Category: Edible gardens

Practical ideas for productive gardens that are beautiful, achievable and suited to families, downsizers and everyday Tasmanian lifestyles.

From coast to compost: A Tasmanian seaweed story
Heard about the benefits of using seaweed on your home garden, but not sure where to start? Why not buy a local Tasmanian product or, if adventurous, harvest your own! Here’s how …

Seaweed is one of my favourite foods to snack on, and your plants like ‘eating’ it too! There is plenty of this marine macroalgae floating around Tasmania (or used to be, but I will get to that in a moment), so it should come as no surprise that this state has several businesses built on this product.

I had the pleasure to meet Chris Russell from Kelpomix Tasmania at a marketing workshop held by the Northern Midlands Business Association this week. Chris and I got along like a house on fire; I like anyone who appreciates a good pun. If you have seen a bag of his product Kelpomix featuring not only kelp (seaweed) but also a kelpie (dog), well, you will understand what I mean! We got talking about the usefulness of seaweed on the garden, something Chris knows a thing or two about!

Me (left) speaking with Chris Russell from Kelpomix Australia about the virtues of seaweed.

Chris harvests bull kelp (Durvillaea potatorum) from Granville Harbour on Tasmania’s west coast. Chris says his business must abide by multiple regulations to ensure that bull kelp is harvested sustainably. He only harvests cast kelp as harvesting, cutting or pruning of living kelp is not permitted. Cast kelp is that seaweed which has detached from the ocean floor and washed up onto a shore. Chris estimates that less than 10 per cent of detached ‘plants’ wash ashore. This seaweed has accumulated nutrients washed out to sea, including minerals, amino acid builders and growth-promoting hormones that can benefit all plants.

At Kelpomix, Chris uses this kelp to produce a range of solid and liquid garden and farm inputs for dairy, beef, sheep, viticulture, cropping/hobby farmers and gardeners. I won’t go into all these products now; however, I will flag those that may be of interest to the home gardener – you! Kelpomix has a Garden Mulch product that is suitable for gardens and lawns and can be used as both a compost and mulch. Kelpomix’s Liquid Kelp product can be used as a soil drench and/or foliage spray. It also produces a Premium Potting Mix with added kelp.

Other Tasmanian businesses with seaweed products on the market include Seasol and Marrawah Gold. You probably have heard of Seasol. This business is now owned by DuluxGroup (Australia), the parent company of Yates, another well-known gardening brand. As far as I can find, Seasol still operates a manufacturing facility just outside Launceston. The iconic Seasol product is made from a blend of brown kelp, including bull kelp (Durvillaea potatorum) collected from King Island and Marrawah on Tasmania’s west coast, Chile bull kelp (Durvillaea antarctica), and knotted kelp (Ascophyllum nodosum) sourced from the North Atlantic. This seaweed concentrate can be applied to the foliage and soil around a range of plants at the time of transplanting and planting including ferns, indoor plants, vegies, herbs, and annuals, as well as lawns and large/stressed trees.

Marrawah Gold is a local Tasmanian seaweed product made from bull kelp harvested on this island’s north-west coast. Its ‘Lawn and Garden’ liquid product contains seaweed extract made from the stem (stipe) of this seaweed and can be sprayed on the foliage of a plant or used as a soil drench.

Bull kelp, Jeanneret Beach, Bay of Fires, Tasmania (Image: Tasmanian.Kris via Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Collect your own beach-cast seaweed!

If you are an experienced gardener, you may like to collect your own seaweed to use on your garden. You are allowed to collect beach-cast seaweed for personal use on your garden if you meet the conditions laid out by Fishing Tasmania as follows. As a recreational harvester of beach-cast seaweed, you do not require a licence if you meet the following conditions:
- Only take for private use and not for profit or commercial use.
- Only take from public access beaches or where the landholder have given permission for beach access.
- A daily limit of 100 kilograms per person per day.
- No take from Marine Nature Reserves.
- No take any seaweed that is in the water or attached to the seabed.
A tip from me … Bull kelp is quite thick, so unless shredded, it may take some time to break down in a home compost if that system is not ‘hot’. If you want seaweed that will decompose more quickly, then take the finer ‘leaved’ species that you find on the beach.

How to use beach-cast seaweed on your garden

Angus Stewart, former Gardening Australia presenter on ABC TV, is a more recently arrived Tasmanian who has written about using seaweed in the garden. Angus is a very experienced plant breeder so he knows his plant science! He says that seaweed extracts condition the soil with humus and supply small but useful quantities of nutrient as well. That is, seaweed extracts are not complete fertilisers but still very useful in your garden as they contain useful plant hormones and can increase root development. The latter reason is why liquid seaweed extracts are applied to seedlings when transplanting them from their pots into a garden. If you want to know more about the science behind seaweed’s utility in the garden, check out Angus’ article ‘Using seaweed products in the garden‘ on his Gardening with Angus website.

Angus recommends washing seaweed clean of salt before adding it to your soil or compost heap, and to chop it up with a spade to hasten its decomposition. Whilst I must point out that the 20kg bag limit Angus mentions in this article is not applicable here in Tasmania (see above), I would still encourage you not to take more than you need. When speaking with Chris from Kelpomix, we both lamented the reduction in the bull kelp population along the east coast of Tasmania due to warming waters which are resulting in lower levels of nutrients and increased salinity, not to mention the arrival of the ravenous long-spined sea urchin which feasts on this algae. Whilst that is a story for another day, it is also a very important reminder to only take what we need.

Why not eat some yourself?

Why not feed yourself at the same time as feeding your garden? If you are at the beach planning to harvest some beach-cast seaweed for your garden, then consider collecting some for your kitchen too.

In 2023, Rees Campbell, aka the Feisty Tasmanian, wrote and published The Seaweed Supplement to complement her book, Eat More Wild Tasmanian. This publication is a very handy and informative guide to the who, what and how of edible seaweeds cast on Tasmanian beaches. Rees provides some very helpful advice on how to collect seaweed safely, along with some tips on how to use it in the kitchen. For example, bull kelp (palawa kani: rikawa) can be barbecued, its laminae (flat, leaf-like parts) cut up and cooked into stews as a vegetable, or cooked to a pulp and added to dishes. Rees says this seaweed is great in a kelp chutney.

Ludovic and I have collected seaweed from Tassie’s north coast in the recent past to incorporate into our compost. We love doing this as it also means a trip to the beach; although trying to save fuel, we only ever really do this when we have another reason to visit the coast. That is not as often as we would like! So this weekend, I am going to do something a little different and pay a visit to my local hardware store (the one that does not start with ‘B’). I will buy myself some Kelpomix to trial on our garden, thereby supporting a local business. Why not consider doing the same? Or if you are lucky enough to live near the coast, why not harvest your own beach-cast seaweed. The seaweed you gather will improve your garden, and the time spent in nature will benefit your mental and physical health and well-being. Enjoy!

À bientôt!

Disclaimer: I mention a few businesses and products in this blog, but just so you know—I am not affiliated with any of them, and I am not being paid or sponsored to promote anything. I am simply sharing what I have found useful or interesting in my own experience.

#seaweed #sea #algae #kelp #nature #garden #gardening #gardenideas #gardeninspo #tasmania #northerntasmania #landscapedesign #landscapedesigner #gardendesign #gardendesigner
09/05/2025
Blackwood’s Secret Life: From gourmet ingredient to bushfire buffer

What other tree can give you as much value in a public landscape, rural property or private garden as a blackwood? Acacia melanoxylon provides edible, ornamental, environmental and agricultural benefits to those people who choose to grow it. Could that be you?

