What's growing on?
Welcome to the February edition of Gardens for Harvest Newsletter. Wishing you an abundant garden. We hope this edition offers you some gardening inspiration along with our seasonal recipes, biochar info, composting tips, fruit tree tips and other upcoming event information.
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On this spectacular Wurundjeri Country we are still in: Biderap (Dry season)
Jan-Feb
Hot and dry weather, low rainfall.
Tussock grass is long and dry.
Southern Cross high in the south at sunrise.
Female common brown butterflies flying.
From Waring to Guling – the seasons of the Merri Creek – Moreland Primary School (morelandps.vic.edu.au)
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Here's a little video made by Olinda Ck Primary School on Biderap Season.
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Cool to Cold Areas
Low temperatures for extended periods of time (all of Tasmania, most of Victoria, the southern highlands of NSW, the ACT and a tiny southern bit of SA)
- It is still fairly warm around these parts, but there are a number of incredible edibles ready to go in now. Try lettuce, spinach, leek, silverbeet, and some Asian greens towards the tail end of the month. Broccoli, leeks and spring onions could be worth a shot when the nights get cooler.
- Add some colour and movement to the patch, and pop in some of these little pretties: stock, dianthus, viola, pansy, verbena and ageratum.
- Give most herbs a miss just now, but, if you’re really keen, get rolling with parsley and watercress.
- Garlic is good to go once the weather cools a touch.
- Top up mulch on your veggie patches, herb gardens and ornamental beds. A hot summer tip is to mulch after watering the patch, to a depth of about 7cm. Keep mulch clear of plant stems….especially young seedlings. Choose sustainable, low environmental impact mulch, one that will enrich your soil as it breaks down.
- Plants feel the need for a feed at this time of year. A seaweed tea or low environmental impact liquid fertiliser is perfect, especially for the seedlings shoved in at the tail end of last year. Apply to the soil early in the morning, and in the concentrations mentioned on the packet.
February in Your patch | Sustainable Gardening AustraliaFebruary In Your Patch (sgaonline.org.au)
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Regenerative Agriculture Tip of the Month!
STELLENBOSCH, South Africa (Reuters) - Flocks of white, black and brown ducks hunt for snails and bugs as they patrol the grapevines at a vineyard in South Africa's winemaking town of Stellenbosch, helping the owners steer clear of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers.
Pest-busting ducks keep Cape Winelands' vineyards healthy© Thomson Reuters
Pest-busting ducks keep Cape Winelands' vineyards healthy© Thomson Reuters
Around 500 Indian runner ducks work as a natural pest control at the Vergenoegd Löw Wine Estate, but also entertain wine-quaffing tourists.
"We call them the soldiers of the vineyards," the managing director of the estate, Corius Visser, told Reuters.
Ducks are at the heart of the winery's regenerative agriculture practices, and specifically Indian runner ducks, which have long legs and an upright posture, meaning they are able to reach for snails between the leaves.
Pest-busting ducks keep Cape Winelands' vineyards healthy© Thomson Reuters
Nutrient-rich manure from the ducks and other animals ensure the vineyard runs as sustainably as possible.
Related video: How ducks are keeping a South African vineyard free of pests (Business Insider India)
Army of pest-munching ducks keep South African vineyard blooming (msn.com)
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Edible Weeds Weeds Weeds!
This time of year everything is growing, I have focussed on the eradication of weeds in the last newsletter, and this time I'll toss in some benefits.
The above picture is of Chickweed.
I know this is early in the year to speak of it, but preparing for the coming months knowledge! It's a little, delicate, herbaceous winter green, also rich in vitamins A, B and C, and a good source of Omega 6 fatty acid.
It can be cooked like spinach or used as a salad green, and Mr Grubb said since ancient times it has been used to treat itchy skin conditions as a topical ointment or a poultice.
"It has all these fascinating historical and cultural connections. It's part of a seven-herb, spring rice porridge served in Japan," he said.
This information is taken from this fantastic article in which outlines the benefits of eating weeds, and how to identify some of them. See here for the full article: Edible weeds that are safe to eat and how you can use them - ABC News
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What is BioChar? How can it benefit my garden?
If you haven't already heard, Yarra Ranges Council has collaborated with Earth Systems to build a large Bio-Char Facility on the old Lysterfield Tip site.
