Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue#8.2 - 2017 i Good Organic Gardening

Our visit to the marvellous Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show back in late March, when we were beginning work on this issue, got us wildly excited about ornamentals all over again. The floral and foliage displays, which were gorgeous as usual, reminded us that food gardeners love their flowers and hedges and decorative foliage, too. Gardening is gardening, after all. So next issue we will be introducing a regular feature on ornamental plants. They can bring to our gardens pretty shows of flowers, striking foliage colours and textures, plus structure, both formal and informal. They complement the trees and lawns to form a coherent landscape, with many points of interest for both humans and wildlife, including those allimportant pollinators. Winter is a great time to get outside and build…

Elderberry is native to Europe but has naturalised in many parts of Australia, where it is considered a useful weed. It’s valued for its dainty, fragrant white spring flowers and its clusters of small black berries that ripen in late summer. Both flowers and berries are used to make delicious cordials and sparkling wine, along with jams or jellies. The flowers can also be used to make fritters. It’s vital to cook the berries as the raw fruit contains cyanide, which is neutralised by heating. There are also many medicinal uses for elderberry, including in the treatment of colds and flu and respiratory ailments. Rich in vitamin C, elder has been called “the medicine chest of the people”. Medieval herbalist John Evelyn described it as “a kind of Catholicon against…

Horseradish tree, drumstick tree, muringa, jacinto, West Indian bean, wonder tree and miracle tree are just a few of the common names this useful and very versatile tree goes by. Moringa oleifera, which originated in the sub-Himalayan region of India, is quickly becoming one of the world’s most versatile and useful tree species. It’s estimated that in India it has been used medicinally and as a nutritious edible for some 5000 years. It’s now being grown in many locations across the globe, including Asia, Africa, the Pacific, Europe, the US and Central and South America. Moringa will tolerate varied and wide climatic conditions, including arid zones and low rainfall areas, so it will grow virtually anywhere except cold regions that receive frost and snow. This adaptability and capacity to grow…

Graham Sutherland has a passion for growing things and creating ecosystems. This is not an easy task in Wilkesdale in Queensland’s South Burnett region, which has been devastated by cattle grazing and other farming practices, resulting in constant drought pressure for the past few decades, together with intermittent flooding. This summer has been especially dry and hot, with temperatures reaching well into the 40s. Graham’s 40 acres are dominated by a handful of drought-, frost- and fire-tolerant species, but he’s determined to rehabilitate the land and restore it to what it once was: a rainforest that covered the entire region. Despite the difficult conditions, he has a few neat tricks tucked in his hat and he’s very enthusiastic to share them. “The issues I face in trying to grow fruit…

COOL & TEMPERATE VEGIES Apply liquid fertiliser to stimulate growth on leafy winter crops, including cabbages and tasty greens such as rocket and soft-hearted lettuce. Apply the liquid fertiliser every 7–10 days. Keep the greens coming by sowing seeds or planting seedlings every few weeks. Plant broad beans and spring onions; broad beans do best with a climbing trellis or stakes for support. Also plant silverbeet, English spinach and peas (podding and snow peas). There’s still time to plant perennial vegies such as asparagus and rhubarb. These long-lived vegies grow from crowns and do best planted into well-prepared beds with added organic matter dug in. Keep inspecting all brassicas (kale, cabbages, cauliflower and broccoli) for snails, slugs and green caterpillars, which are damaging to many winter crops, especially new plantings.…

3-D FARMING IN THE OCEAN Oceans play a crucial role in mitigating climate change as they absorb the bulk of human-generated carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Increasing carbon dioxide levels and nitrogen run-off from farms are depleting ocean oxygen levels, creating dead zones and disrupting the entire ocean food chain. Enter Bren Smith, long-term fisherman turned sustainable climate farmer from Thimble Island Ocean Farm in Connecticut, USA. After realising his days as a fisherman were numbered because there simply weren’t enough fish left to catch, and rejecting fish farming because of its unsustainability, Smith came up with a 3-D ocean farming model as a way of producing food while having a positive impact on the ocean. It’s a zero-input system that requires no land, no fertiliser, no antibiotics or fresh…

If you’ve travelled or gardened in different climates, you may have noticed an intriguing thing about the flowers of the ubiquitous weed, scarlet pimpernel. Its flowers can be red (scarlet) or blue. Recent studies have revealed that the variation in flower colour is related to temperature. Here in my cold Tasmanian garden, the scarlet pimpernel lives up to its name, but in the hotter, sunnier climate of Sydney where I used to garden and where there was plenty of scarlet pimpernel, its flowers were blue. A nice blue to be sure, but not scarlet. The change in colour within a species (known as colour morphism) is to do with a chemical called anthocyanin, a pigment found in the tissue of leaves, stems, flowers and fruits. If it’s expressed it causes…

The township of Wallington, established 150 years ago on Victoria’s beautiful Bellarine Peninsula, is renowned for its annual strawberry festival and aquaticthemed Adventure Park. As for Ben Keon-Cohen, his latest adventure started five years ago when the former architect moved his family from nearby Geelong to a house he designed and built himself on a fiveacre block in Wallington. Ben had already been gardening for 25 years. Even in Geelong, he says, he always had an organic backyard garden with vegetables and fruit trees. He and his family looked to Wallington not just for its mild, sometimes dry coastal climate, but for the opportunities for family time, music making and surfing. Plus the extra space has allowed him to devote just over half an acre to his market garden and…

