Anita's Garden
Volume 1, Issue 8
Nursery at Anita’s Garden
I’m open weekdays and weekend by prior appointment.
Your one stop shop for everything you need for the
garden.
Order and collect – NEW!
In a hurry? Know exactly what you want? I’ve made life
easy for you! Email me your order at
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com and collect later on!
Mail orders - NEW!
Want to purchase plants but is Anita’s Garden too far away?
I can post plants from my nursery anywhere in New Zealand!
A shoe box filled with plants sent by overnight courier (and
tracked) costs just $12 + cost for plants. Great value as my
prices are lower than garden centres, I stock interesting and
unusual varieties that aren’t available commercially and also
you will save yourself a trip to the garden centre! Email me at
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com if you wish to place an order.
10% discount for orders $50 and over
All orders $50 and above (both post and pick up) will
receive a 10% discount on the total price!
Let’s recycle!
Please return all your empty punnets, pots and
seedlings trays when you return! $2 rebate per tray.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
2 The week in retrospect at Anita’s Garden – NEW!
3 Plant nursery at Anita’s Garden
6 Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
7 Anita’s top tips for start ups: Part IV
8 Growing guide: Melons
10 Growing guide: Zinnias
Anita's Garden 1
3 November 2017
Editorial
Welcome to the eighth issue of my monthly newsletter
filled with news fresh from Anita’s Garden.
The plant nursery at Anita’s Garden is open during the
week and over the weekend. For a list of available
stock and prices, please see pages 3, 4 and 5.
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:
Webpage: http://anitasgarden.weebly.com/
Facebook: Anita’s Garden
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anitakundu
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anitakundu.nz/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anita-kundu-
850100141/
Pinterest: https://nz.pinterest.com/anitakundunz/
Snapchat: anitasgarden
Mailing List
To receive this newsletter direct to your inbox, please
email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com so I can add
you to my mailing list.
Feedback
Send your feedback, news, photos and recipes to me via
email at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com and I will feature your
letter in a future issue of Anita’s Garden newsletter.
The week in retrospect at Anita’s Garden – NEW!
A visit from the Walker family!
On Tuesday we received a visit from my friend Aimee
Walker and her lovely three children. Aimee lives on the
North Shore with her husband Dave and their kids.
Aimee and I became friends while we were at law
school. Although we stayed in touch over the years, we
hadn’t seen each other in 13 years! Aimee recently
decided to home school her kids and came to Anita’s
Garden for a day of gardening education for Mischa, 11,
Isabelle, 9 and Lucas, 2.
Aimee, Lucas, Isabelle and Mischa
After introductions, we began with a detailed tour of the
garden. The swan plants were a talking point for us.
The girls had already studied the life cycle of the
monarch butterfly and really enjoyed looking at the many
caterpillars on the plants. Another stopping point was
my patch of wildflowers. Everyone (including Lucas) was
taken aback by the number of bumble bees drawn to the
blue flowers. After our tour, we took a break for lunch,
enjoying some fresh produce from the garden.
Afterwards, the girls each planted a cherry tomato in a
container to take home and look after. We also
harvested some vegetables together – broad beans,
kale, silverbeet, leeks and celery. There was also plenty
of produce from Anita’s Garden and some plants for the
Walker family to take home, as you can see from the
photo. All in all, everyone had a wonderful day. This is
something that I would really like to continue to do in
future.
If you would like me to run a similar gardening workshop
and tour of the garden for your kids, please get in touch
with me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com.
Anita's Garden 2
Ethnic veggies coming soon!
Due to popular demand, I’m pleased to announce
that I will be making the following ethnic veggies
available in my nursery. Stocks are limited, so I
