Moonacres Inspiration

It has been great to get to know Phil from Moonacres Farm over the last couple of weeks. Formerly working in finance, Phil began farming here at Fitzroy Falls in 2007, and what he has set up, and the certified organic produce he is growing – is very impressive.

Browsing the crops, and eating corn fresh off the cob

It’s a big setup – 100 metre long rows, lovely big orchards, paddocks of pumpkins and sheds full of lots of big equipment – makes my setup look quite puny really! I was quick to point out to Phil that I was still on my “L” plates with my growing efforts, at which he was just as quick to retort that he was too. That was encouraging.

Drying garlic – Australian purple and white

In fact, as Phil described the evolution of his learning about how to best grow different crops, I felt that my journey – albeit on a micro scale – was not too dissimilar. In fact, I know now you never finish learning how to grow anything well. Not only does every individual geographic site offer different challenges, but so does every season, every batch of seed, and every nudge of intuition that says to try ‘this’ or ‘that’.

Row after row, after beautiful row…..

It’s rained all night again. We have had soooo much rain since February. This has taught us which areas of our paddock drain well, and which areas a drenching downpour will prevent us from moving on for weeks to come. While we’re busy learning, it has been great to be able to offer our Jamberoo Pub markets customers supplementary, certified organic – jumping out of its skin with life – produce from Moonacres.

Bill and his ‘healing’ greens.

As we are busy setting up our Jamberoo stall each Saturday morning, Bill arrives to buy his kale, and other greens to juice. Yesterday he was telling me how until a couple of years ago, he was taking an enormous amount of medication for arthritis and other ills, but seeing the documentary film Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, prompted him to drastically alter his diet. Raw vegies and green juices feature daily on his menu now, and he takes no medication, and says he has never been healthier. See, we all should never stop learning how to grow.

More elegant fungus, in the mulch at Jamberoo Pub

Biological truths

I have been inspired this week by John Elliot Gardiner, who owns Gore Farm – a 650 acre organic farm in Dorset, SW England. He has just turned 70, and is actually better known as a great classical music conductor. When asked if he had to choose his favourite, which he would choose between music and farming, he replied “You dismember me! It is not possible. I have to have both. Music occupies one’s heart and brain, and farming is to do with creating food, looking after animals, refreshment and … other challenges.”

Gore Farm, Dorset

It is his choice of the word “creating” that captivated me. I have dabbled in the soil one way or another all my life, but I am only now becoming fully aware of how to grow anything to be strong, disease free and healthy, it’s all about creating the environment in which it is to grow – at a cellular level – and this doesn’t mean adding anything that comes out of a bottle, packet or drum. It’s about creating the optimum cellular conditions for nature to do what it does so well without any help from us: Biological Farming.

Soil alive…discovering a friend while weeding at Foxground.

This isn’t new. Different cultures have naturally managed the productivity of their soils for thousands of years, and nearly 90 years ago Rudolph Steiner gave lectures about it, and Sir Albert Howard published his first book on the topic nearly 75 years ago. The trouble is that scientists began telling farmers over 100 years ago that they had discovered the cure all for production woes – nitrogen, phosphorus & potassium, all neatly blotted up and ready to spray. Somehow, since that time, many farmers relinquished the intuitive and ‘creative’ components of nurturing their soils, for reliance on chemistry to do the job – and we have to acknowledge that the results have been spectacular. See “What is the ethical choice?“, by The Centre for Food Integrity for some clear, moderate perspective on industrial agriculture – thanks Lynne.

More beautiful fungus at work….can’t help myself.

Scientific medicine has paralleled the development of industrial agriculture. There aren’t too many health practitioners who will deny that while those of us privileged to reside in the minority world live longer than ever, the responsibility for us to nurture our own biological health to ensure vitality and well being, is all too often, handed over to chemists, again most often with life saving results. The tragedy here is how polarised the scientific vs biological camps have become though, causing disunity and distraction from the issues that really matter. There should be no right or wrong, only great and greater. Clever and even more clever. To thrive we need to use our scientific knowledge, combined with wisdom and intuition to really be creative.

