Organic Gardener - Issue August 2022

GARDENER how to succeed with

citrus ✚ problem solver CHEF ANNIE SMITHERS

living the good life

INCLUSIVE GARDENING

for all abilities

ETHICAL INVESTING Get your money working for the planet

STORIES & RECIPES

from Tibet issue 134 2022

AU $7.99 NZ $8.99

9 771447 733004

productive

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PLANT HEIRLOOM SPUDS WINTER GREENHOUSE BOUNTY STUNNING WINTER ROSES

Did you know your super fund could be investing your money in fossil fuels, animal cruelty or social injustice?

It’s heartbreaking.

But, it doesn’t need to be this way.

By switching to Australian Ethical, your money is making a loyal commitment to doing good – for people, animals, and our planet, all while offering proven long-term returns.

The heart of investing

Consider if the products are right for you and read the relevant PDS and TMD on australianethical.com.au. Australian Ethical Superannuation Pty Ltd (ABN 43 079 259 733, RSE L0001441, AFSL 526 055).

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Australian Ethical Super’s Australian Shares option ranks, ranks #1 over 7 years (11.52%) out of 45 funds and #1 over 10 years (13.09%) out of 42 funds according to the SuperRatings Fund Crediting Rate Survey – SR50 Australian Shares Index as at 31 March 2022. Fossil fuel companies – We don’t invest in companies whose main business is fossil fuels, or in diversified companies that earn some fossil fuel revenue and aren’t creating positive impact with their other activities. We may invest in a diversified company which is having a positive impact in other ways such as producing renewable energy, providing its negative revenue is sufficiently low (a maximum of 5% to 33% depending on the activity). Animal welfare – We do not invest in live animal export, intensive farming or cosmetic companies that test their products or ingredients on animals. For more information, visit australianethical.com.au/why-ae/ethics.

contents june-july 2022

on the cover

20 Plant heirloom spuds 26 How to succeed with citrus + Problem solver 34 Winter greenhouse bounty 40 Stunning winter roses 42 Chef Annie Smithers: Living the good life 50 Inclusive gardening for all abilities 68 Stories & recipes from Tibet 75 Ethical investing

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organic gardening 16 PLANT: fragrance filled

Plant herbaceous perennials now for flowers in spring and beyond, writes Karen Sutherland.

20 grow: wonderful world of spuds

Paul West loves his potatoes with all their shapes, textures and tastes. Here’s his culinary guide with suggestions to plant now.

cover photo by Mary Canning. other PHOTOs: top: KEVIN HEINZE GROW. bottom: GAP PHOTOS_ PHAO HEWITSON.

26 organic solutions: citrus success

Helen McKerral shares her tips to solve a range of problems so you can help your citrus grow and shine!

34 organic basics: greenhouse growing

Jian Liu explains how to choose the best greenhouse for your space and how to get the most out of it.

40 organic grow: oh for a winter rose

Penny Woodward likes to make sure there’s always room for a hellebore or two in her garden.

42 organic profile: annie’s one-of-a-kind life

Chef Annie Smithers shares the story of her growing self-sufficient life in her book Recipe for a Kinder Life.

50 organic life: a chance to grow

Three projects illustrate the role gardens play in the access to fun and practical learning for people with diverse abilities. Penny Woodward reports.

58 tool talk: the cutting edge

Penny Woodward looks at important tools for cleaning up gardens and cutting firewood.

61 action: winter garden health Our experts suggest some edible and ornamental plantings as well as how to deal with pest and diseases naturally.

40 OUR COVER

don’t you just want to pick a mandarin out of our cover picture by mary canning? if you head to page 26, you’ll learn how to grow your citrus so you’ll soon be picking your own to share with family and friends!

organicgardener.com.au

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68 harvest: the food of tibet

68

Taste Tibet by Julie Kleeman and Yeshi Jampa highlights the simplicity and nutritious nature of Tibetan food.

75 ethical investment: a force for good Simon Webster looks at how ethical investment has become mainstream and how you can make the switch.

80 poultry: the name game There’s certainly some fun to be had when naming your chooks, writes Jessamy Miller.

90 losing tHE PLOT: the whole ‘lifespan’ thing Simon Webster has dealt with enough punnets of seedlings to feed an army, but can he feed his family?

regulars 80

9 10 12 13 14

Editor’s Letter MAIL: Reader questions and thoughts ABC Yours for gardening MATTERS: News and events market: Growing strong

79

WIN!

1 of 5 citrus prize packs from citrus men! valued at $90 each!

NEXT ISSUE ON SALE August 4, 2022 Organic Gardener magazine has been printed using recycled paper which is PEFC Certified.

The text is printed on Leipa Ultra, which is an offset paper made of 100% waste paper that not only satisfies the highest quality requirements but is also 100% environment-friendly, as it uses only recycled fibres as raw material. This saves resources, energy and therefore protects the environment as well.

ABC Organic Gardener magazine acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and traditional custodians of the lands where we live and work.

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PHOTOS: FROM TOP: SANDY SCHELTEMA/OLA O. SMIT/ELAINE JANES.

89 LIBRARY: The latest books reviewed

The home of heirloom seeds

Free gift valued at $20!

Join Australia’s favourite gardening community Whether you’re a new gardener or an experienced green thumb, we’ll help you garden.

Become a member to access the best range of heirloom seeds online, all grown and trialled in our own organically certified gardens, to ensure success in yours.

From just $59 you’ll receive: • Six seasonal Diggers magazines per year • 20% discounts on all online products • Up to eight free packets of seeds per year • Expert advice from our horticulturists • A free welcome gift valued at $20!

Plus, your membership supports our charitable work through The Diggers Foundation.

Join today diggers.com.au/join

Editor Steve Payne Art Director Karen Berge deputy & Digital Editor Leanne croker Horticultural Editor Penny Woodward Visit our Website organicgardener.com.au

Connect with Nature on National Tree Day

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ABC Organic Gardener magazine is published by nextmedia Pty Ltd (ACN 128 805 970) under licence from the publisher, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and is subject to copyright in its entirety. ‘ABC’ and the ‘Wave’ and ‘ABC Organic Gardener’ trademarks are used under licence from the ABC. The contents may not be reproduced in any form, either in whole or part, without written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved in material accepted for publication unless specified otherwise. All letters and other material forwarded to the magazine will be assumed intended for publication unless clearly labelled not for publication. nextmedia and the publisher do not accept responsibility for damage to, or loss of, submitted material. Opinions expressed in ABC Organic Gardener magazine are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of nextmedia or the publisher. No responsibility is accepted for unsolicited material. No liability is accepted by nextmedia, the publisher, nor the authors for any information contained herein. All endeavours are made to ensure accuracy and veracity of all content and advice herein, but neither ABC Organic Gardener magazine nor its publisher or contributors is responsible for damage or harm, of whatever description, resulting from persons undertaking any advice or using any product mentioned or advertised in ABC Organic Gardener magazine or its website.

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PRIVACY POLICY We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide personal information through your participation in any competitions, surveys or offers featured in this issue of ABC Organic Gardener magazine, this will be used to provide the products or services that you have requested and to improve the content of our magazines.

Your details may be provided to third parties who assist us in this purpose. In the event of organisations providing prizes or offers to our readers, we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may use the information you provide us to inform you of other products, services and events our company has to offer. We may also give your information to other organisations, which may use it to inform you about their products, services and events, unless you tell us not to do so. You are welcome to access the information that we hold about you by getting in touch with our privacy officer, who can be contacted at nextmedia, Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590. ISSN: 1447-7335

EDITOR’S LETTER

Robbers in the night

W

hen I saw the price of broccoli at the green grocers, I realised just how rich a taste the pest who ate my seedlings had. I’m not actually sure if it was snails, a bandicoot, cutworm (see ‘Action’ on page 61) or some other culprit, but I’m very upset with them.

Partly I’m to blame. I rarely bother with pest deterrents, apart from vegie net to keep white cabbage moths off my broccoli and kale, so when my first planting of broccoli disappeared in the night I didn’t fuss too much. But when my second planting, this time of nursery-bought sprouting broccoli seedlings also started being eaten, I was definitely miffed.

It’s always a good time to plant your own vegies and herbs, but right now there is the extra incentive (and for some, necessity) to produce our own food given the skyrocketing price of fresh produce. That garden bed of eight seedlings was worth a fortune!

I’m going to have a third attempt, but this time I’ll enact a range of preventative measures, from polypipe seedling protectors with copper around them, to natural snail deterrents and the vegie net.

Back in Issue 99 of OG, Paul West wrote an article, ‘Getting Pragmatic’,* which looked at the true costs of growing your own food. As to whether it was worth the time, effort and cost, his answer was an emphatic YES, although he did emphasise simple ways to save on costs (growing from seed) and maximise benefits (grow what you love to eat).

At the time, Paul said that based on the recommended intake of vegies, a family of four buying organic produce would spend $50 or more a week or around $2600 a year. This cost would be much, much higher now. And looking at the costs for setting up a modest veg and herb patch of 12sqm (which can supply a family of four with vegies for a year), annual expenses were around $500. Taking into account some crop failures (and

pests eating your crops!), that’s a whopping saving of around $2000! Probably more like $3000 now.

And that’s not to mention the benefits of being outdoors, the satisfaction of growing your own food without sprays, and the freshness of produce picked just before eating.

One fantastic crop to grow yourself is potatoes.

You just need to get some certified disease-free seed potatoes and prepare a garden bed or even a grow bag, and away you go. By chance it is Paul West again who tells you how to get started with potatoes and all the best varieties for use in the kitchen, whether for salads, mashing or baking.

We also have a follow-up citrus article to last issue. This time Helen McKerral is looking at how to set your citrus up for success – starting with preparing the planting hole well, and general care.

Also, Helen has drawn up a comprehensive citrus problem-solver chart with all the problems and solutions. And Jian Liu is back with firsthand know-how on growing crops in greenhouses that will see cool climate gardeners in particular expanding the growing season of many vegies.

*Read Paul’s article at: organicgardener.com.au/ articles/true-cost-of-growing-your-own-food

organicgardener.com.au

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ORGANIC FEEDBACK

You want ripening to have started before picking.

Look for changes in the background colour of the skin – changing from dark green to light green.

‘Conference’ pears have a similar colouring to ‘Beurre Bosc’, which on mine I look for the green parts to begin to pale. But don’t wait ’til they turn yellow.

You can also try cutting one of the bigger ones in half, the flesh should be moist, but hard with a slightly sweet taste, and the seeds should be brown.

Pears don’t ripen all at once, so pick progressively, once you’ve observed the colour change, by carefully lifting and slightly twisting the pear, it should come away easily with the stem attached. If it doesn’t this is also a sign it may not be ready.

For longer storage you can use cold storage with each pear wrapped in tissue paper and kept at 0 degrees, but a pear picked at the right time and stored at room temperature should be ready to eat about 10 days later.

Penny Woodward Left: These ‘Conference’ pears have lightened from dark green to pale green so should be ready to pick.

MY PEARS WON’T RIPEN

We subscribe to your magazine and find it both informative and inspirational; it’s a treat to read when it comes out. Perhaps you can help with a problem we’re having with our ‘Conference’ pear tree? Our tree is now eight years old and producing an abundance of large pears. However, they won’t ripen! The last two years they’ve all been wasted as they stay rock hard after months of storage. A few that did ripen this year were mushy in the middle. Do they need any special treatment to ripen, like cold storage? (We did try the fridge, but to no avail).

Rebecca, Aldgate, Adelaide Hills [SA] Hi Rebecca, The short answer is that you are probably picking them too early. But it’s a bit more complicated than that, so I’ll explain. Pears do need to be picked when still firm as they go mushy if left to ripen on the tree. But if you pick them too early then they may never ripen.

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Thank you so much for your autumn editorial (OG 132). That third last paragraph spoke volumes to me. You’re right. NOW is the time [to relocate infrastructure, flood prone homes, boost renewable stand alone power and more...]

One disaster after another. It’s biblical! Along with the plague (COVID), for God’s sake.

I’m on Coffs Coast and last year we had a massive hail storm in the mix. Still recovering, rebuilding, renewing after that. These ongoing events not only batter our physical land and homes but our metaphysical sense of safety and security. What you said about relocating towns is key. Be prepared for what is coming...

Yes hard work. But life as it is, is hard work. And the bar keeps being raised, and the sad thing is people are becoming numb to it. (I do it myself).

It makes me angry, too. With all of this plus the housing crisis (I also rent), a garden of Eden seems like a no brainer.

Cathy O’Gorman Coffs Harbour region (NSW)

PHOTO: GAP PHOTOS

CLIMATE DISASTERS

BIRDWATCHING FAN

Thank you so much for your informative, beautiful magazine. Organic Gardener is a fantastic resource for our keen gardening group at Cooranbong Public School.

I was more than happy to purchase two issues of the latest mag. We have an amazing student who has formed a bird appreciation group within the school. They observe the native birds, hang up recycled bird feeders and educate others. Izabell was so happy to receive this edition all related to brilliant birds. We will certainly be planting more bird-attracting plants.

Mrs Hosken Cooranbong Public School (NSW) Above: Izabell has started a bird appreciation group at her school.

WINNING

WORDS

As further encouragement to Izabell, we’d like to send her and the school a copy of 100 Australian Birds by Georgia Angus.

Please include your town/suburb. Photos are helpful, and any details such as climate and soil. The more information we have the better.

post Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards NSW 1590 email editor@organicgardener. com.au web organicgardener.com.au Find us on:

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What do you love most about radio?

Nothing’s as real as live talk radio. In all other communication there’s a large amount of technology that changes the essence of the message. In radio, the technology is extraordinary but invisible. The talk is unmediated and immediate. The listener hears exactly what I said, all nuance, tone and emphasis is relayed. The possibilities of a medium like that are infinite. How could you not love that?

You have a lot of fun – do we need more of that in the face of dire environmental scenarios? I try to offer at least as much fun and frivolity as I do doom and desperation. It’s yet another balance we should strive for. Of course, we need to understand the ever-increasing threat of climate change/ pandemic/economic issues/Russian imperialism; but it’s equally important to laugh, mock, jeer, find the joke, hear stories of absurdity and wonder, and discuss how strangely difficult it is to get the ratio of milk to cereal right.

Do you have time for gardening?

I have attempted parsley in pots many times. I appear to always live in deeply shaded dwellings. The parsley arrives home perky and full of enthusiasm for life. It wants to give.

It can’t wait to be garnish. A few weeks living with me and a sense of despair comes over my parsley. It craves the light I cannot give it. Soon it gives up all together and the leaves are consumed in a bitter frenzy by passing bugs and all that is left is a wasteland on a window sill; a glimpse of our irradiated future when endless days of scorching sun have reduced everything to barren soil and a coarse bare forest of sticks.

Listen to James Valentine on the Breakfast program from 6am on ABC Radio Sydney. You can also access the show through the ABC Listen app.

discover the

abc

NSW

ABC radio Sydney Saturday 9am

ABC radio Central Coast Saturday 9am

ABC Central West Saturday 8.30am

ABC Illawarra

IO

ABC Gold Coast Saturday 9am

ABC Sunshine Coast Thursday 10.30am Saturday 8.30am

ABC Southern Queensland Saturday 9am

Saturday 8.30am

ABC North Queensland

ABC Mid North Coast & ABC Coffs Coast

Friday 10am

Saturday 9.30am, Thursday 9.30am

ABC Newcastle Saturday 8.30am

ABC Tropical North, ABC Capricornia, ABC Wide Bay, ABC North West QLD, ABC Western QLD

ABC New England North West

Friday 10am

Saturday 8.30am Thursday 9.30am

Friday 10am Saturday 8.30am

ABC North Coast Saturday 8.30am

ABC Far North

SA

Tuesday 9.35am Saturday 8.30am

ABC radio Adelaide, ABC North & West, ABC Eyre Peninsula, ABC South East SA

ABC South East

Saturday 8.30am

Wednesday 10am Saturday 9am

Saturday 7am

ABC Riverina

ABC Riverland

ABC Western Plains

ABC Broken Hill

Thursday 9.35am, fortnightly Saturday 8.30am

Saturday 9am

WA

ABC radio Perth, ABC Great Southern, ABC SOUth west, ABC Goldfields Esperance ABC kimberley, ABC pilbara, ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt Tuesday 2.15pm Saturday 9.05am

Statewide, ABC radio Adelaide, ABC North & West, ABC Eyre Peninsula, ABC South East, ABC Broken Hill, ABC Riverland sunday 11am

VIC

ABC radio Melbourne; ABC Victoria Saturday 9.30am

ABC Southwest Victoria

NT

Thursday 7.20am fortnightly

Saturday 9am

ACT

ABC Alice Springs & ABC Tennant Creek

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QLD

ABC radio Canberra

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ABC radio Brisbane

ABC radio Hobart ABC Northern Tasmania

Saturday 6am

Saturday 9am

For more information about coverage in your area call 139 994 or visit: reception.abc.net.au

best of the ABC Get your fill of tips and advice from the Gardening Australia team on Friday nights at 7.30pm. You can always catch up on the gardening goodness on iView.

