What's going on in your garden (2023)?

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rascal said:
We asked my wife about canes originally about 4 ? Years ago. Shes bought 4 lots since then. We were both unaware of different types. In late winter she reports and splits some. They are half in pots half wild along concrete boundaries. They all fruit over 4 weeks in December. Nothing this year. Shes splitting some for daughter this year. Theres about 3 different types. Going by the leaves.
I'm happy I made 4 batches of jam.
Thanks for input. :)

Russ
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Fruiting in December puts them into the early summer category, so all she should be doing is cutting back the dead canes that had fruit on them the previous year.

Every time you disturb them, they have to settle again. Cut them back, split them etc and they will want a period to recover. These are the type that fruit on the previous year's canes. They don't like being disturbed (and honestly, they don't like pots at all in my experience).

Those that are in the ground will be putting up new growth now if they haven't already. Those canes are next years fruit. They are the ones to move now. Mine grow up from the root stock, in all sorts of places in the lawn. I have a rule that is basically if they are this side of the fence, they live, that side of the fence they are dug up. The that side of the fence are the stuff to dig up and give to your daughter. Or the stuff in pots and get in planted into the soil. Raspberries like to roam and don't appreciate being pot bound.

I'll try to get you a picture tomorrow. I'm off out now for the entire day. But i know I have a few canes of the first fruiting that didn't get cut back and obviously loads of the stuff that's going round for a second season of fruit in the same annual year. It means I can show you what to cut back, what to keep and what to move asap. Get them settled as soon as possible others you'll not get much next summer either. They also like a good feed. Chook manure is excellent for them.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Fruiting in December puts them into the early summer category, so all she should be doing is cutting back the dead canes that had fruit on them the previous year.

Every time you disturb them, they have to settle again. Cut them back, split them etc and they will want a period to recover. These are the type that fruit on the previous year's canes. They don't like being disturbed (and honestly, they don't like pots at all in my experience).

Those that are in the ground will be putting up new growth now if they haven't already. Those canes are next years fruit. They are the ones to move now. Mine grow up from the root stock, in all sorts of places in the lawn. I have a rule that is basically if they are this side of the fence, they live, that side of the fence they are dug up. The that side of the fence are the stuff to dig up and give to your daughter. Or the stuff in pots and get in planted into the soil. Raspberries like to roam and don't appreciate being pot bound.

I'll try to get you a picture tomorrow. I'm off out now for the entire day. But i know I have a few canes of the first fruiting that didn't get cut back and obviously loads of the stuff that's going round for a second season of fruit in the same annual year. It means I can show you what to cut back, what to keep and what to move asap. Get them settled as soon as possible others you'll not get much next summer either. They also like a good feed. Chook manure is excellent for them.
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She won't plant except side ones. Rest are pots, big pots.

Russ

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SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
I raided the tomatoes this morning

Veg plot tomatoes

Veg plot tomatoes


They are just starting to ripen finally
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So daughter was here yesterday and is in a new roomy house. She has decided she wants chooks. 3 or 4?
We get red shavers here. Do you think they would be good to get? How many would you suggest?
Any help appreciated. I'll pass on to her.
Tia.

Russ
 
rascal said:
So daughter was here yesterday and is in a new roomy house. She has decided she wants chooks. 3 or 4?
We get red shavers here. Do you think they would be good to get? How many would you suggest?
Any help appreciated. I'll pass on to her.
Tia.

Russ
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It will depend entirely on if they can roam free and free range often. They can be flighty and will try to get over the highest of fences. That's not good news if they don't have the space to let them roam. And if she likes a neat garden it isn't going to be neat for long.

A lot of what I've read about them worries me. They are a commercial cross breed, that lays large brown eggs and they lay through winter. That tells me they will be short lived and for from cancer. They are not a breed I would choose myself. I prefer heritage breeds that lay smaller numbers of eggs per year on average. It doesn't take as much out of their bodies. Commercial chooks (and this applies world round sadly) have very short intensive lives and are usually sold off dirt cheap at the age of 2 yrs or 18 months because laws say you have to sell with 75% off their laying life remaining. They usually die from ovarian cancer or liver cancer because of the demands laying every single day without a late autumn/winter/early spring break makes on their bodies.
Reports say that they have high energy needs because of the size of the eggs and that they lay 300 eggs per year on average. Again that's worrying.

