A taste of summer from Bellis, a sustainable house and garden in drought-affected subtropical Brisbane: 108 edibles available for my kitchen.
Category: Native Bees
Sow Pigeon Peas For Native Bees
If you want protein-rich pigeon peas by the bucketful, grow them in drought. And plant pigeon peas for food, shade, shelter, forage and bees. Grow them in a school food garden to discover which species of native bee live in the vicinity. Use this food plant as a school science project!
23rd Bee Species Found At Bellis Identified
When I started my garden at Bellis in 2003, it consisted of Queensland Blue couch, fences and a house. Starting a garden completely from scratch is a rare opportunity for many gardeners. This was my first chance. I wanted to record the transformational effect of gardening sustainably. One way to record progress was a species…
In Production Today, April 2015
Here’s my subtropical food garden’s current autumn menu. Plants marked with an asterisk are volunteers, that is they are self-sown. Currently I have 38 different volunteer crops.
Cocoyam Recipes – Winter Open Day At Bellis, 2014
If you attended this winter open day, congratulations, you were part of gardening history. A record breaking number of guests – 3,229 – visited Brisbane’s thrifty sustainable house and garden. And what a jolly, generous, patient and enthusiastic bunch you proved to be. The very best Queensland has to offer. Best of all, there were…
Open Day At Bellis, August 2014
FULL DETAILS SEE: http://www.opengarden.org.au Leave Brisbane’s suburbs behind as you visit 813 square metres of rural Wynnum. Check out my award-winning, thrifty sustainable garden: blue bananas, stingless bees, home grown bath sponges, and turf mostly mowed by guinea pigs. See how a decade of organic gardening has converted uncompromising acid sulphate soil into a wonderful,…
Stingless Bees: Factory Farming With A Future
Sugarbag bees are fun. Young kids are always surprised to discover some Australian bees are both tiny and without a sting. Once they understand these bees are safe company, they can’t resist taking a closer look and become absorbed by the antics of these industrious mini-bees.
In Production Today, March 2014
The most widespread recorded drought in Queensland’s history has meant most of my gardening effort continues to be spent on watering and soil improvement. At least I’m able to keep fruit trees productive and perennials alive. Beds which would normally be filled with seasonal annuals can remain dug, mulched and bare until useful rain arrives. But…
Want Safer Streets, More Bees and Good Food? Grow Tamarind Trees, not African Tulip Trees
I’ve just made Dulce de Tamarindo from tamarind pods, a mouthwatering Mexican sweet that’s guaranteed to stimulate your tastebuds. What could link safer streets, more bees and good food? Here’s a blog on sustainable urban forest management. Let’s start with an end product before making the case to ‘grow me instead’. There is a greater demand…
South American Biocontrol Calls Wynnum Food Garden Home
Being eaten alive, from the inside out, is not the kindest death. But it’s ruthlessly efficient.
In Production Today – November
Food production is quickly changing since summer arrived two weeks early…
Predator Attracting Plants
Organic gardening isn’t conventional gardening, so why not enjoy some unconventional pest control?
Jerry Coleby-Williams 