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grow naturally, eat fresh, live sustainably JULY/AUGUST 2021

JENNIFER STACKHOUSE Clever crops: Grapefruit & arnica Ornamentals: Magnolias PLUS horseradish, mulberry & compact crops for pots

Garden healthcare MEGG MILLERther

ul wea Fowl care for fo

ANGUS STEWART Natives for the vase

Disease prevention — now is the time!

CLAIRE BICKLE Creating habitat for frogs & lizards

CHLOE THOMSON Chickpeas & radish

Vol. 12 No.2 JULY/AUG 2021 AUS $7.95* NZ $7.90 (Both incl. GST)

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Teddy bear bee outside where it’s happy

grow naturally, eat fresh, live sustainably

THIS ISSUE

n Australia, the price we pay for our wide-open spaces and big skies is our, er, interesting wildlife — and sometimes the great outdoors comes indoors. During that unprecedented deluge over summer and autumn, because the ground at our place was like a thick wet sponge, the wolf spiders you usually only see in the garden were coming into the house in droves. And the poor things looked as confused and appalled to be inside as we were to have them there! One of their tricks was to curl up and look dead in the morning until you tried to sweep them up; then they’d tear around the place like wild things (which is what they are). We were carefully gathering them up and putting them back outside every day. Other uninvited house guests, but perhaps more loveable ones, during that time were bees, frogs and lizards. My partner was particularly gratified to rescue a teddy bear bee, the heavy transport of the apian world. They normally live in the ground, too, and must have been finding it as inhospitable as the wolf spiders were. The poor critter was buzzing and bumping noisily against the windows trying to escape until, happily, it was scooped up and released out the front door, back into the garden. When the rain was it its worst it was devastating for those whose homes, farms and businesses went under. Far less heart-breaking, but disappointing all the same, in places that were not flooded, like our part of the Hunter Valley, it ruined many a summer crop. Even my most green-thumbed friend, who normally gifts tons of produce, gave up on her summer vegies. /GoodOrganicGardeningMagazine

6 | Good Organic Gardening

Here in magazine land, though, the seasons cycle like clockwork and the winter plantings happen right on cue. This issue, Jennifer Stackhouse’s clever crops are grapefruit and valerian and her ornamentals are magnificent magnolias. She also covers horseradish and mulberries as well as petite crops that perform well in pots. Chloe Thomson, meanwhile, is all about onions, chickpeas and radishes. First-time contributor, keen gardener and naturopath Linda Moon offers a selection of fruiting hedges — we do love it when plants play more than one role — while Angus Stewart gathers a bouquet of outstanding Australian natives for indoor floral arrangements. Elsewhere, as always, we talk to some fascinating gardening folk, Claire Bickle continues her series on creating garden habitats — this time for frogs and lizards — and Megg Miller has some tips for keeping the flock warm and engaged through winter. In The Grapevine, one of Jo Immig’s reports is about the crucial role diversity in urban gardens plays in the survival of pollinators. We can only hope they are able to adapt to the worrying changes in climate, too, and continue their vitally important work. So, spring and summer will be here before you know it. The bees will be abuzz, the lorikeets will be chirping noisily in the grevilleas and the spiders and native bees will be building homes — hopefully outside, where they belong. See you in spring

Editor Kerry Boyne Designer Michaela Primiano Contributors Claire Bickle, Angelo Eliades, Jana Holmer, Jo Immig, Megg Miller, Linda Moon, Jennifer Stackhouse, Angus Stewart, Chris Stafford, Chloe Thomson National Advertising Manager Miriam Keen Ph: (02) 9887 0604 | Fax: (02) 9878 5553 Mb: 0414 969 693 Email: mkeen@umco.com.au Advertising Art Director Martha Rubazewicz Advertising Production Co-ordinator Alex Dalland Cover Photo Getty Images

Chairman/CEO Prema Perera Publisher Janice Williams Chief Financial Officer Vicky Mahadeva Associate Publisher Emma Perera Circulation Business Development Manager Mark McTaggart Creative Director Kate Podger

Subscription enquiries: 1300 303 414 Circulation enquiries to our Sydney head office: (02) 9805 0399 Good Organic Gardening Vol. 12 No. 2 is published by Universal Magazines, Unit 5, 6–8 Byﬁeld Street, North Ryde NSW 2113. Phone: (02) 9805 0399, Fax: (02) 9805 0714. Melbourne office: Suite 4, Level 1, 150 Albert Road, South Melbourne Vic 3025. Phone: (03) 9694 6444, Fax: (03) 9699 7890. Printed by KHL Printing Co Pte Ltd, Singapore. Retail distribution: Gordon and Gotch. UK Distributor: KLM Partnership, Phone: +44 019 9244 7544. Singapore & Malaysia Distributor: Carkit (F.E.) Pte Ltd, 1 Charlton Lane, #01-02, Singapore 539631, Phone: +65 6282 1960, Fax: +65 6382 3021, Website: www.carkitfe.com. This magazine may have some content that is advertorial or promotional in nature. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publishers. The publishers believe all the information supplied in this book to be correct at the time of printing. They are not, however, in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in the event of any information proving inaccurate. Prices, addresses and phone numbers were, after investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, up to date at the time of printing, but the shifting sands of time may change them in some cases. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements which appear in this publication comply with the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and the Australian Consumer Law. The responsibility must therefore be on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisements for publication. While every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy, the publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. This magazine is printed on paper produced in a mill which meets Certiﬁed Environmental Management System ISO4001 since 1995 and EMAS since 1996. Please pass on or recycle this magazine. ISSN 1837-9206 Copyright © Universal Magazines MMXXI ACN 003 026 944 umco.com.au

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In ground worm farm

CONTENTS REGULARS

8 EDITOR’S NOTE A quick overview of what’s in the issue

76 THINGS TO DO What’s what in your plot and what needs doing right now

10 THE GRAPEVINE Environment writer Jo Immig reports on coastal regeneration, urban pollinators and the niche construction theory of evolution

80 IN SEASON The seasonal delights you’ll ﬁnd in shops and gardens in July and August

12 WHAT’S HOT Chloe Thomson’s roundup of the latest and loveliest includes winter rhubarb and grevillea, a hardy French lavender and a red hellebore

86 BOOKS Leaﬁng through books for gardeners and nature lovers 88 PICK OF THE CROP Great products and services from our advertisers

PLANTS 38 MOON CALENDAR A basic guide to planting according to the phases of the moon through winter 39 PLANT NOW What to plant in July and August according to your climate zone

8 | Good Organic Gardening

14 CLEVER CROPS Jennifer Stackhouse peels herself a grapefruit and wakes us up to the beneﬁts of sleepy-time valerian 16 FAMILY HEIRLOOM Chloe Thomson is determined to make sure we know our onions

20 PLANT SHOWCASE Linda Moon believes if you have to have a fence it might as well be an edible hedge especially a fruiting one 24 POWER PLANTS Teas made from ﬂowers can be fragrant, delicious and soothing — and consumed in therapeutic quantities can even enhance wellbeing 40 TIME TO PLANT Jennifer lists crops that go well in pots and discusses horseradish and mulberries while Chloe’s out planting chickpeas and radishes 52 ORNAMENTALS Jennifer celebrates the beauty of magnolias, both the deciduous one ﬂowering now and the famous evergreen symbol of the old American South

56 GO NATIVE Angus Stewart looks at some of the best natives for indoor ﬂoral arrangements 60 GARDEN HEALTH Jennifer canvasses some ﬁrst-aid tips for ailing plants

PEOPLE 26 GARDEN FOLK A Western Australian couple are growing an exotic tropical orchard on the shores of the Indian Ocean 30 GARDEN FOLK Basilea Living Herbs in Moreton Bay is in the business of growing and selling fresh edibles 34 GARDEN FOLK With wool, honey and its famous sourdough, Imprint Farms is really making its mark in western Victoria

GARDEN LIFE 87 REGENT HONEYEATER This beautiful but endangered bird is in peril of losing its mating song 72 FEATHERED FRIENDS Megg Miller on keeping the ﬂock warm and comfy this winter

FOOD 81 GARDEN TO TABLE Delicious recipes to appeal to the whole family, from We Can All Eat That by Pam Brook

68 BACKYARD PERMACULTURE The ﬁrst principle of planting a backyard orchard, writes Angelo Eliades, is don’t try to do what the big growers do

pag e 64

75 KID STUFF Busy Izzy and friends are out in the garden with their feathered friends — all they need is some colour

page 26

PLOT PROJECTS, PLANNING & MAINTENANCE 64 GARDEN PLANNING In our third and ﬁnal article on garden habitats, Claire Bickle explains how to welcome frogs and lizards

page 30

Good Organic Gardening | 9

THE GRAPEVINE | NEWS

TH E

Grapevine ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS AND UPDATES COMPILED BY JO IMMIG

WELCOME GOOD NEWS IN COASTAL RESTORATION

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.

10 | Good Organic Gardening

Coastal ecosystems across the globe including saltmarshes, mangroves, seagrasses, oyster reefs, kelp beds and coral reefs have declined by up to 85 per cent over decades, according to CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Senior Research Scientist Dr Megan Saunders. Dr Saunders is part of a collaborative research team looking at successful marine restoration examples, or “bright spots”, from around the world that could be deployed more widely in similar marine environments to help restore these critical ecosystems. “A range of techniques have resulted in signiﬁcant restoration of saltmarshes, coral reefs and seagrass meadows over extended periods of time,” Dr Saunders said. “In the USA, the propagation and dispersal of seagrass seeds resulted in seagrass meadows recovering in

areas where they had been lost many decades ago, removing an estimated 170 tonnes of nitrogen and 630 tonnes of carbon per year from the atmosphere.” In Australia, the CSIRO is successfully harvesting coral larvae in the Great Barrier Reef to boost largescale coral restoration efforts and is also making headway with improving techniques to replant saltmarshes. Coastal marine restoration, as well as its protection from further degradation, is a critical nature-based solution to the impacts of global climate change. The United Nations General Assembly calls for ecosystem restoration to be a primary intervention strategy used to counter the continued loss of natural habitats worldwide, while supporting human health and wellbeing globally. Source: publications.csiro.au, Bright Spots in the Emerging Field of Coastal Marine Ecosystem Restoration

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The recovery of coastal ecosystems is crucial to the health of both humans and the environment

NEWS | THE GRAPEVINE

URBAN GARDENS ARE FEEDING POLLINATORS As rural farmlands rapidly become hostile environments for pollinators, new research shows that urban gardens are playing a crucial role in providing them with a diverse range of plants, giving them the food they need to survive. Given the key role pollinators play in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, as well as their contribution to agricultural productivity, there is an urgent need to halt the global decline in their diversity and numbers. Agricultural monocultures and associated pesticide use are major contributors to their dramatic decline. New research undertaken in the UK aimed to quantify the differences between farmland, nature reserves and urban areas in providing pollinators sugars and pollen. The results found that while the magnitude of food resources was not significantly different between the landscapes, the urban landscapes provided a more diverse range of plants for pollinators to forage from. Urban gardens produced the most nectar sugar per unit area and provided an estimated 81–88 per cent at the city scale. The nectar supplies in gardens and allotments were more diverse than all other land uses and were primarily contributed by non-native species. Carry on, organic urban gardeners, and keep planting a wide diversity of flowering plants to help our flagging pollinator numbers! Source: British Ecological Society, besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com, Quantifying Nectar Production by Flowering Plants in Urban and Rural Landscapes

It’s not industrial monocultures but urban gardens that provide the most food for pollinators

and animals and, by incorporating them into our diets, we trigger selection for genes that metabolise these foods. Our parents don’t just transmit their genes to us; we also inherit the changed world they leave in their wake. As evolutionary biologists Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin put it, “The organism inﬂuences its own evolution, by being both the object of natural selection and the creator of the conditions of that selection.” The theory is controversial because experts disagree about the extent to which other organisms can also direct evolution by terraforming their adaptive landscapes. One great example of a small yet mighty niche constructor is the

humble earthworm, an ecosystem engineer that alters the physical and chemical environment, often in ways that can affect ecosystem functioning on a large scale. Despite their ecological success, earthworms are actually anatomically poorly suited for life on land. They ﬁnd their answers to living on land in niche construction. Earthworms effectively build their own paddling pools to keep themselves moist and, in doing so, alter the soil, cultivate crops and release greenhouse gases by building homes and colonies that sprawl out into new environments — just as we do. Source: Aeon Newsletter, aeon.co/ essays/organisms-are-not-passiverecipients-of-evolutionary-forces

EVOLUTION’S ENGINEERS A new theory of adaptive evolution and “niche construction” is challenging the orthodoxy of blind natural selection as the engine that drives evolution. Blind natural selection proposes that organisms are sculpted over millennia to become adapted to their ecological niches, with no guidance from the goals or purposes of the organism. Humans undergo the same process but, rather than evolving to ﬁt a preexisting niche, it is widely accepted that we are active agents who shape the environments to which we adapt. For instance, we domesticate plants

Through niche construction, the earthworm is building a better future for itself

Good Organic Gardening | 11

THE SEASONAL GARDEN | WITH CHLOE THOMSON

W hat’s hot R I GHT NOW

PRESENTING SOME STUNNING-LOOKING PLANTS THAT WILL MAKE EXCELLENT ADDITIONS TO YOUR GARDEN AT THIS TIME OF YEAR

HELLEBORE ‘ANNE’S RED’ PBR, HELLEBORUS HYBRID The plant: This is an absolute breakthrough variety, with outstanding red-to-burgundy flowers from early winter right through to early spring every year. The flowers are held proudly above the lush darkgreen, leathery foliage on long stems, making this an ideal cut flower to bring indoors and enjoy. Growing: Hellebores put on an elegant display in a shaded to semi-shaded spot in your garden but they will happily grow in a decorative pot. Feed in late autumn and again in spring and remove spent flowers at the base of the stem. Plant Growers Australia, pga.com.au

RHUBARB ‘WINTER WONDER’, RHEUM HYBRID

CHLOE THOMSON A horticulturist, writer, presenter and passionate organic gardener, Chloe uses her social media proﬁle Bean There Dug That to educate and inform likeminded gardeners, using fun, creative videos and posts. Find her on Facebook and Instagram @beantheredugthat

12 | Good Organic Gardening

The plant: As its name suggests, ‘Winter Wonder’ thrives in the cold. When other varieties are ready to be chopped in preparation for their spring ﬂush, this beauty stands tall with deepred stems and green pointed leaves. Growing: Plant as bare-rooted crowns or divisions and grow in a full-sun to semi-shade position in a compostrich soil. Feed with a certiﬁed organic fertiliser at the end of winter and in early spring to encourage new growth. Harvest by holding at the base of the stem and gently twisting and tugging rather than cutting it — this action encourages more stems to form. Remember, the leaves of rhubarb are poisonous. The Diggers Club, diggers.com.au

WITH CHLOE THOMSON | THE SEASONAL GARDEN

LAVENDER ‘GROSSO’, LAVANDULA × INTERMEDIA ‘GROSSO’ The plant: The classic lavender for perfume, ‘Grosso’, unsurprisingly, is one of the most fragrant of all the lavenders. With an abundance of violet-blue flowers and spikes filled with oil content, it’s both a floral and olfactory delight to grow in the home garden. Growing: Grosso is heat, drought and frost tolerant and loved by bees. It’s the lavender that’s farmed en masse in rural towns throughout France, so it likes a similar climate here in Australia. Plant it in well-drained soil in a full-sun position. The Diggers Club, diggers.com.au

GREVILLEA ‘WINTER DELIGHT’, GREVILLEA LANIGERA × LAVANDULACEA If, in the depths of winter, you ﬁnd you need some colour in the garden, then you need this beauty. ‘Winter Delight’ is a lovely low-growing grevillea with a shrub or groundcover form. It has soft grey foliage and reddish/pink ﬂowers from midwinter right through to early spring. Its dense growth habit also makes it an ideal refuge and food source for native birds. Growing: This frost-tolerant grevillea prefers a full-sun spot in a well-drained soil. Once established, it has very low water requirements. For best results, fertilise it with an organic fertiliser suitable for natives at least once a year. Plant Growers Australia, pga.com.au

Good Organic Gardening | 13

CLEVER CROP | GRAPEFRUIT

PEEL ME A GRAPEFRUIT THIS LARGE MEMBER OF THE CITRUS FAMILY IS A HEALTHY DIET FOOD, THOUGH IT MAY NOT BE THE FAT-BURNER SOME SAY IT IS

14 | Good Organic Gardening

THERE IS RESEARCH THAT T SUGGESTS GRAPEFRUIT CAN INTERFERE WITH THE EFFICACY OF SOME COMMON MEDICATIONS. efficacy of some common medications s and should not be consumed by people who are on such treatments. A naturally occurring chemical in grapefruit, in a class known as furanocoumarins, has a negative effect on medications including statins (drugs that lower cholesterol), some bloodpressure medications, organ-transplant rejection drugs, anti-anxiety drugs, some corticosteroids, some medications given to treat abnormal heart rhythms and some antihistamines. If you are on any prescription medication, check with your doctor or pharmacist before eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice and particularly before including grapefruit in a weightloss program.

el b a l t i u r f Grape fruit

Grape m n name: o m aurantiu m × o s C u r it C : a l n a me radisi) Botanic yn. C. pa s ( p u o r it G ily) Grapefru itrus fam c ( e a e c ed soil Ruta ell-drain w ; Family: n u s rate l, tempe soil: Full a & ic t p c o r e t p b As ic, su ate: Trop m li c t s Be ree rgreen t e v E : it b Ha g n: Graftin io t a g a p Pro y: Easy Difficult

GROWING Grapefruit is one of the easiest of all citrus to grow and can form a large tree and fruits from an early age. As well as the slightly tart yellow varieties such as ‘Marsh Seedless’ there are varieties with red- or pink-tinged ﬂesh including ‘Ruby’ and ‘Red Blush’. Select a grafted plant and grow it in an open sunny position with welldrained soil. Grapefruit plants are readily available at garden centres.

Bigstock

Words Jennifer Stackhouse rapefruit is a very popular diet fruit. Many people will have tried the grapefruit diet, which includes grapefruit in every meal, and many other diets start off with grapefruit for breakfast. The link between weight loss and grapefruit is to do with enzymes in the fruit, which are said to burn fat. However, there is no research to support the notion that grapefruit, whether consumed as whole fruit or juice, has any fat-burning enzymes. According to dietitians, the weight loss achieved by following the grapefruit diet for several weeks is most likely due to the fruit’s low-carb, highprotein makeup. Despite the lack of scientiﬁc backup on fat-burning enzymes, the grapefruit continues to be seen as a health food. Like all citrus, it’s rich in vitamin C and also contains beneﬁcial antioxidants, which makes it a good addition to any diet — but it does come with a warning. There is research that suggests grapefruit can interfere with the

VALERIAN | CLEVER CROP

Valerian labael, lsetwall,

SLEEPY-TIME HERB

ll-he s: Valerian, a e m a n n o m Com trope garden helio cinalis Valerian offi : e m a n l a ic family) Botan oneysuckle (h e a e c a li rifo Family: Cap shade; ll sun to part u F : il o s & t Aspec il but moist so well-drained , cool : Temperate Best climate nial gs Habit: Peren basal cuttin , n io is iv d , d : See Propagation asy Difficulty: E

TRADITIONALLY PRESCRIBED FOR INSOMNIA, VALERIAN MAY EVEN HAVE BEEN THE PIED PIPER’S SECRET WEAPON AGAINST RATS

Words Jennifer Stackhouse herb that links the Pied Piper, both world wars and a good night’s sleep has to be a clever crop. A medicinal herb with at least a 1000-year history of human use, valerian does all that and more. The tale of the Pied Piper, who purged the town of Hamelin of a rat plague, is cited as an early case of the use of valerian root. Its dank smell, sometimes compared to aged leather, is highly appealing to rats. The Piper may have carried the root to entice the rats from the town. Cats also like the smell of valerian, which is sometimes called cat’s valerian, though there’s no mention in the tale of felines quitting town alongside the rats. (The Piper later enticed away Hamelin’s children, but that’s another story.) While it’s hard to be sure about the Piper’s rodent-wrangling skills, there are

records that the herb, native to Western Europe, was used during both world wars to treat shell shock and nerves. Its traditional use is as a mild tranquiliser and it is also commonly found in herbal sleep remedies. It can be taken as a tea, tincture or extract, or added to the bath for external application. The plant is a herbaceous perennial with attractive, deeply divided green leaves and white to pink ﬂower heads in late spring and summer that are rounded and musk-scented. The ﬂower stalk stands proud of the leafy clump and may reach more than 1m tall.