Seen below is, not an eye, rather the seed of a blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) around which is wrapped a reddish-coloured aril, a type of elaisome. Bet you didn’t think you were getting a botany lesson today! Elaiosomes are nutrient-rich structures attached to the seeds of certain plants, including acacias, composed of lipids, proteins, and sugars and serves as an attractant. The aril on a blackwood seed entices birds to eat the seed, thus facilitating its dispersal to new locations through their droppings.

The red aril wrapped around this Acacia melanoxylon seed provides a tasty treat for birds, thus aiding in its distribution (Image: Ludovic Vilbert, Inwardout Studio).

Whilst humans don’t eat the aril, we can eat the seed after roasting. Blackwood seed can be harvested and roasted, and used in a variety of dishes after crushing and roasting. Rees Campbell outlines how to collect and cook this seed in her book, Eat More Wild Tasmanian. If you are interested in exploring this further, I highly recommend you get yourself a copy of this book or at least follow Rees on her Feisty Tasmanian page on Facebook. That is her area of expertise, not mine. I usually leave the cooking in our home to Ludovic, so that is all I will see on the edible aspects of acacia for the moment. However, I do have a couple of things to share about the use of this tree in the garden more generally. Firstly though, let’s explore its distribution and growing requirements.

Acacia melanoxylon belongs to the Fabaceae (Legume/Pea/Bean family). The name melanoxylon means black wood, thus its common name – backwood. This species is sometimes referred to as Hickory, Sally Wattle and Mudgerabah on the Australian mainland. In Tasmania, the palawa kani word for this plant is rriyalimana (Campbell, 2022). Koories called it by various names, including Mootchung, and Burn-na-look.

Blackwood has a widespread distribution, from northern Queensland to southern Tasmania, and at altitudes from sea level to 1250-1500m. It is common from as far north as Atherton Tableland in Queensland, along the highlands of New South Wales and Victoria into Tasmania. It occurs again in Mt Lofty Ranges region of South Australia. In Victoria, it is found particularly in the Otway Ranges and Gippsland districts. However, the trees providing this timber grow best in Tasmania, where it occurs throughout native forests from sea level to 1000m in elevation but it really thrives in swamp and riverine areas.

If you are looking to grow blackwood, here is a summary of its usual growing conditions and environmental tolerances:

Rainfall – Grows in areas with a mean annual rainfall of between 705 – 1500mm. Very common on a variety of sites where annual rainfall exceeds 600mm (including basalt plains of Western Victoria).

Climate – Preferred conditions are sheltered sites in cool and warm humid climatic zones, with a high annual rainfall (900mm). It will grow in climates with a mean hottest month between 23-36°C, and the coldest month between 1-10°C, other conditions permitting of course. It will tolerate 1- 40 frosts a year.

Soil – On clayey and basalt soils. Grows well on fertile soils (krasnozems, acid brown earths, alluvial and brown loams), intermediate sites (red or yellow podzols and gley soils) and dry sites (red brown earths). For good results, a pH of 6-6.5 should be maintained.

In Tasmania, blackwood is a large erect tree growing up to 30 metres tall (Launceston Field Naturalists Club, 2019). However, it can grow up to 50 metres in height in the blackwood swamps of the north west, but is usally shorter in the understorey of wet eucaltypt forests and a shrub in drier habitats (Wiltshire & Jordan, 2018).

In large enough spaces, and in the right climate and soils, I like to include blackwoods in our landscape and garden designs. Once mature, and with a little uplifting of the lower branches, this species can make a very attractive evergreen shade tree. It has such a beautiful form.

Acacia melanoxylon seen by Baxters Road, at the Pipers River Boardwalk carpark in Tasmania’s north-east (Image: cowirrie via iNaturalist, CC0).

Blackwoods are also reputed to be fire retardant plants, i.e. plants that will not burn in the first wave of a bushfire, but may burn once dried out (Marriott, n.d.). In our designs, I do not place blackwood in the Building Protection Zone (BPZ) immediately adjacent to the house, i.e. the defendable space in the event of a bushfire; rather in the Fuel Modified Zone (FMZ). This outer zone sits between the BPZ and unmanaged vegetation beyond the defendable space. Vegetation in this zone is managed to a more moderate level to substantially decrease the fround fuel and restrict the fuels available to an approaching bushfire.

In addition to slowing down bushfires, blackwood provides excellent value as a windbreak and shelter for animals. Unlike eucalypts, blackwood allows pasture growth up to its trunk and so is a preferred livestock shade tree by landowners. Blackwood is also used extensively in agroforestry. Its timber is highly prized as one of the best cabinet and furniture woods in the world. It lives in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria Rhizobium and this, particularly in arid areas, substantially augments the soil nitrogen available for other plants of the community. And I have only just touched upon its habitat values and now aesthetic appeal! Consider its beautiful flowers which generally appear in late winter to the middle of spring (August to October) here in Tasmania and dark, leathery phyllodes, which are modified leaf stems fulfilling a similar function to leaves in regards to plant photosynthesis.

Blackwood flowers are yellow, fluffy spherical heads; and its ‘leaves’ are technically phyllodes, modified leaf stalks that function like leaves (Image: cowirrie via iNaturalist, CC0)

What’s not to like about blackwood? If you have a rural property or a very large suburban block, I really would encourage you to grow one (or several), if your site conditions allow of course.

If you would like to know more about how you might include this magnificent plant in your garden or rural property, please reach out to me at gabrielle@inwardoutstudio.com. But for now, I will bid you goodnight …

A bientot!

References

Campbell, R. (2022). Eat More Wild Tasmanian. Fullers Publishing.

Launceston Field Naturalists Club. (2019). A guide to flowers and plants of Tasmania. Reed New Holland Publishers.

Marriott, N. (n.d.). Fire resistant and retardant plants. Australian Plants Society (Victoria). Retrieved February 7, 2025, from https://apsvic.org.au/fire-resistant-and-retardant-plants/

Wiltshire, R. & Jordan, G. (2018). TreeFlip. University of Tasmania.

#acacia #acaciatree #wattle #biodiversity #edibleplants #nativeplants #fireretardant #windbreak #landscapedesign #landscapedesigner #gardendesign #gardendesigner #tasmania #northerntasmania

07/02/2025
Daisies in disguise

When is a daisy not a daisy? You may be surprised by the answer!

Usually we associate the term ‘daisy’ with summer-flowering plants used in an ornamental garden. However, there are many edible ‘daisies’. Well, to be correct, there are many edible members of the Asteraceae (Daisy family) such as lettuce (Lactuca sp.), yes lettuce! Two other edible ‘daisies in disguise’ include the globe and the Jerusalem artichokes.

Globe artichoke

The spectacular globe artichoke (Cyanara cardunculus var. scolymus) show below is a perennial thistle-like plant grown for its edible flower buds, specifically the fleshy base (heart) and leaves (bracts). We love to steam the heart and bracts gently, then serve with a lemon and garlic sauce and salt for dipping. The simple pleasures in life!

We didn’t get around to harvesting this particular individual in time to eat it (summer holidays and all that), receiving a fantastic floral display instead. When an artichoke matures and is left to flower, its tightly packed bracts (the edible part) open up to reveal the vibrant purple florets. These florets are attractive to pollinators such as bees and butterflies. However, unfortunately for us, this flowering means that the artichoke is no longer suitable for eating, as the bracts and heart become tough and fibrous once the plant has flowered.

This globe artichoke was left to flower in our garden.

There are many varieties of globe artichokes available, varying in plant and bud size and bud colour. These large, architectural perennials can grow up to 1.5m tall and 1m wide, and they possess large, silvery grey-green leaves. A very ornamental addition to an edible garden!

Jerusalem artichoke

The terms globe artichoke and artichoke often refer to the same plant. The ‘globe artichoke’ specifically refers to the Cynara species with edible flower buds, while ‘artichoke’ can either be shorthand for globe artichoke or refer to other unrelated plants , including one that can be planted in your edible garden, although with caution!

