My ‘spring’ seed saving season has started early, I saved some Stinking Roger seed today.

When you have four cultivars of bananas, a tropical crop, flowering in your sub-tropical garden in winter, you ‘get’ what the CSIRO means when they confirm that Global Warming is proceeding as predicted, only it’s happening twenty years sooner than expected.

Nature responds to chemistry and physics, so that’s why the FACE Project is conducting forty one simultaneous experiments into the effect the atmosphere of 2070 will have on Australian woodland and the ecology of native soil. I wonder what they will discover, and what the implications for growers will be…

The wet autumn and brief, damp, mild winter have generated a thick, grassy fuel load in the bush. Queensland’s citrus harvest was excellent, my plants still have some more lemons, kaffir lime and Tahitian and Australian limes to pick.  My Tahitian lime has provided me with four months of fruit, from April to date. Today I picked 3.25kg, the individual fruit weigh between 140g and 180g and the average weight is 150g. It’s in bud again, as is my ‘Ellendale’ mandarin.

I enjoyed not having to worry about plants drying out this winter, but things are fast drying out. Last weekend I spoke at ‘What’s Cooking in the Gardens?”, a public food and gardening event held at Redcliffe Botanical Garden. I made my audience nasturtium and swinecress pesto (these crops are in peak condition) with pecans. It went down, well, there was just enough left to try for dinner!

My mushrooms and pea seedlings now need daily checks for watering, and the garlic chives have had their first aphid attack. I topped up the saucers my nardoo and pitcher plants stand in. Today’s forecast was 29C, the warmest day in four years, so instead of spot watering, I gave my all my vegetables, and the hedge out front, a drink.

Edible roots

Aerial potato, Dioscorea batatas
Arrowroot, Canna edulis
Carrot ‘Paris Market’
Carrot, ‘Lunar White’
Cassava, Manihot esculenta
Cassava, Manihot esculenta ‘Variegata’
Cocoyam, Xanthosoma saggitifolia
Eschallot, Allium cepa var. aggregatum
Radish, Palestinian, Raphanus sativus
Sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas ‘Marguerite’
Yam, Winged, Dioscorea alata

Edible leaves

Basil, sacred, Ocimum tenuiflorum
Cassava, Manihot esculenta
Cassava, Manihot esculenta ‘Variegata’
Celery stem taro, aka Tahitian spinach, Alocasia esculenta
Chaplu, Piper sarmentosum
Chervil, Anthriscus cerefolium

Chickweed, Stellaria media
Chinese cabbage, Brassica rapa var. pekinensis ‘Tokyo Bekana’
Chinese celery, aka smallage, Apium graveolens
Chives, Allium schoenoprasum
Curry leaf, Murraya koenigii
Curry leaf bush, Helichrysum italicum
Garlic chives, Allium tuberosum
Good King Henry, aka Lincolnshire spinach, Chenopodium bonus-henricus
Heart leaf ice-plant, Aptenia cordifolia
Japanese parsley, Cryptotaenia japonica
Kaffir lime, Citrus hystrix
Kangkong, Ipomoea aquatica
Lebanese cress, Aethionema coridifolium
Leek, Multiplier, Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum
Lemongrass, Cymbopogon citratus
Lemongrass, Native, Cymbopogon flexuosus
Lettuce, Lactuca sativa ‘First Fleet’
Lettuce, Lactuca sativa ‘Purple Royal Oakleaf’
Lovage, Levisticum officinale
Love-lies-bleeding, Amaranthus caudatus
Mint, native, Mentha satureoides
Mint, Moroccan, Mentha spicata
Mizuna, Red, Brassica juncea var. japonica
Mustard, Red, Brassica juncea
Parsley, Petroselenium crispum ‘Italian flat-leaved’
Phillip Island hibiscus, Hibiscus insularis
Radicchio, Cichorium intybus
Society garlic, Tulbaghia violacea ‘Variegata’
Society garlic, Tulbaghia violacea ‘Fairy Stars’
Stinking Roger, Tagetes minuta
Sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas ‘Ace of Spades’
Sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas ‘Marguerite’
Swinecress, Lepidium didymum
Turmeric, Curcuma longa
Variegated four seasons herb, Plectranthus amboinicus ‘Variegatus’
Vietnamese mint, Persicaria odorata
Welsh onion, aka spring onion, scallion, Allium fistulosum
Perennial Welsh onion, aka perennial spring onion, scallion, Allium fistulosum
Warrigal greens, Tetragonia tetragonioides
Water hyssop, Bacopa caroliniana

Edible petals
Begonia x semperflorens
Pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan

Edible pods
Winged bean, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus

Edible seed
Chilean wine palm, Jubaea chilensis
Pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan

Fruit
Chilli, Capsicum annuum ‘Portuguese Peri Peri’
Chilli, Capsicum annuum ‘Siam Gold’
Chilli, Capsicum annuum ‘Red Cayenne’
Kaffir lime, Citrus hystrix
Lemon, Citrus limon ‘Meyer’
Lime, Australian, Citrus x latifolia
Lime, Tahitian, Citrus x latifolia
Mouse melon, Melothria scabra
Strawberry, ‘Red Gauntlet’

Medicinal / Spices
Aloe vera – leaf juice used to heal sunburn, scratches
Bulbine frutescens – leaf juice used to treat burns, rashes, as an infusion for sore throats
Cinnamon, Cinnamomum verum
Cardamom, False, Alpinia nutans
Galangal, Alpinia galangal – spice used like ginger with similar properties
Ginger, Zingiber official – spice that helps decongestion of catarrh, aids digestion, blood flow
Greater celandine, Chelidonium majus – stem juice kills warts on hands
Krachai (root), Boesenbergia rotunda
Phillip Island hibiscus, Hibiscus insularis – used as a tea to soothe sore throats
Rosemary, dwarf, Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Benenden Blue’
Rosemary, fastigiate, Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Miss Jessopp’
Turmeric, Curcuma longa – spice with anti-cancer properties
75 taxa

On 4th August I made swinecress & nasturtium pesto for my audience at ‘What’s Cooking in the Gardens?

Rondeletia amoena usually flowers in August. This year it bloomed in July

Last week this ‘Ladyfinger’ banana started flowering

Today a new flower starts developing on a ‘Java Blue’ banana

winter fruit developing on ‘Java Blue’ banana

‘Dwarf Ducasse’ banana flowers

Today I picked 2.25kg of white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)

Jerry Coleby-Williams

12^th August 2013