Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue#7.3 - 2016 i Good Organic Gardening

Whenever I find a new insect in my garden that I haven’t seen before I take a photo and send it to my very knowledgeable gardening friends to see if they can I.D. it. If they don’t know, I try the museum. The other thing I usually want to know is whether it’s “good” or “bad” Now, some people would argue there’s no such thing as a “bad” bug. Just as a weed can be seen as a plant that’s in the wrong place, garden pests are insects that happen to be — for us gardeners — in the wrong place at the wrong time. But they can also be an indication that something’s amiss or lacking in the soil and plants. Some bugs aren’t all that destructive and you…

GOOD EATING These bamboos are grown and harvested for their edible shoots: • Phyllostachys atrovaginata • P. dulcis • P. heterocycla f. pubescens • P. hindsii • P. iridescens • P. nidularia • P. nuda • P. praecox • P. platyglossa • P. vivax • Qiongzhuea tumidissinoda • Semiarundinaria fastuosa DID YOU KNOW? Depending on the species, bamboo flowers only once every 7–120 years. Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants around. There are choices for every climate and it thrives in a wide range of soils and light conditions. Given its versatility, this clever plant could possibly feed the world, not just the world’s pandas. The edible part of bamboo is the plump new shoot, but not every bamboo shoot is worth eating. Many of the edible shoots come…

If you have English heritage, or devoured UK adventure stories as a kid, the word burdock may lead you to recall an oldfashioned soft drink known as dandelion and burdock. If your background is Asian, you’ll know burdock as gobo, an edible herb. Whatever your upbringing, burdock or gobo (Arctium lappa) is a vigorous, weedy plant that’s nutritious and used for its medicinal properties. It’s part of the daisy family (Asteraceae) and grows readily from seed, which is planted in spring or autumn. Burdock is a biennial, meaning it continues to grow for more than a year. If left to grow to maturity, it reaches 1–2m high and 1m wide and produces tufty purple thistle-like flowers on top of a round, spiky capsule that turns into a large, prickly and…

In the north of NSW, on the slopes of the Great Dividing Range, lies the historic gold-mining village of Nundle. Comprising just a small handful of homesteads spread widely over grazing hills and farmland, the town has developed a strong homegrown culture and no wonder. On weekends, fruits and vegetables are bartered in the street while seeds are donated and exchanged from the local library Kay and Mark Delahunt run the local antique shop, a heritage-listed Art Deco building filled with old wares and fine china. “We’re very strong on recycling,” says Kay. “In many ways the antique business is a form of recycling itself.” Kay and Mark moved into their Nundle cottage some 16 years ago. “It was on a very small, very dry and very bare block of…

If sour lemon sucks your cheeks in and orange is candy sweet, grapefruit sits somewhere in between, a delicious combination of citrus tang with a bitter twist. Grapefruit halves dusted with sugar are a breakfast favourite but this versatile citrus can be used to add a refreshing zing to everything from seafood dishes and salads to sorbets and fruity cocktails. ‘Marsh’s Seedless’ is a timeless yellow variety with medium to large fruit and a sweet, zesty flavour. It’s a vigorous tree that produces a big crop of juicy grapefruits from mid-autumn to winter. ‘Wheeny’ (a pomelo hybrid) is another traditional variety, with big yellow fruit with a thin–medium rind. It’s a strong, vigorous tree, so give it space to grow and you’ll be rewarded with a bountiful crop from late…

Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tyroni) is one of the most adaptive insect pests in Australia. It is native to eastern Queensland and northeastern NSW and, until recently, Queensland fruit fly (QFF) damage was mostly found in major commercial horticulture areas and home gardens in Qld, NSW and the NT, where commercial fruit growers have learnt to manage QFF extremely well over the past 30 years. Decades ago, it was noted in research on this pest that most adult flies would not survive the colder winters in Victoria, so the chance of it being a threat there would be low. However, QFF damage to commercial crops in Victoria is now increasing in some areas as the pest adapts to colder climates. Many southern commercial fruit growers and home gardeners are afraid…

