174. Our Small Urban Farm blog | Linda Simpson | Queensland, Australia
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
chooks
hauled them into the run
digging and finding all the caterpillars that had grown
As far as least favorite
the hardest thing
we live close to an environmental park that goes onto a cannal
so any rats that share our property are pretty cute…
swamp rats
not like rat rats…
kind of cute
they in the past they have eaten our sweet potatoes
because they’re rats they do their thing…
we accidentally ended up with 2 cats not that we were looking for companion animals, but a mamma cat that had been dumped and of course had babies…
had her baby in our chook area
now we don’t have any rats because as Calico was growing she was hunting. so now we don’t have any rats…
there’s not one
if there’s something i don’t want to do i do a little and then stop and do a little and stop.
in one of our gardens
it’s got a walk and a cross in the middle
I call it our addres cross
there’s four raised gardens and we laid crushed rocks,
crusher dust
decomposed granite
that little crushed rock. But weeds really love growing in it
til the weeds thoguth huh
new we have to think should we pave it or not… so
weeding a stretch is just so annoying so I do that a little bit at time.
I know how that goes… we have a walkway that was a little out of control
some things got a little bit out of hand IDK how they are ever gonna
I went to this teaching thing yesterday and we played the timing game
I can’t wait to try it… the kids would earn a giggle fest or they lay on the floor and you walk around and if you make them smile they have to get to their seat…
she said those little prizes they will sit for 20 minutes straight for like a 20 second prize..
What is your favorite activity to do in the garden.
It’s not gardening
I like taking photos of the critters that live in my garden and the flowers
I love recording it!
I enjoy at the moment one of my we have e spot I call the folly
we have a breeze
one of Australia’s great spiders is
golden orb spider
it has a golden sheen to it’s web.
she’s sitting in the back
colestem and the groveler are for the birds
she’s growing this enormous web because she’s a tropical spider!
She’s sitting in the back of where we sit in the shade..
taking photos of the lizards, the geckos, all the things that make our garden work…
the butterflies…
I do it everyday, everyday I take photos
I like that too! I like to paint the photo… my mom and I are so different.. my mom likes to paint it right then and there and then it’s done, I like to take the photo and pain and let it dry and paint on it for hours… I can just picture the photos the mixture of charlottes web and australia the colors in the morning…
What is the best gardening advice you have ever received?
It’s a mixture actually
I enjoy people and I enjoy listening and learning…. a mixture… there’s no one thing…
most impactful moment was doing the permaculture design course with geoff Lawton
that brought together everything we’d done before and
that maybe
chatting to people who garden
I love learning from people who have done it…
A lot of my guests have said the best advice comes from talking to people who have done it… I hear so many people say people are so in to our phones they lost the ability to communicate I think it’s no we’ve met people who are like us and share our interests and passions not just talking to anyone just cause they happen to be sitting next to you… And I also think conferences are big… people are connecting more through conferences… even in Paris last year I went to an agriculture conference the guys in my building warned me that I’d been spoiled in Paris everyone speaks English but just causee the conference was in Paris none could understand me…
A favorite tool that you like to use? If you had to move and could only take one tool with you what would it be.
My hands
I don’t always use a tool
I put gloves on now that we do have cats
I’ve had other guests say my hands…
definitely
when Michael goest to dig sweet potatoes
I don’t I use my fingers…
I will trowel down
And use my fingers to get the whole potatoes out
even when I’m weeding it will be my fingers until I think the weed’s too deep
I think that’s sort of a shout out to organic gardening… a lot of people can’t imagine, but in raised beds your soil is so easy and you can dig with your hands…
A favorite recipe you like to cook from the garden?
We really love bar-b-qued vegetables
One of my favorites is to make a mash like sweet potato and pumpkin.
grilled
right now we have
leboanese eggplants
we just finished the zucchini
and beans
don’t grow red peppers
all goes onto the bar-b-q
I eat vegetarian but if if he wants to eat critter he has to put it on himself
everything just goes on
I might add some mushrooms
My sad moments here you really need an air conditioned cellar, it’s just too hot for them…
everything goes
truffle oil
hollendaise….
