FGG Newsletter September 2022

🍋  Food Garden Group newsletter - September 2022  🍋

 We like to grow what we eat 

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In this newsletter we see the long-awaited return of monthly food garden visits. Also covered: this year's Botanical Gardens tomato sale, collecting your own vegetable seeds, food garden visits planned for coming months, sowing tomatoes, the Golden Tomato award, composting, and what to do in your food garden in September.

A flowering Peach

This month's food garden visit

On Sunday 25 September at 10.30am you will be welcome in Ngaire and Larry's garden at Mount Nelson.

About their garden Ngaire wrote:

We moved to our property at Mount Nelson in 2016. The block is just over 900 square metres of typical Mount Nelson terrain – steep and rocky with heavy clay soil. Although we are about 160 metres above sea level, we are on the sheltered side of the mountain and close enough to the water to rarely get frosts here. The original owners had designed a completely ornamental garden, but it had not been kept up by subsequent owners in the decade or so before we moved in. Our first few years here involved clearing masses of blackberry and holly from all over the block, as well as many self-seeded trees -- so many Cotoneasters and Pittosporum! 

Our main challenges in establishing our garden involve the significant pest pressure from and the extensive (beloved) mob of pademelons and wallabies who make use of the wildlife corridor provided by the no-fencing covenant on the small group of properties surrounding/including ours. The absence of boundary fences means that we have had to create a number of smaller enclosures within the garden – the increasing strength/height of these structures as we progressed as well as the battle scars on some of our first-planted fruit trees shows our (slow) progress in learning to respect the cunning and persistence of our furry adversaries over time. 

About three years ago we constructed a 5x6 metre fully enclosed polypipe cage in our back yard and this has finally given us reliably secure space for our main vegetable crops as well as some of our berries. We initially filled this space with a motley assortment of Gumtree-acquired pots and small raised beds, while we figured out how best to build something more permanent into the steep site; last year we acquired a jackhammer (a garden tool never before mentioned on this blog - Max) and created enough flat space for four large hardwood raised beds.

Earlier this year we added another hardwood raised bed outside the main cage, protected with metal hoops and bird netting. It turns out that the wallabies can eat broccoli heads right through the netting without tearing it (!), but we have still managed to get a reasonable yield of other winter greens that they can’t reach. The battle continues!

Our main project this past winter has been planting more fruit trees. We have added plums, apricots, more apples, pepper berries, and another pomegranate to our existing citrus, olives, mulberry, fig, currants, and avocados. We are also currently in the process of installing a greenhouse in the front yard to extend our growing season and hopefully give us a better chance with some heat-loving veggies, especially eggplant and capsicums. 

We are slowly transitioning our space to a full and productive garden with lots of fruit trees, berries, along with the raised beds for annual veggies. There is still a long way to go, and we are eager to hear advice/cautionary tales from more experienced food gardeners as we continue our trials, errors, and occasional successes!

One of the subjects of discussion will be 'hothouses'.

Contributions for morning tea and the produce table will be much appreciated!

If you would like to come, please RSVP to foodgardengroup@gmail.com 

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Food garden visits planned for coming months 

Sunday 16 October:             Avril & Brett's garden at Sandy Bay

Sunday 13 November:         Anna & Marcus's garden at Margate

Saturday 3 December:         Belinda's garden at Dynnyrne

A big thank you to these FGG members for being happy to host a food garden visit! 

Each visit will be advertised in this newsletter at the start of the month the visit is in. At that time you can RSVP for them, not before. 

There is a maximum number of people for each event.  For social distancing reasons maximums will be lower than they would be in normal times. To avoid disappointment please RSVP early in all cases.

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When is a good time to sow tomatoes?

Tomato plants grow best in light sunny conditions with a constant 20 -25 degrees C. temperature. Tasmania's climate, especially in spring, is often border-case for tomatoes, and it can be a struggle to keep tomato seedlings happy through cold periods in October and November.

