Mar 24 - Jhb South East
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Look what we found for the little gardeners ... MyEcoSprout Mixed Loose Leaf<br />
Lettuce. Inside, you will find an A6 coloring-in card, 20 mixed loose-leaf lettuce<br />
seeds and the collectable seed chart for R38. Details: myecosprout.com<br />
Veggie of the month<br />
Want to grow your own lettuce? This<br />
is the month to start sowing this<br />
cool season salad veggie. Loose-leaf<br />
lettuce is the easiest to grow and the<br />
quickest to harvest. Why not plant a<br />
mix of red and green-leaved lettuce<br />
like Red Sails (RAW seed) which has<br />
bright red tips, shading into light<br />
maroon and deepening into green<br />
toward the base. The leaves are soft<br />
and have a buttery flavour. It can be<br />
picked at baby- leaf stage, as larger<br />
individual leaves or as a full-size<br />
lettuce.<br />
Sow into seedling trays because the<br />
seed is very fine and easy to waste<br />
if sown in situ. Once the seedlings<br />
are big enough to handle (about<br />
10cm high) they can be transplanted,<br />
spaced 30cm apart.<br />
All lettuce needs is full sun, fertile soil,<br />
and watering at least once or twice a<br />
week because it has shallow roots that<br />
dry out quickly. Protect plants from<br />
the cold (even mild frost) with frost<br />
cloth. Details: www.rawliving.co.za<br />
Garden tasks for <strong>Mar</strong>ch<br />
• Plant autumn flowering perennials<br />
like rudbeckia, gaillardia, asters,<br />
argyranthemum, and osteospermum.<br />
• Towards the end of <strong>Mar</strong>ch<br />
sow colourful winter flowering<br />
Namaqualand daisies, calendula,<br />
Iceland poppies and Shirley poppies.<br />
For fragrance there are sweet peas,<br />
Virginian stocks, alyssum and nemesia.<br />
• Divide perennials like agapanthus,<br />
arum lilies, summer flowering red hot<br />
pokers and day lilies that have become<br />
too crowded. Prepare the soil well, with<br />
lots of compost, before replanting.<br />
• To keep your lawn green during<br />
winter (in frost free areas), fertilise this<br />
month with 5:1:5 and water regularly.<br />
• Start harvesting and preserving<br />
your herbs for winter. Aromatic herbs<br />
like oregano, marjoram, thyme, sage,<br />
bay, and rosemary dry well and keep<br />
their flavour.<br />
• Water once a week and give the<br />
garden a last application of 5:1:5<br />
fertilizer to keep the garden going<br />
through winter. Water well after<br />
applying the fertilizer.<br />
<strong>Mar</strong>ch 20<strong>24</strong> Get It Joburg <strong>South</strong> • Alberton • Bedfordview • Greenstone • Modderfontein 25<br />
GIS0308_0<strong>24</strong>_754268972.indd 25 20<strong>24</strong>/02/15 09:53:07
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