Everyone's posts

Tales of the Robyn Adair potato

by shiny,

Tales of the [Robyn Adair potato](crop) "Another potato favourite is Robin Adair, It was popular in New Zealand during the 20s-40s, and was all but lost, really, and I can't remember where I got the seed from but someone gave it to me and they have taken off here. They are big potatoes. Last s...

Robyn Adair potatoes

Heirloom potatoes in "The Home Garden" from 1953

by shiny,

["The Home Garden"](http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao04TeA/c33.html) from 1953 mentions the following Riwai/[taewa](crop) In the home garden potatoes for early planting should first be set to sprout in a light, frost free airy position. Well-sprouted tubers can be plante...

Robyn Adair potatoes Te Māori taewa potatoes

Stewart Island potatoes

by shiny,

[Stewart island potato](https://www.koanga.org.nz/gardens/product/potatoes-stewart-island/) Found by Kay Baxter rowing wild in a clifff face along the shore on Stewart Island around 1990. It is an extremely beautiful variety similar in shape to Whataroa and Chatham Islands however this one has ...

Karoro potato at Koanga Institute

by shiny,

Note from Koanga institute about [huakaroro taewa potato](crop) Sent to Koanga by Rex Mundy of Kerikeri. He said it came from the Banks Peninsula, "growing there as long as the locals can remember at an isolated bay, among the boulders on the foreshore. The runners went long distances undergro...

huakaroro taewa potatoes

Note from Koanga

by shiny,

Growing notes for: [huakaroro taewa potato](crop) 2012 - Medium height, strong top growth but very very crinkly leaves, and some yellow blotching average weight 1kg 2013 - More even line, but poor yield. 201...

huakaroro taewa potatoes

New action buttons

by shiny,

There are five new buttons on the top of every page in Growstuff this week. They're the five most useful actions for someone tracking their garden. "My Gardens" is where you can see what's going on in your garden, and for perennial crops, you'll see how many days to harvest, and a progress bar...

Farmbot are cool - and their icons are too

by shiny,

This week I met with Rory who is the founder of FarmBot. He's offered me their CC-0 licensed icons they created. These are a dataset for their OpenFarm Project (so they're considered data, not code, so isn't in git) The icons are for a crop. e.g. one for corn, one for tomatoes They look usefu...

puppy

by shiny,

we have a puppy. She's gorgeous but she's also destroying my garden. This year I think i won't be planting out a garden, because i know she'll dig it up.

How to save seeds

by shiny,

[Bean](crop)s, [pea](crop)s and [corn](crop): remove husks and allow seeds to dry out – this may take a couple of weeks, then remove casings and store. [Pumpkin](crop)s and [melon](crop)s: seeds need to be washed and set aside to dry for a week or so before storage. [Lettuce](crop), [celery...

peas lettuces melons pumpkins corn beans capsica zucchini tomatoes cucumbers radicchio onions leeks carrots parsnips celery

Indigenous plants

by shiny,

I've been growing several indigenous plants recently. Theres a [miro](crop) tree that will eventually have berries. I've added [karaka](crop) [tawa](crop), and [hīnau](crop) to the growstuff database too, as these were (and are) food sources for the people living here for centuries. Also [kūmara...

harakekes kawakawa flax kūmara hīnau tawa miro New Zealand spinach

Preparing for winter

by shiny,

I'm going to attempt to grow [potato](crop) over winter. To prepare I'm going to do a full garden bed of [mustard](crop) and then dig the greens into the soil. Add compost and blood and bone. I've never attempted potato over winter. It can get very wet here, and in August it drops below 0C for a ...

potatoes carrots parsnips mustard

There's a storm coming..

by shiny,

Cyclone Gita is due here on Tuesday. I'm gonna need to bring in the tomato stakes and other items that might turn into projectiles.