Down to Earth

by Rhonda Hetzel

  Radish, carrots, turnips and parsnips are sweeter and more tender when they’re picked smaller rather than larger. Leeks and Welsh spring onions can be cut off at ground level and will usually regrow.

  A good indication it’s time to pick potatoes is when you see the green tops turn brown and die. Be guided by the growing times for the variety you’re cultivating. If you’re impatient for potatoes, you can put your hand into the side of the plant and pick off some small new potatoes underground. This is called bandicooting. If you’re gentle, it will not damage the plant at all and these small potatoes are a gift when steamed or boiled and dressed simply with butter, parsley and a bit of seasoning.

  What to do with the excess

  Harvesting is one of the most important parts of the vegetable-growing process and getting it right will reduce wastage. We freshly pick tomatoes almost every day and eat them in salads or on sandwiches. When there are too many (a truly joyful occasion) I pick the excess – usually when they’re still green – and ripen them in the shade. When they’re ripe, I make relish, sauce or chutney, process it in a water bath and store it in the cupboard.

  We eat cucumbers and beetroot fresh but when we have a lot of them, they’re picked, pickled and stored in the fridge. We probably eat one cabbage every week or two during winter – raw in coleslaw and kimchi or cooked and served with meat. Like the tomatoes, we grow more than we eat fresh and at some point in the season I make sauerkraut so that we can store the cabbage for longer.

  Vegetables like corn, beans, peas, silverbeet, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, kale and carrots are all good to freeze. To do that effectively, wait until you have enough for at least a serving for your family, pick, blanch, then bag them up for the freezer. Never skip the blanching step if you intend to freeze it for a long time – it makes a difference. Some days you’ll only have enough excess for one or two bags for the freezer; other days you’ll have a lot more than that. Just take it as it comes; it will only take you a few minutes to process a bag or two. Don’t think it’s too small an amount to worry about. You’ll be happy to have it later when you can just take a family-size serving of home-grown vegetables from the freezer and have it on the table to eat that night.

  Many vegetables can be grown successfully in pots or containers so if you’re new to gardening, start off with a couple of potted herbs or vegetables. They’re a great introduction to gardening.

  There are a few factors you need to be mindful of when growing vegetables and herbs in pots:

  Generally the size and health of the root ball will determine the number of vegetables harvested, so if you want to grow large vegetables look for large containers that will allow the roots to spread a little.

  You’ll need a good-quality potting mix, or an ordinary potting mix with compost and old manure added. Don’t use garden soil – it doesn’t drain well and the roots will suffocate.

  Do a bit of research and look for dwarf varieties of the large vegetables you wish to grow. You can get heirloom dwarf tomatoes, short carrots and golden nugget pumpkin as a bush rather than a vine.

  Growing vegetables up a trellis will maximise your space. One cucumber seedling in a pot with a trellis will give you more than enough cucumbers for two people.

  Consistent watering is essential. When a plant is in the ground, its roots will go looking for moisture. This can’t happen in a pot so the plant will totally rely on you for water.

  Make sure all your containers have a lot of drainage holes. If you’re planting in buckets or polystyrene boxes, drill drainage holes in the base. Long polystyrene boxes are good for planting a row of lettuce or short carrots.

  Don’t sit your containers in drip trays – they must drain freely. If you have the containers indoors, stand them on bricks or pebbles so the pot is out of the collecting water.

  If you’re in a hot climate, put your containers where they will get sun till about 2 p.m., then shade.

  When you plant, water in with seaweed tea.

  Apply a spoonful of sulphate of potash to the flowering vegetables like tomatoes, pumpkins and cucumbers when you plant.

  When the plants have grown a bit, add mulch to help keep the moisture in.

  If you have worm tea, add that every week but make sure it is a weak brew.

  Apply weak liquid fertiliser to the green leafy vegetables every week.

  Don’t over-fertilise your fruiting vegetables (like tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers). It will cause your plants to produce lush green leaves at the expense of fruit.

  You’ll be able to produce good vegetables in containers but you’ll have to look after your plants well. They’ll require more care than vegetables in the ground, as they’re reliant on you for all their needs. But if you can give them some time and effort they will reward you with fresh food.

  It seems like I’ve been gardening most of my life. My mother was a keen gardener and my sister, Tricia, has a magnificent garden in the Blue Mountains, so maybe the love of it is in my bones. There is something about putting your hands into the soil that restores the human spirit. It brings you down to earth, it energises you and reminds you that we’re all part of the natural world. We are not separate.

  Having a sustainable backyard means that if you chose to grow fruit and vegetables in your backyard for fifty years, and beyond, your soils would not be depleted, abundant nutrients would be in your produce and your food production would not have a negative impact on your backyard environment; in fact, it would improve it. It means you’d work with the natural elements and that when you left that piece of land it would be in better shape than you found it.

