Nov 242021
 

Thanks to all the people who have contributed to this week’s newsletter: Alice Mathieu, Alrey Batol, Amy Wong, Anna Matilda, Bruno Tigani, Carol Woolcock, Charith Senanayake, James Petty, Jo Douglas, Jon Buttery, Lynn Wallace, Mala Plymin, Pam Jenkins, Stuart Rodda, Vera Herman, Vicki Jordan and Virginia Solomon.

It is great when people contribute material for the newsletter. The material can be anything so long as it is food-related: ask a question, provide a tip, discuss an issue, submit a photo, send in a recipe, etc. Email us with your contribution(s).

This week’s regular activities

I think that all the events below are actually happening but I can’t guarantee it so you might want to check in advance if you are planning to go.

Food swaps

Thursday: Rosanna.
Saturday: Blackburn North, Brunswick East, Heathmont, Heidelberg, Hurstbridge and Preston/Thornbury.
Sunday: Eltham.

A new food swap has started at Rosanna: the Rosanna Fruit and Veg Swap at Rosanna Fire Station Community House, 232 Lower Plenty Road. Initially, the swap will be every Thursday (during school terms only) from 10.30am to midday but it is planned to move to every second Saturday in 2022.

Community gardens

Thursday: SEEDs (Brunswick) and Whittlesea.
Friday: West Brunswick.
Saturday: Links (Lalor) and Thrive (Diamond Creek) (also a garden tour of Thrive in the morning).
Sunday: Fawkner Food Bowls, Northcote Library, Pentridge (Coburg) and West Brunswick.
Monday: SEEDs (Brunswick) and Whittlesea.
Next Wednesday: Span (Thornbury).

Farmers’ markets

Saturday: Abbotsford and Coburg.
Sunday: Alphington, Eltham  and Heathmont.

At the Eltham Farmers’ Market there will be a Council information stall on the subject of Queensland fruit fly.

Large rakes (by Stuart Rodda)

[This is the fourth of Stuart’s articles about large gardening tools, the first three having been on shovels/spades, forks and soil levellers.]

A rake is defined here is a tool with many tines at approx. 90 degrees to the handle. The rake is one of the oldest traditional soil working tools and is used with a pulling action to move soil or gather loose material such as plant debris from the surface of the soil.

Every garden needs a rake as it greatly reduces the amount of work picking up leaves or broken bits of plants, and has a secondary use to help level and smooth the surface of rough soil. A strong rake with a flat back is best for the latter purpose, although a soil leveller may be better for final smoothing.

Rakes come in many sizes and modes of construction, for example the one-piece forged rake with a flat back, or the ‘nail’ rake where each tine is individually attached to a crossbar. For raking up light material such as leaves or grass, a many-tined plastic or springy metal rake is best.

To get through raking jobs quickly, choose a wide rake, but if your garden is small with lots of odd corners, a small rake will be better for you. A rake with flexible teeth is best for raking on hard surfaces or surfaces with projecting plant remnants, and for ‘raking up’ cut grass. A mulch fork held close to vertical also makes a useful rake for quickly clearing deeper layers of plant debris before finer raking of the soil surface.

Take care when putting a rake down between uses not to have the tines facing upwards, as the handle may come flying up at you if you stand on the tines.

Jon’s podcast of the week

I first listened to this podcast about the Koonya Garlic Festival during our first lockdown. The All The Dirt mob from Perth had gone to Tasmania! Now that we’re out and about, we can listen without too much envy … and perhaps make plans to visit a future festival (the festival is an annual festival held in Port Arthur and the next festival will be held in February 2022).

How to prune your tomatoes (by Bruno Tigani)

On my indeterminate tomatoes, I get rid of all the side shoots and keep to one leader, until the plants reach the top of the pole. This helps with airflow, it’s easier to net the trusses against fruit fly and you can see any pests easier. See the before picture left and the after picture right, with the cut off side shoots at the bottom of the latter.

  

The other bonus is that you can grow full tomato plants from the side shoots. I always grow my second lot of tomatoes from the side shoots, to have a harvest gap.

Stink horn fungus – Aseroe rubra (by Pam Jenkins)

With so much rain falling, I have numerous varieties of fungi that I have never seen in my garden before. The one pictured is apparently a common fungus that comes into the garden with woody mulch. It starts off with longer arms but these must have been eaten overnight. It is very pretty and the blow flies love its aroma. It looked beautiful for a day, withered by the next day and there was hardly a trace of it the day after.

More on what to do with your garlic

Last week, Pam Jenkins wrote about what she was doing with her garlic. One of Pam’s suggestions was to store dehydrated garlic in oil.

Carol Woolcock has since written to express some concern about the risk of botulism from storing garlic in oil.

I asked Pam for her reaction and she replied: “I agree that botulism is a risk when preserving in oil. As the Canadian Government says on their website: ‘Botulism bacteria grow in a moist, oxygen-free environment so improperly stored vegetables and herbs in oil can provide ideal conditions for it to multiply and produce the toxin.As CISRO also says, however: ‘Correctly dried vegetables and herbs will not support the growth of food poisoning bacteria … vegetables and herbs to be packed in oil without treatment with vinegar should be dried almost to crispness.‘ That is why I was suggesting that the garlic, which has a high water content, is dehydrated until it is crispy dry before putting into the oil. I also suggest that this method is only used for storing small amounts that you would expect to use within a week or so.”

A new local, ready-made meal option – Island Home

Island Home, from Princes Hill, make Sri Lankan curry meals, both fish and vegan, which you take home and, once heated up, are ready to eat. Their menu changes from week to week. They also make a number of accompaniments, including date and lime chutney, spicy vegetable pickle, preserved eggplants in tamarind, and semolina and rose water (Ceylon Love) cake. They source their ingredients locally where possible and certified organic where possible. Their packaging is 100% home compostable, with their meals being wrapped in banana leaf and their accompaniments in recyclable glass. As well as their ready-made meals, they offer a waste-free catering service.

You can buy their food online, from Ceres Fair Food, at Eltham Farmers’ Market, from Wholefoods Unwrapped Collective (in Brunswick), at The Common Good (in Hawthorn) or at Wild Things Food (in Fitzroy North).

Read their Local Food Directory page. Welcome Michele and Charith!

Want a job?

Rosanna Fire Station Community House is looking to hire a Food Swap Project Officer to coordinate their regular food swaps. 5 hours per fortnight (during school terms only), including 2½ hours every second Saturday morning. $40 per hour. Read the job description. Closing date: 26th November. Apply by sending a cover letter and resume to jasdips@rfsch.org.au.

Want to volunteer?

The Whittlesea Food Collective is looking for a volunteer driver to deliver food parcels as part of their food relief operations. 15 hours per week. Contact them by phone (9401 6666) or email (contact@foodcollective.org.au) if you are potentially interested.

Yes, you did know!

A couple of weeks ago, Nada Cunningham asked what was the greyish, white cakey material in her soil (see photo). 5 of you have now replied. 4 of the 5 people said that it was probably fungal mycelium and all 5 said that it was a good thing for Nada to have, not a bad thing. Thanks everyone!

Lynn Wallace: “If looks like mycorrhizal fungi and, if so, that is a very good thing! This newsletter from Biostim explains the science. I have bought their product and applied it to the root system of seedlings etc as they were planted this spring, with the result that the plants have established and grown with noticeable vim and vigour. Lucky Nadia if she has mycorrhizal fungi occurring naturally!” [Editor: mycorrhizal fungi is a type of fungus that enters a mutually symbiotic association with the roots of plants.]

Virginia Solomon: “It looks like fungal mycelium. If it is also growing in the mulch then I would say definitely.
Mycelium is the facilitator of nutrient transfer to plants, particularly perennial plants such as trees, so treasure it! There may be one possible problem with it, in that it can cause hydrophobia (water repellency) in summer, but all you need to do is add a drop of wetting agent or ordinary detergent (only a tiny bit, mind, to break the surface tension) to your seaweed solution and water your plants with that in dry weather.
” [Editor: fungal mycelium is the main part of a fungus, with a mushroom effectively being a flower of the mycelium.]

Vera Herman: “It is soil fungus. Read this web page.

James Petty: “My best guess is that it is fungal mycelium.

Alrey Batol: “I think that it might be Streptomyces, which is a bacteria that acts like a fungi, because it doesn’t quite look like the more hairy mycelium you get from mushroom fungi. You might also see Streptomyces happening on the top or the outside of a hot covered compost. Nada should be happy because they are friends, outcompeting pathogenic fungi and nourishing plants’ roots.

No you didn’t know (sigh)

Blotchy rhubarb leaves

Last week Pam Jenkins asked why her rhubarb leaves were going blotchy (see picture right). No one responded. Can anyone respond this week? Email your responses.

Suckering bay trees

Last week Meg Montague asked what she should do to control her bay trees, both the one that keeps re-growing from the roots (see left hand picture) and the one that suckers (see right hand picture). No one responded. Can anyone respond this week? Email your responses.

  

Do you know?

Amy Wong: “This year I have decided to grow my zucchini in a pot in my greenhouse. It’s been growing fast and with large leaves. Then last week I noticed that the leaves had some yellow, so I thought it was a nutritional deficiency. I then started watering it with Charlie Carp but it’s still having issues. What’s wrong with my zucchini and what should I do about it?Email your responses.

Congratulations Michelle!

Newsletter reader Michelle Edwards, and the Community Compost Group that she oversees at Rushall Community Garden in North Fitzroy, have won the 2021 Community Initiative of the Year in the City of Yarra. “The Community Compost Group provides a shared composting solution for those in our community who don’t have space or the capacity for a compost bin of their own. The local community drop off vegetable food scraps to the Community Compost Hub located in Rushall Garden, North Fitzroy. Michelle Edwards leads a small group of volunteers to manage this popular community compost bin system, helping to turn food waste into useable compost.Read more.

