About
Earthwise Gardening is a blog on organic gardening and sustainable living. The blog is brought to you by the team at organic gardening supply business Green Harvest, based on the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia. Read more about the blogging team here.
The blog is about growing a community so you won’t get the hard sell from us here. Instead you’ll get practical advice, personal stories, and the occasional rave about the issues that affect our world. Follow our Garden category for gardening advice, our Kitchen category for ideas on what to do with your garden’s bounty, or the Sustainability category for the bigger environmental picture.
We plan to post once or twice a week on everything from making lemon barley water to foraging for wild mushrooms. We hope to build a relationship with our readers so we’d love it if you’d leave us a comment – ask us a question, tell us what you want to read about, or share your own stories and tips.
We hope you enjoy Earthwise Gardening.
Hi – can I subscribe to your blog? Can’t find a subscribe section on site.
Thanks – great stuff.
Hi Kade, thank you for your interest. We have now added an email subscription button on the home page.
Hi, I was wonder if you could tell me why my seeds I have planted in punnets are so leggy, what am I doing wrong?
Colleen
Seedlings are leggy if the light level is too low or they are too crowded together and competing with each other. Green Harvest has a great seed raising guide you could read http://greenharvest.com.au/SeedOrganic/SeedRaisingInformation.html
I purchased a huge length of vege net last year and made covers for both our apricot trees in time to beat the fruit flies. I used old gazebo frames so there is enough room to get into the enclosure to pick the fruit. I also put a yellow sticky pest stip into each enclosure to trap any clever pests. They are a huge success, and I didn’t even put my usual baits around! We had about 80kg and 50kg of fruit off the trees. I have also made some tunnel nets for our veges and slide on sleeves for the grapes. I have plenty of vege net left to more covers for the smaller peach trees this year. Fantastic product, thank you Green Harvest. Sue, Esperance WA
Yes I find Vege Nets terrific especially for fruit fly that usually wipe out my tomato crop. This year I had enough tomatoes for chutney and bottling, which is a great result
http://greenharvest.com.au/PestControlOrganic/ExclusionProducts.html#VegeNet
Question
Will using “Eco Grub” for curl grubs upset the earth worms?
Eco Grub will not upset the earthworms, as it contains no pesticide.
http://greenharvest.com.au/PestControlOrganic/CaterpillarControlProducts.html#EcoGrub
I am having great success, growing Vietnamese mint and Kang kong, in foam trays floating in my fish pond, I wonder if anyone is doing it this way?
I am also growing a native cucumber, that is “bush tucker” up here in the top-end
Hey Ken
Would love to know more about the bush cucumber….how to get some if it would grow here in Mt Isa
thanks
Cathy
This is a clever idea, and a good use of resources. Years ago I grew celery and other water hungry veges in foam boxes floating on the dam. There was a drought on and I just didn’t have any water to spare. Edible bog plants particularly appreciate the extra moisture e.g. kangkong, watercress, all mints, mukuna wenna.
I can’t see how to post a question??
I have been given some ?? Native Mint….grows all around here (Mt Isa) smells a little like aniseed, small green leaf on a low growing scrubby bush. Any ideas on its use???
thanks
Cathy
Any suggestions on how to get rid of the tiny white flying insects that are ruining my tomatoes? (naturally donb’t want to use pesticides!) Thanks for any suggestions.
Whiteflies are an annoying pest of tomatoes. The adults lay eggs on the undersides of leaves and these hatch in 8 days. Both newly hatched ‘crawlers’ and adults feed by sucking the sap from the underside of the leaf. After 4 nymph stages they form a black pupa, visible as a small speck under the leaves. Most species can complete a full life cycle in 20-30 days, less in summer. Each adult female may lay 200 eggs. Egg laying increases in warm weather. Severe winters reduce numbers considerably.
Suggested Organic Strategies:
A parasitic wasp Encarsia formosa is commercially available as a biological control.
Other predators include spiders, ladybird larvae, lacewings, hoverflies and damsel bugs.
Sticky yellow traps are useful at the beginning of the season.
Vacuuming in the early morning when whiteflies are cold and slow-moving with a small hand-held battery operated vacuum is useful particularly for the adults before a great deal of egg-laying is done. After vacuuming enclose the section of the machine containing the bag with plastic and put in the freezer for 24 hours.
Companion plants e.g. nasturtium may help to repel the pest.
You can find more information about dealing with Whitefly here http://greenharvest.com.au/PestControlOrganic/Information/WhiteflyControl.html
thank you, very helpful comments. Have lost tomatoes this year, however, next year I will be prepared with yellow traps as well as your suggestions.
Is this the correct way to ask a question?
My snow peas have flowered with purple flowers and now furry pods, any ideas what this means? My last crop were white flowers and smooth pods
Was the seed saved from last year’s crop or was it purchased commercially?
Hmm good question. now that I think about it they could have been from different places.
First crop
Was bought commercially the current I think was a gift
It is possible it was incorrectly labelled. Peas rarely, if ever, cross-pollinate so it should have stayed true to type if your friends were seed-saving.
What are good wasps and what are bad wasps? I planted dill in my garden to attract wasps but now I am unsure if this is the right move as I am concerned about my family being stung due to the places the wasps are making home. Have you any information what are your thoughts on wasps and people
Any one know where I can buy seedless Valencia orange trees. I searched for orange on your web page but couldn’t find any orange trees. Looking for Sydney metro.
Also should I be avoiding g grafted types?
Any good nursery should be able to order one of these for you. Citrus need to be grafted as seedlings are unlikely to have good quality fruit.
Hi…could anyone tell me how long it takes for a sweet potato to shoot. I planted mine almost three weeks ago and not action at all so far.
This can vary depending on weather conditions. The hotter it is, the faster it will shoot. In a very cold, wet soil tubers may just rot. Have a very gentle dig and have a look. I would usually expect up to 6 weeks.
Something is stripping the leaves off my usually healthy lemon tree. Can you tell what it is and what I can do to stop it as I have a tree full of lemon buds. Thanks
This could be a possum or even a wallaby if you are in a rural area. You do mean the leaves disappear, not just get holes chewed in them?
Leaves are being stripped. I do live in rural area. I will try netting it. Thanks.
Can you provide with a receipt for seaweed concentrate. Have access to good supply of bull kelp and sea weed. This product is great for transplanting seedlings! Thank you.
My young orange tree leaves are turning yellow. I have given it citrus fertilizer and sea sol but neither seem to help. Could it be to wet? As it is on a sloping block and could be getting extra water through the ground from the top of the street ? I have a photo if it helps.
Citrus can turn yellow from lack of nitrogen, cold weather or serious problems like collar rot or scale attack. Wait for the weather to warm up before taking more action
http://greenharvest.com.au/GreenGardenNotes/OrganicCitrusCare.html
I just wanted to thank you for the Australian Organic Gardening Resource Guide, so much info and so many things I didn’t know, very much appreciated – thank you 😉
Thanks Michelle, glad you found it useful. The website also is absolutely full of information on organic gardening. Have a look at the Site Map http://greenharvest.com.au/Other/SiteMap.html
Have any scientific trials been conducted into the success or non-success of moon plantings? Any results been published?
How do I address nitrogen deficiency in my soil?
My tomatoes plants started out great. Then looked dead, and the fruit was small an few. I have never added lime.
I used triple 16 and tomatoes fertilizer and put them in a new place. What do I need to do.
Grass growing between my weed mat and the wall of my raised garden…pain in the !!!! is there an organic product I can use that will – at least discourage – this growth but not interfere with my veggies……..
PS great site great company!! XXMaggie
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