GROWING Valerian is easy to grow in sun or shade but needs regular moisture to thrive — its native habitat is wetland areas. Grown from seed, it takes two years to develop a root system to harvest.

Bigstock

WARNING Herbalists warn that valerian should not be taken in large doses over an extended period although the herb is available in many over-the-counter preparations with no restrictions on dosage. At present, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is investigating a small number of cases that may indicate a link between valerian and liver injury. For more information see tga.gov.au.

S Sow seeds in spring as conditions warm. The seeds are small so are best grown by sprinkling them over seed-raising mix in a punnet. For best germination, don’t cover the seeds; just press them gently into the surface of the moist mix. When they are large enough to handle, transplant the seedlings into the herb garden or a larger container, allowing at least 30–60cm between plants. As cats like the smell of this plant, cover the seedlings to keep puss well away. Cuttings can also be grown from existing plants by taking side shoots from the base of the clump. Once established, plants also can be divided in autumn or early spring. Cut back the flowered stems as they finish to avoid unwanted self-seeding; this will also to encourage the plant to put its energy into rhizome development. Harvest established rhizomes in late autumn in the second year of growth. Dig up the plant, remove the fine roots and wash and dry the rhizome. For efficacy, it is recommended to dry the root below 40°C.

AVAILABILITY Valerian is sold at garden centres and is available as seed or plants from mail-order suppliers including The Seed Collection (theseedcollection. com.au) and Mudbrick Herb Cottage (herbcottage.com.au), who supplies potted plants. Don’t confuse it with the self-sowing cottage garden plant kiss-me-quick (Centranthus ruber), also called red valerian and part of the valerian family but without its medicinal properties.

Good Organic Gardening | 15

FAMILY HEIRLOOMS | ONIONS

The scented bulb BROWN, RED, PURPLE OR WHITE — HOWEVER YOU SLICE IT, THE BEAUTY OF THE ONION BRINGS A TEAR TO THE EYE

Words Chloe Thomson ild onions were probably eaten commonly by our prehistoric ancestors and there is evidence to suggest they were cultivated 5000 years ago, so it’s safe to say that the odiferous bulb is a long-standing family favourite. “Dice up a medium onion” is the first line to many a recipe because onions add layers of flavour, colour and even texture to any dish. But it’s not just the flavour that gave onions their popularity over

16 | Good Organic Gardening

time — onion is an easy crop to grow, stores well and transports easily. Archaeologists and historians have also found references in many cultures to the use of onions for medicinal purposes, even religious reasons. The supermarkets would have you believe there’s but a handful of onion varieties available these days, but in the nursery world of heirloom seeds ow and seedlings there is a whole rainbow of cultivars to choose from. Onions belong to the extremely des diverse Allium genus that also includes leeks, shallots, garlic and chives.

Onion labe l Common nam

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ONIONS | FAMILY HEIRLOOMS

‘Barletta’

IF YOU PLANT THEM AT THE WRONG TIME FOR YOUR CLIMATE ZONE, ONIONS ARE LIKELY TO BOLT AND GO TO SEED, SO ALWAYS CHECK THE PLANTING TIME FOR EACH VARIETY SUITED TO YOUR REGION.

Getty, Diggers Club, Bigstock

‘Gladalan’

KNOW YOUR ONIONS ‘Barletta’ An early-season southern Italian heirloom that’s ready to harvest in just 7 weeks for pickling purposes — or leave it for a further 9 weeks to fully mature and develop into a white salad or cooking onion. ‘Gladalan’ A mid-season sweet and mild white heirloom onion, great cooked or added raw to salads and sandwiches. ‘Long Tropea Red’ A long red Italian heirloom with a sweet and mild ﬂavour that’s excellent for salads. ‘Red Creole’ A dark-red onion with a good strong ﬂavour. This heirloom also stores well. ‘Australian Brown’ A popular Aussiebred variety grown by market gardens around Colac in the 1940s, this brownskinned onion is one of the beststoring varieties.

GROWING AND CARE Sow onions directly or into punnets in autumn, winter or spring in southern parts of Australia while, further north, early-season onions can be sown from February to May.

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FAMILY HEIRLOOMS | ONIONS

1 ‘Australian Brown’ 2 ‘Long Tropea Red’ 3 ’Red Creole’

3 Onions should not be planted with corn or beans, although they make great companion plantings for other row crops like carrots, parsnips, lettuce and beetroot. Or mix them in among your cabbages and brassicas, as it’s said their strong odour can deter white cabbage moths and caterpillars.

HARVEST AND STORAGE

If you plant them at the wrong time for your climate zone, onions are likely to bolt and go to seed, so always check the planting time for each variety suited to your region. Choose a full-sun spot in your garden with a well-drained soil. If you prep your bed before planting with organic manure and well-rotted compost, the plants should not need any further fertilising.

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Thin or sow seeds with a spacing of 10–15cm between plants and rows should be 20-30cm apart. Most varieties are ready to harvest 6–8 months after planting, when their leaves go dry and start to fall over. Early-harvest varieties might be ready sooner (they are perfect for making pickled onions when small); however, these won’t dry and store as well as the later-harvest varieties with papery skins.

Small young onions can be harvested and pickled easily and quickly in a ﬂavoured brine solution. Enjoy them later in the year with ﬁsh and chips, jacket potatoes or a hearty salamiladen sandwich. If left to mature, the leaves of onion plants will turn brown and dry and start to die back. This is the time to harvest. Lift the bulb gently from the ground using a fork positioned well beneath the bulb so you don’t skewer it. Lay the freshly dug bulbs in a sunny, airy and dry spot (this can be outdoors if rain isn’t expected) for a few days to completely dry out. Once dried completely, the tops can be easily twisted off and the roots rubbed off. Store your onions in wire baskets or mesh bags in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.

PLANT SHOWCASE | EDIBLE HEDGES

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX HEDGE WITH A LIVING FOOD WALL YOU CAN HAVE YOUR FRUIT AND VEG AND HEDGE IT TOO

Words Linda Moon oodscaping fruiting plants into hedges is a creative way to cram more tasty organic food into a garden. And, from a design perspective, there’s the colour and interest of fruit and flowers. Speaking more generally, hedges can screen out ugly views and noise, add privacy and windbreaks, define boundaries and create garden rooms. Repeated elements tend to be more visually relaxing than using different plants in the one hedge. Edible hedges don’t have to be straight vertical walls but can be circular, flowing, low as well as tall, and used to border trees or garden beds. Before you hit the nursery, here are a few things to consider.

SOIL PREP AND SPACING According to Morag Gamble, founding director of the Permaculture Education Institute and host of the Our Permaculture

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Life blog and YouTube channel, soil preparation is everything. “Think of it as one big planting bank,” she says. “Treat it as a whole system as opposed to individual parts. This helps to bring the soil alive underneath, the trees start to have a relationship and it’s a community of plants.” Compost and mulch the whole zone. Then dig your hole for each plant at least twice the width and depth of the root ball. As a rule of thumb, for a 3m-high hedge, space plantings 1m apart. Another option is sheet mulch, but it requires patience. The idea is to lay down newspaper or similar then compost and mulch over it to suppress weeds.

PLANT SELECTION Morag advises a good strategy is to select plants that suit your climate. This generally results in bigger yield, healthier plants and less need for extra resources. For a compact hedge, choose foliage with smaller leaves and denser growth

over open branches, she says. Unless you want a mega hedge, for larger-growing trees pick those with dwarf rootstock. If you want a hedge that looks spruce year round, avoid deciduous plants in favour of evergreens. On the other hand, many deciduous species (such as blueberries) create interest with ﬂashy autumn foliage.

TRIMMING AND MAINTENANCE Trim your hedge as soon as it gets a little form, Morag advises: “Build the shape and get the plants working together as a hedge. “Trimmings can go into mulch or compost so that there’s this circular economy in your garden.” Ideally, trim after the ﬂowers and fruit. In between, just give it a little tidy. “Give it a chance to re-establish itself for the next fruiting season,” she says. Apply compost and mulch every six months. As Morag says, “If you want to get fruit you need to feed your hedge!”

EDIBLE HEDGES | PLANT SHOWCASE FRUITING HEDGES FOR DIFFERENT CLIMATES Pomegranate, Punica granatum Native to Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions, pomegranate (pictured right) loves sun, hot, dry summers, cool winters and a well-drained spot. “Within Australia it grows beautifully in the southern states of Australia across to Western Australia,” says Morag. “It’s a very hardy plant.” Pomegranate (which is deciduous with brightly coloured autumn foliage and pretty red ﬂowers preceding the fruit) grows easily from cuttings. Morag suggests planting a series of lengths about a pencil in thickness straight into the ground.

Getty, Michael Clarke CC

Olive, Olea europaea Olives (below) thrive in the same conditions as pomegranate. Droughttolerant and robust, their evergreen silver foliage can handle harsh trimming. Nonetheless, they do need reasonable feeding and watering to get them started and to maintain fruiting. The leaf can also be used as an alternative to green tea, says Morag. Some small and dense varieties include ‘Tolley’s Upright’, ‘Italian Leccino’ and ‘Verdale’. Olive trees fruit better when there is more than one tree. Curing the fruit is actually pretty easy, too.

NATIVE TO MEDITERRANEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN REGIONS, POMEGRANATE LOVES SUN, HOT, DRY SUMMERS, COOL WINTERS AND A WELL-DRAINED SPOT.

Citrus spp. Native to Southeast Asia, most citrus (including limes, grapefruit and pomelo) love hot, moist conditions and grow brilliantly in the subtropics. More cold-tolerant citrus include cumquats, lemons (especially Meyer and Lisbon), tangerines and mandarins (such as Imperial and Satsuma). For the smallest leaves and low height, hedge with cumquat.

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PLANT SHOWCASE | EDIBLE HEDGES Feijoa, Acca sellowiana The small, olive-like leaves and dense growing habit of this Brazilian tree (left) make for a perfect hedge. It has a beautiful ﬂower and delicious round fruits. The hardy feijoa (pineapple guava) thrives best in subtropical conditions but can tolerate cold, coastal exposures and winds. The pineapple-ﬂavoured fruit, which falls when ripe, is usually harvested from the ground. Strawberry guava, Psidium cattleianum Similar to feijoa, strawberry guava (below) can tolerate temperatures as low as -5°C. The small, soft-textured red fruits are crammed with crunchy seeds and taste like strawberry. Morag says guavas favour warmer climates and sun. “While you’ll get the most productivity in the subtropics, you can grow them anywhere with reasonable warmth. They’re very robust.”

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EDIBLE HEDGES | PLANT SHOWCASE Acerola cherry, Malpighia emarginata Also known as the Barbados or West Indian cherry, the Acerola cherry (below) originates from tropical America. It thrives in similar environments with lots of heat and moisture. The pink and white ﬂowers become cheery red cherries rich in vitamin C. Their taste has been likened to a tart strawberry.

Getty, Bigstock, Kerry Boyne

Grumichama, Eugenia dombeyi/brasiliensis The Brazil cherry, grumichama (below), is the tropics’ version of the cherry, Morag says: “It makes this beautiful, glossy, dense hedge with these delicious, pendulous, cherry-type fruits.” In late summer come exceptional displays of white ﬂowers. Best grown in subtropical regions, the medium-sized tree prefers partial shade. E. dombeyi (below) has dark purple berries; E. brasiliensis bears yellow ones, with a soft texture like guava.

Lilly pilly, Syzygium spp. One of the most productive fruiting hedges, this fast-growing native (above) is a popular screening bush and can handle harsh pruning. The crisp fruit is tart, spicy and high in vitamin C. Hailing from the rainforest margins of NSW and Queensland, lilly pilly likes sun and some shade, Morag says. She suggests sourcing one adapted to your area from a local nursery (there are at least 50 species of Syzygium across Australia). “There’s all these different ﬂavours and colours,” she says. “They have incredible ﬂowers too.” Popular species include S. australe and S. luehmannii.

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POWER PLANTS | FLOWER TEAS

BLOOMING BREWS SOMETIMES THE MOST SOOTHING CUPPA YOU CAN MAKE IS A SIMPLE BLEND OF FLOWER AND WATER

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STUDIES HAVE SUGGESTED HIBISCUS ALSO HAS A THERAPEUTIC EFFECT ON LIPID PROFILE. ROSELLA HIBISCUS SABDARIFFA A perennial usually grown as an annual in cooler regions, this easygoing West African native of the Malvaceae family is widely naturalised in northern Australia. The calyces of its flowers are brewed into the popular Middle Eastern sour tea, which has been shown to have a positive effect on mild hypertension in both animal and human studies. Studies have also suggested it has a therapeutic effect on lipid profile and atherosclerosis. Steep a heaped teaspoon in a cup of near-boiling water for 10 minutes. For a richer flavour, add some slivers of fresh ginger and a small piece of cinnamon bark, or experiment with other spices. Honey is optional. The therapeutic dose is 2–3 cups a day.

Hibiscus Hibiscus sabdariffa

Bigstock, Getty

Words Kerry Boyne he first floral tea I drank regularly was the Persian beverage often referred to as “sour tea”. I call it simply my flower tea. It’s an infusion of the calyces of hibiscus flowers — not the ornamental kind, but Hibiscus sabdariffa, also known as rosella. The first time I bought it at a Persian food shop, I was warned not to overdo in case I experienced a blood pressure drop. In fact, my slightly elevated BP was the reason I started drinking it in the first place. Other flowers that have turned up in teas, or as teas on their own, include rose petals blended with black tea, osmanthus mixed with green or white tea, blue pea with lemongrass and, of course, Asian favourites jasmine, chrysanthemum and magnolia teas. There are many more lovely flowers you can drink, but here are a few favourites.

FLOWER TEAS | POWER PLANTS

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING ... You need to be certain that any flowers you choose for any kind of edible use have been organically grown, preferably in your own garden. Bought flowers may have been sprayed. Also, consult your health professional before regular use of any herbal remedy to ensure that it’s safe and does not conflict with any medications you may be taking.

DAMASK ROSE ROSA × DAMASCENA Damask rose is a perennial deciduous shrub in the Rosaceae family that produces beautiful red, white, or pink flowers in summer. It is grown commercially in Bulgaria and Turkey for the production of rosewater and essential oils. Damask rose preparations have long been used in Ayurvedic medicine to assist with various ailments. The tea made from its petals is rich in vitamin C, an immune-supporting antioxidant; one study found it eased flu-like symptoms, while other research has shown it to be helpful for stress and anxiety. Its main appeal, though, is in adding flavour and fragrance to other teas. Mix some dried petals through black or other teas or brew them on their own in near-boiling water. Damask rose Rosa × damascena

BUTTERFLY PEA CLITORIA TERNATEA This short-lived perennial vine of the Fabaceae family produces striking blue flowers, which are used for food colouring. It gives fashionable Ink gin its characteristic blue hue, which turns pink when acidic tonic water is added. The tea made from the flowers similarly turns rich purple with the addition of lemon. Butterfly pea has a long history of use in Ayurvedic medicine to enhance memory and alleviate symptoms of fever, inflammation, pain and diabetes. Modern research has found it to have antioxidant, hepatoprotective and antidiabetic properties. Brew a tea as for calendula.

Butterﬂy pea Clitoria ternatea

CALENDULA CALENDULA OFFICINALIS Another member of the Asteraceae family, calendula is a cheery annual that’s aso known as pot marigold. It’s so easy to grow it can even become invasive. The raw petals can be added to soups and salads and the dried flowers have a range of uses from soaps, salves and tinctures to herbal teas. According to pharmacological studies, the flowers have anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antiseptic and astringent qualities. The tea is said to be good for the complexion and can also used as a gargle for a sore throat or as an eye wash. Pour a cup of near-boiling water over a teaspoon of dried petals, allow to infuse for 10 minutes and strain.

Olive tea Osmanthus fragrans

Calendula Calendula officinalis

OLIVE TEA OSMANTHUS FRAGRANS A perennial of the Oleaceae family, osmanthus is a robust plant that will grow well in most parts of Australia except the tropics. Once established, it is frost and drought hardy and makes a good hedging plant with the short-lived thrill of its brilliantly perfumed ﬂowers. Osmanthus is rich in antioxidant polyphenols and niacinamide (vitamin B3), which among other actions helps your body convert carbohydrates to energy. Some studies have found it may help to suppress appetite, while it’s often taken to ease digestive or menstrual discomfort. Steep a teaspoon of the dried ﬂowers in a cup of near-boiling water and allow to infuse for 3–5 minutes. Add lemon or honey if desired. Osmanthus also blends beautifully with other teas.

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GARDENING FOLK | DONNA & KEV

THE EXOTIC TR OPICAL A WESTERN AUSTRALIAN COUPLE HAVE BUILT A COLOURFUL GARDEN OF EDEN ON THE SHORES OF THE INDIAN OCEAN

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DONNA & KEV | GARDENING FOLK Opposite page Donna and Kev and friends among the dragonfruit Left Guavas Below Flowering gum Bottom of page Pineapple

Words & photos Jana Holmer wo hours south of Perth, Dalyellup is a semirural outer suburb of Bunbury on the edge of the Indian Ocean. With beaches to the west and Tuart Forest to the east, it’s a thoughtfully planned, fast-growing neighbourhood. Donna, a hairdresser, and Kev, a former haulage contractor who now works in forestry, own a half-acre property in Dalyellup. Its alkaline soil is ideal for their 600m2 or so of tropical edibles and Mediterranean fruit trees.

Donna grew up on a dairy farm in Brunswick Junction to the northeast, while Kev’s family raised cattle in Northumberland, near the Scottish border. Chances are the couple never imagined they’d be growing dragon fruit, let alone harvesting 450 of the quirkylooking exotics as they did last year. It was in 1985 that Donna started gardening on ﬁve acres at nearby Stratham. She grew vegetables and raised chooks and a lamb, then went on to study soil nutrition. After that she started growing

CHANCES ARE THE COUPLE NEVER IMAGINED THEY’D BE GROWING DRAGON FRUIT, LET ALONE HARVESTING 450 OF THE QUIRKY-LOOKING EXOTICS AS THEY DID LAST YEAR.

mangoes, snake beans, corn and sweet potato as well as Carpentaria palms, vinca and every colour of frangipani. It was good preparation for what was to come.