I've got retired ex-commercial chooks. I've already lost 1. Roughly 20-40% if them die from cancer before they are 2½ years old.
My heritage breeds last much longer and you'll be able to get them. You'll just need to look deeper and further a field. I've a girl ending her 8th full season (so she started laying the previous season and then laid for a number of years before stopping... she's somewhere in the range of 9 years old. I've had her over 6½ years now and she was at the end of her breeding life when she came to me). I've another a year younger and another 2 years younger. Both of the younger girls still lay eggs regularly. I get maybe 3 or 4 eggs a week from each for 5 months of the year. Given that they are 7 & 8 years old, that's more than enough.

The good thing about that breed is that they are hardy which is good for your environment but they do suffer from frostbite to the comb and often the wattle as well which will need watching carefully in winter.

Reports say that they can be easy to handle but they can also be very flighty depending on what they have been cross-bred with. You'll want to know that in advance.

This article is worth reading completely.
Red Shaver Chicken: Eggs, Temperament, Size & Raising Tips

Would i get them? No. Been there, done that and it is heart wrenching watching them die so very young because they lay too many large eggs too often. And if kids are involved in the decision, then get something that won't die quite so quickly is my advice. They're are plenty of hardy hertitage breeds that lay fewer and slightly smaller eggs and hence the demands of their poor bodies is less so they live much longer.

Do you get foxes in NZ? or other native wildlife that eats them? Quolls and a big lizard I can't think of the name of right now can be a problem here in Australia, plus neighbours dogs and so on. So night time safety is a factor and she'll need to consider how to feed them, water them, lock them up, open them up every single day. Holidays become problematic...
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
It will depend entirely on if they can roam free and free range often. They can be flighty and will try to get over the highest of fences. That's not good news if they don't have the space to let them roam. And if she likes a neat garden it isn't going to be neat for long.

A lot of what I've read about them worries me. They are a commercial cross breed, that lays large brown eggs and they lay through winter. That tells me they will be short lived and for from cancer. They are not a breed I would choose myself. I prefer heritage breeds that lay smaller numbers of eggs per year on average. It doesn't take as much out of their bodies. Commercial chooks (and this applies world round sadly) have very short intensive lives and are usually sold off dirt cheap at the age of 2 yrs or 18 months because laws say you have to sell with 75% off their laying life remaining. They usually die from ovarian cancer or liver cancer because of the demands laying every single day without a late autumn/winter/early spring break makes on their bodies.
Reports say that they have high energy needs because of the size of the eggs and that they lay 300 eggs per year on average. Again that's worrying.

I've got retired ex-commercial chooks. I've already lost 1. Roughly 20-40% if them die from cancer before they are 2½ years old.
My heritage breeds last much longer and you'll be able to get them. You'll just need to look deeper and further a field. I've a girl ending her 8th full season (so she started laying the previous season and then laid for a number of years before stopping... she's somewhere in the range of 9 years old. I've had her over 6½ years now and she was at the end of her breeding life when she came to me). I've another a year younger and another 2 years younger. Both of the younger girls still lay eggs regularly. I get maybe 3 or 4 eggs a week from each for 5 months of the year. Given that they are 7 & 8 years old, that's more than enough.

The good thing about that breed is that they are hardy which is good for your environment but they do suffer from frostbite to the comb and often the wattle as well which will need watching carefully in winter.

Reports say that they can be easy to handle but they can also be very flighty depending on what they have been cross-bred with. You'll want to know that in advance.

This article is worth reading completely.
Red Shaver Chicken: Eggs, Temperament, Size & Raising Tips

Would i get them? No. Been there, done that and it is heart wrenching watching them die so very young because they lay too many large eggs too often. And if kids are involved in the decision, then get something that won't die quite so quickly is my advice. They're are plenty of hardy hertitage breeds that lay fewer and slightly smaller eggs and hence the demands of their poor bodies is less so they live much longer.

