March is generally when summer productivity slows and diversity decreases in my garden. But pawpaw have surged ahead, jute and all the basils are brilliant, and I’m picking the last plump figs. Rats beat me to my first two autumn pineapples… Rather like my strawberries, I’m waiting for the nights to become a bit cooler…
Tag: Brisbane
In Production Today – February 2012
One regular question I get asked by subtropical gardeners is what to grow during summer. Summer is when I grow the smallest range of crops. It’s not because you have to regularly control grasshoppers and caterpillars, I just stick with ones that fare well if we get baked…or flooded. Jute (aka Egyptian spinach, left) provides…
In Production Today – January 2012
This is what’s ready to eat in my garden this month. The two year-old Italian flat-leaved parsley is flowering profusely, and the triple curled parsley is just beginning to flower. Despite reading that ‘Red Gauntlet’ strawberry is unsuited to the subtropics, it continues fruiting, in fact they haven’t stopped since May. The 300 sq metre…
In Production Today – December 2011
I think I have found an alternative to parsnip for the subtropics. Yesterday I had fun cooking my first Hamburg parsley roots (Petroselenium crispum var. tuberosum). I haven’t grown this herb/ vegetable since I was fifteen and gardening in London. Hamburg parsley is a cool climate crop that, historically, was displaced in favour of the…
In Production Today – November 2011
It’s been a hot, dry, sunny, windy month. The celery and celeriac have only survived as a result of getting two drinks a day… It seems like my 300 square metre productive garden is growing a long list of edibles. Main crops are indicated by an asterisk *. However, it doesn’t take very long, or…
Where Can I Get A Greengage Fruit Tree, And How Do I Grow Them?
Question I recently visited France and was lucky enough to eat a Greengage, it tasted amazing. I already grow one and I think it is a ‘Doree’ cultivar. Can you suggest where I might buy the cultivar ‘Reine Claude de Bavay’, also known in Australia as ‘old greengage’? It was a wonderful fruit, I ate…
Towards A National Food Plan
Draft notes for Queensland Conservation’s submission to aid in the development of a National Food Plan. The final draft was submitted by QC on 2.9.11… Introduction A National Food Plan is vital for Australia’s ongoing food sovereignty. Food Sovereignty may be defined as a nation’s self-sufficiency in food, where affordable staples are made available to…
Conference Paper: Acclimatisation, The Continuing Story
Australian Garden History Society Conference Maryborough 2011
Threatened Lunch…‘Convict’ Lettuce And Subtropical Leeks
Today I received confirmation from the head gardener at Buckingham Palace that the Royal Household will be growing ‘First Fleet’ lettuce once more in Britain. Carried from Britain by the First Fleet to be cultivated at Sydney’s First Farm in 1788, this doughty traditional vegetable has since disappeared from Britain’s market gardens. I love this…
When A Gardener Considers Moving To Queensland
Sandy, a ‘Bellis’ blog reader, is buying a 5 acre property in the Samford Valley, north west of Brisbane… “I must say I was impressed by your patience in establishing the drainage and improving the soil. I may be organic, but I’m also impatient and that’s been my downfall in the little suburban garden we’ve…
After The Floods
If you need fresh food in a few days, start growing sprouts. You don’t need a garden or any gardening skill to succeed, just view this beginner’s guide first: http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1857237.htm When the time comes to re-start growing food at home on freshwater flood-affected ground, pay some attention to your soil first. View flood recovery at:…
A Gardening Cycle Is Complete
The most important thing about our garden receiving 594mm of rain this month, (the 50 year December average is 123.2mm), is that I have now lived here and successfully grown food through both extreme, prolonged drought and prolonged, saturating rain, a period covering seven years. December brought no flooding in this property. Some stormwater escaped…
Jerry Coleby-Williams 