Biochar is a charcoal compound added to soil that makes it more fertile. Biochar has a long and complex history of use in indigenous farming throughout West Africa and the Amazon rainforest where the incredible results can be seen even today.
Many scientists believe this ancient agricultural technique has the potential to increase crop yields and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at the same time.
But what does any of this have to do with your home garden? You might not be running a high-yield farm or trying to capture carbon. But biochar has a host of benefits to the soil in your yard or garden and can increase your fertility significantly. If your home is built on infertile ground, trying to grow anything can be frustrating. Biochar can help revitalize poor soil and can help increase the harvest and yield in your vegetable garden.
WHAT IS BIOCHAR, ANYWAY?
Biochar is technically a soil additive, or enhancer, that helps soil to create, sustain, and replenish the growing environment for plants and organic life to thrive within.
The name comes from its main component, charcoal and is the primary substance in biochar responsible for maintaining a versatile spectrum of other essential elements necessary for life. It is not the same as just charcoal though, so you can’t just empty the ashes from your fireplace and expect to improve your soil.
What is Biochar? Should You Add it to Your Garden? - Gardening Channel
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Community Gardens!
We are currently exploring the expansion of Community Gardens in Yarra Ranges Council area. We know that Community gardening is a great way to knowledge share, produce share, use gardening as a social activity and share with the community.
Current Community gardens in the Yarra Ranges include:
Tecoma Flame Garden-
Healesville Community Garden -
Warburton Community Garden-
Bloom a Lilydale Community Garden
Yarra Glen Living and Learning Centre Garden Group
Tecoma Community Garden
The Edible Warburton Community Garden
Yarra Valley ECOSS Community Garden
Food forest in Lilydale
Here's a map that shows you the Community Garden listed with CGA closest to you.
Home - CGA (communitygarden.org.au)
If you know of other community gardens or have a desire or group ready to start one, please let me know via email at c.mcnab@yarraranges.vic.gov.au
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COCONUT CHICKEN RICE PAPER ROLLS (for Vegan replace Chicken with Tofu)
INGREDIENTS
- 400ML CAN COCONUT MILK
- 1 TEASPOONS FINELY GRATED LIME RIND
- 2 TABLESPOONS SOY SAUCE
- 500G CHICKEN BREAST FILLET, TRIMMED
- 12 SMALL RICE PAPER ROUNDS+
- 100G VERMICELLI RICE NOODLES, COOKED AND COOLED
- 1 CUP SNOW PEA SHOOTS
- 1 CARROT, PEELED AND SHREDDED
- 4 CUKES, THINLY SLICED 1 CUP
- THAI BASIL LEAVES
- 2 LONG GREEN CHILLIES, SEEDED AND THINLY SLICED LENGTHWAYS
- PICKLED CHILLIES, TO SERVE
METHOD
- Place the coconut milk, lime rind and soy sauce in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Add the chicken, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from heat, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid.
- Shred the chicken and place in a large bowl with the reserved cooking liquid. Mix to combine.
- To assemble, soften a rice paper round in warm water for 30 seconds or until soft. Remove from the water and place on clean damp tea towel. Top with the vermicelli noodles, snow pea shoots, carrot, cukes, chicken, basil and chilli. Fold the bottom edge over the filling, fold the 2 sides over to secure the filling and roll to enclose. Repeat with the remaining rice paper rounds and ingredients. Serve with pickled chilli. Makes 12.
+ Rice paper rounds are made from rice starch and available in the Asian aisle of the supermarket. They are packaged dried and need to be softened for about 30 seconds in warm water before using.
Tip: Roll the rice paper rounds on a clean damp tea towel to prevent them from sticking.
Tip: Keep the rice paper rolls under a clean damp tea towel so they don’t dry out as you are rolling the remaining ingredients.
credit: Coconut Chicken Rice Paper Rolls | Donna Hay
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Selecting Fruit Trees on the Wrong Rootstock
Most fruit trees are propagated by grafting. This means the known variety of fruit is grafted onto a selected rootstock to help it cope with certain growing condition. We can use different rootstocks to control the following attributes of fruit trees:
- Tree size (or vigour)
- Time to fruiting (from the standard 7+ years, to as little as 2 years)
- The ability of the plant to survive in certain soil types or climatic conditions
- The ability to tolerate wet (or very dry) soils
- Disease resistance
- Stability of the plant and ability to withstand strong winds
- Hardiness of the plant
Often, I see backyard orchards set up with fruit trees grafted onto full sized rootstocks. With the exception of citrus trees, I generally recommend that you plant trees on dwarf rootstocks.