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Download the ABC listen app and listen to live radio streams of gardening programs across Australia.

PHOTO: SUPPLIED ABC. THIS INFORMATION IS CORRECT AT THE TIME OF PRINTING BUT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

James Valentine began his media career hosting The Afternoon Show on ABC TV in the mid-1980s. He has been a constant since then, sharing his love of music and laughter.

ening on YOUR local gard RAD

news World’s biggest plant The discovery that a single seagrass ribbon weed (Posidonia australis) could be the world’s largest plant has highlighted the importance of this often overlooked species. Believed to be 4500 years old, the seagrass meadow in Shark Bay, WA, covers about 200 sq km.

Seagrasses are important foundation species that inhabit shallow waters off most of the world’s coasts. They help stablise sand and are breeding grounds for fish, crustaceans and more. Like grasses on land, seagrasses reproduce either by putting out runners, or by producing seed. Scientists from Flinders University, SA, and the University of WA (UWA) wanted to find out how many plants grew in this meadow, so DNA tested them.

“We often get asked how many different plants are growing in seagrass meadows and this time we used genetic tools to

photos: top: university of wa/Quandongs: Luisa Brimble.

The Queensland Garden Expo is back with a packed program that will appeal to green thumbs and novice gardeners alike. Held in the Sunshine Coast hinterland town of Nambour, there will be demonstrations and workshops, along with more than 300 exhibitors offering a wide range of gardening products and plants.

The speaker’s program includes favourites such as ABC Gardening Australia’s Costa Georgiadis, Sophie Thomson and Jerry Coleby-Williams as well as Phil Dudman, the ‘Garden Guru’, Claire Bickle, Kate Wall and

Ribbon weed, Posidonia australis, meadow in Shark Bay, WA

answer it,” says Dr Elizabeth Sinclair, from UWA’s School of Biological Sciences.

They were stunned to find they were genetically identical.

The only way this could happen was if this whole meadow was one single plant grown from runners over thousands of years.

events

Queensland Garden Expo is on

ORGANIC MATTERS

many more. It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn more about all aspects of gardening and for those without a backyard, proud owners of indoor plants are also catered for.

Date: July 8–10 Location: Nambour Showgrounds, Coronation Avenue, Nambour, Queensland Details: qldgardenexpo.com.au

Native foods festival for SA

Left: Costa will be at the Queensland Garden Expo.

Bottom: Learn about quandongs.

discussions, culinary experiences, music, art, family activities all set in the beautiful Flinders Ranges. The event is curated by Indigenous-owned Warndu.

Date: Saturday, August 6, 10am-6pm Location: Quorn, Flinders Ranges, South Australia cost: Free, but you must register at events.humanitix.com/quandongfestival Details: quandongfestival.com

The inaugural Quandong Festival in Quorn (SA) will be a celebration of Australian native foods of Nukunu and Adnyamathanha land. It will feature Australian native food growers, harvesters, cooks, educators and enthusiasts, including River Cottage’s Paul West, The Agrarian Kitchen’s Rodney Dunn and renowned author Bruce Pascoe. Along with good food, there will be educational workshops, cooking demonstrations, panel

organicgardener.com.au

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Growing strong

Products to help feed the garden and the household.

Naturally native ingredients Warndu’s Wattleseed Balsamic Vinegar can be combined with its Native Thyme Oil for a flavoursome addition to any meal, winter or summer. Made by Indigenous-owned Warndu in the Flinders Ranges in SA, the extra virgin olive oil is infused with Australian native thyme while their balsamic vinegar is made using wild harvested wattleseed. Mix together for sauces and dressings for salads, roast vegies and more! Visit warndu.com; $25 each (also look for the free e-book that explains native ingredients you can use instead of more common ones).

Plant natives On the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, there’s a native nursery that nurtures plants until they’re ready for your garden. The Native Plant Project e-nursery offers a wide selection of Australian native flora with boxes of single varieties or curated boxes carefully grown, selected and shipped direct to you and your garden (excluding WA & NT). Visit nativeplantproject.com.au; $49.95 (box of four plants), $69.95 (box of eight).

Grow in a box With its large water-holding capacity and wicking cones the Biofilta Foodcube is a practical, flexible solution for urban backyards or community gardens.

You can connect a number of cubes in a row, depending on your space, with water ‘wicked’ up into the growing area when your plants need it. Designed and manufactured in Melbourne from UV stabilised food-grade plastic. Visit biofilta. com.au; from $440 (Foodcube) or $290 (Foodcube Slim).

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ORGANIC MARKET

Indoor plant care It’s not always easy to keep indoor plants happy: they need the perfect spot with just enough light and enough water and food (but not too much) to stay healthy. The Plant Runner’s Indoor Plant Food liquid has been designed by horticulturalists with a mix of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (N.P.K), trace elements and seaweed to feed plants just what they need. Simply add the concentrate to a watering can at 1ml/litre, and water your plants as usual. Then watch them grow and thrive! Visit theplant runner.com; $12 for 100ml (makes 100L of plant food).

Build soil health Adding the Superfly certified organic fertiliser to your garden will help top up your soil with beneficial microbes and nutrients. The main ingredient of this additive is black soldier fly larvae frass (that’s manure) and exoskeletons with the important constituent being insect chitin, which research shows helps accelerate germination, growth and increase seedling survival rate. Visit bardee.com for more information; available in granules and pellets.

Flavour-filled bulbs Thinking small when it comes to onions and you might have shallots like these in mind. ‘Golden’ shallot (Allium cepa Aggregatum Group) have a mild subtle onion flavour and are great for making your own pickled onions and a range of sauces. Crops are usually harvested in the warmer months, before flowering but as the tips of the foliage begin to dry off. For best results plant into a full-sun position in welldrained soil. Visit gardenexpress.com.au; $8.90 (pack of eight bulbs) (restrictions for NT, Tas and WA).

Greens for chooks Chooks need to eat their greens, too, and with Green Harvest’s Clucker Tucker you can grow them yourself.

A blend of annual and perennial plants, the mix includes foraging faves such as barrel medic, bok choy, buckwheat, forage chicory, clover, lucerne, millet, silverbeet, subclover and sunflower. Most have vigorous root systems that will regrow leaves that are cut or eaten. The challenge is to keep your chooks away while the plants establish, but then they can forage at will. You can also get mixes for bees and good bugs. Visit green harvest.com.au; Clucker Tucker, $7.95 (25g) (excluding Tas/WA).

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FRAGRANCE FILLED Plant herbaceous perennials now for flowers in spring and beyond, writes Karen Sutherland.

H

erbaceous perennials flower during spring, summer and autumn and die back in winter, resprouting in spring. These plants have stems that remain soft and don’t become woody like trees or shrubs. Winter is the time to dig up and divide them for replanting in different parts of your garden and is also the best time to buy them. Some nurseries sell bare-rooted clumps, although most mail order nurseries sell in pots. Plant bare-rooted in winter, or all-year-round from pots.

Before planting, prepare your soil by spreading 25mm of compost and 10mm of manure (both well rotted) over damp soil. Use a fork to incorporate this to a depth of 30cm. Some herbaceous perennials can be grown from seeds, which are best sown from late winter to spring.

CATMINT

NEPETA x FAASSENII 50cm W

40cm H

Full sun/ light shade

Flowers: SummerAutumn

PHOTO: GAP PHOTOS/JERRY PAVIA.

Nepeta x faassenii is a hybrid of N. racemosa and N. nepetella, originating from a garden discovery and is popular with landscapers for its abundant flowers and stately habit. Great as edging plants or ground cover, these can also be grown in groups for effect. Good for pot culture, plants are drought and heat-tolerant. A longer flowering period can be encouraged by removing dead flower heads in mid-summer. The abundant flowers are attractive to a variety of insects, from bees to butterflies and beyond. The aromatic foliage is similar to regular catmint but is not attractive to cats. This variety has mostly sterile seeds, so self-seeding is not a problem as it is for other catmints.

Tropical Subtropical Arid/semi-Arid Warm Temperate Cold Temperate

CHOCOLATE COSMOS COSMOS ATROSANGUINEUS 40cm W

PHOTO: GAP PHOTOS/MARIANNE FOLLING.

70cm H

Full sun/ light shade

Flowers: SummerAutumn

Often considered endangered, chocolate cosmos is still alive and well in its home of Mexico. Since 1885, it’s been charming gardeners with its chocolate scent and deep red-brown flowers, as beautiful in a vase as it is in the garden. Flowers appear from mid-summer to autumn, are rich in pollen and are attractive to butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects. Established plants develop tuberous roots and can be lifted and divided every 2–3 years and replanted to keep them flourishing. New plants can be raised from seeds sown mid-spring in cooler climates, or winter-spring in warmer climates. Plants can be planted in part shade in hotter climates, require good drainage and rich soil and can be grown in large pots.

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ORGANIC PLANT

The tiny florets are edible and can be plucked off to use as a garnish.

ANISE HYSSOP OR LIQUORICE MINT AGASTACHE FOENICULUM

40cm W

1m H

Full sun/ shade

Flowers: late SpringAutumn

Anise hyssop is the only Agastache I’ve found that thrives in shade, so it’s great for bringing beneficial insects into a shady garden. Equally at home in full sun, the abundant flowers also attract butterflies. The tiny florets are edible and can be plucked off to use as a garnish. The fragrant leaves make a delicious liquorice-tasting tea and can be used in salads and fruit salads.

Native to central North America and used by indigenous people there for respiratory problems.

Cut plants to ground level after they die back in winter. They may self-seed. Plants tolerate some dryness but flourish with regular watering and rich soil. The many other Agastache cultivars are best planted in partial or full sun.

BLOODY CRANESBILL GERANIUM SANGUINEUM

20cm H

Full sun/part shade

Flowers late SpringAutumn

PLANT SUPPLIERS

Country Farm Perennials countryfarmperennials.com.au The Diggers Club diggers.com.au Gentiana Nursery gentiananursery.com.au Lambley Nursery lambley.com.au Mudbrick Herb Cottage herbcottage.com.au Woodbridge Nursery woodbridgenursery.com.au SEED SUPPLIERS Australian Seed australianseed.com.au Southern Harvest southernharvest.com.au The Seed Collection theseedcollection.com.au

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PHOTOS: KAREN SUTHERLAND

40cm W

This is one of the easiest flowering perennials to grow and makes a great filler for the front of garden beds. It can be used as an edging plant and does a lovely job of softening a wire or picket fence by poking through it. Unlike some herbaceous perennials with their flowering time measured in weeks, this flowers from spring to autumn. It develops deep tap roots, enabling survival when water is scarce. If you want to plant a long border of these, look out for tube stock which can save some pennies. It also grows well in a pot. Plants don’t die back completely in winter but can be cut back to tidy up. Various cultivars of this plant are available, including a white flowering version.

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ORGANIC GROW

Wonderful world of

Freshly harvested ‘Pink Fir Apple’ potatoes.

spuds Paul West loves potatoes in all their shapes, colours and tastes. Here’s his selection of spuds to suit diverse culinary needs, plus, a simple growing guide, whether in-ground or in bags.

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’ve been asked what my favourite vegetable is more times than I care to count, and my heart, mind and stomach always settle on the same answer – the humble potato.

Sure, it may not be the most glamorous vegetable around, but who among us could pass up a perfectly fried chip? A dollop of creamy mash potato? A golden roasted spud? Rostis, bakes, salads… need I go on?

It’s one of the most versatile vegetables in the kitchen and is equally diverse in the garden. Despite the relatively narrow offering that we see in major supermarkets, there are thousands of different cultivars of potato being grown around the world, many of which are available to us as home growers.

Spuds are one of the most productive crops you can grow, so with a little bit of judicious planting in late winter and early spring, you can experience the full breadth that is the wonderful world of potatoes.

It can be hard to choose what heirloom varieties to plant, but a good starting point is what you want to use them for in the kitchen. Different varieties are suited for different uses and can be broken up into three rough categories: Starchy: High in starch, low in moisture and floury in texture. The ultimate spud for roasting or making chips.

Waxy: Less starch, higher moisture and sugar than starchy varieties. They hold their shape

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really well and are perfect for salads and things such as soups and stews All-rounders: These are the jack of all trades.

They hold together better than starchy potatoes when boiled and have a fluffier texture than waxy potatoes when roasted.

If you’re a lover of mashed potatoes, then there are waxy, starchy and allrounders that work well for different reasons. See the individual cultivar descriptions on the following pages.

Waxy

PHOTOS: GAP PHOTOS_ JONATHAN BUCKLEY

‘Pink Fir Apple’

This cultivar was first imported into the UK from France way back in 1850, which means it could have been cultivated for anywhere north of 170 years! These potatoes are shaped like knobbly fingers, have a delicate, pink skin and have waxy yellow flesh. The knobbly nature (and fiddly peeling) saw this spud fall out of favour among commercial growers. For the home grower, they have a wonderful, rich and nutty flavour and the skin is so thin, that with a good scrub there is no need to peel them, just use them skin and all. They make an amazing potato salad as they hold their

shape magnificently, and a mean roast potato, with a denser texture than a starchy potato.

‘Nadine’

A relative newcomer to the potato world, ‘Nadine’ was first bred by the famed Scottish potato breeder Jack Dunnett in 1987. This potato is a favourite at country shows thanks to its uniform roundness, smooth skin and shallow eyes. It possesses thin white skin and cream coloured, waxy flesh.

The ‘Nadine’ provides reliable, heavy harvests.

With a pleasant, somewhat sweet flavour, and it’s waxy flesh this potato is perfect for gently boiling and potato salads.

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ORGANIC GROW ‘Dutch Cream’

If ‘King Edward’ is the king of spuds, then ‘Dutch Cream’ is surely the queen. Hailing from the Netherlands, it is now widely cultivated around the world. It has a knobbly oval shape, thin skin and famed, creamy waxy flesh. The rich, buttery flavour excites both top tier chefs and humble home cooks, It’s perfect for potato salads, soups and stews, and makes a sublime mash.

‘Purple Congo’

This purple stunner is native to Peru and Bolivia but was made known to the wider world in the 16th century by Spanish sailors, who carried it on long sea voyages to fight off the ravages of scurvy.

In the garden, ‘Purple Congo’ is among the hardiest of all potatoes, showing great disease resistance and vigour. The skin is such a dark purple that it borders on black, and the tubers are smallish, cylindrical and knobbly. The flesh is a vibrant purple that’s maintained when cooked. Peeling can be difficult when raw, so boil or steam them, then rub the skin off. Even better, eat them skin and all – the skin is packed full of antioxidants. The flavour is earthy, nutty and slightly sweet, and they make a super funky potato salad and excellent mash.

Starchy ‘Kennebec’

Developed in the US in 1941 and first mentioned in the American Journal of Potato Research in 1948, ‘Kennebec’ is a large potato of medium thickness, with an elliptical to oblong shape. It has thin, creamy/tan coloured skin, shallow eyes and firm, ivory flesh.

It’s a heavy yielding spud that has excellent disease resistance and stores well after harvest. ‘Kennebec’ has a rich, earthy and nutty flavour, along with its shape and starch content make it perfect for hot chips – crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle.

‘Coliban’

‘King Edward’

King by name and king by nature, ‘King Edward’ is a British variety given its name in 1902 to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII. I imagine there is no loftier an honour to bestow on an ascending monarch than to have a potato named after them, especially one as tasty or useful as ‘King Edward‘ (or ‘Fellside Hero‘ as it was first known.)

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Top: ‘Dutch Cream’ and ‘Kennebec’ harvest.

Above: ‘King Edward’.

It is a medium to large potato, mainly oval, with a light tan skin and its signature pinkish spots. The flesh is creamy coloured, firm and dense, and when cooked the colour is maintained and the texture is fluffy and floury – making it a superb roasting potato. It is also highly favoured for mash. Culinary queen, Delia Smith, also cites it as her go-to spud for making gnocchi – delicious, fluffy pillows of potato goodness.

PHOTOS: GAP PHOTOS/TOP: PETER CUNDALL.