A swarm of bees

Vicki Jordan has written in to say that she recently woke up to find two swarms of bees, one huge (in the middle of the photo) and the other small (at the top of the photo). She called Ben’s Bees, who promptly removed them. The person who did the removal was wearing shorts!

A video on controlling aphids with wasps

Jo Douglas suggests that you watch this 3 minute video about controlling aphids with tiny wasps.

Strawberry and rhubarb jam (by Anna Matilda)

[As ‘The Urban Nanna’, Anna, from Forest Hill, has a website which includes a number of recipes, of which this is one.]

This recipe combines sweet and tart. It makes around 6-8 regular jars.

Ingredients

1kg ripe strawberries
½kg rhubarb stems
1¼kg sugar
1 lemon
1 vanilla bean
1 Granny Smith apple

Method

Wash the fruit well in warm water. Trim the leaves off the rhubarb.

Chop the strawberries and rhubarb into similar sized chunks. Combine with the sugar in a large pot.

Wash the lemon, slice in half, squeeze the juice into pot and then add the leftover skin and pulp.

Split the vanilla bean in half, scrape out seeds then add the lot to the pot.

Stir until well combined, cover and leave to macerate overnight.

Peel and grate the apple into the pot and stir to combine.

Bring to a rolling boil and keep there until it reaches a ‘set’.

Remove the lemons and vanilla pods.

Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal while hot.

Store in a cool dark cupboard for potentially years before opening, then in the fridge once you’ve cracked the jar.

Note that, due to the low pectin levels in ripe strawberries and rhubarb, this recipe makes a slightly runnier jam than our other recipes. Be sure to add any white bits of strawberry, as these have more pectin in them and can help reach a set. It can still be tricky to reach a firm set with this jam, so you may like to have some pectin on hand to add if it looks like your batch is struggling to gel enough.

Which link was clicked most times in the last newsletter?

The most popular link in last week’s newsletter was Jian’s article about growing oca.

Joke (or pun) of the week

How do you know that carrots are good for your eyes?
Have you ever seen a rabbit wearing glasses?

Read more jokes.

Upcoming online events

Backyard Farmers project info session; Sunday, 28th November, 3-4pm; free.

The Backyard Farmers Project matches aspiring farmers with Fawkner residents with large backyards. Participating farmers receive access to land rent-free, mentoring, training, resources and access to local food distribution channels. Participating Fawkner land hosts will have an under-utilised part of their garden transformed into a productive backyard farm. They will also receive chemical-free, fresh produce grown on their land, learn growing skills, get to know more members of their local community and support the aspiring farmers. The program will run from January 2022 to April 2023. This event is for anyone who is potentially interested in joining the project, both the aspiring farmers and the Fawkner residents. It will be an information session, with the opportunity to ask questions, meet the team, and hear from urban farmers and land hosts who participated in the pilot.

Christmas make it! After school club; Thursday, 9th December, 4.30-5pm; free.

They will be baking some yummy goodies for Christmas. An ingredients list will be sent out prior to the session. Organised by Boroondara Libraries.

Greek biscuits for your Christmas celebrations; Thursday, 16th December, 5-6pm; free.

You will be shown how to make ‘melomakarona’ (orange, honey and walnut, dipped in cinnamon syrup) and ‘kourambiethes’ (almond and butter covered in icing sugar). Organised by Boroondara Libraries.

Previously announced

Upcoming face-to-face events – not cooking

Many of these events may be restricted to fully vaccinated people only.

Marketing at tradeshows; Wednesday, 1st December, 10-11am; $50 ($50 per hour); Alphington.

Tradeshows, festivals and events are all due to open up again in 2022 and they will all provide opportunities to get your food or drink product in front of customers and/or to make relationships with potential business partners. The topics to be covered in this session will include: identifying the best event for your product; understanding why you are there; knowing the customer you are targeting; the cost of participating; and reaping the rewards of your participation. Organised by The Business of Food.

Puss and Mew gin tasting, finger food and networking evening; Thursday, 9th December, 7-10pm; $70 ($23 per hour); Nunawading.

Enjoy a social evening that includes the tasting of 4 core range gins, finger food and networking. Organised by Women of Whitehorse.

Previously announced

Upcoming face-to-face events – cooking

Many of these events may be restricted to fully vaccinated people only.

Cook Indian by the creek; Friday, 26th November, 6-8pm; $80 ($40 per hour); Diamond Creek.

Menu: onion bhajis and chutney; butter chicken.

Cooking dumplings; Saturday, 27th November, 1.30-4pm; $50 ($20 per hour); Bayswater North.

Learn how to make dumplings, both steamed and pan fried, as well as vegetable noodle soup, with Chef Oddie. Once you have finished preparing your food, you can sit down to taste test. Organised by Arrabri Community House.

Previously announced
In Richmond
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 25th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Street food of Asia: Friday, 26th November, 2-4.30pm; $168 ($67 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 27th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indian cooking master class: Saturday, 27th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indonesian cooking master class: Saturday, 27th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 28th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Italian cooking master class: Sunday, 28th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Pizza making party: Sunday, 28th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $127 ($64 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 2nd December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Pizza making party: Friday, 3rd December, 2-4pm; $127 ($64 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indian cooking master class: Friday, 3rd December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 4th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Chinese cooking master class: Saturday, 4th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Going native Australia: Saturday, 4th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 5th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Asian cooking with parents and kids: Sunday, 5th December, 2-4pm; $91 ($46 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vegan cooking master class: Sunday, 5th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 9th December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Friday, 10th December, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Chinese cooking master class: Friday, 10th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 11th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Saturday, 11th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Street food of Asia: Saturday, 11th December, 6.30-9pm; $168 ($67 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 12th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Sunday, 12th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Sunday, 12th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 16th December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Friday, 17th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Friday, 17th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 18th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Saturday, 18th December, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Korean cooking master class: Saturday, 18th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 19th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Mexican cooking master class: Sunday, 19th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Spanish cooking master class: Sunday, 19th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
Nov 162021
 

Thanks to all the people who have contributed to this week’s newsletter: Astrid Judge, Helen Corney, Jian Liu, Jon Buttery, Julie O’Brien, Meg Montague, Pam Jenkins, Simone Boyd and Stuart Rodda.

It is great when people contribute material for the newsletter. The material can be anything so long as it is food-related: ask a question, provide a tip, discuss an issue, submit a photo, send in a recipe, etc. Email us with your contribution(s).

This week’s regular activities

I think that all the events below are actually happening but I can’t guarantee it so you might want to check in advance if you are planning to go.

Food swaps

Saturday: Box Hill South, Brunswick East, Fairfield and Forest Hill.
Sunday: St Andrews, Surrey Hills / Balwyn and Warranwood.

Community gardens

Thursday: SEEDs (Brunswick) and Whittlesea.
Friday: West Brunswick.
Saturday: Links (Lalor) and Thrive (Diamond Creek).
Sunday: Bellfield, Fawkner Food Bowls, Incredible Edible Eltham (Spring planting), Northcote Library and Pentridge (Coburg).
Monday: SEEDs (Brunswick) and Whittlesea.
Next Wednesday: Span (Thornbury).

Farmers’ markets

Thursday: Alphington Midweek Farmgate.
Saturday: Coburg.
Sunday: Alphington, Eltham  and Yarra Valley.

North East Region Permaculture (NERP) at Eltham Farmers’ Market

North East Region Permaculture (NERP) is one of the more active permaculture groups in North East Melbourne. Mainly operating in Nillumbik and the surrounding suburbs, they share skills and knowledge plus organise workshops and garden visits. My understanding is that they now have a monthly stall at Eltham Farmers’ Market on the 2nd Sunday of each month where anyone can talk to them about their activities. At the last stall on 14th November, they gave away a variety of veggie seedlings.

World Soil Day at Eltham Farmers’ Market on 5th December

World Soil Day, a United Nations initiative, is held annually on 5th December to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil. This year the campaign is ‘Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity‘. In Australia, Healthy Soils Australia is promoting the importance and benefits of healthy soil via their Soil Week Australia website.

Newsletter reader Bev Middleton is a Director of Healthy Soils Australia and is taking a leading role in the campaign. As Bev says, “Healthy soil matters, more than we think. It matters for our food, our food security, health, clean water, eco-services and our climate.

To mark World Soil Day, Bev and others will have a stall at Eltham Farmers’ Market on 5th December. This is one of a series of stalls at the market for local food and sustainability groups to present their programs, last week’s being NERP (as discussed above).

Bev is also giving an online presentation called Healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy people on Wednesday, 1st December, 8-9.30pm.

Why and how to grow oca (by Jian Liu)

[Jian, from Camberwell, is an occasional contributor to this newsletter who has now set up her own website, called Melbourne Foodforest, where she writes articles to help people to develop their own food forests. One of her recent articles is about why and how to grow oca. She has also set up an associated YouTube channel where one of the videos is about growing oca. Below is a summary of the article and video.]

Oca is a root vegetable that you may not have heard of. It is a hardy, nutritious and tasty tuber which tastes quite similar to potato but is a little more nutty and (some say) lemony. It can be steamed and mashed, baked or fried, just like potato or, unlike a potato, it can be eaten raw. It has a low Glycaemic Index. As per the photo, it looks like a witchetty grub!

