FGG Newsletter February 2023

 

Food Garden Group newsletter - February 2023 

 We like to grow what we eat 

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In this February 2023 Food Garden Group newsletter: food garden visits for February and beyond, last month's visit in words and pictures, pest control, our Seed Box, preserving, seed saving, and more.

Frank's plums

This month's food garden visit

Due to circumstances beyond our control the planned visit to Anna & Marcus's Little Farm had to be postponed. Anna, Marcus and I are looking forward to this visit later in the year.

At short notice I found Karen at Newtown happy to welcome us in her garden on Sunday 19 February at 10.30am.

Our group visited Karen's garden in March 2017.  Karen is well-known in our group for her skills and knowledge of growing bananas. Karen contributed Growing Bananas in Hobart to the FGG blog.  Our visit to her garden was six years ago (time flies), so it is high time for another visit.  

About her garden Karen wrote:

We have lived here for 31 years. In the last 10 years our main vegetable plot was converted into 3 raised beds with an adjoining permanent raspberry bed. This process meant that the heavy (black clay) soil had to be remediated with gypsum and all sorts of composted matter to become more friable. This is still an ongoing project as a wet spring delays planting due to the water holding properties of the soil. 

About 12 years ago we added a garden bed for more vegetables near the carport.  This has given me 3 defined areas with slightly differing climate/air movement. 

We have always had a hothouse as well and this has been converted from glass to polycarbonate. This year I tried planting potatoes in the hothouse in August due to the predicted wet spring which returned enough until the main crop was harvested in early January - I was inspired by "The Victorian Kitchen Garden" series where they grew veggies in hot houses to extend the seasons.

 

Also 10 years ago 4 hi-line chooks arrived and these have been replaced several times since. Their run is where we dispose of our garden (and certain kitchen) waste. The run is regularly mucked out and placed on the garden beds and left to settle for several weeks prior to digging in or staying on top as mulch.

 

At other times the space between the raspberry rows is used as a long compost pile e.g. pulled potato stalks are layered in the front as a chunky mulch to protect the soil through the hot summer. Whilst the raspberries are dormant this becomes an additional chook run and therefore I haven't needed to weed for years. 

After a conversation with my sister about pollinating the middle of rows of apples I planted borage in the middle of the raspberry run hoping this will increase the pollination rate in spring/early summer. The only downside is, I end up with borage trees that can stop some of the new raspberry growth, nothing a bit of pruning hasn't remedied.

 

We currently grow borage, asparagus, cucumber, sweet potato and seedlings in the hothouse.  The vegetable beds currently have raspberries, corn, lettuce, chard, silverbeet, standardized zucchini, tomatoes, cucumber, beans, golden nugget pumpkins - trained upright, capsicum, parsley and a hop. There’s a kaffir lime and avocado nearby too. Your thoughts about whether I need to protect the new avocado would be appreciated.

 

We are also growing bananas with an aim to have two fruiting per year. These predominantly live in the sunroom with the turmeric and overflow to the hothouse. 

For a couple of years we have collected cow manure from my family’s farm in autumn and filled upturned pots throughout the raspberry and vegetable beds for the worms to work on before spreading the decomposed manure around in early spring.  

We always have plenty of grass clippings and piles of dethatched material to use either in the chook run or as mulch throughout the garden, along with fallen dried leaves from the suburbs to balance the mix. We de-thatch in spring to remove the dead grass from underneath, this is my main source to cover the potatoes to stop those that could be on the surface from becoming green [Max - ask Karen on the day to explain what dethatching is).

I would LOVE to have bees but don't know where I'd put them in my garden - any suggestions welcome!

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

Please RSVP to foodgardengroup@gmail.com if you would like to attend. When you RSVP please clearly state who you are RSVPing for and provide first names, so we can have a name sticker ready for every person on arrival. Name stickers are our easy way to introduce people to other people.

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Last month's food garden visit in words and pictures

Denby's garden in Lindisfarne has quite a few areas that are a picture of perfection. Despite a challenging site, Denby transformed her garden into a very productive patch indeed.

Denby recently sold her property and we wish her every success in her new garden! With green thumbs like hers we have no doubts on that score whatsoever.

Thanks Denby, for having us over for a final look at your very impressive garden, and thanks everyone who came for your contributions and making this another great instructive visit.

For a great set of photos and more info see here. Thanks Pauline for writing this blog post!

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If pests are bugging you  😂😂

If pests are bugging you, check out the Pest Control - Quick Guide on the Food Garden Group blog.

I recently added two pests to this blog post: Rust and Pear and Cherry Slug. There is also a new post with more complete info about Rust here: When Rust blows in.

