22nd July 2017
Annette
Dry July has left our plants thirsty, but what glorious sunny days we have been enjoying for gardening! 12 adult members, 2 new people and 2 kids had fun in the sun. Our seedlings still hadn’t grown much now we are well into cold winter weather. We did conduct an interesting experiment last month with half trays of seeds fertilized with fish poo and half not. The fish poo seedlings were far more vigorous. We transplanted 6 varieties of plants that we had planted last month in seed flats, into single cell pots. These and quite a few others went back into the greenhouse to grow a little bigger.
We planted 4 varieties of seeds appropriate for winter. (Last month was 15). The vegetable seeds we planted were cabbage, lettuce and 2 types of turnips.
We propagated Aloe Vera, Pepino Melon and society garlic. We harvested seeds from Sweet basil, Epazote, (this smelt like WD40 due to all the oils it has. It is commonly used in Mexican and Guatemalan cuisines and traditional medicine. It has notes of oregano, anise, citrus, mint, and even tar or creosote, and adds a wonderful rustic flavour to stews and dried bean dishes. It is especially used with the beans because a side effect is to reduce gas and bloating, common in modern diets. As a tea (Mexican Tea), it is used to treat intestinal parasites in people and animals. It is good for soil conditioning as an anti-fungal, so when planting things susceptible to soil borne fungi such as peas, beans or tomatoes, plant where epazote has been growing, it can help inhibit fungal problems.), Feverfew, Red Marconi Capsicum, Herb Bennett, Luffah, Dwarf Marigold, Clemson’s Green Spineless Okra, Peppermint, Salsify and Mammoth Melting Snowpeas.
Our nursery’s resident kookaburra came right up close and personal, checking out our delicious morning tea. He also happens to be a “chilli thief”, often making off with pieces of chilli when we are cleaning them for seed. Greedy!
Seedsavers group in July
Seedsavers meets 9am-1pm on the 4th Saturday of each month at Bidjiwong Community Nursery, Baulkham Hills. All welcome, with free seedlings to take home each month. You are welcome to attend 1 meeting to see if this group suits you, if so you can become a single member for $25, or family member for $30 a year. Becoming a member is for the purpose of insurance cover and venue hire when you do any activities with us. Children from 8 years are welcome at seedsavers.
Zoe and Hayley, part of our seedsaver Kids Medical team, put strict plant hygiene measures into action, washing the pots and putting all the seedlings back in the greenhouse.
Happy Gardening!
Penny Janson