as
other gardening products. In return, I promote reputable
gardening products which I use around Anita’s Garden
and support other businesses
Being a brand ambassador is not just a shameless ploy
for companies to give me free products all the time, nor
is it a means by which I ruthlessly push their products
onto other gardeners through constant advertising. I
have been a paying customer of these businesses
myself for many years now and will continue to be one.
As I’ve developed my own business, I started writing
about gardening through my blog and on my social
media accounts. I’ve wanted to try growing an even
broader range of seed varieties and use different
gardening products around the garden. I’d like to
conduct trials so I can report on which varieties and
products performed best for me. To buy such a broad
range of products is expensive. The businesses I’m
supporting have made it possible for me to try different
brands and conduct such experiments by sending me
supplies, samples and new products from time to time.
In short, being a brand ambassador makes me more
motivated to market my own business as we're all
connected. By promoting Anita's Garden, I'm essentially
expanding my audience. In doing so, I'm promoting the
businesses I'm supporting to even more people.
WHY DID I DECIDE TO BECOME A BRAND AMBASSADOR?
To become better known in gardening circles and the
broader community alike, I have become a brand
ambassador for some of my favourite New Zealand
gardening businesses. I perceive my development into a
leading New Zealand gardening personality as critical to
developing Anita’s Garden as a business.
4
Being a Brand Ambassador
(continued from page 4)

To me, being a brand ambassador makes sense in our

market as it’s a way of bringing people in the horticultural
community even closer to one another. New Zealand is a
small country with incredibly strict agricultural rules which
demand extensive and expensive tests and often the
treatment of seeds and other plant material prior to their
import. This effectively limits what agricultural material we are
allowed to import into the country. It therefore makes sense
for seed suppliers to work together and focus on supplying
New Zealand gardeners with different products, rather than
trying to undercut each other with lower prices on the same
items, which is common in other industries such as foodstuffs,
fuel and so on. It’s a way of building relationships with others
in the same industry. Over the years, I’ve found that I’ve
become very good friends with other business owners in the
horticultural industry. I feel extremely honoured that these
businesses respect me as a gardener, have entrusted me
with their brand and perceive me as able to promote their
products effectively in the marketplace.

HOW DID I BECOME A BRAND AMBASSADOR FOR THESE

BUSINESSES?

I simply took the plunge and wrote to each business, outlining

my proposal. It sounds bold but in my experience if you don’t
ask for something, you won’t get it! The worst thing someone
can say in response is no. In my email, I explained who I was
and how I felt their business would benefit from acting as their
brand ambassador. I wrote to about a dozen businesses.
Out of all the companies I approached, only one said no. I’m
still waiting to hear back from a few others so I will keep
readers updated if there are any developments in the future.
In approaching these businesses, it helped that I have
developed some useful contacts in the industry over time. As
a home gardener, I have gotten to know many of these
businesses and their staff personally over the years. I tend to
shop around a lot as in a country this small, it’s hard to source
everything I need for the garden under one roof. I am a
familiar face at every gardening centre in the South and East
Auckland region and the staff all know me personally!

WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP?

Doing business is largely about marketing. As a brand

ambassador, I plan to pass on products to my followers
through competitions. In the future, I also hope to be able to
pass on discounts from these businesses to my followers, as
a way of promoting both Anita’s Garden and these entities.

