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Macedon Ranges Food Network

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Macedon Ranges Food Systems Forum attendees in Woodend

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Long term followers will realise that I’m a big

Long term followers will realise that I’m a big fan of recording all sorts of data about my garden. Doing so enables me to consolidate my observations and adapt my gardening practices to be a more efficient and successful gardener in a changing climate.

One way that I record data is by taking photos. In the first week of every month, I set aside a couple of hours to wander across the entire six-acre property and take hundreds of digital images with my SLR camera. I then download these images into a folder on my computer. Doing so means that I have a visual diary of my property every month for the last five-plus years.

Sometimes the kids join me on these jaunts. Often, they mimic me with a toy camera (see last image for the “camera” that they usually use). This month, four-year-old Emily joined me for much of the tour. She wanted to take some photos as well, so rather than share the SLR, I lent her my phone. Our kids don’t get much screen time at all, but they do occasionally have to step up to take photos of me for the newsletter and other blogs (and do it surprisingly well with very little direction). So, they are both familiar with using the camera on my phone.

I was really interested to see what images Emily took on her journey around the property. It was an opportunity to see what our garden looks like from a child’s perspective.

Emily took hundreds of photos. Some were blurry or had fingers across part of the lens. But many were also great. Some of the subjects she choose were obvious (eg Spike the Echidna) but others were more surprising. She honed in on quite a few different flowers that I didn’t give a second thought. Alpine strawberries and cape weed to list two. Some of her images showed how much the views for little people are impinged by fences and other barriers. It was a great insight for me. Next month I’ll let 7yo Angus have a go and see what he comes up with.

Here’s a small selection of some of the photos that she took. A child’s “behind the scenes” tour of our property.

🍅 My tomato seedlings in the greenhouse are flo

🍅 My tomato seedlings in the greenhouse are flowering. This is a good sign that I’m on track to harvest some ripe fruit nice and early again this year. Now that they are flowering, these plants have been potted up and will be transplanted into the garden in early to mid-November.

🧪 At this stage, it’s only a few of the plants in my main crop of tomatoes that are flowering. The two plants in my experiment to grow a Christmas Tomato without a fancy greenhouse are still yet to bud up. Hopefully they do so soon.

📖 Read more about the Christmas Tomato experiment in my blog post. Head to the Leaf, Root & Fruit website to read it.

#gardenexperiment #christmastomato #kyneton #tomatotime

🫐 Wow, there’s so much blossom on my blueberr

🫐 Wow, there’s so much blossom on my blueberry bushes.

️‍⚖ Last year I picked 21.3 kg of Blueberries from my berry patch. Based on the amount of blossom this spring, there’s going to be even more fruit to pick this summer.

💩 It’s important to keep your blueberry plants well fed with plenty of nitrogen rich material (I use chicken manure, top dressing two or three times per year). They also need a lot of water and amazing drainage.

📖 Check out one of my most popular blog post ever for more hints and tips on growing blueberries:
➡ head to my Substack to read it

#homegrownblueberries #springblossom #vaccinium #berrypatch

Good news! Spike, our resident Echidna is back. E

Good news! Spike, our resident Echidna is back.

Echidnas go into a state of dormancy over winter. So we haven’t seen our mate Spike for ages. But now it is warming up, Spike is back.

The bad news is that I found it in the potting mix again. Echidnas love bags of potting mix. They must smell like they are full of ants or other tasty morsels. Earlier in the year Spike tunnelled through my pallet of potting mix, did a u-turn and headed back out another way. It destroyed 12 bags of potting mix in the process.

After the first incident in autumn, I restacked the pallet and fortified it with all manner of defences. I was sure Spike wouldn’t get in again. Alas, Echidnas are like tanks. Nothing holds them back. Combined with an industrial strength sniffer, Spike located a weakness in my fortress and was into the bags with ease.

Because I caught Spike in the act, I managed to remove most of the bags from around it. Only five bags were damaged this time around. I’ve now relocated all the intact bags indoors, into my classroom.

Thanks to Spike's two forays, there will now only be a limited number of bags available for purchase at my upcoming irrigation workshop.

