Anita's Garden
Volume 1, Issue 11
Nursery open day Saturday 25th Nov
Normally visits to the plant nursery is by prior
appointment only. But time to plant is running out. For
one day only on Saturday 25th November, I’m holding
an open day from 9 am until 5 pm. Drop in, pick up
some plants and get some advice. 7 Meadowcourt
Drive, Papatoetoe. 021 02762091 for all enquiries.
Workshop – maintaining the summer
garden
Want to make sure you get the most out of the money,
time and effort spent on your summer garden? Come
along and learn about how to look after your plants so
that they thrive this summer! Duration: 1 hour
Saturday 2nd December 2pm
Sunday 3rd December 2 pm (just 1 space left!)
Location: Anita’s Garden, Papatoetoe, Manukau.
Spaces are limited. There is a cover charge of $10 per
person.
To register, please text me on 021 02762091 or email
me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
2 The week in retrospect at Anita’s Garden
3
Anita’s Garden nursery news
4 Plants for sale in the nursery at Anita’s Garden
6 Seeds for sale – NEW!
7 Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
8 Reflections on Anita’s Garden six months on – Part III
12 Growing guide: Okra
14 Growing guide: Coreopsis
Anita's Garden 1
24 November 2017
Editorial
Welcome to the eleventh issue of my monthly
newsletter filled with news fresh from Anita’s Garden.
The plant nursery at Anita’s Garden is open during the
week and over the weekend. For a list of available
stock and prices, please see pages 4 and 5.
To stay up to date with what is happening around
Anita’s Garden and follow my journey as a new
business owner, please follow my blog:
http://anitasgarden.weebly.com/blog
For gardening advice, ideas and inspiration, check
back on my website regularly and follow me on my
social media accounts:
Webpage: http://anitasgarden.weebly.com/
Facebook: Anita’s Garden
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anitakundu
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anitakundu.nz/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anita-kundu-
850100141/
Pinterest: https://nz.pinterest.com/anitakundunz/
Snapchat: anitasgarden
Newsletter - Back Issues
Click here to read back issues of my newsletter.
Mailing List
To receive this newsletter direct to your inbox, please
email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com so I can add
you to my mailing list.
Feedback
Send your feedback, news, photos and recipes to me via
email at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com and I will feature your
letter in a future issue of Anita’s Garden newsletter.
The week in retrospect at Anita’s Garden
Anita’s Garden in discussions
with leading fruit tree and rose
suppliers!
I have the most exciting news ever for followers of
Anita’s Garden! I am currently in discussions with New
Zealand’s leading fruit tree and rose suppliers to try and
negotiate the supply of stock which I would like to make
available to customers right here at Anita’s Garden! It’s a
bit early to say who they are but know they are the
biggest players in the industry and most of the roses and
fruit trees at Anita’s Garden come from these companies!
This development is largely thanks to YOU. I really
value feedback from customers and do make an effort to
listen to what services and products you would like me to
provide in future. A lot of people that have been visiting
the nursery have looked at our rows of standard roses
and asked if they could purchase roses from me. The
same goes for our dwarf fruit trees, which are perfect for
a city garden. Over the winter, we established a mini
orchard on the property and our little trees are already
laden with fruit! They have impressed us enormously. I
would therefore like to make a range of fruit trees
available for sale in the plant nursery.
I will keep you updated regarding the progress of these
discussions. Once I place an order with the suppliers, I
will make a list of stock that will be arriving in winter 2018
available on my website, in my newsletter and on my
Facebook page, so that you can PRE-ORDER to secure
the varieties and quantities you require. This is a good
idea as stock will be limited!
I know that there are many of you that are wondering
why the fruit trees and roses cannot be ordered NOW!
The reason is because nurseries generally only send
roses and fruit trees to retailers during the winter, when
they are dormant (i.e., they don’t have any leaves, or
very few at least). It’s much cheaper to ship dormant
plants as they take up less room in boxes than fully
grown plants. But the main reason is that winter is
actually the best time to plant fruit trees and roses. This
isn’t to say that you can’t plant fruit trees and roses in
summer. I have done this myself. It’s just that you need
to be much more diligent about caring for the plants and
making sure that they receive enough water so they
develop strong roots. You don’t need to worry about this
in winter obviously. Furthermore, it makes sense to
purchase plants in winter (or pre-order ahead of time to
secure exactly what you want) when the full range of
trees becomes available in nurseries nationwide.
Confused? Want to plant fruit trees or roses (or both!)
but don’t know where to start? While our roses are
flowering and our fruit trees are cropping profusely over
summer I will be inviting people to attend a workshop at
Anita’s Garden so they can have a look around, see
what varieties they like and pre-order anything that
appeals to them.
Anita's Garden 2
Celebrate the festive season at
Anita’s Garden!
Love Christmas but hate the stress that comes with
packed (and panicked!) shopping malls, crowded car
parks and bad tempers? Ever feel like all of this
takes the joy out of the season for giving? A few
weeks ago I saw the hilarious movie Bad Moms II
and it went right to the heart of these issues. This
got me thinking because I also get super stressed at
Westfield Manukau during the month of December.
Then there is post-Christmas chaos at the Boxing
Day sales where the madness starts all over again! I
honestly don’t know why people put themselves
through it. Surely it must be the fact that everyone
loves a bargain or maybe there are some people that
thrive on absolute mayhem!
I have decided to make Anita’s Garden a stress-free
zone during the month of December and offer a
fantastic Christmas shopping experience to my
customers. I intend to make a variety of gardening
gifts available and there will be something to suit all
tastes and budgets. And don’t forget that if you’re
not sure what to purchase for someone else or I’ve
run out of what you had your eye on, you can always
get your loved one a gift certificate for Anita’s
Garden!
Gift certificates for Anita’s Garden arrived in the
post last week and I am so excited to make these
available to customers.
Give a gift that keeps on giving! These nifty
vouchers can have any value and do not have an
expiry date, meaning that the recipient can enjoy
shopping at Anita’s Garden at any time in the future.
If you wish to purchase a gift certificate for Anita’s
Garden, please contact me by email at
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com or text me on 021
02762091. I can send these out by post as well and
they can be used for ordering plants and seeds by
mail order.
Anita’s Garden - Nursery News!
Order and collect – NEW!
In a hurry? Know exactly what you want? I’ve made
life easy for you! Email me your order at
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com and collect later on!
Mail orders - NEW!
Want to purchase plants but is Anita’s Garden too far
away? I can post plants from my nursery anywhere in
NZ! A shoe box filled with plants sent by overnight
courier (and tracked) costs just $12 + cost for plants. $3
extra for RD. Great value as my prices are lower than
garden centres, I stock interesting and unusual varieties
that aren’t available commercially and also you will save
yourself a trip to the garden centre! Email me at
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com if you wish to place an order.
Here is the feedback that Richard from Mangawhai gave
me after he received his plants on the overnight courier
service (you can also read this review on my Facebook
page):
***** (5 stars!!)
Well good people, I was recommended this site as being
a place that I could buy some Asparagus Crowns and
hence my relationship with Anita started. I bought 30
Crowns and whilst discussing delivery etc I saw that she
had some Snake Bean plants (been after these for ages)
so ordered some of those as well. Anita then packaged
up the plants and Couriered them to Mangawhai where
they arrived on overnight Courier well packaged and in
perfect condition. I would thoroughly recommend her to
you all as being a top person forgetting that her plants
are so cheap it's unbelievable I'm sure she will upset the
big players in the industry due to awesome prices. Check
her out you won't be sorry.
Here is the feedback that Noelle from Te Kuiti gave me
after she received her plants on the overnight courier
earlier this week (you can also read this review on my
Facebook page):
***** (5 stars!!)
I had placed an on line order of mixed vegetable on
Monday to Anita and I received it this morning nicely
packed in a shoe box. I have already potted them to get
them settling before planting them in the garden. It was
a pleasure to do business with Anita she offers some
interesting vegetable varieties and is so diligent in her
Anita's Garden 3
replies. Thank you very much Anita I’ll definitely keep
an eye on your nursery.
Let’s recycle!
Please return all your empty punnets, pots and
seedlings trays on your next visit! $2 rebate per seed
raising tray, which you can redeem on your next
purchase. If you return pots and punnets to me, I
might throw a few free plants in with your next
purchase!
Ethnic veggies here now!
I’m pleased to announce that the following ethnic
veggies are available in my nursery. Stocks are
limited, so I highly recommend that you place an
order to secure what you want! Please let me know
the quantity of each item that you require. I will then
let you know when they are ready for collection.
There is still PLENTY of time to grow these heat
loving veggies. In fact it’s a good idea not to start
them too early when temperatures are still unstable.
Mid-late November is perfect timing. You can either
email me your order at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com or
text me on 021 02762091.
o Snake beans (long green) $2 per punnet –
NOT MANY LEFT!
o Okra $2 per punnet – AVAILABLE NOW!
o “Double beans” (Lima del Papa) $2 per
punnet – AVAILABLE SOON, PREORDER
NOW
o Loki Gourd (a favourite of mine!) $1.50 each
o Hot chillies $1.50 each (mainly Pequin St
Croix left, a very hot chilli that turns yellow-
orange upon ripening)
o Dok eggplant (long purple like the Indian
shop!) $2 each
o Round eggplant $1.50 each
o Malabar spinach ($2 per punnet of 6
seedlings or $8 per tray)
o Purple kohlrabi – a Kashmiri favourite ($2
per punnet of 6 seedlings or $8 per tray)
o Edible luffa gourds (great for curries) –
COMING SOON – PREORDER NOW
o Gem squash (a South African delight!) –
COMING SOON – PREORDER NOW
o Kamo Kamo – PREORDER NOW!
I may be able to grow other ethnic veggies upon
request. Please contact me and I will see what I can
do. Email your request to anitakundu.nz@gmail.com
or text me on 021 02762091.
Plants for sale at Anita’s Garden

