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Dig deep<br />
There’s a long weekend this month ... you’ve<br />
plenty of time to get into the garden. Enjoy!<br />
After digging<br />
up the veggie<br />
patch, treat your<br />
hands with<br />
this gloriously<br />
fragranced<br />
Longmarket Soap<br />
Company Garden<br />
Flowers Hand & Nail<br />
Cream ... it’s got shea<br />
butter for added<br />
hydration oomph. R69.95<br />
from Woolworths<br />
Garden tasks for <strong>April</strong><br />
• Plant Winter and Spring flowers like pansies, poppies, primulas,<br />
calendula and snapdragons for a bright and cheerful garden that keeps<br />
the Winter blues away. • Namaqualand daisies, alyssum, lobelia, Virginian<br />
stocks, and the winter scatter pack mixes are best sown from seed. •<br />
Wait until after Easter to plant out Spring flowering bulbs. • Give shrubs<br />
and perennials a last application of fertiliser before Winter and water<br />
Camellias, Azaleas and Hellebores regularly so that they set good buds<br />
for Spring. • This is the last month to feed the lawn before Winter. Use<br />
a lawn fertiliser or a general fertiliser like 5:1:5 or 3:1:5. • In the veggie<br />
garden, sow broad beans, beetroot, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, leeks,<br />
peas, Asian vegetables such as Pak choi or Tatsoi, parsnips, spinach<br />
and Swiss chard, spring onions, turnips, and radishes.<br />
Veggie of the month<br />
How about trying something different this Winter.<br />
Parsnips ‘White Gem’ (from Kirchhoffs) may look like<br />
rather chunky, whitish carrots but they are much<br />
sweeter. If sown this month they will be ready for<br />
harvesting in August. They make a delicious addition to<br />
stews and as a roasted vegetable.<br />
To grow: Parsnips need deep, fertile, loose soil that drains<br />
well so that the roots can grow to their customary<br />
length of 15 to 20cm. When preparing the soil, remove<br />
all stones and sticks and break down clods of soil so that<br />
soil texture is fine. A good idea is to sow radishes at the<br />
same time because radishes are quicker to germinate.<br />
They open up the soil’s surface which helps the parsnip<br />
seedlings to emerge.<br />
Harvest when the roots reach 15 to 20cm in length, gently<br />
fork them out of the ground and don’t pull them out<br />
because this damages the roots.<br />
Scrub and scrape or peel before cooking, then cook like<br />
you would carrots ... they may cook a little faster because<br />
of their higher sugar content. They combine well with<br />
Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes and potatoes, can be<br />
grated raw and used in coleslaw, and added to stews. Yum.<br />
Details: kirchhoffs.co.za/product/parsnip/<br />
<strong>April</strong> 20<strong>22</strong> Get It Magazine 27<br />
GIWR0408_026_1033755241.indd 27 20<strong>22</strong>/03/17 14:31:01
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