As a plant, it is hardy, easy to grow, highly productive and can be grown in part shade. The hardest part is finding some tubers to get started. It is a warm season vegetable which should be planted in late winter or early spring. Like potato, it is a perennial grown as an annual. It likes compost but not too much manure or nitrogen, as this promotes leafy growth over tuber growth.

As the plant grows, it is good to top up with compost as more tubers will form wherever the stems touch the soil.

Only harvest when all of the foliage has yellowed. This generally occurs around the shortest day of the year in winter. Dig around carefully with your hands to unearth the brightly coloured tubers. Wash, clean and dry in the sun, then cure in the sun for up to a week for sweeter tubers. Then store away somewhere airy and dry, like a pantry or in a shed.

Read the full article.

Watch the video.

Read other articles by Jian on our website.

Large forks (by Stuart Rodda)

[This is the third of Stuart’s articles about large gardening tools, the first two having been on shovels/spades and soil levellers.]

A fork is defined here as a tool with multiple straight tines (prongs). They are usually used for digging soil, or for lifting loose bulk materials such as hay, mulch or compost, because the narrow tines penetrate these materials readily. The spacing between the tines determines how well a fork will retain loose material, i.e. if it will fall through the gaps when lifted. Sharper or tapered tines penetrate more easily than broad ones.

  

You would typically choose a ‘spading’ or digging fork rather than a shovel when digging previously worked soil such as a garden bed, and when you don’t want to cut your produce (carrots, potatoes) or worms in half. A fork is also a better initial choice when the soil is not moist, because the tines penetrate easier than a shovel. A fork is also an essential tool for turning compost due to the difficulty of driving a shovel into such a mixture. Finally, ‘lifting’ root crops is best done with a fork by digging underneath the roots to be harvested and letting the soil fall through the tines.

Your fork can be long handled or short handled (the latter usually with a D-shaped handle for better control). With the long handle, you have plenty of leverage and reach, and it doesn’t matter how short or tall you are. Smaller forks require less effort but they take longer to get through the job.

Features to look for when buying a fork include: tines which are strong and springy or hardened so they won’t bend under your force; a strong but lightweight handle; and an overall size appropriate to your job. Sharp pointed tips on the tines give good penetration but can be hazardous for unprotected feet. A digging fork ideally has the tines emerging from a horizontal ‘frame’ so that you can use your weight through your foot to drive the tines into the soil. Wooden handles can be strong, but hardwood can be heavy, and cheaper wood may leave splinters in your hands. Hollow fibreglass and steel handles are also made.

Specialised forks for hay, manure or mulch have smooth and tapered tines which slide easily into and out of the material being moved (see photo). A cheaper mulch fork with tines looking like thick wire works well on coarse mulch, and doubles as a rather crude rake for levelling your mulch layer after placing. Forks with sharp pointed tines can be a nuisance for moving mulch when the tines are constantly ‘spearing’ pieces of mulch.

Jon’s podcast of the week

As someone who has two oaks on his nature strip – one adopted from the park behind before they put a bike path through and the other a refugee from the former Borlase Reserve – I found this podcast about oak trees fascinating. It explained why my oaks took so long to start growing really well, the wide variety of insects that they support and why oaks are interesting trees.

Say “no” to bitter lettuce (by Simone Boyd)

[Simone is owner of the online veggie seed shop, Heirloom Naturally.]

[Watch this video, where Simone discusses bitter lettuce.]

What is your go to ingredient for a quick and easy salad in Summer? If you answered ‘lettuce’, you are not alone. In Australia, and probably around the world, lettuce is enjoyed throughout the Summer months as a light, tasty and refreshing vegetable.

But did you know that lettuce is really a cool season crop? Whilst we can, and do, grow it all year round, lettuce prefers the cooler seasons and will need to be nurtured during the warmer months.

A strong sign that your lettuce is struggling in Summer, is a bitter taste. Whilst bitterness is not a bad thing – it stimulates the appetite and digestive juices – if you are not accustomed to the taste, it can be off putting and lead to a crop destined for the compost heap.

Bitter lettuce is generally caused by one of two things:

  1. Not enough water.
  2. Too much heat.

So growing lettuce in Summer becomes a challenge as it is generally hot, with little rainfall.

To avoid bitter lettuce, it is essential to ensure that your lettuce crops receive around 25mm of water each week (this is true for most vegetables). If mother nature is not providing this amount of rainfall, you will need to water your crops. Whilst we cannot change the level of heat that we receive during Summer, we can mitigate it by providing our lettuce with shade, particularly from the afternoon sun. Covering with shade cloth, or planting on the Eastern side of a taller growing crop such as tomato, will offer your lettuce some relief from the hot sun. Commercial growers often mist their lettuce crops with water three or four times per day during the height of the Summer to offer a similar cooling effect.

I have also read that one may reduce the level of bitterness in lettuce by popping it in the fridge for a couple of days prior to eating – worth a try!

The history of the local Chinese market gardens

Watch this 30 minute video about the early 20th Century history of the Chinese market gardens in Northcote, Coburg and Heidelberg.

No you didn’t know (sigh)

Sometimes we receive really comprehensive and thoughtful responses to newsletter readers’ questions. Last week was a good example, with Bruno Tigani’s response to Yennie Yong’s romanesco failure and Brendon Bolton’s response to Eliza McCumstie’s contaminated herbicide (a belated thanks to Bruno and Brendon!).

Other times, however, we receive no responses at all. Such is the case with Nada Cunningham’s question from last week, where she asked what was the greyish, white cakey material in her soil (see photo) and what should she do about it. Would anyone like to rectify the situation by responding this week? Email your responses.

Do you know?

Blotchy rhubarb leaves

Pam Jenkins has written in: “My rhubarb is planted in an alkaline bed, even though I understand that it would prefer acid soil. It has been doing okay there for at least 10 years but every time I give it some plant food the leaves go blotchy like those in the photo. In the past, I have been feeding it with pellets of dynamic lifter or similar and thought that perhaps it was too strong and was burning the leaves. This time I fed it cow manure and ended up with the same result. Any ideas of what is happening?Email your responses.

Suckering bay trees

Meg Montague has written in: “I would appreciate some advice on how to control one bay tree and how to destroy the roots of another. I foolishly allowed both bay trees to get very tall, around 10 metres. I have now cut one down but am having trouble destroying its roots and stopping it from suckering (see left hand photo). The other I am keeping but again it madly suckers and cutting these off only seems to encourage it to grow more (see right hand photo). What can I do to keep it under control?Email your responses.

  

Want to know more about noisy miners and how to deter them?

Banyule Council has just published a really interesting 45 minute video entitled noisy miners – bullies in your own backyard by Professor Mike Clarke (who lives in Rosanna).

To illustrate the breadth of the presentation, one 4 minute section of the video (from minute 8:50 to minute 12.50) discusses their breeding habits. As per the diagram, noisy miners are communal breeders who operate as ‘brotherhoods’ (aka ‘coteries’). The brotherhood apparently comprises a number of related males (usually brothers, according to Prof. Clarke) together with a number of unrelated females. Whilst the females just feed their own young, the males often help out at multiple nests (because, being related to the chicks, it is genetically in their interest to so do). When the male chicks grow up, they become members of the brotherhood. By contrast, when the female chicks grow up, they fly away and try and find vacancies in other brotherhoods.

Much of the video discusses what, if anything, can be done to lessen the dominance of noisy miners in home gardens and thus increase the likelihood or other small songbirds. Whilst Prof. Clarke has a number of suggestions, his overall message appears to be that you can’t really do anything about it.

What I am doing with my garlic (by Pam Jenkins)

My garlic has continued to fall over so I decided to dig it up a little early to save what I could.

Some of the garlics had rotten centres but some usable cloves. I gave the bulbs a good blast with the hose to wash away as much of the fungus as I could before separating out the cloves. Knowing that they weren’t going to keep well, I decided to ferment them. The skin on each clove is still soft but needs to be removed.

After some research, I decided to use this simple recipe. After 3 days, I moved the jar to an external storage area as it really does make the house smell strongly of garlic! After 4 to 6 weeks of fermenting, I will be able to store it in the fridge, where it will keep for months. Fermenting makes the flavour more subtle so, when using it in a recipe, double the suggested quantity of cloves. After using the cloves, the pickling brine can be used in ‘dirty’ cocktails, salad dressings or for making garlic butter.

I am holding the cloves under the brine with the little support ‘table’ found in takeaway pizza boxes. It works really well!

  

Other garlics had a little black fungus growing on the outside but it hadn’t encroached far between the cloves or got into the centre of the stems. With these, I have decided to ferment some in honey to create a sore throat treatment. Here is a recipe for honey fermented garlic.

The remainder of the garlic will be plaited for long term storage in the cool dry area under the house. Here is Penny Woodward’s instructions on how to plait garlic.

You need to check your plaited garlic regularly to make sure that the cloves aren’t showing signs of sprouting. If they are, and I don’t want to plant them out, then I dehydrate them. The dehydrated garlic rehydrates really well and tastes as strong as fresh. Once it has been dehydrated, it can be left as it is, powdered or stored in oil. Storing in oil has the advantage of being soft and easy to use and you also get a byproduct of garlic-infused oil. When preparing for dehydrating, you need to slice the bulbs so that the water can escape. Remember how many slices per clove as it is easy to put too much into your recipe. Over doing the powder is even more of a risk!

Which link was clicked most times in the last newsletter?

The most popular link last week was Jaimie’s video about linden trees.

Joke (or pun) of the week

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Cash.
Cash who?
No thanks, I prefer peanuts!

Read more jokes.

Upcoming online events

Urban agriculture and anthropogenic trace metal contaminants; Friday, 19th November, 1-2.30pm; free.