Pick up is in Papatoetoe, Manukau. Please email me at Potted vegetables - $1.50 each

anitakundu.nz@gmail.com or text me on 021 02762091
Plants are in 10 cm pots, ready to plant out!
to arrange an appointment week days or weekend. Know
exactly what you want? I accept orders by email for you o Capsicum Colour Salad Selection
to collect later in the week. Thank you. o Capsicum Early Red
o Capsicum Early Wonder
Assorted veggie punnets - $2 each
o Capsicum Giant Bell
Each punnet contains 6 seedlings. o Capsicum Hot Mix
o Capsicum Jingle Bells
o Frilly green lettuce (cut and come again)
o Capsicum Long Italian
o Red lettuce (cut and come again)
o Capsicum Long Perennial
o Malabar Spinach (doesn’t bolt in the heat)
o Capsicum Long Sweet Red
o Purple Kohlrabi
o Capsicum Orange Sweetie
o Asparagus – one year old crowns (just two
o Capsicum Purple Beauty
more years until you can harvest them!)
o Chilli Bell Shaped
o Celery
o Chilli Long Sweet Red
o Okra (green)
o Chilli Pequin St Croix
o Purple asparagus
o Chilli Picante Calabrese
o Snake beans
o Chilli Sweet Banana
o Chilli Toppepo Rosso
o Cucumber Apple
o Cucumber Beth Alpha
o Cucumber Continental
o Cucumber Long Green
o Eggplant Florence Round Purple
o Eggplant Prosperosa
o Eggplant Tonda Bianca
o Gherkins
o Gourd Asian (Loki)
Malabar spinach seedlings
o Pumpkin Australian Butter
Trays of seedlings - $8 each o Pumpkin Butternut
Contains lots and lots of seedlings. Includes a re-usable o Pumpkin Grey Crown
seedling tray (very handy to have around the garden!) or o Pumpkin Queensland Blue
return to me later for a $2 rebate towards your next
purchase of a tray of seedlings from Anita’s Garden! o Pumpkin Whangaparoa Crown
o Frilly green and red lettuce (cut and come o Rock Melon (Italian/Franchi)
again variety) o Rock Melon Hale’s Best
o Lamb’s lettuce o Rock Melon Western Express
o Purple kohlrabi o Spaghetti Squash
o Asparagus – one year old crowns (just two o Tomato Costoluto
more years until you can harvest them!) o Tomato Dwarf Maja
o Silverbeet o Tomato Grosse Lisse
o Malabar spinach o Tomato Henry’s Dwarf Bush
o Leeks (Winter Giant) o Tomato Honeybee
o Tomato Kiwi
. o Tomato Marmande
o
Anita's Garden 4
Plants for sale at Anita’s Garden (cont from page 4)
o Tomato Moneymaker NEW! Herbs - $2 each
o Tomato Principe Borghese
o Borage
o Tomato Red Cherry
o Coriander
o Tomato San Marzano
o Dill
o Tomato Small Fry
o Mint
o Tomato Tangela
o Nasturtium
o Tomato Tommy Toe
o Oregano
o Zucchini Amanda (green)
o Parsley – Italian
o Zucchini Mixed
o Parsley – Triple curled
o Zucchini Nero di Milano (dark green)
o Tarragon
o Zucchini Solar Flare (yellow)
o Thyme
o Sage

Zucchini from the garden

NEW! Flower punnets - $2 each

Each punnet contains 6 seedlings

o Marigolds African Ivory (tall cream flowers)

o Marigolds Jolly Jester (tall red/orange/yellow
flowers)
Nasturtium in the garden
o Marigolds Sugar and Spice (mix of orange,
yellow and white marigolds) Coreopsis plants - $5 each

These are large established flowering plants,

perfect for putting straight into your garden.
Coreopsis is a perennial, meaning that you just leave
them in your garden and they will reflower in
subsequent seasons. To read more about how to
grow and care for coreopsis, please see my growing
guide on page 14 of this newsletter.

I have x10 Early Sunrise and x10 Rising Sun

coreopsis plants for sale.

Text me on 021 02762091 to order yours. Please

specify which variety you want and how many plants
you require. Thank you.

Some marigolds in our garden last summer

. Anita's Garden 5
Anita’s Garden - Seeds for sale just $2 each!
All packets are unopened. They are perfect for home gardeners. I am selling them because I need to purchase
bigger, bulk packets of seed now that I run my own nursery and propagate seedlings for sale on a large scale.
Postage extra or pick up Papatoetoe, Manukau. Please email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com or text me on 021
02762091 with your order. Thank you.

Veggies

Basil Gourmet Mix (Yates) exp Aug 2019

Basil Rubra Red leaf (McGregor’s) x6 exp 2018
Basil Sweet large leaf seed mat (McGregor’s) x5 exp 2017
Basil Sweet large leaf seed tape (McGregor’s) x6 exp 2017
Beetroot Derwent Globe (Yates) exp 2018
Bean dwarf borlotti red rooster (McGregor’s and Oderings) exp 2017 x2 packets and 2018 x4 packets
Bean dwarf royal burgundy (McGregor’s) x11 exp 2018
Bean dwarf butter Cherokee (McGregor’s) exp 2017
Bean dwarf top crop (Yates) exp 2018
Bean Scarlet Runner Stringless (McGregor’s) x 4 exp 2020
Bean Scarlet runner climbing (Yates) x4 exp 2018
Bean Scarlet runner Goliath (Carnival) exp 2017
Beetroot Detroit (McGregors) seed tape exp 2017
Carrots (Yates) Early Chantenay exp 2018
Capsicum colour salad selection (Yates) exp 2018
Chives (McGregors) x2 exp 2017
Cucumber Burpless Tasty Green (Oderings) x2 exp 2018
Cucumber Bushcrop (McGregor’s) exp 2017
Cucumber Spacemaster (Oderings) x2 exp 2018
Cucumber Marketer Long Green (McGregor’s) exp 2017
Culinary Mix (rocket, tomato, Italian Parsley, chilli and basil) seed mat (McGregors) exp 2017
Kohlrabi Green (McGregors) x2 exp 2018
Leek Musselburgh (McGregor’s) x4 exp 2020
Lettuce cos Verdi (McGregors) x 5 exp 2018
Lettuce Fancy (McGregor’s) x 5 exp 2018
Microgreens Mizuna Red Gems (Yates) exp 2018
Parsley (Italian) seed mat (McGregors) x2 exp 2017
Parsley Italian Flat Leaf (Oderings) exp 2018
Parsley (triple curled) seed mat – (McGregors) exp 2017
Parsnip Supersnip (McGregors) exp 2020
Pumpkin Butternut (Yates) exp Aug 2017
Pumpkin Queensland Blue (Yates) x5 exp Aug 2017
Radish Red Globe (McGregor’s) exp 2021
Rocket (Oderings) exp 2018
Rockmelon Hale’s Best (Yates) exp Aug 2017
Rockmelon Hale’s Best (McGregor’s) exp 2018
Spinach Hybrid No 7 Seed tape (McGregors) exp 2018
Spring Onion Red Bunching (McGregors) x5 (all expiring 2020 except x1 packet exp 2018)
Watermelon Sugar Baby (McGregors) x2 exp 2018
Zucchini Mixed Types and Colours (McGregors) x3 exp 2018

