Oh My Garden! Garden Hacks

GARDEN HACKS

SNAILS AND SLUGS

You’re not the only one who likes to eat from the garden. Watch out for these troublemakers around your precious harvest.

Slug pellets can harm native wildlife and pets. Here are a few safer ways to deal with these pests:

• Spread coffee or crushed egg shells around your radishes, strawberries and leafy veggies to discourage snails and slugs.

• Make a beer trap – bury a shallow container level with the top of the soil, then add beer or a nonalcoholic brew of vegemite dissolved in water (snails love it).

GROW FROM SEEDS

If you have already bought any of these fruit or veggies from the shops, try saving the seeds for your own future harvest.

How to collect and store your own veggie seeds:

• Collect seed from veggies that are fully ripe and free of pests. Try easy seeds first, like tomatoes, chillies, peas and pumpkins.

• Clean the seeds by getting rid of pods, husks and flesh.

• Spread wet seeds on a paper towel to dry.

• Store completely dry seed in a paper bag or envelope labelled with the type of seed and the date.

• Plant your seeds in the next season for that fruit or veggie.

TOP TIP: It’s important to dry the seeds properly or they will go mouldy.

DIRTY WORK

This is important: feed your soil before planting your seeds and seedlings. Vegetables get all the nutrients from the soil. In other words, healthy soil = healthy veggies.

Give your veggies a strong start

Work some rotted manure, compost, or blood and bone into the soil at the same depth as a spade and let it rest for a week or two before planting.

Live in a tropical or subtropical region? Use the leftover top of a pineapple to grow a new one. All you need is a warm, sunny spot and some patience. Your pineapple will be ready to eat in 20 to 24 months.

GROW A PINEAPPLE

1. Cut off the spiky top, make sure you remove all the flesh.

2. Let the top dry for a day or two.

3. Plant your top in a pot or somewhere in your garden.

4. Use free-draining, loose soil.5. Water about once a week – they don’t need much.

Your pineapple will grow a new fruit from the top.