The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) is a completely different plant to the globe artichoke. Whilst both ‘artichokes’ belong to the Daisy family and are perennial plants, the Jerusalem artichoke is more closely related to sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) and puts on a very floriferous display in the garden. This ‘artichoke’ is grown for its edible tubers which have a nutty and sweet taste. However, when harvesting those tasty tubers, many small tubers can be remain in the soil. Tubers left in the ground, whether intentionally or unintentionally, are likely to sprout again in spring, making it challenging to remove artichokes permanently from a particular location if they are no longer desired.

The flower of the Jerusalem artichoke brightens up this garden (Image: Wilder Kaiser via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).

To cultivate Jerusalem artichoke without them becoming a pest in your garden beds, then I highly recommend the advice of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) here: How to grow Jerusalem artichokes. Do note however, that the planting and harvesting months provided by the RHS are for gardeners in the northern hemisphere, only understandable given it is a UK institution!

If you need more advice about selecting which variety of globe or Jerusalem artichoke to grow, or how to cultivate it in your garden, speak to your local nursery or garden centre. Or ask a friend who has grown them before, especially if their garden has similar climatic conditions. Avoid the big box stores … this is not generally their area of expertise!

A bientôt!

#artichoke #artichokes #food #garden #ediblegarden #kitchengarden #growyourown #ornamentalgarden #ornamentalplants #flowers #sustainablegardening #garden #gardeninspiration #gardendesign #landscape #landscapedesign #tasmania #northerntasmania

28/01/2025
Tasmanian plants to tickle your tastebuds

Do I need to convince you that Tasmanian native plants not only look good, but many of them taste great as well? Well do not just take my word: Trust the Feisty Tasmanian!

We took a little road trip not too long ago to Tasmania’s northern coast to visit Murnong, the garden of Rees and Col Campbell in Wynyard. This is not just any suburban garden. It is chockful of edible native plants from Tasmania. Rees is also known as ‘The Feisty Tasmanian’ and she shares a passion for edible native plants with her husband, Col. Rees and Col want to show people that Tasmanian plants look good, taste great and increase biodiversity. And Rees and Col do just that in their home garden and in Rees’ book, Eat Wild Tasmanian.

Murnong shows you how beautiful native plants can be in a suburban garden

We were lucky enough to have a personal tour of Murnong with Rees and Col followed by a delicious lunch. Ludovic and I were both very taken with this garden. Ludovic made a list of the plants that caught his eye from this garden that he wants to grow, so I have shared them with you below. You will have to read a little longer to get to those plants that I am itching to grow (and eat!).

Ludovic’s list of favourite native edible plants

Apium prostratum

(Creeping Sea-Celery or Sea Parsley)

Ludovic loves parsley, so it is not surprising that he was attracted to this plant given it is a member of the same family, Apiaceae. This prostrate coastal plant spreads to 1m with finely divided leaves and small pink-white flowers. It prefers dry-well-drained conditions. Give it too much water and the roots will rot. Enjoy Sea Parsley as a garnish on stews, in salads or deep-fried. Consider it as a substitute for parsley when making your next batch of garlic bread.

Apium prostratum (Creeping Sea-Celery or Sea Parsley)

Atriplex cinerea

(Grey Saltbush)

Rees prepared us some Saltbush Tempura for lunch using this plant. This dish was very more-ish, made even more so served with some of her homemade preserves featuring ingredients such as Solanum laciniatum (Kangaroo Apple). This bushy shrub grows to 1-2 metres, possessing silvery-grey, fire retardant succulent foliage. You will find it growing on well drained sites among rocks or in grassy places on the sea shore. Grey Saltbush is high in salt, hence its common name, so consume in small quantities unless cooked by boiling. Great fried!

Atriplex cinerea (Grey Saltbush)

Baeckea gunniana

(Alpine Heathmyrtle or Mountain Baeckea)

Ludovic was very taken by scent of the following plants in this list, including this Mountain Baeckea. The tiny grey-brown, heath-like leaves of this spreading alpine shrub (~ 0.3m x 1m) have a pleasant tea-tree smell when crushed. Small white flowers bloom in summer. Mountain Baeckea prefers a cool, moist, well drained, sunny position and it makes a good rockery plant. Its leaves can be used in all sorts of sweet and savoury dishes. Dried or fresh leaves can be used to make tea.

Baeckea gunniana (Alpine Heathmyrtle) © Greg Jordan, UTAS

Boronia citriodora

(Lemon-scented Citriodora)

The leaves of this low growing alpine shrub are strongly lemon-scented when crushed. Rees says this grows well in gardens at all elevations, although it requires some protection at sea level. It will grow to around 50cm high. Pink flowers in spring. Lemon-scented Citriodora prefers a cool, moist but sunny position, and it is another good rockery plant. Its leaves can be used in flavouring or as garnish.

I love anything lemon-scented, so I can’t wait to see how Ludovic will use this in the kitchen. Although first I will have to get my hands on a seedling to plant in the garden.

Boronia citriodora (Lemon-scented Citriodora)

Kunzea ambigua

(White Kunzea)

A real stunner in the garden! The flowers of this tall shrub are strongly honey-scented. There are several forms available in nurseries including the following. Both prefer a well-drained sunny position and will tolerate coastal exposure, producing small, scented white flowers in Spring:

Kunzea ambigua (White Kunzea)

Sweet Scented Kunzea

This shrub can grow to 3m high, forming a good screen.

Spreading Sweet Scented Kunzea

This low growing shrub spreads to around 2m and makes a good groundcover plant.

Use the dried or fresh leaves of either to make tea, flavour roasts or stews. Their flowers are also edible.

Olearia axillaris

(Coast Daisybush)

Olearia axillaris is a erect native coastal shrub from the north-east which grows to about 1.5 m high. The Coast Daisybush has silvery-grey foliage and white daisy flowers in Spring. The flower heads can be found in the axils of the leaves, hence its specific epithet ‘axillaris’. The leaves can be used to replace rosemary. This plant is suited to drier or coastal gardens. So, while Ludovic was taken with its scent, we will not be growing it any time soon here in Liffey!

Olearia axillaris (Coast Daisybush)

Prostanthera cuneata

(Alpine Mint-bush)

This compact, dense shrub to 1m high is now considered extinct from Tasmania, although it remains on the mainland where it is in cultivation. This floriferous plant makes it a stunning specimen and I highly recommend it in your garden for its aesthetic values alone.

Prostanthera cuneata (Alpine Mint-bush)

If you are after a mint bush that still grows naturally here in Tasmania, consider Prostanthera rotundifolia (Round Leaved Mint Bush). This is an aromatic, fast growing shrub (~2m x 2m). The Round Leaved Mint Bush produces masses of mauve flowers in Spring, so it looks and smells great. It prefers a well-drained, sunny position and is an excellent shrubbery and screening plant. Use the fresh, young leaves in place of introduced mint for flavouring, e.g. tea, cooking or garnishes.

My favourites?

Barbarea australis

(Riverbed Wintercress or Austral Wintercress)

I love my green leafy vegetables and this brassica (member of the Mustard family) is no exception! According to Rees, this is a rare and endangered brassica endemic to Tasmania that grows along the banks of only a few rivers. This dwarf herb grows to about 45cm high x 30cm wide, preferring a moist, sunny location in the garden or container. Its tasty, pungent leaves can be eaten raw in salads, or steamed, stir-fried or treated as you would any other brassica.