Flowers

Impatiens Accent Mystic Mix (McGregor’s) exp 2018

Impatiens Accent Mixed (Oderings) exp 2018
Petunia Colour Parade Mix (Oderings) exp 2019
Petunia Colour Parade Mix (Oderings) exp 2019

Anita's Garden 6
Top 5 gardening tasks for the week

1. Plant loki gourd! release fertiliser or a liquid fertiliser. Feeding your fruit
trees promotes strong growth, encourages flowering and
Loki gourd is such an amazingly healthy, versatile ultimately improves the yield and quality of fruit so it’s well
worth going to the expense and effort.
Indian vegetable. It is very easy to grow and crops
prolifically. To order yours, please text me on 021 5. Feed roses
02762091 or you can email me at
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com. It’s also time to give your roses another feed to see them
through the holiday period when your garden might start
2. Plant snake beans getting a bit neglected. Again, use a plant food formulated
for roses. Rose food comes in several forms – granular,
It’s not too late to plant these sub-tropical beauties! slow release and liquid feed. For the correct quantity, just
follow the instructions on the back of the packet. After
I still have some punnets left in my nursery but
feeding roses I always notice that they flower profusely, so
stock is limited. To order yours, please text me on it’s well worth the time, expense and effort.
021 02762091.

3. Plant dill
Anita’s Garden
Dill is a wonderful herb that we discovered a few Organic urban homestead in Manukau, Auckland
years ago. We enjoy having dill with fresh fish. I
have some lovely dill plants for just $2 per pot.
Please text me on 021 02762091 to order yours. Anita’s Garden is an enterprise aimed to educate
locals about how they can grow their own food in
order to improve their health and reduce grocery
bills.
It’s possible to be largely self-sufficient, even if you
live in the city. Let me show you how!
I offer the following services to the public:
o Consulting on garden design and
development
o Plant nursery
o Workshops
o Kids programmes (including home school)
o Talks on a range of gardening topics
o Tours of the garden
o Fresh flowers for arrangements for all
occasions
Anita’s Garden is open 6 days a week by prior
appointment only. Closed on Tuesdays.
For all enquiries, please contact Anita directly
Email: anitakundu.nz@gmail.com
4. Feed fruit trees
Mobile: 021 02762091
Hopefully you all fed your fruit trees at the start of Thank you for your support.
spring. It’s time to give them another feed, which
will see them through the holiday period. For best Anita Kundu
results, look for a plant food formulated for fruit
trees. You can use a granular fertiliser, slow