Each year in northern Tasmania, a farmer plants a field of maize (corn to you and me) then, in late summer, mows it into a maze. This year, the 3.5ha maze took the form of a map of Tasmania and required two days of mowing to create. The annual maze is at Rupertswood Farm at Hagley and is open in late summer and early autumn for all ages to explore and enjoy. It’s the work of Rowan Clark, who has created mazes on his property for the past four years. Mr Clark is not alone in his passion for creating maize mazes; similar structures are cultivated on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria and across the world. After visitors enjoy getting lost and found in the maize maze, it is harvested…

Kohlrabi is an odd-looking vegetable. It could never be described as attractive — perhaps “curious” is better. Stripped of its leaves, it looks like a space oddity. It’s part of the huge brassica family and, unlike its close relatives — such as kale and broccoli — has not yet risen from obscurity to become trendy as a “superfood”. It’s down the bottom of the popularity list, along with turnips and mangel-wurzel. Despite its lack of charm and popularity, kohlrabi is well worth growing. It has a swollen stem base, which may be purple or white, and tufts of green leaves. The stem is crisp and sweet and can be eaten in many ways. It’s rich in vitamins (especially vitamin C) and potassium. It’s also a good source of dietary fibre.…

COOL & TEMPERATE VEGIES It’s important to know whether you’re gardening in a warm temperate or cold temperate part of the country as planting times vary considerably. Where late winter is warm and frostfree (warm temperate and coastal zones), it’s safe to plant out summer vegies, but where the weather remains unpredictable and nights are cold or still frosty (cold temperate southern regions), delay planting until conditions warm. Herbs and vegetables to hold off planting out in cold areas include basil, beans, tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, capsicums, pumpkins and zucchini. To get a head start with these vegies in areas with short summer seasons, sow seeds in seed trays, punnets or small individual pots and keep the seedlings in a warm, well-lit spot such as a glasshouse or cold frame. Pot…

I LOVE GARDEN DELIGHT! “As a fanatical plant collector I have a desire to grow many rare and unusual plants. To my advantage, I worked for 17 years in the nursery and garden industry as a professional horticultural salesperson with access to every available fertiliser on the market. Even with this at my disposal I still couldn’t grow everything I wanted to grow and had to give up on many plants that weren’t technically suited to my soil or climate. Garden Delight has answered my prayers. Having a rock mineral base to condition any soil and utilising composted vegetable matter instead of manures, it offers a mineral- and nutrient-rich smorgasbord for each different plant species to tap into as it requires. I can now grow beautiful vegies, natives, roses, tropical…

In a quiet street in Mittagong, NSW, there’s an ordinary red-brick house on a quarter-acre block. From the front it looks much like every other house, but exit out the back door and you’re drawn into a labyrinth of green. Wiggly paths take you ducking and weaving around garden beds bursting with vegetables, herbs and colourful flowers. Joanne Dodd bought the property as a single parent in 2005 and began transforming the flat rectangular expanse of lawn, with its iconic Hills Hoist plonked in the middle, into a forager’s wonderland. “I never sat down and made a plan; it just evolved,” she says. “I’ve used permaculture design principles and I just did things as I had time and resources available.” A thrifty approach to life and gardening led to an…

JULY 2017 Winter is all about nourishing, warming brassicas and root vegetables, along with rich herbed tomato sauces. Lighten up your dishes with peas and winter greens. AUGUST 2017 Moving towards the end of our official winter, it’s time to start thinking about preparing your soil for your spring plantings and starting them from seed. When the moon is waxing from new moon to full moon, it is increasing light and drawing sap flow upwards. During the waning from full moon back to new moon, light decreases and sap is drawn downwards. This movement of sap flow has an influence on how well new plants will grow. There are four phases, each lasting seven to eight days. Sowing, planting and taking cuttings should not be done in the 12 hours…

Carrot growing has had a real shot in the arm in recent years, with the availability of carrots in many colours. While there’s nothing wrong with traditional orange carrots — indeed, there’s lots of good in a carrot — adding yellow, white and tones of red and purple to the carrot colour palette has turned them from hohum to very exciting and fashionable. SOIL PREPARATION, CLIMATE The best-shaped and most flavoursome carrots are harvested from deep friable soil that’s free of stones, clods and added organic matter. A deep, sandy loam produces long, straight carrots, whatever colour you plant. When preparing soil, dig it over to at least a spade’s depth as that’s the depth the roots penetrate. In very acid soils (below 5.5), dig in a little lime. Take…

Cranberry plants can be harder to come by than other berries, but they’re well worth growing for their petite pretty red fruit, which is delicious dried or made into jam, sauce or juice. Cranberries are also packed with antioxidants and are a great source of vitamin C. Cranberries are more commonly grown on a commercial scale, but there are good reasons to grow them at home. The cranberry is native to North America. It’s a wiry evergreen groundcover that grows to around 20cm tall with attractive pink flowers followed by tarttasting berries, which start out white and turn dark red when ripe. GROWING If you can grow blueberries in your garden, then you’re likely to be successful with cranberries. They enjoy full sun, acidic soil and plenty of organic matter…

1 GREEN STYLING In the world of interior decorating, the houseplant has become the latest must-have home accessory. However, if your prize fiddle-leaf fig decides to turn brown and leggy, it might end up looking worse than no plant at all. Alongside a carefully monitored mix of sunshine and water, it’s also important to gently wipe dust from your houseplant’s leaves, prune back brown foliage and rotate regularly so that all sides get access to the sun. While it may be tempting, try not to move your plants around from one room to another, even if your decor demands it. Even a slight change of conditions can make a houseplant highly stressed. 2 BOUNCE BACK A scattering of white pebbles around your pot plants or garden not only looks lovely,…