highly recommend that you place an order to secure
what you want! Please let me know the quantity of
each item that you require. I will then let you know
when they are ready (all going well and assuming
that the seeds germinate nicely!). ETA is approx. 3
weeks so please be patient. There is still PLENTY of
time to grow these heat loving veggies. In fact it’s a
good idea not to start them too early when
temperatures are still unstable. Late November is
perfect timing.
You can either email me your order at
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com or text me on 021
02762091. I hope to make the following available:
o Snake beans (long green)
o Okra (green and red)
o “Double beans” (Lima del Papa)
o Loki Gourd (a favourite of mine!)
o Bora beans
o Hot chillies
o Long eggplant (not many left!)
o Round eggplant (lovely varieties in stock)
o Bitter melon
o Malabar spinach ($1.50 per punnet of 6
seedlings or $8 per tray)
o Purple kohlrabi – a Kashmiri favourite
($1.50 per punnet of 6 seedlings or $8 per
tray)
o Edible luffa gourds (great for curries)
o Gem squash (a South African delight!)
I may be able to grow other ethnic veggies upon
request. Please contact me with your request and I
will see what I can do.
Walking group tours Anita’s
Garden Friday this week!
At the time of going to print, a walking group in
Papatoetoe is visiting Anita’s Garden for a guided
tour accompanied by commentary from Anita herself.
A lovely lady called Louisa Hustwick came to
purchase some passionfruit plants from me in
autumn. Afterwards, she sent me a message and
asked if she could bring her walking group to the
garden for a tour. At that time, there wasn’t much to
see in the garden, so I suggested we wait until spring
when plants started blooming again. This is what I
hope will be the first of many tours of the garden for
the season. I will do a write up about this encounter
in my next issue. To book a garden tour, please
contact me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com.
Plants for sale at Anita’s Garden
Pick up Papatoetoe. Please email me at Potted vegetables - $1.50 each
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com or text me on 021 02762091
Plants are in 10 cm pots, ready to plant into your
if you wish to purchase any plants to arrange an
garden!
appointment week days or weekend. Know exactly what
you want? I accept orders by email for you to collect o Capsicum Colour Salad Selection
later in the week. For large orders or transactions o Capsicum Early Red
over $50, I offer a 10% discount. Thank you. o Capsicum Early Wonder
o Capsicum Giant Bell
SPECIAL! Assorted veggie punnets - $1.50 each!
o Capsicum Hot Mix
Each punnet contains 6 seedlings. While they are small, o Capsicum Jingle Bells
they will grow quickly. Great value! You can mix and o Capsicum Long Italian
match to have a variety. o Capsicum Long Perennial
o Capsicum Long Sweet Red
o Frilly green lettuce (cut and come again)
o Capsicum Orange Sweetie
o Red lettuce (cut and come again)
o Capsicum Purple Beauty
o Malabar Spinach (doesn’t bolt in the heat)
o Chilli Anaheim
o Purple Kohlrabi
o Chilli Bell Shaped
o Asparagus – one year old crowns (just two
o Chilli Cayenetta
more years until you can harvest them!)
o Chilli Cayenne
o Chilli Chenzo
o Chilli Long Sweet Red
o Chilli Picante Calabrese
o Chilli Pretty and Sweet
o Chilli Sweet Banana
o Chilli Toppepo Rosso
o Cucumber Apple
o Cucumber Beth Alpha
o Cucumber Continental
o Cucumber Lebanese
Malabar spinach seedlings
o Cucumber Long Green
Trays of seedlings - $8 each o Cucumber Telegraph
o Eggplant Florence Round Purple
Contains lots and lots of seedlings. Includes a re-usable
o Eggplant Prosperosa
seedling tray (very handy to have around the garden!) or
return to me later for a $2 rebate towards your next o Eggplant Tonda Bianca
o Eggplant Violetta Lunga
purchase of a tray of seedlings from Anita’s Garden!
o Gherkins
o Frilly green and red lettuce (cut and come o Gourd Asian (Loki)
again variety) o Honeydew Melon
o Lamb’s lettuce o Kamo Kamo Kumi Kumi
o Purple kohlrabi o Luffa gourds
o Asparagus – one year old crowns (just two o Melon Aspire
more years until you can harvest them!) o Melon Inverno (Franchi)
o Silverbeet o Melon Zatta (Franchi)
o Malabar spinach o Okra green
o Leeks (Winter Giant) o Pumpkin Australian Butter
o Catgrass (ideal for cats to lie on and eat) o Pumpkin Butternut