Welcome back Spike, you cheeky rascal!

#echidna #welcomeback #pottingmix #kyneton

Anyone else noticing an abundance of Caper White B

Anyone else noticing an abundance of Caper White Butterflies (Belenois aurota) about at the moment? They look a bit like White Cabbage Butterly (Pieris rapae) but are a completely different species. They have different markings, with more black patches on the upper wings and some yellow spots on the underside of the wings.

Unlike the White Cabbage Butterly, Caper Whites are native to Australia. Apparently, they can be quite migratory moving to areas that don’t even have their preferred food source (caper shrubs and bushes, Capparis spp.)

The Caper Whites are not likely to damage your brassica plants, so please don’t bother trying to control them. Just enjoy the spectacle and share this post to raise awareness with other gardeners.

Are you spotting Caper Whites in your garden?
(please include your location in the response)

#caperwhitebutterfly #belenoisaurota #butterflymigration #notapest

The mild conditions of spring, high humidity and r

The mild conditions of spring, high humidity and rampant flushes of plant growth create opportunities for pests to thrive. Each year is a little bit different, but in October and early November there’s always a pest species or two that tends to dominate. Sometimes it’s slugs, other years it’s earwigs, aphids or whitefly.

For me, this year it’s the harlequin bugs that are massing. Since I first discovered them in my garden two years ago, I’ve noticed they are very seasonal and they proliferate during dry spells. They must really appreciate the relatively dry and mild spring we are experiencing in 2024. I haven’t resorted to undertaking any form of control strategies for the harlequin bugs, but if you are suffering from “harlequin mania” then my popular blog post gives you some control methods to try. Head to the Leaf, root & Fruit website to read it.

Are you seeing any harlequins about? Or is some other critter your primary pest problem this spring?

#harlequinbeetle #pestcontroltips #gardenpest #gardenecosystem

Only early birds will get this. Daylight savings

Only early birds will get this.

Daylight savings has started in my part of the world. Don't forget to turn your clocks forwards.

Shout out to all the other early birds out there.

#daylightsavings #clocksforward #earlybirds

Are you laughing at me? I’m incredibly proud of

Are you laughing at me?

I’m incredibly proud of this image for so many reasons.

I’m grateful for the time that my son Angus and I spent together making the nest box and the skills that I have passed on to him.

I love the care and collaboration that Angus demonstrated when we installed the nest box, high up in a tree adjacent to our dam. He held the ladder and passed me the tools and equipment that I needed.

I feel the connection to country that small projects like this help to foster by increasing the diversity and resilience of our ecosystem.

I’m excited that so quickly a thriving young family has decided to call our nest box home.

I’m surprised it’s Laughing Kookaburras that have taken up residence. We based this nest box on a design in The Nestbox Book, published by the Gould League (it’s out of print but still available as a PDF). The design is intended for ducks, and that’s why I chose it. The Wood Ducks looking for nesting sites on our property find no suitable options (but provide a handy reminder to plant my tomato seeds). I wanted to give them a place to nest. Alas, no Wood Ducks. But the Kookaburras are way more impressive in my opinion. Their choice of home is most surprising because The Nestbox Book states that Kookaburras are very particular when it comes to nest boxes. Based on the specifications, the duck nest box shouldn’t suit them at all. Perhaps someone forgot to tell our Kookaburras this?

Kookaburras have a complex social system, especially when it comes to breeding. They hold strong family ties (just like my own family) and the offspring from previous years usually hang around and assist with sitting on the eggs and feeding their younger siblings when they hatch. If our family had a totem, it would be the Kookaburra.
Our whole family are captivated by this recent discovery of the nesting Kookaburras. We’re really looking forward to watching the family dynamics in action as the young hatch and grow.

For so many reasons, this is a happy memory that I’ll hang on to for a long time.