Anita's Garden 7
Some reflections on Anita’s Garden 6 months on - Part III
I launched my start up, Anita’s Garden, about six months
ago. It’s a good time to look back and reflect on how my
business has evolved in that time and discuss my vision for
its future. In this series of articles, I will draw on real-life
experiences and examples and share a bit more about my
journey as a business owner. I’m a very transparent person.
In my business dealings, I like everything to be put on the
table. I’m also very open to sharing my ideas on how I am
running my business, as well as how I think a business ought
to be run. As always, there’s a lot of ground I’d like to cover.
In the newsletter that I circulated the week before last, I
covered my first two major reflections on Anita’s Garden.
Last week, I covered three further thoughts about Anita’s
Garden. These topics were more philosophical in nature.
This week, I would like to focus on some practical matters
that pertain to the day-to-day running of the business.
1. Plant orders
I accept plant orders. If a customer requests an item that is
not currently in stock, I am usually able to source the item for
them which they can collect later on. To facilitate the
process, I have a book that I write customer orders in. I take
down details of what they are looking for, the desired
quantity, their name and contact phone number. When the
item arrives, I contact them and arrange a time for them to
visit the nursery and collect their order. This system has
been working well for the most part, but there have been a
few exceptions which have actually made me re-think
whether it’s worth the effort. It does require quite a bit of
admin work on my part, and I’m always flicking through my
order book to remind myself of what is outstanding and
whether customers need to be contacted if orders have
become ready. As usual, it’s always the minority that spoils it
for the rest. A number of customers haven’t been coming to
pick up orders when notified that they have arrived, meaning
that their order sits in my holds bay for a long time.
Obviously, I have to care for plants in the interim. I don’t
mind doing this as I understand that people may not be able
to come immediately. But if the customer doesn’t come to
collect their order at all, this ties up stock which may be
sought after by someone else. It also takes up space,
meaning I can’t re-order more stock to infill the nursery.
Worse still, some customers simply don’t respond to my text
notifying them that the order has arrived. I feel that this is
rude. Even if they have changed their mind and don’t want
the item anymore (which is within their right and I’m very
understanding about this), I think it’s courteous to at least
respond and let me know, given that they originally requested
the item and I went to the effort of sourcing it for them. Sorry,
that’s my little grumble for the day.
2. Special requests
Anita's Garden 8
Linked to taking orders for customers, I can also do
special requests from customers, provided I am able to
source the seeds or plants within the country.
Importing seed from overseas and having to deal with
MAP is just too difficult these days. I have customers
from many different ethnic communities – Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, India,
Fiji, South Africa and others. These different groups
have requested special vegetables and herbs for their
cuisine, many of which I had never heard of before!
Sometimes while I’m helping a customer, they might
mention their background. I’ll mentally run through
orders received from other customers from the same
country for items unique to their cuisine and ask if they
would also like to order these items. This has worked
really well so far. I have managed to source and
supply Double Beans (Lima del Papa) and Gem
Squash for customers from South Africa and Snake
Beans for customers from various parts of Asia. I have
also started lemongrass and moringa for my customers
from the Philippines. If you’re having a hard time
sourcing veggies and herbs that you use in ethnic
cuisine, please don’t hesitate to contact me with your
request and I’ll see what I can do. My email address is
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com or you can text me on 021
02762091.
3. Pre-order and collect
Part of my orders service is the facility for customers to
pre-order what they need for their garden and collect
later in the week. Normally what happens is customers
send me an email requesting items and specifying
desired quantities. I then get back to the customer
confirming that I have the stock (or offering alternatives
in the event I’m unable to supply particular items or
quantities requested). We then finalise the order
together and I prepare an invoice. I locate and
package the plants. I then notify the customer when
their order is ready to be picked up, attaching the
invoice. Payment can be made either by bank transfer
or in cash upon collection. This is perfect for busy
people with demanding jobs, children and chaotic
households generally. I think we can all relate to this!
Sometimes it can be challenging finding the time to go
to the garden centre, search for plants and get the
advice you need to plant them so I have hopefully
managed to take some of the stress out of it.
If you would like to pre-order plants from the nursery,
please email your order to anitakundu.nz@gmail.com.
A list of available stock in the plant nursery can be
viewed on my Facebook page, Anita’s Garden (it’s the
pinned post).
Some reflections on Anita’s Garden 6 months on - Part III
4. Mail orders
I also accept mail orders. As mentioned in last week’s
newsletter, I didn’t originally envisage sending plants by post
when I set up my business. However, this soon changed
when I started receiving requests for plants from customers
outside the Auckland region.
I can post plants from my nursery anywhere in New Zealand.
A shoe box filled with plants sent by overnight courier (and
tracked) costs just $12 + cost for plants. $3 extra for Rural
Delivery. This is great value as my prices are lower than
garden centres, I stock interesting and unusual varieties that
aren’t available commercially and will also save you a trip to
the garden centre! Email me at anitakundu.nz@gmail.com if
you wish to place an order. A list of available stock in the
plant nursery can be viewed on my Facebook page, Anita’s
Garden (it’s the pinned post).
Here is the feedback that Richard from Mangawhai gave me
after he received his plants on the overnight courier service
(you can also read this review on my Facebook page, Anita’s
Garden):
***** (5 stars!!)
Well good people, I was recommended this site as being a