This is the 30th Memorial Leeper Lecture and the keynote speaker is Professor Mark Taylor, who is the Chief Environmental Scientist at EPA Victoria. He will discuss such questions as: Do I know what’s in my backyard soil? Can I send my soil somewhere to have it tested? Is my backyard safe for honeybees, or chickens, or my veggie patch? He will also discuss why we need to measure urban contaminants and how we can empower citizens to act through initiatives like the VegeSafe program that he initiated at Macquarie University.

Healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy people; Wednesday, 1st December, 8-9.30pm; $15.

To celebrate World Soil Day on 5th December, this workshop will explore the connections between how our agricultural system produces our food and what this means for the food we eat. They will touch on what nutrient dense food means and explore the connection with healthy soil. Presenter: Bev Middleton. Organised by Sustainable Macleod.

Previously announced
  • Edible garden tour With Karen Sutherland; Thursday, 18th November, 11am-midday; free.
  • Productive gardens workshop with Jian Liu; Thursday, 18th November, 7.30-8.30pm; $30; organised by Open Gardens Victoria.
  • Cooking demonstration: san choy bao and mango sago pudding; Thursday, 25th November, 7-8pm; free.
  • Keeping backyard chooks with Felicity Gordon; Saturday, 27th November, 3-4pm; free.
  • Zen permaculture, starting at the kitchen sink: de-clutter and reset your life; Sunday, 12th December, 2-3.45pm; $donation.
  • Take your recipe to retail; Wednesday, 15th December, 9-10am; $50.

Upcoming face-to-face events – not cooking

Many of these events may be restricted to fully vaccinated people only.

Community gardening in Moreland; Sunday, 21st November, 10am-midday; free; Brunswick West.

Moreland Community Gardening and Moreland Council will be talking about food growing in Moreland and will have some community garden stories from gardens in the neighbourhood. You will be split into two groups: those who are new to community gardening (to discuss what goes into starting a community garden) and with those familiar with community gardening (who will discuss opportunities, challenges and support).

Farm lunch; Sunday, 21st November, 12.45-2.45pm; $75; Alphington.

Join the East African Sisters (Fahan and Safiya) at the Melbourne Food Hub Farm for a multi-course vegetarian lunch featuring fresh, seasonal produce grown at the site. They will also showcase Somali and Ethiopian food, culture and community. Have a guided farm tour with Clare Harvey. Listen to speakers Kelly Donati (from Sustain) and Rasha Tayeh. All the profits from this event will be donated to a Gofundme campaign connecting Palestinian food producers and female agripreneurs with grants to expand their businesses and farm practices. Organised by Melbourne Food Hub.

Plant sale – fundraiser for Boroondara Greens; Saturday, 27th November, 10am-midday; free; Kew East.

 

Span Sustainability Fest; Saturday, 27th November, 11am-3pm; free; Thornbury.

There will be five events during the day organised by Span Community House:

Spring plant sale at Gunyah garden; Saturday, 27th November, 11am-3pm; free; Pascoe Vale South.

Spring plant sale of edible and other native plants including: old man saltbush ‘de Kock’, chocolate lily, bulbine lily, yam daisy, flax lily, mat rush, kangaroo grass, hop goodenia, native violet, running postman, native mint (chocolate and spearmint flavours), bottlebrush red, kurrajong and lilly pilly (dwarf variety). Organised by Edible Eden Design (Karen Sutherland).

Grow your own mushrooms; Wednesday, 1st December, 1.30-2pm; $25 ($50 per hour); Greensborough.

Ros, from Here For Ya Mate will show you the basics for growing your own mushrooms. Learn about different edible mushrooms, grain spawn, substrates, fruiting bags and how you can grow them at home indoors. Organised by Greenhills Neighbourhood House.

Northside Wines – Christmas market; Sunday, 12th December, 1-7pm; $22; Northcote.

They will have around 100 wines for you to sample and learn about, with several of the wine makers on hand. The ticket price includes a free tasting glass that is yours to take home. Unlimited sampling. Organised by Northside Wines.

Previously announced

Upcoming face-to-face events – cooking

Many of these events may be restricted to fully vaccinated people only.

The art of fermenting; Sunday, 5th December, 2-5pm; $55 ($18 per hour); Hawthorn.

This class will focus on obtaining great gut health through fermented foods. You will learn how to make sauerkraut and other fermented produce. You will also look at ways to make it healthier and more delicious with the addition of different spices and seasonal vegetables. Organised by Hawthorn Community House.

Previously announced
In Richmond
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 18th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Friday, 19th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Friday, 19th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 20th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Saturday, 20th November, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Korean cooking master class: Saturday, 20th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 21st November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Mexican cooking master class: Sunday, 21st November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Spanish cooking master class: Sunday, 21st November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Pasta e basta!; Tuesday, 23rd November, 6.30-10.30pm; $105 ($26 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 25th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Street food of Asia: Friday, 26th November, 2-4.30pm; $168 ($67 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 27th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indian cooking master class: Saturday, 27th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indonesian cooking master class: Saturday, 27th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 28th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Italian cooking master class: Sunday, 28th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Pizza making party: Sunday, 28th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $127 ($64 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 2nd December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Pizza making party: Friday, 3rd December, 2-4pm; $127 ($64 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indian cooking master class: Friday, 3rd December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 4th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Chinese cooking master class: Saturday, 4th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Going native Australia: Saturday, 4th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 5th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Asian cooking with parents and kids: Sunday, 5th December, 2-4pm; $91 ($46 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vegan cooking master class: Sunday, 5th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 9th December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Friday, 10th December, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Chinese cooking master class: Friday, 10th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 11th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Saturday, 11th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Street food of Asia: Saturday, 11th December, 6.30-9pm; $168 ($67 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 12th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Sunday, 12th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Sunday, 12th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 16th December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Friday, 17th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Friday, 17th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 18th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Saturday, 18th December, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Korean cooking master class: Saturday, 18th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 19th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Mexican cooking master class: Sunday, 19th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Spanish cooking master class: Sunday, 19th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
Nov 092021
 

Thanks to all the people who have contributed to this week’s newsletter: Aimee Maxwell, Alison Fraser, Brendon Bolton, Bruno Tigani, Felicity Gordon, Jaimie Sweetman, Jian Liu, Jon Buttery, Julie French, Nada Cunningham, Pam Griffith and Stuart Rodda.

It is great when people contribute material for the newsletter. The material can be anything so long as it is food-related: ask a question, provide a tip, discuss an issue, submit a photo, send in a recipe, etc. Email us with your contribution(s).

Re-opening plans

Food swaps

Roughly half of the local food swaps have now announced that they are re-starting (see our food swap calendar). Over the coming weekend, these include:

Saturday: Collingwood, Hurstbridge and Mooroolbark.

Community gardens

Roughly half of the local community garden have now announced that they are re-starting (see our community gardening calendar). Over the coming week, these include:

Thursday: SEEDs (Brunswick) and Whittlesea.
Friday: West Brunswick.
Saturday: Links (Lalor), Tables (Heathmont) and Thrive (Diamond Creek).
Sunday: Pentridge (Coburg) and West Brunswick.
Monday: SEEDs (Brunswick) and Whittlesea.
Next Wednesday: Span (Thornbury).

If you want to go to any of these community gardening activities, I would suggest that you contact them in advance just to make sure that the event is actually happening and that you are invited to it.

This week’s farmers’ markets

Thursday: Alphington Midweek Farmgate.
Saturday: Coburg and Collingwood Children’s Farm.
Sunday: Alphington, Eltham  and Whitehorse.

Jaimie’s edible plant of the month – linden tree (Tilia cordata)

The Linden tree (Tilia cordata), sometimes called the small-leaved lime, is a deciduous tree originating in Europe, where it is widely grown as an ornamental tree, quite often as a street tree. It can grow up to 40m high, although it can be kept smaller or even hedged.

The leaves, flowers and sap are all edible.

The heart shaped leaves sprout in spring and, when soft, can be eaten straight off the tree, used as a lettuce substitute, added to salads or used to make pesto.

The sap can be used as a sweet syrup (although I have not tried it yet).

Come summer, when the leaves get tougher, they can still be dried and used as a herbal tea, as can the flowers that bloom in spring. The tea has a nice mild sweet flavour and is quite enjoyable.

The health benefits include relieving coughs and congestion, as well as easing fevers and anxiety.

There are around 30 species of Tilia but the linden tree is the one most considered as edible. In a food forest situation, it is a great first layer in the system creating shade and shelter for other plants. We currently have two in the Edible Forest.

One of the good things about edible trees is the minimal work that they require. There isn’t the annual turnover like vegetable crops. Rather, once planted, you have access to greens without any effort except for the harvesting.

* * * * *

Watch Jaimie’s video about the linden tree.

Read about Jaimie’s previous edible plants of the month.

Jaimie Sweetman is Head Gardener of the Edible Forest located on the Yarra Valley Estate in Dixons Creek. Tours of the Edible Forest, often led by Jaimie, take place on all days except Sundays – read more and book your place on a future tour.

Shovels and spades (by Stuart Rodda)

[The material below is a shortened version of an article Stuart has written for our website on shovels and spades. It is the second of Stuart’s articles about large gardening tools, the first having been on soil levellers.]

Spades Semi-pointed shovels Square shovels

To dig the earth, you need a tool and, for larger areas, a shovel, fork or hoe is essential.

In this discussion, a shovel is defined as a tool with a fairly flat but contoured blade, which can be used to lift out a chunk of soil and turn it over.

