🎄 | Food Garden Group Newsletter December 2025 We like to grow what we eat | 🎄 |
On behalf of the Food Garden Group team
Denby, Lynn and Lola (North)
Max, Gaye, Dirk, Pauline, Laura, Mandy and Ngaire (South)
Have a great Christmas and a happy 2026!
This December newsletter is a few days early because both the Northern and Southern December food garden visits will be held on the first weekend of the month. In this newsletter - what to do in your food garden in December, last month's visits in words and pictures, hothouse tips and hints, thinning fruit, your food garden this coming winter, and more.
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This month's Southern food garden visit
On Sunday 7 December at 10.30am you will be very welcome in Jan's garden at Dynnyrne.
About her garden Jan wrote:
My small garden is an 18-year adventure in joy and frustration. Originally it was over-planted with large trees; the automatic watering system came on 2 hours a day, 365 days a year which destroyed the soil, and there was just one area suitable for vegies, which had swings and lots of lilacs.
All good gardens, as we know, start with the soil. Mine is reactive clay, so it's either concrete or glue, and in spite of 18 years of work it's still a challenge. I started this garden by having trees removed and I brought in at least 200 bags of horse and sheep manure, and back then, wonderful mushroom compost.
A number of raised beds were installed with planting based on the no-dig method. Next I planted and espaliered plums, apples and a black peach on the fence line, and these continue to do well.
The situation isn't always so bright with the vegies, but I grow enough for myself, to supply a cafe weekly, and to share.
I do have a problem keeping the water up to the vegies and because the plants are really packed in, I have a problem with rust in silverbeet spread by white flies. Aphids have been a problem this spring and codling moth can be an issue, but generally plant health is manageable. Fruit tree roots invade the raised beds, so digging these out is a perennial job.
A fair bit of my garden is ornamental, but the birds love the abutilons and salvias and we must look after our birds and encourage bees. In winter the garden is a riot of colour and abundance.
My garden might appeal to anyone interested in developing a small but productive area, including the use of espaliered fruit. The interchange of ideas in the food group is always stimulating and I will welcome fresh ideas, particularly about moisture retention and disease control.
Contributions for morning tea and the produce table will be much appreciated!
Discussion topics: making the most of a small food garden
This Southern visit will be at Dynnyrne, 10.30am on Sunday 7 December
If you would like to come please RSVP to foodgardengroup@gmail.com
When you RSVP please clearly state who you are RSVPing for and provide names if you want to bring others, so we can have a name sticker ready for every person.
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This month's Northern food garden visit
On Sunday 7 December at 10.30am you will be very welcome in Harry's garden at Bridgenorth.
About their garden Harry wrote:
I'm Harry from La Luna farm, a family run market garden in Bridgenorth. When I first took over the property in 2021 it had been a cattle/ sheep pasture, so parts were reasonably degraded. We fenced off the prime acres as market garden, let the remaining native bushland re-establish naturally and planted further natives along the roadside and riparian areas. We built vegetable plots, perennial beds and planting fruit trees initially, then began selling vegetables wholesale, and starting a local CSA (community supported agriculture).
Things this season are quiet due to building our house onsite, so unfortunately not as filled with veg as it should be. Once the house is finished it’s back to full time gardening.
We have had a lot of problems with brushtail possums, fruit tree pests/ disease and frosts throughout the year (including summer) but just adjusting over time has helped.
We will continue over time to plant a large variety of fruits, vegetables, flowers and natives that work with our microclimate to build up a healthy and resilient ecosystem.
Contributions for morning tea and the produce table will be much appreciated!
This Northern visit will be at Bridgenorth on Sunday 7 December at 10.30am
If you would like to come please RSVP to fggnorthtas@gmail.com
When you RSVP please clearly state who you are RSVPing for and provide names if you want to bring others, so we can have a name sticker ready for every person.
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Last month's food garden visits
On Sunday 9 November the Northern Food Garden Group visited Pam's garden at Grindelwald:
Northern members were intrigued by Pam's food garden in November. A sheltered position in a bush setting 200m downhill from the house, the garden has presented many challenges. Challenges include the wildlife, black sticking clay soil and learning from trial and error.
On Saturday 22 November the Southern Food Garden Group visited Chris and Jenny's property at Old Beach:
Situated in the rain-shadow impacted suburb of Old Beach, Beechill is well on its way to becoming a very productive food garden thanks to the hard work of Chris and Jenny.
You can read the full text and photos about this garden here.
Many thanks to Denby (North) and Laura (South) for writing up these food garden visits.
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Food garden visits planned for coming months
South - Sunday 18 January: Kellie and Nick's garden at SandflySouth - Sunday 22 February: Mandy's garden at HowrahSouth - Sunday 15 March: Jo's garden at Geilston Bay
North - Sunday 18 January: Ken and Mylene's garden at St LeonardsNorth - Sunday 8 February: John and Colleen's garden at RavenswoodNorth - Sunday 22 March: Peter and Pam's garden at Longford
A big thank you to these FGG members for being happy to host a visit!
Please be aware: dates and gardens may change! 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.
There is a maximum number of people that can attend each visit. To avoid disappointment please RSVP early in all cases. 🎄
A big thank you to these FGG members for being happy to host a visit!
Please be aware: dates and gardens may change! 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.
There is a maximum number of people that can attend each visit. To avoid disappointment please RSVP early in all cases.