Barbarea australis (Austral Wintercress)

Billardieria longiflora

(Purple Appleberry or Climbing Blueberry)

I was delighted to recently find the Purple Appleberry growing on the bush block where we live, although it was growing just a little too high for me to reach its edible fruit without help. This woody, twining climber can reach 3-4m high. Its bird-attracting tubular, creamy-green flowers appear in spring, followed by bright purple berries. The Purple Appleberry prefers a semi-shaded well drained position. It is a great plant in shrubberies and on structures. I recently specified this plant to screen a fence in the Westbury Hemp House garden. Its edible fruit can be eaten raw or cooked in jams and preserves

Billardiera longiflora (Purple Appleberry) © Greg Jordan, UTAS

Rubus parvifolius

(Native Raspberry)

I also specified the Native Raspberry for use in the Westbury Hemp House Garden, against a fence facing almost due North. It is a rambling, prickly shrub to 1-1.5 m high. It has the most beautiful small pink flowers appearing in Spring followed by edible red fruits. However, its small, hooked thorns can make collecting its fruit a little difficult. This raspberry needs moist, well-drained soil and ample sunlight. The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, and its leaves can be used in tea.

Rubus parvifolius (Native Raspberry)

Other native edible plants

The plants listed above are only a few of the many Tasmanian native plants that have edible parts. If you would like to learn about other edible native plants in this state, check out the following resources.

An updated version of Rees’ book Eat Wild Tasmanian will be available for sale in early 2022. Rees’ book includes many edible native plants, including cultural, landscape and usage information, as well as some inspiring recipes. Come along and see Rees at the Tasmanian Garlic & Tomato Festival on Sunday 20 March 2022.

While you are waiting to get your hands on a copy of Rees’ book, download yourself a copy of the Edible Native Plants of Tasmania PDF, produced by NRM North. This guide includes a list of over 50 edible plants native to this state, and shares details on which parts of the plant can be used, and how to prepare and use them. An excellent resource!

Where to buy your native plants?

To get you started, here are a couple of Tasmania’s most well-known and respected native plant nurseries. This is not an exhaustive list. However, I have selected these nurseries to include as they provide credible advice and two of them are retailers so they are used to dealing with the ‘general public’, i.e. do not expect you to be experts already.

South Tasmania

Plants of Tasmania Nursery

Another great native plant nursery located in Ridgeway on the outskirts of hilly Hobart.

Wildseed Tasmania

If you like to grow your plants from seed, check out Wildseed Tasmania’s extensive range.

North Tasmania

Habitat Plants

Run by Sally and Herbert Staubmann, Habitat Plants is one of Tasmania’s best native plants nursery (and they just happen to be our neighbours, lucky us!) I spoke with Sally some time ago asking for her recommendations for easy to grow edible native plants.

Sally’s top three easy to grow edible native plants are Barbarea australis, Tasmannia lanceolata and Mentha australis. Well, you already know about Barbarea australis, Austral Wintercress. Now let me tell you a little more about the other two.

Tasmannia lanceolata

(Mountain Pepper)

The Mountain Pepper is perhaps one of the better-known Tasmanian native plants. You can find this dense, understorey shrub growing to around 3 m in wet forests (and on the bush block where we live). Therefore is is not surprising that it needs a moist, well drained, semi-shaded position in your garden. This pepper has striking, dark-green leaves, red stems and creamy yellow flowers appearing in Spring. The Mountain Pepper is dioecious, meaning it the female and male flowers occur on separate plants. You therefore need to have both a female and a male plant to produce its edible, black fruit. Recommended as a good specimen shrub, it can be touchy. Both the fruit and leaves can be used in flavouring. Rees claims that its pepper flavour is several times the heat of ‘normal’ pepper, and that it has even been sent to Japan to flavour wasabi!

Tasmannia lanceolata (Mountain Pepper)

Mentha australis

(River Mint)

The River Mint is a perennial herb with aromatic leaves that grows naturally only along a few rivers in Tasmania. It prefers moist conditions, in which it spreads rapidly, but can be grown as a more restrained plant in drier conditions. River Mint has small white to lilac flowers in spring/summer.

Rees and Col gave us a small River Mint plant to take home. Its highly aromatic leaves make a great substitute for introduced mint.

I have planted this mint in a pot outdoors protected from the local wildlife. Like any mint, you really don’t want it escaping.

Mentha australis (River Mint) © Greg Jordan, UTAS

I am guessing that this is only the first of many native plants that we will be planting in the near future. Ludovic has his list as you have already seen, so I better get stuck into sourcing those first. Stay tuned for more details.

In the meantime, get out there and get gardening!

A bientôt!

References

Campbell, Rees 2017, Eat Wild Tasmanian, Fullers Publishing, Hobart

Habitat Plants 2021, Catalogue, January 2021, viewed 30 November 2021, https://habitatplants.com.au/hpwp/wp-content/uploads/Catalogue21-4.pdf

NRM North n.d., Edible Native Plants of Tasmania, viewed 30 November 2021, https://www.habitatplants.com.au/hpwp/wp-content/uploads/Tas-Edible-Native-Plants.pdf

University of Tasmania 2019, Key to Tasmanian Vascular Plants, viewed 30 November 2021, https://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/key.htm

#bushtucker #sustainableliving #growyourown #growwhatyoueat #growyourownfood #growyourownveggies #vegetables #veggiegarden #vegetablegarden #kitchengarden #ediblegarden #gardening #gardendesign #gardendesigner #landscapedesign #landscapedesigner #tasmania

10/12/2021
What’s in the box?
Do not worry, this is Gabrielle’s (not Pandora’s) box. If you are interested in growing your own vegies, then you may want to take a peek inside.

By now, most of you have probably cottoned on that this is indeed a box for storing seed. Until recently, I have been storing our seeds in an old food safe in a cool, dry place in the house. This arrangement has worked quite well until now, with the seeds seemingly remaining viable. However, it was getting a little messy in this safe and hard to find the seeds I wanted, when I wanted them. I wanted to come up with a better way to organise my seeds that did not rely on tying a rubber band around groups of seed ordered by seasonal sowing recommendations.

So, Ludovic and I came up with a little design for a seed storage box. Ludovic sketched various designs until I was happy. He is very patient!

Dimensions of our seed storage box

During this conceptual phase, we also had to decide on which materials we would use. Eventually, we settled on plywood.

We used plywood to construct this seed box

Then we got to the task. You can see me below starting to marking out the different sections of the seed storage box that we needed to cut. I did a little bit of the grunt work, but then got distracted on other tasks, so it was left to Ludovic to finish the box off.

Me getting busy marking out the dimensions of the seed box

Et voila! This is the beautiful little creation that Ludovic completed. Ludovic added the hinges to enable the lids to be lifted off without removing them fully. He also included two little straps, one on each lid, to help open them more easily. The observant among you may notice that the lids open upwards, rather than outwards. There is a reason for that, as you will shortly find out.

Voila! The completed seed storage box

Here is a peek into our seed storage box. I have temporarily created dividers with recycled paper. However, I will create something more permanent over time. You can seed a list of each seed type inside the seed box and its likely sowing time. The list continues on the other lid. You may be able to see that I have put those seeds that can be pretty much sown at any time of the year here in my part of Tasmania at the top of the list. For the sowing method, ‘d’= Direct (in the ground) and ‘p’ = Punnet (or whatever container may suit that purpose). I may simplify this list even more over time, but for now I am giving it a go.

I have grouped seeds into the following categories. However, we are all different and think about edible plants differently depending on how we use them. So, feel free to come up with your own method of sorting your seeds:
- Asian greens
- Beans
- Beetroot
- Brassicas
- Carrots
- Chillies
- Cucumbers
- Flowers
- Herbs
- Leafy greens
- Onions
- Pumpkins
- Radishes
- Salad
- Swedes
- Tomatoes
- Zucchinis
Some of you may prefer to use common names. Me, well I have my own style!

Another thing I did was to write a little code for each category. Can you see the ‘FO’ written on the Asian Greens marker? Well that reminds me that we mostly eat the leaves of Asian Greens, so they can be considered as a foliage (FO) crop for the purposes of crop rotation as follows:
1. Legumes (LE)
2. Foliage (FO)
3. Fruit (FRU)
4. Root (RO)
5. Green manure/Fallow – No code for that one. Although I do have some green manure seeds somewhere. Must find them!
LE – FO – FRU – RO … my new mnemonic for remembering crop rotation.