Anita's Garden 3

.
Plants for sale at Anita’s Garden (cont from page 3)

o Pumpkin Galeux D’Eysines o Capsicum Colour Salad Selection

o Pumpkin Grey Crown o Capsicum Early Red
o Pumpkin Long Island Cheese o Capsicum Giant Bell
o Pumpkin Musquee de Provence o Capsicum Hot Mix
o Pumpkin Queensland Blue o Capsicum Jingle Bells
o Pumpkin Tonda Padana o Capsicum Long Italian
o Pumpkin Whangaparoa Crown o Capsicum Long Perennial
o Rock Melon (Italian/Franchi) o Capsicum Long Sweet Red
o Rock Melon Hale’s Best o Capsicum Purple Beauty
o Rock Melon Western Express o Capsicum Orange Sweetie (Mini)
o Spaghetti Squash o Capsicum Yellow
o Tomato Big Beef o Chilli Bell shaped
o Tomato Container Choice o Chilli Cayenne
o Tomato Costoluto o Chilli Cayenetta
o Tomato Dwarf Maja o Chilli Chenzo
o Tomato Grosse Lisse o Chilli Habanero Gambia Orange
o Tomato Henry’s Dwarf Bush o Chilli Jalapeno
o Tomato Honeybee o Chilli Long Sweet Red
o Tomato Kiwi o Chilli Pequin St Croix
o Tomato Marmande o Chilli Picante Calabrese
o Tomato Moneymaker o Chilli Sweet Banana
o Tomato Patio o Chilli Toppepo Rosso
o Tomato Principe Borghese o Eggplant Black Beauty
o Tomato Red Cherry o Eggplant Florence Round Purple
o Tomato Small Fry o Eggplant Prosperosa
o Tomato Tangela o Eggplant Tonda Bianca
o Tomato Tommy Toe o Eggplant Tsakoniki
o Tomato Windowbox Red o Eggplant White Star
o Watermelon Candy Red o Spinach New Zealand
o Watermelon Country Sweet o Tomato Big Beef
o Watermelon Golden Midget o Tomato Black Zebra
o Watermelon Sugar Baby o Tomato Bloody Butcher
o Watermelon Sweet As o Tomato Costoluto
o Zucchini Amanda (green) o Tomato Grosse Lisse
o Zucchini Fiorentino o Tomato Heirloom Mix
o Zucchini Mixed o Tomato Henry’s Dwarf Bush
o Zucchini Nero di Milano (dark green) o Tomato Honeybee
o Zucchini Partenon (green) o Tomato Kiwi
o Zucchini Solar Flare (yellow) o Tomato Marmande
o Tomato Moneymaker
Veggie punnets - $2 each
o Tomato Mortgage Lifter
Each punnet contains 6 seedlings. While they are small, o Tomato NZ Heritage Mix
they will grow quickly. Great value! Mix and match. o Tomato Olga’s Golden Chicken

o Capsicum Californian Early Wonder

Anita's Garden 4
Plants for sale at Anita’s Garden (cont from page 4)
o Tomato Orange Beefsteak
o Tomato Patio
o Tomato Principe Borghese
o Tomato Red Cherry
o Tomato Tangela
o Tomato Tommy Toe

NEW! Flower punnets - $2 each

Each punnet contains 6 seedlings. While they are Zucchini seedlings

small, they will grow quickly. Great value!

o Dahlia Sunny Reggae (orange, med height)

o Marigolds African Ivory (tall cream flowers)
o Marigolds French Vanilla
o Marigolds Strawberry Blonde
o Marigolds Sugar and Spice (mix of orange,
yellow and white marigolds)

