Bellis Gin

In autumn we make our own special liqueur which we’ve named ‘Bellis gin’. The recipe is adapted from the traditional English Sloe Gin recipe, which uses the fruit of the Sloe bush, Prunus spinosa. The Sloe is a prickly, deciduous, small-leaved, native shrub that’s related to plum. Occasionally farmed, the fruit ripen in autumn and…

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Clare’s Poem

Clare, a budding young gardener, turned up at the Gardening Australia expo early this morning for the live talkback broadcast. I hope my suggestions help her bean seedling thrive. So Clare, if you read this, thanks for the picture and poem – they made my day 🙂 Happy gardening! Jerry Coleby-Williams 19th April 2008

Bellis On The BBC’s Radio 4

An interview will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 next week discussing the water saving aspects of ‘Bellis’. Jeff is particularly pleased as Radio 4 is the home of such favourite cultural icons as the Shipping Forecast and the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy…Yes, he can be quite strange at times. The Sunparched Country website…

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Wynnum Honey Flora

Honeybee health A honeybee colony housed in an organic garden should radically improve pollination (and fruit set), but flowers in one backyard are insufficient to feed a strong colony of 30 – 80,000 honeybees. There’s no commercial horticulture or agriculture in or near the suburb, so the associated risk of pesticide poisoning is low. The…

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Bee Day

It’s bee day. Two colonies have been delivered. They’re just settling into their new home on the rainwater tank.

Botanical Stamps

A selection collected by my parents, grandfather and me. One way for a child to learn about plants and places…and a bit of botanical latin too. There’s just one from my grandfather’s collection: Cattleya skinneri, an orchid. Stamps of his era hadn’t tapped into the profitable collectors’ market. There are more from my father’s collection…

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Seasonal Sizzling

It’s sizzling outside. Just enough cloud cover to bathe everything in a white UV glow. It’s certainly humid. Here’s some local gossip: a gardening friend says a local water diviner told her that in February Brisbane will see rain like it’s never seen rain before. I’m sure that’s reliable testimony. I’ve chocked everything up under…

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A Beneficial Orgy

Sustainable gardens are safe havens for all sorts of activities, but I’ve never witnessed a scene like this. Last summer they did it amongst my pineapples. Last autumn they were hard at it in my sweet potatoes. This week it’s the cardamom that are the silent, involuntary witnesses. I can’t water these plants without wetting…

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Chiquita Bananas Sued

Garden sustainably. Grow your own organic bananas – it reduces your ecological footprint. The Great Barrier Reef is choking on agricultural sediment, fertilisers and pesticides; Invest sustainably. Never do business with Chiquita – to keep their boots off the faces of others; Never do business with Chiquita. How sure are you that your superannuation isn’t…

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Luffas – Grow Your Own Bath Sponge

It’s time to sow heat-loving summer crops and this year I’ve sown some angled luffa. Luffas are mostly grown for their fibrous fruit used to make bath sponges. They may resemble sea sponges but this is a vegetable, a curious member of the Cucurbitaceae or cucumber family. Two species are grown: the smooth luffa, Luffa…

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