I struggle with remembering information at the best of times. So I am always trying to find useful mnemonics to help me. If you have any gardening mnemonics that you think may help me, feel free to share them with us on our Facebook page.

My next task is to make a database into which I will transfer my plant list from the Excel spreadsheet it is currently kept in. That will make it more easy for me to record information on the plants that we are currently growing, would like to grow, would like to use in our landscape design or just like want to know about them. Currently, I have over 1,000 plants listed in this spreadsheet, so it is getting a little unwieldy.

As for finding the time to do this, there are other tasks that require our attention. Like starting off those seeds, planting them out and tending to them. Hold on though, I am getting a little ahead of myself. There are three garden beds currently in a half-state of preparation that need a little love before this can happen, as you can see in the picture below.

We are busy preparing 3 new beds in the enclosure to plant out our seeds

So on that note, I will leave the writing for now and head outside to make hay while the sun shines … or something like that!

A bientôt!

#seed #seeds #seedbox #plants #garden #gardening #growyourown #growyourownfood #vegetablegarden #veggiegarden #gardendesign #landscapedesign #tasmania
10/09/2021
Enhancing the greenhouse effect

We recently built a mini greenhouse to fit on our balcony so that we could get a head start on our summer seedlings.

Every construction or woodwork project can be thought of as an architectural project, no matter how big or small. I like to use SketchUp to plan my project. SketchUp is a 3D modeling computer program for drawing applications including architectural, interior design, landscape architecture, civil and mechanical engineering, film and video game design. I can draw the project to scale and estimate the materials required.

Below you can see how I have used SketchUp to develop a design for a mini greenhouse to fit on our north-facing balcony.

Concept for our new mini-greenhouse modelled in SketchUp

After purchasing the materials, I used this sketch to start building the mini greenhouse.

I used 35×70 sections of untreated, non-structural pine certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for the frame. After cutting the pieces to size, I stained the timber to fit the aged style of the existing house, and then sealed it with a coat of varnish.

I then started to assemble the frame using batten screws to have a solid frame, and added the polycarbonate sheet to the front.

I did not plan the door until the end of the project. I decided to use a good old palette we had in the yard.

I then covered the rest of the frame and the doors with builder’s plastic and fastened it with staples to the frame. The tip here is to use low force on the staple and to put two staples on top of each other to form a cross to avoid the plastic ripping apart.

In case it gets too hot inside the mini greenhouse (and it will!), I made it possible to slide both panels on top of the greenhouse to allow hot air to escape. Note though that the middle part is fixed. I used the same railing system sold with the polycarbonate panels and fixed them with small screws. You can see below that the thermometer inside indicates that the internal temperature of the greenhouse was 23 degrees (Celsius) on the day this photo was taken, whilst outside the temperature was only 8 degrees. Even on a cold day, the power of the sun can be harnessed.

That’s it, here the final result. We have put in our first batch of seedlings and cannot wait until we can transfer our tomato and other summer vegie seedlings from our heat pad set up indoors to this mini greenhouse. But more on that later. In the meantime, we cannot wait for the end of winter so we can get these seedlings into the ground.

I hope this may inspire you to create your own mini greenhouse. If you have any questions or photos of your own greenhouse projects, feel free to share them with us on Facebook.

#greenhouse #plants #garden #gardening #gardeners #gardenlife #gardeninglife #growyourown #growyourownfood #homegrown #vegetablegarden #woodwork #woodworking #tasmania #northerntasmania

20/08/2021
The cherry on top!

Whilst the tomato season has been pretty ‘lame’, we made one surprise edible discovery this week that put a smile on our faces.

Whilst taking our post-lunch walk around the dam one work day last week, Ludovic came across a small, red fruit on the ground and told me that he had found a ‘berry’. Taking a closer look, I realised that it was a fruit along with its swollen pedicel that had fallen from a nearby Native Cherry (Exocarpos cupressiformis).

Upon this discovery I decided that we should skip work, well at least for 30 minutes, and visit one of the more accessible Native Cherries on the block to see if it too had these edible treats on it. And it did!

Ludovic picking ‘fruit’ from the Native Cherry (Exocarpos cupressiformis)

This hemi-parasitic plant is notoriously difficult to propagate as it needs a host to support it. Luckily though, there are plenty of these trees on the bush block where we live. However, trying to access the ‘fruit’ is the tricky part. You really need to be a cockatoo to get to the higher branches. They are known to enjoy this delicious snack. Luckily we were able to beat them to it this time.

The ‘fruit’ is easy enough to pick when it is on the lowest branches

The fruit is actually a small hard, green nut. The edible part of this plant is not the fruit itself, but the swollen red pedicel (stalk) attaching the fruit to the plant. Both come of rather easily from the tree.

Ludovic holds the swollen pedicel (red) which attached the fruit (small, green) to the plant. The pedicle is the edible part.

The swollen pedicles are best eaten fresh as a snack. Ludovic is thinking of making a jam combining the Native Cherry and the Native Currants we harvested last weekend. There will be a bit of work involved removing the fruit from the pedicels to get enough yumminess to do this. Stay tuned to see how he goes!

A small harvest from the Native Cherry this time

In the meantime, if you are interested in knowing what edible species you may find on the Apple Isle, check out NRM North’s Edible Native Plants of Tasmania. This handy guide is a visual reference and includes a list of nurseries who grow and stock these plants.

A bientôt!

#localproduce #bushtucker #nativeplants #ediblenativeplants #northerntasmania #tasmania #gardening

26/02/2021
Late bloomers

If you have been wondering what has happened to your tomato crop this year, you are not alone! I have heard many anecdotes that the tomato harvest has been poor both here in Tasmania and on the mainland. Our story is no different. However, we have had a little glimmer of hope this week

Tomato, tomato? Wherefore art thou?

You can see a lot of leafy growth here. Perhaps I have overdone the nitrogenous fertiliser. I pruned these plants quite hard last weekend to open them up. But where are the tomatoes? There are flowers, but I would hardly describe these plants as floriferous. I really should have applied some potash to help out here. You have to get done on your hands and knees to see any fruit.

There they are! Those ripe tomatoes will not hide from me any longer

We grow cool climate tomato varieties as most of you probably do here in Tasmania. The first plant this season to produce ripe fruit is a variety called ‘Stupice’. My neighbours gave me a plant a couple of years ago, telling me that it is a reliable cropper for them. One of the best gardening tips I can give to you is that if you want to know what you can grow in your garden, find out what is growing well in your neighbours’ gardens. Of course, there will always be some differences between gardens, e.g. building overshadowing a patch. However, this is a pretty good rule of thumb. So, I am not surprised that this potato-leafed tomato was the first to ripen this year.

Stupice: You little beauty! And the Thai Basil flower in the background is pretty good too

That said, as of Sunday, 21 February April, our tomato harvest stood at 2 tomatoes weighing a total of 52 grams.

I am optimistic we will harvest more tomatoes. Not sure how many though!

The season’s weather has been all over the shop, excuse the vernacular. There has been a lot of rainfall recently but in huge downpours rather than gentle showers. In the last fortnight, we have had two rainfall events, one equalling 84 mls in less than 12 hours, and the other 54 mls in a similar time period. Daily temperatures have been uneven also.

According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, daytime temperatures over 32 degrees C and/or night-time temperatures below 12 degrees C will diminish pollination in tomatoes. High humidity creates sticky pollen which does not transfer well. We have had wonderful warm weather this weekend. However, it does not look like these conditions will last long, looking at the Bureau of Meteorology’s MetEye local forecast app. MetEye provides detailed 7-day wind, wave, rain, and weather forecast maps for boating and farming for all locations across Australia. This is a wonderful tool. If you don’t already use it, get onto it.