Tomato seedlings

Kohlrabi seedlings

Pumpkin seedlings

Silverbeet seedlings
Eggplant seedlings

Anita's Garden 5
Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
1. Sow snake beans
Every summer, I grow snake beans. These
subtropical plants produce extremely long, thin
green beans that are perfect for making Thai fish
cakes. Yum! They need really hot weather in
order to thrive. Plants will be available for sale in
my nursery in approximately three weeks but stock
is limited. To request plants, please text me on 021
02762091 or you can email me at
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com.
2. Sow okra
I love okra. Like snake beans, okra thrive in hot
weather but it is possible to grow it successfully in
Auckland. I found that I’ve had better luck growing
okra in black containers. Okra comes in green and
burgundy. Last year, I grew the varieties Emerald
Green and Burgundy (both from Egmont Seeds)
with great success. Seedlings are available in my
plant nursery but stock is very limited. To request
seedlings, please text me on 021 02762091. If you
miss out this time around, please don’t worry. I’m
sowing more seed and hope to make more plants
available soon.
Okra in flower
Anita's Garden 6
3. Sow gourds
Gourds are extremely versatile in cooking and make
a wonderful addition to curries. They also store very
well. This year, I’m growing a long Asian gourd. I
have just three Loki gourds in stock at the moment.
To request plants, please text me on 021 02762091
or email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com. First
come, first served. Don’t worry if you miss out this
time around. I am sowing more seed soon and hope
to make further plants available in approximately 3
weeks.
I didn’t write a specific growing guide for gourds, but
the information you need to grow them successfully
is contained in my growing guide for pumpkins and
squash, which you can read here.
4. Sow dwarf and tall climbing beans
Now is the perfect time to sow dwarf and climbing beans.
Tall beans generally require some support, while dwarf
beans can grow quite happily unstaked. For a continuous
supply all summer, it’s a good idea to plant a mix of dwarf
and tall beans. Dwarf varieties tend to mature much more
quickly, whereas tall varieties will take longer to fruit but
crop for a more extended period of time.
I will be making a variety of beans available in my plant
nursery in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out in my
newsletters, Facebook page and on Neighbourly as to
when they become available.
For more information about growing beans, you can read
my blog post here.
5. Sow and plant gem squash
This small variety of squash hails from South Africa. My
mother comes from Johannesburg and asked me to grow
them for her a few summers ago and since then, we
became hooked. Gem squash are round and dark green.
In summer, you sometimes see them at Countdown for
around $2.50 each. They can be picked young and
tender, or grown to maturity and stored over winter. We
prefer harvesting them young and enjoy them steamed
with butter, salt and pepper. Why not try something new
and grow your own this year? They are very easy to grow
and the vines are extremely productive. They are often
used as a baby’s first food as they are extremely easy to
digest.
The information you need to grow them successfully is
contained in my growing guide for pumpkins and squash,
which you can read here.
I have currently sold out of stock but hope to make more
plants available soon. To order plants, please contact me
at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com or text me on 021 02762091.
Anita’s top tips for start ups - Part IV
Mystified about how to set up and run a business? Join the
club! In this series of blog posts, I will discuss my top tips for
start ups. This is the fourth blog in a series of posts on this
subject. In Part I of my top tips for start ups, I covered the
subject of money. In Part II of this series, I outlined 10
further principles regarding creating and running a business.
In Part III of this series, I outlined another 10 key principles
related to start ups. I will keep this post a bit more brief.
After reflecting on the issue further, I’d like to share five
further tips for start ups.
1. Use your common sense
In the day-to-day running of a business, you need to use your
common sense. An issue recently arose where a person
posted negative feedback on my Facebook page regarding a
product which I was reviewing. I contacted the businesses
involved and mentioned the comment that had been made in
respect of the product. While I hated to be the bearer of bad
news, I don’t think I would be doing my job of being a brand
ambassador properly if I didn’t draw it to their attention.
Sometimes you need to use your common sense in dealing
with delicate situations such as this. You don’t learn
everything at business school.
2. It’s fine to do things from first principles
As I have mentioned in a previous post, I don’t have a
Commerce degree or an MBA. I also haven’t read a single
book on how to run a business, even though there is a lot of
literature on the subject. It’s fine to do things from first
principles. Don’t worry about different theories, concepts and
big words. Break everything down and think things through
