🌽 Food Garden Group Newsletter - February 2021 🌽
We like to grow what we eat
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In this newsletter .... food garden visits (last month, this month and thereafter), new posts on Food Garden Group blogs, the resumption of morning teas, seeds now available in Seed Box, how to get the best results out of seeds, and what you could do in your food garden this month.
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Food garden visit this month
About their garden Cathy wrote:
We have lived here for forty years in a Victorian era house built in 1898. The house is built into a bank and the productive patch is above the house. We built retaining walls around the patio and brick paths with sandstone retaining blocks in the veggie patch.
When we arrived, there were two huge cherry plums on each corner at the back of the block. I retained them for far too long until the clean-up of rotting plums and thousands of pips (neatly nipped by rats and piled up in the potting shed) became too much. There were also, however, an old apple tree, a pear tree and a purple plum, all of which we have retained and are still very fruitful. The Apple has been grafted with Mutsu and Cox’s Orange. The original variety is very attractive looking but not that interesting to eat. Luckily the birds like it. I used to think that two high branches were the old variety until I realised that the Cox’s graft had taken off - cue the fruit picking basket on extended pole and a race with the parrots! There are at least two varieties on the pear tree.
We planted a mulberry which is now very big (supplies leaves for various neighbourhood children’s silk worm projects as well as copious fruit), a quince which has been severely pruned in the last couple of years and now has an interesting semi-espalier shape, a black Genoa fig, kiwi vines and the first lemon (Eureka) that we have ever managed to grow. The fig and kiwi vine were hard pruned last winter and have responded. In recent years we have added strawberry guava, lime, tamarillo, Fuyu persimmon, a Pomegranate (“Wonderful”), a compact Stella cherry, a grape vine and a new Goldmine nectarine. There are three varieties of currants. There is a perennial Rocoto-chili bush that is many years old and provides more chilies than we need. I am persevering with growing Florence Fennel as a perennial.
In pots on the patio there is a Kaffir lime, a mandarin, young finger limes (fruited last year but not this), a very old cumquat (from our previous house) and a standard bay that is also many years old.
I have a small greenhouse that is good for propagation and is currently housing tomatoes, cucumbers, chilies (overwintered from last year), a curry tree, lemongrass, turmeric and basil.
The outside beds are primarily given over to corn, tomatoes (heritage varieties from saved seed), zucchini, beans and brassicas for the coming winter. I do not grow many below-ground plants other than perennials such as Jerusalem artichokes and Yacon. They rarely succeed for me - could be my star sign but more likely it is because I dislike thinning etc. Most of my plants are started off in half toilet rolls so I can space as I like.
I am considering whether one or two raised beds might be worth trying as a way of expanding my horizons. The usual herbs are dotted about. The flat-leafed parsley predates us and has naturalised around the garden. I have to remember where it is currently residing when I need some. I wish that I could get Coriander to do similar, but alas it struggles with us.
The mulberry fruits over a very long period and I am hoping there will be enough fruit left for those who want to bring their own punnet or small bowl to pick some to take home. Or else use the hand to mouth method. Be warned that it is a messy business and mulberries stain - wear an old shirt if you intend to partake. There is a tap nearby and there will be a paper towel roll. Green mulberries are very good for removing stains on hands and clothes.
If you would like to take part, please RSVP to foodgardengroup@gmail.com
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The resumption of morning teas 🤪
Morning teas at food garden visits have been very much missed, because standing around with a cuppa brings about many great discussions, and the food that people bring is often worth writing about. And of course this was done. Scroll through the posts at the Food Garden Group's FGG Extra blog and you will find many yummy recipes that were first tasted at food garden visits, and that are now made by many people at home.
If (fingers crossed) by the 14th of February there is no COVID community transmission in Southern Tasmania morning teas at food garden visits will resume! But unfortunately we can't pretend that we are back in a pre-COVID situation, so let's introduce a few measures that will add to safety:
- Coffee and tea will be provided, but please bring your own cup and take it home again
- Please bring food already-cut and ready to serve, so the shared use of cutlery is avoided or limited.
Following discussions with various people, in particular this month's hosts, it was decided to have one session (not a 9.30-one followed by an 11.30-one), because having two sessions would mean two morning teas and having to clean up after the first one, which would make things harder.
Let's resume morning teas, go back to one session, and see how that goes.
Last but not least: those who don't feel comfortable with morning teas in the current circumstances, can of course decide not to take part.