place that I could buy some Asparagus Crowns and hence
my relationship with Anita started. I bought 30 Crowns and
whilst discussing delivery etc I saw that she had some Snake
Bean plants (been after these for ages) so ordered some of
those as well. Anita then packaged up the plants and
Couriered them to Mangawhai where they arrived on
overnight Courier well packaged and in perfect condition. I
would thoroughly recommend her to you all as being a top
person forgetting that her plants are so cheap it's
unbelievable I'm sure she will upset the big players in the
industry due to awesome prices. Check her out you won't be
sorry.
Here is the feedback that Noelle from Te Kuiti gave me after
she received her plants on the overnight courier earlier this
week (you can also read this review on my Facebook page,
Anita’s Garden):
***** (5 stars!!)
I had placed an on line order of mixed vegetable on Monday
to Anita and I received it this morning nicely packed in a shoe
box. I have already potted them to get them settling before
planting them in the garden. It was a pleasure to do
business with Anita she offers some interesting vegetable
varieties and is so diligent in her replies. Thank you very
much Anita I’ll definitely keep an eye on your nursery.
Anita's Garden 9
5. Visiting the plant nursery
As most of you will be aware, at the moment visits to
the plant nursery at Anita’s Garden are by prior
appointment only. I run my business by myself, so I’m
not always able to attend to customers, especially on a
drop-in basis. As many of you will also know, the
nursery is actually a small (but very important) part of
my business. However, I need to devote time to other
services I offer such as gardening education in the
form of workshops for both adults and children,
interactive guided tours of the garden and the supply of
flowers for special occasions. I also need time to
develop my blog and write my free weekly gardening
newsletter, which are really important to me. In order
to fit everything in, I can’t make myself available to
customers all day, every day during the week. I
recently decided to close the nursery on Tuesdays to
give myself a day off every week as I found myself
working seven days a week and feeling really run
down.
At the moment, appointment slots are one hour long
but as I have gotten busier, I have decided to change
this to half hourly appointments. If you think you might
need more than half an hour to find everything you
need for your garden, simply request a double booking
or re-visit the nursery another day!
If you arrive early for your appointment, I will serve you
straight away if I’m free. Sometimes I am with the
previous customer or having my meal break (which is
incredibly hard to fit into a busy day!), so please be
understanding if I’m only available at the agreed time.
I am having a one-off open day at the plant nursery this
Saturday 25th November from 9am until 5 pm, where
customers can come by without making a prior
appointment to pick up plants for their summer garden.
Depending on how this goes, I may consider making
Saturdays my one drop-in day at the nursery each
week going forwards. Saturdays are always a busy
day for retailers given that most people work during the
week and only have time to go shopping over the
weekend. So don’t worry, I won’t be making Saturdays
my day off and will make sure I’m here to help you with
your garden.
6. Employing staff
As most of you will be aware, I don’t employ any staff
to assist me in running my business. Yet in the short
time that I have been operating Anita’s Garden, I have
Some reflections on Anita’s Garden 6 months on - Part III
already received two job applications and two requests for
work placements! I’m flattered that others want to be a part
of my team. Unfortunately at the moment I can’t afford to
employ anyone to help me as I barely pay myself a salary! In
order to provide a better service to customers in future, I may
consider hiring someone to assist me. However, this clearly
comes at a cost that will have to be passed on to customers
in order to meet the financial obligations that come with being
an employer and paying wages regularly. Not only will this
affect price point (a major factor that drives a business), but it
will also change the dynamics of Anita’s Garden. This is
something that I will reflect on further as my business
continues to grow and I will keep you informed of any
developments in this area.
7. Payment by eftpos at the plant nursery
At the moment, I only accept cash at the nursery. A lot of
customers have asked if I accept eftpos. I am aware that it is
possible for small retailers such as myself to install an eftpos
facility on a smartphone, using BNZ, even if you are a
customer of a different bank. I am looking into this! I honestly
do listen to feedback from all my customers and jot down
ideas in my business development notebook to follow up
later on when I have some time in the evenings. I may not
be able to implement everything straight away as I need time
to look into these matters, so please be patient with me!
Watch this space for future developments.
Payment for other services such as the supply of flowers,
workshops and tours can be made via internet banking by
prior arrangement.
8. Price point
As mentioned above, price point is a major factor that drives
a business (and its customers). Obviously, I try to keep
prices as competitive as possible, but as discussed in last
week’s newsletter, I do need to cover operating costs and
use any potential profits from plant sales to re-invest in
further inventory, which is essential to the continuation of my
business. I can only think of one instance where this has
happened in the short time that I set up my business, but the
prices of items may fluctuate over time. Ever wondered why
the prices at the supermarket are different from week to
week? To put it simply, it’s not always possible to fix prices
and guarantee to always sell items for a certain amount (or
less). For starters, there is inflation, which is driven by the
consumer price index. The price of many commodities often
increases over time. There are of course some exceptions in
sectors like technology, where items become cheaper over
time as the pool of consumers becomes bigger.
Anita's Garden 10
As an example, consider how the prices of flat screen
TVs, digital cameras, computers, smartphones and
other gadgets have dropped since they first became
available on the market. Prices are also determined
by the economic principle of supply and demand,
which you have probably heard of. Basically, this
means the quantity of a particular product and how
much demand there is for it. Where items are sourced
