Already planted and emerging from the soil into the spring sunshine are:
Broad beans
Broccoli
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| broad beans - planted very late in the season |
Peas
Rhubarb
Red onions
Spring onion
Mixed lettuce
Bok Choy
Silver beet
Spinach
Radish
Planted but not up yet are:
Runner beans
Beetroot
Pumpkin (to be re-planted in some waste / weedy area)
And, at home - on my 3rd floor balcony - I have chilli peppers growing, two of which will be taken up to the allotment in a week or two.
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| Red Zone rhubarb from Christchurch |
On my still-to-plant-list are:
Jerusalem artichoke
Capsicum
Carrots
Basil
Coriander
It will be interesting to see how these plants grow in Wellington ... much wetter and windier conditions than I’ve gardened in before – although I did have gardens in Tokoroa and Mangapehi many years ago and was always pretty successful despite the conditions there – my garden was always a good month behind my fathers in Christchurch. People often assume it gets warmer and warmer as you go north in New Zealand, not so. So much depends on how close to the coast and how high above sea-level.
Wellington has the same annual average temperature as Christchurch – however, the summers are cooler and winters are warmer in Wellington.
I will miss the clear blue skies and high temperatures of Christchurch (and even the hot dry nor’wester) but I won’t miss the ‘beasterly easterly’ and the sunny, crisp and clear days that followed a frost.
I enjoy the warmer winters already: the difference between night and day temperatures is not as pronounced in Wellington and I have rarely had to have a heater on this winter!