  But self-reliance and sustainability is more than vegetable gardening and keeping chickens, a cow or goats. It’s an attitude to life, which often gives the grower a sense of empowerment and independence. It teaches life lessons on seasonality, living locally, developing community, renewal, making do, productivity and abundance.

  In defence of grass

  The beginning of summer always means the start of that most mundane of garden chores – mowing the lawn, or as we think of it, harvesting the grass. We have quite a bit of open grass to harvest and it does take time, but despite what many others think of lawn or grass or turf or whatever you call it, we would not get rid of it. Here it’s a vital resource that gives more than it takes.

  Having a sustainable backyard means that your food production would not have a negative impact on your backyard environment.

  Grass is not the enemy. If you have small children, pets or chickens, I’m sure you’ll already be aware of the benefits of having grassed areas around the home. It doesn’t have to be manicured perfection to be beneficial. Over-zealous care of grass and wanting grass to look like perfect lawn is not sustainable. Just let it grow with natural rainfall and I’m sure you’ll be surprised how hardy it is. Then change your attitude towards grass. Even though it needs to be mown (or harvested) it is a productive crop that you can use for chook feed or as a soft place to fall.

  We never water our grass. We have more than enough natural rainfall to keep it alive. In times of drought, our grass has stopped growing and turned brown and crunchy, but grass is such a hardy plant – even when it looks dead and it hasn’t rained for months, it will usually come back to life when it receives water. We never fertilise it either, even with organic fertilisers. It gets enough nourishment from the pecked or cut remnants of grass that fall and decompose within the blades, and from the droppings when the chickens free range on the grass.

  So what do we use our lawn for?

  It gives our chooks a wonderful place to graze and therefore gives the eggs we eat a much appreciated boost of omega-3 and -6 oils. If we were to eat our chooks, their meat would also be rich in these oils. Grass is rich in omega-3 and -6 and chickens will consume up to 30 percent of their daily food as grass if given a good area to range over.

  When harvested by the lawnmower, grass gives us most of the green component needed in our compost heap. If we didn’
t have grass, we’d struggle to find enough bulk to keep the compost going.

  It provides cooler air around the house than we would have with hard landscaping. All those pavers, bricks and cement that surround some houses make them hot in summer.

  It reduces noise and dust around the house.

  It absorbs carbon dioxide and produces oxygen (the same as trees do).

  It filters water run-off before it reaches waterways.

  Mulching

  Mulch is the material such as straw or spent sugarcane that you place on the soil around a plant. Mulching the vegetable garden has a number of benefits:

  It provides a cover for the bare soil that will help keep the moisture in, and therefore reduces the amount of water needed for the garden.

  It helps reduce weeds. Weeds need sunlight and bare soil to grow. Covering the soil with mulch cuts out both those ingredients.

  It insulates the soil surface against extreme heat or cold and helps maintain an even soil temperature.

  It eventually breaks down to add organic matter to the soil, increasing soil fertility.

  When you apply mulch to your vegetable garden, make sure you don’t let it sit too close to the plants, as you’ll rot the stems of some vegetables. (This rule doesn’t apply to tomatoes.) Always weed and water before you apply mulch. You’ll find if you do that, you’re giving the soil the best chance of producing bumper crops for you. The water you apply will stay in the soil longer, the temperature will remain fairly constant and you’ll create the best conditions for growing healthy vegetables.

  Day-to-day garden tasks

  It sounds like a lot of work, but if you get into a routine with your gardening, it only requires observation and fixing problems as soon as you see them. During your active growing season, put aside thirty to sixty minutes a day for your garden if you can. There will always be something to fix, adjust, tie back, prune or move. The rest of it is pure enjoyment – both in the gardening and in the eating. And you will probably find that you’re at your best in the garden – many of us are.

  Here are some tasks to do during the growing season:

  All through the growing season, no matter what you’re growing, keep the garden beds weed-free and pick off every dead or damaged leaf you see on your plants.

  Watch out for caterpillars, grasshoppers, slugs and snails and if you find a few, pick them off and give them to the chooks. Try to get into the habit of inspecting your plants early in the morning or late in the afternoon because that is when most insects will be feeding. There is more information about bugs and insects later in the chapter.

  Keep your green leaves growing well with some sort of fertiliser tea – it’s easily made at home and costs very little. If you see any plant that is stressed or being attacked by insects, apply a feeding of seaweed tea. It is a great plant tonic and can help plants survive harsh conditions. If your fruiting vegetables aren’t producing flowers, apply sulphate of potash (according to the directions on the pack) around the base of the plant and water it in. All these applications are organic.

  Tie up your tomatoes before they become too unruly and keep all your climbing plants attached to their supports. It only takes a few minutes a week to do this and it makes all the difference. Vines that are allowed to fly around in the wind will get damaged or break.

  Keep applying mulch through the season as it breaks down.