for yourself. Learn from the bottom up, rather than the top
down. While I was a university student, I held a few part-time
positions in retail, including at a pharmacy and a clothing
store. It taught me so much about how a business functions
and I’m implementing a lot of that knowledge in my own start
up. Don’t worry if you don’t have an MBA from Harvard.
Learn from your life experience like me.
3. Have role models
If you’re thinking of creating a start up, it’s a good idea to
have other entrepreneurs that you look up to for advice,
ideas and inspiration (which is my slogan for Anita’s
Garden). I personally admire Elon Musk for his creative
streak and sheer ingenuity
4. Don’t worry if you don’t know all the answers
Like me, you might find yourself pondering “is this item an
asset or an expense?” It’s okay if you’re not sure of the
answers to these thorny questions. A friend from law school
once told me that the one thing he really admires about me is
that while I don’t have all the answers, I’m not afraid to ask
the questions. Remember that things aren’t usually black
Anita's Garden 7
and white. Try to come up with your own conclusion
based on your analysis and reasoning.
5. Be open-minded
Recently, I had two people approach me asking if I
wanted to become a sales consultant for Arbonne, a
cosmetics company based on a multi-level marketing
model (formerly known as network marketing). While I
decided it wasn’t for me, especially since I have so
much on my plate with my start up Anita’s Garden, I
did learn a few interesting things about business
models along the way. This information might be
valuable when considering how to structure my
business in future.
Anita’s Garden
Organic urban homestead in Manukau, Auckland
Anita’s Garden is a not-for-profit enterprise
aimed to educate locals about how they can grow
their own food in order to improve their health
and reduce grocery bills.
It’s possible to be largely self-sufficient, even if
you live in the city. Let me show you how!
I offer the following services to the public:
o Consulting on garden design and
development
o Plant nursery
o Workshops
o Kids programmes
o Education for home-schooled children
o Talks on a range of gardening topics
o Tours of the garden
Anita’s Garden is open 7 days a week by prior
appointment only.
For all enquiries, please contact Anita directly
Email: anitakundu.nz@gmail.com
Mobile: 021 02762091
Thank you for your support.
Anita Kundu
Growing Guide: Melons
Homegrown rock melon and watermelon from our garden
last summer
Nothing beats biting into a slice of juicy, sweet watermelon
on a hot summer’s day. Our melons last summer had so
much flavour and they were so delicious. There is simply
no comparison with store bought melons.
Melons can be a bit tricky to grow. They do require a bit
more care than other plants in the summer garden but it is
completely worth spending the extra time on them. It is
entirely possible to grow melons successfully. You can
expect to harvest your own fresh home grown melons
towards the end of the summer in February and March.
Last year I was successful in growing watermelon, rock
melon and honeydew melon for the first time after
successive years of failure. A friend of mine, Kylie
Stringer, is a seasoned gardener and is an expert in
growing melons. Kylie lives in Motueka, which is about an
hour from Nelson, at the top of New Zealand’s South
Island. Last spring, Kylie took pity on me and gave me
lots of great advice on growing melons so I could also
succeed like her. I’d love to pass on her tips to other
keen gardeners so they can also grow melons
successfully this summer. I hope we have a glut of
melons again. It’s a nice problem to have!
Melons can be planted outdoors in November, but don’t be
in a rush to do so. There is often a dramatic difference
between day and night time temperatures at this time of
the year and the weather can still be quite temperamental.
It’s therefore a good idea to wait until the second week of
November to plant melon seedlings into your garden.
Sowing melons from seed
I wanted to write a guide to growing melons now because
you can start sowing melons under cover from seed.
Anita's Garden 8
It’s really easy to grow melons from seed and it allows
you to grow unusual varieties which aren’t found in
garden centres. It takes about six to eight weeks from
the time of the germination of a melon seed to produce a
plant that is large enough to transplant outside.
Melons can be started from seed indoors in November
or even earlier if you live in a more temperate zone and
have a hot house to protect them from the cold. Melon
seeds need warmth in order to germinate. I germinate
seeds in punnets or egg cartons filled with seed raising
mix from Gardn Gro (http://gardngro.co.nz/). I like Gardn
Gro’s seed raising mix as it is very fine in texture,
enabling seeds to push through the mixture easily as
they rise to the surface. I place the punnets and egg
cartons inside plastic incubators which you can purchase
from garden centres. I then place the incubators on a
heat pad indoors and spray plants with water once daily
or twice if the seed raising mixture is very dry. If you
don’t have a heat pad you can also use your hot water
cupboard which will also provide seedlings with a warm
environment so they can germinate successfully.