That does sound yummy! The other day mike wa like I have a great project for you you can grow the mushrooms it’s like no work… and I was like no… that’s not a job for me…
I might like it if I try it…. I kind of have a weird cleaning thing… mushrooms are getting so expensive in the store and I do love mushrooms.
we get in the spring
wild mushrooms called morels around here..
mushrooms for a regular container is like $2.50 they were on sale for 2 for $5. just white button mushrooms seemed to much I think $1.50 is what they should cost at the most…
A favorite internet resource?
I do, I read, Geoff actually puts out a Friday, 5 things that he’s found or people have sent to him he thinks are worth sharing
internet tarot and you pick out what you want
If I want to learn… I just do a search
find out if it pertains to you…
that’s show you learn
even with the gardening site
facebook groups that are organic based…
very frivolous… nothing organized…
It’s true there’s such a wealth of info…
some days I’ll be like I m gonna check out instagram other days I’ll be like I’m gonna get on pinterest…
A favorite reading material-book, mag, blog/website etc you can recommend?
The easy answer is No, I’m a reader, I read loads of stuff
if there was one thing I refer back to there’s a lady here who was probably a little into the sustain yourself because the earth is going to get scary…
But her knowledge… she dies last year
Bshippard
amazing herb book
loads of different info
health info on what an herb can offer you
I do complimentary healing so for me that would be just knowing I could grow herbs that I could value add is something!
What herbs are you growing now?
where to start
I’l start on the left
- lemon grass
- comfrey
- lemon verbena is not an herb but it’s lovely
- oregano
- thyme
- coriander
- savory called something savory with an M word that I got, it’s great
- spreads itself is a good ground cover
- olive herb, when you put it in makes things taste like olive… IDK but it’s happy
- parsley when it wants to… it’s just about dead now
- mint, peppermint
- rosemary
- lavendar
6 meters to the front of our boundary. I’ve decided Im not going to be the person who annoys the council… our council doesn’t like you growing on the streets… our front area is our porch…
herbs that you would like out there
caffolime I use it like an herb
curry tree
we have a lot on this little plot.
Sounds delightful!
If you have a business to you have any advice for our listeners about how to sell extra produce or get started in the industry?
My background is in marketing so I’m always thinking about that…
if somebody wants to sell something you have to do it because you love to grow it,
to me that works.
Organic Market
If you go to the organic market…
the man comest time mind who sells organic strawberries he’s just so enthusiastic about what he grows…
the lady who sells her mushrooms she just knows all about them
If you are going to sell something it needs to be what you are passionate about
We potted up some vanilla plants
got some vanilla
I’l grow some and see if I can
I did 5
they are all taken
vanilla loved my loving and it grew!
Now I can … that’s the thing about anything you do anything if you love it and it grows
if you do it just for money then I just don’t see the success in that
it has to be love and money!
Absolutely!
Final question-
if there was one change you would like to see to create a greener world what would it be? For example is there a charity or organization your passionate about or a project you would like to see put into action. What do you feel is the most crucial issue facing our planet in regards to the environment either in your local area or on a national or global scale?
I believe that our groundswell of knowledge us… doing our gardens at home… being happy within ourselves…
purpertrating good options and good activities
that groundswell is the magic
That to me is what will change things… without going too big
it was Margaret Meade who said that
change will change will come from one person making the difference…. that’s what we have to do at home
Whenever somebody comes to our place to pick up something and they see the garden, their eyes light up and they want to know about it… they may never grow a garden but they have been inspired in one small too…
I think so too, I hear so many people these days so depressed and complaining and I’m like you know what I have this podcast and I talk to the most amazing earth caring for people full of energy and great millennials and I’m like I don’t want to hear it. I like the people who are like we’re gonna change this world! Just like you’re one of my amazing listeners! You’re right your little garden in your urban area and they walk by and say mmm is smells so good I wish I had a garden like that?!!
Do you have an inspiration tip or quote to help motivate our listeners to reach into that dirt and start their own garden?
I just believe really strongly that something created or done with joy is going to be better for everything. if someone wants to start a garden don’t make it hard,
give the children basil seeds…
if you make it hard it will become another negative tick in your brain!
I always move to what I want to do with joy
it doesn’t mean don’t do hard things
if you chose to do something do it joyfully
then it makes a difference
to your heart and how you do things…
that’s how I do it and it works well!
How do we connect with you?
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