Like plants and animals? Like to leave your mark on the map? In a country as biodiverse and as poorly understood as Australia, you could find yourself at the cutting edge of science.
Well prepared soil is the secret to raising good crops and flowers from seed.
Thirty four years ago, I graduated at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Most of the seed sold in Australia is imported, harvested from plants farmed overseas.
Organic gardening isn’t conventional gardening, so why not enjoy some unconventional pest control?
Question Hi Jerry, I have just moved to Byron Bay and have a Scrub Turkey (aka Australian Bush Turkey) problem. Do you have any clues as to what I should do to get… Continue reading
Join Kew-trained horticulturalist, conservationist and media personality Jerry Coleby-Williams and his hubby Lieutenant Thuan Tran, Vietnamese market gardener, on a small group tour of Vietnam to discover its horticultural and culinary delights, from 26 July 2019 to 14 August 2019.
If you’re watering plants with grey water, the type of detergent you use really makes a difference to both their health and the health of the soil.
How do you approach tree planting? “All life on Earth is now experimental. Thanks to a lack of Australian climate leadership, we grow crops and plant gardens in uncharted climate territory. If this is the future of gardening, then we must embrace experimental tree planting for shade, food, fodder and biodiversity”. Jerry Coleby-Williams, Founder of Bellis, Brisbane’s award-winning, affordable sustainable house and garden; Director, Seed Saver’s Network; Patron, National Toxics Network; Patron, Householder’s Options for Protecting the Environment, 2nd February 2019.
When cooking in a hot kitchen doesn’t appeal, there’s a flavour-filled alternative: king’s salad – Vietnamese style. Popular in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Whatever you decide, the complex, zesty flavour of king’s salad is delightful on its own. Use it for breakfast, lunch or dinner…
“Salsa verde, chilled and freshly made from home grown tomatillos (Physalis philadelphica), is great on a hot day. An excuse for not cooking on (another) one of those sticky subtropical summer days”.
“I planted Aloe vera so I can use its juice to soothe sunburn. It grows effortlessly in my nature strip. People also use it to relieve the itching caused by eczema. I also enjoy cooked Aloe vera as a dessert.”
Question: A Brisbane landscape supplier sold me soil for my raised vegetable beds. All my vegetables keep failing. I did a soil pH Test and the result was pH 9. Is there any hope I’ll be able to grow spring crops successfully?
“How did they keep lawns trim in the days before lawnmowers? asks The Guardian newspaper. Animals and scythes were originally used to maintain closely cut turf…and Australia has an indigenous answer”.
Thuan’s market garden: 1,500 sq m of alluvial, sandy loam in a flood plain of the Perfume River catchment, Hue, Vietnam. Fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, flowers, poultry – and incense – in a prolifically productive, wet, inland subtropical climate.
I’ve signed a petition to the Federal Minister for Agriculture and Water because Australia is a party to the UN’s International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. I oppose government… Continue reading
Bellis Open Day, Brisbane, 12-13th May 2018. See and experience just how much can be achieved on an ordinary suburban block and find out how you can do it too. Over 500 different climate-appropriate plants grow at Bellis for food and medicine, to support biodiversity and including climate change-ready ornamentals. There will be plants and books for sale.
Caffeine is a biochemical with the purpose of affecting the germination, growth, survival, and reproduction of other competing plants. Do not add coffee grounds to worm farms.
