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20<br />
Tuesday <strong>February</strong> 28 <strong>2017</strong><br />
Gardening<br />
SELWYN TIMES<br />
Diana Noonan tells you<br />
how to pick, snap and<br />
snip the best produce<br />
from your garden this<br />
month<br />
CAPSICUM<br />
Confusion reigns where capsicum<br />
‘colours’ are concerned but the<br />
general rule is that capsicums are<br />
ready to harvest when they have<br />
turned the colour specified for<br />
the variety planted.<br />
So, if you want the sweetest,<br />
fullest-flavoured capsicum you<br />
can get your hands on, don’t<br />
pick it until it’s the colour of the<br />
vegetable on the seed packet<br />
you sowed it from or the label<br />
of the seedling you popped<br />
into the ground. And, yes, a<br />
green capsicum can be either an<br />
immature capsicum yet to change<br />
colour or a fully-mature green<br />
capsicum (if that was the colour<br />
variety you grew).<br />
On its way to being the colour<br />
you aimed to grow, the capsicum<br />
(unless it’s a strictly green variety)<br />
will generally (but not always)<br />
change from green to yellow and<br />
then to red.<br />
One thing that’s not so difficult<br />
to get your head around, however,<br />
is that the longer a capsicum<br />
stays on the plant, the sweeter it<br />
will be. Conversely, if you pick<br />
it before it’s mature it may even<br />
have an almost bitter flavour,<br />
or (in the best-case scenario)<br />
be almost tasteless. Another<br />
guideline for picking at maturity<br />
is to go by size (once again, refer<br />
to the plant label or seed packet<br />
for a guide as not all fruit is the<br />
same size on maturity).<br />
When choosing a fruit to pick,<br />
let colour and size be your main<br />
guides but also gloss and weight.<br />
Perfectly ripe capsicums have a<br />
vivid colour and their skins are<br />
glossy and never dull. Dullness<br />
indicates over-ripeness and any<br />
wrinkles in a dull skin suggest<br />
that the flesh of the fruit may<br />
even be mushy. Gently weighing<br />
the capsicum in your cupped<br />
hand to test for readiness also<br />
helps determine maturity. If<br />
perfectly mature, the capsicum<br />
should feel heavy for its size.<br />
If you do happen to pick an<br />
immature fruit, it is unlikely to<br />
mature in storage or even when<br />
placed on a sunny window ledge.<br />
Of course, any capsicum is a<br />
good capsicum where preserving<br />
is concerned, and while you may<br />
not wish to snap-freeze less-thanperfect<br />
fruits, there is no reason<br />
Colourful capsicums and beautiful<br />
POPULAR: The longer a<br />
capsicum stays on a plant,<br />
the sweeter it will be. French<br />
or ‘dwarf’ beans, as well as<br />
their climbing cousins, come<br />
in both green and purple.<br />
why they cannot be chopped<br />
into pickles and relishes, or even<br />
stuffed and baked.<br />
Perhaps the one exception to<br />
the mature harvesting guide is<br />
when you want to encourage<br />
more flowers to develop. Picking<br />
peppers before they are totally<br />
mature will encourage more<br />
flowers and therefore, eventually,<br />
more fruit, so it’s a case of deciding<br />
what’s best for your circumstances.<br />
With several plants growing, you<br />
should be able to have your cake<br />
(or in this case, capsicum), and eat<br />
it, too.<br />
When it comes to actually<br />
harvesting capsicums, use<br />
scissors and snip so that a stem<br />
remains attached to the fruit.<br />
Never tug the fruit off or you’ll<br />
damage the plant. Green peppers<br />
will store (uncut) in the fridge for<br />
one to three weeks while uncut<br />
coloured peppers will store for<br />
one to two weeks.<br />
BUSH AND CLIMBING<br />
BEANS<br />
The most popular summerharvest<br />
beans in New Zealand<br />
are the green and yellow French<br />
dwarf varieties (also known<br />
as ‘bush’ or ‘snap’ beans and<br />
sometimes to be found in purple)<br />
and climbing beans. There are a<br />
number of varieties of climbing<br />
beans, but they can be generally<br />
divided into two categories:<br />
climbing French (or ‘snap’) style<br />
and scarlet runners (a flatpodded<br />
climber bean more suited<br />
to cool climates).<br />
All bean plants will be<br />
encouraged to produce more fruit<br />
by regular picking, a practice<br />
that also thins out the pods and<br />
encourages air circulation (beans<br />
are notorious for developing<br />
fungal rot). Snap varieties should<br />
be picked when the pods are not<br />
more than 10cm long (dwarf<br />
varieties) or 20cm long (climbing<br />
varieties).<br />
Autumn<br />
Lawn Care<br />
As we head into the autumn months we can turn our focus back to the lawn. After the drier<br />
months your lawn has no doubt felt the effects of the heat and lack of rain. Autumn is a good time<br />
to sow new lawns, and repair existing ones. Here are some tips for the different tasks at hand!<br />
Preparing a new lawn<br />
You can prepare new lawns now. Ensure you<br />
have prepared your ground well, this is your<br />
base for a quality lawn so you want to get<br />
it right. Intelligro Lawn Construction Mix is<br />
ideal for preparing, and then sowing in. It is<br />
available by the half cubic metre, and you can<br />
collect it from our site or get it delivered.When<br />
it comes to choosing your seed, you need to<br />
make sure that you are selecting one that is fit<br />
for purpose. There are a number of varieties<br />
available, so make sure you ask before you<br />
purchase! Intelligro stocks Legacy Lawn Seed,<br />
which is available in both 1 and 5kg bags. See<br />
below for some more information.<br />
Fertilise Existing Lawns<br />
Striving for a lush green lawn doesn’t come easy.<br />
Continuous maintenance is required, fertilising,<br />
watering, moving, and removing weeds to name a few.<br />
Intelligro Lawn fertiliser, and slow release fertilisers<br />
are packed with essential nutrients for growth and<br />
development, greening and disease protection. Make<br />
sure you fertilise early morning, or late evening and<br />
water thoroughly afterward. If you have some patches<br />
that need repairing, we have Lawn Mix available in 20L<br />
bags too. Now is a good time to do this as well.<br />
More about Legacy Lawn Seed<br />
Legacy Lawn seed is a very popular seed due to its<br />
robust nature. The seed will produce a lush dark green<br />
lawn that is very resilient. Here are some other features:<br />
3 Low maintenance<br />
3 Most popular<br />
3 Great wear tolerance<br />
3 Great in dry conditions - drought tolerant<br />
3 Suitable for a variety of soil types<br />
Check out our website for more information about<br />
lawns!<br />
LET’S GET<br />
GardEninG<br />
INTELLIGRO<br />
OFFERS:<br />
3 Expert gardening advice<br />
3 High quality products<br />
3 South-Hort growing<br />
mixes<br />
3 VIP rewards<br />
3 Buy in-store and online<br />
3 Handy delivery service<br />
For more information,<br />
check out our website:<br />
www.igro.co.nz<br />
or visit our facebook page:<br />
www.facebook.com/igro.co.nz<br />
1394 Main South Road, RD7 Weedons<br />
www.igro.co.nz | Phone 03 347 9415
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