Shovels will cut into the soil, allowing you to lift the chunk out in one action, whereas a fork pierces the soil with multiple tines (prongs) and will only lift out a chunk if the soil doesn’t break up when lifted. Forks work better on harder soils, or soils containing stones, which would stop the blade of a shovel from penetrating. Forks for digging like this can have flattened tines and are also called ‘spading’ forks. Shovels, because they cut the soil, are not as affected by the presence of plant roots and can be used to turn in a previous crop with less effort than using a fork.

A spade is a type of sharp edged shovel but its primary purpose is to cut in a straight line rather than to lift and turn the soil. A spade is usually used to make straight edges on lawns or garden beds and, because the blade may not be contoured, it can bend under strain, so I suggest not using one for general digging.

Shovels can also be used for quickly moving soil or other bulk materials from place to place, or mixing different components together, such as compost and soil.

I find the most useful type of shovel for general purpose use to be a semi-pointed type. The shape of the shovel allows it to cut into the soil progressively rather than all at once which is the case with square shovels (see photo) and thus the semi-pointed type is easier to use.

Square shovels are better for moving or mixing loose materials, especially when the materials to be moved or mixed are on a hard flat surface such as a concrete path.

[Read the full article, in which Stuart also discusses features to look out for when buying a shovel and how best to use shovels.]

Jon’s podcast of the week

This episode of the 3CR Gardening Show is worth a listen. It stars John Arnott of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Chris Williams from Burnley Horticultural College at Melbourne University.

De-growth and re-growth (by Alison Fraser)

[Alison has recently moved to Montmorency.]

With the onset of Spring, our whipper snipper gave up the ghost. Reluctantly purchased as part of our initiation into ‘life in Monty’, it has languished in the tool shed ever since, with lockdown and a determination to reduce our household consumption conspiring to prevent its replacement. As a result, our small sloping house block (natives out the front, veggies out the back, yellow box and she-oak above) is looking decidedly unkempt. The El Nina rains have unleashed a multitude of indigenous and introduced grasses and we are now knee deep in a gracefully swaying sea of green.

This proliferation has brought forth invertebrates in every form imaginable – bees, flies, hoverflies, wasps, butterflies, moths and beetles – all feasting on, and living among, the grasses. Our social anxiety at being holdouts among the daily din of leaf blowers, line trimmers and mowers has disappeared as we witness daily small revelations of new species or behaviours. The skinks and bluetongues are living high on the hog, while our resident pigeons (bronzewings and cresteds) and friendly galahs peacefully forage for seed, while we watch from above, ready and armed to deter next door’s cat.

This morning brought yet more unexpected visitors. Opening the bedroom blinds early, I could see two brown animals moving among the long grass on the backyard hill. Quelle horreur! Rabbits? Foxes? Then up popped the war-painted faces of a pair of Pacific black ducks, pootling along, stripping the seed heads with a quick vibrating movement, then bobbing down to hunt for live prey, no doubt enjoying the slater explosion from the damp weather. Through the undergrowth, up and over the herb bed they foraged busily, working along vegetable beds and compost bins, with our delighted family watching from behind the bird hide venetians.

This morning our staffie can snooze inside a little longer while the wildlife goes about its business in our ‘untidy’ garden and, as far as I am concerned, the whipper snipper can stay silent.

Yes, you did know!

What’s eating the passionfruit?

Vanessa Shribman asked what ate her green passionfruits last year and what can she do about it this year.

Julie French responded: “Maybe possums. They used to eat all mine so I gave up growing them. I know it was them because I caught them in the act.

This, combined with my previous response (“maybe rats“) covers the two most likely culprits. I have found that the bagging of individual fruit can sometimes deter them.

Safe and trustworthy sources for compost

Eliza McCumstie asked for recommendations for safe and trustworthy sources for compost.

Brendon Bolton: “Unfortunately, many companies that sell compost are actually waste industry companies that derive the greater portion of their revenue streams by dealing with waste, which often includes turf thatch from sports ovals, golf courses, etc. The contaminated compost that was sold in recent times was most likely as a result of chemical contamination from the turf thatch and could have been avoided with better protocols and testing.

As part of my role (Garden Organics Business Development & Education) at the City of Greater Geelong, we test all of our compost before it goes to market. This is done by simply planting tomatoes, peas and sunflowers into various samples of the compost (these species being good indicators of the presence of residual herbicides).

For home gardeners wanting to avoid contaminated compost, I suggest planting out sample pots with tomatoes, sunflower and peas into a mix of 75% potting mix 25% compost and observing the results before using it over their entire patch. They may also consider asking the composter about their processes and protocols.

Your readership might also be interested in reading about the many benefits of quality compost as well as fact sheets and case studies at Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA).

Romanescos gone wrong

Last week, Yennie Yong asked what had gone wrong with her romanesco, which hadn’t formed the usual distinctive, tight heads.

Bruno Tigani has written a long, interesting and comprehensive reply which I will paraphrase. Bruno, who works in commercial horticulture, thinks that Yennie’s romanesco simply bolted to seed without first forming a tight head and he thinks that this happened because the romanesco was planted too late in the season. “Generally, for the home gardener, you should start brassicas in late summer and harvest in winter. If plants go in later, then the plant will remain small during winter, the heads will be loose and small, and they will go straight to seed once spring arrives. The home gardener waiting for their brassica head to get larger in spring will never succeed, as the plant is now in its reproductive phase. Rather, you will get much better results if you plant in, say, February, mainly due to the plant making better growth before the onset of the really cold weather. With cold exposure, the plants will vernalize and that is the cue to form a head, which you harvest, and the head will be larger simply because the plant is larger.

When I asked Bruno when he planted what, he replied: “I finish planting my cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and large cabbages by end of February. Broccoli and small cabbages you can go well into March. April is too late for winter brassicas in Melbourne if your aim is to harvest a large, well-formed head.

I have amended our veggie planting guide to be in line with Bruno’s advice. Thanks, Bruno!

My veggie growing tip of the week – Brussels sprouts as a summer crop

This tip builds on Bruno’s advice above and takes it one step further.

Historically I have never managed to grow Brussels sprouts successfully – the plants grew ok but the sprouts never really formed. So, last year I went to Adams Farms in Coldstream to seek their advice (Adams Farms specialise in growing Brussels sprouts and supply, amongst others, Coles). They told me that they plant their Brussels sprouts in November through to February (rather than in Autumn as I was doing) and they gave me 18 of their seedlings.

The result? I planted the seedlings last November and harvested literally thousands of Brussels sprouts from May onwards: 18 plants with an average of 60 sprouts each equals 1,080 sprouts!

More on cross-pollination of sweetcorn

Following my little article last week on the dangers of cross-pollination of sweetcorn, Jian Liu has written in to say that she has just published a video on how to grow sweetcorn and part of the video discusses the dangers of cross-pollination of sweetcorn!. As well, as my suggestion (only grow one variety at a time), Jian has two other suggestions: separate the varieties by physical barriers, such as a shed or your house (sweetcorn is pollinated by the wind) and/or separate the varieties over time (Jian suggests that plantings should be at least 3 weeks apart). Watch Jian’s video, where the discussion about cross-pollination is from minute 8.45 to minute 12.45.

The video is actually only the second of four videos that Jian is producing on how to grow sweetcorn. Watch the first video. The third and fourth videos are yet to be produced.

Do you know?

Nada Cunningham asks: “When digging a hole for a new plant, or pulling out one that has recently died, I sometimes come across a layer of greyish, white cakey material. In the case of the recently dead plants, this material is encrusted around the roots. In the past, I have attributed it to being near large gum trees (of which I have many) or the application of uncomposted eucalyptus mulch. What is the cause of this problem and what are the possible solutions?Email your replies.

Want a job?

Very Edible Gardens (VEG) is seeking to hire a Warehouse and Workshop Assistant. The role is based in Brunswick, and primarily involves preparing and packing online orders of their DIY wicking bed conversion kits. 1-2 days per week. Closing date: Friday, 19th November.

Rhubarb chutney (by Pam Griffith)

[Pam is from Wattle Glen.]

Ingredients

2 cups rhubarb, chopped small
2 cups onions, sliced
2 cups sugar
1 cup vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons curry powder

Method

Mix the curry powder with a little of the vinegar.

Put the rhubarb, onions and rest of the vinegar into a pan and cook until the onions are softening.

Add the curry powder, salt and sugar to the mixture. Cook until the onions are tender (around 15-20 minutes).

Add a little cornflour mixed with water to thicken for a few minutes before taking off the heat.

Which link was clicked most times in the last newsletter?

The most popular link last week was the 3CR gardening show.

Joke (or pun) of the week

I once worked at a pizza shop to get by. I kneaded the dough.

Read more jokes.

Upcoming online events

Previously announced
  • Pop-up pantry audit workshop; Thursday, 11th November, 6.30-7.30pm; free.
  • Edible garden tour With Karen Sutherland; Thursday, 18th November, 11am-midday; free.
  • Productive gardens workshop with Jian Liu; Thursday, 18th November, 7.30-8.30pm; $30; organised by Open Gardens Victoria.
  • Cooking demonstration: san choy bao and mango sago pudding; Thursday, 25th November, 7-8pm; free.
  • Keeping backyard chooks with Felicity Gordon; Saturday, 27th November, 3-4pm; free.
  • Zen permaculture, starting at the kitchen sink: de-clutter and reset your life; Sunday, 12th December, 2-3.45pm; $donation.
  • Take your recipe to retail; Wednesday, 15th December, 9-10am; $50.

Upcoming face-to-face events – not cooking

Many of these events may be restricted to fully vaccinated people only.

Want to see some food-related art?