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Making the best of a not-so-great summer
This Tasmanian season has so far been cool and the long-term forecast for December doesn't provide any optimism that temperatures will soon be consistently warmer. Someone told me today (26 November) that night-time soil temperatures are currently around 8 degrees Celsius. That is too low for many summer crops.
It is therefore great to have a hothouse. In my small self-built hothouse on the Eastern Shore of Hobart I am beginning to see cucumbers develop on my Lebanese Cucumber seedlings and my tomato bushes are also making great progress. I grew some capsicums from seed that I will keep in my hothouse permanently this season.
If you are looking for inspiration for building a hot house or buy yourself one of the excellent Australian-designed kits that are available (Sproutwell and Maze are brands that come to mind) you will find it in the blog posts mentioned below. In these blog posts some of those in the Food Garden Group who have a hothouse share their experiences and provide tips and advice. Check out the following posts on the Food Garden Group blog:
Thinning fruit
You may think 'Why should I? Won't the wind do the thinning for me?'. I admit that I don't like the task much either, but if your fruit trees are laden with small fruits at the moment, thinning that fruit is absolutely worth the time because:
- Thinning allows the remaining fruits to become bigger and tastier.
- If you don't thin, you may have a large crop of small fruits this season, followed by a much smaller crop next season. It is called 'biennial bearing'. Trees produce well one year, not much the next, the year after that they produce well again, and so on. Early and rigorous thinning results in more even crops over the years.
- Chances of Brown Rot taking hold are much larger if there is no space between fruits.
- The weight of too much fruit can break branches, in particular on young trees.
Below on the left is a branch in a peach tree laden with far too many small fruits. On the right is the same branch after thinning.
In addition to thinning fruit it is also a good idea to thin leaves on trees that have a dense foliage. That will provide better ventilation on warm humid days and that will keep Brown Rot away.
For more on the subject of thinning and how to go about it see Thinning Fruit: why, when and how on The Food Garden Group Blog.
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What would you like to grow this winter?
No idea? Why would you think about your winter garden when summer is around the corner?
Well, it may be hard to believe, but some winter vegetables are best sown right now! Starting on time will be the key to success. Find out more in Food Garden Group blog post Vegetables this Winter .
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Food garden activities suggested for December
- Make sure your food garden is well mulched to conserve water
- Monitor soil-moisture levels and water if needed
- Keep weeds at bay and don't allow them to go to seed
- Sow in pots iceberg-type lettuce, loose-leaf lettuce, brassicas, leek, parsley, spring onions, salad onions, tomato, capsicum, zucchini, pumpkin, cucumber, corn, celery, Chinese cabbage and Asian greens, Brussels sprouts (for harvest this coming winter)
- Sow in your garden beans, spinach, chard, silverbeet, radish, carrot, parsnip, turnip, swede, beetroot
- Plant loose-leaf lettuce, iceberg-type lettuce, chard, spinach, silver beet, celery, parsley, late potatoes, ocas, leeks and onions (after adding some lime to the soil), brassicas (provide protection against caterpillars), tomatoes, capsicums
- Remove sleeves from outside tomatoes when the weather warms up
- Put shade cloth over newly-planted seedlings to protect them from hot sun
- Hill potatoes with soil, mulch, compost to protect growing tubers from light
- Minimise damage to brassicas by caterpillars by removing them, netting or sprays
- Hand-pollinate cucurbits early in the morning
- Dig up garlic and allow it to dry before storing it in a cool well ventilated spot
- Remove flower-heads on rhubarb, so plants focus on forming leaves
- Control slugs and snails especially around beans
- Foliar-feed crops once a month with seaweed extract to maximise their health and growth
- Net all your berry bushes well before the birds begin to eat your berries
- Net your stone fruit trees
- Thin fruits on all fruit trees, so fruits become larger and branches don’t break
- Remove excess foliage on fig trees
- Remove and destroy coddling moth infested fruit on apple, pear and quince trees
- Protect apple, pear and quince trees against codling moth
- Add sulphate of potash to the soil under peach and nectarine trees (*)
- Get rid of pear and cherry slug by covering pear and cherry leaves with ash or lime
- Check peach and nectarine trees for leaf-curl and remove and destroy affected leaves
- Foliar feed fruit trees with fish fertiliser and/or seaweed extract
- Feed each citrus tree a full watering can with a tbsp of Epsom Salts + a tbsp of iron chelate (*)
- Add sulphate of potash to the soil under peach and nectarine trees (*)
Fruit trees and berries (* = don't repeat if already done recently)
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Happy food gardening,
Max Bee
FGG coordinator
To subscribe to this newsletter go to https://fggtas.wordpress.com and follow the prompts
Lots of food gardening info can be found at https://foodgardengroup.blogspot.com/
For past food garden visits, recipes and past newsletters see https://fggextra.blogspot.com/
To join our Facebook page search for Food Gardeners Tasmania and apply for membership
The Food Garden Group is affiliated with Sustainable Living Tasmania
To subscribe to this newsletter go to https://fggtas.wordpress.com and follow the prompts
Lots of food gardening info can be found at https://foodgardengroup.blogspot.com/
For past food garden visits, recipes and past newsletters see https://fggextra.blogspot.com/
To join our Facebook page search for Food Gardeners Tasmania and apply for membership
The Food Garden Group is affiliated with Sustainable Living Tasmania
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