FRUIT SALAD Here in Dalyellup, with Kev’s help in grafting and propagating, she’s broadened her repertoire to include dragon fruit and, thanks to her biological father Jimmy Dawson, jujube or Chinese date. Regarded as an authority on Ziziphus jujuba, Jimmy’s one of the biggest producers of the rare fruit, a high-fibre, low-calorie drupe, rich in vitamin C, that tastes a bit like an apple and is considered a superfood in China. As it thrives in temperatures all the way from frost to 30-degree heat and is also salt tolerant, jujube is ideally suited to the local climate. Along with jujube and dragon fruit, Donna acquired other exotics from Jimmy’s farm in Gidgegannup including ice-cream beans and columnar apple trees. She also propagated rare fig trees as well as pawpaw, blackberry and dewberry, which is disease resistant, tolerates hot weather and produces bigger and sweeter berries. The complete list reads like a fruit salad from Heaven. The varieties of fig alone are encyclopaedic: ‘Panache’, ‘Black Adam’, ‘Jenny Smith Blue’, ‘Peter Good’, Flanders, ‘Celeste’ and ‘Deanne’, the largest. Then there are the pomegranates including ‘Veles’, ‘Wonderful’, Griffith, Jahore seedless and Azerbaijan.

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GARDENING FOLK | DONNA & KEV

2 Add to them pawpaw, banana, mango, ﬁnger lime, almond, orange, patio lime, guava, strawberry, pineapple, youngberry (a cross between blackberry and dewberry), Champagne palm and more — not counting the bonus lilly pilly that grows abundantly near the beach. While fruit like strawberries grow in raised garden beds, there are shaded greenhouses for the jujubes and propagated plants in pots. As for the tropical fruit trees, they’re scattered all around the property.

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TAMING THE SOIL For each tree, Donna dug a squaremetre hole, adding 20kg of manure for each plant with a pH level of 6.8 to 7. Into each hole also went perlite, aged chook and sheep manure, worms, grass clippings and leaves including peppermint and gum leaves. “The area is covered in limestone and you would hit a stone every now and then,” says Donna. “You have to condition the soil to bring the right pH level to grow trees such as passionfruit vine, grape vine and blackberry.

“Blueberries prefer acidic soil and we put them in pots. Azaleas don’t like this type of soil at all.” Kev creates his own soil conﬁguration and he knows exactly what goes into it. He uses organic Dynamic Lifter and Seasol. He also has a bin of dried cow manure that he pours water into to soak then adds that to the pots and garden beds. For pest control, the pair use Zipper fruit tree protection covers, strong polyethylene exclusion bags that keep out all kinds of nasties, including bats,

DONNA & KEV | GARDENING FOLK

AS IT THRIVES IN TEMPERATURES ALL THE WAY FROM FROST TO 30-DEGREE HEAT AND IS ALSO SALT TOLERANT, JUJUBE IS IDEALLY SUITED TO THE LOCAL CLIMATE. while providing good ventilation and still letting the rain in. Large nets ward off the parrots and possums that target the guavas and dragon fruit. “It does mean that bees can’t enter,” Donna admits, “but once fruit is set you can always put the net on.” It’s been Donna’s good fortune to have had both fathers on hand to help establish the Dalyellup property. Her father Ted and mother Gloria worked in the garden from dawn to dusk. Gloria helps with designing and landscaping and now, as we conduct this interview, Ted is watering the garden. Creating such an orchard from nothing to the point where it generates a little income is a dream come true for Donna. It’s not your typical Dalyellup seaside native garden with weeping peppermint trees, she says with a note of pride: “There’s no garden like it that’s filled with exotic fruit trees.” It’s no surprise that Donna makes sauces, chutneys and relishes. She says the strawberry guava, jujube and fig jams go quickly. Her own favourite is fig jam, made from ‘Black Adam’ and ‘Deanne’: “The Black Adam is sweeter but Deanne has the bulk and is a good root base.” And business is booming. Kev makes wooden garden boxes for kids that have proved very popular. He and Donna find they can’t keep up the supply of pomegranates and dragon fruit. They’re running out of room to plant more jujubes. Away from gardening, Donna enjoys hairdressing and likes nothing better than to sit with Kev and enjoy a cup of tea and a good book. In fact, she’d like to try her hand at writing a historical novel. Perhaps the tale of a girl from Western Australia and a bloke from Northumberland who meet up and decide to plant an exotic fruit orchard ...

5 1 Fruit salad ain’t fruit salad without pawpaw 2 Edibles and ornamentals mingle happily 3 Prickless prickly pear 4 Dragon fruit 5 Figs, figs and more figs 6 Native finger lime 7 Young jujubes 8 Yep, even more figs

DONNA’S TOP TIPS 1. Enjoy being in the garden — and control the weeds. 2. Enjoy what you grow for taste. 3. Increase your plant knowledge. 4. Be aware of your soil pH levels. 5. Learn from your mistakes. For enquiries, contact Donna on 0429 938 913.

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GARDENING FOLK | SARAH HEATH, BASILEA LIVING HERBS

HERBAL YOU WANT FRESH? THIS MORETON BAY AREA WOMAN IS IN THE BUSINESS OF GROWING AND SELLING LIVING EDIBLES 30 | Good Organic Gardening

SARAH HEATH, BASILEA LIVING HERBS | GARDENING FOLK

THESE DAYS, CHEFS ARE ALL ABOUT SEASONAL PRODUCE, CLIMATICALLY APPROPRIATE AND GROWN LOCALLY.

Words & photos Claire Bickle asilea Living Herbs is a wholesale plant nursery in Burpengary, just north of Brisbane, offering hydroponically grown herbs, salad greens and edible ﬂowers. It’s run by Sarah Heath, a businesswoman of grit and tenacity who’s also raising three children. I arrive on a scorching 36-degree day with added humidity. After copious draughts of cold water and a dash around the garden, we sit down to chat over a divine cup of tea made from jasmine, tulsi basil and dried reishi mushroom. Sarah has been at the helm of Basilea

Living Herbs for eight years. The business originally belonged to her mother Janine for over a decade and she’s still on hand if Sarah needs advice or just to run ideas by her. When the business relocated to Sarah’s family home, she was committed to ensuring the farm was a sustainable and environmentally ethical venture and was able to reuse and recycle most of the existing farm equipment. The business supplies farmers’ markets, restaurants, independent retailers and members of the public with a wonderful array of living organic produce. Besides Janine, Sarah relies on

Opposite page Sarah, the chooks, a crop of basil you can almost smell, and Timor black bamboo Clockwise from top Clitoria; edible nigella (love-ina-mist); Basilea workshop built by Sarah’s husband

farmhand Jaelin, who helps with the growing and care as well as ﬁlling out customer orders, and she has endless help from retiree volunteer, David. Many of the regular customers are chefs and Sarah says the biggest change in her business has to do with the restaurant trade. There was a time when chefs would order certain varieties, whether in season or not, or seek obscure edibles to maintain a culinary edge. These days, she says, they’re all about

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GARDENING FOLK | SARAH HEATH, BASILEA LIVING HERBS system and rainwater harvesting. These days, says Sarah, they can go away for a stress-free weekend without having to worry about irrigation disasters such as the water turning itself off. Mum is also happy to pop in and double-check.

RECYCLABLE, SUSTAINABLE, ORGANIC

seasonal produce, climatically appropriate and grown locally. Instead of demanding specific edibles, chefs now come to her and say, “I have this dish. What herbs, greens or flowers do you think would best go with it?” Even Sarah’s children are involved in Basilea. Her eldest earns his own pocket money by picking fresh flowers from the garden each Sunday to supply the school cafe for the week.

WATER TORTURE Hydroponic growing is a watching game, beginning with the absence of chlorine in the water. While that reduces the amount of chemicals entering the plants’ vascular systems, it also means algae can build up in the irrigation system. This calls for daily monitoring,

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especially during summer, and valve blockages have to cleared by hand. Still, it’s a quick and easy job, as Sarah continues talking to me while cleaning out half a dozen in a minute or two. It wasn’t always this straightforward and the problems weren’t always so minor. In the beginning, water supply was the biggest headache, especially the installation of the tank. The block backs onto a natural watercourse and, though there haven’t been any ﬂooding issues, the soil can be quite sodden at that end of the property. They had to wait for the ground to dry out enough for a hole to be dug and the tank placed in ground. Luckily, the farm has access to town water as a backup. In the ﬁrst 12 months of setup they managed to halve their water usage with a carefully planned reticulated water cycle

All of Basilea’s pots, trays, tubes, labels and even soil mix are recycled where possible. When supplying restaurants, Sarah sends the edibles as plants growing in tubes in a tray. This way the chefs can harvest when needed so they’re as fresh as possible. Then, with the next delivery, Sarah can pick up the used plant tubes, soil and all, and recycle them. This also means she doesn’t have to have a food licence. “Being produce grown for people wanting to eat it immediately, it has to be organic,” says Sarah. “There’s no other option.” That includes weed control, which is done by hand, while mulching and growing living mulches help to outcompete the weeds. Sarah insists that sun grown is best for nutritional levels and plant health. All her plants are grown hydroponically in full sun. Sarah has a secret recipe for fertiliser, a mix of natural minerals. Some plants are allowed to keep growing to provide propagation material — that is, seeds and cuttings for future plants.

THE GARDEN Basilea grows more than 80 varieties of seasonal culinary herbs, salad greens, spinaches and edible ﬂowers. Seedlings grown in tubes and small pots outdoors can be harvested as microgreens before being planted out. Sarah calls this section the “eat tonight and plant tomorrow” avenue. A partial list would include oodles of mint and basil varieties plus sorrel, coriander, mustard greens, spinaches galore, lemon and lime balm, Mexican tarragon, celeriac, parsley, sweet potato, hibiscus spinach, fennel, kale, kangkong, mizuna, radicchio, sage, stevia, watercress, Vietnamese mint, dogbane, French lavender, lettuces, corn salad, turmeric, summer savory, rosemary, salad burnet, shiso, lemon verbena, brahmi, amaranthus, chervil, chamomile, lemon grass, chicory, dill and chives. There are also all the edible ﬂowers,

SARAH HEATH, BASILEA LIVING HERBS | GARDENING FOLK

1 Side view of the nursery 2 Perennial coriander 3 Dahlia with honeybee 4 The hydroponic nursery 5 Sheet mulching

BASILEA GROWS MORE THAN 80 VARIETIES OF SEASONAL CULINARY HERBS, SALAD GREENS, SPINACHES AND EDIBLE FLOWERS. from cupcake cosmos to nigella, native violet and one of my favourites, blue pea ﬂower (Clitorea ternatea). Around Sarah’s house is a threequarter-acre garden that’s a wonderful mix of ﬂowering annuals and perennials plus native trees such as lemon-scented myrtle and blue quandong. There’s also a couple of majestic stands of Timor black bamboo. In the house garden are scented plants such as gardenias, rosemary and lavender to catch the prevailing breezes, so that when the windows and doors are open the scents pervade the house. “It’s so nice to have plants with a story behind them growing in the garden,” says Sarah. “This plant was from ... and these seeds were collected from ...” We both agree it’s like a historical tapestry of how the garden came to be when it’s woven together with “story plants”. Sarah believes this, her eighth year at Basilea, will be the one where everything comes together. A recent visitor commented that once “past the seven-

year itch, eight is going to be great”. Each passing year, she smiles, sees more routine, more consistency and more success than failures. Her mission is on track: locally grown, organic, nutritional edibles for people to use every day in their kitchens. And zero plastic packaging for the fresh herbs. To support her dream, she runs workshops and open days, speaks at events and garden clubs and is an active member of the Queensland Herb Society, Moreton Bay Grow Make Bake and Young Farmers Connect. More than just a living, Basilea is a way of life.

BASILEA LIVING HERBS 135 Hawthorn Rd, Burpengary 4505 Phone: 0413 241 576 Web: basilealivingherbs.com Facebook: @basilealivingherbs Instagram: @basilea.herbs.ﬂower Open days: Third Saturday of the month 9am–1pm; other times by appointment

SARAH’S TOP TIPS 1. Regularly prune herbs, cutting stems rather than leaves to make your herbs grow bushier and be more productive. 2. Feed your potted herbs. Herbs look great in pots, but there is only so much fertiliser in the potting mix. 3. Try lots of different plants among the many different herbs and edibles. You never know; you could ﬁnd your new favourite thing. 4. Plant a perennial basil in your garden. It will ﬂower and attract bees nearly all year round.

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GARDENING FOLK | ANGELA CLEARY

MA KING A 1

WITH IMPRINT FARMS, ANGELA CLEARY AND HER FAMILY HAVE PUT THEIR INDELIBLE STAMP ON THIS PART OF VICTORIA

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ANGELA CLEARY | GARDENING FOLK

ANGELA BREEDS CORRIEDALE AND LEICESTER SHEEP. SHE SELLS THE WOOL ALL OVER AUSTRALIA, SPUN AND NATURALLY DYED BY HER MUM KERRY. 1 Angela and son Jack 2 The vegie patch, gated against marauders 3 Netted new growth

2 3

Angela also breeds Corriedale and Leicester sheep. She sells the wool all over Australia, spun and naturally dyed by her mum Kerry, who markets it on a Facebook page called Darling MADEit. The family has deep roots in this fertile region. Grandmother Jenny Agnes was a dairy farmer in Gorae West, a little closer to Portland. A mother of six, she grew potatoes and turned pulped newspaper into bricks to light the ﬁre. “Eat what you grow” was her motto, so naturally she made stinging nettle soup. Big on ﬂora and fauna preservation, Jenny walked Cobboboonee Forest with a notebook to document plants she saw and collect samples of native orchids for the park records. She was something of an environmental pioneer.

SUSTAINABILITY AND SUSTENANCE

Words & photos Jana Holmer mprint Farms is a small but intensely productive enterprise located in Heathmere in the southwest of Victoria, near the beautiful coastal town of Portland. Traditional owners the Gunditjmara people are renowned for their early aquaculture development at nearby Lake Condah. Imprint Farms, by contrast, is noted for its honey, sourdough, cured meats and homemade preserves; at least one of its 10 acres is given over to vegetable gardens. Among the souls who live there are Angela Cleary, her son Jack, his ﬁancée

Sarah and their baby Keith, plus many feathered, ﬂeecy and furry friends. They include two rescue donkeys called Rusty and Danny plus a retired Welsh Mountain Pony, once breeding stock for children’s saddle ponies. Pet pig Pickles is in charge of composting and manure — the ducks help as well — while the chickens turn over the garden and provide eggs. There are around 40 beehives on the property producing honey with a clear, rich golden colour and a smooth redgum ﬂavour. It’s less aromatic than Jarrah but the healing honey Angela harvests is much sought after in the region.

At Imprint Farms, the tradition goes on. The aim is sustainability and Angela sees herself as forever working towards that goal, recycling and upcycling timber that can be used in the garden. Other people’s trash is her treasure but it must have a purpose before it comes home. Nothing is purchased that could become landﬁll. Her native tree corridors feed the bees, her animals’ manure is the farm’s fertiliser, she cuts her own wood for her slowcombustion burner. Water comes from springs and bores and more rainwater tanks are planned for the house. But, as in any rural setting, every drop of water counts. It all comes down to “mulch, mulch, mulch”, says Angela. “That includes wood chips, cardboard, manures, straw and rock dust.”

Good Organic Gardening | 35

GARDENING FOLK | ANGELA CLEARY

FOR PEST CONTROL, ANGELA RELIES ON WHAT SHE CALLS “TEAM FEATHERS”: A SQUAD OF DUCKS, TURKEYS AND CHOOKS. There’s a new hothouse built with cypress timber cut by her father David’s sawmill, with a raised bed inside to grow seedlings and vegetables all year round. Angela harvests all her own seeds from her homegrown plants, a process made easier with the hothouse. Her raised garden beds are also built from Dad’s cypress — sawmill seconds, so there’s no waste. In the front yard, she grows cabbage, broccoli, garlic, silverbeet, cauliﬂower, radishes, parsley, green and brown onions, passionfruit, coriander, celery, rhubarb and lavender. In the backyard, it’s tomatoes, broccoli, strawberry (in fact, “every berry you can

36 | Good Organic Gardening

think of”), apricot, leeks, onion, potato and herbs. “Spring planting is massive,” says Angela. “Winter months are our lazy months as there are heavy frosts, but winter greens ﬂourish — and brassicas. Spring is the biggest planting of amazing summer produce for Imprint Farms to prepare chutneys and relishes to eat fresh, share and sell. Autumn is for planting leafy greens and early brassicas.” Again, sustainability is the watchword. Knowing where their food comes from is 100 per cent important to Angela and her family and they’re close to achieving zero food kilometres.

THE NITTY GRITTY One of Angela’s projects is running composting workshops to teach people how to build microbial compost from organic matter. In addition to using animal manures as effective fertilisers, she grows her own bio chaff and also prepares her own seaweed emulsion. She makes a mix of molasses and fermented milk to activate and feed the fungi and compost microbes. She also composts, either directly into the garden or by leaving massive mounds about the place so not to have to cart it too far to beds. As for a worm farm, that’s a sensitive subject. “Ask Pickles the pig,” says Angela. “She made a massive carnage of it a few years ago.” As for pest control, Angela relies on what she calls “Team Feathers”: a squad of ducks, turkeys and chooks. Angela counts direct sowing as a key growing technique and gives a detailed description. First, she sifts the soil and mists the top of it with seaweed mixture. She then places a bottomless plastic fruit juice container over the top of the seedlings, held in place with gum sticks, and heaps it with straw at the base to create a mini greenhouse. It also protects seedlings from hungry insects. With this technique, she achieves an 80 per cent strike rate. “It gets windy in September and this method works effectively,” she says. The biggest setback she’s had was down to a neighbour’s marauding cows: “We were well on the way to having an amazing orchard when a mob of cattle raided and destroyed the orchard, backyard and vegie patch.” The wildlife is much more welcome. Frogs, skinks, lizards, snakes, koalas and

ANGELA CLEARY | GARDENING FOLK 4 The rhubarb patch 5 A pollinators’ bee’n’bee 6 A resident alpaca 7 These pumpkins deserve a prize 8 Corriedale sheep 9 Possibly an Impossible Pie

6 5

KNOWING WHERE THEIR FOOD COMES FROM IS 100 PER CENT IMPORTANT TO ANGELA AND HER FAMILY AND THEY’RE CLOSE TO ACHIEVING ZERO FOOD KILOMETRES. possums not only add biodiversity but also take care of the insects, while bluetongues keep the snails at bay.

ONE SEASON AT A TIME One of Angela’s side hustles is working as kitchen manager at school camps and, trust us, she’s a fabulous cook. She preserves everything from chutneys and pastes to sausages and salamis, makes pasta from her eggs and runs sourdough workshops. Then there’s her baking. Her apple custard cake is sensational, with extra zing from black pepper. “Impossible Pie” is one of Nanna’s recipes, a dish Angela claims you can throw together even while you’re cooking other things. She also concocts herbal remedies like

calendula salve and makes lip balm from her own beeswax. What she doesn’t use or sell from her garden she regards as “a gift to share with others”. Angela’s proud to have taken Imprint Farms from a bare paddock to a foodproducing property for the family. There’s probably nothing she’d have done differently. At the same time, there’s no grand plan — it’s always changing and she takes it one season at a time.

IMPRINT FARMS Organic Grocery Store & Cooking School 1071 Princes Highway, Heathmere 3305 Phone: 0428 321 032 Facebook: Imprint Farms @ sustainablethermmix

ANGELA’S TOP TIPS 1. Plant tomatoes with a spoonful of dried ground banana skins and eggshells to avoid blossom rot. 2. Plant lots of beneﬁcial plants for insects, especially bees. 3. Companion plant with ﬂowering plants. 4. Build insect hotels. 5. Add molasses to your compost piles to feed the microbes.