This does not stop nurseries from selling tomato seedlings right now at the end of August.  These seedlings are fine for those that have a hothouse. Everyone else: resist the temptation. Wait buying tomato seedlings until mid October.

For the same reason it is best to only sow tomatoes in August if you have a hothouse. Tomato seedlings that germinate in cool conditions and not enough light will quickly go tall and thin ('spindly') and become too weak to produce tomatoes.

For people who don't have a hothouse September is a good time to start sowing tomatoes, and there is no need to hurry. I found that you can sow tomatoes as late as early December and pick ripe tomatoes from these bushes before the season ends in early May.

Here are some blog posts that might help you to grow tomatoes successfully this season:

• Sowing in Pots and Punnets
• Tomato workshop notes
• Determined about your tomatoes?

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Who will win the 2022 Golden Tomato award?

This imaginary trophy (yep, it’s just a photo from the internet) is awarded each year to the Food Garden Group member who produces the first ripe tomato of the season.

Past winners are:
2016 - Lian Tanner (Lauderdale) on 9 December
2017 - Anna Carew (Sandy Bay) on 22 November
2018 - Jo Cordell-Cooper (Geilston Bay) on 6 December
2019 - Max Kregor (Lindisfarne) on 17 October
2020 - Marg Meijers (Lenah Valley) on 8 November
2021 - John Pelham (Bridport) on 30 November

So why have a prize for the first ripe tomato of the season, if at the same time people are encouraged not to sow their tomatoes too early (see When is a good time to sow tomatoes above)? 

Well, first of all, because it is fun! And secondly, because it is great to find new ways of growing early tomatoes for those who have a hothouse, or live in favourite local conditions, or like to experiment. Food Garden Group blog post Early Tomatoes explains how past winners did it!

The rules for the Golden Tomato award are simple:

• As soon as your first tomato of the new season is ripe, show a photo of the tomato on the bush, on our Facebook page, or email the photo to foodgardengroup@gmail.com
• Rules, rules? There are no rules. Use any trick you can come up with, as long as you tell us afterwards what you did, so we can learn from it.

And there is hope for those who are 'up there' with their tomato growing skills, but not quite as fast as the people mentioned above. Each year we now have a Silver or Bronze Tomato Award! 

Who is going to win these awards this year?  The contest is on!

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The 2022 Royal Botanical Gardens tomato sale

Every year the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens have a tomato sale in October! This sale stands out from other tomato seedling sales because .....

• It is the biggest tomato seedling sale in Tasmania.
• They have an incredible number of varieties (this year over 80 varieties from all over the world) - 40 varieties have never before been offered.
• Most varieties are not for sale anywhere else in Tasmania.
• All varieties are heirloom.
• Plants are sold one plant per pot and the quality is excellent.

This year the sale will start on Thursday 13 October, 11am - 3pm ('prelude sale', entry fee $10), then it  will continue on Friday 14 October and Saturday 15 October 11am - 3pm (no entry fee). 

This is a Royal Tasmanian Botanical Garden's fundraising event. Your purchases will help maintain these wonderful botanical gardens!

Last year I joined the team of volunteers that make this sale possible and wrote a blog post documenting how it is done. You can find it here.

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Consider collecting your own vegetable seeds!

As the days get longer biennial plants will change their focus from forming leaves and roots to forming flowers and seed. There is an opportunity here for food gardeners who, at the end of winter, have in their garden a one or two parsnips, carrots and other biennials that are left-overs from last season. 

There was a lot of demand for vegetable seeds in shops and nurseries last season. In particular parsnip seeds were hard to come by. The few packets of parsnip seeds that I found were close to their 'best sown before' date. Parsnip seed is best sown when it is very fresh because they don't remain viable for very long. With that in mind I left a few parsnips in the garden this winter in the hope that they will flower and produce seed this season. Those very fresh seeds will germinate well!

If you still have a few vegetables in your garden that have come through winter, consider leaving them in the ground and collecting their seed, so you can sow them again later this season! It is fun and not difficult, if you follow a few simple rules. Find out more seed saving on the Food Garden Group blog here.

