FGG Newsletter June 2020

🍑  Food Garden Group Newsletter  June 2020  🌽

 We like to grow what we eat 

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Welcome to our June newsletter!  A month is a long time in this COVID-19 year.  No new cases in Tasmania in the last fortnight, an optimistic mood and easing of restrictions, all mean that we can look forward to resumption of food garden visits at some point later this year.  But we are not there yet, so for now let's continue with the social-distancing alternatives that we came up with, and that are going quite well: In My Garden and Online Food Garden Chats.

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Last month's online food garden chat

On Sunday 17 May 2020 the Food Garden Group's first-ever online food garden chat took place. We talked about aphids in Brussels Sprouts, biochar, improving soil, weed mat, wicking beds, moving an olive tree and carrots. Click here for a summary of the discussions.

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The next online food garden chat

The next online food garden chat will take place on Sunday 21 June at 10.30am.

This is a great opportunity to meet fellow food gardeners, find out what is happening in their garden, share what is happening in yours if you want to, ask advice, get a discussion going about a question you have, and generally catch up with others, with a cup of tea or coffee in hand.

We use an app called Zoom on desktop and laptop computers that have a camera. Installing and using Zoom is easy. If you RSVP you will receive easy-to-follow instructions. Further assistance will be available if you need it. Members anywhere in Tasmania will be welcome to join!

To take part please RSVP to foodgardengroup@gmail.com mentioning Online Food Garden Chat.

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Pruning berries

It is time to prune berries! As I got more varieties of berries in my garden, it became harder to remember how each variety should be pruned, so I decided to document what I knew, add more detail and ask others with expertise in this area for input. You can find this Food Garden Group blog post here.

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New on the Food Garden Group blog in May

• Vegie Patch Basics - 3 is the latest instalment of this series of blog posts for beginning food gardeners. We look at how to set up things so your food garden will be most productive and what can be done in food gardens in the June/July period. You will find it here.

• Fruit - Peaches and Nectarines: based on information provided by fruit tree professional Max K a list has been added to this existing blog post that helps you select the right peach or nectarine variety for your garden. The varieties mentioned all produce good quality fruit and are recommended for Tasmanian conditions. You will find the updated blog post here.

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In My Garden .... in May

The In My Garden series of blog posts is a great way to see what is happening in people’s food gardens while we can't visit them in person. In May ........

• Ross at Lindisfarne took us for an inspiring look at some of his plants and projects currently on the go. Click here to have a look. 
• Kate at Cygnet took us on a walk through her delightful garden and gave lots of tips and hints for growing and eating along the way! Have a look at this great blog post here.

Would you be happy to take ten or so photos in your garden and say a few words about each photo? 

Doesn’t have to be anything fancy! It can focus on one aspect of your garden, or winter, a new project, or just little things in your garden that might be of interest to other food gardeners.

All you provide is photos + texts via email. Pauline then creates the FGG Extra blog for you (thank you, Pauline!).  Please email Max at foodgardengroup@gmail.com if you would be happy to take part.

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Don't have a Facebook account?

In the past few months many people have joined the Food Garden Group, and that is great, but it means that managing the mailing list for newsletters has become more of a challenge. Now you can help, and help yourself in the process! 

If you are not on Facebook, please send me quick email with subject 'not on Facebook'. You won't need to enter any other text. Please click on this link foodgardengroup@gmail.com, and do it now, before you forget! If you do so, then next month you will receive your FGG newsletter earlier! Thank you!

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What you can do in your food garden in June

Vegetables

• Sow broadbeans and peas if your garden gets no frost or only light frost
• Sow spring onions either directly, or in a seed tray and then plant them out later
• Plant asparagus crowns, cut off old asparagus stalks, and add seaweed and compost
• Plant leek after applying some lime or dolomite
• Plant onion after the winter solstice
• Divide and replant clumps of chives and other perennial onions
• Divide rhubarb and re-plant in well-draining soil with plenty of fertiliser and compost
• Harvest all remaining pumpkins, with stem attached, before the first frost
• Foliar-feed crops with seaweed extract to maximize their health and growth
• Apply lime where needed, so spring crops will benefit
• Apply compost where needed, so spring crops will benefit
• Make a rough plan for next season’s vegetables, and get or order seeds

Fruit trees and berries

• Remove old unproductive passionfruit vines
• Remove all fruit tree litter and loose bark and discard this
• Remove all weeds under and around fruit trees
• Remove coddling moth traps from apple, pear and quince trees
• Tidy up strawberry beds, replace 3-year old plants and feed each plant
• Tidy up and prune berry bushes
• Consider adding new fruit trees and berries to your garden and order them
• Plant new blueberries and give them blood and bone and pine needle mulch
• Plant (bare-rooted) fruit trees, berry canes and grapes
• Move a fruit tree if it needs to be moved (now is the best time to do this)
• Spread compost, old manure or complete organic fertiliser around fruit trees and berries
• Apply potash to apple and pear trees (they will love you for doing so)
• Apply dolomite or lime to apple, pear, peach and nectarine trees if pH is below 6.5
• Give all fruit trees a generous amount of woody mulch
• Collect scions of dormant fruit trees and store in fridge for grafting onto trees in spring

General

• Remove lots of weeds now before they begin to grow and become a problem in spring
• Make big changes to your food garden’s beds or irrigation at this quiet time of year
• Repair or replace tools before things get busy again in spring

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Happy food gardening!

Max

Food Garden Group coordinator