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Steven and Kathryn's garden in Clarendon Vale is brilliant example of what can be achieved in a short time. When our group visited their garden on a cool and windy Saturday morning we were all amazed and inspired by the transformation from a 'blank slate' property just over 2 years ago into a productive and diverse food garden today. For more info and photos see Visit Clarendon Vale - Steven & Kathryn.
Thank you, Pauline, for taking photos and writing and putting together this blog post!
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It's all about seed
Sowing your own instead of buying seedlings can be very rewarding if you follow a few rules. Food Garden Group blog post Sowing in pots and punnets will help you make a start or make your sowing in pots more successful. It also suggests how tro make your own seed raising mix.
Some crops should only be sown straight into the garden. This is where blog post Sowing in your garden can help.
Seeds don't remain viable for ever. The Life Expectancy of Seeds tells the story of the oldest seed that was ever germinated, discusses why seeds may not germinate, how long you can expect various vegetable seeds to remain viable, talks about 'Sow by' dates on seed packets, how to check that seed is still viable before sowing, and discusses how to best store seed.
The coming months will be a great time to save seeds from crops you grew. Saving seed from your own crops means that you can have the same successful varieties year after year without spending any money. Find out how to save seed in blog post Successful Seed Saving .
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Seed Box update:
The following seeds will be available in the Seed Box at this month's food garden visit:
Artichoke (globe) | Dill Lovage Sweet pea Swiss chard/silver beet |
At the next food garden visit please take from this box whatever seeds you can use in your garden.
If you would like to contribute seeds, please just add them to the Seed Box at a food garden visit.
You can also contact Seedbox-coordinator Elizabeth via elizamt54@gmail.com and arrange to drop off seeds at her place.
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New on the Food Garden Group blog ...
Gardening improves the health and wellbeing, both physically and mentally, of millions of people around the world. But some gardening practices can in rare cases makes people ill. This is one of those blog posts that many people will not read because they feel it is not relevant to them, but please give it ten minutes of your time:
Handling organic materials aims to make you aware of how to best handle soil, mulch, compost, manure, hay and other organic materials. If you follow a few rules, then handling these materials will be very safe!
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Food garden visits in coming months:
Subject to there being no COVID community transmission in Southern Tasmania:
Please note: the remaining visits for this season will have one session, not two, and include morning tea.
For info about each visit see the newsletter at the start of the month the visit is in.
At that time you can RSVP to take part in the visit.
Please email foodgardengroup@gmail.com if you would be happy to host a visit to your garden.
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What you could do in your food garden in February ....
- Water regularly to make sure your soils don’t dry out
- Make sure your food garden is well mulched to conserve water
- Keep weeds at bay and don't allow them to go to seed
Vegetables
- Sow in pots loose-leaf lettuce, parsley, celery, Chinese cabbage, Asian greens, endive, leeks
- Sow in your garden radish, spinach, silverbeet, carrot, parsnip, turnip, swede, beetroot
- Plant loose-leaf lettuce, iceberg-type lettuce, parsley, celery, brassicas (provide protection against caterpillars), leek and onion (after adding some lime to the soil)
- Put shade cloth over newly-planted seedlings to protect them from the hot sun
- Dig up potatoes and hill the ones that you are leaving for later
- Hand pollinate pumpkins, cucumbers and other cucurbits early in the morning
- Foliar-feed crops once a month with seaweed extract to maximise their health and growth
- Cut off tips of cucurbit vines that have two fruits so the fruits become larger
- Put something under pumpkins that rest on the ground so that they don’t rot
- Minimise caterpillar damage to brassicas by manual removal, netting or spraying
- Tie up or provide support for climbing crops such as beans and tomatoes
- Remove laterals on tomatoes and limit plants to 3 or 4 branches
- Remove flower-heads on rhubarb so plants focus on forming leaves
- Collect seeds from heirloom varieties of crops you would like to grow again next season
- Sprinkle sulphate of potash once a month around vegetables that form fruits
Fruit trees and berries (* = don't repeat if already done recently)
- Put nets over apple and pear trees, if not already done
- Remove runners on strawberries and put in pots so you have young plants next season
- Thin fruit on all fruit trees, so fruits become larger and branches don't break (*)
- Cover fruit trees with netting to avoid fruit-damage by birds
- Remove and destroy coddling moth infested fruit on apple, pear and quince trees
- Trap and kill coddling moths on apple, pear and quince trees
- Check existing coddling moth traps and replace and refresh where needed
- Apply bud grafts to all types of fruit trees in the first half of this month
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May your food gardening be happy and productive,
Max
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