This potato was first developed in Victoria in the 1970s. It is a medium-sized, round to oval potato with easy-to-peel white skin and floury, white flesh, though not as floury as ‘Kennebec’. The payoff is that ‘Coliban’ makes a mean chip, but is also well suited to roasting and turning into mash.

All-rounder ‘Royal Blue’

Another spud with Dutch roots, this striking potato has dusky purple/blue skin and creamy, yellow flesh.

The tuber is oval and appears to be flattened on the broad sides. The flavour is slightly sweet and nutty and is very versatile in the kitchen – great for roasting, chips, mash and salads.

‘Spunta’

‘Spunta’ originated in the Netherlands in the 1960s and has since been widely adopted around the world – it’s even one of the most popular potatoes in Italy.

The tuber is large and long, with some growing up to 500g! The skin is pale yellow/white, smooth and has few eyes, making it very easy to peel. In the garden, it produces prolifically and can be harvested early as new potatoes or left in the ground to swell.

In the kitchen, the large oblong tubers are perfect for cutting up into chips and frying, but is well-suited to roasting, mashing and salads.

PHOTOS: GAP PHOTOS

‘Otway Red’

Developed by the Bone family in the Otway Ranges of Victoria, ‘Otway Red’ is a popular Australian variety. It’s oval, with smooth, dark-red skin, and white, creamy flesh. In the patch, these spuds are high-yielding. Their thick skin makes them a great storage potato. It has an excellent earthy flavour and suits all preparations.

Above left: ‘Purple Congo’ in among other potatoes.

Above: ‘Spunta’.

‘Sapphire’

Another stunning purple potato, ‘Sapphire’ is a gem of a spud both in the kitchen and the garden.

It’s a medium-sized, oval-shaped tuber with marbled purple/white flesh, including a distinctive white margin just under the skin. In the garden, ‘Sapphire’ is reasonably hardy, able to withstand short periods of drought and growing well in colder climates. In the kitchen, it has a more balanced starch content than waxy ‘Purple Congo’, making it a more versatile choice. Colour is maintained during cooking. It can turn a little greyish when just cooked, but returns to purple as it cools.

PESTS AND DISEASES Leaf-eating beetles such as 28-spotted ladybirds love the leaves of plants like potatoes. Either: pick them off by hand and drop into soapy water; cover with netting; or spray with neem, soap or pyrethrum.

Potatoes are also affected by nematodes and the fungal disease potato scab. To prevent, use crop rotation.

Don’t plant anything in the Solanaceae family (potatoes, tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant) in the same soil on a three-year rotation.

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Above: Place one seed potato every 30cm.

Right: Hilling up soil around growing plants.

GROWING SPUDS When it comes to planting, avoid using the potato that’s growing legs in the back of your pantry and is preparing to walk itself out the door. For the best results, look for certified seed potatoes of heirloom varieties from reputable suppliers (garden centres and online). They will be disease-free, vigorous and ready to provide you with bucket loads of your own tasty backyard tubers.

In-ground method before starting, add a layer of compost and wellrotted manure and fork it into the soil surface.

2. Potatoes do best in acid soils with a pH from 6-7, so do a pH test first (cheap, simple test kits available from garden centres and hardware stores).

3. Dig 20cm deep trenches about 20cm wide and 30cm apart. Place one seed potato every 30cm.

4. Cover with 10cm of soil and sprinkle over a handful of pelletised organic manure for every 1.5m, water well.

5. When the potatoes produce shoots, pull more soil over the potatoes leaving just a few leaves above.

Repeat as the plant grows, hilling up around the plant and finishing with a layer of mulch, either pea straw or lucerne hay.

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No-dig method If you don’t have an existing garden bed, try this method: 1. Spread around 8 layers of wet newspaper over an area of grass or soil with good drainage.

2. Spread seed potatoes over this about 30cm apart with upward facing shoots.

3. Cover with a combination of compost, well-rotted manure, leaf-litter, straw, lucerne hay, green waste (whatever you have on hand).

4. Water every layer and keep going until a height of about 25cm.

5. Finally, sprinkle on organic pelletised fertiliser or blood and bone. When the shoots poke through, add more layers finishing with a layer of mulch.

PHOTOS: GAP PHOTOS

1. However big the area you’re planting into,

ORGANIC GROW

TOP TIPS Whether growing spuds in a bag, in the ground or no-dig, the process is reasonably straightforward but a few key points will help: • Potatoes are frost-tender so if you’re in a frosty region plant after the last frost, or provide protection in a greenhouse or under a cloche. In warmer regions they are best planted in the cool season, doing best at 16°C and 20ºC. • Ensure the tops of the tubers are never exposed to sunlight, otherwise they’ll turn green, making them poisonous (and more vulnerable to pest attack).

• Don’t overwater. If the soil mixture becomes too sodden, the tubers may rot.

A good watering a couple of times a week should suffice.

• Harvest a couple of weeks after the potato plant has flowered. If you need spuds sooner, you can judiciously bandicoot a few early ones.

• Spuds take 2.5–3.5 months until harvest.

Growing in containers As spuds are ground-dwelling tubers, you’d be forgiven for thinking they need an expansive patch to thrive. In fact, with a simple container or bag, good potting mix and seed potatoes, you can grow them pretty much anywhere.

Using the method below, you should produce 8–10kg per grow bag.

PHOTOS: PENNY WOODWARD

What you’ll need

4 seed potatoes Potato growing bag – available from good seed merchants, hardware stores and nurseries, or make your own by rolling down the tops of hessian sacks Good quality potting mix Compost or worm castings Straw

1. Make your potato-growing soil mix by combining the potting mix, compost and straw in equal measures.

This mix, rich in organic matter, is what you’ll use to fill your grow bags.

2. Place a 10–15cm layer of the mix into the bottom of the bag and place the seed potatoes on top of the mix with the eyes or the sprouts facing up.

3. Cover with another 10cm of mix and water them in.

4. As the potatoes grow, occasionally add more of the mix so that only the top leaves are left exposed.

5.Repeat until the bag is full.

Below: A pre-sprouted or ‘chitted’ potato

Above left: Young potatoes in bags with space to add more soil mix as they grow.

Top left: Potatoes growing in a large fruit box.

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ORGANIC SOLUTIONS

CITRUS SUCCESS

Why is it that some struggle with citrus, whereas others need only scatter a little fertiliser for spectacularly lush trees?

Helen McKerral shares tips to make your citrus shine!

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garden filled with citrus is one of my great horticultural loves, but for many years I’ve had patchy success. Embarrassingly, my trees never looked as good as the ones in the magazines for which I wrote! But citrus can be fickle and we gardeners have to start somewhere. More than three decades later I’m better at growing things than I was then, and my citrus trees look wonderful. Yours can too, and in a much shorter timeframe! Even if conditions are not perfect, you can modify soil, microclimates and tree choices to gain good harvests.

Right soil, right microclimate

If you live in an area with a Mediterranean or warm-temperate climate, with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters, and your garden is sunny with free-draining fertile soil, it’s likely you’ll grow citrus with little trouble. All you need to do is keep an eye on pests, water, fertilise and prune now and then. In different climates, however, you’ll need to tweak the microclimate.

In heavy clays, as in my garden, you tweak a little more. In cold and damp or humid climes, you prune or spray more judiciously. It’s perfectly possible to grow citrus almost anywhere in Australia when

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you modify conditions to suit your tree. Also, in trickier situations, choosing the right type of tree or rootstock is important.

Microclimate

Citrus love sun: Australia’s commercial orchards are in inland NSW, Victoria and SA. We can’t migrate our gardens, but we can provide the sunniest, warmest spots in our yards. Choose north sides of buildings, fences and hedges rather than the south: the latter is sunny in summer, but too shady in winter.

Consider front gardens, too. Citrus are ornamental and make great features in lawns that are open and sunny. Street frontages are also often sunny.

But what if, like my garden, yours is surrounded by tall trees? The best you have is dappled shade, or morning sun only, or afternoon sun only. Don’t worry: you’re aiming for the best possible choice, not the perfect choice, and you’ll compensate by making everything else within your control as ideal as possible.

My citrus fruit is in dappled shade, some in morning sun only, and some in afternoon sun only.

They don’t fruit as heavily as in full-sun, but produce enough fruit for my entire family.

PHOTO: GAP PHOTOS_LEIGH CLAPP

Citrus, like this mandarin, are productive but also look lovely in the garden.

Prolifically bearing orange tree in a garden.

HEAT AND FROST TOLERANCES Some citrus require more heat to ripen and for good flavour, and so are more suited to subtropical or tropical regions.

If you want to grow these in cooler regions then choose early ripening varieties.

Most citrus tolerate some frost down to -5ºC, especially if grafted onto cold-tolerant rootstock. (SF = some frost; where you’ll need to grow in a partially protected position).

Some citrus will be killed by any frost at all. (FF = frost free; you will need to find a frost-free position).

If a tree is badly affected by frost, don’t despair, cut back all the dead wood and you may be surprised with new shoots from old, green wood in spring.

Tropical (assumes no frost): Bush lemon citron mandarin pumello Mexican limes Tahitian lime tangelo

Subtropical: Bush lemon citron (SF) lemon (Lisbon, Meyer) mandarin Mexican limes (FF) Tahitian lime (FF) tangelo (SF)

Arid/semi-arid: Bush lemon, citron (SF) grapefruit (SF) cumquat mandarin (SF) orange (Washington Navel, Valencia (SF)) Tahitian lime (FF) tangelo (SF) sour orange

COLD TEMPERATE (these are all frost tolerant): cumquat, Yuzu lemon (Meyer, Lisbon) sour orange

PHOTO: ALAMY

WARM TEMPERATE: Grapefruit (SF) cumquat, mandarin (SF) lemon (Meyer, Lisbon, Eureka (SF)) tangelo (SF) orange (SF, Washington Navel, Valencia) sour orange Tahitian lime (FF)

ORGANIC SOLUTIONS

Citrus trees can thrive in DID YOU extreme cold but fruit KNOW? often remains green or sour.

In tiny gardens, grow citrus in pots against sunny northeast to northwest-facing walls, or along the edge of northerly verandahs or balconies.

In areas with short, cooler summers, try potted citrus against sunny masonry walls that reflect and retain heat. If your garden has different aspects, choose north-facing slopes that warm earlier and cool later than south-facing ones. Choose tops of slopes, rather than the bottom or depressions where cold air pools.

Many citrus are moderately frost-tolerant (see ‘Heat and frost tolerances’ on opposite page) but if frosts are heavy and you want to try, say, a Tahitian lime, find the best spot. It may be against a sunny wall or atop a northerly slope, but it could be on the north side under the canopy of a tall, open tree: you’re sacrificing a little sun for frost protection.

Sometimes cold winds affect trees: choose somewhere sheltered. Alternatively, good air circulation minimises disease, but don’t give up if your garden is very sheltered: you just need to prune and possibly spray more regularly. Either way, search your garden with a critical eye to find somewhere that works.

Choosing well

In extremely cold or, conversely, tropical regions, trees can thrive but fruit often remains green or sour.

At the limits of citrus’ preferred climate range, choose ones that do best in your climate zone (see ‘Heat and frost tolerances’ box). Different rootstocks can also impart cold, salt and pH tolerance in trees.

PHOTOS: TOP: GAP PHOTOS/ABOVE: HELEN MCKERRAL.

Soil preparation

Top: With a larger pot, warmer position, new soil and regular feeding, this citrus will thrive.

Above: Raise the lower side when planting on slopes and protect with shadecloth in hot weather.

An old gardening motto is: ‘Plant a $10 tree in a $20 hole’. It’s an exaggeration but the core message is true: soil preparation is worth the effort. Your trees will fruit for decades, and excellent preparation saves money, fertiliser, water and remedial sprays, because vigorous trees not only bear more heavily but resist disease better than those that sulk.

Citrus loathe waterlogging, so avoid low-lying areas. If your entire garden becomes seasonally waterlogged, raise planting areas at least 40cm using quality loam in addition to the materials below, or use containers.

Prepare a 1.5m diameter planting area when soil is moist but not wet. Fork without digging deeply into subsoil. On sloping sites with shallow topsoil, raise low sides of slopes with a semi-circle of rocks or bricks to

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ORGANIC SOLUTIONS

create a level area; you may need extra loam, potting mix and/or compost. Next, sprinkle over soil improvers: In alkaline soils above pH7, iron is less available and citrus leaves will yellow. To acidify and thus reduce pH, add sulphur at recommended rates for your soil type (clay or sand). You can buy simple pH testing kits at garden centres or online.

To clay soils, add 2kg gypsum/sqm to improve drainage.

To all soils, add a large (70L) bag of potting mix to improve drainage and increase organic matter.

To sandy soils, such as those found in Western Australia, add 5–10kg bentonite or kaolin/sqm to reduce water repellency and improve nutrient retention. If possible, add .5–1kg/sqm of zeolite, too.

Together at these rates, they are long lasting and shouldn’t need reapplication. Find these at garden centres or hardware stores.

To soils that are particularly low in organic matter, add a barrow of mature compost.

Next, thoroughly fork through the additives, creating a mound that’s slightly higher than the surrounding soil. A shallow depression on top assists watering; make this deeper in regions with dry summers. Mulch well, water and wait several weeks before planting.

Right: A healthy tree produces abundant harvests.

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PHOTOS: TOP: HELEN MCKERRALL/BOTTOM: KIRSTEN BRESCIANI

Above: This mysterious deficiency disappeared when I applied trace elements.

Centre: Phosphorous deficiency causes thickened skins and often occurs with excess nitrogen.

Far right: Fertiliser burn symptoms caused by over-fertilising.

Troubleshooting guide Symptoms

Ailment/pest

Remedy

LEAVES Pale yellow throughout Nitrogen deficiency plant Pale and bent/cupped at tips Potassium deficiency

Fertilise with high-nitrogen or balanced fertiliser during growing season.

Apply potash.

Yellow and green, either blotchy or veined

Iron, manganese, boron or other trace element deficiency

Covered in black sooty film

Scale insects and sooty mould

In alkaline soils, increase soil acidity with sulphur (liquid sulphur acts instantaneously).

In all soils apply iron chelates, epsom salts or trace elements.

Wipe off with soapy water, use an oil based organic spray and control ants.

Black or brown spotted, often ringed with yellow

Fungal disease or boron deficiency

Apply preventative copper or lime sprays in autumn and winter; prune to raise skirt.

Remove affected fruit, including windfall.

Apply trace elements or boron.

Brown, soft and falling

Waterlogging, or fertiliser burn Lack of water

Improve drainage around tree. If it’s just after fertilising, roots are burned. Water deeply.

Prune to healthy wood to stimulate new growth and water thoroughly and regularly.

Pale brown and crisp, or fallen

Misshapen – strongly curled Leaf miner, aphids or or contorted, often at tips other insect pests Eaten, especially branch tips

Caterpillar

Is spotted, watery, marked or mouldy

Usually fungal disease, or may be trace element deficiency Fruit fly Phosphorous deficiency

Inspect to determine specific pest – they often hide inside the curled leaf. Apply appropriate spray.

Remove native caterpillars only from small trees.

FRUIT

Has maggots Is malformed with thickened peel Drops while still small or is absent

Insufficient or irregular water and/or fertiliser

Fails to fully colour

Wrong climate

Is tangled and overcrowded

Lack of pruning

Remove affected fruit and bin. Spray tree with preventative copper or lime sulphur. Apply trace elements.

Hang pheromone traps, bag fruit early.

Apply balanced fertiliser or organic phosphorous.

Some fruit drop is normal but retain more by watering and fertilising regularly; potash, manganese and seaweed extract may also help.

Some varieties remain greenish in certain climates but still taste good. If not, replace with suitable cultivars.

ILLUSTRATION: ISTOCK

TREE Old trees respond well to hard pruning when in active growth. Paint branches/trunk with whitewash to prevent sunburn. Feed and water well.

Isn’t growing Insufficient fertiliser Feed and water regularly through the and water growing season.

Has no leaves but lots Insufficient fertiliser Prune in growing season, then feed with a of flowers balanced fertiliser and water regularly.

Has lumps on branches Citrus gall wasp Prune galls and burn or bag immediately.

Spray kaolin or pest oil in late winter. * TIP: take photos to your local plant nursery for further advice on application rates and methods.

ORGANIC SOLUTIONS Left: This newly planted tangelo was hard pruned to encourage strong branching.

Right: New growth on the pruned tangelo.

Pruning Prune lower branches to maintain air circulation under trees. Citrus fruits at the tips, so pruning the whole tree removes the year’s crop. Instead, to maintain size, trim about a third of the watershoots and branches each time.