Pest Control - Quick Guide now provides help with the following pests:

Aphids, Brown Rot, Cabbage White Butterfly, Caterpillars, Coddling Moths, Curly Leaf, Downy Mildew, Earwigs, Gummosis, Leaf Miners, Pear and Cherry Slugs, Pearleaf Blister Mites, Powdery Mildew, Rust, Scale, Slaters, Slugs, Snails and Whiteflies.

Please use this blog post as the first place where you look when you want to do something against a pest in your garden. It provides links to other posts on the FGG blog and other sources of info on the net.  

If you don't know what the pest is that is attacking your crop, there are two photos with each pest-description that might help you identify what you have.

Of course there are many insects and microbes that aren't pests. The eco-system in an organic food garden ideally is quite diverse with more beneficial 'individuals' than destructive ones. This too is pointed out in the quick-guide.

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Food garden visits planned for coming months

Sunday 26 March      a food garden at Mount Nelson cared for by Robin, Tracey, Michael and Linda

TBA                             Anna and Marcus's Little Farm at Margate

Each visit will be advertised in this newsletter at the start of the month the visit is in. At that time you can RSVP, not before. To avoid disappointment please RSVP early in all cases.

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Seed Box update

At every food garden visit there is the Seed Box on the Produce Table for the free exchange of seeds between FGG members. The box has been truly raided in recent times, and that is great, but new seeds are now urgently needed. That is no surprise as free non-hybrid seeds are great to use in our food gardens. 

The main season for saving seed is from now until the end of the season, so please harvest seeds from your garden and help replenish the Seed Box in coming months. I let two Parsnips go to seed this season, am harvesting nice quantities of fresh Parsnip seed at the moment (see photo), and will  contribute quite a few of them to the Seed Box.  

Saving seeds from your own food garden can be fun if you stick to a few basic rules. Taking control of the whole cycle from seed to crop and back to seed can be very satisfying. Seed saving allows home gardeners to play a role in preserving valuable heritage varieties and it saves money. The 'Why, What and How' is explained in FGG blog post Successful Seed Saving.

The following seeds will be available at the next food garden visit:

Basil/basil cinnamon Broad Beans Broccolini Beans - Bush Beans - 24 year old Beans - French climbing Beans - Giant of Stuttgart Carrot Chive/garlic chives Chilli Collard greens

Eggplant Fennel - Florence Hollyhock Kale – Russian Red Lettuce - Cos Lovage Parsnip Pumpkin – Qld Blue Tomato - Pink Bumblebee Watermelon - Baby

If you would like to contribute seeds, that would be great! Please just add them to the Seed Box at the next food garden visit. Please put your seeds in little packets and write on each packet the name of the seeds and when they were harvested.

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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It is preserving time!

It is surprising how much info there is on the FGG blog about preserving. Here is the list. Worth checking out!

Preserving - You need to know this! is a short must-read for anyone who is new to preserving, because there is one thing you should NOT do. You will find it here.

Microwave Bottling is covered in a blog post by FGG member Marg Murray. She explains that this method allows you to do a bottle or two at the time and that it is fast and healthy (no added sugar required, just fruit). You will find it here.

Preserving Your Harvest was written after a workshop in which FGG member Margie Meijers shared some of her extensive knowledge on pickling, acidity, dehydrating, water-bathing, Fowlers Vacola and pressure canning. You can find it here.

Fermenting and Microwave Bottling was the subject of another FGG workshop by FGG member and fermenting expert Jenny Kleywegt. You will find it here.

Processing produce when you don't have much time focuses on quick methods for processing your glut. You will find it here.

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It's great to host a food garden visit!

I am looking for people to host future food garden visits! To encourage you to put your hand up, here are some of the comments made by past hosts:

• Such a lovely morning, thanks so much for organising these get togethers, so nice hanging out with other gardeners and share our gardens – Belinda in Dec22.

• Very helpful demo and explanation of measuring pH during the visit to our garden - Aimee & BJ in Nov21.

• It is so nice to have people visit our garden who can appreciate what we are trying to do, and to see it through fresh eyes ourselves. Plus, it was very good motivation to get some lingering jobs crossed off our list! – Ngaire in Sep22.

• Very uplifting to show your garden to people who share your passion. Gee, it was nice to get all that feedback! For those thinking about hosting, it is a great incentive to re-evaluate your garden. Go on, talk to Max about a date! - Cathy in Feb21.

Please consider hosting a visit to your garden next season! 

Please contact Max on foodgardengroup@gmail.com to start the discussion.

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May your crops be bountiful,

Max Bee

 

 

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