5
Growing Guide: Tomatoes
It’s hard to say what vegetable I like growing the most. It’s a
bit like choosing your favourite child. I think tomatoes would
be one of my favourite vegetables in the summer garden.
They are fairly easy to grow, relatively disease resistant and
taste great. Nothing beats the classic tomato sandwich: juicy
red tomato, perhaps with a leaf or two of lettuce and a slither
of mayonnaise between soft, fresh slices of bread. Simply
divine!
Traditionally, tomatoes can be planted outside in New
Zealand by Labour Weekend, which is a long weekend with
a public holiday falling on the Monday after the weekend.
Labour Weekend usually falls towards the end of October.
SOWING TOMATOES FROM SEED
It’s really easy to grow tomatoes from seed and it allows you
to grow unusual varieties which aren’t found in garden
centres. It takes about eight weeks from the time of the
germination of a tomato seed to produce a plant that is large
enough to transplant outside. It’s getting a bit late to start
sowing tomatoes from seed now as they need a long
growing season in order to produce fruit which ripens before
autumn. I therefore recommend skipping this step and
purchasing tomato plants in punnets or larger sized pots
from your local garden centre or online from Awapuni.
TOMATO VARIETIES
Generally speaking, varieties of tomatoes fall into a couple of
different categories: (i) “determinate” or “indeterminate”
tomatoes; and (ii) “hybrid” or “heirloom” tomatoes. You may
have heard of the terms “determinate” and “indeterminate” in
the context of tomatoes. Determinate tomatoes are also
called “bush” tomatoes. They usually grow to a compact
height. Determinate tomatoes stop growing when fruit sets
on the terminal or top bud. The crop ripens around or near
the same time (this normally occurs over a two week period).
The plant then dies. Indeterminate tomatoes are also called
“vining” tomatoes. They will grow and produce fruit until the
plant dies from frost. Indeterminate tomato varieties will
bloom and set new fruit which will ripen at the same time
during the growing season. You may have also read or
heard of the terms “heirloom” and “hybrid” tomatoes.
Heirloom seeds have been saved and handed down from
generation to generation. They will come true to type,
meaning that the off-spring will be identical to the parent
plant. You can therefore save seeds from your own plants.
Hybrid seeds are produced by crossing two different
varieties. Hybrid seeds will not necessarily come true to
type, meaning that it may not be worth saving seeds from
your plants.
A common misconception is that hybrid varieties have
been genetically modified. Be rest assured that this is
not the case. Another misconception is that hybrid
varieties are inferior to heirloom varieties because the
latter are said to have more flavour. The truth of the
matter is that modern hybrid varieties are often more
disease resistant than heirloom varieties and therefore
often perform better in the garden.
Popular varieties that perform well in New Zealand
include Beefsteak, Moneymaker, Mortgage Lifter, Grosse
Lisse, Potentate, Sweet 100 (a variety of cherry tomato)
and Red Russian. Roma is a variety which has become
popular as it is a low acid variety of tomato. You can
order these varieties online from Awapuni Nurseries and
have them delivered direct to your door. Visit
https://awapuni.co.nz/.
Last summer I grew Principe Borghese and Red Cherry
from Franchi for the first time, which performed
marvellously well and were extremely tasty. I’m also
growing the varieties Costuloto Fiorentino and San
Marzano Redorta from Franchi Seeds. To order Franchi
seeds or to find stockists, visit
http://www.italianseedspronto.co.nz/.
Bored with traditional tomato varieties? Why not try
growing something a bit different this summer. This
season, I’m sowing Kiwi and Green Sausage, which
appealed as they are both rather interesting and differ
from the appearance of conventional tomatoes. Kiwi is a
beautiful green tomato, with lime-kiwi coloured fruits that
have a great, sharp acid-sweet flavour. Like the name
suggests, Green Sausage is a variety of tomato with
sausage-shaped fruits with yellow stripes and have a
kiwi-like green flesh.
HOW TO CARE FOR TOMATO PLANTS
Tomatoes need at least 6 hours of sunshine per day, so
be sure to plant seedlings in the sunniest spot in your
garden. Before planting tomato seedlings, take the time
to prepare the bed properly so plants receive adequate
nutrition. Dig the area over that you wish to plant your
seedlings in. Mix plenty of compost and some sheep
pellets into the ground. Add some tomato fertiliser to
each plant’s hole at the time of planting to give plants a
strong start to life. For an organic alternative, try adding a
tablespoon of milk powder to each hole prior to planting.
As fruits can be heavy and weigh plants down, some
support is recommended. It is a good idea to stake and
tie tomato seedlings at the time of planting to avoid injury
to the roots of your plants later on.
6
Growing Guide: Tomatoes

I’m a huge fun of companion planting. Like people, plants

normally have neighbours in their surroundings. It’s a good
idea to plant tomatoes next to other veggies and flowers
alongside which they will grow harmoniously and which will
aid their growth. The classic companion for tomatoes is of
course basil. This herb is probably one of my favourites in
the garden. Basil complements tomatoes beautifully and
really brings out their flavour. My favourite variety is Italiano
Classico from Franchi seeds, which can also be ordered
directly through Italian Seeds Pronto,
http://www.italianseedspronto.co.nz/. Alternatively, you can
order basil seedlings soon from Awapuni. Try cutting up
tomatoes, sprinkling chopped up basil on top of them and
drizzling with olive oil, cracked black pepper and a little salt.
Divine!