However, if a hard prune is necessary, citrus respond well to skeletonising, where you cut branches right back.

Planting

In cold and frosty southern regions, plant only from late spring to early autumn when soil is warm and roots actively growing. In warm temperate, arid/semi-arid and subtropical regions planting times will depend on frost – only plant once the threat has passed. If you have no frost, then you can plant all year.

Immediate care will depend on intensity of summer heat. In hot regions with full sun, erect shade cloth guards to screen bark from sunburn – young trees lack sufficient canopy. Whitewashing bark helps, too.

After planting, spread fertiliser, mulch, and water with seaweed extract. Water every 5–7 days during establishment.

I prune young saplings hard at planting time to initiate strong vegetative growth and branching, but it’s not essential. However, it’s best to remove all fruit from young trees for the first two years.

This cumquat bush is thriving in a pot.

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Water young trees weekly during your dry season, and fertilise regularly. I fertilise three times a year – early spring, early summer and early autumn – but some gardeners fertilise monthly during the growing season.

I feed in very early spring because most organic fertilisers take time to break down, particularly in low rainfall areas. Feeding early means rain makes nutrients available by the time trees begin active growth in mid-late spring.

The autumn feed is essential in temperate climates because when daytime temperatures fall below 14°C, citrus no longer take up nutrients: they rely on that autumn feed to survive winter.

Well-rotted poultry manure or balanced pelletised poultry manure (available from garden centres and online) are excellent at recommended rates, but they don’t break down in dry summers/autumns with drip irrigation. Spread fertiliser around tree driplines (at the outer edge of canopy), adding mulch and water to keep moist for a few weeks to release nutrients. Alternatively, make weak liquid teas to apply over several weeks.

PHOTOS: TOP & INSET: HELEN MCKERRALL/BOTTOM: GAP PHOTOS/S&O.

Feeding and watering

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ORGANIC BASICS

Greenhouse growing

REady to take your food gardening to another level, especially in cool climates?

Jian Liu explains how to get the most out of a greenhouse and expand your repertoire.

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dding a greenhouse to your garden can take your food growing to another level. Not only do they protect plants from the elements and extreme temperatures, they also create a special microclimate that many thrive in.

I had always dreamed about having a greenhouse in our Melbourne backyard to allow us to grow and harvest tomatoes and capsicum for most of the year.

I also planned to use it to raise our own seedlings and grow a greater range of tropical and subtropical plants. When we eventually added a large polycarbonate greenhouse to our food forest, our food-growing repertoire reached a new level.

Before you dash out to buy a greenhouse, though, keep in mind they come in many sizes and styles, and may require a new gardening skill set. Here are my tips from years of experience.

The polycarbonate greenhouse in our Melbourne backyard has great insulation and provides some shade during hot summers.

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PHOTO: JIAN LIU

Clockwise from top left: Greenhouses are perfect for raising seedlings; Asian greens thrive in the winter warmth; our extended tomato harvest.

A greenhouse is a structure that creates a protective barrier between your plants and the outside environment. A greenhouse can buffer wind, retain heat and minimise temperature fluctuations, creating a much more pleasant environment for your plants. It gives you control over the growing environment, from temperature to light, down to how much water your plants receive.

In extremes of heat, cold and wind, or where there are dramatic changes in temperature, plants stop growing and move into survival mode. By removing these extremes, a greenhouse allows plants to focus their energy on growing bigger and healthier, which can extend their growing season. Greenhouses can also protect plants from the damaging effects of snow, frost, hail and strong winds.

This makes a greenhouse the ideal place to start your seeds, raise your own seedlings, propagate plants and grow a wider variety of plants than is normal for your climate. It also enables you to obtain a quicker harvest of winter vegies, which reach maturity faster and allows you to enjoy cold-sensitive crops, such as tomatoes and eggplants, over a much longer timeframe.

PHOTOS: JIAN LIU

Why grow in a greenhouse?

ORGANIC BASICS

The greenhouse isn’t just a haven for our plants.

On cold and rainy days, I especially enjoy retreating to the sanctuary of our greenhouse, which allows me to continue working in the garden while staying warm and dry. On top of this, a quality greenhouse can also be a real statement piece, adding visual appeal to your garden.

Through the seasons

A greenhouse will benefit most plants but you need to be strategic or it will fill up quickly. We don’t use our greenhouse for plants that need cold chill such as blueberries and bulbs, or any vegetables that sweeten after frost, such as kale.

We use it to raise seedlings almost all year, other than the hottest parts of summer. It has shelves up high, allowing other crops to be grown in the beds below – an efficient use of space. We usually start our summer seedlings during winter in the greenhouse, to get a head start. In cold climates, your seeds may benefit from a heat mat that provides bottom heat and encourages quick germination.

In winter, we grow cabbages, cauliflower, Chinese broccoli, celery, snow peas and Asian greens in the vegie beds in our greenhouse. They thrive in the protected conditions and far outperform their outdoor counterparts. Our greenhouse gives us a quick and continuous harvest of Asian greens all winter. It is also handy to overwinter cold-sensitive perennials, such as chillies, capsicum, cardamom, turmeric, galangal and stevia.

When summer arrives, you can use your greenhouse for the most heat-loving plants such as tomatoes, chillies, eggplants, cucumber, pumpkin and capsicum. Tropical plants, such as bitter melon, luffa, snake beans and okra, will also thrive there in summer.

While we haven’t achieved our dream of yearround tomatoes, our greenhouse has dramatically extended the growing season, providing our earliest and latest ripened tomatoes.

PHOTOS: TOP KIRSTEN BRESCIANI/BOTTOM: JUSTIN RUSSELL

What to choose?

In cooler areas, a greenhouse needs to capture and preserve warmth. One of the key decisions is what type of panels you want on the walls and roof of your greenhouse. While there is nothing as visually impressive as a glasshouse, glass has poor insulation, can magnify heat in summer, is more expensive and is harder to install. For these reasons, we opted for a polycarbonate greenhouse. Polycarbonate, while more opaque in appearance, is a very practical choice; it has great insulation, is durable and stronger than glass and provides a degree of shade, which is vital in our harsh Australian summers. Most Top: I enjoy spending time pottering in our greenhouse.

Left: Shadehouses are an option in warmer areas.

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Managing your greenhouse microclimate

Ventilation

One of the most common mistakes made by new growers is to keep their greenhouses closed, only to see their plants overtaken by fungal diseases.

Having good airflow year-round is the key to a healthy greenhouse. If you notice condensation dripping from your greenhouse walls, this tells you the humidity is too high. It is essential to have good ventilation, such as wall and ceiling vents or louvres, and to ensure you open them in your greenhouse most days, even in winter. Having air flow through the greenhouse (but not too much) helps to build stronger plants, and some growers will even use a fan to increase air flow.

Location

While you can easily create shade in summer when you need it, it’s much harder to add light where you don’t have it. This means the best spot for your greenhouse to maximise light is in full-sun along a north-south axis. Avoid fences or tall trees that cast shade. If there is not enough winter light, your seedlings may become skinny and leggy. If site options are limited to low-light spots, you can install special grow lights.

Watering

Temperature

In cooler seasons, the aim is to keep your greenhouse warm. In winter, you should close vents before sunset to maintain warmer overnight temperatures. Adding thermal mass to your greenhouse can also increase internal temperatures. Using bricks or concrete pavers to edge your greenhouse beds will soak up warmth during the day and gradually release it at night. You could also build a hot compost in your greenhouse to create a natural source of heating. Some growers use heaters in their greenhouse, but are only sustainable if powered with solar energy.

In summer, you have the opposite problem where an enclosed greenhouse can quickly become an oven. Opening vents and doors is essential for lowering temperatures (an auto-vent opener makes life easier), as well as using shade cloth on scorching hot days.

The shade cloth we purchased with our greenhouse is made from a woven aluminium fibre and is highly effective at reflecting light.

It provides around 50 per cent additional shade and dramatically lowers the summer temperatures in our greenhouse.

We love growing a living vine (such as hyacinth bean, bitter melon or ceylon spinach) on the western walls of our greenhouse to provide additional natural shade over summer. A misting system helps to lower temperatures on the hottest days, although is not essential.

HARDENING OFF PLANTS

It is vital to harden off your greenhouseraised seedlings before planting outside to avoid them going into shock. Do this by bringing them outside for a few hours each day, increasing the duration over a few weeks so they are acclimatised.

PHOTO: JIAN LIU

As the greenhouse is fully enclosed, your plants are entirely reliant on you for watering. Installing a watering system, such as drip irrigation, can save time and effort. Our greenhouse has gutters that allow us to collect rainwater, which we feed into our water tank then circulate back into the greenhouse via soaker hoses.

ORGANIC BASICS polycarbonate panels provide around 10 per cent shade: the thicker the panel the better the insulation.

Both glass and polycarbonate can be recycled.

In warmer areas, you might consider a shadehouse that uses mesh panels rather than glass or polycarbonate. This protects your plants from the intense sunlight and heat of summer, and provides respite from extreme winds and storms.

Regardless of what you choose, it is vital to purchase a quality, durable greenhouse, and secure it to a sturdy base. A greenhouse can become a parachute in windy weather and I have witnessed too many heartbroken gardeners have their flimsy greenhouses destroyed by strong winds, along with their plants inside.

Another option if you are handy, is to build your own. I’ve seen some marvellous and whimsical creations pieced together using recycled windows, doors and flyscreens.

What size?

Be warned that greenhouse growing is addictive and anyone you ask would say: “I wish I had gone bigger.” My advice is to choose the largest greenhouse you can afford and that can fit into your garden. Our greenhouse is around 2.5m wide x 5m long and its precious space inside fills up quickly.

If room is limited, a cupboard style greenhouse or a cold-frame can be great options for raising seedlings, propagating and growing smaller coldsensitive plants. You can even use a cloche or a cover and frame over your vegie beds in winter to harness the benefits of greenhouse growing. A repurposed milk bottle makes a wonderful mini recycled cloche, and even comes with its own humidity controlled vent (aka the spout and lid!).

PHOTOS: TOP: SPROUTWELL GREENHOUSE /ABOVE: ALAMY

Greenhouse myths

There’s a common misconception that greenhouse growing is free of pests. While greenhouses have many strengths, they are not a panacea. If not well managed, a greenhouse can become a breeding ground for pests and diseases. In the warm humid conditions of a greenhouse, fungal diseases such as powdery mildew can easily run rampant.

A greenhouse is, however, effective at keeping out larger pests, such as possums and rats, provided you close all entry points at night.

Being an enclosed environment, greenhouses naturally have fewer predatory insects, such as ladybirds, lacewings and parasitic wasps, to take care of your pest insects. Also, they have fewer bees to pollinate your flowers, which can lower productivity unless you take steps to ensure good pollination.

Top: Greenhouses need a secure and sturdy base.

Above: If space is limited a cloche or a cover and frame can be used in winter.

Another common misconception is that greenhouses are too hot to be used in Australia and your plants will bake in summer. This is not true.

A greenhouse can be extremely valuable even in our Australian summer, so long as we use shade and ventilation to reduce the internal temperature of the greenhouse.

SUPPLIERS aussieshadehouses.com.au growfreshgreen houses.com.au mazeproducts.com.au sagehort.com.au sproutwellgreenhouses.com.au

Follow Jian on Instagram @melbourne.foodforest for more greenhouse growing tips.

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ORGANIC GROW

Oh for a winter rose!

hellebores love shade, thrive in frosts and have glorious flowers that appear right through winter into spring, writes Penny Woodward.

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nown as winter rose, also lenten and snow rose, hellebores are tough, usually low-growing plants that have found a place in all my gardens over many years.

Part of the Ranunculaceae, or buttercup family, I first got to know them in my early 20s while looking after a National Trust property in the Western District of Victoria. Under a covered walkway there were clumps of glossy, marbled green leaves. I didn’t know what they were until suddenly in my first winter, they produced masses of gracefully drooping mahogany flowers with bright yellow stamens.

This was the original Helleborus niger. Later when I moved closer to the coast with almost nutrient-free sandy soils, I grew the tough, taller H. foetidus with huge bunches of lime green flowers with maroon lips. And now I have clumps of H. orientalis and H. x hybrida of varying colours, patterns and plant sizes.

Flower colours range from lime green, through white, pale creams and yellows, to many different pinks and mauves, darkening to mahogany and almost black. They can be speckled, blotched and striped, and double with multiple layers of petals.

Today there are hundreds of different named crosses between and within the 15 different species. But my favourites are still the mahogany and lime green shades.

Growing

Winter roses thrive in cold, growing well in regions south of a line from Sydney to Perth, and in elevated and mountainous regions north of this line. They also need shade in summer especially from hot westerly sun. They appreciate a bit of sun in winter so are perfect

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for planting under deciduous trees and in out of the way corners of the garden. If they are too shady, especially in winter, they may not flower. They don’t like humidity so won’t grow in subtropical coastal regions like Brisbane.

Plant into good composty, well-drained soil, water in well and keep moist until the plant starts growing. Once established, hellebores tolerate quite dry soils. After flowering, cut back flower heads, feed with a slow-release certified organic fertiliser, and mulch well with lucerne hay, pea straw or bark mulches to retain moisture and keep the soil cool in summer. At the end of summer, prune off old and dead leaves and spread some compost or worm castings around. Add a bit more mulch.

To propagate new plants, dig, divide and replant in autumn. Some hellebores can also be grown from seed and are a cheaper way of obtaining more and a wider range of plants. Only buy seed you know has been cold stratified, sow in late winter/spring, and be aware they can take several months to germinate.

Hellebores are not only lovely in the garden but also make stunning picked flowers that last well in water. But don’t be tempted to use as a garnish on food, as they’re poisonous.

Selected suppliers

diggers.com.au gardenexpress.com.au postofficefarmnursery.com.au tasmanianselecthellebores.com (seeds only) tesselaar.net.au

Helleborus x hybridus ‘Cinderella’.

PHOTOS: GAP PHOTOS_ PHAO HEWITSON

ORGANIC PROFILE

Annie’s one-of-a-kind life Annie Smither’s new book Recipe for a Kinder Life beautifully tells the story of her growing self-sufficient life, all the practical aspects of developing a new nine-hectare property, the animals she cares for, and the food she loves to share through her restaurant du Fermier.

Left: Annie and Susan at Babbington Park with their Cashmere goats and miniature white Galloway cows.

Above: Annie uses the fruit, vegies and flowers she grows for her restaurant, du Fermier.

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aving grown up on the outskirts of Melbourne and then living in the city in her 20s, Annie Smithers began yearning for a more ‘countrified’ way. When a job came up in the central Victorian town of Daylesford, working at the renowned Lake House restaurant under head chef Alla Wolf-Tasker, she jumped at it.

Eventually, Annie found herself in Malmsbury (also in central Victoria), where she bought a run-down workers cottage and a small patch of land, and where her shift to rural living began in earnest. She soon opened her restaurant Annie Smither’s Bistrot (in Kyneton) and bought an extra quarter acre block next to her home. She was going to need it!

After getting her house in reasonable repair and her restaurant running smoothly, Annie (having fallen for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s The River Cottage Cookbook) turned her hand to growing food and becoming self-sufficient.

“That house and little bit of land would become my idiosyncratic statement about the rage I felt at how the world was changing around me,” Annie writes.

“I would grow food, I would keep chickens and bees, and I would try to tread more carefully on the earth than I had before…

“When I sold the house in Malmsbury after fourteen years, it was unrecognisable. It had been lovingly restored, and the garden was a picture of productivity.”

Annie’s garden had 35 fruit trees, all chosen for their various roles in the kitchen (eating fresh, cooking, preserving). Also, 15 garden beds produced fruit, veg and salad crops all-year-round. There were chickens and geese, plus many other animals. The garden also supplied a majority of the produce for the restaurant.

Annie had thought this might be the place she lived out her life, but romance intervened. Her new partner Susan had two daughters and Annie’s cosy cottage would not fit the family. It also meant that Annie’s secret desire for a decent bit of land rose to the surface. The result was buying Babbington Park – a nine-hectare property with spring-fed water, sheds and outbuildings and exceptional soil.

Here are some short excerpts from Annie’s book, describing early days and the establishment of some of the productive gardens on the new property.

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ORGANIC PROFILE Below: Annie and Susan have been the custodians of Babbington Park for over five years.

Right: The property boasts a 34ML spring-fed lake.

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Starting afresh The productive garden is the cornerstone of our efforts towards sustainability at Babbington Park and du Fermier (Annie’s latest small restaurant in Trentham, Victoria). It is where we grow as much of the produce for the restaurant and the family as we can. My previous garden at Malmsbury, became what it was with me adding infrastructure as it was needed and as funds were available.