How to care for melon seedlings
For new gardeners, those who don’t wish to start melon
seedlings from seed or if you’ve simply left it too late,
melon plants are available for sale in nurseries from
around mid-October onwards. Palmers stock a great
range of melon seedlings. Awapuni sell Sugar Baby
Watermelon seedlings and deliver direct to your door.
Delivery is free if you order 7 bundles or more. I also
stock a variety of melon seedlings in my nursery.
See pages 3 and 4 of this newsletter for varieties that
are available. Potted melon plants are just $1.50
each!
Take care to keep plants undercover until about the third
week of October as melons are frost sensitive. The
weather can be temperamental in spring and the nights
are often still quite cool. From then on, start “hardening
them off”. This is the process of exposing plants to the
outdoors incrementally, for example, for two hours in the
middle of the day for the first week, increasing to four
hours per day for the next week. Continue to bring the
plants indoors at night. By the third week of October, it
should be safe to leave plants outdoors overnight. Don’t
rush to plant your melon seedlings outdoors. To be on
the safe side, it’s best to wait until the second week of
November or so, until temperatures stabilise.
Melon varieties
There are three main types of melons: watermelon, rock
melon and honeydew melon.
Growing Guide: Melons (cont from page 8)
Popular watermelon varieties that perform well in New
Zealand include Sugar Baby (Franchi Seeds and Egmont
Seeds), Sugar Belle F1 (Egmont Seeds), Crimson Sweet
(Egmont Seeds) and Charleston Grey (Egmont Seeds). In
places where summers are short, it’s advisable to plant
watermelon varieties that mature early, such as Sugar
Baby and Sugar Belle F1.
The most popular rock melon grown in New Zealand is the
reliable variety Hale’s Best (Egmont Seeds). Last summer
I grew the variety Retato Degli Ortolani from Franchi,
which performed marvellously well. The flesh was orange
and deliciously sweet.
There is only one variety of honeydew melon on the
market in New Zealand. It is a standard sweet green
melon and is available through Egmont Seeds.
Bored with growing traditional melon varieties? Why not
try growing something a bit different this summer. This
season, I’m growing Giallo da Inverno (Franchi Seeds),
which is a late melon with yellow skin and white sweet
flesh. I’m going to give Zatta (Franchi Seeds) another try
this year, having failed to grow it successfully last summer.
Zatta is not the most beautiful melon but is said to be
unbelievably good. Zatta has green skin with scales, but
great tasting orange flesh. I’m also sowing Banana Melon.
As the name suggests, this variety has banana-shaped
fruit with smooth yellow skin and sweet, spicy salmon
flesh. Kylie kindly gave me some seeds from her own
prolific harvest a few years ago, which I’m keen to grow in
my own garden this season.
To order seeds from the Egmont Seeds range, visit
http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/.
To find stockists for Franchi Seeds or to order Franchi
seeds directly from the New Zealand distributor Italian
Seeds Pronto owned by Gillian Hurley-Gordon, visit
http://www.italianseedspronto.co.nz/.
How to care for melon plants
Melons need at least 6 hours of sunshine per day, so be
sure to plant seedlings in the sunniest spot in your garden.
Before planting melon 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.
I highly recommend Gardn Gro’s Wonder Nuggets, which
are 100% organic and function as an excellent fertiliser:
http://gardngro.co.nz/shop/Fertilisers/Wonder+Nuggets+8k
g.html. Rake the ground so that it is nice and level.
Anita's Garden 9
Once you are satisfied that the ground has been
adequately prepared, lay down black plastic over the
entire area. You may need to cut the roll to fit the shape
of the area where you intend growing your melons.
Place a heavy object such as tiles or bricks in the
corners of the black plastic to prevent it from flying away.
The reason for planting melon seedlings through the
black plastic is to radiate the sun and conserve warmth,
as the ground can still be quite cool in November. I used
black plastic for my melon patch for the first time last
year at Kylie’s recommendation and it made the world of
difference. When you’re ready to plant your seedlings,
simply cut a hole through the black plastic where you
intend to plant the melon. Dig a hole for each plant deep
enough so that the roots of the seedling can be
completely buried. Add some fertiliser to each plant’s
hole at the time of planting to give your melons a strong
start to life. Any fertiliser which is high in potassium, for
example tomato fertiliser, will do. Mix the fertiliser into
the soil in each plant’s hole prior to planting. Melons
need quite a bit of space as they tend to creep once they
start growing. Therefore, space seedlings approximately
1 metre apart.
Be sure to water plants every day, preferably early in the
morning or in the evening. In November and December,
plants are in their most active growing phase. Try not to
get too much water on the leaves, otherwise your plants
may develop powdery mildew. Liquid feed melons
weekly to encourage the growth of healthy leaves and
the formation of flowers, which will develop into fruit after
