Good Organic Gardening Issue#7.5 - 2016

Welcome to our first issue for 2017! To celebrate a brand-new year, we’ve had a redesign — we hope you like it as much as we do. It’s a little more playful and light-hearted, like gardening should be. The content is still much the same, with our horticulturists covering a range of interesting crops: Melissa showcases heritage cherries, potted olives and a plant we all know from our shores — pigface — while Jennifer looks at clever salsify, known as the oyster plant, and mustard as a soil cleanser, plus amaranth, dwarf beans, eschalots and rainbow chard. Meanwhile, Claire has put together two showcases: luscious warm-climate fruits and leafy green alternatives to lettuce and rocket at this hottest time of the year. Megg takes a close look at one of our favourite…

JENNIFER STACKHOUSE Jennifer is a horticulturist, writer and editor who lives in Barrington, Tasmania. She loves the rural lifestyle and enjoys the profusion of cool-climate plants in her rambling garden. Jennifer edits Greenworld and writes for The Mercury, several magazines, websites and blogs, and regularly answers garden questions on ABC radio. Her book, Garden, received a Laurel Award for Best Garden Book for 2014. Read Jennifer’s blog on gardendrum.com CLAIRE BICKLE Claire is a Brisbane-based horticultural educator, writer, radio and TV presenter and speaker of 25 years’ standing. She loves all things gardening, from the sustainability of edibles and natives to perennials, succulents, potted gardens and beekeeping. She’s also a self-confessed chook-keeping tragic. Visit claire-bickle.com; Facebook: Claire Bickle Gardening for the GoodLife; Instagram: clairesgoodlife MEGG MILLER Megg has been associated with farmstock and gardening since…

JO IMMIG Jo is an environmental scientist, photographer and writer. She has worked in the environment movement for decades and is co-ordinator of the National Toxics Network, an organisation dedicated to creating a toxicfree future. She has written many articles for magazines and is the author of two books: Toxic Playground and Safer Solutions. NATURE IS A LEGAL PERSON It’s being hailed as the most revolutionary piece of legislation anywhere in the world: New Zealand lawmakers have granted Te Urewera National Park the status of legal personhood. What this precedent-setting law means in practice is that nobody owns this bit of nature and the park has the same rights and powers as a citizen. Lawsuits can be filed on its behalf, for instance. It’s also proposed that the Whanganui River in NZ be…

CHILLI ‘SEVILLE’ The plant: Chillies are my go-to plants for brilliant edible colour through the warmer months. Potted chillies always take pride of place on my outdoor tables through summer and autumn, bringing hot colour to entertaining areas. The compact-growing ‘Seville’ variety is a top choice for pots, with its lush green foliage and fiery fruit that ripens to a warm orange. Growing: Grow chillies in a full-sun position with well-drained soil or use a quality potting mix in containers. Liquid-feed every fortnight throughout the growing season to promote healthy growth and loads of fruit. Pick the chillies regularly to prolong your harvest. Design: Chillies shine at this time of year, whether in decorative pots and hanging baskets or used to heat up the summer vegie patch or flower garden. Fruiting potted chillies…

Are you wondering what on earth is salsify? The easiest answer is it’s a rarely grown root vegetable. It resembles a small, slender and slightly hairy white carrot. Its nickname of vegetable oyster is due to its strangely oyster-like flavour. Also known as salsify, it is an attractive plant that is native to areas around the Mediterranean. It has long, slender leaves and, as it’s a biennial, its pretty mauve daisy-like flowers don’t appear until its second year of growth. It was grown in European gardens back in the 16th century but its popularity declined as sweeter, tastier vegetables became available, including carrots. If you are into plants with strange and exotic names, then add salsify to your must-have list. ‘Mammoth Sandwich Island’ is a heritage variety that originated in the US in…

Giant red mustard often sprouts in my garden, a legacy of a longago seeding. It’s one of many varieties of mustard that can be grown as an edible crop but also for its side benefits as a green manure crop. I pull up unwanted plants and toss them over the fence into the chook yard. Small plants are a tasty and colourful addition to a salad. Left to grow, this mustard lives up to its name with huge red-green leaves. It forms a bushy clump about 1m high with tall branches of bright yellow flowers. One year, I left some plants to go to seed with the idea of making my own homegrown mustard. After a few hours of separating the fine seeds from the pods, I realised life was too short.…