At times it was messy, at times it was ad hoc, but these issues were absorbed into the fabric of the property. When I made the move to Babbington Park at Lyonville, I was used to a productive garden that had long passed the ‘set-up’ stage and had settled into being a fully functional entity.

When it came to thinking about establishing the new garden, I was whisked away on a cloud of positives, knowing the soil was wonderful and there was an abundance of water. I had forgotten exactly how much infrastructure the old garden had needed over time, but I hoped that, within a season, I would be back to producing vegetables again. The siting of the vegetable garden and orchard was quite easy.

Our piece of land is flattish at the road end and then drifts down a hill to the dam. Given how cold our region is, we needed as much sun as possible, so we selected the paddock on the north side of the property for the productive garden. The area was an easy walk from the house, and reasonably flat, but was terribly vulnerable to wind whipping up the hill

PHOTOS: SIMON JAMES

s I sit writing, I’m looking out at a landscape that shifts and changes daily.

The air is perfectly still.

The lake surrenders her reflections of the surrounding trees with no distortion. The birds sing softly, observing the morning quietude. The goats, sheep and geese are all sorting out their positions in the paddock, as three juvenile kangaroos hop by, engrossed in their journey. At a glance, this could be seen as a perfect autumn morning.

But our world is changing, at an ever-increasing pace. We are living through a time when environmental catastrophes and disease stalk us all, no matter where we are. It is a time to take stock. I have been engaged in this process of evaluation for some years, trying to make decisions that allow me to step a great deal more gently on the earth. I am painfully aware that not all of us have the luxury of being able to make such choices and feel passionately that those who can, should. No matter how small a decision is, no matter how tiny its beneficial impact, all changes for the better could form a tsunami of positive differences and hope sweeping over the earth…

from westerly and south-westerly directions. This meant that working out how we wanted the finished plan to look required much thought.

We were on a very tight schedule of getting the Babbington Park garden up and running before we handed over the Malmsbury garden to its new owners. We didn’t have the luxury of sitting and watching how the land responded to different seasons and weather patterns.

When I planted the first garden at Malmsbury, it was at the tail end of a drought cycle. I learned 18 months later that I had created my entire vegetable garden on an area that was prone to flooding in wet years. It was a salutary lesson, and, while it is not practical to wait for years until finalising the layout of your garden, I would have preferred to have had at least 12 months.

With the lack of time, we went at it all a little gung-ho, but that is often how you find yourself acting when excited and enthusiastic. That first winter, we cut the initial two blocks, which were approximately 20 square metres. ‘Cutting the ground’ means removing the sod from the top layer of the

paddock to expose the rich earth underneath. We do this with a tractor bucket; in smaller gardens, it is done with a sharp spade.

Over the next couple of years, we cut a further six blocks, to make a total of eight. It’s a huge area to garden, but at times doesn’t seem big enough and at others feels ridiculously too much.

The garden follows different rhythms across the year. From spring through to mid-summer, we are constantly weeding, as the warmth and the water encourage weeds as well as our crops. It is then that you realise you are crawling up and down rows that would cover half a soccer pitch so as to remove all the unwanted occupants.

One of the good things about all this weeding is that it is done with a dual purpose. Not only does it clear the beds, allowing all the resources to go to our crops, but we place all the weeds in vats and cover them with water. After stewing it for a few weeks, we decant the contents, use the liquid in our plantfeeding regimens, and can also add the inert drowned weed mush to the compost, where it will never sprout again. We call this our ‘weed tea’…

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Going undercover When we started, I also didn’t fully understand the climate. I had no idea of how altitude affects a growing season. It seems that for every 10 metres in height, the ground stays cold for longer. This in turn makes our sowing and growing seasons much shorter than I was used to in Malmsbury.

It also meant that, within a couple of weeks into our first winter, I had to commit to buying a large polytunnel, as I quickly realised that we needed a good undercover space to extend the growing season.

Given that I am supplying both the restaurant and our home, our polytunnel is 20 by 6 metres.

For home gardeners in cold climates, a much smaller one would suffice. In any case, it has proved indispensable, as there is little or no point in

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growing too many tomatoes, zucchinis, eggplants or cucumbers outside. They are much happier indoors, away from the oddball weather that we often deal with up here on the hill.

The polytunnel was sited so that it also offered the vegetable garden protection from the winds whistling up from the south west. Over the next couple of years, we planted a hedge of hundreds of hazelnut bushes to grow up around the vegetable garden, to create a buffer to the outside and a microclimate on the inside.

The wind protection for the vegetable garden has been further boosted by the siting and planting of the orchard on the western side of the vegetable area. The trees selected are all grafted onto full-size rootstock, which means they will be tall specimen trees. This will not only create a beautiful shaded canopy but will help with the buffering of the western winds…

PHOTO: SANDY SCHELTEMA

The property has a polytunnel that helps extend the growing season in colder months.

ORGANIC PROFILE

PHOTOS: TOP: STEPHANIE IMLACH-WOOD /BOTTOM LEFT: SUSAN THOMPSON/BOTTOM RIGHT; SIMON JAMES.

Indian Runner ducks enjoy free time, roaming the property.

Below: All the flowers they grow attract pollinators, as well as provide cuttings for the house and restaurant.

INDISPENSABLE FLOWERS This is the prettiest of all the blocks.

I feel that no productive garden would be complete without a flower-cutting garden. While most of this block is planted out with herbaceous peonies, it is also the area where I grow rows of poppies, larkspurs, delphiniums, scabiosa, cornflowers and nigella.

Not only does growing flowers help prodigiously with our pollination rates, it provides the restaurant with beautiful blooms for months. Like the asparagus and the artichokes, the peonies will last for decades. I often wonder quietly if some of these very long-term ones will become a lovely little cash crop for my dotage.

I imagine eighty-year-old Annie out there – muttering away to the plants, tending them, loving them, and expecting them to be like all good children: prepared to look after their mother when she is old…

Perennial herbaceous peonies will be harvested for decades.

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ORGANIC PROFILE

A sense of chaos

The kitchen garden provides most of the fruit and vegetables for the restaurant, the rhythms of the garden often dictating the menu.

Above: Part of the expansive vegie beds.

PHOTOS: SIMON JAMES/TOP: SUSAN THOMPSON.

While there is order, discipline and longevity in our northern blocks, the same cannot be said for the southern blocks used for annual and rotating crops. While we try to minimise the sense of chaos, the cycle of rotational growing brings its own messy look to all these blocks. There are plants that are just about to be pulled out, others that are just emerging, and some that are in their full flight, which all creates a slight sense of unruliness. Across the seasons and across the rotations, it feels like there are hundreds of different plants and varieties coming and going from our lives. We plant in a cyclical way, calling on the biodynamic moon calendar for directions on what to plant when: leafy greens one week, fruiting and flowering crops the next, and root vegetables in the third week…

Recently, we changed our sowing methods quite dramatically. We had done a great deal of direct sowing into the garden, but we are moving towards a much more disciplined approach and using the multi-sown seedling method more and more. Multi-sowing is when we sow our seed in trays in individual modules, with some three to five seeds per module, depending on the variety. The plant develops in a controlled environment where both the roots and the stems are stronger. This allows for much better survival rates and placement when being transplanted into the garden.

Across the seasons and across rotations, it feels like there are hundreds of different plants and varieties coming and going from our lives.

Animal lover

PHOTOS: SIMON JAMES

I often wonder why I am such a compulsive animal owner [they have cashmere goats, miniature Galloway cattle and miniature Cheviot sheep along with Sebastopol geese, plus ducks and chickens at Babbington Park].

I have a deep love for them all; the turbulent nature of caring for them is part of my day, and now our, day-today existence. When animals are penned for their own comfort and safety each night, they do not wish to wait to be let out each morning.

So, there is always a reason to get up – everybody needs to be released and fed. There is no option of languishing in bed, feeling sorry for oneself, but there is always the possibility of going back to bed when everyone is tended to. Mostly, once that morning communion has taken place, any misery has been vanquished, and the day is there to be enjoyed and tackled…

Excerpts from Recipes for a Kinder Life by Annie Smithers (Thames & Hudson Australia, $32.99).

Annie checking on this year’s calves.

Above: Cashmere goats and Sebastopol geese graze the paddocks and provide used bedding for the compost.

Follow on Instagram @babbingtonpark

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ORGANIC LIFE

Learning new skills at the Kevin Heinze Grow nursery.

A chance to grow

SAGES COTTAGE FARM

Located on the traditional lands of Boon Wurrung/ Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation, Sages Cottage Farm includes native bush, a lake, old gardens, early fruit trees, and heritage protected buildings. The cottage itself was built in the 1850s by one of the first European settlers to the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, using timber cut from trees on the property.

Since 2013, the farm has been run by non-profit community service organisation Wallara, which assists around 80 clients with diverse abilities. On average, 50 clients attend daily, taking part in a variety of programs based on horticulture and the natural environment. Courses include: composting, worms and vegies; garden maintenance; aquaponics; bushland management; ecology; bee keeping; animal management (goats, pigs, sheep, chickens, hamsters, rabbits); and related farm tasks. There is also outdoor art and an extensive kitchen garden program that

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services a cafe and supplies produce to an on-site shop.

The farm, cafe and shop are all open to the public.

“The mission of the farm is to teach adults with diverse abilities, life and work skills through running a 40-acre farm,” CEO Phil Hayes-Brown says.

“But we also want to normalise disability so it really helps with the community coming to us. This enables us to educate the public, as well as providing our clients and staff with a unique setting to be their best and to change the world as we go.

“Our cafe and hospitality services are run by all abilities students and workers, as is the small shop stocked with products made or produced on the farm and a weekly stall at the Mornington Street Market.”

The beneficial effects on mental health from gardens and gardening, and the role that horticulture can play as a therapy, are all well known and although I have visited Sages Cottage Farm on

PHOTOS: TOP: KEVIN HEINZE GROW/TOP LEFT, LEFT AND BOTTOM: WALLARA PRODUCTIONS.

Three different projects illustrate the fantastic role gardening and gardens can play providing activities, employment and pleasure to people of diverse abilities. Penny Woodward reports.

Cooper is harvesting potatoes.

Right: The Sages Cottage aquaponics garden.

Sages Cottage was built in the 1850s.

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ORGANIC LIFE In the summer they grew tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicum and zucchini in the aquaponics system.

Now there are young peas and lettuces. And in the greenhouse diverse herbs and edible flowers. Each day they feed the fish, and the fish feed the plants.

Walking from the polyhouse to the raised vegie beds farm manager Zara explains that participants come to them mostly when they turn 18 and leave school. Abilities range from those who can drive and live independently (in the family home) to those who need considerable support and require a lot of guidance across a range of tasks. They come to learn jobs skills and to find out what they enjoy and where their abilities lie.

I then meet Cooper who is involved with grass busters today, he explains that yesterday he helped to sow a quarter acre of green manure, and a while ago he also helped to put in the new irrigation system.

Cooper will soon move on to supported employment (1 support worker to 4 employees) using the gardening skills he has learnt at Sages to earn a living.

At the raised garden beds I see netting over some of them. Sarah, another teacher, explains that although they have problems with rats and possums eating the vegies, the most troublesome are the blue swamp hens, that clamber over beds, squashing what they don’t eat.

As well as growing vegies for the cafe and market stall, they also grow vegies specifically for the farm animals. And if there is an over-abundance (such as zucchinis in summer), these are donated.

Learn more by following @sagescottagefarm on Instagram or visit: sagescottage.com.au Left: Participants like Cooper learn skills they can use in a workplace.

Below: Shaun likes caring for the chooks at Sages Cottage.

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PHOTOS: WALLARA PRODUCTIONS

several occasions, I was recently thrilled to be able to talk to some of the participants and hear about some of the things they do.

I learnt the program content is formulated around the needs of the farm, the participant’s well-being and their personal goals. Wallara employs teachers who work with the participants on a 1:4 ratio with a strong emphasis on participants choices and decision making.

Periodically the participants set a timetable by choosing which activities they want to do on which days.

The young adults I spoke to mainly elected to do horticulture, garden busters (mowing, whipper snippering and general garden care), woodworking and cooking. Rohan, one of the teachers, showed me the work they had been doing building, using and harvesting from their aquaponics system.

Jack talked about the weeding he had been doing, while Connor had been repairing the lining in the aquaponics tanks and Michael spoke of sieving the soil before planting tiny seeds in the polyhouse. Izzy remembered the chicken pot pie they cooked last week, which was flavoured by garlic, parsley, sage and thyme harvested from the garden. While Pat most enjoys caring for the chooks.

PHOTOS: THE MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW

DYLAN ALCOTT’S PRIZE GARDEN

Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott has won plenty of medals in sport but can now add a silver one for garden design, which he received at the 2022 Melbourne international Flower and Garden Show. The garden named ‘Tramlines’ was created by Dylan in conjunction with Carolyn and Jobi Blackman from Vivid Design.

Carolyn says Dylan wanted the garden to improve awareness of inclusivity.

“He is a fierce advocate of the value that people who identify as having disability can bring to this world,” Carolyn says. “How creative, productive, valuable, lovable and employable they really are.”

Dylan wanted the considered spaces in the garden to serve quietly without screaming ‘disabled’. So they started by thinking about compliance and accessibility but came to know that it is actually about providing inclusivity – a welcome, fun and social connectedness into spaces for all people.

“We put a gap in the seat wall so people in wheelchairs were in the middle of every conversation,” Carolyn says. “We wanted everyone to want to sit down in that garden, when everyone is standing if you’re sitting, it’s awkward.”

Dylan hates overt ‘ugly’ compliance, so there are no obvious bars, or overhanging garden beds. The raised fire pit sits higher to make it easily accessible, allowing someone in a wheelchair to safely attend to the fire; near the fire the paving changes to a gravel skirt. This provides an auditory signal as well as feeling different under foot or wheel. This also assists with safe movement for vision impaired people.

The main aim of the design was to be inclusive.

Above: Dylan Alcott with Carolyn and Jobi Blackman.

As for plants, Dylan wanted Australian natives that varied in textures, colour, movement and fragrance. There are plants with soft, light-coloured foliage, and yellow and orange tones and flowers.

These are often the last colours seen by people with vision impairment.

Some of the plants were grown by the nursery and people at Kevin Heinze Grow (see story on page 52).

They also planted them into the garden, not as volunteers but as paid employees.

A totem tennis set that was included in the design seems misplaced, but it’s there as a nod to the past.

One was given to Dylan as a child and inspired his growth into a world-class tennis player, who is now also a champion of people with diverse abilities.

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ORGANIC LIFE

Forty years ago Kevin Heinze knew gardening could bring people together.

Just over 40 years ago, Kevin Heinze, the long-term presenter of ABC TV show Sow What, postulated the idea that gardening could not only be productive but therapeutic. Kevin understood the need for something in Australia, which was accessible and inclusive, as well as bringing together people with special needs, volunteers and people in the community who loved gardening. Thus, the Kevin Heinze Garden Centre in Doncaster, Melbourne, was established, which over time morphed into the not-for-profit Kevin Heinze Grow (KHG) that is still running today with a second site and a cafe.

Manager of programs and clinical services Brenna McIntyre says KHG has been centred around nature and diversity since the beginning. Although established for children with disability, Brenna adds that over the years, anyone with a need has been part of the fabric of KHG. For the first decade or so the program was almost completely run by passionate volunteers.

KHG has produced a lovely book that documents the journey from the establishment of the centre and nursery in 1979, right though to today where KHG continues to expand with new programs in therapeutic gardening to help more people. These include those with neurological, physical, emotional, intellectual, educational, social and cultural disadvantages.

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KHG now has a second base on the other side of Melbourne at Peppertree Place in Coburg, where they also have a cafe and hospitality program. With the help of grants, fundraising and NDIS Participant’s funding, they continue to build their community and form social enterprises. The nurseries are open to the public and sell a wide range of plants grown by program participants under the supervision of qualified horticulturists and dedicated volunteers.

A quote from the new book beautifully sums up the essence of KHG: “While gardening was the medium used, people were always central to the operation of the Centre. People grew together, built communities, developed friendships and partnerships, learned and shared skills, and made memories.”

And this continues today.

Kevin Heinze Grow: Celebrating forty years of community service, $20 (paperback) and $25 (hardback), available at: kevinheinzegrow.org.au.

Learn more about what’s going on at KHG by following @kevinheinzegrow on Instagram.

