Issue #11.3 - 2020

Good Organic Gardening

Grow your own organic food

Good Organic Gardening1 min read
Good Organic Gardening
Editor Kerry Boyne Designer Bianca de Ocampo Contributors Carrol Baker, Claire Bickle, Angelo Eliades, Jana Holmer, Jo Immig, Steve McGrane, Megg Miller, Jennifer Stackhouse, Chris Stafford, Chloe Thomson National Advertising Manager Miriam Keen Adve
Good Organic Gardening2 min read
This Issue
There was at least one day during the lockdown that broke the pattern of indistinguishable days, and that was the afternoon we watched not one but three wedge-tailed eagles soaring above our property. Two, possibly a breeding pair, rode the thermals
Good Organic Gardening3 min read
THE Grapevine
Jo is an environmental scientist, photographer and writer. She has worked in the environment movement for decades and is co-ordinator of the National Toxics Network, an organisation dedicated to creating a toxic-free future. She has written many arti
Good Organic Gardening3 min read
What’s hot RIGHT NOW
A horticulturist, presenter and passionate organic gardener, Chloe is the host of the new podcast Staying Grounded and co-owner and presenter on the web-based video series The Gardenettes. The mother of two little boys, she has a great following of A
Good Organic Gardening2 min read
Citrusy Shrub
Lemon verbena is supposed to be a shrub but the veteran plant in my garden is a small, gnarled tree. The cats climb up and down it as they head over the side fence and into the paddock beyond. It’s amazing it ever became a tree as, by growing higher
Good Organic Gardening3 min read
Pass The Popcorn
Yes, there really is a special corn for making popcorn. You can buy the seeds to grow in your own garden or just head to the cinema and buy a tub to crunch while you watch the big screen. Chances are that the popcorn you buy at the movies has been gr
Good Organic Gardening5 min read
Oddball Edibles
We are so used to the normal starchy tubers we eat for dinner most nights — such as potatoes (see page 48, last issue) and sweet potatoes — that other sources of edible starch barely get a look in. Compared with spuds, some are small and fiddly to pr
Good Organic Gardening6 min read
Rebirth Of The Food Garden
After years of devastatingly hot summers and drought, I had to let my food garden go. We’re on tank water and simply couldn’t keep the moisture up. Beds dried out and unwanted plants I’d spent countless hours weeding over the years finally took over.
Good Organic Gardening3 min read
The Alpha Beet
Common name: Beetroot, table beet Botanical name: Beta vulgaris Family: Chenopodiaceae (spinach family) Requires: Sun, well-drained soil free of lumps Best climate: All Habit: Annual Propagation: Seed, seedling Difficulty: Easy Beautiful beets are an
Good Organic Gardening3 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Mellow Yellow
Common name: Turmeric Botanical name: Curcuma longa Family: Zingiberaceae (ginger family) Aspect & soil: Full sun to part shade; well-drained soil Best climate: Tropical, subtropical, temperate Habit: Perennial flowering herbaceous plant Propagation:
Good Organic Gardening4 min read
Hilltop Crop
Rosie Bright and Mark Moody spent two years looking for the right house before they found a 761m2 block six years ago. Located in the hilly Geelong suburb of Belmont, the property had a few trees, some established garden beds and three derelict green
Good Organic Gardening5 min readAgriculture
Place Of Feasting
Picture a disused block of land just northwest of Brisbane and a man with a vision; a group of people with permaculture and sustainability farming in mind; and, at the very heart of it all, community. This is now Millen Farm, a not-for-profit set up
Good Organic Gardening1 min readEarth Sciences
Time To Plant
These maps are simplified versions adapted from climate maps by the Bureau of Meteorology and are only a rough guide. Microclimates can be formed anywhere. ■
Good Organic Gardening2 min readArchitecture
Moon Planting
Spring is the season everyone loves, gardeners and non-gardeners alike. It seems like the whole world is coming to life with new growth and profusions of flowers. It’s high spring and everything is growing its socks off. Regular feeding, consistent w
Good Organic Gardening3 min read
Eye Pods
Smarties!” I’ve heard kids shriek with delight as they open the pods of scarlet runner beans — and though they definitely don’t taste like chocolate, if you’ve never grown magically colourful scarlet runner beans, you’re missing out. Through spring a
Good Organic Gardening3 min readGardening
The Sacred Tree
Records suggest olive trees were cultivated around 5000 years ago in Syria, which makes them one of the oldest tree crops in the world. The branches of this ancient tree were offered as a peace sign, Olympic victors were crowned with a wreath of its
Good Organic Gardening3 min readBotany
Romance Plant
If you’ve ever been to a Chinese restaurant and had space for dessert, you’ve probably eaten lychees with ice-cream. Those lychees are peeled and canned and, while they are sweet and tasty, they have nothing on fresh lychees, which come in knobbly, p
Good Organic Gardening3 min read
Eureka, Eruca!
Common name: Rocket, arugula Botanical name: Eruca sativa Family: Brassicaceae Aspect & soil: Sun; well-drained soil Best climate: All Habit: Annual salad vegetable Propagation: Seed, seedling Difficulty: Easy Rocket is one of those enthusiastic plan