Felicity Gordon has an art exhibition called Germinate at ILCH, 275 Upper Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe from Wednesday, 17th November to Sunday, 5th December. Using sculpture, wall drawings, collage, worried paper, violent splashes and pools of ink, Felicity’s works mimic naturally occurring systems of decay and renewal. They chart a mostly unknown world of diversity where plant seeds, bacteria and fungi work together to sustain life. Every gallery visitor will be able to sow a food plant seed in a pot to germinate at home. Open during regular library hours (i.e. 7 days a week, from 10am at the latest to 5pm at the earliest). Felicity will be working as an artist in residence at Mungga Artist Studios (adjacent to the gallery) most times while the exhibition is running so feel free to call in and say hello.

Previously announced

Upcoming face-to-face events – cooking

Many of these events may be restricted to fully vaccinated people only.

Gourmet Christmas gifts; Wednesday, 17th November, 10am-2pm; $110 ($28 per hour); Surrey Hills.

Prepare five gourmet Christmas treats to impress your family and friends over the holiday period. During this workshop, you will prepare and take-home raspberry jam, mini fruit truffles, shortbread stars, mince pies and Parmesan crisps. At the end of the class, you will be shown exciting ways to package and present your gifts. Presenter: Sandy. The cost covers all ingredients and materials, morning tea and lunch. Organised by Balwyn Community Centre.

French cooking workshop; Wednesday, 17th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $65 ($33 per hour); Balwyn North.

Have fun and become a French chef during this cooking class with Marie-Emilie from Le Pot de Moutarde. Organised by Trentwood at the Hub.

Italian Christmas crostoli class; Thursday, 2nd December, 1-3pm; $65 ($33 per hour); Surrey Hills.

Learn how to make Italian crostoli with Carmela. Homemade crostoli is a crispy sweet biscuit. Organised by Balwyn Community Centre.

Middle Eastern cooking; Friday, 3rd December, 6.30-9.30pm; $65 ($22 per hour); Park Orchards.

Learn about the flavours of Middle Eastern cooking. Try out recipes and cooking methods while preparing a three course menu. Stay and share your freshly prepared dinner with the group. Organised by Park Orchards Community House.

Sri Lankan street food experience; Sunday, 5th December, 4-6pm; $89 ($45 per hour); Fitzroy.

MasterChef Contestant Dee Williams will take you through her personal spice range which you will be encouraged to smell, touch and taste. These include a Roasted Chilli Powder, Sri Lankan Unroasted Curry Powder, Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder and Sri Lankan Dark Roasted Curry Powder. She will then show you how to make roti bread from scratch, a Spicy Coconut Sambal and a Sri Lankan Dhal. Once you have created your masterpieces, you will then plate and devour your creations with your new found foodie friends!

Sourdough bread; Sunday, 12th December, 1.30-4pm; $55 ($22 per hour); Park Orchards.

Nadine will demonstrate the technique of sourdough bread making and baking. Bring a container to take home your dough to bake at home. This class is best suited to those who have some experience with bread making, however it is not essential. Organised by Park Orchards Community House.

Previously announced
In Richmond
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 11th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Friday, 12th November, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Chinese cooking master class: Friday, 12th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 13th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Saturday, 13th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Street food of Asia: Saturday, 13th November, 6.30-9pm; $168 ($67 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 14th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Sunday, 14th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Sunday, 14th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vegetarian cooking class: Tuesday, 16th November, 6.30-10.30pm; $105 ($26 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 18th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Friday, 19th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Friday, 19th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 20th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Saturday, 20th November, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Korean cooking master class: Saturday, 20th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 21st November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Mexican cooking master class: Sunday, 21st November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Spanish cooking master class: Sunday, 21st November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Pasta e basta!; Tuesday, 23rd November, 6.30-10.30pm; $105 ($26 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 25th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Street food of Asia: Friday, 26th November, 2-4.30pm; $168 ($67 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 27th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indian cooking master class: Saturday, 27th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indonesian cooking master class: Saturday, 27th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 28th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Italian cooking master class: Sunday, 28th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Pizza making party: Sunday, 28th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $127 ($64 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 2nd December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Pizza making party: Friday, 3rd December, 2-4pm; $127 ($64 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indian cooking master class: Friday, 3rd December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 4th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Chinese cooking master class: Saturday, 4th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Going native Australia: Saturday, 4th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 5th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Asian cooking with parents and kids: Sunday, 5th December, 2-4pm; $91 ($46 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vegan cooking master class: Sunday, 5th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 9th December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Friday, 10th December, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Chinese cooking master class: Friday, 10th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 11th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Saturday, 11th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Street food of Asia: Saturday, 11th December, 6.30-9pm; $168 ($67 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 12th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Sunday, 12th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Sunday, 12th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 16th December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Friday, 17th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Friday, 17th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 18th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Saturday, 18th December, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Korean cooking master class: Saturday, 18th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 19th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Mexican cooking master class: Sunday, 19th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Spanish cooking master class: Sunday, 19th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
Nov 032021
 

Thanks to all the people who have contributed to this week’s newsletter: Ann Hague, Ann Stanley, Choon Yin Yeok, Chris Kent, Claire Smith, Dale Martin, Elissa Oppenlander, Jian Liu, Jon Buttery, Lucinda Flynn, Rebecca Haschek, Robin Gale-Baker, Soo Mei Leong, Stuart Rodda, Vera Herman and Yennie Yong.

It is great when people contribute material for the newsletter. The material can be anything so long as it is food-related: ask a question, provide a tip, discuss an issue, submit a photo, send in a recipe, etc. Email us with your contribution(s).

Re-opening plans

Food swaps

A few food swaps have announced that they are re-starting. These include:

As Mooroolbark’s organiser, Claire Smith, says, “People are requested to be double vaccinated, will still be required to sign in and use the hand sanitiser. We’re looking forward to finally being able to meet up again and swap our home grown produce.

Community gardens

Quite a lot of community gardens have now announced that they have re-opened, including:
Bellfield, Condell Growers and Sharers (Fitzroy), Incredible Edible Eltham, Fawkner Food Bowls, Links (Lalor), Northcote Library, Pentridge, Stock Street (Coburg), The Patch (Bundoora), Renown Street (Coburg North), Thrive (Diamond Creek), West Brunswick and Whittlesea.

This week’s farmers’ markets

Thursday: Alphington Midweek Farmgate.
Saturday: Carlton and Coburg.
Sunday: Alphington and Eltham.

Soil levellers or spreaders (by Stuart Rodda)

[Stuart, from Eltham, is going to write a series of articles for this newsletter on large hand tools (spades, forks, etc). The material complements his previous articles on a variety of other garden tools. To start with, he discusses an uncommon tool, namely a soil leveller or soil spreader.]

For decades, I have been flattening soil to make planting beds using the back of a rake or a straight piece of wood. However, for other reasons (namely, to create a flat surface for a gravel path), I recently acquired a soil leveller from Bunnings. Having that tool, I then tried using it to create a flat soil bed for planting out seedlings and it worked brilliantly, so now I use it all the time for that purpose.

Why is it better than the flat back of a rake (see the photo of the both of them)?

  1. It is heavier and more ‘self-levelling’.
  2. With 4 rounded bars joined together, it easily moves away lumps of soil while flattening out the fine soil, and also tends to break lumps into smaller crumbs.
  3. It is wider.
  4. There are fewer holes left behind where slugs etc can hide and come out at night to chomp any seedlings or emerging shoots.
  5. It is cheap ($19).

For a small home garden it may not be worth having this extra tool but for a larger veggie patch or community garden I highly recommend it.

Read Stuart’s previous articles on a variety of garden tools.

How to make, or refresh, kombucha (by Lucinda Flynn)

[Watch this video, where Lucinda discusses making kombucha from a very overgrown SCOBY.]

To make kombucha, you need to start with a SCOBY, and this can come from either your previous attempts or from other people. SCOBY stands for ‘symbiotic combination of bacteria and yeast’ so it’s actually a living organism of bacteria and yeast together. It grows by feeding off sugar, which you give it in the form of sweetened tea.

If starting from your previous overgrown SCOBY, cut off a small piece of the solid part and put it aside together with around a cup of the liquid. Either chuck out the rest, or give some to other people or feed it to your chooks.

Make some tea and sweeten it. The amount of sugar that I put in is ¼ cup per litre, where the reason for this amount is that the SCOBY will be able to eat about that much sugar so the resulting kombucha will be largely sugar-free.

Put the small piece of solid SCOBY, the cup of liquid from the previous kombucha and the sweetened tea together into a container and put the lid on.

Leave it for about a week to help it get really strong. It will start feeding on the sugars and you’ll notice of a film start to form at the top of the liquid, which is the new SCOBY starting to develop.

Throughout, make sure you keep sterile by keeping your hands really clean.

Note that this this is the primary fermentation of the kombucha. If you want to do a secondary one as well, wait until the primary has become strong, that means it’s building its new SCOBY on top, then decant some of the kombucha into a sealable bottle (e.g. any sort of glass bottle with a top). Drop in a couple of berries or some ginger or citrus or anything else that has a bit of sugar in it, and put the lid on. The kombucha will then start to digest the sugars in the fruit and will create a bit of a fizz and that’s how you get the secondary ferment of a fizzy kombucha.

Jon’s podcast of the week

The beauty of podcasts is that your favourite radio shows are available at any time that suits you. The 3CR gardening show is great, with different special guests at different times. The most recent episode that I heard (from 17th October) had a slow start (the technician had apparently plugged the printer cord into the wrong USB port – this is community radio!) but then became much more interesting, with material on how plants are imported to the country and also mulch and where to get it.

A comment on last week’s article about fertilisers

Rebecca Haschek has written in to say that she found Robin Gale-Baker’s article last week entitled organic versus inorganic fertilisers both interesting and informative. It sparked some thoughts on terminology that can be usefully clarified.