PHOTOS: KEVIN HEINZE GROW

THE KEVIN HEINZE AFFECT

Above: The plants grown by the Kevin Heinze Grow program are available for sale at their nurseries.

Left: Everyone is kept busy taking care of the plants.

How the NDIS shines

While we often hear about the cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), we don’t often hear about or see the people who benefit every day from its existence. Sages Cottage Farm and Kevin Heinze Grow are just two of the organisations whose participants benefit from NDIS funding, which gives more flexibility and choice to an increasing number of people with diverse abilities when it comes to choosing what learning opportunities, pathways to employment, and mental health programs they want to take part in. If you live in Victoria, check out the websites and visit. In other states look for their equivalents and visit them too. I love that gardening and the natural environment is helping so many in so many different ways.

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THE CUTTING EDGE Penny Woodward looks at important winter tools for cleaning up gardens and cutting firewood.

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the timber or fibreglass used for the handle and the way the head is attached to the handle (with timber handles, typically timber and steel wedges are used) will determine the cost, safety of use and how long your tool is likely to last.

As usual, it’s about buying the best quality you can afford, and looking for a warranty of at least 10 years but better if it’s a lifetime guarantee. For safety you should always wear solid shoes and long pants when using these cutting tools. With axes and splitters protective glasses are also recommended.

Axes There’s a whole world of axes out there that goes way beyond the “just need to split some timber for firewood”. There are wood chopping competition axes that can be as expensive as $800, while the cheapest home garden ones are about $50. Unless you’re an

PHOTO: ISTOCK

W

inter may be a quieter time for gardeners in many regions but there is still plenty to do and a whole set of tools you’ll need to get things done. Let’s start with cleaning and tidying – clearing weedy areas or tall grasses that have got away during summer, and pruning out dead and dying tree branches. If you have a wood-burning stove or a fireplace, then it’s also time for splitting and cutting firewood.

Quality and safety become even more important when you are using tools that are inherently dangerous, especially if wrongly used or badly made.

Typically, handles on axes and splitters are timber or fiberglass. If they are timber and made overseas, they will probably be white hickory, or ash for smaller tools. If made in Australia, then probably a hardwood like spotted gum. With all of these tools, the quality of the forged steel used to make the head, the quality of

Above: Wood splitter.

Facing page: Heavy axe designed for chopping and splitting.

axe lover (‘heirloom’ axes, which are individually numbered, are available) or have acres of timber to care for, then a lower priced axe should be fine.

Choose the right size and weight. Hold the axe just under the axe head and tip the handle back towards you. It should be the same length as your arm. To check the weight, hold the axe at the end of the handle with your elbow tucked into your body. Lift the axe just using your forearm, if it’s too heavy, choose a lighter axe. Some heavier axes are also designed as splitters.

PHOTOS: TOP: ALAMY/RIGHT: ISTOCK

Splitters I still have a wood fire used at night in winter, burning only wood collected on our property. My go-to tool for splitting bigger logs, is my splitter (of course). The heavy, forged steel head with one angled, pointed edge splits the log along the length of the grain, without cutting deeply into the timber so it is less likely to get stuck. These are also sometimes called mauls. Let the weight of the tool do the work.

Be very careful that your legs are well-braced and feet about 30cm apart and your swing hits home on the stump to avoid serious leg injuries.

Hachets and tomahawks These are really just smaller axes with shorter handles. In the garden they’re mainly used to split kindling, knock small branches from trees or shape timber. They are generally used one-handed while the other hand holds the timber you are chopping. There are camping and timber working types, where the poll (back of the head of the tomahawk ) is designed to bang in things such as pegs, nails and spikes.

Above: Tomahawks can be used for splitting kindling.

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Hand saws The two main hand saws used in gardening are pruning and bow saws. They have slightly different uses. Pruning saws get into tighter spaces and are better for smaller branches and cause less damage to living trees. Good bow saws can cut off or cut up quite big branches. These saws may mean you don’t need to start up an electric or petrol driven chainsaw, especially for one-off or small jobs. Some pruning saws can be folded when not in use and some also have replaceable blades. All bow saws have replaceable blades that mean you can have different toothed blades for dry and green timber, and easily replace them if damaged or blunted.

Machetes, slashers, sickles & hooks

Suppliers Top: Pruning saw in use.

Above: Using a bill hook to coppice a hazel.

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cyclone.com.au fiskars.com.au forestrytools.com.au garden-master.com.au huntgathergrow.com.au spearandjackson.com.au europeantoolsaustralia.com

PHOTOS: TOP: ALAMY/LEFT: GAP

These tools are variously used for cutting down brush, clearing weeds, bush regeneration, cutting back hedges, harvesting crops, such as lavender, and chopping kindling. There are specialised bill hooks for maintaining hedgerows and others for cutting long grass or coppicing trees. Some are the handheld equivalent of the whippersnipper and/or electric hedge trimmers. These are versatile tools made with forged carbon steel heads, with very sharp edges, and usually timber handles. For safety when transporting, they often come with heavyduty sheaths made from rubber or leather.

ORGANIC ACTION

Winter garden health This issue our experts suggest some edible and ornamental plantings, but also how to deal with an array of pests and diseases naturally.

Countrywide

PHOTO:GAP PHOTOS

Penny Woodward

There is more and more research showing the importance of microbes and healthy soil for the survival of our planet.

Good bacteria and fungi, as well as invertebrates, insects, beetles and spiders are some of the essentials. One of the best ways to enrich our soil microbiome is by adding worm castings and compost. If you can’t make these yourself, then look for organic options at your garden centre.

If you have existing vegetable beds, it’s good to aerate them before adding organic matter, fertiliser or planting the next crop. Use a broadfork, aerator or garden fork rather than digging and turning the soil. Push the fork into the soil, move it backwards and forwards and then move about 20cm forward and do it again. This protects the soil profile. If needed, you can use a board to stand on to avoid soil compression.

When planting new plants of any sort into your garden, check if considered a weed in your area. An easy to grow plant in one climate can be a problem weed in another. For the worst offenders go to weeds.org.au/weeds-profiles/, visit the weed profiles at each state agriculture department or check your local council.

ORGANIC ACTION

Above: Birdwing butterfly.

Above right: Cutworms can destroy seedlings and damage young plants.

Right: Lemon balm helps reduce anxiety.

tropical Leonie Shanahan

Attract butterflies: Host plants and nectar plants are needed to attract butterflies to your garden. The hosts provide food for specific caterpillars to feed on before transforming into your favourite butterfly, which then needs nectar for food. Every region has different butterflies. Try a sampling of plants, and butterflies they attract such as: Aristolochia tagala vine (Cairns birdwing), Atalaya variifolia (Wattle Blue or Miskin’s Blue butterfly), Glycosmis trifoliata (Canopus swallowtail butterfly), Micromelum minutum and Melicope rubra (Orchard swallowtail butterfly). Less specifically, Callistemons and Melicope attract butterflies.

Cutworms decimate seedlings at night, literally cutting your seedlings to the ground. When you plant seedlings make 5cm collars for each seedling with toilet rolls, cut off yoghurt containers, pots or milk cartons and push into the soil to create a barrier. Spread either crushed eggshells, coffee grounds or diatomaceous earth (DE) around each collar. Be proactive and go out at night when the caterpillars are active and squash them, also check just below the soil where they might be hiding.

Plant now: Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a perennial that grows 30–60cm high in part-shade, moist well-drained soil or a pot. Use raw, cook or make a cup of tea with the fresh leaves. Helps reduce the effects of anxiety and depression, calms nerves and improves sleep.

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PHOTOS: TOP LEFT & LEFT:ISTOCK/TOP RIGHT: ALAMY

PEST ALERT

Above: Treat mealybugs early.

Left: Edible small-leaf Tamarind fruit.

Mustard greens subtropical Leonie Shanahan

PEST ALERT

Mealybugs are sap sucking insects that can severely affect plants. To control, make sure the plant has good air circulation and ants are controlled. Give the plant a thorough spray of water to knock mealybugs off. Next spray with neem. There are numerous options such as eco-neem by OCP eco-organic garden, or Neem Oil Plant Spray by Plant of Health. You can make your own neem spray by adding some wetting agent (available from hardware stores and garden centres) and ½ teaspoon of neem oil to a 500ml spray bottle of water, and then shake. Spray all parts of the plant. Repeat weekly. For large infestations, a better option would be releasing predator bugs called the ‘ladybird mealybug destroyer’ (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri). Go to goodbugs.org.au for a list of suppliers.

PHOTO: TOP: LEONIE SHANAHAN/TOP RIGHT: ISOCK

Top Tip: Use cuttings from trees such mulberries as tomato support stakes. Take at least 1 metre branch cutting, remove the leaves and side shoots and stake next to the tomatoes. Mulberry cuttings will eventually start to root and can then be transplanted or given to friends.

Plant now: Grow the endangered native small-leaf tamarind (Diploglottis campbellii). An attractive evergreen shade tree, it grows around 7–10m with small cream flowers and spectacular shiny, bright-red fruit, encased in a large capsule that opens when ripe. The flesh around the seed is edible and can be eaten raw. It’s also used for jam, chutneys, drinks, or in dishes such as curries. Great decorative display.

Mustard greens are part of the Br family, with the leaves, flowers an seeds all edible. Seeds will sprout 3–5 days, a modern-day fast food It is also grown as a green manur crop. To save the seed, wait until the yellow flowers have produced pods and the pods are mostly brown and dry. Cut the plant off at ground level, place in a paper bag and hang upside down in a dry, airy space until completely dry. Give the bag a good ‘thrashing’ then pour the seeds onto a fine sieve, removing the chaff and do a final winnow. Store or start a seed exhange in your community and share.

By saving your own seeds you know they have no chemicals on them, producing a higher quality, and more nutritious food when planted or sprouted. They also adapt to your soil and climate. Label with name, variety, place collected and planting information. Viable for 3–5 years.

Leonie Shanahan

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ORGANIC ACTION

Above left: Peach leaf curl.

Above right: Now is a good time to fertilise deciduous fruit trees, such as these young apples.

Below left: Correa reflexa.

arid/semi arid Helen McKerral

Must do: Fertilise deciduous fruit trees now – there may

Disease watch: Peach leaf curl doesn’t appear until spring, after leaves emerge, but the disease has struck much earlier. The spores are ubiquitous, and grow on the tender leaf cells exposed as the buds crack open. Bud crack is before bud burst and is earlier than you think; it varies with cultivar and local climate, but can be as early as July in mild regions. Use copper or lime sulphur spray (available from garden centres) on a dry day so the spray has time to ‘set’ before any potential rain.

Plant now: Correas are fabulous native shrubs.

Ideal for attracting honeyeaters to the garden, they flower from autumn to spring. Many of these plants tolerate part shade or dappled shade, even under eucalypts. A huge range of different species and varieties is available from nurseries and garden centres, or choose ones endemic to your local area. Tip prune regularly during establishment to encourage bushy plants.

64

PHOTOS: ABOVE LEFT: HELEN MCKERRAL/ABOVE RIGHT: ISTOCK/BELOW LEFT: HELEN MCKERRAL.

not appear to be much happening above ground, but many tiny fresh roots begin to grow in late winter, and organic fertilisers often take time to break down and wash into the soil. Try blood and bone or pelletised organic fertilisers such as Activgrow by Rocky Point, Rooster Booster by Neutrog and Dynamic Lifter by Yates.

Tropical Subtropical Arid/semi-Arid Warm Temperate Cold Temperate

WHAT TO PLANT AND SOW NOW Above: Tuscan kale can be planted now.

warm temperate Penny Woodward

Top tip: Frequency of feeding your vegies depends on how good your soil is. If you have lots of organic matter and regularly add compost and/or worm castings then you’ll only need to feed with a complete organic NPK fertiliser a couple of times during spring and summer (the main growing times).

Liquid feeds act more quickly and are particularly good for leafy greens. Pelletised manures and products like blood and bone, break down more slowly, so may only be needed once a year in early spring. Always water before and after feeding.

Plant now: Fast growing leafy brassicas, such as leafy broccoli, collards and kale, can be planted right through winter into early spring. Sow densely and harvest as microgreens, or allow to grow bigger and selectively harvest over many months, until they reach full size.

PHOTO: TOP: ISTOCK/BOTTOM: ALAMY

PEST ALERT

All millipedes, both native and introduced, are detritus feeders that help breakdown leaf litter, returning it to the soil. Mostly they don’t harm plants. However, seasonally, black Portuguese millipedes can breed into huge numbers and invade homes and gardens. In our region the local train is sometimes cancelled because millipedes on tracks affect braking. Collect them by sweeping or vacuuming.

Tip into a plastic bag, freeze, then add to compost.

Right: Portuguese millipedes can swarm in some seasons.

PLANT/SOW

JULY

AUGUST

Artichoke Asian greens Asparagus spears BeanS: French/Climb Beetroot Broad bean Broccoli Cabbage Carrot Celery/celeriac eggplant ENglish Spinach Herbs/Mediterranean Kale Kohlrabi Lettuce mint onion Parsley pea potato pumpkin radish rocket/arugula silverbeet snow pea spring onion Tomato Turnip zucchini/squash Our climate zone map is a simplified version of a Bureau of Meteorology map.

For more detailed climatic information in relation to cities and major towns, go to: bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/climate-classifications/index.jsp

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ORGANIC ACTION

cold temperate Penny Woodward

Plant now: Buy clumping onions such as potato onions and shallots (Allium cepa Aggregatum Group) and tree onions (A. cepa Proliferum Group) from your local nursery or online seller. Plant shallots with the soil halfway up the bulb in well-drained, compost-rich soil in full sun. Potato bulbs and tree onion bulbs and bulbils go just under the soil.

Psyllids are sap suckers many of which weave a waxy, sugary coating called lerps, to protect immature insects. In Australia, psyllid mainly affect eucalypts, mostly don’t do much damage and are a food source for birds like pardalotes. Overseas, psyllids are more problematic, attacking vegetables and fruit trees.

Tomato-potato psyllid has been found in WA and is a reportable pest. To control psyllid, wipe them off or use horticultural oil, neem spray or insecticidal soap.

Pests tip: You can buy beneficial insects to help control pests, such as mealybugs (see ‘Pest Alert’ on page 61). There are generalist insects such as green lacewings and ladybirds that feed on an array of pest insects but also small wasps, mites and pirate bugs that help to control specific aphids, scale, fungus gnats, whitefly, thrips and mites. Only buy and release these beneficials when the pests are in your garden or they will just die. Visit goodbugs.org.au for suppliers as well as general information about these insects.

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Top left: Potato onions and bulbils.

Top right: Psyllid lerps on a eucalypt leaf.

Above: Golden-eyed green lacewing.

PHOTO: TOP LEFT: PENNY WOODWARD/TOP RIGHT: ISTOCK/BOTTOM: ALAMY

PEST ALERT

welcome to

Organic Living

PHOTO: KEIKO WONG

Inside:

Tibetan food

poultry

ethical investment

This is Choeden, the mum of one of the authors of the new book Taste Tibet, featured on page 68.

The food of

Tibet

Taste Tibet by Julie Kleeman and Yeshi Jampa is a new book that highlights the simplicity and nutritious nature of Tibetan food, but also the shifting culinary and cultural landscape of the nation.

FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY BY OLA O. SMIT

J

ulie Kleeman and Yeshi Jampa are on a journey together to bring Tibetan food to a wider audience through their new book, as well as their restaurant in England. Although it is a project near and dear to both their hearts, it is Yeshi, who grew up in eastern Tibet, who is head chef and recipe developer.

Yeshi learned to cook in a tent on the grasslands of a Tibetan plateau. While his other brothers and sisters

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went to school in a nearby village, Yeshi accompanied the nomadic herders in his family and their livestock out on the mountains. The herders slept and ate in a tent made from yak hair, where they cooked up warming soups and stews.

However, a big change came when Yeshi was 19.

He accompanied his younger brother, Yonten, on foot across the Himalayas so Yonten could join their older

ORGANIC HARVEST

PHOTOS: KEIKO WONG

Left: Julie and Yeshi’s first family trip to Tibet.

Top: Yeshi’s village in eastern Tibet.

Right: Yeshi’s mother.

brother, Nyima, at Gaden Shartse, a Buddhist monastery in Mundgod, southern India. But Yeshi enrolled in a charitably-run school in Dharamsala, northern India,where he learned to read and write Tibetan for the first time, as well as basic English.

After four years of school he joined his brothers at the monastery where his brother Nyima was now head chef, overseeing meals for around 5000 monks, three times a day.

It helps that Yeshi and Nyima come from a long line of cooks and even today their family is called on to cater for weddings in their village.