Marigolds are also a great companion plant for tomatoes as

they repel insects. They look wonderful as a border or can
be mass planted. They’re also a nice flower to make your
veggie garden more colourful and beautiful. This year, I’m
excited to be growing French Vanilla from the Egmont Seeds
range (http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/). If you don’t want to
start marigolds from seed, Awapuni stock a great range of
seedlings.

Be sure to water plants generously every day, preferably

early in the morning or in the evening. In November and
December, plants are in their most active growing phase.
Liquid feed tomatoes weekly to encourage the growth of
healthy leaves and the formation of flowers, which will
develop into fruit.

As your tomato plants grow, remove the laterals. These are

the small side shoots which appear at a 90 degree angle
from the stalk. Laterals produce only leaves; no flowers or
fruit. Laterals are removed so the plant can put its energy
into the formation of fruit rather than leaf growth.

HARVESTING YOUR TOMATOES

It can take what seems like forever for green tomatoes to

ripen but be patient! They need a lot of sunshine in order to
turn red. Always remove fruit with a pair of scissors or
secateurs rather than pulling them off the plant. An ideal
accompaniment to home grown tomatoes is fresh basil.
Enjoy!

Avoid growing tomatoes in the same place the following year

to prevent diseases in the garden. It’s also a good idea to
avoid growing other vegetables in the Solanaceae family in
that area too, including potatoes, eggplants, capsicums and
chillies.