The words ‘organic’ and ‘inorganic’ mean somewhat different things to different people. Rebecca’s concern is that ‘organic’ is sometimes thought to be synonymous with ‘nature/natural’ (and therefore good!), while ‘inorganic’ is therefore linked with ‘synthetic’ or ‘man-made’ and carries negative connotations. However, rock and water are inorganic but obviously occur in nature. Furthermore, as discussed in Robin’s article, ‘organic’ fertilisers contain rock dust (which is inorganic) whilst ‘inorganic’ fertilisers contain petroleum (which, in the traditional sense of the word, is organic because it is derived from once-living organisms).

To clarify such matters, Robin has agreed to two changes to her article regarding usage of the terms. The first change is to add a definition of the word ‘organic’ at the start of the article, namely: “In this article, the word ‘organic’ is used to mean ‘in line with certified organic principles’, with the word ‘non-organic’ being used to mean ‘not in line with certified organic principles’.” The second change is to refer to ‘non-organic fertilisers’ throughout rather than ‘inorganic fertilisers’. The website version of the article has been updated for these changes.

The meaning of the word ‘organic’

Stimulated by Rebecca’s comments, I thought that I would say a few words about the word ‘organic’.

In Australia, unlike in some other countries, there is no legal definition of the word ‘organic’ as it applies to food.

In the olden days, when I was a child and before you were born, the term ‘organic’ had two possible meanings, depending on the context. One meaning, which came from chemistry, was ‘any compound that contains a significant amount of carbon’. A second, related meaning, which came from farming, was ‘any matter which came from the faeces, parts or remains of living or once-living organisms’. In both meanings, gases like carbon dioxide plus a few other simple compounds were excluded. Historically, these two meanings were effectively equivalent (because all life forms on Earth are carbon-based), that is until the early 19th Century when someone called Friedrich Wohler demonstrated that a number of ‘organic compounds’ (in the first meaning) could be produced in the laboratory from ‘inorganic’ sources and therefore that some materials could be ‘organic’ using the first meaning but ‘not organic’ using the second meaning. Examples are urea and oxalic acid. Note that, in both original meanings, petrol and plastic, which are both carbon-based and derived from the remains of once-living organisms, are considered to be ‘organic’.

More recently, at roughly the time of my mid-life crisis, the Certified Organic movement came into existence. Something is ‘certified organic’ if and only if two conditions apply. The first condition is that its production is in accordance with all the standards set out in the Government’s 68 page document entitled National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce. The second condition is that the producer has successfully applied to one of the official certifying bodies to have their produce accepted as meeting these standards.

The standards do say many things that are relevant to one or both of the original meanings of the word ‘organic’ as discussed above but they also cover a much wider field and are sometimes very specific. If you have never read the standards, you may be surprised by how comprehensive (and readable) they are. For example, for livestock, they have sections on breeding, nutrition, medications, welfare, housing and handling. For more detail, read my article about organic certification on our website.

Some of the standards relate to the source of the inputs. For example, excreted urea and manufactured urea are identical products but, whilst urea produced by animals is permitted in certified organic farming, urea produced by factories is banned. Also, most fertilisers produced using minerals as a major source are banned. I presume (although I haven’t actually checked) that petrol and (at least, most) plastics can never be certified organic. In general terms, certified organic products can only use inputs which are ‘certified allowed’, as specified in the standards.

Because ‘certified organic’ has a precise meaning, it is a good term to use in any analysis. However, the second condition above (that something can only be called ‘certified organic’ if its producer has actually and successfully applied to it to be called ‘certified organic’) means that there are lots of products which are effectively equivalent to ‘certified organic’ but which are not actually certified. For example, many of us garden according to the certified organic standards but for obvious reasons (starting with cost) would never apply to any organisation for any certification. We need a word for such products and approaches and the word that many people now use is ‘organic’, meaning ‘generally in line with certified organic principles’. We then need a word for the opposite, and the best of a bad bunch is perhaps ‘non-organic’, meaning ‘not in line with certified organic principles’.

To summarise: whilst the term ‘certified organic’ has a precise meaning, there is no legal definition of the word ‘organic’. Many people who broadly believe in the certified organic standards tend to use the term ‘organic’ to mean ‘generally in line with certified organic principles’. By contrast, as alluded to in Robin’s article, many companies who are trying to sell their products tend to use the term ‘organic’ much more broadly, in a way that harks back to the original meanings of the word, namely either carbon-based or derived from once-living organisms.

A new mobile creperie: La Louche

La Louche, who are based in Eltham, make ready-to-eat savoury galettes and sweet crepes, including both gluten-free and vegan options. Where possible, they use local fruit and vegetables. They have a stall outside of the Platform 3095 cafe from Wednesday to Saturday, and you can order either from there or online. They are also at Eltham Farmers’ Market on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month. Read their Local Food Directory entry. Welcome Marine and Steve!

Yes, you did know! What’s attacking the plums?

Last week, Trish Kent asked what was eating her plums and what can she do about it. The one response was from Vera Herman, who suggests that Trish reads this article. From that article, Vera concludes that the problem might well be the caterpillars of a winter moth.

No, you didn’t know (sigh)

Safe and trustworthy sources for compost

Last week, Eliza McCumstie asked for recommendations for safe and trustworthy sources for compost, after having had some unhappy herbicide-related experiences in the past. No one responded. It would be great if you could respond this week by email.

Choon Yin Yeok did write in to say that she thinks that she has also had some herbicide-related problems with some of her veggies seedlings.

What’s eating the passionfruit?

Last week, Vanessa Shribman asked what ate her green passionfruits last year and what can she do about it this year. No one responded. It would be great if you could respond this week by email.

In the meantime, here is my answer: I think that it is most likely rats and that bagging of individual fruit can sometimes deter them.

Do you know? Romanescos gone wrong

Yennie Yong writes in: “I’ve been growing romanesco for the first time, and was excited to see the baby head forming a few weeks ago. Then the head split into multiple florets (see photo)! Now I can also see some florets changing to be broccoli-like, more specifically like purple sprouting broccoli. I’m wondering if this could be caused by the romanesco cross pollinating with the some purple sprouting broccoli planted in the same bed. In future, should I only plant one variety at a time to ensure I get true to type results?Email your replies.

Guy’s veggie growing tip of the week – only grow one variety of sweetcorn at a time

Yennie’s question has prompted me to reflect on some related, wider issues. My granny smith apple tree always produces granny smith apples even though it is sometimes/usually pollinated by some nearby red apple trees. My pumpkins are usually the same as was on the original label even though pumpkins often cross-pollinate (i.e. the male flowers from one plant pollinate the female flowers of another plant) and I grow multiple varieties at the same time. I’ve therefore always assumed that the results of cross-pollination don’t manifest themselves until the next generation. Putting this another way, the fruit is always the variety of the mother plant.

[In passing, if this is true for fruit (which are post-pollination) then it is certainly true for flowers (which are pre-pollination) and thus Yennie’s problems are not because of cross-pollination between her romanesco and purple sprouting broccolis. Rather, a more likely explanation is that Yennie’s ‘romanesco’ plants are the progeny of a previous cross-pollination and have thus not grown ‘true to type’.]

But, as always, there is an exception that proves that rule and, in this case, that exception is sweetcorn. I realised this last year when all of my sweetcorn, both the normal golden bantam and the less common popping corn, produced inedible, somewhat deformed, cobs. From a bit of Internet research, it became clear that the unique aspect of sweetcorn is that what you eat are the seeds (rather than the fruit), that the seeds have a mix of both the mother’s and the father’s genes, and that their physical characteristics can be a mishmash of the two.

Here is a scientific explanation from a New Zealand website: “The proper development of corn kernels requires double fertilisation — that is, two sperm (carried in the pollen) are required to fertilise an ovule. One of the sperm fertilises the egg within the ovule, which becomes the plant embryo. The other sperm fuses with other nuclei in the ovule to become the endosperm of the seed, which will develop into a food source for the developing plant. The endosperm makes up the majority of a corn kernel, which is why the genetics of the pollen source matter so much.” If that has whetted your appetite, the sweetcorn page in Wikipedia also discusses some of the issues.

So, my tip this week is actually very simple: only grow one variety of sweetcorn at a time.

Read more of my veggie growing tips.

Want a job?

Collingwood Children’s Farm is looking for a Farm Operations Manager, who would be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the farm. The roles include planning, overseeing the worksite and coordinating all farm operational activities, where this latter role includes day-to-day maintenance of farm site, buildings & equipment, garden & animal requirements, and working with the volunteers on the farm. Location: Abbotsford. Read more. Apply by email to conor@farm.org.au with the subject heading: ‘APPLICATION – Farm Ops Manager via NRMjobs’

A new seed library at Whittlesea Library

There is now a seed library at Whittlesea Library. There will also be a free event on Thursday, 9th December, 10-11.30am to celebrate its existence.

That makes a total of 16 seed libraries on our map of North East Melbourne

Australian Pollinator Week is 13th to 21st November

As discussed on the Australian Pollinator Week website, the activities appear to be threefold: a global waggle dance, where you upload a dance video; a pollinator picnic, where you are encouraged to have a picnic in a local park; and a wild pollinator count, where you count pollinators (not just bees) and submit your observations.

As part of the wild pollinator count, CERES are organising a backyard bee census on Sunday, 14th November.

The Local Government Climate Emergency Toolkit

Newsletter reader Dale Martin has updated his Local Government Climate Emergency Toolkit (a 41 page pdf), which is a guide for individuals and community groups to help tackle our shared climate emergency. You might find section C7 on open space and agriculture of particular interest.