from suppliers, I have to negotiate wholesale rates with
other businesses and this sometimes fluctuates
depending on supply and demand. This goes for other
retailers, such as supermarkets and service stations.
So this is why prices can fluctuate, but I do try my best
to minimise this in the course of my business.
9. Deliberate damage to inventory
Recently, I was saddened to find that during the night
someone had deliberately damaged some inventory.
This is the first time that an act of vandalism has
occurred at Anita’s Garden. The most common
question we get asked is whether stock or produce
from the garden gets stolen or vandalised, given that
the section is unfenced and most of the garden is
infront of our house. Up until now, we have been very
fortunate to have not had any issues in this regard.
Damage to inventory can occur in a number of ways. It
can be accidental, for example, if I damage a plant by
dropping it accidentally. It can also be caused by a
force of nature, such as the wind or rain, or another
element of mother nature such as slugs and snails
munching on seedlings. Damage to stock, whether
accidental, deliberate or an act of nature, is an
operating cost which must somehow be recouped in
the course of the business. In determining the price
point for inventory, it is necessary to factor in damage
to inventory. Up until now, I had only accounted for
accidental damage to stock and damage by mother
nature. For now, I am writing the incident off as a bad
debt (figuratively speaking of course, as bad debts
technically refer to unpaid accounts by debtors of the
business), but if this keeps happening, I may have to
make a slight price adjustment to factor in deliberate
damage to stock. I hope it doesn’t come to this, as it is
really unfair to my wonderful customers who are so
respectful and a pleasure to assist. As I often tell
customers, through my business I have gotten to meet
some wonderful people in the community. But as
always, it’s the minority that spoils it for the rest, similar
to the small number of customers who have not been
honouring customer orders, as described above.
Some reflections on Anita’s Garden 6 months on - Part III
10. Free weekly gardening newsletter
As many of you will be aware, I write a free weekly gardening
newsletter which I circulate to a mailing list and upload on my
website, my Facebook page, my Twitter account and also on
Neighbourly. I really enjoy writing my weekly newsletter and
have received very positive feedback from both customers
and businesses for whom I am a brand ambassador. Even
though it’s challenging finding the time to provide all the
services and products I want to my customers, I definitely
intend to continue to write a free gardening newsletter on a
regular basis. I will be taking a short break over the
Christmas and New Year period but will resume my
newsletter in the New Year. Don’t worry, I still hope to
circulate four more issues before this happens! I am
considering whether I may circulate the newsletter less often
during the winter, when activity in the garden slows down. Or
I may put out a bigger winter edition at the start of the
season, giving you all the advice you need to cover you for
the winter period. Whatever I decide, please don’t worry, I
will make sure you’re armed with all the info you need!
Anita's Garden 11
Advertise
Here!
Newsletter outreach
o Sent by email to a database of subscribers
every Friday
o Uploaded to my website
o Link posted on my personal and professional
Facebook pages, my Twitter Account, my
LinkedIn Account and also on Neighbourly.
My Instagram account contains my website’s
address so readers are directed that way too
Readership stats
o Website traffic – around 6,000 visits per week
o Electronic mailing list of 76 people
o Business Facebook page – 827 LIKES and
860 FOLLOWERS
o Personal Facebook page – 310 FRIENDS
o LinkedIn – 1,987 CONTACTS
o Instagram – 1,262 FOLLOWERS
o Twitter – 85 FOLLOWERS
o Neighbourly – Traffic is difficult to gauge but I
receive a lot of customers in my plant nursery,
feedback and enquiries through this forum
To advertise in the newsletter, please
contact me at
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com
Growing Guide: Okra
Okra in flower in the garden a few summers ago
Okra (also known as Ladies’ Fingers or bhindi) is one of
my favourite Indian vegetables. The origin of okra is
contested, but it comes from Africa and South East Asia.
While a little more challenging to grow in New Zealand’s
more temperate climate, it is nonetheless possible to grow
okra successfully, at least in the Auckland region and
further north.
Okra is traditionally green, but it is also possible to find the
seeds for burgundy and orange okra in New Zealand.
Homegrown okra tastes so much more tender and fresher
than imported okra, which can sometimes be quite tough,
not to mention expensive. Okra is a very versatile
vegetable. It is highly prized in Asian cuisine and makes a
wonderful addition to curries. It is also used in gumbo (a
type of stew) in the southern states of the USA. We enjoy
it cooked in a pot with a little onion, chilli and turmeric. It
doesn’t take long to cook and is so delicious! We like
having okra as an accompaniment to dahl and curries.
The main trick is to not sow okra too early in the season.
My other tip is to try growing okra in containers if like me,
you don’t have luck growing okra in the ground. I hope
that with the help of information in this guide, you’ll be able
to grow some of your own successfully this season.
In my experience, okra should be started undercover in
Anita's Garden 12
mid-November and no earlier. Don’t forget that okra is a
subtropical vegetable that performs best in really hot
weather. While it’s natural to want a head start on the
season, my advice is to not be in a rush to sow okra
seeds and plant out seedlings. There is often a dramatic
difference between day and night time temperatures at
this time of the year and the weather can still be quite
temperamental. Young seedlings are particularly tender.
Once they’ve been hit by a sudden cold snap or exposed
to consistently low temperatures, they never really
recover. It’s therefore a good idea to wait until mid
November to start sowing okra seeds, when
temperatures are warmer. This way, the seedlings you
plant out in December will be a bit more established and
strong enough to survive any setbacks along the way.
This might seem very late and many people are simply
too impatient to wait, but in my experience okra started
any earlier almost always ends up dying at some point
simply due to the temperatures being too cool.
Whether you can grow okra successfully or not does
