Friesian cow manure is the key to growing super-sized veges, farmer claims

Waikato farmer Colin Craig-Brown says his “friesian frisbees” are the key to growing supersized vegetables.

Colin and Donna Craig-Brown gained international fame in 2021 for growing what was believed at the time to be the world’s largest potato. The potato was tested and eventually identified as a type of gourd, but it’s still a testament to Colin’s growing abilities.

This year Colin is having success with some new and different vegetables, including tromboncino, a type of Italian courgette, and lauki, a type of bottle gourd.

He says manure from his friesian cows help to grow his vegetables healthy and large.

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“If I’m getting a whole bag of dry ones I might put them straight in the garden, or I often get them and the half-baked ones and put them in a drum and water them down and just do a liquid manure. That works pretty well.”

Another liquid fertiliser comes from a drum filled with seaweed collected from the beach. “That works well in the garden and seems to last quite a while, you just keep topping up the drum with water.”

He planted the tromboncino in spring and “they’ve just grown huge, easily a metre long”. If supported on a trellis they grow straight but if lying on the ground, they curl up like a trombone, he says.

“They’ve got a bulbous lower part of the marrow and that’s where all the seeds are. So the big long part is just all flesh. No pithy centre like a marrow or zucchini. It tastes like an ordinary courgette or marrow. I’ve got some out there hanging on a frame and they just keep going. We’re going to save the seed from the best one.”

Colin bought the lauki seedling from a garden centre and planted it in a back paddock of his Waikato farm and “it’s just grown over a big pile of stumps, it’s happy as”. He’s also had success with big orange pumpkins, turmeric (which usually like warmer climates), yacon and choko which has taken over the shed roof.

The tromboncino and lauki are used in stews and casseroles, and “keep their firmness” unlike ordinary courgettes and marrow, “which turn to mush”. The chokos are mainly fed to the sheep.

He has just planted another round of cabbage and lettuce and is thankful the white cabbage butterfly is finally starting to disappear with the cooling of the weather. All fed and helped along with his homemade liquid fertilisers.

He doesn’t like to use sprays if he can avoid it but does have one unusual idea for a spray to deter pests.

“I read in some gardening magazine, or it might have been the old gardening guru Eion Scarrow who mentioned it, I’m not sure, but you get cigarette butts in a container and soak them up with a bit of detergent and water and spray it on the plants and a lot of things just hate it.

“It stinks like you wouldn’t believe. It smells like the dirtiest ashtray you’ve ever come across and you just dilute it down and spray it and things just stay away from it. I don’t know if it kills the bugs, but the caterpillars just fall off the plants. They just go away. It’s a bit hard to find the butts now, but I’ve used that in the past. And I’ve used garlic and chilli. You just get a packet of chilli powder and soak it up with hot water and detergent and make a bit of spray with that. That usually works.”

Colin says don’t listen to naysayers and advises giving everything a go, but admits to some frustrations.

His dad, Harold, was an orchard advisory officer for the Australian government, but even his passed on experience hasn’t helped with the codling moths in his Braeburn, Red Delicious and Golden Delicious apple trees.

“It sort of goes into the too hard basket having a stringent spray regime to stop moulds and funguses and this and that, so it’s easier to just take what you get. We get a lot of codling moths, but it’s like a dog chasing its tail, unless you’re pouring poison all over them, you’re never going to get rid of them.

“We just cut out the bad bit and eat the rest. I say to my grandkids that that’s why the fruit is so good to eat because even the insects eat them. The ones we don’t eat, and the birds leave behind, I turn them into smiles. I put them into a big barrel and make cider out of it and boy, you should see the smiles.”

Water your compost heap

A compost heap needs moisture during dry, hot weather just as much as garden beds. All the microbes that work there, along with fungi and bacteria, need water in order to survive and operate effectively (bread down materials).

Compost can get so dry that it becomes hydrophobic and repels water instead of absorbing it. At this time, your heap will experience a loss of microbial diversity. Watering from the top may not be enough to dampen the whole heap as water will just run straight through.

Turn the heap and dampen each layer as you go. Add dolomite lime, sheep pellets or blood and bone between each layer to kick-start the heap back into action.

Start saving seeds now

Some of my container plants such as basil, rocket and coriander have turned to seed, as has the old silverbeet left in the ground after the floods. I usually take the seed stem after it has dried on the plant or cut it and leave it to dry a little longer in the shed.

It’s recommended to save from only the healthiest plants. It pays to take note which varieties cropped well during the season and which ones didn’t. Next year grow the best again, or try a new version, as breeders are always putting out new and improved varieties.

Seed can also be saved from tomatoes, eggplants and chillies by scooping out with a spoon and leaving to dry on a paper towel. Once dried, pick out the seeds and save in a paper bag in a dry place to plant out again in spring.

Gardening by the moon

March 18-19. Another chance to sow lawn seed and root crops and plant bulbs. March 20-23. Cultivate the soil and spread fertiliser.

Gardening by the maramataka

We are approaching ngahuru (autumn). Seed collection can begin in regions where plants show that maturity. The emphasis is on the harvest, especially root crops. Prepare your crops for hauhake (harvest) through reduced (or nil) irrigation, and clearing top growth for promoting skin quality. Prepare the storage facility too – a place free of pest or disease, with an ambient and settled temperature. This applies to both produce and seeds; they need to get through winter without negative impacts on their quality. At this time, we believe the sun (te Ra) is transitioning to his first wife, Hine-takurua – his wife of the cold winter months. The new moon falls on the night of the 21st, and the windy equinox period (Tamatea phase) from the 26th, lasting several days. Support vulnerable plants and crops. Following the Tamatea phase, begin to collect kākano (seed); the winds of Tāwhirimātea will have ensured they are dry enough for storage. Collect seeds of shorter-term crops at your leisure. Dr Nick Roskruge