Anyway, summer in Liffey appears to have been a sporadic event this year.

Where is summer?

I am not going to wipe off the 2020 harvest yet! Last year, we picked tomatoes up until mid-April. And there are tomatoes on our plants. However, those bottles we have washed and ready for sauces will have to wait a lot longer by the looks of it.

How is your tomato crop going this season? Share your stories with us on Facebook.

If you want to know why your tomato plants performed differently this year, come along to the Tasmanian Garlic and Tomato Festival in Selbourne on Sunday 21 March 2021. Annette and Nevil Reed from Tasmanian Natural Garlic and Tomatoes will be conducting tours of their farm, talking about how this season went along the way. Nevil will also be one of our guest speakers at the Q&A Panel, along with Tino Carnevale from ABC TV’s Gardening Australia and Rees Campbell, author of Eat Wild Tasmanian.

I hope to see you there.

A bientôt!

#gardening #tomatoes #tasmania #tasmaniangarlicandtomatofestival #localproduce

24/02/2021
‘Currant’ flavour of the month

Sometimes the best plants are those that you do not have to grow yourself!

Living on a bush block in northern Tasmanian, we are lucky to be surrounded by native plants, including some edible species. Take the Prickly Currant Bush (Coprosma quadrifida) for example. This plant is one of several edible coprosma species in Tasmania. Luckily for us, it is growing abundantly where we live and is currently fruiting. So, I decided to set out on a little harvesting expedition yesterday.

Whilst out harvesting, I only wanted to find the female Prickly Currant Bushes. This species is dioecious. Put simply, that means that these bushes either have only female flowers or only male flowers, i.e. different sexes. Given I wanted to find fruit, I needed to find female plants. And I want to know where they are for next year too. The block we live on is 70 acres so you can get lost if you don’t know where you are going. So, I decided to take along a GPS to record the locations of the female plants, i.e. those I picked the currants from.

Here I am recording this female plant as a Waypoint on a GPS so I can find it next time

I was fairly prepared for this task, or so I thought. I had a sunhat on, a big pot strapped around my waist for fruit to fall into (not attractive, but very practical), and gloves to protect me as I picked the fruit. It’s not called the Prickly Currant Bush for nothing!

Readers: There was one thing that I forgot to consider. Can you think what that was? (Answer below this image).

Harvesting the currants. Gloves are a must! And long sleeves too as I have now learnt. It is not called Prickly Currant Bush by some for no reason!

Yes, a long-sleeved shirt!

I ended up with a few scratches on my arms. Nothing major. However, I also saw lots of little spiders and other insects. Next time, I will wear long sleeves. It also pays to pay attention to where you are walking. Snakes are out and about at the moment, so if you want to go out harvesting these currants, make sure you are safe. If you have gators, wear them.

Cleaning the currants – first stage

Back at the house, I then had to clean the currants. The first layer of inedible debris came off quite easily by allowing it to float to the top of a container in which the currants were soaked in water. Obviously this matter was lighter than the currants. Yep, a free science lesson as I am that way inclined today! In the end I resorted to sorting other flotsam and jetsam by hand as it did not want to separate out easily in the water. For example, immature/unripe fruit. That took a little time, but the final result was worth it.

All 759 grams of currants!

All that work and only 759 grams harvested! We will just have to savour the flavour 🙂

This small harvest may not seem like a big deal. However, I am stoked that we were able to find so many currants so close to home. I only ventured 200 metres from the house. There are many more plants around, so I think I will go out next weekend too. However, I will remember to leave some fruit on each plant for the wildlife to enjoy.

Native currants ready to eat!

Now what to do with these currants? Rees Campbell, local author aka The Feisty Tasmanian, has a recipe for Bush Berry Pie on page 131 of Eat Wild Tasmanian. I might adapt that recipe to make it plant-based, i.e. sans eggs or cream. I am not sure how that will work! Otherwise, we will just eat them fresh by the handful. Ludovic made a sauce using these currants last year. However, that takes a bit more work removing the seeds from these small fruit (5-10mm diameter). We need a more heavy duty strainer to be able to tackle this task.

Did you know that there are over 150 edible native plants growing on this island? !f you want to know which species are edible and how to use them, then I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Rees’ book. Also, come along to the Tasmanian Garlic and Tomato Festival in Selbourne on Sunday 21 March 2021. Rees will be conducting two workshops and a cooking demonstration where she will describe some of the more useful plants, how to grow, harvest and cook with them.

Rees Campbell seen here with her book ‘Eat Wild Tasmanian’ (Image: www.feistytasmanian.com)

I got involved in the Tasmanian Garlic and Tomato Festival as I just love garlic and tomato and cannot imagine life without them. Anyway, more on that in my next blog. I am going to take some time out for ‘afternoon tea’ and enjoy some of these beautiful currants.

A bientôt!

#gardening #bushtucker #nativeplants #tasmania #localproduce #feistytasmanian #tasmaniangarlicandtomatofestival #discovertasmania

21/02/2021
Getting garlicky

Garlic is one of our kitchen mainstays. Last year we grew eight varieties of garlic to see what suited the growing conditions here in northern Tasmania best, not to mention our palate! This year we decided to narrow down our planting selection. We have selected three varieties that will satisfy our taste buds over a longer period of time and planted them out at the start of May.

Tasmanian Purple

The Tasmanian Purple is a hardnecked garlic belonging to the Turban Group. It is a big garlic! You can expect each bulb when fully grown to produce around 8-10 chunky cloves in cooler climates.

Total we planted: 60 cloves.

Expected harvest date: Early season, early December

Tasmanian Purple: This garlic variety is the biggest of the bunch (well at least what we have grown!)

Rojo de Castro

My personal favourite! This is a Hardneck garlic in the Creole Group. It just oozes flavour. Some people describe the taste as ‘nutty’. I love adding this to a dish where garlic is the hero.

Total we planted: 42 cloves.

Expected harvest date: Mid season, early to late January

Rojo de Castro: This garlic variety is full of flavour

Lokalen

Despite having a name suggesting a character from Vikings, this Softneck garlic from the Silverskin Group is really more of a quiet achiever. Well, at least in my opinion. It grows decent sized cloves and quite a few of them. They are a bit easier to get a knife through them without cutting your fingers!

Total we planted: 44 cloves.

Expected harvest date: Late season, early February

Lokalen: This garlic variety closes off the harvest season

Note that the expected harvest time for each garlic is based on Tasmania’s cool climate. If you are not fortunate enough to live on the Apple Isle, then check out your local growing conditions to see when you can expect to harvest these beautiful garlic varieties.

The Australian Garlic website is a good … no make that excellent place to start. It has some great information on planting and harvest times, as well as the number of cloves you can expect to yield for each bulb.

Sun

Full sun is the key here. Just because a plant will grow over winter doesn’t mean it doesn’t need sun. The shoot is sending down energy to help that clove turn into the bulb. So feed it!

Soil

Garlic needs moist not damp soils, otherwise the bulbs may rot. We enriched these clay soils with a lot of mushroom compost and sheep poo before planting our bulbs. What we have ended up with is slightly raised beds, given they are planted on a slope.

Spacing considerations

Allow at least 30 cm between rows. Some gardeners prefer to allow a little more room between rows, i.e. up to 40 cm, depending on the variety. Space each garlic clove at least 10 cm apart in each row. And yes, a little further apart if you know the variety you are growing is a larger plant. For example, I gave a little more room to grow to the Tasmanian Purple than the Rojo de Castro.

NB. When I am talking about garlic here I am referring to cultivars of Allium sativum, and not Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum (Elephant Garlic). Elephant Garlic is more closely related to leeks. It needs more room, not surprising really given its common name.

