AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

'Still planting after all this rain and more to come!
Wombok, lettuce varieties, Silver beet, rainbow chard, english spinach. ceylon spinach, Leeks, escallots, garlic, garlic chives, beans, snow peas, and I've been to the local fruit tree nursery in Kyogle and gone a bit bonkers with citrus and subtropical apples.
Next month? - sweet spuds, swedes, and lots of cabbage , broccoli, cauli and Capsicum varieties ready for those slow-cooked meals in winter!
Time to lift and seperate crowns of rhubarb.

STILL raining...
so, back onto the paddocks today with the cultivator.
Gramma, other pumpkins, and I reckon it's gonna be a great Jam fruit season so in go the seeds for Cape Gooseberry, Rosella, and Jam melon. I've picked up some Cherry Guava plants on ebay, so I'm keen to see how they go.
Guess who's gonna be a muddy boy then?

So your place for lunch

Ah...no. Like all /most farmers...now is the time to PLANT. It's been too damn hot for anything til now and we've only been harvesting melons and sweet spud for the most part since december.
No fruit to share even...too many damn 'foxes flying in each night and screaming at each other over what fruit was left from the previous night.
Easter is here for about 40 of us. Family, old friends and such to help me celebrate staying above ground for 50 years!
- Lots o' chook, maybe a mongrel Gander that likes to ambush me at the water trough, some cheap prawns i scored in brissie last week(frozen broken med kings ...$45 /5kg) and that's good enough for us.
Maybe we can organise a gathering of nearby chook and feathered friend fanciers in the coming months when i have something to share from our own harvest. We could swap notes, eggs, and stories tall and straight? Maybe somewhere like Ballina or such?
I don't show birds as such,but might consider bringing a few less common ones to a gathering. Some phoenix, scots dumpies, japs maybe?

any interest?

oh b#gger....My dearest has kindly reminded me that we are a quarantined property. But we could still catch up somewhere...

Just planted Garlic varieties: Purple, Elephant( giant), and garlic chives. More Leeks..they grow pretty slowly so need some to tide us over if we have a long or cold winter. Also planted some pepper trees, I'm keen to grow, dry and grind my own.
'Giving asparagus a go this year.....bit exxy to buy as crowns, but we'll see if the frosts knock them 'round. Also trying a few new things this year...Ceylon Spinach, Choy Sum, and purple cabbage. If the purples don;t sell, we'll pickle them as Saeurkraut or feed them to the animals.
Also trying Java Blue bananas....'anyone tried them?

Cheers,
Andrew

Citrus galore!
'best season for limes ever....standards, dwarf, and calamansi ( tahitian lime) doing really well. I'm finding it hard to find enough sales for them. We've had to resort to buying sugar in large amounts to make jams and marmalades so we can sell it as an improved product over the next few months rather than waste any.
Cumquats, lemons and lemonades have been good croppers, BUSH lemons being in high demand from fish and chip shops and a few clubs in the region. Many may remember the thick lumpy skinned bush lemon from their youth, but for those not familiar it is a variety that you can actually eat like an orange..much like a lemonade. 'Makes the best lemonade drink and ice blocks.
I'm trying a few new (old) varieties of other fruit this year...heritage fruits like Medlars and Damsons for cider, jam, and stewed fruit. I tried offerring some at a Brisbane market this week and sold out. The only folk who knew them were from the UK or of a more senior vintage."might have to plant some more this year.
I sourced a Bergamot orange tree this week after reading so much about them. Bergamot is the secret peel to flavour Earl grey tea. There are so many people growing and offerring tea in these parts, but no-one seems to grow the oranges. I also grow the tea plants ( Camellia sinensis) so this is another option for me.
Every little thing helps put money in the purse when trying to make ends meet...especially when keeping so many varieties of poultry that we rarely sell.
Cheers for now,-maybe I'll see you at Primex in Casino this week?
Andrew

Can you grow toms this time of year?



PC