Innholdsfortegnelse for 14.6 i Good Organic Gardening

Kicking a garden off from a completely blank canvas, as we currently are, is the golden opportunity to get it right. By that I mean plant a garden that will thrive in our temperate seaside climate, sandy soil and often dry conditions; one that will provide food to eat, scents wafting by and beauty for the eye; and, most importantly, one that will create habitat for local wildlife. Our council encourages and facilitates this through its Backyard Habitat for Wildlife program. (Well worth joining if your council has one.) So what is a habitat garden? According to our council’s handy Backyard Habitat Planting Guide, it’s one that “provides natural food, shelter and water for native Australian fauna … Habitat gardens are grown using native Australian plant species.” It goes on…

The medlar is an old-fashioned fruit not quite lost from cultivation but certainly from general knowledge. Once better known than apples, today it’s regarded more as a curiosity than as a tasty treat — but it offers a history lesson in the development of fruit. A small, oddly shaped fruit produced on a small tree (3m high and wide), medlar, like its better-known relatives such as apple and hawthorn, is a member of the rose family (Rosaceae) and sports single white rose-like flowers in spring. The tree has thorns and small toothed leaves, while the fruit is russet brown, smallish and shaped like a hawthorn with distinct calyces around its base. Indeed, its similarity to hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) has seen the medlar reclassified in the Crataegus genus as C. germanica.…

Geraldton, 420km north of Perth, is something of a marine graveyard. Several Dutch vessels including the infamous Batavia sank off the coast. Explorer George Grey, later South Australia’s governor, was shipwrecked at Kalbarri and, in 1941, HMAS Sydney went down with all hands after a sea battle with a German cruiser off Shark Bay. Ironic, then, that these days this hot and windy port city is a magnet for kitesurfers and other water-sports enthusiasts. Adding to its renown, just northeast of the city, is Chapman Valley Fishing Park, home to Wayne and Leanne Barndon. GERALDTON IS KNOWN FOR ITS TOMATOES AND CUCUMBERS BUT, WAYNE SAYS, “WE GROW ALMOST EVERYTHING!” The 170-acre property comprises a fish farm, 10 acres of “the touristy side of it”, a large hothouse and 480m2 of…

MARCH 2024 Early autumn in most of Australia means high temperatures are still likely in the daytime along with humidity, which means there’s still a lot to plant in your patch. APRIL 2024 April feels more like autumn as the nights become cooler and the wet season ends in tropical areas, but the days are still warm enough for good plant growth. New moon First quarter Full moon Last quarter 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…

It has to be said: if you’ve always hated Brussels sprouts it’s probably because of the way someone in your family cooked them; you’re haunted by memories of the boiled, soggy, insipid specimens you were served as a kid. If you’re game, you need to have a go at growing, harvesting and cooking your own. Roasted, they take on a deliciously nutty flavour that goes really well with other roast veg or meats. Finely sliced and added to a salad, they have a sweet, crunchy, subtle cabbage-like flavour. One of my favourite ways to enjoy them is cut in half, lightly steamed and smothered in garlic butter. If you have cold winters, they’ll taste even better. Cold nights and frosty mornings are said to improve the flavour and colour of…

This is an edited extract from Meatsmith by Andrew McConnell and Troy Wheeler (Hardie Grant Books, RRP $60). Meatsmith is available in stores nationally. PARSNIP, ORANGE & VADOUVAN GRATIN SERVES 8 Quite possibly our favourite parsnip recipe ever. This pairs so well with duck but would be equally at home next to a good steak. INGREDIENTS • 500g boiling (such as desiree) potatoes, peeled• 1 tbsp vadouvan spice mix (see recipe, below)• 600g parsnips, peeled• 40g unsalted butter, softened• 1 large onion, peeled & diced• 500mL pouring (whipping) cream• 300mL chicken stock• zest 1 lemon• zest 1 orange• pinch ground nutmeg• salt & pepper, to season Vadouvan spice mix • 2 teaspoons dried curry leaves• ¾ teaspoon fenugreek seeds• 2 teaspoons ground cumin• 2 green cardamom pods• ¾ teaspoon brown…

VEGETABLE SEEDLING NURSERY KIT The team at Aussie Gardener have made it really easy to grow your own vegetable seedlings at home and put an end to all the plastic waste that happens from buying punnets at the nursery. This complete kit contains: A year’s worth of seed, large propagator, soil, seedling tonic, plant labels, seed dispenser, fertiliser and more! We also recommend you grab the optional Veggie Sowing Planner, which shows you what seeds to sow throughout the year based on your climate zone. Head to aussiegardener.com.au/nurserykit to find this kit or give them a call on 1800 222 800 FOR HEALTHIER, STRONGER NATIVES Earthlife Native Blend has been specifically blended for use on ALL natives and proteaceae. The unique blend of minerals, organic material, trace elements and garden-friendly…