they have been pollinated.
Pollination of melons
Melons need to be pollinated in order to develop fruit.
As the flowers on melon plants are so small, bees often
miss them. By hand pollinating your melon plants, you
can increase the potential yield of fruit.
Each melon contains both male and female flowers.
The way to tell the difference between the two is that
female flowers will have formed a very tiny melon
underneath. However, this won’t grow into a proper
melon unless it is pollinated. Although you can use a
paint brush, the easiest way to pollinate melons is simply
by hand. Carefully pull off the male flower from a melon
plant and remove the petals. It helps if you remove the
male flower so that it has a bit of a stem where it was
attached to the melon plant. Make sure you do not pull
off any female flowers by accident. You will notice that
the stamen, or inner part of the male flower, will contain
pollen. Carefully insert the stamen on the male flower
into the inner part of the female flower, which is called
the stigma. Rub the stamen onto the stigma of the
female flower.
Growing Guide: Melons Growing Guide: Zinnias
(Cont from page 9)
Each melon contains both male and female flowers. The
way to tell the difference between the two is that female
flowers will have formed a very tiny melon underneath.
However, this won’t grow into a proper melon unless it is
pollinated. Although you can use a paint brush, the
easiest way to pollinate melons is simply by hand.
Carefully pull off the male flower from a melon plant and
remove the petals. It helps if you remove the male flower
so that it has a bit of a stem where it was attached to the
melon plant. Make sure you do not pull off any female
flowers by accident. You will notice that the stamen, or
inner part of the male flower, will contain pollen. Carefully
insert the stamen on the male flower into the inner part of
the female flower, which is called the stigma. Rub the
stamen onto the stigma of the female flower. Remember
that watermelon, rock melon and honeydew melon are
different species of melons. Therefore, you can only
pollinate a watermelon with another watermelon, a rock Zinnias in the garden last summer
melon with another rock melon and a honeydew melon
with another honeydew melon. For best results, hand Zinnias are among my favourite summer flowers and
pollinate melons every day. I find that it’s best to do this always feature prominently in our summer garden.
in the morning, as ants will eat the pollen on male flowers
They are very easy to grow and are a great way to
during the day.
attract bees and butterflies to the garden.
As melons develop, pop an old lid, saucer or plate
underneath so the fruit doesn’t come into direct contact I normally sow zinnia seeds from early November
with the ground and cause the melon to rot. onwards, when the risk of frosts has well and truly
passed but the ground is at the same time sufficiently
Harvesting your melons moist to aid germination. In saying that, it does
depend on where you live. New Zealand’s climate
It can take what seems like forever for melons to be ready varies dramatically from region to region and I do have
for picking but be patient! Melons need a lot of sunshine to remember that not all of my audience lives in
in order to grow and ripen. Melons are ready to be Auckland or even New Zealand for that matter. My
harvested when the stalk attaching the melon to the plant personal gardening experiences are limited to our
has turned brown. They should slip away easily from the urban homestead in the Auckland region, so please
vine by hand. If you need to cut them off, it’s a sign that take this into account when considering my advice.
they’re not yet ready to be harvested. Another way to tell On the same token, what grows well in my
if a melon is ripe is to knock on the melon. If the sound is environment may not necessarily thrive in your own
hollow, it’s a sign that the melon is ready for picking. Got microclimate. So please don’t blame me if things go
a glut of melons that you can’t get through all at once? wrong and varieties I’ve recommended don’t grow well
Melons can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 weeks prior to in your garden!
consumption.
Sowing zinnias from seed
Click here to read this article in my blog.
It’s really easy to grow zinnias from seed and it allows
Gardening Questions and Answers you to grow unusual varieties which aren’t found in
garden centres. It takes about 90 days until maturity,
We are taking a break from our Gardening Questions and usually around 70 or so days in the case of dwarf
Answers column as we enter the busiest time of the varieties.
gardening calendar. I’ve been flat out preparing growing
guides to help give everyone the information they need in For the best results, sow zinnias seeds directly where
order to have a great growing season! you want to grow them. Over the years, I have tried
raising zinnias in punnets for transplanting later, but I
If you do have a gardening question, please contact me at found that germination rates were very low. If you’ve
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com and I will feature the response left it too late or don’t want to start them from seed,
in a future issue of Anita’s Garden newsletter.