Fruit trees grafted onto dwarf rootstocks have many advantages over standard sized trees:
- They keep the fruit trees quite small, so they can be grown in small spaces, espaliered along driveways, on balconies and grown in large containers
- They hardly (if ever) require pruning because they don’t keep trying to grow into a 10 metre high fruit tree,
- They often fruit within 2 years instead of the usual 5 to 7 years.
- A ladder is not needed to pick the fruit
- Netting to protect the fruit from possums and birds is much easier and more cost effective.
In short, dwarf fruit trees make growing fruit easier!
Top Ten Gardening Mistakes Made by Melbourne Based Gardeners - Leaf, Root & Fruit Gardening Services (leafrootfruit.com.au)
Top tips for using potting compost
- Make sure you only pot up one size at a time. This means each time you do your plants will get fresh compost which contains fresh nutrients and a good boost. If you put a small plant in a huge pot the benefits of the compost will be lost over time before the plant can use them.
- To prevent roots from growing out the bottom of your pots you can raise them 1-2cm off the bench, this will also allow air to pass under the pot
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Farmer Incubator’s Pop-Up Garlic Farmers program is back again!
PUGF is a 9 month beginners course in small-scale farming, filled with hands on workshops lead by specialists, delicious food and a bit of hard work, with the support of a tight knit community surrounding you that want to see you flourish and grow your farming powers.
Throughout the year you get 8 workshops on topics ranging from soil preparation to pest and disease management to marketing your product.
Alongside these workshops you will apply your new knowledge by growing a market garden scale organic garlic crop at one of 6 farms across Melbourne. The sites this year include Days Walk Farm (Keilor), Beales Road Farm (Greensborough), Heide Museum Kitchen Gardens (Bulleen), Wild Wren Farm (The Patch) and Wildwood Organics (Macedon Ranges).
You will get to know other aspiring farmers and develop valuable networks in the urban agriculture community. PLUS you get to sell your garlic at the end (or eat it!).
The course starts Saturday 26 February 2022.
For more information about Farmer Incubator, visit: http://www.farmerincubator.org
If you would like jump on board, grab your ticket here: https://events.humanitix.com/pop-up-garlic-farmers-2021-vq19pst8
For enquiries, please email lizzie@farmerincubator.org
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Fruit Adventure Tours
Rayner's Orchard grow over 450 varieties of fruit in so there is fruit available all year. Take a tour to sample seasonal fruit picked straight from the tree, and pick your own fruit to take home with you. Every tour has at least 7-8 varieties of fruit on offer to taste.
Come and taste for yourself how good fresh fruit picked straight off the tree is! Bring the kids out for a day that is healthy and gets them outdoors and in touch with nature. This is also a fantastic kids birthday party idea - every birthday child receives a certificate from the team at Rayner's.
Fruit Tasting Adventure Tours operate everyday from 9am-3pm at Rayner's Orchard. U Pick available every day on a one hour Tractor Tasting Tour. Last tour departs 3pm.
Fruit Adventure Tours - Rayners (raynersorchard.com.au)
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U- Pick Trail!
We all love eating fresh seasonal produce directly from the farmgate – it just tastes better. Even better if you can pick your own.
Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges is home to U-Pick and farmgate produce. Fill up your buckets and baskets from the pick your own orchards with the freshest, most delicious produce of the season or buy direct from the farmgate.
Meeting the farmers, growers and makers is both fun and rewarding and you will enjoy a fabulous day in the countryside in the food bowl that is the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges.
U-pick Trail | Visit Yarra Valley & Dandenong Ranges
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Herb and Chilli Festival 18-19th March 2023
Our annual Herb and Chilli Festival.
We are long term residents and nursery operators in ‘the valley’ and passionate growers and users of herbs and chillies. We feel that our region is the perfect place to celebrate these exciting plants and how they fit into our daily lives, so we decided to establish an annual festival.
Home - Herb & Chilli Festival (herbchillifestival.com.au)
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Food Support for Families:
Nourish Network:
A support service for disadvantaged school families. Our members enjoy morning tea and a chat or participate in a craft activity, and collect a self-selected food parcel. We have a variety of fruit, veg, and bread along with dairy and frozen meals when available.
During our monthly "market days", we may also have non-perishable food, pre-loved clothing, a masseuse & occasionally a hairdresser.
