Category: How-To
-
Ornamental Edible Gardening
Vegetable patches are wonderfully productive areas however they aren’t always as attractive as the rest of a garden. With annual plants in different stages of dying back and compost piles they may be beautiful to a gardener’s eye, but they are decidedly less so to a visiting relative or passer-by. As a result, food production…
-
Edible Ornamental Gardening
Let’s face it, vegetable patches aren’t always the most aesthetically pleasing. Yes, to a gardeners eye an abundant veggie patch is a thing of beauty, but the accompanying compost piles and dying annual plants can be decidedly less so, especially to a visiting relative or passer-by. For this reason, the humble veggie patch is often…
-
Pumpkin Vinegar
Article by Dr Druce Batstone. Recovered 3060g blitzed pulp from 3233g deseeded JAP pumpkin. Overnight with tbs of pectinase at 40C. Blitzed OK without vinegar. Seeds were 109g. Next morning, used immersion blender to breakup pulp. Extracted 2067g juice, leaving 555g solids. Hand squeezing only. Some losses + evaporation of 448g. Added 500ml of mature…
-
Ginger Shrub
Article by Dr Druce Batstone. I harvested about 3kg ginger. I wanted to make pickled ginger. I’m getting less big ginger rhizomes this year. I could only be bothered with bigger pieces for pickling. The smaller pieces were used to make shrub (cordial). Ginger Shrub1730g scraped and washed ginger.Blitzed with 0.5l rice wine vinegar. Added…
-
Green Christmas
For those wishing to celebrate Christmas with a lighter environmental impact, consumable gifts are a wonderful idea, especially for those difficult to buy for people who already have everything. Need some inspiration, why not try these wonderful gifts and decorations from recycled materials and the garden. Christmas tree ornaments made from seed pods. In this…
-
Late November in Olga’s annual veggie patch
We have been making the most of the cool, overcast weather here in Brisbane at the moment by taking the opportunity to put in a summer crop. We spent the morning digging over Olga’s annual veggie patch and planting corn, capsicum, eggplant, dwarf beans, perpetual spinach and summer lettuce. We also added a few more…
-
January Harvest in the Food Forest
What a wonderful time of year for a backyard abundance. We have local mangoes, black sapote, bunya nuts, greens by the wheelbarrow load, native mulberries, Brazilian cherries, Panama berries, macadamia nuts, pepinos, tomatoes, beans, tamarillos, lilly pillies, blueberries, Sandpaper figs, tumeric flowers, paw paws and so much more. It’s such a joyful experience to walk…
-
Unusual nutritious plants for growing in South-East Queensland.
Brisbane’s climate lends itself to a wide range of edible plants from across Asia, Africa, South America and the Pacific, including many native Australian plants. Amaranth sp. Caution: Many plants contain toxins and require specific preparation prior to consumption or are only safe to consume in limited quantities. Always confirm the identity, and the preparation…
-
Planting Guide – December and January
Annual seeds ready for Brisbane gardeners to plant directly in the ground at this time of year include: While regular lettuce, kale and spinach is bolting to seed or growing bitter, now is the perfect time to plant leafy green alternatives that will thrive over summer. These include: Lebanese cress growing in wicking boxes.
-
Where to Start?
Straight forward instructions for getting started in gardens big and small. Knowledge from real down to earth gardeners who walk the walk with busy lives and productive gardens. Anything related to establishing or maintaining your edible garden such as companion planting, native bees and the like will also be included in the list below.