Who doesn’t love a tomato? In March, The Diggers Club, Australia’s largest gardening community, is celebrating the 30th year of its heirloom tomato taste test. Diggers Tomato Festival is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, March 2–3, at Heronswood, the spectacular home of The Diggers Foundation. A week later, celebrate the summer harvest at the Harvest Festival, also at Heronswood, the home of heirloom seeds. Located in Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne, Heronswood is a working garden for gardeners. It was Australia’s first certified-organic open garden and is a living catalogue of the treasures to be found in The Diggers Club magazines and books. A cottage garden combining edible and ornamental plantings, it’s the place to get ideas about sustainable practices and the preservation of heirlooms. The Diggers…

REEF SPAWNS NEW CORALS Observers watched the Great Barrier Reef have sex as a new generation of corals was conceived on Moore Reef, 47km east of Cairns, early in November. Billions of tiny pink balls exploded into the water as different species of soft corals and a handful of hard corals began the nighttime regeneration process. For a few hours, the sex cell bundles broke open, releasing sperm and eggs to bump into each other then settle on coral rubble to form baby corals. Marine biologist Stuart Ireland has been documenting the annual rebirth at Moore Reef since 1996. “The coral cover and diversity is very high at Moore Reef after the past six years of strong growth and the 2023 spawning reflects this,” he said. “As in previous years,…

Cauliflower is a member of that happy family of brassicas known as cole crops, though in appearance it’s a bit of a one-off. Unlike its siblings, including Brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale, its leaves are not eaten — only the head, a large white inflorescence known as the curd. (The leaves are in fact edible but invariably discarded.) The brassicaceous brother the cauliflower head most resembles is broccoli except that, in that case, it’s the flower buds we eat. While cauli isn’t as easy to grow as, say, cabbage, its versatility makes it well worth the trouble. Besides steaming and serving it au gratin old-school style, you can fry it like a steak or roast the florets, toss them in a stir-fry or blitz them to make gluten-free rice, pasta…

Misty Tamborine Mountain, an idyllic rainforest region in the Scenic Rim about an hour southwest of Brisbane, is full of stunning subtropical gardens. Chanelle Hepplewhite, Daniel Briffa and their son Sabbath share their quarter-acre block with two lovely dogs — Vegas, a very senior dachshund, and Lunar, a camp dog from a remote community — plus a flock of chooks that deliver an average of eight eggs a day. The Hepplewhite-Briffa family is relatively new to the gardening caper but already theirs is one of the six gardens on the Tamborine Mountain Edible Garden Trail. A vet nurse who runs a doggy daycare business from home, Chanelle first got serious about her gardening after losing two jobs during lockdown. As a child she didn’t give much thought to where their…

In the early 20th century, when the kiwifruit was introduced to New Zealand as Chinese gooseberry, it’s said the locals thought it resembled their own national emblem, the flightless, fuzzy kiwi bird, and so the fruit earned a new name. Kiwifruit is a vigorous, deciduous vine that needs a sturdy trellis or pergola to climb. These long-lived creepers won’t begin to fruit until years after planting, with prolific harvests from 7–8 years onwards — after which your vine will continue fruiting for up to 50 years. You will however need more than one vine: kiwi vines are dioecious, meaning each will produce either male or female flowers, never both on the same plant. For pollination and fruit set you must have at least one male plant and one female plant,…

Fennel isn’t on every gardener’s radar but, as an attractive and very tasty vegetable that’s reasonably easy to grow, perhaps it should be. Though very popular in the UK and Europe, it’s not often seen in Aussie backyards. One reason might be that common fennel (Foeniculum vulgare var. vulgare) is regarded as a weed, often growing in wastelands or on roadsides where it forms a tall, leafy plant. The fennel that’s a star in the vegetable garden is better known as Florence fennel (F. vulgare var. azoricum), the form grown for its swollen white stem base (often referred to as a bulb) that has a crunchy texture and slightly aniseed flavour. A more compact variety than the weed, it grows to only around 30–40cm high. There are many named varieties…

COOL & TEMPERATE VEGIES • Take advantage of the ongoing daytime warmth to prepare for winter and spring harvests by sowing cabbage, broad beans, Asian greens, lettuce, rocket, carrots, silverbeet, spring onions and spinach. • Other edibles to try now include tatsoi, rocket, broccoli and leeks. Also, add some autumn colour with pollinator magnets like edible cornflowers, calendula, dianthus, pansies, violas, snapdragons, nasturtiums, verbena and marigolds. They should turn your plot into an eye-pleasing hive of industry. • If it’s still warm enough, consider starting some herbs such as parsley, coriander, rosemary, marjoram and thyme. You could give mint and lemon balm a go but watch out they don’t take over. • Summer crops like tomato and zucchini will be starting to die back. Time to clear those beds and…