Good Organic Gardening | 37

MOON PLANTING | JULY/AUGUST

MOON

PLANTING JULY 2021 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. MON

TUES

WED

THU

FRI

SAT

SUN

7:10am 5

11:16am 12

8:10pm 19

12:36pm

New moon First quarter

Full moon Last quarter

When the moon is waxing from new 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 before and after each phase. If you want to work in the garden at that time, carry out general tasks and improve your soil for planting. FRUITING ANNUALS Sow or plant annuals grown for their fruits or seeds. This is best done during the first quarter phase between first quarter and full moon, when sap is being drawn upwards.

11:15pm

AUGUST 2021 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. MON

TUES

WED

THU

FRI

SAT

SUN 1

5:13pm 2

11:50pm 9

10:01pm

1:19am 23

ROOT CROPS Sow or plant crops that produce below the ground, and also perennials. This is best done between full moon and last quarter when sap ﬂow is being drawn downwards. LEAFY GREENS Sow or plant crops that are grown for their foliage. This is best done during the new moon phase between new moon and ﬁrst quarter when sap is being drawn upwards. AVOID PLANTING The last quarter phase is not a good period for sowing or planting, so is best used working on improving soil, weeding, making compost and other general chores.

29 Times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). Add 1 hour during daylight saving. WA, SA & NT will need to adjust.

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VEGIES | PLANT NOW

TIME

PLANT

DEPENDING ON YOUR CLIMATE, THERE’S STILL PLENTY OF PLANTING TO BE DONE BEFORE THE COMING SPRING NDS COOL & HIGHLA JULY

AUGUST

Artichoke, asparagus, broad beans, broccoli, cabbage, endive, fennel, Jerusalem artichoke, lettuce, mustard greens, onion, peas, radish, shallots, snow peas, spinach

Artichoke, asparagus, broad beans, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, endive, Jerusalem artichoke, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard greens, onion, parsnip, peas, potato, radish, snow peas, swede, spinach, turnip

Artichoke, asparagus, broad beans, broccoli, cabbage, celeriac, celery, endive, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, onion, parsnip, peas, potato, radish, rhubarb, snow peas, spinach, spring onion, sugar snap peas

Artichoke, asparagus, beetroot, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, celeriac, celery, Chinese cabbage, endive, fennel, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mizuna, mustard greens, onion, pak choy, parsnip, peas, potato, radish, rocket, silverbeet, snow peas, spinach, spring onion, sugar snap peas, turnip

Artichoke, asparagus, beans, beetroot, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, celeriac, celery, endive, fennel, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mustard greens, onion, pak choy, parsnip, peas, potato, radish, rocket, rhubarb, shallots (eschalot), silverbeet, snow peas, spinach, spring onion, sugar snap peas, tomato, turnip

Amaranth, artichoke, asparagus, asparagus pea (winged bean), beans, beetroot, bok choy, borekale, cabbage, capsicum, carrot, celeriac, celery, chilli, Chinese cabbage, cucumber, daikon, eggplant, fennel, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, luffa, marrow, mustard greens, okra, onion, pak choy, parsnip, potato, pumpkin, radish, rocket, silverbeet, spring onion, squash, sweet corn, tomato, turnip, zucchini

Amaranth, asparagus, beans, beetroot, bok choy, borekale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, capsicum, carrot, celeriac, celery, chilli, Chinese cabbage, choko, cucumber, daikon, eggplant, endive, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, kohlrabi, lettuce, luffa, marrow, mizuna, mustard greens, okra, onion, pak choy, potato, pumpkin, radish, rocket, salsify, shallot (eschalot), silverbeet, spring onion, squash, swede, sweet corn, sweet potato (kumara), tomatillo, tomato, turnip, zucchini

Amaranth, asparagus, beans, beetroot, bok choy, borekale, cabbage, capsicum, carrots, Chinese cabbage, choko, cucumber, eggplant, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, marrow, mustard greens, okra, pak choy, pumpkin, radish, rocket, silverbeet, spring onion, squash, sweet corn, sweet potato (kumara), taro, tomato, zucchini

Artichoke, asparagus, beans, beetroot, bok choy, borekale, broccoli, cabbage, celeriac, celery, chicory, chilli, chives, endive, fennel, garlic, horseradish, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, onion, pak choy, peas, radish, rhubarb, silverbeet, snow peas, spinach, swede, turnip

Amaranth, artichoke, asparagus, asparagus pea (winged bean), beans, beetroot, borekale, cabbage, celeriac, celery, chilli, cucumber, daikon, eggplant, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, lettuce, luffa, mizuna, mustard greens, okra, onion, pak choy, peas, potato, radish, rhubarb, rocket, silverbeet, spinach, swede, tomato, turnip

TEMPERATE

SUBTROPICAL

TROPICAL

ARID

These maps are simpliﬁed versions adapted from climate maps by the Bureau of Meteorology and are only a rough guide. Microclimates can be formed anywhere. Good Organic Gardening | 39

TIME TO PLANT | COMPACT VEGIES

CROPS FOR POTS NOT ENOUGH ROOM IN THE GARDEN TO GROW ALL THE FOOD YOU WANT? PERHAPS THE ANSWER LIES IN CONTAINMENT

40 | Good Organic Gardening

Even with its long taproot, radish is one of the best root crops for pots

Bigstock

Words Jennifer Stackhouse here garden space is at a premium, pots are deﬁnitely the way to squeeze in a few productive plants. You can also use the portability of containers to chase the sun or ﬁnd spaces protected from cold winds. While most herbs are naturally at home in containers, vegies need a little more thought and planning. The key to success is to grow small or compact vegetables in as large a container as possible and to limit the number of plants in each pot. The recommended spacing for a vegetable is a good indicator of pot size. Most vegies are planted at least 20cm apart so they need to be in individual 20cm-diameter pots or, for two plants, a heavy-duty 40cm pot. Pot depth is also a consideration. Any vegie with a large or deep root system such as carrot needs a container that’s at least 30cm deep and preferably deeper.

COMPACT VEGIES | TIME TO PLANT

Container-grown capsicums

A portable salad

Competitive vegetable growers who aim for record-breaking carrots, parsnips and leeks grow their crops in cylinders or lengths of guttering to get the vertical space that’s needed. Fast-growing but small vegies that are closely planted, such as radishes or spring onions, do well in troughs or even in recycled foam boxes. Rectangular troughs also ﬁt well in narrow spaces. The other consideration when choosing vegetables to grow in containers is how long the plant takes to crop. Mini cabbages and cauliﬂowers can be grown in containers but still take many months to mature.

COMPETITIVE VEGETABLE GROWERS WHO AIM FOR RECORD-BREAKING CARROTS, PARSNIPS AND LEEKS GROW THEIR CROPS IN CYLINDERS OR EVEN LENGTHS OF GUTTERING.

Making the most of limited space

Good Organic Gardening | 41

TIME TO PLANT | COMPACT VEGIES

GOOD IN POTS The following selection is of small-growing plants or larger plants that can be trained vertically, making them suited to a container. Their crops may be slightly smaller or the same size as those produced on larger growers. Vegetable

Compact varieties

Description & size

Sow seed*

Beans (dwarf or bush)

Many including ‘Bountiful Butter’, ‘Gourmet’s Delight’, ‘Pioneer’, ‘Snapbean’

Stringless beans on small bushes around 30cm high

Year round (Tr), Aug–Apr (S), Sep–Feb (T), Oct–Dec (C)

‘Sugarloaf’

Small, crisp, conical cabbage

All year (Tr), Feb–Nov (S), Jul–Mar (T), Aug–Mar (C)

‘Mini Orange’

Orange fruit 6cm long on a 60cm high plant

All year (Tr), Aug–Mar (S), Aug–Dec (T), Sep–Nov (C)

‘Baby’, ‘Paris Heirloom’

Small (‘Baby’), round or stubby (‘Paris Heirloom’) roots; also good for poor soil

Feb–Sep (Tr), Feb–Sep (S), Jul–Mar (T), Aug–Feb (C)

‘Mini White’

Small heads 10–15cm across

Jan–Apr (Tr), Jan–Apr (S), Dec–Mar (T), Nov–Jan (C)

Wide range including ‘Purple Tiger’

Small, purple chillies on a long-lived, compact bush

All year (Tr), Aug–Mar (S), Aug–Dec (T), Sep–Nov (C)

‘Lebanese’

Train on a tripod in a pot at least 40cm across

All year (Tr), Jul–Mar (S), Sep–Jan (T), Oct–Dec(C)

‘Mini Lebanese’

Compact plant 30-40cm high with tiny fruit

All year (Tr), Sep–Mar (S), Sep–Dec (T), Oct –Nov (C)

Lettuce

Soft-hearted forms including ‘Mignonette’, ‘Red Oak’

Fast growing, start to harvest outer leaves

All year (Tr), All year (S), All year (T), All year (C)

Pumpkin

‘Delicata Mini Sweet’, ‘Gem’, ‘Gold Nugget’, ‘Jack Be Little’

Small fruit on a bushy plant; grow one plant per pot

All year (Tr), All year (S), Aug–Dec (T), Sep–Nov (C)

Radish

‘Salad Crunch’ and other small, round varieties

One of the best root crops for containers

All year (Tr), All year (S), Aug–May (T), Sep–Apr (C)

All

Train up a stake or tripod; several plants can be grown per 40cm pot

Mar–Jul (Tr), Mar–Jul (S), Feb–Sep (T), Jun–Oct (C)

‘Patio’, ‘Tumbler’

Compact or trailing plants with medium-sized fruit (tiny-fruited varieties such as cherry tomatoes form large, sprawling plants)

All year (Tr), All year (S), Aug–Dec (T), Sep–Nov (C)

Cabbage

Capsicum

Carrot

Cauliﬂower

Chilli

Cucumber

Eggplant

Snow peas

Tomato

Key: (Tr) Tropics, (S) Subtropics, (T) Temperate, (C) Cold * Where seedlings are available these can be planted up to one month later than sowing seeds

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COMPACT VEGIES | TIME TO PLANT

1 Small carrots are happy in a container 2 That weird little space invader kohlrabi 3 Try cherry tomatoes in a trough 4 Spuds in bags are all the rage 5 Bush beans manage to contain themselves

POTTED OPTIONS

Plant breeders have come to the aid of those gardening in small spaces by developing compact strains of many of our favourite vegetables. Look for both seed-grown and seedlings (see table opposite for some options). While naturally compact plants are ideal planting choices, some climbing vegetables such as snow peas, cucumbers and sweet potatoes are good value in containers as they can be trained on a climbing frame. Although a traditional pumpkin isn’t suitable for a container, there are bushy varieties for pots along with varieties that have compact growth and produce small pumpkins. One vegetable that’s usually grown in the ground but has become increasingly popular in large containers is the potato. Grow spuds in a deep container for best results. While the pot obviously needs to be large, each plant produces several kilograms of potatoes so is well worth the space it occupies.

Good Organic Gardening | 43

TIME TO PLANT | CHICKPEA

THE PULSE OF THE WORLD

Words Chloe Thomson ou may have already grown chickpeas in your garden without realising. That’s because this legume is often one of several crops in mixed green manure that we grow, cut down and turn back into the soil to improve it over time. But don’t just put chickpeas in the “green manure” corner. If you’ve got the space or you’d like to experiment with a small pulse crop, they deserve a spot in your garden this coming spring and summer. Easy to plant, chickpeas thrive in hot, dry conditions and ﬁx nitrogen back into the soil as they grow.

GROWING Chickpeas are grown commercially in northern NSW and southern Queensland as well as parts of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Ideally suited to warm temperate

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EASY TO PLANT, CHICKPEAS THRIVE IN HOT, DRY CONDITIONS AND FIX NITROGEN BACK INTO THE SOIL AS THEY GROW.

Chickpea la bel Common nam

e: Chickp ea, garba Botanical nzo name: Cic er arietinu Family: Fa m baceae Aspect & soil: Full s un and we drained so ll il Best clim ate: Warm , tempera Habit: Bu te shy annua l to 2 m tall Propagat ion: Seed Difficulty : Easy to m edium

DID YOU KNOW? You can make vegan meringue by whipping aquafaba, the liquid in a can of chickpeas, as you would egg whites, along with sugar etc. The proteins leached from the chickpeas into the brine make it behave like egg white.

Bigstock

FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO MEXICO, FROM BALI TO BENGAL, CHICKPEAS ARE A STAPLE IN JUST ABOUT EVERY CUISINE

CHICKPEA | TIME TO PLANT Left Chickpea leaves make a mineral-rich winter veg or a summer salad green Opposite Peas fresh from their green pods

PALERMO FRIES If and when you ever go travelling to Italy again, whatever you choose to eat from the world’s greatest cuisine, don’t miss the Sicilian street food specialty panelle, fritters made from chickpeas (ceci). They often come in a paper cone like chips or sandwiched in a bun, as pictured.

climates, they prefer a full-sun spot in a soil that’s free draining. Prep your garden beds ahead of planting by adding compost and well-rotted manure — but don’t go overboard with the manure or you’ll get too much leaf growth at the expense of seed production. Sow the seeds directly in late winter or early spring after the risk of frost has passed and, to reduce the risk of fungal infections, avoid overhead watering. Each chickpea bush will grow to around 2m high but won’t need staking unless the site is particularly windy. Throughout the growing season, you can pinch off the tips and leaves to use in salads and stir-fries. As the plants mature (roughly 100 days after planting), they’ll produce 2.5cm-long pods, each containing 1–2 large cream-coloured peas. You can eat the immature pods like snap peas or wait until the peas inside turn brown, then leave them to dry to use in dishes such as hummus.

Good Organic Gardening | 45

TIME TO PLANT | HORSERADISH

SUPPER PEPPER UPPER NOT JUST ANOTHER BRASSICA, THIS TANGY ROOT VEG REALLY CUTS THE MUSTARD

Words Jennifer Stackhouse n late winter to early spring, horseradish reappears in my garden after its winter dormancy, its small green leaves peeping out of the soil. While young and tender, these leaves are edible. Though horseradish is usually prized for its zesty edible root, the leaves are tasty when picked young and add a slightly peppery flavour to a spring salad, as do the flowers. Horseradish is a member of the vast brassica or cabbage family that also includes kale, Brussels sprouts and broccoli as well as the more peppery radish, mustard and wasabi. Horseradish is grown for its long tapering root, which has a fiery taste that goes well with meat (particularly beef) and fish. Native to Europe, horseradish is now naturalised widely around the world. In Australia it grows especially well in

46 | Good Organic Gardening

cooler areas such as southern zones. It’s a plant to introduce to the garden with care — though edible, it spreads and persists. Any part of the root left in the ground will form a new plant. Its dimensions are usually given as reaching around 60–90cm high but its spread is described as “inﬁnite”. You have been warned!

GROWING HORSERADISH Horseradish is best planted in spring into enriched soil. Ideally, improve the soil with aged manure in autumn or at least several weeks before the spring planting. Plant a piece of root that’s just beginning to shoot or divide an existing clump. Potted plants are also available to plant later in the season — look for these in the herb section of your garden centre or at a local market. As it is a vigorous, invasive plant, give it its own space so it can grow

el b a l h s i d a r e s Hor d cole

radish, re ame: Horse Common n name) cana (old English oracia rusti rm A : e m a n l Botanica cia) aria armora le h c o C . n y family) (s e (cabbage a e c a ic s s ra e; moist Family: B to part shad n u S : il o s Aspect & ined soil rate but well-dra cool tempe to l o o C : Best climate nial eous peren c a rb e H : it n Hab ings, divisio tt u c t o o R : n Propagatio asy Difficulty: E

and spread without becoming a pest. It grows best in a sunny to slightly shaded spot with deep soil and regular moisture so it produces long straight roots. Though hardy, horseradish is fussy and doesn’t like dry soil. Add a mulch of aged manure around the emerging plants in spring then

HORSERADISH | TIME TO PLANT

continue to feed established plants through spring and summer with an organic liquid plant food. As horseradish is part of the brassica family, it suffers from some of the same problems as cabbages. One to particularly watch for is the caterpillar of the cabbage white butterﬂy. These small green caterpillars can decimate horseradish leaves. Regularly check plants for caterpillars and remove and squash any that are found. If possible, net the bed to prevent the butterﬂies laying eggs. Also watch for small snails that can feed on the leaves. Snails can be controlled by hand removal and by baits such as beer traps or commercial baits based on iron.

Bigstock

ROOTS AND ALL There’s a lot going on below ground as well as above. The long root is around 5cm thick but can be up to 60cm long. This great length means the roots can reach and absorb nutrients not tapped by other plants. Fresh horseradish roots can be rich in calcium, sodium and magnesium and also high in vitamin C. The hot flavour that gives horseradish its kick comes from volatile oils known as isothiocyanates. These oils are released by either grating or cutting the root — the more finely the roots are grated, the stronger the flavour. To retain the flavour, keep grated or chopped horseradish cool in an airtight container or freeze. The roots can be harvested whenever they are needed (for example, when you’re cooking your next roast of beef) but are best taken from an established plant that has been growing for two or three years. Alternatively, harvest some roots each autumn as the plant dies down for winter. To harvest a horseradish root, don’t just go pulling it up as it’s very easy to break the root, making it harder to store. To get the entire long root, gently prise or dig it out of the soil. Roots harvested in autumn tend to have a stronger flavour and can be stored uncut like a root vegetable in a cool dark spot, or prepared as a sauce by grating or chopping. Horseradish root can also be dried. Don’t cook horseradish or heat it to store as this causes it to lose its flavour.

Though not commonly eaten, young horseradish greens are zesty as well

HORSERADISH SPREADS AND PERSISTS. ANY PART OF THE ROOT LEFT IN THE GROUND WILL FORM A NEW PLANT. Flowers don’t mean the plant has bolted — they won’t affect the root

Grated into cream as horseradish sauce is the traditional way to use the root but it can be added to other foods including chopped cabbage (coleslaw), beetroot or served with avocado. It can also be added to other cold sauces including mayonnaise or used to spice up a creamy dip or a simple cottage cheese. There are also medicinal uses for horseradish. These range from applying it to the skin in poultices to treat chilblains or relieve muscular pain to using it as a diuretic. Horseradish is often used as a substitute for wasabi (Eutrema japonicum) in packaged products.

Although the plants are closely related, wasabi is much more strongly ﬂavoured than horseradish, which the Japanese call “western wasabi”. Both are in the cabbage family but wasabi is native to Japan and the hot taste of wasabi comes not from the root but from the grated leaf stem.

WHAT’S IN A NAME? The word “horse” in the name means “strong” and relates to the ﬂavour. Horseradish was named as a strongly ﬂavoured radish and has nothing to do with horses.

Good Organic Gardening | 47

TIME TO PLANT | MULBERRY

PURPLE REIGN IN PERSIAN, BLACK MULBERRY IS CALLED SHAHTOOT — THE KING’S BERRY — WHICH MEANS THIS DELICIOUS FRUIT RULES

Words Jennifer Stackhouse lack mulberry (Morus nigra) is a fruit not readily available at the greengrocer or supermarket. You may ﬁnd these delicious berries occasionally at a farmers’ market but, to enjoy the fruit and the other beneﬁts of this easy-to-grow tree, grow your own. Perhaps more than any other fruit tree, mulberries are a wonderful addition to a family garden. They are reasonably fast growing, easy for kids to climb, offer summer shade, have few pests and are easy to manage. In spring or early summer, when they are full of berries, climbing the tree has even more to offer with the reward of a feed. They are also long lived. One of the world’s oldest black mulberry trees, at Syon Park in the UK, is thought to date from 1548. Mulberries are also the preferred food for silkworms, a “pet” that many

48 | Good Organic Gardening

kids keep at some stage in their lives. The best type of mulberry for silk production is the white mulberry (M. alba); however, the caterpillars will feed on any mulberry leaves. Possibly the only person who may not be a fan of a backyard mulberry is Mum (or whoever does the laundry), as washing on the line may cop the odd purple stain when visiting birds feast in the tree and drop their greeting cards as they leave. Fallen black mulberries are also likely to stain hard surfaces such as paving and garden furniture, so position the tree with care.