Ludovic is experimenting with a less linear spacing pattern in the bed at the front of this image

Planting instructions

A good rule of thumb when planting a garlic bulb is the … rule of thumb! By that I mean you should plant a garlic clove to the depth of approximately an adult-sized thumb. Now I know not all thumbs are the same length, and not all garlic cloves are the same size either. For the more metric-minded, garlic should be planted to a depth of around 5 cm.

When sowing garlic cloves remember the rule of thumb!

Right way up!

Remember to place each garlic clove into its hole with the ‘pointy’ end sticking up. The pseudostem and leaves will develop from this part. They will want the sun so they will need to grow above ground, not further down into the soil. The ‘flattened base’, or base plate, of the clove is where the roots will grow from.

Pointy end up, flattened base down

Remember to water in after planting. I plan to mulch these beds once the garlic has sprouted. Until then I will need to make sure I keep on top of any weeds that may pop up.

Really there’s not a lot more that needs to be done now until harvest time. Stay tuned for news as we get close to that date.

A bientôt!

#growyourown #garlic #tasmania #gardening #gardeninspiration #food #tasty

19/05/2020
Bush Bliss

We recently completed the construction of two garden beds on a bush block surrounded by beautiful forest here in northern Tasmania. We have already shown you some photos from the initial stages of this project. However, as you will see below, much has happened since that time!

In this part of the world, if you want to eat what you grow then you need to protect your garden from other forest inhabitants. Possums, quolls, wallabies, pademelons and even feral deer live locally. That is why we built an enclosure to secure the garden beds.

The earlier photos we shared with you showed the excavation required to level this site to make sure we could build the garden beds properly. The photos below show what we did after that work was completed. For a start, all the posts were concreted into the ground. Yes, these beds are not going anywhere soon!

All the sleepers are treated with ACQ (Alkaline Copper Quaternary). ACQ is a water-borne form of timber treatment that was developed as a safer alternative to the widely used CCA (Copper Chrome Arsenate) preservative. ACQ is also designed to be used as an insecticide and fungicide, protecting timber against fungi, borers and termites. This is an arsenic free treatment and can therefore be used safely in playgrounds and food-growing gardens.

The junction of the sleepers: H steel beam (left) and two C sections welded together (right)

A layer of gravel was added to the bottom of the beds for drainage, then a transition layer of geofabric textile put in to keep the the timber in better condition longer and to avoid weeds to come through. This fabric also helps to stop the soil from moving down into the gravel layer. Finally the beds were filled with a 50:50 mix of top soil and compost.

We used agricultural polypipes (agipipe) to link the steel posts of the garden enclosure. The small curve of these pipes helped to soften the project in the landscape. 20mm bird netting was fixed to the enclosure to complete the protection, with a layer of mesh along the bottom to stop smaller pests getting in. Two people are required to complete this task. Don’t try to do it alone!

A smaller bed was added at one end of the enclosure. This bed was not as deep as the others (only one 200mm sleeper high) and will be used for growing beans, radish and similar smaller crops.

That’s it! The first phase of the master plan is done. However, this site has loads more potential. See the original drawing below that we presented to the client to help them see what else they can achieve on their block.

BJ enjoying her new garden beds.

#Tasmania #veggiegarden #growingvegetables #gardenbed #gardendesign #landscapedesign

21/04/2020
Breaking ground!

This week, we finally broke ground on a project that we have been working on over the last couple of months! Excavation works started so that our client can realise the enclosed raised garden beds and compost bays that you can see in Ludovic’s plan below.

3D render of the raised garden beds and enclosure designed by Ludovic, with compost bays below.

Looking at the plans you may be forgiven for thinking that this is more like a prison potager than a productive garden for a free-spirited local who loves her cooking. However, with plenty of possums, quolls, wallabies, pademelons and even deer residing in the neighbourhood, these tough measures are necessary to ensure our client gets to eat her produce!

The garden on our first site visit

Excavation to level out the garden for the raised garden bed enclosure. The compost bays will be built below.

You may be wondering “Why the raised beds?”. Our client loves her new home and wants to stay there. She is thinking long-term. As she ages, she would like to keep gardening so wanted an option that was a little easier on the back and the knees. And there is another important reason why we designed this garden to be raised. Take one look at the next photo and you may be able to guess what that reason is!

Clay sub-soils on site are not exactly free-draining and would require extensive remediation. Putting any plant in this environment would see its roots drowned. Raised garden beds are one way of overcoming this problem.

This excavation was definitely not a whole-scale clearing of the site, although it may look like that from the photos above. The rocks in the foreground have been retained and re-positioned along the western edge of the yard. Our client’s beloved Mountain Pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata) was carefully lifted by the excavator and temporarily planted in a ‘safe site’ to the top of the yard until the garden is finished. The Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) below takes pride of place in front of the kitchen window. Its leaves turn a beautiful red colour in autumn.

This Japanese Maple is one of our client’s favourite plants in the garden. So it is definitely staying!

Well it has been a big week in this particular garden. So it is time for us to take a little break over the weekend. Stay tuned over the coming weeks as Ludovic commences construction of the raised garden beds and compost bays.

A bientôt!

29/11/2019
Growing garlic … What to do, when?

If you are anything like me, you may have been planning to get out into the garden this Saturday afternoon. However, all this wind is not exactly making for a pleasant afternoon outdoors. I have headed back indoors and am undertaking a little online plant research instead.

Yummy garlic!

One of my most pressing tasks is planning the harvest and storage of over one hundred garlic bulbs we currently have growing in our garden. We have planted eight varieties including the hard-necked Dunganski, Rojo de Castro and Tasmanian Purple, and the soft-necked Lokalen and Messidrome. Most we sourced from Tasmanian Natural Garlic & Tomatoes. We did ‘score’ the Tasmanian Purple from the wonderful Jenny Edlington at the Liffey Valley Market in 2018, and saved the best cloves for replanting this winter.

Dunganski is a member of the Standard Purple Strip Group. It has a lovely nutty flavor when cooked and is apparently very nice baked whole. Late planting and harvest.

So I am taking this quiet moment indoors to figure out when I need to harvest each of those garlic varieties. I am also making note of when I will need to plant those bulbs that I will save from the upcoming harvest. To do this I have turned to the Australian Garlic website. This site is jam-packed with fantastic tips on growing location and requirements, planting and harvest, storage and flavour for around thirty commonly grown varieties of garlic here in this country. A detailed garlic glossary is provided to help you better understand the ‘expert’ lingo. If you are growing garlic, check it out now! Don’t say I didn’t tell you 😉

And another tip … Mark Sunday 15 March 2020 on your calendar now. The annual Tasmanian Garlic and Tomato Festival will be held in Selbourne, approximately 30 minutes drive from Launceston. Tino Carnevale from ABC’s Gardening Australia will be there, as well as many local garlic and tomato growers. If you want expert advice on growing garlic in Tasmania, you really need to be there. In the words of the Festival organisers:

“It’s a day steeped in everything tomatoey and garlicky. With tastings, produce, guest speakers, competitions and more, it’s a great day out for the whole family in the glorious Tasmanian countryside”

What’s not to like about that?!

A bientôt!

#garlic #tasmania #growing #harvest #localproduce

16/11/2019
All hail ‘l’ail’!

Good news from our little ‘prison farm’. The garlic has sprouted!

“Let me out!”. “Not until December, although with good behaviour, we may consider your release in November.” (Sounds like someone has started talking to the plants!)

We were a little delayed in actually planting our Allium sativum bulbs. They only went into the ground on 1 June 2018. With the cooler temperatures here in Liffey, we probably could have planted them in later April, early May. More time to store that precious sunlight energy before harvesting the cloves in November or December.

Fingers crossed we will have enough garlic to harvest to get us through one year of consumption. We put fifty bulbs in. So if each bulb grew into a clove containing ten bulbs, then we could potentially produce 500 bulbs of garlic!