It’s a common error to think that geese are just ornamental birds because they look fantastic gliding around the dam. Geese have presence and exude tonnes of personality but they can also be an asset with grass and pest control. There are more dos and don’ts with geese than other poultry species because they are very intelligent and capable of remembering unpleasant experiences or mishandling. As they can live for many years, most making it to their late teens or early 20s and a few reaching their 30s, it’s important that behaviour guidelines are set from the start. NICE BUT NASTY Whether you have three or 33 geese, anticipate the blokes in the flock starting territorial behaviour in winter in readiness for mating and setting in spring. Even the nicestnatured…

VEGETABLES COOL & TEMPERATE In all but the coldest areas, plant summer crops now, including corn, beans, cucumber, tomato, zucchini, squash and pumpkin. As they grow, tie tomato stems to tall stakes and train climbing beans and cucumbers onto a tepee or trellis. Use soft ties to avoid damaging stems. Make the most of the good growing times ahead with succession planting. Every few weeks, sow more seeds or plant a few more seedlings of leafy greens such as lettuce and English spinach (best in cooler zones) to keep a continuous harvest happening. To help shade crops as the heat intensifies, sow a row of sunflowers along the western side of the vegie patch — or use this space for a block of corn or a trellis of beans. TROPICAL…

One of the most celebrated April Fools’ Day jokes of all time was a story broadcast in 1957 on the highly respected BBC currentaffairs show Panorama about the annual spaghetti tree harvest in Switzerland. The TV segment, which can be viewed on YouTube, showed a family supposedly gathering long strands of pasta from their own trees. The joke fooled many and lots of viewers are said to have contacted the BBC for details on how to grow a spaghetti tree. While spaghetti is normally made from wheat flour and water mixed with egg, Panorama wasn’t completely barking up the wrong tree, so to speak, as it’s possible to grow your own spaghetti on a vine, if not a tree. When cooked — baked, boiled or microwaved whole — the flesh…

Don’t overlook eggplant among the rich bounty of summer produce. It’s a wonderfully productive plant that deserves a place in the garden as much as on the plate, with its attractive grey-green foliage, pretty flowers and glossy fruit. On its own, eggplant can taste a little bland but the flesh soaks up flavours and spices beautifully and is a good meat substitute. Get some in the ground this spring and you’ll be rewarded with a banquet of fruit for months on end. Eggplants aren’t all big and purple. They can be long and thin, rotund or oblong, while skin colour can range from white and yellow to green, purple and black, with all manner of variations in between. Some early varieties of eggplant were small, white and egg-like — hence…

Staffordshire Reef, like much of the Golden Plains around Ballarat, was a goldfield for half a century after miners discovered the precious metal there in 1858. In the following years the population swelled to 293 but by 1933 had declined to a tenth of that number. David and Vivienne Warland have struck it rich in a different way in Staffordshire Reef. With their grandson Toby, they live on 200 acres (81 ha) of which a quarter of an acre comprises fruit trees and a vegetable garden, all organically grown. Both David and Vivienne are former age-care nurses, though David learned landscaping and tree planting while working as a gardener at a school. In 1995 he started a horticultural course at Ballarat’s Botanical Gardens, on Lake Wendouree. While David was a…

Limes are small, beautiful fruiting trees with lush evergreen foliage and scented blossoms. In some areas the exotic fruit is expensive to buy, so why wouldn’t you plant one in the garden? It’s the Tahitian lime (Citrus × latifolia) with its small rounded fruit and zesty lime flavour that I use most, in everything from Brazilian-style cocktails to Thai-inspired seafood dishes. It’s more cold-tolerant than other limes so is a good one for growing further south. The lime flavour is most intense when the fruit is green, but the juice is more generous as the fruit changes to yellow. For an intense lime flavour, try the West Indian or Mexican key lime (C. aurantifolia). It thrives in warm frost-free areas so it’s one for tropical and subtropical gardeners. The fruit…