@gouldleague_vic

#nestbox #kookaburra #gardenhabitat #nestingseason

🥬🥕 You’re probably noticing vegetables sta

🥬🥕 You’re probably noticing vegetables starting to flower and set seed (bolting). Many of mine are. 🌸

Leafy greens such as silverbeet, beetroot, carrots, rocket, parsley and coriander are all bolting. This is a seasonal event caused by lengthening days (photoperiodism). When vegetables flower and set seed like this their leaves can become bitter. Root crops can become tough and woody. Many of these vegetable flowers are great for attracting beneficial insects. I’ll look forward to seeing plenty of ladybirds and hoverflies visiting them soon. 🐞

Are you noticing vegetables bolting in your patch this spring?

#photoperiodism #reachforthesky #vegetableflowers #signofthetimes

Growing apricots in this part of the world can be

Growing apricots in this part of the world can be a bit hit and miss. But I’m quietly hopeful that these will lead to jam and bottled apricots aplenty this summer.

I've previously highlighted all the issues that could prevent the incredible blossom event on my apricots from becoming an abundant harvest. Well, the good news is that all my apricot trees have cleared the first few hurdles. They have flowered abundantly and the incredible fruit set shows that pollination has been great. The relatively dry spring, with low humidity, has prevented an outbreak of blossom rot. There are still plenty more hurdles to come but I’m a few steps closer to apricot abundance.

How are your stone fruit trees looking? Have they set a lot of fruit?

#backyardorchard #homegrownapricots #fruitthinning #stonefruit

🥦 The brassicas, such as broccoli and cauliflow

🥦 The brassicas, such as broccoli and cauliflower, are coming to an end. Some of the older plants are sending up such tiny little side shoots that it’s not worth harvesting them.

🐝 The yellow brassica flowers that they develop are utter bee magnets.

⚠️ But I need to be careful to not allow the plants to develop seed. If this spills into the garden and allows self-sown plants to form, it can create issues for future crops.

🧟‍♂️ Brassica seed often doesn’t come out true to type. Seed-saving from these plants is not advised unless you take specific measures to prevent cross-pollination. I directly sow my brassica crops, so allowing cross-pollinated seed to fall from this year’s crop would contaminate my garden beds and may result in broccoli or cauliflower that is bitter or has other unwanted attributes next year.

#beemagnet #yellowflower #bolting #seedsaving

October is a busy time in the garden. My to-do lis

October is a busy time in the garden. My to-do list this October includes:

💧In my part of the world, the soil moisture can flip from waterlogged to bone dry in the blink of an eye. Two years ago, this brought me unstuck when a sudden warm and dry period in November caused my summer raspberry canes to abort their developing fruit. Lesson learnt: now, every October, I now check my irrigation is optimised, fix any leaks and flush all the lines, ready for the summer ahead. Come along to my upcoming irrigation workshop on November 9 to learn more.

🌽 Sweet corn is a little more tolerant of cool soil than most summer vegetables. I grow several crops of sweet corn in succession to ensure a very long harvest period. My first crop will be sown this week into Hiko pots and placed in the greenhouse.

🥒 At the same time, I’ll be sowing some of my early cucurbit crops, such as cucumbers and zucchini, into pots in the greenhouse. I’ll sow super-fast-growing cucurbits such as pumpkins and spaghetti squash directly into the garden, under the protection of my polycarbonate pumpkin tunnels.

🐔 There’s plenty of planting to be done over the next 12 weeks. I’ll need to keep the chickens and their mobile tractor rotating through the garden to help with soil preparation. It takes a fair bit of planning to maximise their contribution to clearing beds, working the soil and fertilising.

🌱 Weeding, weeding, weeding. October will see the need to weed increase. I’ll switch up my strategies over the coming month to more broad-scale, low-input weed control, including solarising and smothering some weedy areas.

🧄 In October, the garlic plants begin sending up their scapes (flower stalks). I love harvesting garlic scapes – they’re delicious. Removing them allows the plant to invest more energy into forming a large bulb.

🍓Watching the strawberry plants. I normally don’t harvest many strawberries until November, but last year we harvested a few handfuls in the last fortnight of October. I’m hoping for the same again this year.

📖 Read my garden update and planting guide for October here:
➡ Link in bio

#plantingguide #melbournegarden #gardenupdate #whattoplant

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