Anita's Garden 10
Growing Guide: Zinnias
(cont from page 10)
look out for zinnia plants in garden centres from October
onwards. You can try your local Palmers store. Awapuni
also sell a range of zinnia seedlings and deliver direct to
your door. Delivery is free if you order seven bundles or
more.
Zinnia varieties
If you’re planning to grow zinnias from seed, you’ll find
that they come in an impressive array of colours, sizes
and heights. Zinnias come in red, orange, yellow, light
pink, cherry pink, peach, white, lime green and purple.
Zinnias are either dwarf, medium or tall in height. There
are some fantastic varieties of zinnia seeds on the
market. Popular dwarf varieties include Fairyland Mix F1
(Egmont Seeds) and Profusion Mix (Egmont Seeds). The
Zahara range produces lovely medium sized flowers. Try
growing Zahara Double Raspberry Ripple, Zahara
Raspberry Lemonade Mix and Zahara Yellow (all from
Egmont Seeds). For tall zinnias, you can’t go past Queen
Lime (Egmont Seeds). To order seeds from the very
extensive Egmont Seeds range, visit
http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/.
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How to care for zinnia plants

Zinnias need at least 6 hours of sunshine per day, so be

sure to sow seeds in the sunniest spot in your garden.
Before sowing zinnia seeds, 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. I highly recommend Gardn Gro’s Wonder
Nuggets, which are 100% organic and function as an
excellent fertiliser. Rake the ground so that it is nice and
level before sowing and covering the seeds. Be sure to
water plants every day, preferably early in the morning or
in the evening. Liquid feed zinnias weekly to encourage
the growth of healthy leaves and the formation of flowers.

Zinnias are an annual which means that they will grow,

set seed and die after one growing season. You will need
to re-sow zinnia seeds for next year as in my experience
they do not self-seed readily unlike many other annuals.
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newsletter and for all enquiries, please
Have a great weekend! contact me at
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com
Happy gardening

Anita's Garden 11