JO IMMIG Jo is an environmental scientist, photographer and writer. She has worked in the environment movement for decades and is co-ordinator of the National Toxics Network, an organisation dedicated to creating a toxic-free future. She has written many articles for magazines and is the author of two books: Toxic Playground and Safer Solutions. MISSION BLUE SPOTS HOPE AT SEA Dr Sylvia Earle, oceanographer and chief scientist of the world-leading National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, heads Mission Blue, an organisation dedicated to exploring and protecting the world’s oceans by galvanising support and scientific research to identify a worldwide network of Hope Spots. Hope Spots are places that have been scientifically identified as critical to ocean health and are championed by local conservationists who nominate them to the program. To date,…

Although this pungent herb is a trailing plant, don’t be tempted to plant it near an edge or grow it on a balcony. The wrong location could be fatal for the furry member of your family, which might take a tumble. Instead, grow catnip near a hot sunny path so cats can roll in it, nibble it or rub their little furry faces on it safely. Cats that love catnip — and that’s around a half to two-thirds of them — are responding to its volatile scent and essential oils: in particular, nepetalactone, an essential oil thought to have a hallucinogenic effect. As well as appealing to domestic moggies, catnip is also enjoyed by larger members of the feline family including lions. Just one whiff is all most cats need…

Catherine Hill Bay is a heritagelisted village on Awabakal land just south of Newcastle. Once a mining town, it was named for the schooner Catherine Hill, which ran aground nearby during a fierce winter storm in 1867. Garden designer Linda (Linnie) Ross washed up in “Catho” rather more recently when she and Sparky, her “best friend and husband”, found a coalminer’s cottage for sale within a stone’s throw of one of New South Wales’ loveliest beaches. Linnie introduces herself as “mother to three children — Willow (in heaven), Melaleuca, 15, and Flinders, 11, who are deeply connected to country, and our Aussie Shepherd, Pearl”. If pressed, she’ll add “avid plant collector, master gardener, landscape architect, horticulturist, lifelong feminist, gardening teacher, maker of flower gardens and grower of food and dahlias”.…

Not many vegetables attain the status of national symbol but, if you’re Welsh, wearing a leek proudly denotes your nationality — especially if worn on Saint David’s Day, March 1. The custom goes back centuries. Even in Shakespeare’s time it was considered an ancient tradition, as noted in the Bard’s play Henry V. Although the leek is a symbol of Wales, the country’s national flower is the less pungent and prettier daffodil. While the Welsh wear the whole leek, only part of the plant is eaten: the lightgreen-to-white section of the lower stem between the root and the tough green leaf tops. Technically, the rigid cylindrical stem or stalk of the leek isn’t a true stem but is made up of closely packed leaf bases and referred to as the…

The aptly named woolly bush (Adenanthos sericeus) is one of my favourite plants because of its wonderfully textured, soft, silvery foliage. For me, it’s the perfect substitute for a cat or dog — stroking the branches of my furry plant friend gives me the same soothing sensation as petting a fourlegged buddy. Apart from this rather personal predilection, there is so much more to this fabulous group of Australian plants, also known as jugflowers because of their distinctive flask-shaped blooms. Adenanthos is yet another genus in the incredibly biodiverse Proteaceae family, which means it’s related to banksia and grevillea. This becomes more obvious when you look closely at the rather inconspicuous flowers in various shades of red, pink, yellow, and orange. Even though the flowers are small they are very…

Painting the trunks and lower branches of fruit trees white may seem an unusual thing to do but the practice of whitewashing dates back to the orchards of ancient Greece and Rome. The tradition was revived in the 1800s to early 1900s and became widespread in many traditional farming communities worldwide. It’s still practised to the present day. The purpose of whitewashing is to provide protection from sunscald, various pests and diseases and frost damage. In this article we’ll explain how it works and how to do it yourself if you’d like to try it out. SUN PROTECTION Sunscald, or sunburn, is damage to tree bark caused by excessive exposure to hot, direct sunlight. The burnt bark, which appears split and cracked, is mostly seen on the northwest and west…

COOL & TEMPERATE VEGIES • As temperatures cool, keep on putting in brassicas, broad beans, peas, spring onions and spinach. Now is also a good time to consider planting carrots and spuds as well as artichokes, asparagus and beetroot. Snow peas and spinach planted at the end of summer may be ready for harvesting now. • Pumpkins are ripening, but test them first by rapping on the skin: a deep drum-like sound means they’re ready. Leave a bit of the stem attached and store in a cool, dark place over winter. • Really, give up on those raggedy tomatoes if you haven’t already but don’t throw out the green unripe fruit — keep it for making chutney. • Autumn’s always a good time to rest a bed or two with…