The garlic is sprouting next to its close cousin, the leek (Allium ampeloprasum). Both the leek and the silverbeet (Beta vulgaris ‘Fordhook)’ have survived throughout summer and are still with us in these cool temperatures.

Now you are probably wondering why the ‘high security’? What did these poor little buggers do to deserve such harsh treatment. Well it is for their own protection of course (isn’t that what they always say in the movies?). We have quite a few native and introduced animals seeking a free lunch here. Usually we just see wallabies, echidnas and wombats, although there are possums and rats about. Not to mention the deer. Oh dear!

Last Monday we spotted seven juvenile deer prancing on the lawn at the bottom of the hill below the house. With their hard hooves, I want them well away from our lightly-tilled soil. And with their voracious appetites, I am not game to see whether or not they like garlic. I do!

Bambi and co … not so cute in the vegie plot!

I clearly prefer garlic to Bambi. That won’t change anytime soon I am afraid. So the garlic will have to stay caged up until its release later this year. I can’t wait. I love the stuff. I just hope we will have enough to get us through the next year. Although between myself and the Frenchman, we do use more than just a little bit in our cooking.

Anyway, there is still a little time until harvest. So I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Fingers crossed we have a bountiful supply. If not, there is always the local farmers’ market.

Jusqu’à la prochaine fois!

PS. L’ail is French for ‘the garlic’. In the proper sense of translation, not as in ‘Yoplait is French for yogurt’.

09/07/2018
It’s getting a little “chilli” down here

While the weather is starting to cool down here in Tasmania, things are actually heating up in the kitchen. Our Capsicum annuum ‘Ring of Fire’ may have been a late bloomer, but as the adage goes: better late than never!

The ‘Ring of Fire’ – Johnny Cash wrote a song about it. Don’t believe me? Google it 😉

The ‘Ring of Fire’ measures 70,000 ~ 85,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). The Scoville Scale measures the sensory heat or pungency of chillis. Whilst not quite up there with the Carolina Reaper (>1.5 million SHUs), this little beauty packs a punch nonetheless.

Our baby arrives home

When putting our summer garden plan together, we were a little unsure whether we would be successful in growing chillis here in Liffey. Despite our garden being at an altitude of 400m and in a cool climate growing zone, we decided to test our luck. Initially we planted the seedling into a pot and placed it on our balcony which faces almost due-north. I thought it would receive more sunlight at this elevated position. I was right. However, the poor little ‘Ring of Fire’ was at times hammered by the local winds. The consequence was that although flowers were developing, they were not being pollinated as pollen was being dispersed elsewhere.

Flowering but not setting fruit

So we moved the pot to a position in our vegetable plot sheltered from these winds by a mature Acacia melanoxyon (Blackwood). Pretty soon our little baby was producing fruit. However, the onset of fruit occurred as the heat of the short Tasmanian summer was fading. The sun was starting to dip in the sky, and that Blackwood was now shading out our precious chilli.

And so the ‘Ring of Fire’ was returned to the balcony where its fruit have been able to ripen. And they continue to ripen even though it is almost May! So far we have picked 18 chillis. There are perhaps 30-40 fruit still ripening. Not bad for one plant!

The Ring of Fire in its current position on the balcony. Note the vegetable plots in full shade to the rear

This little beauty measures eight centimetres. Pas mal!

Our chilli yield is yet to measure up to that of Regan Parkinson, another local chilli enthusiast. Parkinson grows 53 chilli plants inside a home made polytunnel in his home in Launceston, including the deadly Carolina Reaper.”They [chillies] absolutely love heat so it’s pretty important in Tassie if you want to grow chilli successfully you have a glasshouse or a polytunnel,”said Parkinson in an interview with ABC Northern Tasmania.

I am not quite sure what Parkinson would make of our attempts to grow chilli outdoors here in Liffey. If like us, you want to grow chillis and other edible plants in Tasmania, talk to a grower who specialises in cool climate varieties. We did our research and purchased this plant as a seedling from Inspirations Garden Centre in Exeter, northern Tasmania. Sadly this lovely little nursery closed its doors not long after. However, Inspirations Vegetable Seeds is now trading online. Its claim to fame is that it sources top quality, high germination vegetable seeds for cool climate regions. Perfect for Tassie!

Our chilli sunbathing

Recently I purchased some Raphanus sativus var. sativus (Black Spanish Radish) seeds through Inspirations’ online store. Now we are just awaiting a delivery of local mushroom compost to add to the plot before sowing these seeds, along with our precious garlic sourced from Jenny at Liffey Market.

And in the meantime, we are enjoying these delicious, pungent chillis in pizza, pasta, Asian-inspired dishes and with our breakfast beans. We have saved some seed too. So cross fingers, next summer we will propagate even more seedlings and increase our yield.

Souhaitez-nous bonne chance!

22/04/2018
Growing great garlic!

I headed out yesterday desperately seeking garlic. No, Tasmania had not suddenly been invaded by vampires. I had received notice that Jenny Edlington was selling what she calls “seed garlic” at the Liffey Valley Market.

Now technically the garlic cloves we plant to produce new garlic bulbs are not seeds. However, I won’t quibble with Jenny on that one. For $15.50 I picked up four top-notch garlic bulbs from Jenny. If this may seem a little expensive to you, just remember that each clove can potentially produce a whole new bulb with between 10-15 cloves … if treated right!

Yummy, locally-grown garlic! But not for eating now 🙁 (© Ludovic Vilbert)

So how do you look after garlic? Jenny shared her tips with us, with a little elaboration from me:

1. Prepare the growing bed first.

Garlic does really well in well-drained soils rich in organic matter .Jenny and many other garlic growers recommend incorporating a layer of mushroom compost five to ten centimetres deep into the top few inches of soil. No, this is not compost made from mushrooms, as I must admit I first thought! It is a sterile mix usually prepared for growing mushrooms in. Mushroom compost is generally made from a mixture of straw, peat moss, gypsum, lime, cottonseed meal, cottonseed hulls, corncobs, cocoa bean shells, chicken litter and/or horse stable bedding.

2. Choose garlic bulbs with large cloves.

More stored energy to help produce those new bulbs!

3. Plant when the season changes to much cooler nights, usually April to May.

In Melbourne you will probably have to wait until May, but here in Tassie some of us can look forward to cooler temperatures just a little earlier! So hence why I am getting my garlic bed ready now for planting in a few weeks.

4. Separate bulbs immediately prior to planting and plant basal end down ten centimetres deep, twenty centimetres apart in raised beds.

The basal end is the flattened end of the bulb where the roots will develop from. Now I have grown garlic a little closer together than twenty centimetres, more like ten centimetres apart and had success. However, if you really want a plant to thrive, you do need to give it room to grow.

NB. See the basal plate at the bottom of the garlic clove. This is the bit you “stick” into the soil (© University of Alaska Fairbanks)

5. Mulch with straw.

Prevent weeds growing that may compete with the growing garlic for resources.

I am so glad to have met Jenny at the Liffey Valley Market. She has so much experience and knowledge of how to grow fruit and vegetables here in this cool climate. And Jenny is not the only local grower selling excellent fresh produce at this market. These markets are very precious as they provide not only the opportunity to purchase great produce, but also the chance a chance for locals and visitors to get together, have a yarn and share their growing tips. Priceless! But more on the market another time!

For now, I have a bed to prepare!

Next Liffey Valley Market: 9am–1pm, Saturday 14 April 2018, 1443 Liffey Rd, Liffey TAS 7301.

(Look for the old schoolhouse on top of the hill as you turn right from Bracknell Rd)

Harvesting garlic? More on that later too. Don’t expect to do that until November/December. Like a great wine, it needs time to develop 😉

11/03/2018