By Lydia Blocksidge, City Farm Nursery Co-ordinator Have you heard the term garden guild or guilding before? If you have, it’s probably been used in the context of agro-forestry and forest gardening, as this is where the concept is most commonly applied. Guilding is a Permaculture technique that recognizes the relationships in nature, especially in […]
Leafy Greens alternatives to lettuce during hot summer months
Summer means Brisbane gardeners have to be creative with their salads. Lettuce, english spinach and other greens are hard to grow. Take a look at leafy greens. Darker leafed lettuces, and open hearted ‘cut and come again’ varieties will last a lot longer than cos or iceberg types. We can also use perennial leafy vegetables, […]
Sub-Tropical Greens
During the cool season, Brisbane gardeners can grow silverbeet, kale and cabbages. However, there are a myriad of subtropical leafy greens to turn to when the weather is too hot for these winter annuals. Surinam spinach is a crunchy and tangy, drought hardy plant. It is very ornamental, with clusters of small pink flowers. Brazilian […]
Worm Farm to keep composting worms
To keep your worms happy, you can buy a commercial worm farm, or make one from recycled materials. Worm farm container The container needs to be pest proof. It needs to have drainage and air holes. Bedding material can be shredded paper and cardboard (not coloured or glossy), cocofibre, dried leaves, or […]
Wicking Beds and water conservation – make your own wicking garden bed
Wicking beds can be purchased, or made from recycled materials. The design of the wicking garden bed conserves water. Water is poured down the pipe into a reservoir. The water then slowly percolates upwards via the soil to the root zone of the plants, called wicking. Plants are watered from below rather than from above. […]
No-Dig Garden – also called a layer garden
Sometimes called a lasagna garden or a layer garden, a no-dig garden is a quick way to build soil and start a vegetable patch. Digging is a lot harder and instead of using heavy garden tools, layer. Work with nature to disturb the soil as little as possible. No-dig is helpful for weed management and […]
Beneficial Bugs
Good bugs are essential to our survival. Ladybirds, praying mantids, lacewings and hover-flies, eat the aphids, mites and caterpillars that attack our plants. Honey bees, native bees, butterflies and moths pollinate our plants, giving us flowers, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains and vegetables. We can encourage healthy populations of good bugs. Choose not to spray […]
Container Gardening
Practically anything can be made into a planter, or container garden. Important factors to consider when choosing a container, or pot, are correct size, adequate drainage and good quality organic potting mix. A good quality potting mix is essential for the health of plants in pots. Potting mixes are scientifically formulated with specific nutrients […]
Seasonal vegetable growing in the humid subtropics
South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales have a humid subtropical climate. Vegetables grow best when the temperature (including frost), day length, rainfall and humidity suit their needs. The number and type of pests and diseases also varies with the time of year. The humid subtropics have three seasons, which […]
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