Shownotes
Linda Simpson blogs about her gardening experiences in Queensland, Australia with her husband Michael on their Small Urban Farm.
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Tell us a little about yourself.
I grew up, Michael and I both grew up in New Zealand, it’s a volcanic island, with New Zealand is a beautiful volcanic island and my experiences there with gardening everything just grows, that was the beginning of a
continent is harder for minerals,
it’s sandy,
that low bushy
just step back
it’s such a flat expanse, coming up to the coast on the eastern coastline
the actual trees that grow here
before the suburb got to be here
this used to be a place here
fished 200 years ago
trees are all
some of the gum trees would
not a lot to grow what we call vegetables
once you start to travel
when you stay in one place it’s
it’s easier to move again
tourist parks
rv parks and managing
expanded our knowledge of area
came home
Tell me about your first gardening experience?
I was, absolutely I have a memory,
cause I was little
I was one of those kids that was very active
annoyed dad more then anything
there was always a vegetable garden
there wasn’t a lot of money and that sustained us
seeing how he did it
he got rid of the earwigs by laying down a tube and then dad poured boiling water down it… that was a way to do it without
organic
they wouldn’t understand the term
we don’t need that organic stuff
where they live
it’s like a crater the earth is gorgeous
go to a chicken farm, collect the manure
you just did that
it was not a big term
How did you learn how to garden organically?
Studying and mistakes I remember our garden, we had a garden further then we lived
temperate and subtropical climate
in an area called the bay of plenty big surfing
gardening and beach and surf and stuff
we grew carrots in the same place twice
we ended up with long carrots
it’s pretty quick
there were already compost bins there
I love learning
never been the go to a place
I love accumulating knowledge
I hold onto what I want to
after we
the general knowledge
when we came back to this property with
lovely safe garden space
we did a permaculture design course
it was just so expansive in it’s knowledge
just blew it out
jefff lawton
spearheaded permaculture here
for stories
just amazing
have used that and shared that knowledge so much
I learned
If you’re flying from
how new zealand on the map
it would have fallen off of Australia if you are looking
an hour’s
3 1/2 hours flying
it’s not
don’t tell the NZ’s
quick flight
I don’t know it in
Distance across Australia is huge
New Zealand the growing climate
the mangos to start their new growth
pink long leaf
rain forest
an
flame
brachiasuloflois
loses its leaves to give you it’s flowers…
Tell us about something that grew well this year.
We have a favorite thing. it does well, because it is a weed… 2 gardens of sweet potatoes
hot winter
we had a few failures which is a bit depressing
we grow your summer
cauliflowers
plants
sweet potatoes were awesome
tomoates just made a jungle
smaller ones
tiny salad ones next level up which is plum size
so productive
dried quite a few
roasted froze
kept
pumpkin
celeriac
and sweet potato
mash that together
Is there something you would do different next year or want to try/new?
I was looking at
we always miss the planting of the garlic season
I want to be on board for that and put some garlic in
meant to have a rainy season
running late
then if it flows on
doesn’t get the cold growing period
gonna try onions again
big red salad onions
we grew them…. didn’t expect them to grow so well. red onions
were called welsh bunching
definite for this year….
re j
grow things in our climate
one of our most disappointing
queensman fruit fly
it gets to your fruit and vegetables
lemon
tamerailoos
lays the baby in the when the fruit is young
and is it gets
quite like the coast
organic attractant for the male
disappointing
something eaten
the girls are actually laying unfertilized eggs, then when i pull in the zucchini, cucumber, the baby happens caterpillar happens, I love critters. they
there’s
experiential
go to the attractants
made them out of the normal hanging fly
they like to come in the sides
local firm
their mission to improve the soil
when we were first doing it… four on a property of probably 570 square meters,small
11 in the morning
counted 160s little flies
trapped
way better then that now
in a place where these things like laying in the lemons
there will always be these things…
we add a tiny bit of hand soap
that means them drown quicker
we’re still killing being
Worm Farm
Worm farm! Back to our permaculture design course. Geoff taught us to use a regular bath,
my gorgeous Michael is really clever, he set the bath up about 2 foot off the ground, layer it with things the compost worms like to eat,
manure
and paper
foundations
bath drains though the normal plug hole,
the bucket gets put onto the garden
because in the beginning there’s just water draining through whatever you put in
one side is ready
the actual worm compost
they’re feeding in
way more then a little worm tower
the side that’s ready
when I water it each day
it’s so simple system
availability of the worm compost
making soil on our little block…
as an aside to what we are talking about
poems and
kids and critters
when you’re dealing with the children
worms have communities
little compost worms
if you put an avacado shell into the compost the worms will generate a hole in it…
put a small plastic funnel in it…they will gather… no one wrote about it
they really do like places to gather…
worms…
we’ve been looking after a
australian parrot
cleaning out Roxies cage
we have newspaper or fruit that I’ve given her
wrap it up and put it in the
shredded
Tell me about something that didn’t work so well this season.
Our season, of winter, I mentioned it a little bit
was not cold enough to grow what we wanted to grow
cabbages take too long to grow
this type of climate has more borrowing bugs
we like to grow organically
we like to
early cauliflowers
that was awesome
the broccoli and kale
usually grows
it was too hot!
Too Hot
some days that were the middle of the day was 24, at night time is high of summer (75) that was sad…. we just ended up leaving the gardens
beans in them just to put nutrients
covered them with mulch
wait until we get a decisive season
when it because more into summer
got the zuccini …
they do, other times
the seed saving idea
people saving seeds
one of the things where we failed
Corn
bought corn that I gather
here it is called f1 so it is altered corn
sweeter or something
2nd was good
3rd was ugly
that’s where if you are going to save seed
people who think about it as possible
save heritage seed or organic seed
you can blame yourself for your bad garden
scientifically altered to do something
that happens with quite a lot of the regular growing fruit
papaya growing quite quickly
grows and grows
storebogut one
loads and loads of fruit but they don’t mature
that’s another failure that we have had
stops you want to grow…
Which activity is your least favorite activity to do in the garden.
Well, I don’t really like killing things. I would rather something
we had
zucchini plants,
it came to the end of it s life,
all of the bugs go and lay their babies on it
I hauled the whole plants
with the hens