7
Questions and Answers
In this month’s issue of Questions and Answers, we will
continue to examine the topic of composting. This is the
second instalment in a three-part series which will cover
three different composting systems. Later on, we will
explore how to overcome the challenge presented by
composting eggshells and peanut shells, which can take
a long time to break down.
Q: I’m a new gardener. I would like to create a
composting system. Where do I start?
Mel, Papatoetoe, Auckland
A: Composting is a great way to recycle our waste from
nature. Compost is essential for creating rich soil and
healthy plants. Did you know that it is possible to
compost both brown and green materials?
There are three main ways you can compost your waste:
o Composting bin
o Bokashi
o Worm farm
Each system operates differently. Last month, I covered
composting bins. This month, I will focus on how the
Bokashi system works. This article was based on
information provided on the Compost Collective’s
website. For a comprehensive guide on how to Bokashi,
visit https://compostcollective.org.nz/bokashi/. For details
of how to sign up for a free composting workshop run by
the Compost Collect on behalf of the Auckland City
Council, see page 9 of this newsletter.
BOKASHI
As the name suggestions, Bokashi was developed in
Japan. In summary, it is a fermentation process that
helps break down food waste much quicker than usual.
Bokashi consists of multi-layered bins which fit inside
each other and have an air tight seal. Bokashi is an
anaerobic system. No air should get into the bins.
Bokashi should be stored in a warm place out of direct
sunlight. In mild climates, you can keep Bokashi in a
shady spot outdoors.
Unlike composting bins, Bokashi takes only green waste.
Examples include food waste and green lawn clippings.
 Dilute
Do not include any brown waste in your Bokashi. To
recap, green waste is organic material that is full of
nitrogen. Green waste is normally soft, fresh and moist.
Brown waste is organic material that is mainly carbon. It
is dry, brown and brittle and therefore takes a long time
to break down. Examples include paper, cardboard,
brown lawn clippings and autumn leaves. You can add
the following to your Bokashi: fresh fruit and vegetables,
prepared foods, cooked and uncooked meat and fish,
other food such as cheese, bread, coffee grinds and tea
bags and wilted flowers. Do not add liquids such as
milk, orange juice or oils, paper and plastic wrap and
large meat bones.
Add some “sprinkle” to your Bokashi. Sprinkle is an
inoculant made from beneficial microorganisms, a bit
like a yoghurt starter. It contains sawdust and
molasses. Sprinkle stops the Bokashi from smelling by
fermenting it like a pickle.
Keep a small food waste container in the kitchen for
your food scraps. Chop waste up into small pieces.
Drain off any excess liquid. Spread the Bokashi
sprinkle on the bottom of your Bokashi bucket. Add
food waste once or twice daily to the Bokashi bucket.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of Bokashi sprinkle per 6 cm layer
of food. Ensure you squash down the food to push out
the air as you go. This helps to get rid of the air. Close
the Bokashi bucket lid tightly after use. Drain off liquid
at least every 2 to 3 days from the bottom bucket.
When your bucket is full, close the lid and keep in a
warm place, but out of direct sunlight. Leave for about
10-14 days. Don’t forget to keep draining off the liquid.
The food waste should smell like pickles and will
develop a white mould on top. This means the system
is working well.
 During the Bokashi process food waste ferments and
often produces a juice. The amount and colour of the
liquid depends on the type of food you have put in the
bucket. Fruit and vegetables may release more liquid
while other foods may release none at all. The liquid
fertiliser can be used in the home and garden. Pour
undiluted juice directly into your toilet or down your
shower or sink drains to help keep them clean. Dilute
the liquid at a ratio of 1:100, or 2-3 tablespoons per 5
litres of water. Apply this to the soil or the base of plants
to help keep them healthy.
8
 The solid end product can be used in the compost bin
and garden. Dig a trench in your garden as deep as the
Bokashi bucket and twice as long as a Bokashi bucket
laid flat. Distribute the fermented food evenly along the
trench. Mix the food waste with the soil. Cover with at
least 50-75 mm of soil (if the soil is dry add water so
composting can take place). After 3-4 weeks your
fermented food waste will become excellent compost and
you can plant directly on top of it. If you can’t be
bothered to dig a trench or you don’t have space in your
garden, you can add the solids to your compost bin as a
“green layer”. Simply spread it out and cover with lots of
“brown” material.
Q: Why does it take such a long time for eggshells
and peanut shells to decompose? When my compost
is ready to be used, there are always lots of bits of
eggshells and peanut shells left in the compost.
Ina de Pollo, Auckland
A: Eggshells are a good source of calcium and are
therefore a valuable ingredient for homemade compost.
However, composting eggshells is difficult as they can
take a long time to break down. The solution is to grind
eggshells into a fine powder to help them break down
quickly in garden soil. Dry eggshells for a day or two and
then place into a blender or coffee grinder on high for a
few seconds. The shells will become a fine granular
powder that is perfect for adding to the soil around
tomatoes and other plants that suffer from low calcium
levels.
Peanut shells are a good source of carbon to add to
homemade compost. Just make sure that you balance
this with material that is high in nitrogen, such as food
scraps. Also, make sure that there is no salt on the
peanut shells. Often peanut shells have been salted.
These should not be added to compost because the salt
will stay in the soil and damage plants. It is best to rinse
the shells before adding them to compost. As with
eggshells, peanut shells can also take a long time to
decompose. It’s therefore a good idea to grind peanut
shells in a blender or coffee grinder before adding them
to compost.
 Dig Anita's Garden 9
 Mix
Q: We have three “old school” big brick compost bins.
The idea is that one decomposes while we fill the rest.
At the moment we just dump our lawn clippings in them
and the rest of our waste goes to the worms. Do you
think we should keep them or get something more
efficient?
Jean Mar, Sydney
A: You can have just one composting system or a
combination of any of the three different composting
systems. The main thing to remember is that you need to
add not only enough waste to your composting system(s),
but also the correct ratio of waste, in order for it to
decompose properly and turn into compost. Don’t forget that
compost bins require a combination of 30% green waste and
70% brown waste. Green waste is normally soft, fresh and
moist. Examples of green waste include food waste and
fresh green lawn clippings. Brown waste is normally dry and
brittle. It can therefore take a long time to break down.
Examples of brown waste include dry leaves, paper,
cardboard, twigs, wood chips, vacuum dust and dry grass. If
you decide to keep the compost bins, you’ll need to add
more than just the lawn clippings for them to function
effectively. If you don’t have enough waste to operate both
the worm farm and the compost bins, you have a couple of
options. You can add lawn clippings to your worm farm,
which needs a ratio of 30% green waste and 70% brown
waste. Alternatively, lawn clippings can be applied directly
around plants in the garden as mulch and are an excellent
source of nitrogen.
COMPOSTING COURSE
The Auckland City Council runs a 2 hour workshop that
offers you a basic introduction to the three different types of
composting systems covered in this column. After attending
the workshop, you will be entitled to a $40 discount voucher
which you can use towards the purchase of any of the three
composting systems covered in the course.
The workshops take place in a variety of locations and are
held regularly. For more information, visit the following
webpage: https://compostcollective.org.nz/.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Got a gardening question? Want the answer? Contact me at
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com and I will feature the response in
a future issue of Anita’s Garden newsletter.
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