Aside from honeybees, silkworms are the only domesticated insects

OTHER TYPES OF MULBERRY If the thought of black mulberry stains on your washing and paving is scary, plant ‘White Shahtoot’ (M. macroura), which has long and sweet creamy white fruit that doesn’t stain.

DID YOU KNOW? Mulberries are related to ﬁgs. Both trees are in the Moraceae family.

MULBERRY | TIME TO PLANT

el b a l y r r e b l u M ulberry

ck m ulberry, bla M : s e m a n n Commo nigra ame: Morus Botanical n ceae soil Family: Mora hade; moist s rt a p to n il: Su Aspect & so : All areas tall Best climate e 3m–10m+ e tr s u o u id Habit: Dec n: Cutting Propagatio asy Difficulty: E

‘White Shaht Shahtoot’ makes a good shade tree for the backyard and is a smart choice to screen the chook shed. The chooks will appreciate the fallen fruit and relish the tree’s cool shade in summer. There is also a red mulberry (M. rubra), native to the United States. Its fruit is edible but with more of a raspberry taste and the leaves are also popular with silkworms. Australia’s so-called native mulberry is not a true mulberry but a rainforest tree called Pipturus argenteus. Native to the subtropical east coast of Australia, it has edible white mulberry-like fruit. Not all mulberries form fruit. Plants sold as weeping standards are often male forms of the white mulberry (M. alba) that ﬂower but do not fruit, which makes them ideal as a small ornamental but not so good if you enjoy berries. Another option for smaller spaces is the dwarf black mulberry, which also suits a container. It grows to 5m high but can be kept pruned to around 2m.

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GROWING Whichever type of mulberry you choose, plants are available bare rooted in winter or as potted plants during the rest of the year. They can be planted at any time but establish best when planted in winter or spring. They are also easy to grow from hardwood cuttings, which can be taken from the tree in winter while it is dormant. It’s also worth trying tip cuttings in summer when the tree is in full growth. Select cuttings from trees that produce large, sweet fruit. Mulberries can also be grafted. Black mulberry trees are native to the Middle East but grow in all parts of Australia. In the tropics they tend to grow as bushes rather than trees. Although generally considered low

White mulberry (M. alba) is popular with silkworms — and folks who don’t want a purplestained backyard and clothing

FALLEN BLACK MULBERRIES ARE LIKELY TO STAIN HARD SURFACES SUCH AS PAVING AND GARDEN FURNITURE, SO POSITION THE TREE WITH CARE. care, mulberries perform better with extra care and attention, particularly after planting. They tolerate wet soils and crop best with regular moisture. Established trees are drought hardy but may fail to crop well if allowed to get too dry in late winter and spring when ﬂowers and fruit form. Fruit may fail to form or be dry rather than plump and juicy. To keep trees growing well, give them an annual dose of fertiliser in spring as the leaves return. A slow-release organic fertiliser for fruiting and ﬂowering (such as a citrus food) is ideal. Fruiting mulberries such as black mulberries do not need crosspollination for fruit production and have low chill requirements. If the tree gets too high or wide, it can be cut back. Mulberries can be pruned hard in autumn or winter without affecting their cropping with a followup trim in summer to remove twiggy or wayward growth. Mulberries have few pest or disease problems; however, birds and fruit bats can make a big dent in the crop. Most trees are too large to net, so regularly harvesting the ripening fruit is the best way to beat the predators. Fruit will ripen off the tree but is sweetest when harvested as ripe as possible.

HARVESTING, STORING AND PRESERVING Black mulberries ripen from green to dark red to black. When fully ripe they are juicy and sweet. As well as tasting great, they’re a good source of dietary ﬁbre and potassium and provide a decent dose of vitamin C. No matter how carefully you harvest, it is hard not to end up with stained hands when mulberry picking. Rubbing the stains with a green mulberry is a quick and easy way to remove the stain from skin. Mulberries are eaten fresh but can also be cooked in pies or crumbles (add apple if you’ve only a small amount of berries). They can also be used to make jam but, as the berries are not high in pectin, add apple and lemon juice to improve set. Remove the small green stalks before cooking. There is no easy way to do this — the best approach is to sit down with a heap of fruit and a pair of small, sharp scissors. To freeze mulberries as loose berries, spread fruit on trays and place them in the freezer until frozen. Transfer the berries to plastic bags or containers to keep them loose but frozen until you’re in need of a mulberry hit.

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TIME TO PLANT | RADISH

RAD AND REDDISH NOTHING BEATS THE TANGY CRUNCH OF FRESH RADISH IN A SALAD

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e sure the soil is kept moist. Once they’ve sprouted you can lightly sprinkle the soilil o along the side of the rows with mulch to aid moisture retention. For a really sweet, crisp crop, liquid fertilise your radishes every 2–3 weeks with a diluted certiﬁed organic fertiliser. The small mouthful-sized varieties off radish will be ready to harvest ﬁrst, butt the larger-rooted ones like daikon will need up to 60 days of growing before harvesting. Make sure you have a continual supply of radishes to harvest by resowing seeds every 2–4 weeks. Ideal companion plants, radishes grow well with other row crops like lettuce, spinach, parsnip, carrots and peas. Also, because they grow so quickly and are shallow rooted, you can easily put them amongst taller, longer-lived crops like tomato and corn.

Radish label me: Radish Common na s hanus sativu p a R : e m a n l Botanica tivus) um subsp. sa tr is n a h p ra . (R icaceae soil Family: Brass ; well-drained n su ll u F : il egetable Aspect & so iennial root v b g in w ro -g Habit: Fast : Seed Propagation sy Difficulty: Ea

RADICAL IDEA Though our word radish derives from the Latin for “root”, you can also eat the leaves as radish greens as well as the taproot.

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Words Chloe Thomson ast and super easy to grow, radishes are a reliable yearround staple that will add their inimitable peppery crunch to salads and sandwiches. Best sown directly from seed, they will be ready to harvest in as little as 35 days during warmer weather or around 6–8 weeks in winter. Choose a full-sun spot — in summer, somewhere with protection from the hottest afternoon sun is ideal — and work through some compost to make the soil friable before sowing your radish seeds. Sow the seeds in rows spaced according to the packet instructions. Seedlings can be thinned out if necessary once they have two true leaves. While the seeds are germinating, make

RADISH | TIME TO PLANT

‘Watermelon’

Daikon

‘Black Spanish’

There’s nearly always space to squeeze in some radish seeds. They will even grow happily in pots, so they’re perfect for sunny balcony or courtyard gardens. Protect young radish seedlings from snail and slug attack using beer traps or copper tape and maintain a regular watering schedule to prevent the roots from splitting.

VARIETIES

IDEAL COMPANION PLANTS, RADISHES GROW WELL WITH OTHER ROW CROPS LIKE LETTUCE, SPINACH, PARSNIP, CARROTS AND PEAS. ‘French Breakfast’

‘French Breakfast’ Oblong and scarlet with a white tip, this French heirloom has crisp white flesh and a mildly pungent flavour. A reliable winter cropper. ‘Watermelon’ This round radish is a bland white colour on the outside, but slice into it and you’ll discover a blushing pink core which, with its white rind, resembles watermelon. A showstopper in salads or open sandwiches. ‘Black Spanish’ With black skin and pure white flesh when sliced, this unique radish is loved by chefs and a great one for pickling. Daikon Large long, white roots that take longer to grow than the small round radishes, but the mild, fresh flavour is worth the wait. Used fresh or pickled in many Asian dishes, it can also be steamed or stir-fried. ‘Champion’ The classic bright red, ballshaped roots growing to around 4cm in diameter. Their crisp, white flesh with a mild flavour makes them great for salads and garnishes.

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ORNAMENTALS | MAGNOLIAS

All across the world WHILE THE EVERGREEN MAGNOLIA IS A SYMBOL OF THE AMERICAN SOUTH, DECIDUOUS SPECIES BRING A TOUCH OF THE ORIENT TO COOL GARDENS

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MAGNOLIAS | ORNAMENTAL

Evergreen magnolias have large white ﬂowers

Words Jennifer Stackhouse here are two completely different types of magnolia grown in gardens, both beautiful and highly desirable. The one that may be flowering now, in late winter, in your own garden or neighbourhood is the deciduous magnolia. These small trees are spectacular in full flower with large pink, white or purple flowers on bare stems. Take time to admire these beautiful trees, as the show will soon be over when their leaves return. The other type of magnolia, which grows across much of Australia, is the evergreen or Bull Bay magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), forever associated with the American South. In evolutionary terms, both magnolias are very old — indeed, they were among the first flowers to evolve. Their tough petals and robustly structured flowers are thought to have evolved with beetles as pollinators, rather than bees.

Bigstock, Plants Management Australia

DECIDUOUS MAGNOLIAS The magnolias blooming now are deciduous through winter. They originally come from Southeast Asia and are grown for their winter and early-spring flowers. They thrive in temperate climates. In cold climates, their flowering may be affected by frost, which burns the blossoms, or delayed by cold conditions so the flowers appear with the new leaves. In warmer zones, they may also fail to flower well and can be short lived. Deciduous magnolia varieties that are so spectacular they can stop traffic include ‘Caerhays Belle’, ‘Philip Tregunna’, ‘Vulcan’ and ‘Star Wars’, which have large flowers. For a smaller tree, consider ‘Cameo’, which has two-toned pink and cerise flowers and grows to around 3m high and wide, or metallic red-purple-flowered ‘Cleopatra’, which can grow to 4m high and 3m wide. Most of the more recently released deciduous varieties begin to bloom when

THOSE LARGE BLOOMS, NOW THE STATE FLOWERS OF MISSISSIPPI AND LOUISIANA, WERE A SYMBOL OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY. the tree is only a few years old. This youthful flowering habit is something most gardeners welcome as no one wants to wait too long for their floral reward. Gardeners were more patient in days gone by. I can well remember neighbours who were proud owners of a magnificent white M. campbellii, revealing they’d waited more than a decade for the plant to flower. Luckily, they planted it when they first moved in

to that garden and enjoyed more than 50 years of its ﬂowering! Some of the breeding work for these new-generation deciduous magnolias has occurred close to home in New Zealand, carried out by two men: Oswald Blumhardt and Felix Jury. Blumhardt bred ‘Star Wars’, among many others, while Jury has developed a long list of magnolias including ‘Apollo’, ‘Vulcan’ and ‘Mark Jury’.

‘Caerhays Belle’

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ORNAMENTAL | MAGNOLIAS All deciduous magnolias can be hard to grow and are expensive to buy. They require shelter from both hot and cold winds and from hot afternoon sun, and do best in good-quality soil with plenty of regular moisture. Deciduous magnolias that grow in adverse conditions may exhibit burnt foliage or burnt stems or fail to thrive. The other limiting factor for deciduous magnolias is the presence of possums. These pesky native animals love magnolias and often feed on the buds. A magnolia that once was a reliable flowerer but hasn’t flowered for some years may be losing its floral show to a hungry possum. To protect from possum predation, try to exclude possums from the tree by carefully pruning away low branches and putting a barrier around part of the lower trunk to make it hard for the animal to climb. Also prune away any overhanging branches that could give the possum access from above. Sprays that deter possums may have limited effect if applied very frequently while the plant is in bud.

MOST OF THE MORE RECENTLY RELEASED DECIDUOUS VARIETIES BEGIN TO BLOOM WHEN THE TREE IS ONLY A FEW YEARS OLD.

SHRUB FORM If you feel you don’t have room for a tree-sized deciduous magnolia (even one of the more compact varieties), consider the shrubby star magnolia (M. stellata). It grows just 1–2m high — though very old specimens can be taller — and simply smothers itself with star-shaped white ﬂowers. Unlike the larger magnolias that have cup-shaped blooms (often described as chalice-shaped), the star magnolia has long, slender petals, which give it its common name. It is one of the easiest of all the deciduous magnolias to grow as it is more adaptable to harsh conditions.

EVERGREEN OPTIONS The other type of magnolia found in gardens is the large evergreen species known as the Bull Bay or southern magnolia (M. grandiflora), which comes from the United States and flowers during the warmer months — think Gone with the Wind and avenues of large, spreading trees heavy with fragrant white flowers and hung with old man’s beard. Indeed, those large blooms, now the state flowers of Mississippi and Louisiana, were a symbol of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

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MAGNOLIAS | ORNAMENTAL

1 Shrubby star magnolia 2 M. cylindrica x campbellii ‘Darjeeling’ 3 Dwarf evergreen, ‘Little Gem’ 4 Port wine magnolia (M. ﬁgo) 5 ‘Cameo’ 6 ‘Alba’ 7 ‘Cleopatra’

The full spring splendour

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A touch of Gone with the Wind grandeur

Although this tree grows naturally in a warm, humid climate, it can thrive in colder zones if given shelter when young, so it can be found in all but the most arid and coldest parts of the country. Once established, the trees can take harsh conditions but water them well when young. Evergreen magnolias are long lived and over time form majestic shade trees. Evergreen magnolias have also had a makeover in recent years and have shrunk to more of a suburban size. Cultivars such as ‘Little Gem’ (bred more than 50 years ago), ‘Teddy Bear’ and ‘Greenback’ are both shorter and narrower than the species, growing around 10m tall and 5m wide but often kept pruned at around 3m tall. Smaller varieties of evergreen magnolias can be grown as attractive hedges. Many also have attractive leaves that are shiny green on their upper sides and brown or bronze beneath.

NEW MEMBER OF THE FAMILY Recently, botanists reclassified the genus Michelia into Magnolia. This reclassification means that reliable garden shrubs such as the port wine magnolia are now considered true magnolias (Magnolia figo syn. Michelia figo). Port wine magnolias are evergreen with small but highly fragrant flowers. They grow as large shrubs or small trees and can be pruned and shaped or grown as a hedge. Named varieties include the Princess Series, which have slightly larger, more open flowers than the oldfashioned port wine magnolia.

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GO NATIVE | CUT FLOWERS

A cut above Getty

FOR FRESH FLOWERS AND FOLIAGE STRAIGHT FROM THE GARDEN, DON’T OVERLOOK AUSTRALIAN NATIVES

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CUT FLOWERS | GO NATIVE

Xerochrysum bracteatum

START WITH A GOOD SHARP PAIR OF SECATEURS TO MAKE A CLEAN CUT SO THE CUT STEM TAKES UP WATER AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE. Rhodanthe chlorocephala

Words & photos Angus Stewart ustralian plants are rightly assuming a much greater prominence in gardens across the country as exciting new varieties emerge that broaden their potential range of uses. Distinctive, iconic flowers such as banksias, waratahs and kangaroo paws are finding their way into vases and wedding bouquets. As well as their unique shapes and textures, they are also usually very durable, giving excellent value for money. The good news for gardeners is that many of the best native plants for cut flowers are easily grown in the garden. As an added bonus, cutting the flowers and foliage and pruning while you’re at it sets the plants up for even better flowering the following year. The trick is to select species and varieties that can multitask, doubling not only as feature plants in the garden but also as floral treats within the home. There are a few simple tricks to make your native cut flowers last as long as possible in the vase. Start with a good sharp pair of secateurs to make a clean cut so the cut stem takes up water as efficiently as possible. Clean water treated with a biocide such as a few drops of concentrated laundry bleach per litre will stop microbes

growing that can clog up the stems. Changing the water in your vases every few days, while not essential, will also prolong the life of your blooms, as will recutting the stems at the same time to provide a fresh clean surface to transport the fresh water to where it’s needed. Here are some tried and trusted native plants that can be cut throughout most of the year, if not all year round, to provide sufficient variety to help you produce stunning bouquets.

EVERLASTING DAISIES Everlasting daisies, also known as paper daisies or straw flowers, are a great place to start as they are quick and relatively easy to grow. Plus, as their name suggests, the flowers will last almost indefinitely. The best ones to grow are the annual varieties that include such mouthfuls as Xerochrysum bracteatum, Rhodanthe chlorocephala and R. manglesii — hard to pronounce but easy to grow.

Rhodanthe manglesii

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GO NATIVE | CUT FLOWERS

Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Gold’

Anigozanthos ‘Big Red’

Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Lilac’

Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Scarlet’

Seeds are readily obtainable by mail order or in retail nurseries (search the names online and you will ﬁnd an abundance of seed at very reasonable prices). Sow the seed through autumn (or in early spring in warmer climates) either straight into the soil in a well-dug seed bed in the garden that has been fed with a general-purpose garden fertiliser. Or grow them in pots and they will provide colour in the garden through the warmer months of the year as well as ﬂowers for cutting. They can be picked fully open if they

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are to be used in fresh bunches, or they can be dried by picking them in the bud stage and hanging them upside down in a warm spot where there is good air circulation.

KANGAROO PAWS Kangaroo paws are another relatively easy-to-grow Australian plant that will provide an abundance of colour for the vase. The taller varieties are the best choice for a long-lived perennial garden plant that also yields long stems for ﬂower arrangements. Look out for named varieties such

as ‘Big Red’, ‘Yellow Gem’ and the ‘Landscape’ series that comes in a range of colours: gold, orange, scarlet, pink, green and lilac. All of these taller varieties will grow in most soil types and all but the harshest of Australian climates. They will tolerate light frosts and flower best in full sun if given plenty of moisture and general-purpose garden fertiliser. They flower from mid-spring to midsummer and, if you cut the top half of the stem as soon as the first flower opens, you will not only have cut flowers of a good height for the vase but you will stimulate repeat flowering in the lower half of the stem that remains on the plant, rewarding you with colour in the garden for longer in summer and also giving you small, short stems that can be used to create floral posies. When the flowers start to lose colour, cut them back to the ground and remove the associated leaves, which tend to turn black. Give the plant a water and a feed to stimulate the new shoots that will become next year’s flowers.

CUT FLOWERS | GO NATIVE BANKSIAS

Banksia baxteri

B. hookeriana

B. praemorsa

When it comes to Australian plants for cut flowers, banksias are one of the star shrubs. The various species have similar growing requirements and so can be grouped together in the garden where they can all receive the perfect drainage and lowphosphorus fertilisers they require to thrive. The Western Australian species scarlet banksia (Banksia coccinea), Hooker’s banksia (B. hookeriana), cut-leaf banksia (B. praemorsa) and the bird’s nest banksia (B. baxteri) are the best cut flower types for southern Australia. In more humid northern climates, the Hinchinbrook Island banksia (B. plagiocarpa) and the swamp banksia (B. robur) will perform best. Give them full sun and you will be rewarded with a good harvest of flower heads through the autumn and winter months. Cutting the flowers serves also to prune the plants but, if there are any flower heads not used as cut flowers, they can be left to go to seed as these also make interesting long-lived features for floral arrangements.

EUCALYPTS Last but not least, the gum tree family, Myrtaceae, has numerous members useful for ﬂoral arrangement. Species of Eucalyptus such as the silverleaved mountain gum (E. pulverulenta), pictured bottom right, or the Argyle apple (E. cinerea) produce beautiful blue-grey foliage that’s perfect as backing for arrangements. In the garden, cut them regularly to create a compact shrubby form that will also be a feature plant. B. coccinea

GERALDTON WAX Chamelaucium uncinatum (pictured bottom left) and its relatives are among the world’s most popular cut ﬂowers, their abundant blooms ideal to provide soft backing for large feature ﬂowers such as banksias.

