The Good, The Bug and Ugly!

So which bugs are the good ones?

The Good, The Bug and The Ugly

Bees (the really good guys) play a central roll in pollination, but to do this they need a year round supply of flowers - free from sprays.

Ladybugs (the bug) generally bright red and polka-dotted, they can devour a colony of aphids in no time; even the larvae can devour 100 aphids an hour.






Praying Mantis (good but oh so ugly!) the praying mantis eats many nasty insects which can damage the garden. These predators take out more than just aphids and mites, they can also help you tackle infestations of mosquitoes, houseflies and moths.

After lots of replanting and replacing a very boring collection of box hedges and grasses with fruit, trees, vegetables and flowers we regularly see all three in our garden.

 

Last year we planted cosmos between all of our apple and pear trees

Why do we encourage these guys (especially the bees)?

The primary motivation for planting a bee friendly garden is our fruit trees and vegetable crops. When we moved in we planted nine apple and pear trees. Not long after they went in the ground we realised that we hadn't seen a single bee in our (very boring) garden. So we did some research and planted as much bee friendly food as we could manage in our relatively small garden.

What's a bee friendly garden?

One rule, and some suggestions.

• Rule #1 don’t use pesticides. Most pesticides are not selective. By using pesticides, you will kill the good with the bad.
• Plant local plants, they are attractive to honeybees; and adapted to your soil and climate.
• Plant a range of colours and flower shapes. Bees have good colour vision. Bees are particularly attracted to blue, purple, violet, white and yellow.
• Plant flowers in clumps.
• Provide accessible water. Bees need water. Provide easy access through wet sand or pebbles; do not drown the bees!
• Plan a garden with a wide range of plants - flowering across all four seasons.

What do our bees eat for lunch?

Ok so here's our menu:

A sample of a bee's menu

• Lavender
• Marjoram
• Rosemary
• Mints (lots of different types)
• Pineapple Sage
• Thymes (at least six different types on offer)
• Salvias
• Cosmos
• Comfrey
• A selection of fruit trees (apple, pear, lemon and lime)
• Berries
• Basil
• Bottlebrush
• Hakea

The seasonal menu includes:

• Tomatoes
• Pumpkin
• Rockmelon
• Cucumbers
• Passionfruit

All of these plants will attract bees and many need bees to ensure their pollination. The Australian Government has published a fantastic bee friendly planting guide, which you can access for free online as a pdf. Here's a sample of one of their planting guides.

Spring in our Garden

What space do we have in our garden?

Our house - shiny and new two years ago

We bought a 'battle axe' block - think long driveway with our house built in what was once our neighbours back yard. So we have 28 metres of driveway (with garden beds on both sides) , a small decorative garden bed at the front, a small courtyard and long narrow side and rear gardens. One of the  nice things about our garden is there's no lawn to maintain (there's a huge park across the street).

Since we bought our house a little over two years ago the biggest changes have occurred in the garden. Our priorities were edibles, or native.

What did we do?

Our courtyard (Oct 2013)

Firstly we brought in a lot of organic matter, and dug out a lot of clay! We built up the garden beds along the driveway. One side for fruit trees, the other for vegetables. Closer to the house we raised the main bed in front of the house and created a herb garden. In the courtyard we removed stones and box hedges and replaced theses with lavender, rosemary and 'snow in summer'. We also planted Wisteria. We also planted a lot of climbers, which are trained onto wires in front of the garage. 

So just how many fruit trees can you fit on a 500m2 block?

Quite a few! We've got six apple trees, three pear trees and a lemon and a lime. In addition we've got passionfruit, a grape vine, a tayberry (a cross between a black berry and a raspberry), kiwiberries, rhubarb, three types of raspberry and lots of strawberries.

Apple and pear blossom, apple tree, strawberries, rhubarb and passionfruit flowers

What are we growing for spring and summer in the veggie patch?

While we still have lots of greens (think lettuce and spinach) right now we are gearing up for spring and summer so we have lots of seeds and seedlings on the go (pumpkin, beetroot, leek, beans, lettuce, rocket, watermelon, tomato, cucumber, zucchini... to name a few). More photos to follow.

Seasonal Produce

Why is eating seasonal produce important?

"Being able to eat whatever we want whenever we want is convenient, but it isn’t great for the planet, or even for the cost or flavour."

Source: Environment Victoria

Food that isn’t in season has usually travelled huge distances, which means that a lot of energy has been used to get it to your local store - a whole lot of unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions. It’s not just the distance, it’s also the refrigeration along the way, and the energy that goes into packaging and storing it when it arrives. Produce which is in season tends to be local, which means much lower greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Eating seasonal produce — means produce is picked as close to the time it will be eaten as possible, which means lots of flavour, colour and nutrients. Out of season produce and produce that is transported long distance is harvested early so it doesn’t rot during transit. This doesn't do much for the taste or nutritional value of the food.

What's in season?

According to the Victorian Farmers' Markets Association right now produce in season includes:

• Beetroot
• Cabbages
• Carrots
• Leek
• Parsnips, Swedes and Turnips
• Pumpkins
• Cauliflower and Broccoli
• Silver beet, Spinach, Kale
• Oranges, mandarins, grapefruits etc
• Rhubarb

As part of our low impact lifestyle one important change we will be making is eating more seasonal produce. 

What's for dinner at our house this week?

Note - this is not an invitation to our friends!

On the weekend to supplement our small veggie patch and source some protein for the week we went to the Coburg Farmers markets. It's part of the Melbourne Farmers Markets; which are: "dedicated to Victorian food and producers, regional food cultures, seasonal produce, biodiversity, sustainable farming practices and the strengthening of relationships between the consumer and the producer." We think this is a great fit with our goal of a low impact lifestyle.

Shepherds pie for dinner tonight!

This week we brought a whole lot of lovely seasonal produce - including Kale, Bok Choi, Carrots, Cabbage, Mushrooms, Beetroot, Spuds, Oranges and Limes. We also bought fresh rye bread, cheese, organic eggs, streaky bacon, mince lamb and lamb chops for protein (we tend to eat a couple of vegetarian meals each week).

The challenge (because one of us likes to be organised) is that menu planning has to take a back seat and be done on the basis of what's in season - and available. So rather than plan our meals, and then head out with a list; we are going to be more flexible and enjoy what's on offer. The menu for the week includes: bacon and egg sandwiches, veggie soup, shepherds pie (with left overs for lunch), a vegetable stir fry, spanish omelette and lamb chops.