Nourish Network Yarra Ranges Council
Connecting community with resources
Here is a fantastic resource that lists all the Community Gardens, Food Swaps, Farmers Markets, Schools with Kitchen Gardens and more in the Yarra Ranges: Local Projects & Produce - Yarra Ranges Food Connections
Do you have a resource to add to this page? Or a kitchen, some land, a garden or space to share with a community group? Please let us know so we can add it to our available list of resources.
Other Resources - Yarra Ranges Food Connections
Mooroolbark Urban Harvest – Food Swap
- When: Monthly on the 2nd Saturday @ 10:00 – 11:30am
- Where: Red Earth Community Park Brice Ave, Mooroolbark VIC 3138
- Contact: Claire Smith Ph:0425 700 280
- Cost: Free.
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The Valley Market ECOSS
Market @ ECOSS
Come visit us every Friday from 3:30pm-6:00pm
at Yarra Valley ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn.
http://www.ecoss.org.au
Market @ Warby
The Valley Market Warburton replaces the Warby Summer Produce Market. First Sunday of the month 11am-3pm.
Yarra Valley Regional Food Group.
Runs 3rd Sunday Every Month
In line with the world's fastest growing food trend for seasonal fresh produce the inaugural Yarra Valley Regional Farmers Market was held in March 1998. The concept has been an outstanding success for regional producers, for local consumers and for visitors, many of whom come to the Yarra Valley specifically to check out the region's growing reputation for exceptional and exciting food and wine.
Yarra Valley Food Group
Belgrave Food Garden
Monthly Working Bee
Belgrave Food Garden invites you to join us for a working bee on the 2nd Sunday of the Month
Tiny Trowel
Freely collaborating and consulting with organizations around food security innovation, and/or with a vision to create communities around organic food sources. It's a hobby.
(8) Tiny Trowel | Facebook
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February Yarra Valley Bee Group Meeting
Sun, 26 Feb 2023
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
2pm - Whats happening in my hive?
Followed by our monthly Speaker - TBA
Come along and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology.
Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated.
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Permaculture Yarra Valley and Permaculture Week 2023.
Permaculture Yarra Valley is a not-for-profit association, incorporated in Victoria under the Association’s Incorporation Reform Act of 2012. We have a bio-regional focus on the Yarra Valley, with our membership spread throughout the Yarra Valley and adjoining areas.
Every year we collaborate with Yarra Valley ECOSS's Ecotopia Earth Festival and PEACE Farm in Yarra Junction to bring a week of Permaculture Activities to the Valley.
March 17th-24th 2023 Will be Permaculture Week. Permaculture Yarra Valley is busy curating a whole week of local farm tours all tbs. We will inform you with the booking link in the coming months.
If you'd like to become a member of PYV follow this link.
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Seed Library | Eastern Regional Libraries | Your Library
Share seeds with your community at Your Library’s Seed Library! A free borrowing service aiming to cultivate a thriving community of gardeners and seed savers, while building and sharing knowledge, and fostering community resilience, self-reliance, and a culture of sharing.
Donate seeds saved from your garden or leftover seeds from purchased packets
‘Borrow’ up to 3 packets of seed for free!
Sow the seeds in your garden, nurture plants to maturity, and donate seeds back to the library
Grow your gardening knowledge at our regular, inspiring events and workshops!
The Seed Library is currently available at Bayswater, Belgrave, Boronia, Croydon, Ferntree Gully, Miller’s Homestead, Mooroolbark, Rowville and Yarra Junction Libraries.
Visit or contact one of these branches to find out more information and borrow your first packet of seeds!
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♻️🥕 A rebate of up to $40 is available to Yarra Ranges residents to purchase eligible items for home composting and to start composting their food waste at home.
👩🌾🌱 Food waste makes up around 40% of the contents of our rubbish bins. Composting at home helps to reduce our food waste and creates valuable soil additives that can be used in vegetable and ornamental gardens.
Find out more and apply on the Yarra Ranges website »
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Gardens for Harvest would like to respectfully acknowledge that we are operating on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri People of the Woi Wurung language group of the Kulin Nation.
We wish to work respectfully with our local elders and community members, to protect and care for country. We send our respects to our local Indigenous community and all First Nations people, as well as all natures inhabitants on the earth, under the earth, in the water and in the sky. The seen and unseen.
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