I like nettles, when they’re managed – and grown in full view.
Category: Productive
Fragrant Quince
I went down a rabbit hole talking quince (Cydonia oblonga) with Millie Ross at the Queensland Garden Show and then again on talkback gardening with Kristy Reading ABC New England North West. Quince are one of the most aromatic of temperate fruits, the fragrance as they ripened in our fruit store in our London garden…
Growing Naranjilla Sustainably
How A Distinctive Taste of South America Can Be Grown Sustainably, Keeping its Growers Healthier and Better Off… On our tour of Ecuador, courtesy of The Adventure Traveller, we visited Carlos, a naranjilla farmer at Archidona in the foothills of the Andes. Naranjilla, Solanum quitoense, is a short-lived tropical perennial related to tomato. It is…
Arrowroot vs Comfrey Trial – Which Is Better For Growing Biomass In A Warm Climate?
In a trial in subtropical Brisbane, I found that Queensland arrowroot (Canna edulis) requires 1/5th of the water to produce twice the biomass of comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum).
Introducing the Australian native famous for producing Chinese Green Tea
Yes, the title of this blog sounds like Spam. The first sentence in a blog is supposed to entice the reader to read on, so I’m risking all by saying this remarkable plant looks so unremarkable, I have never given it a second thought. It makes such an inoffensive green tea, few would drink it…
Sixty Things To Sow Or Plant In The Coastal Subtropics In Mid-Winter? I’d Like To See That…
Now the mid-winter solstice is behind us, days are cool but lengthening, ideal for sowing watercress, dwarf beans and snow peas. The best news is there’s a long list of delicious food plants that can be sown now for your spring menu. Here’s sixty to get you started. Just think of all those recipes you can use them in!
Winter Gardening In Temperate Australia
The culture of winter gardening evolved in Europe, a response to their long, gloomy winters. By contrast, Australian winters are briefer, sunnier and filled with interest – if you know what to do. What is a European winter garden? What can an Australian gardener in a temperate zone do to keep their garden filled with interest? What can food growers grow during the coldest season?
Chinese Potato: A Productive Plectranthus For A Warm Climate
Chinese potato (Plectranthus rotundifolius) has so many common names there’s just one meaningful conclusion: it’s a productive plant valued by many cultures.
Cultivated in tropical and subtropical Africa and Asia, this perennial relative of coleus produces clusters of edible tubers about the size of a peanut and which have a nutty flavour. Sometimes referred to as a ‘lost crop of Africa’, Chinese potato can be easily grown in soil or containers, it’s cute and it’s definitely one warm climate heritage root crop you experiment with in a balcony garden.
Fast Food: Self-Sown Vegetables Are The Quickest Meal You’ll Grow
Fast food: By learning how to recognise self-sown edible plants in the garden, you’re on the way to the quickest free meal you’ll grow.
The Wartime Kitchen And Garden, TV Series and Book
The Wartime Kitchen and Garden television series and book by the BBC. The big swerve in 19th century British horticulture away from ornamental gardening to domestic food security. A television series and a book explore low tech solutions, reuse, thrift, and home grown food.
Garden Fresh Festive Fare At Bellis, Brisbane’s Sustainable House And Garden.
A taste of summer from Bellis, a sustainable house and garden in drought-affected subtropical Brisbane: 108 edibles available for my kitchen.
How Do I Manage Phytophthora Disease On Cocoa?
“Dear Jerry, my cocoa plants are infected with black pod disease. They are cropping OK, but can I do anything to improve their health?”, asks Peter in Townsville, Australia.
Hi Peter, Phytophthora is primarily a root rot disease and it can spread throughout a plant using the vascular system. Some plants are more susceptible than others and there may be multiple host plant species in your garden.
Certain types of Phytophthora can devastate entire landscapes (like Jarrah dieback, P. cinnamomi) and ruin orchards. This disease is recognised by conservationists as a key threatening process, it cannot be eradicated so you manage it.
Jerry Coleby-Williams 