Chamelaucium uncinatum

Eucalyptus pulverulenta

All of these species will do best in relatively well-drained soil and full sun and, if fed with a specialist native plant fertiliser through the warmer months of the year, will give good growth. We have only just touched on the many possibilities for your cut flower garden. Other candidates such as boronias, Philothecas, flannel flowers, grevilleas, Dryandras, waratahs and many more can be explored on my website gardeningwithangus.com.au.

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HEALTH CARE | DISEASE CONTROL

PLANT R E M E D I E S

WINTER GARDENING FIRST AID THAT CAN STOP YOUR PLANTS FAILING OR FALLING OFF THE TWIG ENTIRELY

Words Jennifer Stackhouse ne of the safest ways to combat plant diseases in the garden is to prevent them from occurring. While organic gardeners want to limit the use of sprays and deploy them only where signiﬁcant amounts of crops may be lost, there are some treatments that can be applied safely and, used well, are highly effective. At the end of winter, as deciduous plants — fruit trees and shrubs in particular — are coming back to life, there’s a window of opportunity to prevent diseases that can affect the plant later in the year. Broadly, this prevention is referred to as winter spraying or winter washing.

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Fungicides such as copper, lime or sulphur are used to stop diseases from taking hold as new growth develops. The fungicide prevents the disease from “germinating” and developing. As the plant is leaﬂess, winter washing won’t damage foliage. Treatments are applied before leafy growth returns and often need a follow-up application. Rain may lessen effectiveness. Some diseases kept in check with a winter spray include peach leaf curl, brown rot, downy mildew and scab and bacterial problems, including bacterial leaf spot and cankers. These diseases may affect leaves, branches and fruit but are hard to control once the effects of the disease become evident in spring and summer.

BORDEAUX MIXTURE One traditional treatment is Bordeaux mixture. Developed in France in the late 19th century to protect grapevines from disease, it’s now one of the oldest fungicides, widely used to control a wide range of bacterial and fungal diseases. Best of all, it’s approved for organic use. It can be bought ready mixed but keen gardeners can make up their own solution using copper sulphate and slaked lime (see box, top of opposite page). Both ingredients are available from garden centres or hardware stores. Also from the traditional grapegrowing regions of France is Burgundy mixture, a combo of copper sulphate and sodium carbonate, or common salt.

DISEASE CONTROL | HEALTH CARE

HOW TO MAKE BORDEAUX MIX To make a one per cent Bordeaux mix, dissolve 100g of copper sulphate (also sold as bluestone) in 5L of warm water. In a separate container, dissolve 100g of quicklime (such as Limil) in another 5L of warm water. Mix to dissolve then combine the two mixtures by adding the lime mix to the copper, which will be blue in colour. Stir to combine, strain to remove lumps that may block sprayers, then pour into a sprayer through a strainer and treat the plants. Be generous and spray to the point of runoff. Use within 24 hours and regularly stir or agitate the sprayer to keep the ingredients in solution. Although this is an organic spray, it is not without concerns. Always wear protective clothing and eyewear (and, preferably, gloves) when mixing and applying this spray and follow normal safety procedures. The picture below shows limewash being applied liberally to prevent canker.

WARNING It is important to note that copper is toxic to aquatic life so do not use near ponds or watercourses. Keep away from areas where stock graze. It’s also toxic in high quantities to earthworms, so avoid soaking soil with copper products, including Bordeaux mix. Nonreactive chelated forms of copper do not accumulate in soils.

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OTHER FUNGICIDES

Lime paste is applied to woody growth

Other preventive organic sprays include lime, sulphur, copper sulphate and copper oxychloride. These are available in ready-mixed products and concentrates to mix at home. Diseases such as canker that cause gum to “bleed” from the trunk or the stems of some fruit trees, including cherry and apricot, can also be treated using a paste made from lime, which is painted on to the wound. As it’s applied to woody growth and not leafy growth, it can be used safely during spring and summer. Use organic fungicides in autumn in an ongoing disease management program that also involves cleaning up diseased material. This includes fallen leaves and fruit and mummiﬁed fruit — diseased fruit that has withered on the plant. ∙ Next issue we look at some common insect pests and their control.

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HEALTH CARE | DISEASE CONTROL

DISEASES CONTROLLED BY WINTER SPRAYING

Use an organic fungicide containing copper, lime or sulphur to spray for these diseases on deciduous plants before they re-leaf. Always mix and apply treatments following instructions on the container. Disease

Plants affected

1 Bacterial leaf spot

Lilac, mulberry, stone fruits

2 Bacterial canker

Stone fruits

3 Brown rot

Stone fruits

4 Downy mildew

Grape, rose

5 Peach leaf curl

Nectarine, peach, almond, apricot

6 Rust

Blackberry, raspberry, rose

7 Scab

Stone fruits

8 Shot hole

Stone fruits, ornamental plums

DISEASES SUCH AS CANKER THAT CAUSE GUM TO “BLEED” FROM THE TRUNK OR THE STEMS OF SOME FRUIT TREES, INCLUDING CHERRY AND APRICOT, CAN ALSO BE TREATED USING A PASTE MADE FROM LIME.

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DISEASE CONTROL | HEALTH CARE

OTHER PREVENTIVE ORGANIC SPRAYS INCLUDE LIME, SULPHUR, COPPER SULPHATE AND COPPER OXYCHLORIDE. 7

Bigstock, Getty

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WEEKEND GARDENING | CREATING HABITAT PART 3

FROGS AND L I Z A R D S IN OUR THIRD AND FINAL LOOK AT HOW TO MAKE DIFFERENT SPECIES WELCOME IN OUR GARDENS, WE TURN OUR ATTENTION TO THOSE ALL-IMPORTANT AND ELUSIVE REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS

Words Claire Bickle othing signiﬁes a healthy garden more clearly than the presence of frogs and lizards. Skinks and lizards, whether darting about or sitting motionless in the sun waiting for passing prey, are an assurance that your backyard will be relatively free of the obnoxious insects on which reptiles feast. Frogs are no mean predators themselves and, like the proverbial canary in the coalmine, are reliable indicators of

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the quality of your little ecosystem. If your pond’s not up to scratch, amphibians are the ﬁrst to disappear.

FROGS Australia boasts well over 200 endemic frog species. Tree-dwelling, burrowing, jumping and running frogs can be found in almost every Australian landscape, from desert clay pans to rainforests, from alpine mountains to urban spaces — including, hopefully, your backyard. But frog populations are in decline

and human activity is thought to be largely responsible. Frogs are highly sensitive to chemicals and pollutants that make their way into the environment. The use of insecticides and herbicides, the loss of suitable habitat through the drainage of wetland areas and the degradation of watercourses have negatively affected our frog populations. There are many frog species that are currently on the endangered list. So, what can you do?

CREATING HABITAT PART 3 | WEEKEND GARDENING

Opposite The eastern dwarf tree frog (Litoria fallax), common to the east coast Above left A simple frog pond Above Marginal plants make good resting places Below On the left are frogs’ eggs, on the right long strings of toads’ eggs

WHAT FROGS NEED

Bigstock, Sandra Tuszynska

Water • A pond is an important component of the frog-friendly garden and should be placed in part sun and part shade. This ensures a constant water source while providing sheltering sites around the edge and among the associated aquatic plants. Most importantly, it provides breeding habitat. • Not all frogs have the same breeding requirements, so it’s important to provide a variety of habitats. You might consider varying the depth of water in different parts of your pond or changing the density of your aquatic vegetation. • Your pond can be as cheap or expensive as you like. It can be made from a depression in the ground lined with a plastic sheet, old railway sleepers with a proper pool liner, an old bathtub or a cut-down discarded water tank. Whatever you use, make sure it’s safe and young children do not have access. Plant life • A frog pond needs a surrounding garden. Frogs will relish the increase in humidity provided by the plants. You should choose dense plantings of grasses, clumping plants and broad-

leafed shrubs for frogs to rest on. • Use native and locally grown plants to ensure they are well suited to your garden. This will help to replicate the habitat that your local frogs like. • The garden needs to be well structured and layered, with groundcovers, understorey plants and larger trees to create a sheltered environment. • The pond will need a variety of

plants: oxygenators, which are submerged plants that help oxygenate the water; ﬂoating plants such as native water fringe and waterlilies that ﬂoat on the surface, providing landing pads and protection from predators when the frogs are in the water; and marginal plants that like moist soil or semi-submerged situations and will act as resting places and protection for frogs.

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WEEKEND GARDENING | CREATING HABITAT PART 3

Food • Frogs eat a vast array of insects. Insects will be attracted to the froggy areas of your garden because of the water and especially if you grow a wide variety of plants. • Applying mulch to your garden beds is important as it will harbour a multitude of critters frogs can feed on. An active compost bin or heap will also bring the bugs. • Installing a solar light near your frog pond will help attract moths and other ﬂying insects at night. • Another option is to grow your own frog food in the form of mealworms. Safety • Avoid using pesticides. Frogs are sensitive and have thin skins that readily absorb common garden chemicals. They will also die if they eat poisoned insects. Stick to certiﬁed organic pesticides and fertilisers. • Keep your cat in at night. Cats will eat frogs and are best kept inside when frogs are active.

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• Never relocate frogs or tadpoles as this can spread disease. • Once your garden is frog-friendly, frogs will come of their own accord. By encouraging your neighbours to follow your frog-friendly example, you can create a larger frog-friendly zone.

LIZARDS Like frogs, lizards are also found in almost every environment in Australia: coastal regions, rainforests, arid areas and urban environments. Their diversity is vast, with Australia home to more than 520 species, broadly divided into ﬁve families: • Varanidae monitors/goannas • Agamidae dragons • Pygopodidae legless lizards • Gekkonidae geckos • Scincidae skinks The current threats to various lizard species include loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitat; high predation rates from introduced predators; and climate change affecting the reptiles’ biology and nesting sites.

WHAT LIZARDS NEED Habitat Understanding the various species’ environmental needs and creating suitable habitats for them is critical for the success of a “lizard garden”. Some lizards are sun-loving (heliothermic) while others tend to stay under cover, using the temperature of the environment rather than basking to control their body temperature (thigmothermic). This is one reason a variety of structural and thermal opportunities is ideal. Water • Include a pond in your garden as somewhere to drink from, which will also encourage insects and frogs. Use some sticks or rocks to act as a ramp to make it easy for any lizard that falls in to get out again. • Provide a shallow bowl of water in a protected spot. Keep the water supply regular and fresh and keep the bowl clean. Having dense foliage and logs nearby is ideal.

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Pots, frog hotels and hidey holes • A water pot can be any reasonably sized glazed or terracotta pot with drainage hole/s sealed so they hold water. Placement of vegetation or wood within the pot leading outwards will allow frogs an access point to enter and leave the container. • A frog hotel consists of a large bowl that will hold water, four differentsized pieces of PVC pipe, pebbles and water. There are many instruction videos on the internet. • Many frogs will shelter among your garden plants but there are those that shelter on and in the ground. Provision for these species of frogs can be made by adding rockeries and allowing leaf litter to remain in your garden. • Man-made safe, moist cool retreats can also be provided by partially burying old terracotta ﬂowerpots and ceramic pipes. Logs and rocks can provide attractive, frog-friendly garden features and thick leaf-litter can act as a moist hideaway. Even sandy soil locations for species such as the burrowing frog are important. Note: If toad eggs appear in your pond you should remove them. Toads lay their black eggs in strings of jelly that sit on the bottom of the pond or are attached to aquatic plants. Easy to spot. See page 65.

CREATING HABITAT PART 3 | WEEKEND GARDENING

1 Blue-tongues are welcome visitors 2 Solar lights help attract insects 3 Lizards like rocks and water, too 4 Plenty of hiding and sunning spots

Gardens • Cover includes leaf mulch, hollow logs, bark, rocks and vegetation such as groundcovers or small shrubs where lizards can forage for food and retreat from predators. • Leave leaf litter around your garden for small insects and their eggs. • Mulch your plants — not only will this conserve moisture in your soil but it will provide lots of good hiding places for lizards and their prey. • Include some vines or creepers to cover your fences or walls. This will allow lizards to move around easily undercover. • Include areas of shade and heavy vegetation as well as areas with lots of sunlight and sparse plantings, as lizards love the variety and the sunbaking opportunities. Hidey holes • Like frogs, lizards need places to hide from predators, places to rest and places to nest and lay their eggs. • Include PVC pipes or stacks of bricks

as sheltering spots for lizards if you can’t get fallen branches, logs or rocks. • Old tin or rooﬁng is also great in the garden as somewhere for lizards to sun themselves or hide under. • A lot of lizard species create nests in moist soil under objects in the garden. Leaving leaf litter around the garden, as well as providing coarse wood mulches around plants, can help encourage nests, as well as provide safe hiding places for the lizards if they are disturbed by predators. Food Lizard species vary from being almost entirely insectivorous to largely herbivorous. Lizards, especially within the skink family, are extremely efficient controllers of garden pests, happily eating crickets, beetles, spiders, grasshoppers, moths and cockroaches. Other lizard species will devour worms, beetle larvae and centipedes. Bigger species of skinks, such as the blue-tongues and land mullets, love their fruits and vegies but will also be partial to a meal of snails.

• Plant strawberry plants. Larger lizards like the blue-tongue just love strawberries. • Of course, it doesn’t have to be strawberries. You can also plant native berry-producing plants and/or nectarproducing natives as these will attract insects for lizards to eat. • Composting sites such as bins and compost heaps will attract insects and snails for lizards to eat. • Avoid feeding lizards. They’re great at ﬁnding their own food and should not become dependent on you for a feed. This can quickly turn against the lizard if you go on a long holiday or move house. Safety • Dogs, and especially cats, are also generally the enemies of lizards. As well as the risk of direct predation, pets can force lizards to change their behaviour, such as abandoning favoured sunbaking and nesting sites. • Include rocks, big bits of bark and logs in your garden for lizards to sun themselves on and hide in and under. Place your rocks and logs near some dense bushes or shelter so the lizard can quickly hide if a predator comes along. • If you feed your pets outdoors, lizards may be attracted to the pet food. In this situation they are vulnerable to attack from domestic pets or birds. • Use of pesticides, insecticides and other chemicals within gardens can have a detrimental impact on many lizard species and their food sources. In the case of snail pellets, lizards can die if they eat snails that have ingested this poison.

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BACKYARD PERMACULTURE | ORCHARD CULTURE

Backyard orchards: a better way HIGH-DENSITY PLANTINGS OF SMALL FRUIT TREES CAN PRODUCE GOOD YIELDS WITHOUT WASTE AND EXTEND CROPPING THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

68 | Good Organic Gardening

ORCHARD CULTURE | BACKYARD PERMACULTURE

Above Vigorous growing fruit trees such as apricots (‘Moorpark’ apricot pictured) may need to be summer pruned 2–3 times a year Left A backyard orchard with young trees spaced close together Bottom ‘Williams’ pear espaliered against a wall

Words & photos Angelo Eliades he biggest mistake home gardeners can make when growing fruit trees is to adopt the practices used in commercial agriculture. A farmer’s objectives are completely different from those of a home grower. The intention of commercial fruit growers is to produce the largest possible harvest to meet mass-market demand. They achieve this by growing large numbers of identical fruit trees, sometimes pruned low for hand-picking, sometimes grown to full size to maximise yields, since they have no shortage of space. Having fruit trees widely spaced apart and growing to maximum size may work in large-scale commercial orchards, but that’s not the best option for backyards.

WHY BIG DOESN’T WORK AT HOME Large fruit trees create a whole range of problems in an urban setting: • Limited space A typical backyard cannot accommodate many fullsized fruit trees; deciduous fruit trees generally grow to 4m tall by 4m wide or larger. • Limited variety Two full-size fruit trees will produce only two types of fruit, no more.

• Overproduction A regular family cannot consume huge amounts of one type of fruit, even when using the excess for preserving by drying and making jams, chutneys, etc. People tire of eating the same thing over and over. • Short productive season All the fruit comes at once over a few short weeks, then nothing. It tends to be a glut followed by a famine. • Difficulty of harvest Picking fruit high up in tall trees is not an easy task, even with the right equipment. Birds and possums usually get to the fruit ﬁrst before it ripens fully. • Difficulty of maintenance Spraying and pruning full-size fruit trees is very labourintensive and challenging and may be physically impossible in some backyards. • Pest control Netting tall trees is often not feasible due to the difficulty and the amount of protective netting required. Tall trees are also more attractive to birds, possums and fruit bats, as they provide the safety of height. These problems are completely avoidable by using small trees — but there’s a little more to it than that.

THE IDEAL SYSTEM A much better, tried-and-proven way to grow fruit trees in backyards, designed around the needs of home gardeners rather than farmers, is the system known as Backyard Orchard Culture developed by the Dave Wilson Nursery of Central California.

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BACKYARD PERMACULTURE | ORCHARD CULTURE

In this system, the size of the fruit trees is restricted through various methods to a scale of our choice. These smaller fruit trees are planted closer together, at specific distances apart, to create high-density planting. The combination of these two factors provides many benefits: • Optimum use of limited space Many small fruit trees can fit in the space occupied by one large fruit tree. • Greater variety The more efficient use of space permits a wider variety of fruit trees to be grown, or more varieties of the same fruit which can act as pollinators to maximise yields. • Limited waste Smaller trees can produce enough to provide for a

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RESTRICTING FRUIT TREE SIZE

family’s needs without excess. • Extended productive season Higherdensity plantings occupying the same space as a single large tree can signiﬁcantly extend the harvest season by allowing for the inclusion of early, mid-season and late varieties of one type of fruit, or various different kinds of fruit with consecutive harvest periods throughout the year. • Easier harvesting We can choose to keep trees as high as our arms can reach, or a little higher, for picking convenience. • Easier maintenance Low fruit trees are much easier to spray, prune and net, requiring less effort, fewer materials and no specialised equipment.

In Backyard Orchard Culture, it’s the gardener’s responsibility to keep trees small: to train them to the right size and shape when they’re young and maintain them this way through regular pruning. As a teacher of fruit tree pruning, I teach students that traditional winter pruning is ideal for formative pruning, training young trees to the desired shape in their ﬁrst three years of growth. Once the shape is created, the size of the trees is maintained using summer pruning, also known as detail pruning or maintenance pruning. This restricts the size of tree much better than winter pruning by reducing the leafy canopy area available for photosynthesis. It’s important to note that summer pruning may need to be carried out 2–3 times a year for more vigorous fruit trees such as apricots, Japanese plums, peaches and nectarines. With this system, trees are also planted close together to limit one another’s growth as they compete for nutrients and water. Their size is then maintained with summer pruning. Why not just use dwarf trees? Many fruit trees are not available on dwarf rootstock or as genetic dwarves; also, some “dwarf” trees may grow to several metres in height and still need pruning!

SPACING TREES CLOSE TOGETHER Backyard Orchard Culture makes use of various training techniques to create high-density plantings and ﬁt fruit trees into small spaces. Espaliered trees grown ﬂat against a wall or trellis and columnar cordonpruned trees can take advantage of very narrow spaces. Fruit trees such as pomegranates, guavas and feijoas can readily be clipped into fruiting hedges. As an alternative to multi-graft trees that have several fruit tree varieties grafted onto a single trunk, it’s possible to use two-in-a hole tree planting and variations such as three- or four-in-a hole, with trees planted 45–60cm apart and pruned to create a tree with multiple trunks and a single canopy. A simpler technique I use in permaculture food forest gardening is efficient spacing. To determine the planting distance between trees, decide how wide the tree will grow and make

ORCHARD CULTURE | BACKYARD PERMACULTURE

1 Summer pruning a black mulberry to produce another crop on new growth in the same season 2 Two-in-a hole planting of Japanese blood plums growing as a single canopy 3 Heavy-cropping ‘Dai Dai Maru’ persimmon 4 Columnar trees are space savers 5 ‘Starkrimson’ cherries in summer 6 This eight-year-old demonstration ﬁg tree at the garden nursery is 2.5m high and produces hundreds of ﬁgs each year.

an allowance for some space on each side. For example, if trees will be pruned to 1.5m wide, then they’re planted a little more than 1.5m apart — say 1.8m apart — to allow for a space of 30cm between canopies.