The results of last week’s photo competition

The theme was ‘your best ever food- or garden-related photo’ and it attracted (only) 5 entries.

Ann Hague
 
Blacky. I love my chooks – eating veggie scraps, producing eggs & manure, and always happy to see me!
Choon Yin Yeok
 
We went to a Shinto temple in Kyoto, Japan for a banquet. The pictures are of 2 of the 10 courses, both of which looked beautiful and were delicious.

Chris Kent
 
Happy January harvest.
Soo Mei Leong
 
Made from agar-agar (gelatin-based seaweed), this is one piggy that not only looks delectable but is also delicious to eat.

 

Cheesy garlic roasted asparagus (by Elissa Oppenlander)

[Elissa is from Macleod and this recipe originally appeared in the Sustainable Macleod newsletter, which is one of the most interesting local newsletters. The recipe has been adapted from one by Cafe Delites.]

Ingredients

250g asparagus spears, woody ends removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic (or 2 cloves garlic, minced)
sprinkle of salt and pepper
½ cup grated mozzarella cheese (or pre-packaged ‘pizza cheese’ if you can’t be bothered grating mozzarella)

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 220degC.

Arrange the asparagus in a roasting pan. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle the oil mixture over the asparagus and toss to evenly coat.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until vibrant and just beginning to get tender.

Remove from the oven and top with cheese. Return to the oven and grill until the cheese melts and becomes golden (about 4-5 minutes).

Add salt and pepper, if needed. Serve immediately.

Which link was clicked most times in the last newsletter?

The most popular link last week was the photo of the chicken wire Pam Jenkins uses to protect her peas from cockatoos.

Joke (or pun) of the week

Customer: There is a fly in my soup. Waiter: Don’t worry, the spider in your bread will get it.

Read more jokes.

Upcoming online events

Productive gardens workshop; Thursday, 18th November, 7.30-8.30pm; $30.

Presenter: Jian Liu. Jian will talk you through all you need to know to create your own garden patch. She will discuss how she created her own backyard food forest and some weird, wonderful and productive edibles to incorporate into a backyard. Organised by Open Gardens Victoria.

Zen permaculture, starting at the kitchen sink: de-clutter and reset your life; Sunday, 12th December, 2-3.45pm; $donation

Presenter: Cecilia Macaulay. You will: do kitchen sink declutter; learn design principles; and fall in love with your kitchen sink.

Previously announced
  • Cardinia Community Food Forum; Tuesday, 9th November, 9.30am-3pm; free
  • Managing food waste at home; Tuesday, 9th November, 2-3pm; free
  • Design a small and productive garden; Wednesday, 10th November, 6.30-8pm; free; organised by My Smart Garden.
  • Composting at home; Wednesday, 10th November, 7-9pm; free; organised by Banyule Council
  • Pop-up pantry audit workshop; Thursday, 11th November, 6.30-7.30pm; free
  • Edible garden tour With Karen Sutherland; Thursday, 18th November, 11am-midday; free
  • Cooking demonstration: san choy bao and mango sago pudding; Thursday, 25th November, 7-8pm; free
  • Keeping backyard chooks with Felicity Gordon; Saturday, 27th November, 3-4pm; free
  • Take your recipe to retail; Wednesday, 15th December, 9-10am; $50

Upcoming face-to-face events – not cooking

Many of these events may be restricted to fully vaccinated people only.

Building wicking beds using recycled materials: Saturday, 20th November, 10.30am-midday; $97 ($64 per hour); Fitzroy.

Learn about the benefits of wicking beds, how they work, what plants are suitable for wicking beds and what are not, and how to make wicking beds using recycled materials. Participants will make a small wicking bed using recycled materials to take home, including soil and seedlings. Organised by Cultivating Community.

Oktoberfest 2021: Saturday, 27th November, midday-10pm; $45; Brunswick East.

As well as entry, your ticket includes 3 pints of beer and a pretzel. There will be 5 German-style beers on tap: Pilsner 56, Temple-Weiss Weissbier, Vienna Lager, Maibock and Dunkelweiss. Organised by Temple Brewing Company.

Beginners compost, worm farms and bokashi bins: Saturday, 4th December, 10.30am-midday; $67 ($44 per hour); Abbotsford.

In this workshop, you will look at: both hot and cold composting and their benefits; how to set up and run successful above-ground and in-ground worm farms; why run multiple composting systems, and how each one can be used in your garden; and how to compost and increase soil biodiversity with your Bokashi bin.

Make a blue-banded bee apartment block: Saturday, 4th December, 1-2.30pm; $65 ($44 per hour); Abbotsford.

A workshop for all ages and all families; suitable for children accompanied by their parents or carers. Participants will make a mudbrick block for the female blue banded bee. The workshop will also include: learning all about the blue-banded bee nesting habits, and how they assist with fertilising plants; what plants will bring the blue-banded bee into your garden; making a blue-banded bee nest using mud and pipe; and advice on how to stack the nests to create an apartment block for the bees. Participants will take home the block that they make.

Whittlesea community seed library opening: Thursday, 9th December, 10-11.30am; free; Whittlesea.

Go and celebrate their new community seed library.

Edible weeds walk: Saturday, 11th December, 10.30am-12.30pm; $25 ($13 per hour); Brunswick East.

Join Adam Grubb, co-author of The Weed Forager’s Handbook, for a fascinating walk on the wild side, foraging for edible weeds. Organised by Very Edible Gardens.

Previously announced

Upcoming face-to-face events – cooking

Many of these events may be restricted to fully vaccinated people only.

Vegan pizza making masterclass; Sunday, 14th November, midday-2pm; $106 ($53 per hour); Northcote.

Edoardo Nicita, from Shop 225, will demonstrate how to create your own gluten-free pizza dough from scratch. You will then learn how to roll out and shape pizza dough. You will make a margherita pizza and a nutella dessert one.

Mediterranean summer cooking workshop; Thursday, 25th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $65 ($33 per hour); Balwyn North.

Arzu will show you how to cook a three course Mediterranean summer feast. She will also explain the health benefits of using olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs.

Wood fire oven pizza marking masterclass; Sunday, 28th November, midday-2pm; $106 ($53 per hour); Northcote.

Edoardo Nicita, from Shop 225, will demonstrate how to create your own gluten-free pizza dough from scratch. You will then learn how to roll out and shape pizza dough. You will make a margherita pizza and a nutella dessert one.

Healing herbal teas for mothers; Saturday, 11th December, 1-2.30pm; $61 ($40 per hour); Abbotsford.

Learn about all the wonderful herbs and native edibles that can be used to make teas to calm the nerves and rest the soul. Make time for yourself to connect with other mums, carers and their children, enjoy an easy laid-back session making fresh herbal tea blends that you can grow in your own home garden. Organised by Cultivating Community.

Vietnamese salad master class; Sunday, 12th December, 10am-2.30pm; $160 ($36 per hour); Panton Hill.

Presenter: Kelly Meredith from Under The Pickle Tree. Learn how make: a poached Vietnamese chicken salad with a range of homemade oils and dressings; a Vietnamese green papaya salad with grilled lemongrass beef; and a sour mango salad with fresh Vietnamese herbs and poached prawns.

Previously announced
In Richmond
  • Indian cooking master class: Friday, 5th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 6th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Chinese cooking master class: Saturday, 6th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Going native Australia: Saturday, 6th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 7th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vegan cooking master class: Sunday, 7th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 11th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Friday, 12th November, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Chinese cooking master class: Friday, 12th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 13th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Saturday, 13th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Street food of Asia: Saturday, 13th November, 6.30-9pm; $168 ($67 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 14th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Sunday, 14th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Sunday, 14th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vegetarian cooking class: Tuesday, 16th November, 6.30-10.30pm; $105 ($26 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 18th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Friday, 19th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Friday, 19th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 20th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Saturday, 20th November, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Korean cooking master class: Saturday, 20th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 21st November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Mexican cooking master class: Sunday, 21st November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Spanish cooking master class: Sunday, 21st November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Pasta e basta!; Tuesday, 23rd November, 6.30-10.30pm; $105 ($26 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 25th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Street food of Asia: Friday, 26th November, 2-4.30pm; $168 ($67 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 27th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indian cooking master class: Saturday, 27th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indonesian cooking master class: Saturday, 27th November, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 28th November, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Italian cooking master class: Sunday, 28th November, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Pizza making party: Sunday, 28th November, 6.30-8.30pm; $127 ($64 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 2nd December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Pizza making party: Friday, 3rd December, 2-4pm; $127 ($64 per hour); Richmond.
  • Indian cooking master class: Friday, 3rd December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 4th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Chinese cooking master class: Saturday, 4th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Going native Australia: Saturday, 4th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 5th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vegan cooking master class: Sunday, 5th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 9th December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Friday, 10th December, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Chinese cooking master class: Friday, 10th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 11th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Saturday, 11th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Street food of Asia: Saturday, 11th December, 6.30-9pm; $168 ($67 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 12th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Sunday, 12th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Sunday, 12th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Thursday, 16th December, 6.30-8.30pm; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Vietnamese cooking master class: Friday, 17th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Thai cooking master class: Friday, 17th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Saturday, 18th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Japanese cooking master class: Saturday, 18th December, 2-5pm; $189 ($63 per hour); Richmond.
  • Korean cooking master class: Saturday, 18th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Dumpling party: Sunday, 19th December, 10am-midday; $111 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Mexican cooking master class: Sunday, 19th December, 2-5pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.
  • Spanish cooking master class: Sunday, 19th December, 6.30-9.30pm; $168 ($56 per hour); Richmond.