Brisbane‘s subtropical winter comes to a happy, floriferous end in mid-August. Today there’s around a hundred different plants flowering, two weeks before Australia’s official first day of spring.
Tag Archives: Garden
Scrub Turkey Trouble
Question
Hi Jerry,
I have just moved to Byron Bay and have a bush turkey problem. Do you have any clues as to what I should do to get my veggie garden going?
Me and my veggie-head friend in Sydney love your work,
Vicki Continue Reading →
Marigold Magic
Question
I love the smell of Stinking Roger, but my neighbour says it’s a weed to get rid of. Please do tell me what use I can make of it.
Kelly, Facebook
In Production Today – June 2012
There’s just 112 different types of edible available right now, less than in late winter, since many crops sown are still juvenile.
Winter in Brisbane is perfect for mushroom growing on the cheap. In cool conditions, mushroom fly (Lycoriella sp.) ceases egg laying, so its maggots don’t riddle mushrooms with holes.
Windfall Kaffir Lime Marmalade
The hardest part of making jam is waiting for it to cool, fending off beasts so you can try some out yourself…
Today the fun has been making good use of the kaffir lime windfall, fruit that dropped in the cold snap (9C last night). This also gave me an opportunity to justify warming the kitchen and to try my first pickings of Australian sweet lime. More mild than genuinely sweet, I thought they’d make a pleasant contrast with richly-flavoured kaffir lime.
Small, Sweet Cucumbers – Almost Without Effort
I enjoy trialling new crops, and this season one of the most outstanding plants at ‘Bellis’ has been the West Indian gherkin, Cucumis anguria.
This trial had a shaky start, with only one seed germinating from the packet I bought from Eden seeds. I gave it well composted, freely draining soil in a raised bed in a sunny position. Sown on 24th October, I planted my seedling in December.
So You Want To Create A Community Garden?
A gardening friend is getting ready to breathe life into a neglected communal food garden, so I’ve sent him these notes I prepared for Gardening Australia.
In 2007 – 2008, there was a spike in oil prices. Since the bulk of food is produced using petrol-dependant technology (oil-based fertilisers and pesticides, petrol powered irrigation, harvesting, packing and transportation, etc) this price spike caused the cost of food to rise significantly. Suddenly the media discussed ‘food inflation’. Many conventional farmers started looking at fuel efficiency: ceasing the use of expensive oil-based products and oil consuming tasks.
In Production Today – December 2011
I think I have found an alternative to parsnip for the subtropics.
Yesterday I had fun cooking my first Hamburg parsley roots (Petroselenium crispum var. tuberosum). I haven’t grown this herb/ vegetable since I was fifteen and gardening in London. Hamburg parsley is a cool climate crop that, historically, was displaced in favour of the orange-coloured carrots being bred in Europe.
I’m pleasantly surprised that it grows so well in the subtropics. Ironically Hamburg parsley is sown in May and harvested from November in London (where it’s now winter) and Brisbane (summer). The big difference is that in Brisbane Hamburg parsley can’t be stored in the ground – its roots rot in hot, damp soil.Where Can I Get A Greengage Fruit Tree, And How Do I Grow Them?
Greengage, Prunus domestica ssp. italica ‘Reine Claude de Bavay’ & ‘McLaughlin’
Question
I recently visited France and was lucky enough to eat a Greengage, it tasted amazing. I already grow one and I think it is a ‘Doree’ cultivar. Can you suggest where I might buy the cultivar ‘Reine Claude de Bavay’, also known in Australia as ‘old greengage’?
It was a wonderful fruit, I ate it in a number of French desserts. In Australia these desserts would have been served with strawberry or raspberry, but there it was greengages and they took pride of place.
New Native Bee Visits ‘Bellis’
I first observed this small native bee working my coriander flowers last week. Clearly it is different from the nine other bees found at ‘Bellis’, helping to pollinate crops.
