Sit back and watch them grow
Do you need more time to grow great food? Growing vegies can be time consuming and a continual job of seeding, sowing and replanting. When we all have busy lives, it sure can eat into your weekend. A solution is to try growing vegetables that provide you with seed, fruit, root and edible flower that don’t need the constant work.
This where perennials are great. They will go on growing, even if you go away on holidays for a while. They’ll flourish from one year to the next with a minimum of fuss. They don’t always need crop rotation. Do I love them? YES. I love our asparagus for its sweet spears and rhubarb for the apple and rhubarb pies. The Yakon invites gasps of awe when in full leaf and the roots are very tasty, even raw. We make stuffed vine leaf equivalents from out edible hibiscus leaves and love the harvest of sweet potato and Jerusalem artichokes our patch gives up.
Would you like to learn more about growing these and many other tasty vegies? Then join in with the Perennial Vegies workshops. On two Saturdays beginning 13 November, we'll learn the right way to prepare beds and what to grow that will thrive while you sit back and watch.
I’ll be making some delicious food from the unusual perennial vegies for you to try and we’ll have free plants to try at home and some to buy as well. Because I have so many questions about cover crops and green manures, we’ll also look at how these work to build fertility in our gardens and the best ones to plant for Brisbane and the coasts.
Call me now on 33492962 or email me at linda@ecobotanica.com.au to put your name down. I have just 5 spaces left . At just $125 they are a bargain and well worth coming along for.
Growing tricky plants – coriander 
Do you love coriander but struggle to keep it from going to seed? Here are 3 tips for successful coriander:
Tip 1 Grow coriander from seed, not seedling. Every time a coriander plant is stressed by heat or by lack of water, it is prompted to grow flowers and set seed . So, even seedlings left to dry once, will not amount to much. Sow seeds in pots of good organic potting mix like Searle’s Organic or straight into the ground in a garden bed that has been fertilised with organic manures then raked smooth... click here to read more on the www.ecobotanica.com.au website
Heh blossom!
Tomatoes and zucchini doing it tough.
Have you wondered why your tomatoes or zucchini are not fabulous? Are they brown at the end and not ripening or growing completely? Are the zucchini dropping off before fully growing and ripening?
It may be that they have a calcium deficiency or ‘Blossom End Rot. This is easily fixed and a little TLC will give you a good crop with a cheap solution in just a few weeks.
Calcium is a soil nutrient that is essential for plant health, just like it’s essential for human health. In humans calcium is present in 99% of our cells, and not only contributes to bone strength, it’s involved in healthy cell division, blood coagulation and regulation of acidity and alkalinity in our bodies.
In our soils, calcium moves seven other elements through the soils and makes them more available to plants. Thus, you need to adjust calcium levels in order to create fertility in your soil. Click here to find out how you can do this in a simple, economical way and get the best results...
Free workshop winner
Congratulations Thea Merritt. Thea brougth her dad Doug along to the summer vegies workshop, qualifying for the October draw for the free workshop. Thea is very excited to have won this free workshop as she says she never wins anything! It's great to have a budding greenthumb along for another workshop. See you soon Thea!