depend on where you live. New Zealand’s climate
varies dramatically from region to region and I do have
to remember that not all of my audience lives in
Auckland or even New Zealand for that matter. My
personal gardening experiences are limited to our urban
homestead in the Auckland region, so please take this
into account when considering my advice. On the same
token, what grows well in my environment may not
necessarily thrive in your own microclimate. In my
opinion, it is possible to grow okra successfully in
Auckland and north of Auckland. It may be possible to
grow okra successfully in other parts of New Zealand, in
certain parts with the help of a glasshouse.
Sowing okra from seed
Now is the perfect time to sow okra. It can be hard to
find okra seedlings at the garden centre, so why not try
growing okra from seed? It’s very easy, provided you
sow seeds when it’s warmer. Okra germinates relatively
quickly, so it will only take about 10 days to two weeks
until your plants reach a stage where they’re large
enough to transplant outside, either in the ground or in
pots.
As okra seeds have a very hard coat, I find it helpful to
soak seeds for a few hours prior to sowing. This
improves the rate of germination.
Even in November, I still raise okra seedlings
undercover to protect them from fluctuating night time
temperatures. Okra seeds need warmth in order to
germinate. I germinate seeds in punnets filled with seed
raising mix from Gardn Gro. I like Gardn Gro’s seed
Growing Guide: Okra (cont from page 12)
raising mix as it is very fine in texture, enabling seeds to
push through the mixture easily as they rise to the surface.
I place the punnets inside plastic incubators which you can
purchase from garden centres. I then place the incubators
on a heat pad indoors and spray plants with water once
daily or twice if the seed raising mixture is very dry. If you
don’t have a heat pad, you can also use your hot water
cupboard which will also provide seedlings with a warm
environment so they can germinate successfully.
How to care for okra seedlings
I am currently selling green okra seedlings in my plant
nursery! Punnets are just $2 each and contain six
seedlings. To order yours, please text me on 021
02762091 with your name and let me know how many
punnets you require. I will then put the plants aside for
you until you can collect them.
Take care to keep plants undercover until late November
as okra is frost sensitive. The weather can be
temperamental in spring (don’t forget that November is still
spring!) and the nights are often still quite cool. From then
on, start “hardening them off”. This is the process of
exposing plants to the outdoors incrementally, for
example, for two hours in the middle of the day for the first
week, increasing to four hours per day for the next week.
Continue to bring the plants indoors at night. By the end of
November, it should be safe to leave plants outdoors
overnight.
Okra varieties
If you’re planning to grow okra from seed, you’ll find that
they come in range of colours. Egmont Seeds have two
varieties, Burgundy and Emerald Green. I’ve grown both
of them in the past, with great results. To order seeds
from the very extensive Egmont Seeds range, visit
http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/.
How to care for okra plants
Being sub-tropical, okra needs at least 6 hours of
sunshine per day, so be sure to plant seedlings in the
sunniest spot in your garden. Before planting okra
seedlings, take the time to prepare the bed properly so
plants receive adequate nutrition. Dig the area over that
you wish to plant your seedlings in. Mix plenty of compost
and some sheep pellets into the ground. I highly
recommend Gardn Gro’s Wonder Nuggets, which are
100% organic and function as an excellent fertiliser. Rake
the ground so that it is nice and level. Add some tomato
fertiliser to each plant’s hole at the time of planting, to give
Anita's Garden 13
plants a strong start to life and encourage fruiting.
Alternatively, you can grow okra in pots. We grew okra
in both the ground and in containers one summer. We
found that plants grown in pots were bigger and more
fruitful than their counterparts in the ground. The soil
temperature in containers is warmer than the ground and
black pots will radiate the heat. Pots are also prefect if
you’re short on ground space or want to devote the area
to crops that need room to spread, such as pumpkins
and melons or root crops such as potatoes and kumara,
which require depth in order to grow successfully.
Be sure to water plants every day, preferably early in the
morning or in the evening. In December, plants are in
their most active growing phase. Liquid feed okra plants
weekly to encourage the growth of healthy leaves and
the formation of flowers, which will develop into fruit.
Pollination of okra
Okra are self-pollinating and do not require the
assistance of insects or the wind for pollination, unlike a
lot of other summer vegetables.
Harvesting your okra
It can take what seems like forever for your first okra to
be ready for picking but be patient! In early summer, it
will usually be cooler so it might take awhile for them to
grow to full size. You can pick okra at any stage. I
prefer to pick them when they are smaller because they
are tender and you can stay on top of your harvest. If
left on the plant for too long, okra can become tough to
chew. Got a glut of okra that you can’t get through all at
once? This is quite a nice problem to have! Okra can
be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks prior to
consumption, or you can give some away to family,
friends and neighbours.
Tuesdays are my day off!
Recently, I decided that Tuesdays would be my day off.
The human body is not a machine and you need to rest
from time to time. Last Tuesday I went to Narrow Neck
Beach for the day. As you can see from the picture, it
was a lovely day and I had a wonderful time!
The beautiful Narrow Neck Beach in Devonport
Growing guide: Coreopsis
So far, all of my growing guides for flowers have been for
annuals or bulbs/tubers. Over the next few weeks, I would
like to cover some of my favourite perennials. The
difference between annuals and perennials is that annuals
will grow, set seed and die after one growing season
(meaning that you will have to resow them unless they
self-seed freely), whereas perennials stay alive in the
ground and will reflower in subsequent seasons. By their
nature, perennials are low maintenance plants. I think
there’s a place for both annuals and perennials in any
garden. Anita’s Garden contains both annuals and
perennials. This is the reason that there are normally
flowers in the garden year round, which is very important
to us.