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Composting

Most food-gardeners will agree that a compost heap is a key to success in a food-garden. Spring is a good time to start a new compost heap, or consider having your first ever compost heap if you have never had one before. Last month I spent some time updating Food Garden Group blog posts about making compost. They now make it easy for both newcomers and those who want to improve their compost making skills.

Making Compost - part 1 discusses .....

• Why make your own compost?
• Compost is made by combining ..
• To set up a successful compost heap you need to ..
• There is 'hot composting' and 'cold composting'
• Comparing hot-composting and cold-composting
• This is how I do my cold-composting
• Do not add the following things to a cold-compost heap
• How to avoid mice, rats and native wildlife

Making Compost - part 2 discusses .....

• The ideal spot for a compost heap
• The simplest compost heap structure
• Using mesh and a pallet
• Compost bays
• Plastic compost bins
• Compost tumblers
• Shredders
• A great use of shredder, sieve and tumbler

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Seed Box update

Spring will be a great time for sowing seeds and you will be able to get them free-of-charge from the FGG Seed Box.

Seed Box coordinator Elizabeth gave me the following list of seeds that will be available in the Seed Box on the produce table at this month's food garden visit:

Basil/basil cinnamon Broad Beans Broccoli Brussels Sprouts 23 y o beans Capsicum Romany, Californian  Carrot Chive/garlic chives Chilli Collard greens Corn Coriander Cucumber Eggplant Fennel Gherkin Hollyhock

Kale – Russian Red Lettuce Lovage Manglewurzel Okra Parsnip Peas Pumpkin – Qld Blue, Cundalls beauty Radish Rainbow Chard Salsify Silverbeet – Giant Fordhook Spring onion Swiss chard/silver beet Sunflower – giant Turnip Watermelon - Baby

If you would like to contribute seeds, please just add them to the Seed Box. If you can't be at the next food garden visit, please contact Seedbox-coordinator Elizabeth and arrange to drop off or collect seeds at her place. Her email address is elizamt54@gmail.com . Thank you Elizabeth!

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Things you can do in your food garden in September ....

• Mulch after good rains so moisture is retained when temperatures go up
• Cut up and dig in green manures you sowed in autumn

Vegetables

• Sow in pots loose-leaf lettuce, brassicas, leek, parsley, spring onions, salad onions, celery, Chinese cabbage, Asian greens

• Sow in pots inside tomato, capsicum, zucchini, pumpkin, corn, celery

• Sow in your garden spinach, chard and silverbeet, broadbeans, peas, spinach, chard, silverbeet and radish

• Sow in your garden from mid-September carrot, parsnip, turnip, swede, beetroot

• Plant loose-leaf lettuce, iceberg-type lettuce, chard, spinach, silver beet, celery, parsley, potatoes, ocas, leeks and onions (after adding some lime to the soil), brassicas (provide protection against caterpillars), asparagus crowns (after adding compost to the soil)

• Control slugs and snails, especially around peas
• Minimise caterpillar damage to brassicas by manual removal, netting or spraying
• Foliar-feed crops once a month with seaweed extract to maximise their health and growth
• Plan roughly what you want to grow this coming season and purchase seeds

Fruit trees and berries                                   (* = don't repeat if already done recently)

• Apply whip and tongue grafts to apple, pear and cherry trees
• Plant a new citrus tree. Now is the best time.
• Stop having chooks around your fruit trees once the trees are out of dormancy
• Feed citrus trees a good dose of nitrogen-rich fertilisers (*)
• Feed each citrus tree a full watering can with a tbsp of Epsom Salts + a tbsp of iron chelate (*)
• Put in place protection measures against codling moth for apple, pear and quince trees
• Get rid of pear and cherry slug by covering pear and cherry leaves with ash or lime
• Add sulphate of potash to the soil under peach and nectarine trees (*)
• Foliar feed all fruit trees with fish fertiliser and/or seaweed extract
• Prune citrus trees if they need pruning

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Happy food gardening!  

Max Bee