Growing through the seasons at Poppy's Farmyard

We’re super excited to have our garden gal Poppy on board as an official ambassador for Tui! We’ve had lots of fun working with Poppy over the last few years and have loved following her garden journey, including her move to Galloway in Central Otago. 

Check out Poppy’s plans for the cooler seasons and follow along on Instagram @poppysfarmyard as she brings them to life.

Towards the end of every summer I begin to look forward to the colours of leaves changing and the crisp, misty mornings of autumn. In Central Otago, this begins early, around late February. Cool season gardening may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I certainly love it. For me, it’s a chance to sow green veges, plan and prepare the garden beds and enjoy a slower pace in the garden.

It will be my first full autumn and winter growing in Central Otago, so there’s plenty of learning opportunities ahead! Last year I had an 8.4 metre polycarbonate tunnel house installed and am particularly looking forward to experimenting with growing undercover and discovering which crops grow best.

The tunnel house will allow me to grow veges when the ground outside is frozen, and it’s lovely to spend time in there when the weather outside is a bit wild. I’m planning to grow lots of greens such as spinach, silverbeet, lettuces, kale, Asian greens and spring onions. I’m going to trial a few varieties of radish and baby beetroot too for added colour and flavour! French breakfast radish are my fave in the kitchen, so I’ll be sure to sow those. As for beetroot I’m sowing a golden variety and trying out Tui’s Detroit Dark Red seeds.

During summer I grew chillies, eggplants and capsicums in the tunnel. I’ve seen some other gardeners successfully ‘overwinter’ their plants so this year I’m going to attempt to do the same. It could be too cold here, but with the tunnel to shelter them, I figure it’s worth trying!

Propagation is also on my to-do list. With more room for planting, I need more plants! Big trips to the garden centre can get expensive, so propagating my own just makes sense. I’m going to start with rosemary as we have a large plant on the property that I can take dozens of cuttings from. I might try a few hydrangeas too as they’re a flower favourite of mine. Enjoy and learn as the seasons change!

My #1 autumn/winter must have is Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic! I grow so many greens at this time of year and they thrive with a regular seaweed application. I think that’s the secret to big, glossy, shiny leaves!