A perennial that I only discovered last season is coreopsis.

This wonderful yellow flower is so cheerful, easy to grow
and once established in your garden, will pop up year after
year without you having to worry about resowing or
replanting seedlings. The flowers are on long stems so
they are perfect for picking and placing in a vase inside, or
adding to other floral arrangements. One of our Early
Sunrise coreopsis plants is flowering at the moment. I
hope that this guide will encourage others to give this
beautiful, hardy plant a go, too.
Sowing coreopsis from seed
Coreopsis can be started from seed. It takes
approximately 100 days from the time of the germination
of a coreopsis seed until flowering, which isn’t too bad.
Coreopsis can be started from seed indoors in October or
even earlier if you live in a more temperate zone and have
a hot house to protect them from the cold. Coreopsis
seeds need warmth in order to germinate. I germinate
seeds in punnets filled with seed raising mix from Gardn
Gro. I like Gardn Gro’s seed raising mix as it is very fine
in texture, enabling seeds to push through the mixture
easily as they rise to the surface. I place the punnets
inside plastic incubators which you can purchase from
garden centres. I then place the incubators on a heat pad
indoors and spray plants with water once daily or twice if
the seed raising mixture is very dry. If you don’t have a
heat pad you can also use your hot water cupboard which
will also provide seedlings with a warm environment so
they can germinate successfully.
How to care for coreopsis seedlings
For new gardeners, those who don’t wish to start their
coreopsis seedlings from seed or if you’ve simply left it too
late, plants are available for sale in nurseries from October
onwards. I am selling large, established flowering
coreopsis plants in my nursery for just $5 each. I have 10
Coreopsis Early Sunrise flowering in the garden now!
each of the varieties Early Sunrise and Rising Sun.
Each plant is a very large grade and comes in a potting
bag, so it’s ready to plant straight into your garden. The
plants are actually in flower at the moment and they look
lovely! They are just $5 each. Please text me on 021
02762091 if you are interested in purchasing plants.
Please specify which variety you would like and how
many plants you require.
Coreopsis varieties
If you’re planning to grow coreopsis from seed, you’ll find
that they come in an impressive array of colours, sizes
and heights. Egmont Seeds have a variety called
Sunfire, which has received the Fleuroselect Quality
Mark, widely recognised by gardeners and professional
growers worldwide. To order seeds from the very
extensive Egmont Seeds range, visit
http://www.egmontseeds.co.nz/.
How to care for coreopsis plants
Coreopsis need at least 6 hours of sunshine per day, so
be sure to plant seedlings or plants in the sunniest spot
in your garden. Before planting coreopsis seedlings,
take the time to prepare the bed properly so plants
receive adequate nutrition. Dig the area over that you
wish to plant your seedlings in. Mix plenty of compost
and some sheep pellets into the ground. I highly
recommend Gardn Gro’s Wonder Nuggets, which are
100% organic and function as an excellent fertiliser.
Rake the ground so that it is nice and level. Be sure to
water plants every day, preferably early in the morning
or in the evening. Liquid feed coreopsis weekly to
encourage the growth of healthy leaves and the
formation of flowers.

Anita's Garden 14