Good Organic Gardening5 min read
Summer Vine
Common name: Pumpkin, winter squash Botanical name: Cucurbita maxima Family: Cucurbitaceae Aspect & soil: Sun; deep, moist, fertile soil Best climate: All, but in cold areas wait for warmer weather Habit: Annual vine Propagation: Seed, seedling Diffi
Good Organic Gardening1 min read
Pick A Pumpkin
Bigstock, Can Stock, Kerry Boyne ■
Good Organic Gardening4 min readBotany
Streetscape Stars
Common name: Crepe myrtle Botanical name: Lagerstroemia indica Family: Lythraceae (loosestrife family) Aspect & soil: Full sun to part shade; well-drained soil Best climate: Subtropical, temperate, Mediterranean Habit: Deciduous tree or shrub Propaga
Good Organic Gardening3 min read
Dining Blooms
Edible flowers are fast becoming a foodie favourite everywhere. To join the growing trend, look no further than your own garden. Flowers from herbs and vegetables as well as ornamental blooms can add texture, flavour and an exotic twist to family mea
Good Organic Gardening4 min read
Turning Problems Into Pluses
It’s said that we don’t grow as people when things are easy; we grow when we face challenges. If that’s the case, gardening is full of opportunities for personal growth. Very few garden projects start with the proverbial blank canvas of bare ground t
Good Organic Gardening4 min readNature
Birds Breaking Bad
There is often one bird in the flock that doesn’t toe the line. Frequently it’s the rooster showing off how brave he is, but right now I’ve got some egg eaters. A few weeks back it was a turkey hen that wanted to sleep in the trees at night. Whatever
Good Organic Gardening6 min read
Beautiful Beginnings
A seed is arrested life in waiting, so to speak. It’s part of the magic of nature that so much genetic detail is held within the tiniest of vessels on Earth. From the tallest trees like the sequoia redwoods of California to the minute realm of the ti
Good Organic Gardening5 min readEarth Sciences
Controlling The Burn
The horrific fire season we endured last spring and summer has changed forever the way we relate to our gardens and landscape. A friend even said the Blue Mountains blaze that burned her garden and almost claimed her house and street now makes her lo
Good Organic Gardening4 min read
Things To Do In September
• New shoots will be appearing on bare branches and poking through soil. The sight of the first asparagus shoots is an exciting moment each spring. Harvest daily as the spears quickly become tall, woody and inedible. Use a sharp knife to cut below so
Good Organic Gardening4 min read
Things To Do In October
• October is a top month for planting out all potted plants as well as starting seeds or seedlings of summer crops.• Summer crops to plant now include beans, corn, cucumber, pumpkin, squash, tomato and zucchini. In areas that experience late frost, h
Good Organic Gardening2 min read
Pottering Around
Everything old is new again — including that cliché — and among the traditional gardening techniques making a comeback is the ancient waterwise method of burying a water container in the ground, allowing moisture to seep out into the surrounding soil
Good Organic Gardening2 min readGardening
Great Pretenders
Flowers are essentially reproductive organs that evolved with the sole purpose of attracting pollinators and possibly repelling undesirables. There are 28,000 species of orchids alone, so it’s not surprising — yet still a source of wonder — that, acr
Good Organic Gardening1 min read
Fresh And Local
Apple (Lady Williams), blueberries, custard apple, grapefruit, lemon, lime, mandarin (Imperial), rockmelon, orange (blood, Navel), papaw, papaya, pineapple, pomelo, strawberries, tamarillo, tangelo Artichoke (globe), Asian greens, asparagus, beans, b
Good Organic Gardening5 min read
Garden To Table
Images and text from Japanese Food Made Easy by Aya Nishimura, photography by Lisa Linder. Murdoch Books RRP $39.99. Make delicious Japanese food at home using healthy ingredients and straightforward methods. Favourite classics include ramen, gyoza,
Good Organic Gardening1 min read
Well Spotted
With its dramatic bright-red beak and tailfeathers and white-dotted black flanks, the diamond firetail finch looks like it was assembled from the leftover plumage of various other birds. Unusually, both male and female sport similar startling livery.
Good Organic Gardening3 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Cover To Cover
By Cettina Vicenzino, Penguin Random House, $34.99 Sicily is a part of Italy but apart from it. The island’s unique cuisine owes much to its strategic position in the Mediterranean and the waves of invaders and immigrants — Greeks and Romans, Arabs a
Good Organic Gardening5 min read
Pick Of The Crop
Made in Australia from recycled plastic, Biofilta Foodcubes are designed to be a modular system that uses state-of-the-art wicking bed principles to maximise growth and minimise water use. Wicking beds can produce up to 25 kilos of produce per square
Good Organic Gardening2 min read
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6 ISSUES (1 YEAR) OF Good Organic Gardening magazine RRP $47.70 + BONUS Backyard Indoors magazine RRP $8.95 ONLY $40 All delivered to your door, free! • Beginner’s guide to houseplants• Help and advice for serial plant killers• Terrariums – delightfu

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