BIG YIELDS FROM SMALL TREES

A large tree is not required to produce large yields if good organic gardening practices are employed and soil health is maintained. For example, in my own food forest garden, with around 30 fruit trees in 60 square metres of garden bed, a 2.5m Japanese satsuma mandarin produces 60–65kg a year, a 2m ‘Starkrimson’ cherry produces several kilos of cherries, while a 2.5m-tall, 1.5m-wide ‘Dai Dai Maru’ persimmon produces 150–250 fruit each year. A black mulberry pruned to 2m produces four crops a year, once after each pruning, totalling several kilos. Similarly, a ‘Brown Turkey’ ﬁg kept to 2.5m and used at work for students’ pruning training, produces 7–10 ﬁgs per branch on more than 100 branches. How much fruit is enough from a small tree?

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FEATHERED FRIENDS | WINTER UPKEEP

Foul-weather fowl care SOME ADVICE TO TAKE THE HASSLE OUT OF LOOKING AFTER POULTRY IN THE COOLER MONTHS

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WINTER UPKEEP | FEATHERED FRIENDS

Words Megg Miller here’s little pleasure in being buffeted by wet and windy weather. Ducks may be oblivious, but chooks seek out protection. We owners are tasked with the welfare of our ﬂock, so we have a responsibility to provide a safe and comfy environment. If we’re smart, this will translate to safe and comfy conditions for us as well when feeding and caring for birds. Winter brings unique challenges. They’re different for each of us, but the suggestions that have been gathered together here will make poultry care easier and more enjoyable.

PACK UP PATHWAYS Muddy paths are particularly treacherous when hands are full; one slip and you’re in the mud. Spend the egg money on gravel or woodchips or, if your talents extend to concreting, you’ll have an all-weather walkway that needs little attention. Pushing the wheelbarrow will never be easier.

REST THE FOWLYARD A fully covered outdoor yard is a wise investment. Uncovered yards look like gold diggings in summer and a war zone in winter. Even covering over half of the yard is worthwhile. It’s sensible to rest a muddy yard. A wet area provides ideal conditions for poultry worms to complete their lifecycle, with continual reinfection likely. If space permits, the winter months spent indoors on deep litter will be healthier for the ﬂock. Sow a crop in the resting fowlyard. Use birdseed or wild bird mix or go a step further and sow cress and mustard. This combination is believed to have a sweetening effect on the soil, degrading any pathogens present. You won’t need to harvest it; in spring, the chooks will turn it over for you.

WIND PROTECTION Numerous manufactured poultry units are designed to have four open netted sides and an elevated house under a roof. A box-like house is too small for hanging out in and the open sides offer no protection from the elements. Traditional skillion shed-type housing may offer little wind protection, either. Cold birds become inactive, egg lay drops, susceptibility to disease increases

A cabbage tether ball is a great boredom buster

WINTER IS THE PRIME TIME FOR RODENT INVASION AND THEY WILL EAT OR DEFECATE OVER FEED ... THEY CAN INTRODUCE ECTOPARASITES and extra food is eaten to generate body heat. A knee-high length of flat iron, marine plywood or well-attached corflute will redirect wind away from birds. Whatever barrier you attach, it must not cover the entire henhouse front or ventilation will be impaired. A blind attached to the plywood or iron barrier and pulled upwards will allow you to adjust the air and light entering the house. Buy a cheap readymade blind or make your own using heavy clear plastic. Check ventilation. If there are signs of condensation on the roof, there is insufficient air movement. Check air quality, too. If there’s a hint of ammonia, increased airflow is required.

Cute and hungry but not welcome in the hen house

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FEATHERED FRIENDS | WINTER UPKEEP

THE RIGHT LITTER WILL KEEP A HENHOUSE WARM, ABSORB MOISTURE AND DILUTE THE DAILY DROPPINGS. feed group is strong-acting and likely to have a deleterious effect on owls and other prey creatures. Rats are a challenge. They’re likely to move out for the duration of the baiting program then take up residence again. The key is their fear of change: set up bait stations and do not move them. Allow a period for acceptance of bait and then refresh with the same product — no short-term chopping or changing. A single-feed is more suited to rats than multi-feed products because even if rats don’t ingest enough bait to kill them they will never touch the particular product again.

A WARM START

ABSORBENT LITTER The right litter will keep a henhouse warm, absorb moisture and dilute the daily droppings. With deep litter, the ﬂoor material is built up to 8–12cm and maintained over winter at this depth. It has to be light enough for the birds to turn it over, which maintains friability. Scattered grain encourages scratching which, together with microbial activity, facilitates the breakdown of the material. Not all litters are equal. Straw must be cut short to enable ease of turning over. Wet or damp straw is vulnerable to mould development, which is dangerous to poultry. Sugarcane mulch needs to be watched, too, though it’s less susceptible to moulds than straw. Wood shavings from untreated wood are ideal. Their light nature facilitates easy scratching and they are low in dust. You could use sawdust but it must be coarse and contaminant free. However, it does generate a lot of dust and is inclined to clump together. Rice hulls are popular; they’re light

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and very absorbent but a little dusty ﬁrst up. Shredded paper is also light and absorbent, as are autumn leaves, but both are carried on wet shoes and distributed everywhere. You don’t clean out weekly with deep litter; it’s left so the microbes can assist with breakdown. Removing unsightly feathers, vegie stalks and the like is ﬁne, though.

RODENT REVELRY Winter is the prime time for rodent invasion and they will eat or defecate over feed, boosting the feed bill. They can introduce ectoparasites and disease pathogens so must be controlled. Mice are relatively easy to eliminate. They set up home in close proximity to their feed source. A quick dispatch occurs if boiling water is poured into holes and this is preferable to the lingering effects of bait. Alternatively, set up bait stations out of the reach of kids and pets. Consider baits carefully. The single-

BORED AND BULLYING? Check our previous article on boredom busters (Cold Comfort, May/June Vol 11 No 1, 2020) for ideas for overcoming cabin fever. There are lots of rewarding distractions that will keep hens busy until days start lengthening again.

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Untreated wood shavings make ideal litter

Many people like to provide a warm mash on winter mornings and this can be as simple as covering some pellets with warm water. Let stand ﬁve minutes for water absorption then give to birds. Other people make porridge (avoid instant oats) and mix in yoghurt, whey or cooled water from cooked vegies. Seeds and even chopped herbs can be added. Do not feed uncooked linseed; it has a cyanoglycoside that can cause poisoning. Heat from cooking destroys this function. The best way to warm birds up is to get them moving. Site the henhouse so they get the early-morning sun and toss mixed grain, diced vegie peelings or even cut grass onto the litter and the forensic search for treasure will warm the girls up. And don’t forget the greens. They are a source of vitamin A, which protects mucous membranes and so helps ward off winter colds. Leaves with a zing such as rocket and mustard could be offered along with silverbeet and brassicas.

BUSY IZZY | COLOUR IN

BUSY IZZY’S FREE-RANGE RESCUE CHICKENS “LOVE, WATER AND HEALTHY SEED ARE ALL OUR RESCUE CHICKENS NEED.” For more Busy Izzy fun visit busyizzy.com

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GARDEN CALENDAR | MID-WINTER

THINGS TO DO IN

J ULY THE WEATHER DOESN’T ALWAYS CO-OPERATE BUT COLDER MONTHS ARE A GOOD TIME TO WORK IN THE GARDEN 1

VEGIES

FRUIT

COMPOST & SOIL

∙ In very cold areas when the soil temperature falls below 15°C, among the few things that can be planted from seed are English spinach and two easy-to-grow vegetables, broad beans and spring onions. Broad beans do best with a climbing trellis or stakes for support. ∙ Also plant silverbeet and peas (podding and snow peas). ∙ Keep greens coming by sowing seeds or planting seedlings every few weeks. ∙ Every 7–10 days, apply organic liquid fertiliser to cabbages and tasty greens such as rocket and soft-hearted lettuce to stimulate growth. ∙ There’s still time to plant perennials like asparagus and rhubarb, which grow from crowns and do best in wellprepared beds with added organic matter dug in well. ∙ Continue to inspect all brassicas for snails and slugs on winter crops, especially new plantings. Use an ironbased bait that’s harmless to pets and wildlife. Handpick pests daily and check the backs of leaves for eggs and newly hatched green caterpillars.

∙ Strawberries can go in now. Cut down old stems of autumn-fruiting raspberries to ground level. ∙ Now is a good time to feed citrus with an all-purose citrus fertiliser and apply a winter spray to protect trees from peach leaf curl and brown rot. ∙ It’s time to prune bare deciduous trees to encourage new growth, sort out broken or crossing branches and remove any diseased fruit or wood. But don’t compost diseased material; it should be buried or burned. ∙ Through winter, bare-rooted fruit trees are available for planting. Look for a well-shaped tree and avoid any with broken branches, poor branching or damage. Only buy trees that have well-protected root systems as dry roots can lead to plant death or trees that are slow to reshoot in spring. ∙ When planting new fruit trees, check cross-pollination needs. Ideally, select a tree that’s already grafted with a pollinating variety. ∙ Where space is at a premium, look for dwarf fruit trees for planting in raised beds or large containers.

∙ Keep on top of winter weeds by lightly hoeing among rows of winter vegies. ∙ As the weather cools, rates of composting slow. To keep compost systems working through winter, regularly aerate the heap using a fork. Dig in a few handfuls of lime if the heap seems smelly. ∙ Balance large additions of autumn leaves with nitrogen-rich matter such as lawn clippings, manure and food scraps. ∙ Keep rodents at bay with a lid on the compost bin. Prevent animals burrowing in from the adjacent ground by burying a barrier in the soil around the heap. ∙ Cover open heaps to keep them from becoming wet and soggy. ∙ Keep worm farms in a warm, sheltered spot such as a verandah or carport as cold conditions kill worms. Use diluted worm wee to liquid-feed vegie crops. ∙ If your soil is poorly draining clay, dig in gypsum and organic matter now to both improve drainage and raise the soil level. Cover the worked areas with a good layer of mulch and leave until late winter or spring for planting.

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ATE COOL & TEMPER

MID-WINTER | GARDEN CALENDAR

TROPICAL

VEGIES

FRUIT

COMPOST & SOIL

∙ Keep planting regularly so there are always new crops coming along. How about some some winter treats like silverbeet, Chinese cabbage, rocket and mizuna? ∙ Sow beetroot, carrot, tomato (including cherry tomatoes) and melon seeds and perhaps a block of sweet corn. In warmer areas it’s time to put in beans, leeks, spring onions and pumpkins. ∙ Peas, particularly snow peas, provide a fast and easy harvest in winter. ∙ Water all crops, especially leafy crops and those in raised beds or containers, to encourage fast, tender growth. ∙ Liquid-feed at least fortnightly. ∙ Keep an eye out for cabbage white butterﬂy caterpillars and grasshoppers and squash any you see. Dipel is an approved chemical treatment for a bad infestation of caterpillars. ∙ Remove diseased leaves and cut off and dispose of branches affected by scale.

∙ Time to plant watermelon as well as fruit trees such as figs and pistachios. ∙ Harvest citrus as needed and keep them deeply watered, well mulched and free of weeds. ∙ Spray trees with horticultural oil to reduce citrus bugs — but don’t apply if sun is warm. ∙ Combat other pests and diseases with a winter maintenance program of pruning, clearing and spraying. ∙ Deeply water mango, avocado and custard apples. Lychees are ripening, so rebait fruit-fly traps to control early pest outbreaks. ∙ If wind is knocking flowers from fruit trees, erect a windbreak of shadecloth or hessian. Plan a living windbreak with local native plants. ∙ Liquid-feed flowering strawberries every 7–10 days and ensure there’s plenty of organic mulch spread under foliage to keep developing fruit out of contact with the soil.

∙ This cool, dry part of the year is the ideal time to work on improving soil fertility and moisture-holding capacity. Dig in compost and manure in preparation for planting. ∙ Turn compost heaps and add extra moisture if the heap is dry. Material needs to be moist, not wet. ∙ Keep adding a balance of wet and dry materials such as vegie scraps and lawn clippings layered with dry leaves and disease-free prunings. ∙ Cover fallow areas with mulch or sow a green manure crop such as clover, which not only keeps the weeds away but can be dug into the soil to improve its nutrients for spring growth. ∙ Mulches also prevent soils drying out. If an area is hard to dig due to clay, sprinkle gypsum or water with claybreaker. A layer of organic mulch such as sugar cane over hard soils will encourage earthworm activity, which helps make soils more workable.

1 Look after those ripening lychees and guard against pest attacks 2 Put some rhubarb into beds well prepared with organic matter 3 The cool weather is good for planting all kinds of peas 4 Time to liquid-feed ﬂowering strawberries 5 Winter mulching keeps dirt moist and makes hard soils more friable

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GARDEN GA ARD RDEN NC CALENDAR A EN AL E ENDA NDA AR | LATE LAT A E WINTER W NT WI NTER

THINGS TO DO IN

AU GU ST THE WEATHER IS CHANGEABLE BUT SPRING IS CLOSE SO IT’S TIME TO PREPARE FOR A NEW GROWING SEASON 1

VEGIES

FRUIT

COMPOST & SOIL

∙ Make sure the frosts are well and truly gone before putting in beetroot, parsnip, peas, radish, leek, rocket, silverbeet and spinach. ∙ If it’s still too cold, hold off on herbs and vegetables such as basil, beans, tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, capsicums, pumpkins and zucchinis. ∙ Seeds and seedlings that don’t mind changeable weather include snow peas, lettuce, spring onions, silverbeet and herbs. Broad beans can go in, too, in cool temperate areas only. ∙ Other plants to consider at the moment include parsley, broccoli, cabbage and cauliﬂower. If you’re trying Jerusalem artichokes, put them in a pot or they could take over. ∙ To get a head-start with 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 on as they develop. ∙ In all areas except tropical it’s a great time to plant potatoes. Use virus-free seed spuds in well-drained soil.

∙ It’s deﬁnitely your last chance to put in bare-rooted trees such as apples, pears, plums and nectarines as well as deciduous exotics. ∙ Apply organic winter sprays to protect existing deciduous fruit trees from diseases like leaf curl and brown rot. Act now before trees get their leaves back. ∙ Don’t forget to give fruit trees a thorough pruning — except, of course, your apricots. ∙ Citrus care now ensures good ﬂowering, fruiting and growth over the months ahead. Water thoroughly then apply organic citrus fertiliser or all-purpose chicken-manure pellets. ∙ Treat subsequent new growth with a spray oil to protect against leaf miner, a larva that feeds by tunnelling through leaves (particularly lemon). ∙ Keep the area under citrus free of weeds and grasses, which compete for nutrients and water, then cover the bare soil with mulch. ∙ Stake new plantings to protect from wind rock, which can cause root disturbance and slow establishment.

∙ Planting tomatoes next month? Prepare the beds with organic compost, pelletised chook poo, water and straw mulch. (Avoid using sugarcane due to costs of transportation to cooler areas.) ∙ Late winter is generally a time for spring preparation and clean-ups. Also, dig in green manure crops that were planted to grow through winter. ∙ Dig mature compost through garden beds in preparation for planting spring crops. Dig it in well and allow to break down before planting. ∙ Clean up around vegie beds and fruit trees. Remove weeds, discarded leaves and old fruit to reduce future pests and disease. Letting the chooks out to forage is an easy way to do a clean-up. All this should reduce pests later in the year as many can overwinter in soil and debris. ∙ Snails and slugs wait out the dry times by hiding in wooden edging, under pot rims, among stones or in hollows in retaining walls. After rain, they’ll be on the move looking for seedlings to eat. Control them with a safe bait.

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ATE COOL & TEMPER

LATE WINTER | GARDEN CALENDAR

TROPICAL

VEGIES

FRUIT

COMPOST & SOIL

∙ Keep planting spring onions, peas (both dwarf and climbing), radish, silverbeet, sweet corn, tomatoes and zucchini. It’s also time to put in rocket, Chinese cabbage, mizuna, lettuce, leeks, pumpkin, parsnip and sweet potatoes. ∙ Keep water up to leafy greens to prevent bolting and shade vegetables that are in danger of drying out. ∙ There’s also still time to plant a crop of potatoes to harvest before the wet season returns. Plant seed potatoes into well-drained soil and gradually cover shoots as they appear to encourage lots of spuds to form. Potatoes respond to regular watering by producing larger tubers, so water crops well as they grow. ∙ In tropical zones it’s also safe to plant eggplant and rosella now. ∙ Add colour with a crop of sunﬂowers. These tall, fast-growing annuals come in handy as shade for heat-sensitive vegies such as lettuce and silverbeet.

∙ Finish planting bare-rooted trees, shrubs and vines. ∙ Fruits to grow from seed include tree tomatoes, melons and rosella. ∙ Cape gooseberries self-seed once planted. If you don’t have them, this is a good time to plant seeds or small plants. The fruit’s papery covering helps protect it from pests. ∙ Liquid-feed strawberries and tuck mulch under the ripening fruit to reduce fungal diseases. ∙ Check grafted plants, such as citrus and passionfruit, for suckers appearing below the graft. Remove suckers to keep the plant healthy. Rub them off young, soft shoots or prune larger shoots flush with the stem. ∙ Feed citrus with an organic citrus food. For potted plants, apply smaller amounts on a monthly basis. ∙ Deeply water flowering fruit trees and prepare to monitor for fruit fly with traps and baits.

∙ Top up the mulch on vegie patches and herb gardens with sustainable mulch of low environmental impact. You can also grow sweet potato, zucchini or nasturtium as a leafy living mulch. ∙ Dig in green manure crops that have been growing through the dry season, turning them in before they ﬂower and seed. Break up larger material with a sharp spade and chop up excess matter for the compost. ∙ Hoe soils wherever weeds appear, then cover bare soil with a light mulch to prevent more seeds germinating. ∙ Prepare for the wet season by making raised beds that drain better over summer (but they’ll need extra watering in the dry). ∙ For a quick raised bed, use bales of straw as an edging. Fill with an organic garden mix or use weed-free garden soil mixed with compost and aged manure.

1 The yellow ﬂowers of Jerusalem artichokes — careful they don’t take over! 2 Get ahead of the weather by starting next season’s seeds 3 Dig in those green manure crops before they ﬂower and seed 4 Watch out as these critters get active as soon as it rains 5 Planting a crop of potatoes in well-drained soil

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FRUIT & VEG | IN SEASON

FR ESH

LO C AL

THESE FRUIT AND VEG ARE THE FRESHEST AND BEST IN OUR SHOPS AND GARDENS DURING THE COOLER MONTHS

IN SEASON

J ULY

AUGUST

FRUITS

VEGIES

FRUITS

VEGIES

Apples, avocados, bananas, cumquats, custard apples, dates, grapefruit, kiwifruit, lemons, limes, mandarins, nashi, olives, oranges (Navel), papayas, pineapples, pomelos, quinces, rhubarb, strawberries, tangelos

Asian greens, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrots, cauliﬂower, celeriac, celery, fennel, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, okra, onions, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkins, shallots (eschalots), silverbeet, spinach, swedes, sweet potato, turnips, witlof

Apples, avocados, bananas, cumquats, grapefruit, kiwifruit, lemons, limes, mandarins, olives, oranges (blood, Navel), pawpaw, pineapples, pomelos, rhubarb, strawberries, tangelos

Asian greens, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrots, cauliﬂower, celeriac, celery, fennel, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, okra, onions, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkins, silverbeet, spinach, swedes, sweet potato, turnips, witlof

SEASONAL TIP Chocolate-dipped bananas These fruity favourites make great sweet treats for kids’ parties. Cut your peeled bananas in half and insert thick skewers at the cut ends. Lay on greaseproof paper and freeze for a few hours. In the meantime, prepare your coatings. Melt some good-quality chocolate by the double boiler or microwave method. Pour the melted chocolate into a deep container such as a heat-proof glass. Working quickly, immerse the bananas in the chocolate, twirling to remove excess, and sprinkle the chosen coatings all the way around (rolling is messy). Lay on greaseproof paper to harden.

