NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

Gardening: Plant your Christmas feast

By Meg Liptrot
Herald on Sunday·
23 Sep, 2012 05:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Sowing fruit and veges now will give you a delicious summer harvest, and save you money. Photo / Meg Liptrot

Sowing fruit and veges now will give you a delicious summer harvest, and save you money. Photo / Meg Liptrot

New spuds and strawberries spell Christmas Day for Meg Liptrot.

No one wants to think about Christmas right now, but with a bit of planning your garden will save the day and the dollars come December.

Now is the right time to start growing part of your Christmas feast, as well as food that will help provide for visiting relatives over summer.

If you don't already have a vege plot, dedicate a sunny part of your back or front yard for fruit and veges and break the ground.

Potatoes suit being planted into freshly broken ground, and they don't need perfectly prepared soil to get growing. Just ensure it's dug over and grass-free. If you get some early season potatoes in the ground in September, you will be harvesting small new potatoes in time for Christmas dinner.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Early season potato varieties include Cliffs Kidney, Swift, Jersey Benne and Rocket.

Harvest the first new potatoes (which are smaller than the main crop) when the plant starts flowering. Main crop potatoes can be harvested in March once the plant dies back, and they have better keeping qualities.

Potatoes should be planted in trenches, with only a little compost - too much of a good thing means lots of leaf growth and fewer tubers.

Dig the trench to around 20cm deep, and put the soil to one side. Place the seed potatoes around 30cm apart and just cover with soil. As the plant starts to grow, regularly mound the soil up the shoots, and the potatoes will form along the length of the stem.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

About 80 per cent of the potato crop is grown above the spot the seed potato was placed.

A foliar feed of liquid seaweed helps prevent disease and keeps the potatoes growing healthily. Remember, your potatoes shouldn't be grown on the same ground two years running, and not where other members of the solanum family, such as tomatoes, have grown before.

Rotate your vege family groups to avoid build-up of pests and disease and to ensure the soil is not being overtaxed by one crop.

A popular sweet treat at Christmas is strawberries. Plant them now in well-drained, cultivated soil and ensure the crown of the plant is above soil level. Mulch with straw to keep the developing berries off the soil and prevent fungal problems.

Discover more

Lifestyle

Gardening: Fruit of the vine

28 May 05:30 PM
Lifestyle

Gardening: Let's grow lunch

04 Jun 05:30 PM
Lifestyle

Gardening: Ripe for the picking

13 Aug 07:00 PM
Lifestyle

Gardening: Bees linked to our survival on earth

26 Aug 05:00 PM

As soon as the berries begin to blush, cover with bird net or your dessert will be snapped up. Strawberries will happily grow in pots, with the berries hanging over the sides and clear of dirt.

Each year take runners off your strawberry plants, and plant elsewhere to increase your harvest.

Plant beans, cucumbers and tomatoes in well-composted soil. If you're using shop-bought compost, you will need to give it a boost with an organic fertiliser such as blood and bone. That's why home-made compost is best. It tends to be richer and full of nutrients for your plants.

Traditionally, tomatoes are planted on Labour Weekend, but you can plant earlier if you protect the plants from frost.

Runner beans twine around vertical stakes and will often grow over 2m high, so ensure your stakes are sturdy and secure.

Poke three or four bean seeds at the base of each stake. That way the odds are in your favour, and apply eco-friendly snail bait.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

To ensure you have enough beans for Christmas Day, pick regularly in the weeks leading up to Christmas, blanch by dipping in boiling water for a few seconds, then put in freezer bags, pre-cut and ready to go.

Salad greens can be grown closer to Christmas and sown in situ for "cut and come again" harvesting. Think outside the square and make your salad festive with edible flowers tossed in.

Hot coloured and peppery flavoured nasturtium, or the milder flavours of star-shaped blue borage or purple chive pompoms, will add colourful festive appeal to your meals.

TIPS AND TRICKS

Fruit: Plums start ripening in December, just in time for your Christmas spread. Add to puddings, slice up fresh pieces on a cheese board, or give plum preserves as gifts.

Herbs: Plant sage and thyme for stuffing, and parsley or mint to serve with new potatoes.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Flowers: Freshly cut blooms and greenery add the finishing touch to your table setting.

Keep a few chickens in your backyard and make use of their eggs for Christmas dinner by:

* Whisking up a rich hollondaise sauce to serve with freshly steamed beans and new potatoes.

* Slice eggs into salad nicoise (the other ingredients include new potatoes, tomatoes and green beans).

* Make traditional custards with egg yolks, or treats such as creme caramel or creme brulee.

* Male a pavlova of your homegrown strawberries coated in a sugar and lemon syrup.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

(Use chicken manure to give compost a boost.)

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
Lifestyle

A loved one was diagnosed with dementia. Now what?

03 Jul 06:00 AM
Entertainment

Watch: Smokefreerockquest and Showquest's finals around the motu

03 Jul 06:00 AM
Entertainment

The Kiwi still teaching Aussies to wave after 30 years

03 Jul 05:31 AM

Sponsored: Get your kids involved in your reno

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
A loved one was diagnosed with dementia. Now what?

A loved one was diagnosed with dementia. Now what?

03 Jul 06:00 AM

New York Times: Families and experts share their best advice for navigating and coping.

Watch: Smokefreerockquest and Showquest's finals around the motu

Watch: Smokefreerockquest and Showquest's finals around the motu

03 Jul 06:00 AM
The Kiwi still teaching Aussies to wave after 30 years

The Kiwi still teaching Aussies to wave after 30 years

03 Jul 05:31 AM
Cassie's two-word text turned Diddy's case

Cassie's two-word text turned Diddy's case

03 Jul 04:51 AM
Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP