Author: Jessica

Permaculture

The power of diversity: together we’re stronger

The power of diversity: together we’re stronger

Almost two decades ago we started a project to build a garden with asylum seekers in Sydney. We had almost no money, a tiny space, and lots of shade. We, as organisers, didn’t have the skills we needed to construct our garden. Everything seemed stacked against us. But we had a lot of ideas and we had plentiful free materials, glass bottles available from nearby pubs and cafes that were just being thrown out. When we asked the asylum seekers and refugees if any of them had the skills we needed, they did. And together we worked to build our beautiful garden, for almost no investment, with lots of resourceful skilled people making it a reality. Together we came up with creative ideas for what to grow in shade and up walls and in the end, we had a beautiful safe space in which to sit and chat, grow a little food and just be. On the surface, it seemed like we didn’t have much. But when we really looked we saw we had an abundance of all that we needed, we just needed to be open to the possibilities. #valuediversity#valuethemarginal#permaculture

Permaculture

Must-have herbs in the garden

Must-have herbs in the garden

Last month we enjoyed trialling some heavenly herbals in the Permabee garden. These notes accompany that session.

These are my must-have herbs in the garden. Some are used as foods, dyes, to steep as a tea or as medicinals.

A word of caution:

Always exercise caution when using herbs for the first time. Just because they’re natural doesn’t mean they’re safe to either ingest or place on your skin. They may also interact with medicines, so please exercise care with herbals.

WebMD

Basils

Annual

Sweet basil, Ocimum basilicum used in cooking, pestos etc. The problem with this basil is that if you look sideways at it and it dies. Temperamental to grow. Must find the right microclimate and water appropriately. It will tell you if it’s unhappy.

Sweet basil can be temperamental to grow. For first time gardeners, I would recommend growing a perennial basil.
Sweet basil can be temperamental to grow. For first-time gardeners, I would recommend growing a perennial basil.

Perennials

  • Pepper basil, Ocimum selloi, this basil prefers part shade. In Brazil this plant is used to treat stomachaches and as an anti-inflammatory. Don’t grow this in full sun or the leaves will turn leathery and inedible.
  • Blue spice basil, Ocimum americanum, the most fragrant basil with a strong spicy flowery aroma with hints of vanilla; a delicious addition to any salad or dish. Drops a lot of seeds, so it’s very weedy. Often grown as an annual.
  • Ocimum basilicum, ‘Cinnamon’, spicy cinnamon and mint flavours. Perennial but often grown as an annual.
  • African blue basil, Hybrid of Ocimum kilimandscharicum (camphor basil) and Ocimum basilicum (dark opal). true perennial, will last for 5 or 6 years, will grow into a woody hedge. Very easy to take cuttings, and strike easily in water. Strong camphor undertones can be offputting in dishes. I make pesto with it, but I ensure I mix it with lots of other herbs. This one will not produce viable seed, so there’s no point saving seed. Will flower continuously all year around. Bees love it. Grows up to 45 cms x 45 cm. Cut back heavily and it will grow back beautifully bushy.
African basil has camphor tones that can upset a tummy
African blue basil has a camphor taste that can be unpalatable and cause tummy ache

Lemon Verbena

Verbena, Aloysia citrodora is a small bush/tree that will grow up to a metre and a half native to South America. Grown in full sun, this herb is used in lots of facial products and moisturisers for its beautiful lemony scent, but it is by far best used as a tea. Every winter when it drops all its leaves we give it a very big haircut, up to half the plant, and it comes back in spring beautifully bushy and lush. Great for fish/poultry, potpouri and liqueurs. Lemon verbena may cause herb-drug interactions – be careful with sedatives. You can also get lime verbena.

Lemon verbena
Lemon verbena makes a beautiful addition to teas

Take cuttings in spring from soft new growth, or you can also take some in summer where there’s a hard woody end, and soft tips, remove 75% of the lower leaves and place in soil, and keep moist. They can also be rooted in water.

Salvias

  • Your typical sage, Salvia officinalis, is often used in cooking and teas.
  • Salvia dorisiana – fruit salad salvias come from Central America and has large, fragrant, soft-green leaves and magenta-pink flowers both of which can be eaten, and the leaves are made into a tea, fruit punch, cold drinks. Tea has a soothing effect. Flowers in my garden most of the year, takes very easily from cuttings.
  • Salvia elegans – ‘Pineapple Sage’, native to Mexico and Guatemala has a pineapple flavour and beautiful red edible flowers. Used as a traditional medicine by Mexicans. Spring cuttings take root easily. Fruit salads, crushed leaves, ice teas, herb spreads. Not great in hot dishes as it can lose its flavour.
  • Pineapple sage has — as the name suggests — a pineapple scent
  • Fruit salad salvias have a distinctive hot pink flower
  • Marigold has many uses: used in companion planting and also great as a dyeing plant

Lavenders

  • French lavender — Lavandula dentata — will flower much earlier than the English, and much more prolifically in my experience. French is flowering now in Sydney and has a pine-like scent. French flower may have a top knot, called a bract, look like butterflies. More ornamental, and used for essential oils.
  • English lavender — Lavandula angustifolia — sometimes will take as long as mid-summer to flower. English lavenders produce the better oils. They do better in colder climates. English lavenders are good to cook with, aromatherapy, and ornamental. Used as calming effects and might relax certain muscles. It also seems to have antibacterial and antifungal effects.
  • Giant lavender — Soft weeping flowers are tiny on my giant Allardi Lavandula × allardii, a cross between Lavandula dentata (French Lavender) and Lavandula latifolia (Portuguese Lavender) has the weepy flower heads, and the shorter flowering season. My Allardi has survived for years, while other lavenders have died out. Sweet, floral notes of French Lavender with the sharper, more camphor-like fragrance of Portuguese Lavender. Can make you sick if you steep it for too long. Soapy taste. Uses: potpourri, sachets, and sometimes in essential oil production.
  • Spanish lavender — Lavandula stoechas — blooms better in warmer climates. Ornamental, potpouri. Has distinctive rabbit ears.
Lavender is a fave
French lavender is a favourite among gardeners and can be found throughout the Permabee site

General Advice

If you’re not sure whether a particular lavender variety is edible, it’s best to stick to known culinary varieties like English Lavender. Always ensure that any lavender used in cooking is free from pesticides or other chemicals that may be harmful if ingested.

Lavender in “Four Thieves Vinegar”: One of the most famous uses of lavender during the plague was as an ingredient in “Four Thieves Vinegar,” a mixture of herbs and vinegar believed to protect against the plague. The legend says that a group of thieves used this concoction to avoid getting sick while robbing the homes of plague victims.

Herbs that deter mosquitoes

Here are some of the most effective ones:

  • Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
  • Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
  • Basil (Ocimum basilicum)
  • Citronella Grass (Cymbopogon nardus)
  • Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)

Herbs that deter mites

  • Mint (Mentha spp.)
  • Sage (Salvia officinalis)
  • Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.)
  • Neem (Azadirachta indica)

Disclaimer: I do not advise or recommend herbs for medicinal or health uses. This information is intended for educational purposes only and does not consitute medical advice. Please consult your health care provider before pursuing any herbal treatments.

Misc

How to make free unlimited plants!

My most successful cutting to date
My most successful cutting to date is African blue basil

How to make free unlimited plants!

Making your own cuttings from plants you have in your garden (or your neighbour’s garden) has to be one of the most satisfying things you can do. (Apart from growing from seed, but more on that later.)

In May’s Sustainability Hub Permabee we talked about making cuttings. This is just one way to reproduce plants, but there are many. The following table touches on the various ways you can create free plants — as quickly as a few days to a few months.

CropReproduction Method
Fruit Trees (apples, pears, citrus)Grafting
Berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants)

Natives (Banksias, Callistemon, Correa, Melaleuca, Prostanthera and Westringia and many more — select firm, current season’s growth)		Cuttings
Vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, radishes, beans, melons, pumpkins etc)Seeds
PotatoesTubers/Eyes
Ginger, IrisRhizomes
StrawberriesStolons/Runners
Bulb crops (onions, garlic)Bulbs/Bulblets
Clematis (hybrids) Honeysuckle Wisteria Camellia Rhododendron Viburnum Star jasmine Magnolia Cotinus Flowering Cornus species Daphne Hydrangea Various climbers and shrubsLayering (pin one branch down onto the ground, and wait for it to root) – best done in late winter, early spring
Types of propagation

Exotics to grow, seasons and soil mediums

Let’s now look at what exotics we can make cuttings out of, and when we’d typically do this. This isn’t prescriptive, you can make cuttings in most seasons in a temperate environment (winter may be a bit slow), provided the weather isn’t too extreme and your cuttings are protected.

PlantSeasonMedium
BlueberriesLate spring (softwood)
Midwinter (hardwood)		Low-pH potting mix1 (camelia mix works well)
Brambles (raspberries, blackberries)Late summerSoil (Milkwood Best Ever Seed Raising Mix)
CurrantsLate winterSoil (Milkwood Best Ever Seed Raising Mix)
Fruit Trees (e.g. apples, pears, citrus)SpringSoil (Milkwood Best Ever Seed Raising Mix)
Shallow-rooted vegetables
(e.g. herbs)		Year-roundSoil (Milkwood Best Ever Seed Raising Mix)
Medium-rooted vegetables
(e.g. tomatoes, peppers)		SpringSoil (Milkwood Best Ever Seed Raising Mix)
Perennial herbs (woody)Year-roundSoil (Milkwood Best Ever Seed Raising Mix)
Plants, when to take cuttings, and what soil mixes to use

Milkwood’s best-ever seed raising mix recipe:

I always recommend the Milkwood mix quite simply because it’s the one I almost always use. There are many others and it’s up to you what you use. Just keep in mind a couple of simple elements that make up a good seed raising mix:

  • a teeny amount but not too much nutrient
  • reasonable water holding capacity — but not too good, balance in all things!
  • good airflow
  • good structure, not too chunky for most plants.

1. Two parts sifted compost – preferably from home, or a good supplier (try to get one without any additives – no water-saving crystals or fertiliser)

2. Two parts coco peat – from the garden nursery – sourced from coconuts, try to ensure it’s the fine stuff, not chunky (chunky will not work)

3. One-part worm castings – from your worm farm, you can buy these now, but using your own is the best

4. One part sand – course river sand, not beach sand!

5. A sprinkle of aged animal manure, usually pelletised, like Dynamic Lifter or Rooster Booster

Mix the coco peat with water, until there’s no dry stuff left. You might have to use your hands. Mix until it’s all damp (not sopping wet).

Mix the coco together with all the other ingredients in a big tub until you can’t see any of the individual ingredients. At the end of this process you should have a beautiful fine seed/cuttings raising mix. Then, fill up your chosen pots taking care not to push the air out of the pots, just tamp them down, smooth the seed-raising mix out to the top of the pot, and get ready to plant. 

Read more here.

Alternatives: propagation mix from the nursery.

Succulents soil mix

Gardening Australia recommends: Ordinary potting mix, plus sand and gravel

This gives it much sharper drainage so they don’t become waterlogged. 

Australian native soil mixes

Mix 1

– 70-75% washed coarse sand
– 25-30% peat moss, fine coco peat, or perlite23
– The mix should be disease-free and well-draining

Mix 2

Half compost

Half sand

Mix 3

Regular seed raising mix

Mix 4

Coarse sand

See Australian Plants Society Methods in this illustrated PDF here: Propagation of native plants

Information from https://resources.austplants.com.au/stories/propagation-of-native-plants/

Rooting hormone, honey and willow water

Rooting hormone helps roots grow.

Honey water is a mixture of honey and water which creates a mild bleach. This helps prevent bacteria from invading the cut.

Willow water (crushed willow leaves soaked in water for a few days) contains a hormone that promotes root growth and a chemical that stimulates the plant’s defences. I haven’t tried it but I hear it works well.

Rooting plants in water

Rooting plants in water is often a matter of trial and patience. Doing it in spring is usually easier and faster than winter.

Here’s a guide to rooting indoor plants.

Here’s another one.

Principle 1Observe and Interact

How to Make Cuttings: Process

Alternatives

You can cover your cuttings with a plastic bag but you must keep checking back to ensure they’re not rotting or succumbing to fungus or other pathogens.

You can also create a cold frame for your cuttings. This can be as simple as a styrofoam or wooden box or old windowframe with a clear plastic or glass lid, which you lift periodically for ventilation. Read more here.

When cuttings go wrong

Here are some mistakes to avoid:

  • Letting your cuttings dry out
  • Disturbing cuttings before they have good roots
  • Keeping them in a place without light
  • Keeping them in too hot or cold a place
  • Using the wrong potting mix for the type of plant you’re growing

Read more here.