80 | Good Organic Gardening

GARDEN TO TABLE

G ard e n to tab le 82 Ribollita 83 Mild Salmon Kedgeree 84 Comforting Pork Ragu 85 Chicken Curry with Yoghurt & Mint

Food for the whole family — including the baby! Recipes from We Can All Eat That! by Pam Brook, published by Hardie Grant Books.

Good Organic Gardening | 81

GARDEN TO TABLE | CAVALO NERO

RI BO LLI TA SERVES 6 | PREP TIME: 8 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 60 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS

This is a heartwarming and nutritious soup. Cavolo nero is pretty much a given if you are adding greens to your ribollita, but curly kale and silverbeet (Swiss chard) are great alternatives. Some cooks add zucchini, diced prosciutto, leeks, thyme leaves, fennel seeds and crushed dried chillies for the adults. We like to pour in a spoon of lemon oil at the last minute to brighten up the ﬂavours.

• • • •

METHOD

1. Place a medium—large saucepan over medium—low heat and add the olive oil. Toss in the onion, carrot, garlic and celery and leave to cook, stirring occasionally, for 6—8 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. 2. Add the tomatoes and their juices, beans, vegetable stock and bay leaves. Simmer for about 30 minutes to bring the ingredients together. 3. Add the cavolo nero and stir well. Continue to simmer for 15—20 minutes until the greens are wilted. Transfer to serving bowls and season with salt and pepper. Add a drizzle of lemoninfused oil or a sprinkle of lemon zest, if desired, and serve with the bread and grated parmesan on the side.

82 | Good Organic Gardening

For younger babies tear some bread into pieces and use a handheld blender to purée the combined soup, bread and ricotta to a smooth consistency. Allow the dish to cool before serving. For older babies tear some bread into pieces and add it to the soup to soften, before brieﬂy blitzing with a hand-held blender to a lumpy consistency. Allow to cool before serving. For toddlers serve as for adults, but allow to cool before serving. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

• • • •

• •

• • •

• •

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve 2 brown onions, roughly chopped 3 carrots, roughly chopped 2 garlic cloves, ﬁnely chopped (just a tiny amount for babies) 3 celery stalks, roughly chopped 2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped 400g tin cannellini beans, rinsed & drained 1L (4 cups) quality vegetable stock (preferably preservative and additive free) 2 bay leaves (fresh or dried) 4 large handfuls cavolo nero (or curly kale or silverbeet/Swiss chard), roughly chopped Sea salt (omit for babies) Freshly ground black pepper (just a tiny amount for babies) Lemon-infused oil (e.g. infused macadamia or olive oil) or grated lemon zest, to serve (optional) Sliced ciabatta or similar bread, to serve Grated parmesan, to serve (use ricotta for babies)

BABY SPINACH | GARDEN TO TABLE

This Indian dish is a warming one-pot winner that can transition into Bubble and Squeak the next day. Feel free to replace the salmon with boneless white ﬁsh ﬁllets. Instead of a hardboiled egg, a soft-boiled egg can be served to older children and adults.

INGREDIENTS • • • • • • • •

• • • • •

100g (½ cup) basmati rice 2 eggs 20g ghee or butter 2 × 100g salmon fillets, pin-boned & skin removed 1 garlic clove, finely chopped (just a tiny amount for babies) 1 small brown onion, finely chopped 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger 1 tsp curry powder (for babies under 12 months use a mild curry powder or omit) 50g baby English spinach, washed and dried Small handful finely chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley Sea salt (omit for babies) Freshly ground black pepper (just a tiny amount for babies) Lime wedges, to serve

MI LD SALMO N KE DGE REE SERVES 2 | PREP TIME: 5 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 20–25 MINUTES METHOD

1. Cook the rice in 250mL (1 cup) water, covered, on very low heat until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked — this is known as the absorption method. Remove the saucepan from the heat, then lift the lid, cover the pan with a folded tea towel and replace the lid to allow any ﬁnal steam to absorb. 2. Boil the eggs for 7 minutes, then cool, peel and quarter them, and set aside. (Ensure the eggs are well cooked if serving to babies.) 3. In a large frying pan, heat the ghee over medium–high heat. Add the salmon and cook for 3 minutes each side, or until cooked to your liking. Remove the ﬁsh from the pan and set aside. 4. In the same pan over medium heat, sauté the garlic, onion and ginger in the residual ghee for about 7 minutes, until translucent. Reduce the heat, add curry powder and stir well to combine without letting the ingredients stick to the pan.

Add the rice, spinach and parsley. Stir and heat through for 2–3 minutes. 5. Using a fork, flake the cooked salmon and fold it through the warm rice. Season as required. Transfer to serving plates or a platter and serve with the egg and lime wedges. For younger babies purée with egg until smooth — thin with a little water or milk if necessary. For older babies, if your baby is ready for finger food, coarsely chop the fish and egg and serve as is. For toddlers serve as for adults Note: Always store cooked rice below 4°C and reheat until above 60°C to ensure there is no trace of Bacillus cereus, a harmful bacterial spore that can cause gastric upset. It’s best to use cooked rice within 48 hours. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Good Organic Gardening | 83

GARDEN TO TABLE | CELERY

CO M FOR TING P OR K R AG U SERVES 8 | PREP TIME: 7 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 45 MINUTES This is family comfort food at its best. The cream soothes the acidity of the tomatoes and beautifully softens this dish. The ragu is delicious served with pasta, gnocchi or polenta.

INGREDIENTS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

120mL olive oil 1 brown onion, finely diced 2 garlic cloves, crushed (just a tiny amount for babies) 2 carrots, finely diced 2 celery stalks, finely diced 2 tsp finely chopped thyme leaves ½ tsp chilli flakes (omit for babies) 500g (2½ cups) chopped tomatoes (or 800g tinned chopped tomatoes) 600g minced pork (or use lamb or beef instead) 500mL (2 cups) quality chicken or vegetable stock (preferably preservative and additive free) 150mL pouring (single/light) cream Grated zest 1 lemon Sea salt (omit for babies) Freshly ground black pepper (just a tiny amount for babies) Cooked pasta, to serve Grated pecorino (use ricotta for babies), to serve

METHOD

1. Heat half the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Fry the onion and garlic for 4 minutes until soft and caramelised. Add the carrot, celery, thyme and chilli and cook for another 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes. 2. Heat the remaining oil in a medium frying pan over high heat. Add the pork and fry, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until golden and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Add it to the pan with the vegetable mixture, along with the stock, and simmer over very low heat for 30 minutes. 3. Add the cream and lemon zest and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over the cooked pasta of your choice and top with a good sprinkling of grated pecorino (or ricotta for babies). For younger babies purée the cooked pasta with a little ragu until smooth — you may need to thin it with a little water. Allow to cool before serving. For older babies serve a small amount of coarsely puréed ragu with some pasta. Allow to cool before serving. For toddlers serve as for adults, but allow to cool before serving. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

84 | Good Organic Gardening

GINGER | GARDEN TO TABLE

C H I CK E N C URRY WI TH YOG H UR T & M IN T SERVES 5–6 | PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 35 MINUTES Here’s another gentle curry that’s so easy to prepare. There are no hot spices so it’s perfect for baby and toddler. If you want to spice it up when serving just to adults, add a chilli to the spice paste at the beginning. Serve with poppadoms and a side dish of dhal.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

• 10g (½ cup) mint leaves, plus extra coarsely chopped mint to serve • 1 red onion, coarsely chopped • 2 garlic cloves (just a tiny amount for babies) • 1 tsp coarsely chopped fresh ginger • 2 tbsp ghee or macadamia oil • 1 tsp ground turmeric • 1 tsp garam masala (just a tiny amount for babies) • 125g (½ cup) plain yoghurt • 2 small zucchinis, coarsely chopped • 2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped • 1kg skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces • 155g (1 cup) frozen peas, defrosted • Salt (omit for babies) • Coriander leaves, coarsely chopped, to serve • Steamed rice, to serve • Lime cheeks, to serve

1. To make the spice paste, blend the mint, onion, garlic and ginger to a smooth paste in a blender or food processor. Add a little oil if it’s too dry. 2. Heat a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and add the ghee. When the ghee is hot, add the spice paste. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring gently, until soft and fragrant. Add the turmeric and garam masala and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the yoghurt, zucchini and tomatoes and cook for a further 3 minutes until the liquid starts to reduce. 3. Add the chicken and stir it through to coat it in the mixture. Cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Add the peas for the final 5 minutes — you may want to leave the lid off at this stage to reduce the liquid, but leave enough so the curry has its own delicious sauce. (Set aside baby’s portion now.) 4. Season with salt to taste. Top with the chopped mint and coriander and serve with the steamed rice and lime cheeks. For younger babies purée with rice until smooth. Serve with a swirl of yoghurt, if desired. Allow to cool before serving. For older babies this makes great finger food. Make sure the ingredients are finely chopped to avoid choking hazards. Crumble poppadoms (if using), as these can be sharp. Allow to cool before serving. For toddlers serve as for adults, but allow to cool before serving. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Good Organic Gardening | 85

REVIEWS | BOOKS

COVER TO

COVER Leafing through books for gardeners and cooks

GROUNDED

GROW YOUR OWN PET PLANTS

By Ruth Allen, Murdoch Books, $29.99 The latest back-to-nature buzzword is rewilding and sometimes we’re so welded to our technology we’re in danger of forgetting just how great the great outdoors really is. Still, I’m betting no gardener is unaware of the therapeutic beneﬁts of their favoured pastime — or, as the subtitle puts it, “how connection with nature can improve our mental and physical wellbeing”. Even if that sounds like a statement of the bleeding obvious, the bucolic philosophers among us will be interested to read what an expert has to say on the subject — an “eco-psychotherapist”, no less — and Ruth Allen offers graceful writing as well as some simple prescriptions: “just walk”, “don’t be afraid of solitude” and “get your hands dirty”. “Grounding,” she writes, “is coming home.” Perhaps to do a spot of gardening.

By Andrew Mikolajski, Simon & Schuster, $24.99 There’s something about potplants that brings out the cute and, along with stacks of good advice, this guidebook is crawling with cuteness. English gardener and broadcaster Andrew Mikolajski divides houseplants into whimsical categories like “we just like to hang around”, “we just sit there” and “we would climb up the wall, if you let us” and includes a handy ﬂow chart to help you decide which leafy pal is right for you. While pared-down bromeliads appeal to control freaks and needy orchids require an attentive stay-at-home worker, cacti and succulents thrive on neglect and are ideal for the jetsetter “whose home is largely a crash pad”. Quiet, decorative, housetrained and (mostly) low-maintenance, plants are the best housemates. Plus, you don’t really need to take them for walkies.

GETTING CLOSER

ZERO-WASTE GARDENING

By Paul Sorrell, Exisle Publishing, $39.99 You really can’t have too many books about birds and this is a good one, bursting with brilliant colour photos, hints on ﬁeldcraft and technical tips for taking better pictures of our feathered friends — as well as how to crop them after you take them. One of the best ways to get closer to nature is to get out amongst it with a camera, and New Zealand snapper Paul Sorrell is an excellent guide. All wildlife photography is challenging, and capturing birds is especially difficult — just getting the fast and ﬂighty creatures in focus can be a chore — but Paul makes it look easy; every last pinfeather is visible in his shots. Getting Closer belongs on the shelves of every budding shutterbug or bird lover. And doesn’t everyone love birds?

By Ben Raskin, Murdoch Books, $29.99 Think global, act local, the saying goes. And, as it begins to dawn on thinking people that our planet’s resources are not infinite, the thinking gardener will be down with the concept of growing your own food for maximum taste and minimum waste. British horticulturist Ben Raskin has it all figured out, using unique-yield mathematics to round up more than 60 unique ways to maximise key crops. On the way he explains concepts like yield and rotation as well as offering handy basic recipes. “I’m not going to pretend you will become self-sufficient ... or reduce your carbon footprint to zero,” he says — that would take fulltime work on five acres. But if you have so much as a balcony or a fivemetre-square plot, Raskin’s your man.

THE FLAVOR EQUATION By Nik Sharma, Hardie Grant, $65 As explained by Nik Sharma, creator of the famed food blog A Brown Table, the “flavour equation” behind the science of cooking isn’t really all that mathematical or scientific, as a large part of it consists of subjective emotion and memories. The rest “we decipher using our senses: sight, sound, mouthfeel (texture), aroma and taste”. Still, Sharma is the kind of writer whose words are as evocative as his food photography. As he talks about Goan pork vindaloo he recalls his grandmother’s kitchen and how he’d watch her add vinegar, taste, then add salt. Years later, he realised “her actions were wise and scientific, as sour ingredients tend to minimise the need for salt”. It’s true; all cooks are domestic scientists and the 100 or so mouthwatering recipes here are definitely our kind of scientific experiments.

86 | Good Organic Gardening

REGENT HONEYEATER | GARDEN LIFE

OUT OF TUNE Common name: Regent honeyeater Scientiﬁc name: Anthochaera phrygia Words: Chris Stafford

Getty

he regent honeyeater is forgetting its song. Already critically endangered, this beautiful east-coast native may become extinct if males can no longer attract a mate with the species’ distinctive call. Scientists are concerned that the bird is now so rare, young males are no longer exposed to their unique song and are copying the calls of other birds such as the noisy friarbird and eastern rosella. ANU researcher Dr Ross Crates cites the case of “a bird [that] turned up in the Botanic Gardens in Wollongong a few years back singing like a black-faced cuckoo shrike”. But all is not lost. Breeding programs are underway in the Blue Mountains to plant thousands of ironbark and yellow box, the bird’s favoured trees, and install speakers to play recordings so that juveniles can learn their proper birdsong. Perhaps then a new generation will stop doing cover versions and the bush will once more resound to the regent honeyeater’s complex melody.

Good Organic Gardening | 87

PICK

OF TH E

CROP

Our selection of products and services for gardeners and cooks WARMING AND SOOTHING

REGENERATIVE GROWING FOR GARDENERS AND SMALL FARMERS

Chai is a centuries-old beverage and an important part of everyday Indian life. Black tea and pepper boost the immune and digestive systems, while Ceylon cinnamon and cloves are said to help you retain good mental health and boost immunity. Chai is best served with an added sweetener such as organic sugar or honey, which helps to release and bring out the full exotic spice ﬂavours. Nature’s Cuppa Organic Chai Spice Tea uses only real organic spices, so you can be assured that your experience is truly authentic. naturescuppa.com

ActiveVista provides selected seeds, farming and gardening tools, and specialised equipment, along with soil-health products, to small farmers and gardeners. They constantly source and test innovations as they become available from around the globe, but only recommend products that have been extensively tried and tested at their own Longley Organic Farm in Southern Tasmania. They can also provide expert advice on how to use each item in their range most effectively, ensuring you get the greatest beneﬁt from your adoption of leading products. ActiveVista uses and supports regenerative farming practices and human-scale market gardening, with a mission to develop this community and provide access to quality products so others may farm and garden with these principles in mind. For more information visit Activevista.com.au

SMALL TREES WITH BIG BEAUTIFUL FRUIT! Backyard Beauties™ is a range of fruit trees exclusive to PlantNet® and its partner nurseries. This range consists of “SMALL TREES WITH BIG FRUIT” that require much less work to grow and manage for home gardeners, with the reward each season of quality fruit. The smaller tree size with less vigorous new growth is well suited to pots, tubs and smaller garden spaces, but is also just at home in larger garden spaces. With all the varieties available in this range maturing at different times over the season in your garden, you would not have to buy blueberries, apples, pears, nectarines, peaches, plums, apricots or almonds from fruit shops all spring/ summer/autumn. Keep an eye out for the Backyard Beauties™ logo, pictured, when shopping in your local nursery, or visit the online shop to purchase from this great range. For a full list of fruit trees and retail nursery stockists throughout Australia, visit plantnet.com.au or contact PlantNet on info@plantnet. com.au or call 07 3491 9905.

88 | Good Organic Gardening

PICK OF THE CROP

JOIN THE WAR ON WASTE Did you know that 39–45 per cent of household waste is organic and compostable? The sustainable revolution is here! Get your kids involved in the War on Waste at home by starting your own worm farm. The Tumbleweed Can-O-Worms is great for teaching kids of all ages how nature recycles and, best of all, it’s fun! Put worms to work to turn your kitchen scraps into a nutrient-rich organic fertiliser that your ornamental plants and home-grown vegies will love. Tumbleweed is a proud Australian manufacturer, designing and making environmental products right here in Australia from 100 per cent recycled plastic, giving waste material a new and long-term second life. As Australia’s favourite organic recycling innovator, Tumbleweed products are designed to work and made to last. Join the War on Waste and start your journey towards a more sustainable home. Available at all leading hardware stores and nurseries. For more information, tumbleweed.com.au

THREE-TIERED STEEL PLANTER Perfect for a compact kitchen garden or a stunning ﬂower display, this steel three-tiered planter can even accommodate a small citrus tree in the main ring. The planters are made to order in different sizes and are now offered in a square design. These “rusty” Redcor® steel planters are a practical and easy way to add that designer look to any garden. Available Australia wide through FormBoss outlets, call 13 11 37. For more information, visit formboss.com.au

AWARD-WINNING PRODUCT — CHAMPION RESULTS!

SEEDS OF BEAUTY The aim at Eden Seeds is to distribute old-traditional, open-pollinated varieties of vegetable seed, preferably old Australian varieties and organically or biodynamically grown where possible. They are more nutritious and better tasting, hardier and easier to grow for the home gardener. Old varieties produce over an extended period and home gardeners obtain relaxation, enjoyment and quality from a most rewarding hobby. Eden Seeds offers the traditional non-hybrid varieties that have seen no chemical treatment and no genetic engineering. Alf Finch, founder in 1986 of Eden Seeds, also established Select Organic certiﬁed organic seeds. Check the Eden Seeds website for special offers and for the planting guide to all the popular vegies in all climate zones. edenseeds.com.au, selectorganic.com.au

While it may be ﬁve years since Earthlife Veggie Mate won the Good Organic Gardening People’s Choice Award, it continues to prove its value. This 100 per cent natural product contains minerals, microbes and humates. It is contaminant free with no chemicals, no urea, no manures and no blood and bone. It can help reduce pests and diseases. Used as directed, it can also reduce water needs and eliminate chemical use while increasing soil life and fertility, thereby improving plant health and vigour. Veggie Mate conditions and feeds all soils and all plants, whether in the ground, in raised beds or growing in pots. Veggie Mate is now also a Certiﬁed Allowed Input for organic farms and gardens — used and recommended by gardeners, horticulturists, landscapers and farmers alike. earthlife.com.au

Good Organic Gardening | 89

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