By the time Yeshi and Julie met in Dharamsala in 2009, he had quite a repertoire of dishes at his fingertips; nothing was written down, and he cooked by instinct, using whatever was available.

“For as long as we have been together, Yeshi and I have dreamed about putting Tibet on the food map,” Julie recounts. Tibet, its culture and food have been central to their lives from the start.

“Yeshi was a Tibetan studying in the famous hill town, and I was a tourist tagging a week’s break onto the end of a work trip to India.

“We first bumped into each other on a mountain path when we were both taking pictures of the snow monkeys, and later that evening Yeshi invited me

ORGANIC HARVEST BALEP (TIBETAN FLATBREAD) Balep is very easy and quick to make. It has all the best qualities of yeasted breads – crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside – without using yeast, or even an oven. With just flour, water and a stovetop, you can have fresh, aromatic bread in the space of half an hour. This version includes eggs and milk to make it extra fluffy, but flour and water alone make for a delicious vegan balep.

Enjoy this versatile bread for breakfast with butter or dipped in warm honey, as the Tibetans do, or with soups, stews or stir-fries. I have also found that it tastes great with hummus or peanut butter, does a good job of mopping up salad dressings, and works really well with curries, too. The recipes on the next page will go perfectly with your balep.

Makes 6

back for a meal in the small concrete room he shared with a friend.”

That’s where their food journey began.

“Yeshi had no sink in his house and no kettle.

In one corner of the room was his kitchen, which was made up of just two small gas rings fired by a huge gas cylinder,” Julie remembers.

“Later I learned that you could only swap your empty cylinder for a full one once a week, when deliveries came into the main square at sunrise. It being a hill town, you had to carry your gas cylinder up and down many steps in the middle of the night and queue for hours, waiting for the truck to arrive.”

Not the easiest of circumstances to cook up a meal, let alone one filled with tradition.

“This might sound like an improbable set-up for a gastronomic experience, but that simple meal would come to define my understanding of Tibetan food – the whole point is that it can be cooked up anywhere. The first dish that Yeshi ever made for me was thenthuk, or hand-pulled noodle soup. This smooth, hearty broth banished the November cold from my bones, and its unique flavours had me sold.”

Yeshi and Julie are now married with two children, and living in Oxford, UK. “At [our restaurant] Taste Tibet, we take care to not allow attachment or greed to enter our kitchen,” Julie explains their food philosophy, which is based on Tibetan Bhuddhist tradition.

“We strive to be affordable and inclusive, while sourcing the best ingredients possible.”

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1. Put the flour into a mixing bowl. Break the eggs into the bowl, and mix through the flour using one hand, while you slowly add the milk, followed by 50ml (2½ tablespoons) of warm water. As the dough comes together, knead it well for a few minutes until it forms a nice ball in the bowl, then cover and set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it for 2–3 minutes – just a bit more muscle! – before dividing it into six equal-sized pieces and rolling each one between your palms into a ball.

3. Sprinkle some flour onto your work surface and lightly flatten one of the dough balls with your hand. Use a rolling pin to roll it up and down, turning it over frequently and sprinkling your work surface with a little more flour if needed. Mould the flatbread by shuffling it between your hands – you’re aiming for a circle about 12cm (4½ inches) in diameter and with a thickness of about 1cm (½ inch), perhaps a little thicker in the middle.

4. Put a frying pan over a medium heat – there’s no need for any oil. When the pan is hot, carefully lay in your first flatbread. Let it cook for about 1 minute, or until it bubbles a little and starts to rise, then turn it over and leave to cook for another minute. (If you have a lid for your pan, you can put it on at this point to help the bread to steam and cook through.)

5. Turn down heat to low and continue to cook the bread for a further 2–3 minutes, turning occasionally. When it’s ready, the bread should be flecked with brown spots and will feel springy when you press it with your finger; if your finger leaves an impression, it needs a bit longer.

6. Repeat with the remaining five pieces of dough.

PHOTO: AMANDA KNIGHT

500g (3⅓ cups) self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting 2 eggs 100ml (3½ fl oz) whole milk

HARVEST NOTES

BY PENNY WOODWARD

Chicory

Cichorium intybus Chicory leaves can be plain or deeply indented, red (called radicchio) or green, sweet or bitter. They are also harvested for their roots to make a coffee substitute. Bitter-leafed plants add a new dimension to salads and stir-fries.

While plants with sweeter more lettuceflavoured leaves are used in similar ways. Pick individual, young outer leaves over many months as needed. Or try blanching by cutting back to a stump and then covering with a pot to exclude light, a new head grows with sweet creamy leaves and heads (called chicons) that are eaten raw or cooked like cabbage. Witlof and Belgian chicory work best to produce chicons. My chicory self-sows, so I make sure at least one plant flowers and sets seed.

The beautiful blue daisy-like flowers are also edible.

Taro

Colocasia esculenta Only harvest and eat taro from a plant you know to be edible, one that has been developed to be low in sharp calcium oxalate crystals, rather than ornamental plants which can be very high in these crystals. During the year, leaves and stems of plants are also eaten, but only after cooking. Once foliage starts to die back in winter, the sweet, slightly vanilla flavoured corms will be ready to harvest, although they can also be left in the ground and harvested through to spring.

Dig carefully to avoid damage and prepare for cooking by peeling away the thick brown outer skin. Cut into large pieces and par boil. Discard the water and then use to make chips, mash, roast, or combine with meat in casseroles. Or freeze for later use.

in season

ILLUSTRATIONS: ISTOCK

Vegetables

BROCCOLI BRUSSELS SPROUTS CABBAGE CASSAVA CAULIFLOWER CHICORY CHINESE ARTICHOKES ENDIVE

Fruit

JICAMA KALE KOHLRABI OCA PARSNIP SPINACH SWEET POTATO TARO YACON

APPLE CUMQUAT GRAPEFRUIT KIWIFRUIT LEMON LIME MACADAMIA NUTS MANDARIN ORANGE

Herbs

PAW PAW PECANS PUMMELO QUINCE TANGELO ALEXANDERS ROOTS BORAGE FLOWERS

CHINESE CELERY DANDELION LEAVES GARLIC CHIVES HORSERADISH ROOTS ROSEMARY WINTER SAVORY

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ORGANIC HARVEST TIBETAN MEATBALL SOUP In Tibet, the practice of brides taking several husbands from the same family has been commonplace since ancient times. Yeshi’s mother married two brothers, and Yeshi and his brothers and sisters know them simply as ‘older father’ and ‘younger father’. Officially this system is now forbidden under Chinese law, but in rural areas it remains normal practice. Given the specific challenges of Tibet’s topography, it has advantages: with little arable land available, and much labour needed to tend it, the marriage of a family’s sons to one bride ensures the land stays within the family, and that there are sufficient hands to both work in the fields and guarantee a male presence in the home. The practice also tends to reduce the number of heirs, and hence the number of mouths the land must feed.

Although Yeshi’s younger father is now vegetarian, he used to enjoy meatballs way back when. Yeshi remembers that this dish would be his contribution to weddings and other major events taking place in the village. Weddings typically last two or three days and have up to 400 guests, so you can imagine how many meatballs would be needed!

Serves 4 350g (12 oz) minced (ground) beef, ideally 15–20% fat content 1 free-range egg ½ small red onion, finely chopped 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped ½ teaspoon crushed Sichuan peppercorns (yerma) 1½ teaspoons ground coriander 1 teaspoon salt Plain (all-purpose) white flour, for dusting 125g (4½ oz) baby spinach leaves, washed Coriander (cilantro) leaves, to garnish 1. Place the minced beef in a mixing bowl and crack in the egg. Mix together very well using your hand or a fork, then add the onion, garlic, Sichuan pepper, coriander and ½ teaspoon of salt and mix everything together thoroughly.

2. Sprinkle a little flour onto a chopping board.

Pinch off a 2.5cm (1 inch) piece of the meat mixture and roll it between your palms to make a ball, then roll it through the flour on the board. Don’t douse it in flour – you are aiming for a light coating. Pick

72

up the meatball and roll it between your hands again, then give it another roll in the flour before setting aside. Repeat with the rest of the meat mixture, adding a little more flour to the board as needed. You should end up with about 30 meatballs all told.

3. Measure out 1 litre (4 cups) of boiling water into a large wok and place over a medium heat. When the water returns to the boil, add the meatballs and stir them around gently, adding a little more water if the meatballs are not fully covered. Add the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, turn the heat up as far as it will go and simmer the meatballs for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the final minute of cooking, add the spinach to the soup.

4. Just before you take the wok off the heat, check that the meatballs are cooked by fishing one out and cutting it open: it should be brown all the way through, not pink.

5. Serve the meatball soup in bowls, garnished with coriander.

Serves 4–6 300g (1⅓ cups) mung dal 2 tablespoons cooking oil 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced ½ red onion, thinly sliced 2 tomatoes, diced ½ teaspoon turmeric 2 tablespoons salt ½ teaspoon Bassar curry masala (or hot chilli powder) 70g (1½ cups) baby spinach leaves

YESHI’S DAL Some dals are hugely labour intensive and take an age to make. This one is a Taste Tibet crowd favourite, and it’s incredibly easy to reproduce at home. In India, where Yeshi learned to cook this dish, everybody has their favourite dal, and mung dal is his. It is light, cooks fast and is easy to digest. It also has many health benefits. According to Ayurvedic medicine, it has a calming and grounding effect on both mind and body.

From a Western perspective, it is rich in vitamin C, and if cooked with basmati rice provides a meal that is complete in terms of protein and essential amino acids.

You should be able to find mung dal in any good Indian corner shop or larger supermarket. Just make sure you get yellow split mung beans and not the whole beans – these have a green skin and take a lot longer to cook. If you can’t find mung dal, yellow split peas or even red lentils make a great dal, too. The same instructions apply, but note that the cooking time will be a little longer for yellow split peas.

1. Put the mung dal into a mixing bowl and wash it thoroughly, then drain well.

2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a mediumhigh heat and add the cumin seeds. When they start popping, add the garlic and stir for about a minute, then throw in the onion and cook for a further minute.

Stir in the tomatoes, turmeric, salt and curry masala and keep cooking until the onions and tomatoes have softened, about 3–4 minutes.

3. Now add the dal to the pan, using a little boiling water to rinse out any grains stuck inside the bowl. Stir the dal through the mixture for 3–4 minutes, then pour in 1 litre (4 cups) of boiling water and turn the heat down to medium. Cover and cook for 30–35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. When the dal is cooked, add the baby spinach and stir it through.

5. If you like your dal runny, you might like to add some more boiling water at this point too – about 200ml (7 fl oz) should do it. When the spinach has wilted, ladle the dal into a serving bowl.

Images and text from Taste Tibet

by Julie Kleeman and Yeshi Jampa, food photography by Ola O. Smit (Murdoch Books, $49.99).

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ETHICAL INVESTMENT

A

ILLUSTRATIONS: ISTOCK

force for good Simon Webster looks at how ethical investment has become mainstream and why, and how you can make the switch, whether your bank or super fund.

F

or Emma Drady, cleaning up her money and divesting from fossil fuels was part of a bigger picture.

“As a naturopath, I’m all about holistic wellness,” says the 31-year-old from the NSW Central Coast. “That includes not just what we’re eating, but also what we’re consuming and what we’re participating in.

“Finances was one of the sectors I didn’t have a lot of information on, but I did know that a lot of financial institutions weren’t necessarily aligned with my beliefs. So I started really looking into that a lot more. And that’s when I decided to switch over my superannuation, and to really start looking into how to invest my money in things that were going to make our future better, particularly for the health of people and for the earth.”

In the past couple of years, Emma has switched to an ethical super fund, begun investing in shares through sustainable exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and has begun exploring which banks are the most ethical so she can transfer her everyday and business banking.

She looked for super funds that had values in line with hers – animal rights, health and the

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75

environment are all important to her – and since making the switch to her choice of the ethical funds she researched, she says she’s felt a sense of empowerment.

“It makes me feel like I am putting my money where my mouth is. I speak a lot about holistic wellbeing and looking after our planet. And I think this was the missing piece for me. Being one of the little guys, and still wanting to make a difference for our planet, this is something that’s really accessible and easy to do.

“This is something that everyone can do. It can be really empowering to feel like you’re actually making a difference.”

Growing awareness

Emma isn’t alone in wanting to make her money a force for good. Negative experiences such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the destruction of Indigenous cultural heritage and extreme weather events have fuelled a new awareness about responsible and ethical investing, says the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA).

The proportion of Australians with responsible investments has gone up 28 per cent since 2020, to 17 per cent, mostly driven by Gen Xers and Millennials, according to the RIAA report, From

76

Values to Riches 2022: Charting consumer demand for responsible investing in Australia.

A further 46 per cent of people are considering investing in responsible investment products within the next five years, and knowledge about responsible investing has become the number one expectation Australians have of their financial advisers, the report says.

Maria Loyez, chief customer officer with Australian Ethical, an ethical super and managed fund provider, says there’s been an explosion of interest in ethical investing in the past two or three years.

She’s excited that it’s gone from being a niche investment strategy to a mass market one.

“It means that we are starting to see channelling of that capital into areas that have more positive impact,” Loyez says.

“I think the bushfires really made people sit up and think about what was going on and what they could do. Personally, I think everyone felt a little bit powerless ...

“And I think that we’ve started to bust the myth that ethical investing or responsible investing has lower returns, that it’s about giving money away, because we’ve been seeing that the risk-adjusted returns have actually been leading in the market. All of those things have contributed to that meteoric rise.”

ETHICAL INVESTMENT

Why change?

It’s easy to stick with what we know: the same bank, the same super fund. And it’s easy to feel powerless. But your money makes a difference to how the world works.

Since 2016 Australia’s big four banks have loaned $44.4 billion to fossil fuel companies, says Market Forces, an environmental advocacy project aligned with Friends of the Earth Australia. That money came from you and me: deposits by Australian households and businesses account for more than half of Australian banks’ total funding, the Reserve Bank says.

And Australians have a staggering $3.4 trillion in super funds, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. Where is that money invested? While the details remain largely a mystery pending the introduction this year of new laws requiring super funds to divulge more about their investments, it’s fair to say that substantial amounts are invested in what many people might consider unethical industries.

Despite leading super funds making pledges of support for the Paris Agreement (international climate change treaty) and promises to reach net zero, progress has been slow: 26 of Australia’s top 40 funds have failed to publicly disclose any fundwide divestment or exclusion of coal, oil or gas companies, Market Forces says. Also, World Animal Protection reports that 90 per cent of major super funds don’t have a public position on animal welfare, meaning your retirement savings could be invested in factory farming, cosmetics testing or live animal exports.

ILLUSTRATIONS: ISTOCK

So what makes an investment ethical?

What’s ethical to one person may be immoral to another. People have widely varying views on issues such as abortion, tobacco, mining, live animal exports, pornography and gambling. So it’s important to think about your own ethics before searching for products that match them.

It also helps to understand the difference between two commonly used terms: ethical investing and responsible investing. The latter is an umbrella term covering a broad range of approaches. It might be as simple as a fund manager including ESG (environmental, social and governance) risk factors in their investment decisions. This might not necessarily lead to what many investors consider ethical outcomes, says Tim Fitzpatrick, a financial adviser with Ethical Investment Services.

“An example could be an ESG fund that still manages to invest in coal or tobacco, as long as the investment meets the fund’s ESG criteria,” he says.

Ethical investment tends to go further, with funds or banks screening the companies they invest

How do I make my money

a force for good?

The three easiest ways to make an impact with your money, according to the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA)

1

Switch your super

The actual change can take less than five minutes. You can either switch to a responsible or ethical investment option within your current fund, or, if that doesn’t suit your needs, switch to another super fund altogether. However, it is important to do some research and make sure the new fund’s performance matches your financial expectations.

2

Find out how your bank invests your money

Ask your bank who it lends money to. Fossil fuel projects? Companies involved in animal cruelty?

If you’re not happy with the answers, switch to another bank.

3

Build your own investment portfolio

Options include buying shares in individual companies on the stock exchange, investing in sustainable managed funds, or in exchangetraded funds (ETFs). ETFs are like managed funds but are traded on the stockmarket just like shares, and quite a few ETFs with sustainability focuses have been established in recent years.

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in based on ethical criteria. They can screen negatively, by ruling out mining companies, for example. Or they can screen positively, by, say, choosing renewable energy investments.

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Three ways to make your money a force for good are to ensure your super, your bank, and any shares you own, are investing or invested in line with your values (see ‘How do I make my money a force for good?’ on the previous page) If you already hold shares in a business whose ethics concern you, rather than selling them, you could always try some shareholder activism.