Very best of luck with your cuttings!

Seed raising Permaculture

Seed raising resources

DIY Seed-Raising Mix Course, 22/8/21

Milkwood’s Best Ever Seed Raising Mix – recipe for your mix – you’ll need coir, worm castings, compost, coarse sand, aged manure

Coir Peat Bricks – get this $2 one, not the expensive $8 worm bed ones (exactly the same thing but 4 x the price!)

Gardenate – to find out what to grow in this season – choose subtropical region if you’re in Sydney

How to Grow Microgreens and Sprouts – easy instructions and videos on how to stack

How to produce cuttings from herbs – sage, thyme, rosemary etc

14 store bought vegetables and herbs you can grow – easy video to follow – lettuce, celery etc

Local Seed Network Manual – free download

Seed to Seed Food Gardens – free download, written for schools wanting to set up gardens, but can be used for starting your home garden

Sydney local networks

Inner West Seed Savers – inner west of Sydney, Sells through Alfalfa House $1

Seed saving networks – alternative sources of seeds, find your local network – Buy Seeds Savers Handbook from here, this is the bible of seed saving, everything you need to know

Grow it Local – find gardeners close to you, list your own patch and seeds you have available

Best seed suppliers (non-GM, organic or heirloom)

The Seed Collection – Ferntree Gully, Vic

Greenpatch – Glenthorne, NSW

Eden Seeds – Beechmont, Qld

The Diggers Club – Heronswood, Vic

Boondie – New England, NSW

The Lost Seed – Macksville, NSW (great bulk seeds)

Seed Freaks – own seeds, 85% locally produced Tassie (many others are importing from overseas)

Happy Valley Sydney – Riverstone, NSW

Image courtesy Markus Spiske on Unsplash

A recording of one of my seed-raising sessions is available here.

chicory Permaculture

The necessary nutrients

The chicory plants in our garden have gone mental.

Not that I love chicory, I’m not even sure I really like it that much. But a couple of years ago my local hardware store was closing, and I couldn’t resist the 50-cent plant specials sitting on the table. I knew that if I didn’t buy them on this last day, then the hardware store wouldn’t compost, or donate them, nor put them to any useful purpose. They’d just be added to a massive methane-spewing landfill, one more pollutant among many.

So I bought them thinking, a little chicory would be healthy, we don’t have enough bitter veg in our lives.

But since then, the chicory population in our garden has exploded. Through some miraculous mode of delivery, seed, spawn, alien-love, God-knows, from the back garden to the distant front, they’ve spread. Tiny seedlings soon turn into giant-rooted multi-leaved behemoths. A multitude more than we can ever eat. I keep pulling them up and potting them for any unwary passersby who expresses even the vaguest of interest.

‘What’s that weird thing crawling on that lettuce-looking plant…?’

‘That’s chicory, you want some?’

‘No not the plant, the insect. What’s that insect?’

‘I really think you should take some chicory, it’s really good for you.’

Sometimes I forget about the re-planted chicory, and they die in small pots. Or they seem to die.

Utterly brown and withered, seemingly bereft of life, the small pots sit in a saucer and it rains, and then a miracle occurs. From a dry leafless stump the chicory appears again.

So we’ve adapted.

We’ve learned to like bitter chicory, so long as we mix it up with the sweeter stalks of rainbow chard, and herbs like parsley, and the mundanity of lettuce, it’s fine. Life should be an interesting mix, shouldn’t it? How dull would it otherwise be? And how much less resilient, and less healthy would we be, if we all just ate iceberg lettuce?

That’s my theory about Nature too.

After all these years of working with her, I think that we’ve forgotten her in her pot. She’s wilted and in some places is seemingly dead, but if we give her the right ingredients, my theory is she’ll probably thrive again. Provided we haven’t polluted her beyond her tipping point.

Similarly, I have these questions about society. Could a disconnected society, when brought back to its origins, watered, fed, and reconnected with the right nutrients, thrive again?

I’d really love to know. Let’s look and see what people have done in local settings to achieve these healthier outcomes, and how we might replicate their results on a larger scale.

[An excerpt from my latest project. Do you want to keep reading? If you do, let me know. This could the start of a fabulous new adventure for us.]

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