  As you clear an area after harvesting, apply some compost, dig it in, and start another crop, even if it’s just two or three plants. Gardening this way will give you the best return on the work you put in and it uses the soil productively and sustainably.

  Looking after your tools

  Your garden tools don’t have to be the best or most expensive. Often you can buy very good-quality old tools at garage sales and markets – this is a better investment than buying cheap imports. Keep your tools in good working order by giving them a little time and effort after you’ve used them and they’ll last a lifetime.

  Lawnmower

  After using your lawnmower, check the oil level. If it is low and has not been changed for a while, now is the time to do it (while the engine is still warm).

  While checking the oil, look for wear and tear on the cutting blades. If they need replacing, do that straight away.

  A small amount of dirt and grass build-up helps protect the housing for the blades but clean it out if there’s too much.

  Clean the air filter.

  Make sure the catcher is empty as it will smell if you store it with clippings still inside.

  Give the mower a quick wipe over with a clean cloth.

  Store it in a protected area.

  Edge-trimmer

  When you finish your work, clean the unit with a rag. Remove any dirt or plant material.

  Check the oil level so the trimmer will be ready for work the next time.

  Store it in a protected area.

  Garden tools

  Clean dirt off your tools after you finish using them.

  Don’t leave your tools out in the rain or exposed to the sun for too long.

  If the metal is showing signs of deterioration, clean it well and apply a rust preventative.

  Every so often, check the wooden handles for splinters and roughness. If the handle starts to split, smooth it over with emery- or sandpaper and apply a mix of turpentine and linseed oil. Leave it overnight to sink in and dry, then smooth over again with emery paper and finish off with a light sanding with steel wool.

  Store your tools in a dry place.

  If you’re going to create a garden and be outside in the sunshine you have to expect to come across other living creatures. Don’t be scared of them. Like us, they’re a part of the beautiful, natural scheme of things and have a role to play in our world. If you’re a new gardener, do some online research or visit your library to educate yourself about what to expect in your region. Work with the natural elements, not against them, and you’ll be rewarded.

  Not all bugs are bad, so don’t go around killing every insect you see. Some bugs eat other bugs, or their eggs, and some of them lay their eggs in the bodies of other insects. It sounds pretty gruesome but it’s how the natural world works and it can help you.

  The troublemakers

  In Australia, these insects are always pests:

  European wasps (aggressive and dangerous)

  ticks (the paralysis tick can kill dogs and cats)

  mosquitoes (carry disease)

  large earth bumblebees (accidentally released in Tasmania and have been an environmental disaster, competing with native bees for food)

  fire ants (a relatively new pest but a serious threat in areas they’ve colonised).

  If you’re going to create a garden and be outside in the sunshine you have to expect to come across other living creatures. Don’t be scared of them.

  Ants, other than fire ants, are sometimes good and sometimes not. They may carry scale insects that will attach themselves to your plants and suck the sap out of them. (Scale insects can’t move themselves; ants move them around so they can eat the sticky honeydew the scale secrete.) If you see ants active on your plants and find scale insects, find the ant nest and pouring boiling water into it. Repeat if they rebuild the nest. You will also have to spray the scale with white oil.

  Homemade white oil

  White oil can be used on all types of scale, citrus leafminer and aphids.

  Blend 2 cups of vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons of liquid soap in a blender, or shake vigorously in a sealed jar till thoroughly combined. The liquid soap helps the oil stick to the plant and the insect. Label the jar. It can be stored for about 12 months. To use, add a tablespoon of the oil to a litre of water and shake well. Spray all sides of the leaves and stems.

  Organic remedies for chewing insects

  When you’re an organic gardener, it pays to work with the natural ecosystem in your backyard. Try to stay away from sprays, because even the organic options sometimes kill beneficial insect
s and have withholding periods (the time that must elapse between application and harvest). There will be times when you’ll have to use a commercial organic spray, bait or powder, but make sure it’s the last option. I don’t think that every recommended organic method works. For instance, over the thirty-plus years we’ve been growing vegetables, I’ve tried companion planting every so often, but it’s never worked for us. However, there are other organic techniques that do work for us and we rely on them year after year.

  We use Dipel on caterpillars. It’s an organic remedy that uses bacteria instead of poison. Make it up according to the directions on the bottle and reapply if it rains. We usually catch grasshoppers and give them to the chooks but if there are a lot of them, we spray them with eco-neem, according to the directions on the bottle. We don’t have a lot of snails here but we do have slugs. We use the old beer treatment for them – just pour ½ glass of beer into a low-sided container and leave it in the garden close to where you’ve seen snails and slugs. They will be attracted to it, slide in there to drink the beer and drown.

  The good fellows

  In Australia there are many species of native bees. We also have the honey bee, introduced into Australia in 1822 because the English thought there were no bees here. If you have any of these bees visiting your garden, particularly the native bees, you’re very lucky.