Understanding that not every bug in our garden is there to destroy our plants — and that some are even there to help — is a good start to developing an appreciation of the magical, mysterious world of insects and creating a healthy environment in our own backyards. It’s all about balance and biodiversity within our backyard ecosystem, even those as small as 400 square metres. As gardeners, we should actually be grateful for the so-called bad bugs, as they are more often than not an important sign that something is amiss in the garden. Killing them all off can be a little like shooting the messenger, in a way. You could be having a particular pest outbreak because you are growing a vegetable out of season or have incorrect…

After 15 years as a seafarer, when Emma Carlos decided to jump ship she very quickly learned to enjoy a landlubber’s life. She and partner Mark Simm bought an 18.5-acre (7.5 ha) property in Beerwah, a town tucked behind the Glass House Mountains in the lush subtropical Sunshine Coast hinterland. Blackwattle Farm is a B&B and farmstay offering a memorable berth for tourists. But the organic farming duo had a much bigger vision for their slice of rural paradise. “We wanted to aim to be as self-sufficient as possible,” says Emma. “We have a small herd of Dexter cows — the steers for meat and cows for milking — as well as chickens for eggs and some meat pigs, too. Plus, of course, our beautiful vegie patch.” The 30m×30m vegetable…

Citrus offer a fantastic combination of lush green foliage and beautifully scented flowers. That alone would be enough to satisfy most gardeners, but citrus completes the trifecta by providing delicious, juicy and colourful fruit. Citrus could almost be called the perfect plant. From mandarins, oranges and lemons to limes, tangelos and grapefruit, there’s a citrus to suit almost every climate and spot in the garden, from a large spreading tree to a potted dwarf variety on a sunny balcony. There are a few key tips to growing citrus successfully at your place. A SUNNY, WELL-DRAINED SPOT Citrus does best with at least six hours of sunshine a day. Shaded citrus will not be as productive. Citrus trees also need well-drained soil or they can be prone to root-rot diseases. In…

As the days lengthen and the weather warms, our plants are just waiting for soil and air temperatures to rise so they can get growing and make the most of the spring season. You can help by ensuring there are adequate nutrients in the soil for them to draw on. Fertilising, of course, will always be subject to a few specific individual needs and how often to apply it really depends on what you’re growing, what season it is and so forth. You can be pretty sure that most plants, however, are going into new growth as they come out of winter and into the warmer months. ORGANIC IS THE WAY TO GO Healthy, biologically active soil will be more beneficial for plants because their roots will be able to…

VEGETABLES COOL & TEMPERATE After a long, cold winter it’s reassuring to see new shoots appearing. The appearance of the first asparagus shoots in the vegetable garden is an exciting moment. Harvest them daily, as the spears quickly become tall and woody. Not so welcome are weed seedlings, which are also appearing now. Keep weeds under control around existing and new plantings by regularly hoeing the soil; also spread mulch to deter weed growth. Sow summer crops including chilli, capsicum, tomato, eggplant, cucumber, pumpkin, squash, zucchini and beans. Also plant lettuce and herbs, including basil, parsley and coriander. Potatoes, beetroot and carrot can be planted now in all areas. When planting potatoes, use certified disease-free seed potatoes (tubers). In areas that are still cold and where frosts are likely, hold…

ORGANIC AND BIODYNAMIC TIPPLES Robinvale Wines is a family owned and operated dual-certified organic and biodynamic winery and vineyard in Robinvale, northwest Victoria. Resembling a Greek Temple, the winery was built from Mount Gambier limestone to help maintain a cool temperate cellar. The winery is fully equipped with bottling facilities and cellar door. The property is certified with the Bio-Dynamic Research Institute of Australia and is Australian Certified Organic. Products that meet the high standards of these organisations are entitled to carry the logos indicating they are certified and produced according to those high standards . Robinvale produces award-winning red, white, sparkling, fortified and preservativefree wines, pure grape juice, sparkling non-al beverages and dried fruits. New releases coming soon are all “NO PRESERVATIVE ADDED” Wines: 2016 Shiraz, 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon,…