Do you get foxes in NZ? or other native wildlife that eats them? Quolls and a big lizard I can't think of the name of right now can be a problem here in Australia, plus neighbours dogs and so on. So night time safety is a factor and she'll need to consider how to feed them, water them, lock them up, open them up every single day. Holidays become problematic...
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Wow, that's really is a lot to digest, I'll talk to daughter. She needs to rethink it. Her son is 10 and petty responsible. In their area is a lot of dogs. That's a worry too.
No foxes or animals In built up areas.
Thank you. :)

Russ
 
rascal said:
NZ dont have foxes. We do have rats and possums though.
Have you heard of ross brown's??

Russ
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Yeah, it's another commercial breed that lays itself to death.
Most sex-linked breeds (you can tell the seed of a chick at 1 day of, so males are killed immediately) are commercial breeds so that very reason.

Personally I'd avoid any of the commercial breeds because they all have the same characteristics of maximum egg laying in first year of life, decreasing 2nd year and dead as soon as they stop laying. Don't get me wrong, a few do live longer lives but anything that lays so much so quickly tend to die young and from cancers.

Better to look at heritage breeds, Rhode Island Red (reasonably hardy), Sussex (very hardy), Wyandotte (very hardy) and so on. Aracuana and leghorn lay blue eggs, Marans lay chocolate brown coloured eggs and so on.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Yeah, it's another commercial breed that lays itself to death.
Most sex-linked breeds (you can tell the seed of a chick at 1 day of, so males are killed immediately) are commercial breeds so that very reason.

Personally I'd avoid any of the commercial breeds because they all have the same characteristics of maximum egg laying in first year of life, decreasing 2nd year and dead as soon as they stop laying. Don't get me wrong, a few do live longer lives but anything that lays so much so quickly tend to die young and from cancers.

Better to look at heritage breeds, Rhode Island Red (reasonably hardy), Sussex (very hardy), Wyandotte (very hardy) and so on. Aracuana and leghorn lay blue eggs, Marans lay chocolate brown coloured eggs and so on.
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I'll pass on, she will do the right things, she loves animals.
I've heard of rir breed

Russ
 
My garden is currently buried under several feet of snow, but I started my pepper plants this afternoon - I planted Early Jalapeño and Ho Chi Minh Golden Cayenne. Peppers always take forever and a half to sprout, so I’ll need to wait a while for any sign of life.

I’ve bought most of my seeds for this year. I’m not going to be planting any squash, which feels odd - they just haven’t done well for me the past several years, so instead I’m planning green onions, lettuces, leeks, beans, peas, herbs, and of course tomatoes. I’m also going to try daikon radishes - I normally don’t grow root veg as I have very heavy, thick clay soil, but I heard that daikons are great in clay soil so I’m excited to give them a try.
 
Y
Herbaceous said:
My garden is currently buried under several feet of snow, but I started my pepper plants this afternoon - I planted Early Jalapeño and Ho Chi Minh Golden Cayenne. Peppers always take forever and a half to sprout, so I’ll need to wait a while for any sign of life.

I’ve bought most of my seeds for this year. I’m not going to be planting any squash, which feels odd - they just haven’t done well for me the past several years, so instead I’m planning green onions, lettuces, leeks, beans, peas, herbs, and of course tomatoes. I’m also going to try daikon radishes - I normally don’t grow root veg as I have very heavy, thick clay soil, but I heard that daikons are great in clay soil so I’m excited to give them a try.
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You are doing the opposite of me here in nz. We will be doing this in September this year. Picking Veges every day here. Do you freeze/preserve yours??

Russ
 
So daughter is getting Rhode island reds. First shes building a coop. It will be under an apple tree. She has a big braeburn tree. It drops lots of apples
She have mr a bag for apple crumble some time soon.
Winter crops in , caulis cabbages sprouts etc. Still picking lettuce spring onions etc.
Still propagating.

Russ
 
rascal said:
Y

You are doing the opposite of me here in nz. We will be doing this in September this year. Picking Veges every day here. Do you freeze/preserve yours??

Russ
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I do preserve a bit when I can, one year I got a huge jalapeño harvest so I pickled those. I also dried some tomatoes one year, and when I’ve got a lot of a herb sometimes I’ll dry it. I also try to make and freeze pesto every year with basil that I grow.
 
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