“There’s been more awareness around the power of corporate engagement and shareholder activism,” Fitzpatrick says.

“This involves utilising shareholder power to influence corporate behaviour through direct engagement with boards or through shareholder actions, voting in support of ESG-related resolutions, calling extraordinary general meetings and voting on board nominations.”

But even if all you do is switch your super, it’s important to realise that actions like these can make a difference, Loyez says.

“I don’t think people realise the power that they’ve got with their money,” she says. “I think a lot of people are feeling quite helpless at the moment, in terms of politics and wanting to see more difference, particularly with climate change, and not seeing the government step up.

“But they’ve got a really important and impactful lever with their money. Because if you invest in companies that you want to see supported, and you don’t invest in the companies that you think are not doing so good in the world, you’ll start to change their cost of capital, and you’ll also signal to them, to the market ... and to governments.”

Find out more To help with your research, try resources such as: • marketforces.org.au Includes comparison tables, showing which banks and super funds are invested in fossil fuels.

• responsiblereturns.com.au The RIAA’s consumer website helps you find responsible or ethical banking, superannuation and investment products that match your values.

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andarins, oranges, lemons and limes: a few of the many citrus fruits that are a treat to eat, especially when grown in your own garden. Not only do the fruits taste good, but the trees themselves add colour and fragrance to a garden. They can grow in containers, especially when purchased as a dwarf citrus, which are grafted onto stock that means they stay small but still provide the fruit you want.

By entering this competiton from Citrus Men, you have the chance to win either a dwarf Tahitian lime or Meyer lemon dwarf citrus. All your tree will need is the right amount of nutrients, water and care for its environment and you can then watch it grow.

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how to enter Simply answer in 30 words or less:

THE PRIZE PACK INCLUDES: PIPSQUEAK – a dwarf citrus tree grafted onto Flying dragon rootstock which restricts the tree size but gives full-size fruit. Pipsqueak trees reach a mature height of 1.5m to 2m, so grow well in pots, containers or in smaller garden spaces.

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What is your favourite citrus and why?

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This is a game of skill. To be eligible to win you must answer ‘What is your favourite citrus and why?’ in 30 words or less. Five (5) winners will receive a citrus prize pack from Citrus Men to the value of $90.95 each. Winners can choose either a Tahitian Lime or Meyer Lemon tree. Total prize pool is $454.75 (incl. GST). Entries will be judged by the ABC Organic Gardener editorial team on 17/08/22. Full T&Cs are available at organicgardener.com.au/general-terms-and-conditions.

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79

ORGANIC POULTRY From left to right: My Hamburgh, Spangles, Lulu the Langshan and Spare Spangles, another Hamburgh.

Buffy the Silkie is hiding at the back.

M E A GAME N E H T Calling your chook Meryl Cheep, or Yolko Ono might be going too far for some, but there is plenty of fun and nostalgia to be had when naming your chooks, writes Jessamy Miller.

80

“My current girls are Lizzie and Jane (Pride and Prejudice), Anne (of Green Gables) and Galadriel (Lord of the Rings).”

Personally I like names ending in ‘y’ that roll off my tongue well, especially when I find the fowls pecking at my new seedlings: “Dolly, get out of there now!”

The fam-bam

Old-fashioned names suit chooks particularly well.

Emma Weller from Yarragon South, Victoria, is an archivist, and fond of vintage appellations.

“I started naming the girls after my great-aunts, Gloria, Bertha and Lorna,” Emma says.

“If you have done the family tree, it’s fun to memorialise ancestors in the poultry flock. I ran out of relatives eventually and just went with a nana vibe. Don’t get too carried away with syllables though, or make sure there’s a handy nickname.

You don’t want to be taking all day to call the chooks home.”

Gender bending is more than acceptable so do think outside the binary; the girls really won’t care if you call them Henry or Hilda.

PHOTOS: JESSAMY MILLER

T

here’s one minor warning I’d give when it comes to naming your chooks – think of the neighbours! It can be embarrassing calling out to your chooks at the top of your voice if you’ve given them particularly silly names.

Having said that, naming your chooks can be a lot of fun and create lasting amusement.

A good name suits their nature, vibes with the rest of the flock, and reflects your approach to life, be that artistic, practical or humorous (or all of these options!).

I have kept so many chooks, coming up with new names is challenging, so I consulted my chookkeeping friends for advice.

Fiona Scott-Norman, from Footscray, Victoria, is the author of This Chicken Life. “This is a big decision,” she says. “I wait for their personalities to emerge before deciding on a name. If you choose too early, and based on a physical trait, it might not suit later.”

In contrast, our horticultural editor Penny Woodward goes for the literary touch and hopes her chooks grow into their characters.

“I always name my chooks after book characters,” Penny says.

Chooks galore!

We’d love to see a photo of your chooks along with their names. Send them in and we’ll send out a book to the winner! To enter the competition go to the ‘Win’ section of our website at: organicgardener.com.au.

A pair of Lavender Araucanas called Ultra and Violet.

Left: My neighbour Clare and Pooper.

Nom nom nom

If you are prepared to admit the connection between those cute chooks in the backyard and the tasty roast dinner inside, you could go with a foodie name, such as Chicken Nugget, Ayam Goreng or Burrito. The more specific the name, the higher chance your kids will turn vegan.

Fiona Scott-Norman named her Rosecomb bantams Fatty and Salty. She swears these are reflective of their personalities, not their finger-licking goodness.

“I went with Fatty as this one is the most food oriented of the girls. As for Salty, she is top chook and has a lot of opinions.”

Purebred benefits

When you keep purebreds, you open up a world of opportunity; avian alliteration.

“I have Annie Ancona, Susie Sussex and Fifi Faverolles,” says breeder Margaret White from Newcastle, NSW. “I like a theme, it helps me keep track. I’ll often reflect the breed’s heritage by choosing names from its country of origin; my Dutch Bantams are Lotte and Heidi, while my White Faced Spanish hens answer to Lucia and Sofia.”

Too punny

Chooks are funny creatures, so consider a pun name.

You could go political with Margaret Hatcher, scientific with Albert Eggstein, or rock and roll with Yolko Ono

and Chick Jagger. The chook that chases the kids is probably an Attila the Hen or Tyrannosaurus Pecks, while your backyard celebs might be Hennifer Annison, Meryl Cheep or Russell Crow. Shall I just stop now?

The descriptive

Call me basic, but I can’t tell you how many chooks I’ve had named Fluffy, Buffy, Spotty, Dotty or Ginger.

A descriptive name nails it every time. Clare Luehman is a CFO and my neighbour in Northcote, Victoria.

She keeps a flock of four hybrids in her suburban backyard. “I might have gone too far calling this one Pooper,” she says. “But really, it is what she does all day. Like droppings on the deck, the name just stuck.”

Pairs

The real challenge is naming multiples: when you buy birds together, and they are similar looking, they all suit the same name. I’ve had Spangles the Hamburgh and her sister Spare Spangles, while my two Langshans are Lulu and Other Lulu.

Therese Grinter runs an upcycling business, Chooktopia, and named her current twosome Sars and Parilla. “My Lavender Araucanas were Ultra and Violet.

Fun names are always good for chickens, otherwise the kids choose something cute like Fern and Acorn.”

Maybe that’s how to lift my game; pass the job off to my kids!

Turn the page for more chook stories.

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CHOOK LOVERS

The beach chicks

W

hile many people keep chickens simply for eggs, they also make entertaining and intelligent companions. Chooks aren’t as bird brained as you may think! Take Elaine Janes’ chickens as an example: she has taught them to swim, skate, surf and go out for a babycino.

Elaine lives in Ocean Grove, Victoria, by the Southern Ocean. Now in her mid-seventies, she loves a challenge and keeps active though weightlifting, ballet, creative writing, and training her talented chickens.

Elaine has a mixed flock of fowls in her backyard, including three roosters who are good friends. She accepts rescue chooks, and sometimes they arrive with bad habits. Elaine could see that her Frizzle rooster

82

Squiggles (Squigs for short) was intelligent and felt his naughtiness was because he was not being stimulated.

“I decided to harness his energy and teach him to skateboard,” she says.

“I did this very gradually. I removed all distractions from the environment then placed him on the skateboard for no more than five minutes each day.

Once he was used to this, I let him practise skating down the sloping driveway.

“I now take him to the skatepark and he loves the speed. He has a cheer squad of kids, who enjoy skating with him and give him a go on their boards.

Afterwards he gets grapes as a reward. I throw them and he has learnt to catch them.”

PHOTOS: ELAINE JANES.

Jessamy Miller discovers a chook lover who takes her girls to the park, beach and cafe, and has even taught a rooster to ride a skateboard!

ORGANIC POULTRY

Far left: Watching the surf.

Left: Elaine’s chooks patiently wait while she has her morning coffee.

Below: So much exploring to do!

Bottom: Elaine’s Frizzle, Squiggles, has learned how to skateboard.

A trip to the park is a regular outing for Elaine’s chooks. She reckons this benefits their mental health, and will take a couple round the park in her arms.

“I encourage people to introduce their dogs, they take one look at the chook’s beady eyes and get scared.

Chook stare is powerful.”

A highlight of Elaine’s morning is a café latte at the local cafe, with the chooks of course. The fowls sit quietly on the bench seat while Elaine has a coffee and reads the newspaper. Her Plymouth Rock hen quite fancies a bubbacino.

“I’m well known in there, everyone loves to see the chickens.”

Astonishingly, Elaine discovered her Plymouth Rock hen (Mrs Chook) likes to swim in the ocean.

“I take them down to the beach often, and they sit and watch the surf. However, Mrs Chook was keen to go down and play in the waves.

“Under close supervision, I let her enjoy herself in the water, she likes the motion. She has a swim regularly; none of the other chooks are interested or have sleek enough feathers. A local surfer gave her a ride on his board and she thought that was pretty good, too.”

Elaine lets herself be guided by the interests of each of the chooks, doesn’t overdo it, and is careful of their welfare. Chickens don’t usually take to the water and can get chilled.

“When we get out I wrap her in a towel like a baby and you can see the pure contentment on her face. She dries out quickly in the warm car.”

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While Elaine has fun with her chooks, most of the time they live a conventional life in an attractive fox-proof henhouse under a tree in a corner of the yard. They are fed mixed grains, get plenty of shell grit, and she grows silverbeet for them. “l love to cook, and since I live alone, I’ll cook dinner for all of us sometimes. They like scrambled eggs and occasionally I give them the cooked soup bones to pick at. Then the fight is on!”

Elaine loves her chooks’ individual personalities and the companionship they provide. Close observation of what sparks their interest has allowed her to build on this to develop their special skills.

Perhaps given the chance our own backyard birds might be capable of so much more.

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Top: Elaine (left) and Squigs enjoy catching up with friends.

Above: Once they’ve been out on an adventure, the chooks head home to their spacious run.

PHOTOS: ELAINE JANES.

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Eat Weeds Diego Bonetto THAMES & HUDSON, 2022, $49.99

This field guide to foraging is an excellent addition to Australian writing on this topic. With delicious photography by Hellene Algie and terrific design, Diego Bonetto tells us his story from foraging as a child on his family’s dairy farm in northern Italy, to migration to Australia and a realisation of the untapped resources available here. Telling the story of wild plants is his passion, and this shines through. He devotes chapters to the backyard, streets and parklands, the sea, river, and forest. He not only looks at identification and safety, but also sustainability and taking only what you need.

There are also fabulous recipes from dandelion and macadamia pesto to warrigal flatbread, and careful explanations of medicinal uses. There’s a depth of knowledge that’s reassuring, but also a lyricism and affinity to plants and the planet that’s heartwarming.

Of Friends & Gardens Carolyn Landon HARDIE GRANT, 2022, $50

As gardeners we love to be in our own backyards but we also love to garden with friends. This book is all about the friends and activists who gathered more than 30 years ago to help buy and maintain the land that became the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne in Victoria. The official Friends Group that formed in 1991 continued to support the ongoing maintenance of the land with natural wetlands, woodlands and heathlands and then the next step – the creation of the marvelous contemporary botanic gardens full of Australian native plants from all over Australia. This award-winning garden has now been visited by hundreds of thousands of people.

Carolyn Landon tells the story of these gardens though the experiences, thoughts and eyes of the Friends who have worked, travelled, talked, shared, protected, supported and conserved for decades.

Drop Bear Evelyn Araluen UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND PRESS, 2021, $24.99

Confronting, funny, searingly honest – this book of poetry and essays by descendant of the Bundjalung Nation, Evelyn Araluen, has just won the 2022 Stella Prize (a literary award for Australian women). One of the judges describes her as both acerbic and witty, while revelling in difficult questions.

Another says that hers “is a dynamic voice that demands to be heard”. It’s a small book but it took me days to read (and re-read) each poem, and to contemplate. Confronting colonialism intertwined with her personal story, Araluen talks of learning her own language and dealing with discrimination on a path from the entangled present to a decolonial future. For her children she says to “look at this earth we cauterised/the healing we took with flame/ I will show them a place/they will never have to leave”.

Vintage Knits National Library of Australia NLA PUBLISHING, 2022, $39.99

With a resurgence in knitting and a move towards using more natural and recyclable fibres, this is a timely book from our national library. As well as the 25 patterns for women, men and children, there are also sections that tell us more about the history of knitting, our different wools, the sheep that grow them and much more. We traverse time from the first woollen mill in 1801, to yarn bombing and Knit in Public Day in June each year.

With much more in between.

The patterns come from books, magazines and newspapers from the 1930s–1950s and are adapted and tested so they’ll work for modern knitters.

And it’s not just a book for women. These days you’ll see knitters of both sexes on trains, in theatres, at the footy and of course at home watching tellie.

Scan this QR code to buy these books and other OG selections.

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89

LOSING THE PLOT

The whole ‘lifespan’ thing N

“

ow, can you tell which ones are the broccoli?” my friend asks, with the air of a kindly Victorian schoolmaster giving a chimney sweep his first lesson in Latin.

“Can I tell!” I snort.

Really. After all these years with my hands in the dirt…

I squint as I lean in for a closer look at what, to the untrained eye, would appear to be three plastic six-packs of identical seedlings.

But the untrained eye wouldn’t see what I see. It wouldn’t note the somewhat more oval shape of the leaves in the punnet furthest to the left; the miniscule, but telltale, slightly more jagged serrations; and the way the morning light brings out an infinitesimally deeper green.

“This one!” I announce, in what I hope is an “Elementary, my dear Watson” sort of tone. “And it would be the Italian heirloom variety, broccoli ‘De Cicco’, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Not quite,” he says. “That one’s red cabbage.

Look at the red stem!”

The stem, the stem. I always forget to look at the stem.

“Try again,” he says. “And this time, read the label.”

Of course. The old label-your-seedling-tray trick.

Should have known he’d be organised enough for that.

“They’re ready for transplanting,” he says. “Are you sure you’ve got a bed free?”

He’s looking at me with one raised eyebrow. And he’s still hanging on to one end of the punnets. I’ve got hold of the other.

“Just got to do a bit of soil prep, first,” I say. “Won’t take me any time at all.”

90

We eyeball each other. Time stands still. You can hear birds shuffle on their branches; lizards skitter over leaves; worms burrow through the earth. Then, with a reluctant grunt, he lets go.

I don’t mind saying, I’m a little bit offended by his reluctance. Doesn’t he know how long I’ve been gardening? How many punnets of seedlings do you reckon have passed through my hands over the years?

Enough to feed an army.

Admittedly, not all that many have made it to the actual harvesting stage of the whole plant lifespan thing, but there have been circumstances beyond my control.

There have been insects and diseases, rabbits and chickens, floods and droughts. You’d have to be Penny bloomin’ Woodward to grow anything decent in conditions like these.

At home, I look at my three raised beds, each of them overflowing with polycultural fecundity.

Do I really have room for all these brassicas?

Yes, I do. Just as soon as I get rid of the nettles, the thistles, the wandering jew, the farmer’s friends, the nutgrass and, ooh, is that rocket?

Come on, I say to myself. You can do it. You’ve got the tools, you’ve got the time, you’ve got the motivation.

But it’s starting to rain. Probably best if I just put the seedlings in the laundry for now. I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry: I’ll put them next to the sink, so I remember to water them. They’ll get some light from the window there.

And it’s not forever. A day or two at the most. The weather’s bound to clear up soon.

ILLUSTRATION: BRENNA QUINLAN

Simon Webster has dealt with enough punnets of seedlings over the years to feed an army. But can he feed his family?

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