Sustainable Macleod mini newsletter
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Upcoming events
Saturday 1 May (TOMORROW) 12-1pm
New member session at the Macleod Organic Community Garden (located on Somers Avenue)
Come along and learn all about Sustainable Macleod, the Macleod Vegie Swap, the community garden and upcoming workshops and social events, and meet other new members.
Free.
Saturday 8 May 1-3pm
Open Garden at Robin and Paul's at 5 Fairlie Avenue, Macleod
Robin and Paul's amazing, edible garden takes up the entire front and back yards. The property grows 40 fruit trees, berries, herbs, vegetables, has an enclosed orchard, chook run and a mud brick potting shed as well as 6 wicking beds.
Members free. Non-members $15.
Saturday 15 May 11am-12pm
Vegie Swap at Rotunda opposite Macleod Shops
People bring fruit, vegies, herbs, seeds, plants or preserves. These are weighed, recorded and placed on tables in the first half hour while we chat, get to know each other and ask questions of more experienced gardeners. At 11.30am events for the next month are announced, after which people are free to take what they can use, being mindful that everyone should get a fair share.
Saturday 22 May 3pm
Mad Hatter's Tea Party at the Macleod Organic Community Garden
Wear your craziest hat and enjoy afternoon tea with 'real tea' in 'real teapots' while getting to know other members. We will be singing the praises of loose leaf tea and trying some weird and tasty combinations. Please bring a plate of food to contribute and if you have a great teapot, that too.
Members free. Non-members $15.
 Saturday 5 June 1-3pm
Fruit Fly workshop at the Macleod Organic Community Garden
We have learnt a lot in the last year about better ways to protect our fruit and vegies. The workshop will include advice on the best organic sprays, lures and baits to use, explain why defeating fruit fly is a year round process, how to deal with infected produce, and provide a timetable for action. Early action is essential to beat the Queensland Fruit Fly (which is why this workshop is so early!)
Currently we are not taking bookings for events so just turn up 10 minutes early.
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Urgent jobs for May
- Make compost.
- Collect autumn leaves to make leaf litter or to add to compost. Add sparingly to compost as too much in a layer causes matting. Mix leaves well with other ingredients to prevent this.
- Net brassicas and Asian greens with exclusion netting, weighing down the hem to keep pests out.
- Dunk brassica plants (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale etc) in punnets in Dipel, an organic bacterium, to deter green caterpillars that emerge from eggs laid by white cabbage moths (see video below). Spray every 7 days on underside and topside of leaves or plant American Upland Cress between plants. This plant is a dead end trap plant. The white cabbage moth lays eggs on the leaves and when born the caterpillars eat the leaves and die (see video below). Then net as above.
- Plant out autumn/winter vegetables.
- Plant garlic no later than the end of May and preferably by mid May. June is too late.
- Cut strawberry runners and pot up in potting mix. Cut back leaves of strawberries - you can even mow them down on a high blade - and dispose of them. Divide them in spring if they are too crowded.
- Cut asparagus fronds to ground level once they have yellowed.
- Provide trellises for climbing peas.
- If overwintering eggplants and capsicums, prune any dieback or wounds and provide protection for them eg. surround with hessian attached to stakes
- Harvest autumnal fruit including feijoas, guava, persimmon, tamarillo and citrus. Microwave any with fruit fly.
- Check olives for harvest readiness.
Videos
Using Dipel to deter white cabbage moth
American Upland Cress
Written by Robin Gale-Baker
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Planting in May
May is an ideal month for planting winter vegies in well prepared beds. Continue to water well through any dry spells and install dripline for brassica family vegies and garlic.
Plant seeds in punnets
Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Florence fennel, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, onion family excluding garlic, silverbeet, spinach.
Plant seedlings into soil
American upland cress between plants of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower (this is a dead end trap plant that protects these plants from white cabbage butterfly, the eggs of which develop into green caterpillars); broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, Florence fennel, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, rocket, other salad greens, silverbeet, spinach.
Plant seeds direct into the soil
Asian greens, broad beans, carrot, daikon, mustard greens, parsnip, peas, radish, rocket, turnip and herbs including coriander, chervil and dill.
Plant garlic direct into the soil
Separate cloves from the garlic head and plant large outer cloves 15cm x 15cm apart at a depth that allows 2 - 3cm of soil coverage above the pointy tip. Plant with base down and pointy tip upward.
Netting
Use exclusion netting on Asian greens, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.
Succession planting
Plant seedlings every few weeks so that they will not all be ready for harvest at the same time.
Watering
Water soil (not leaves) deeply at least twice per week. (Rainfall less than 10mm per day does not count). Install dripline if possible.
For the best site (sun, partial sun, partial shade) in the garden for each vegetable refer to 'How much sun do my vegies need?’
For preparation refer to ‘Preparing a spring/summer or autumn/winter vegie garden’
For directions for planting in punnets and for soil preparation for direct sowing refer to ‘How to plant seeds in punnets’
For an instructional video on how to use a pH kit go to: Watch our 'Testing Soil for pH' video
Written by Robin Gale-Baker
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Methane-eating bacteria could help curb greenhouse gases
(written by Luke Jeffrey at Southern Cross University and republished from The Conversation because we thought it was fascinating!)
Trees are the Earth’s lungs – it’s well understood they drawdown and lock up vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But emerging research is showing trees can also emit methane, and it’s currently unknown just how much.
This could be a major problem, given methane is a greenhouse gas about 45 times more potent than carbon dioxide at warming our planet.
However, in a world-first discovery published in Nature Communications, we found unique methane-eating communities of bacteria living within the bark of a common Australian tree species: paperbark (Melaleuca quinquenervia).
Read more
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World Migratory Bird Day
 May 8 is World Migratory Bird Day.
While biodiversity and conservation are often thought about on a local scale, migratory birds fly between continents and countries, make their preservation a truly international issue.
You can also download this useful Melbourne bird ID brochure from Birdlife Australia and the Port Phillip and Western Port Catchment Management Authority of our local species.
Maybe you could head down to Banyule Flats and see if you can spot any of them.
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