Andrew transplanting a silverbeet. Hmmmm…commercial practice?!

As John Elliot Gardiner says: “To sustain organic farming at a commercial level is tricky due to the weather and the debate over genetically modified crops. It’s no good being nostalgic about organic farming. You have to adapt and be commercially alert; and you have to be bold and daring and not go down a conventional route.” One of my mentors has hinted that I am practicing “Utopian bull***t”, by the way I currently farm – so I’d like to add one other thing to Mr Gardiner’s list – you also have to be brave.

Autumn action

It’s been a crazy, busy couple of weeks at Warwick Park. Our wonderful Japanese friends have arrived with enthusiastic, helping hands, and with a dam full of water and gorgeous autumn sunshine, we are flat out planting, planting, planting.

The new ‘babies’ waiting to be installed…

The abundant crops of leeks, eggplants, zucchini, rainbow chard and capsicum are beginning to dwindle. With the worst of the summer season behind us, we are preparing the rows and planting seedlings and root crops, utilising the last of the summer’s warmth with hope for further abundance in the months to come.

Tomo, Hiro and Hana, prepping leeks for delivery to Green Box

It’s so great to have Hiro and his Team’s company in the paddock too. Even with the language barrier, working alongside people equally as passionate as you, and with a common objective, is much more satisfying than chatting to chooks – as much as I love them.

Kazo – always smiling, even after hours of weeding!

Pretty glad the weeds are about to slow down their prolific growth, and with continued diligence and persistence, hopefully there will be a lot less of them to contend with next year.

Andrew taking a break.

Not sure if Andrew fell down in the photo above, or plonked down, exhausted? Sometimes, I topple over when a weed finally gives way, or my boot turns up a stone, and it’s a really wonderful thing. Just stopped for a moment. Plonked in the grass and looking across the rows, and up to the hills. We are planning a bit of an open day in the coming months, so you can come and plonk down too if you like? Will let you know as soon as we set the date.

Fungus fetish…

Fungi are critical to the organic web of life in the soil that is so important in any garden. Most of the work they do is unseen, hidden in the soil. When they do ‘pop up’ though, I think they are one of the most beautiful things around.

Peeking up through the mulch…

Beautiful and useful though. Among other things, they ‘lock up’ nutrients in the soil, storing them until they are needed. They prevent leeching of vital elements, and keep them readily available to the plant’s roots.

Dinner plate size, with tiger collar…

They also help maintain moisture in the soil, which means they are very busy at the moment, after our very wet February. Sadly, we have lost a lot of plant rows to excessive water in the soil. All our parsley and kale, that was growing so well, has not enjoyed the ‘big wet’ and has sadly died.

Fairy toadstool

So more fungi will move in, as they are also the great de-composers in a garden, breaking down dead plant and animal material into components that can be used by other organisms. In fact, you would not have an organic garden without them.

Blossoms by the creek

Lucky they are so beautiful. Busy de-composing. Stopping me in my muddy tracks, fumbling for my camera…

Sydney Markets

Morning has always been my best time of day, but I have really loved Friday mornings for this past 10 months or so, going up to the Sydney markets to source fresh produce from other regional growers.

Up before the sun.

When I finally convinced my daughter to join me one morning, she agreed to be awoken in the dark, “…only if we can visit the flower market too?!”

Pretty start to the day.

Reluctantly, I agreed, and have incorporated the flower market stop into the Friday morning ritual ever since. Whether the sun is up or not, it’s a buzz that looks and smells exhilarating.

Beautiful brassicas.

Unlike the food growers section, which is just plain scary sometimes, among the bustle of florists and this week-end’s brides, there are smiles everywhere. With beauty all around, you can’t help but smile.

Monks

I don’t know much about the flower-growing world, and sadly I’m sure many of the flowers are imported from far away, and probably not raised with particularly sustainable methods, but there is no denying that the giving of a flower, is an age old way to share joy.

Zzzzzzzzzz

It’s not enough to keep everyone awake though, and my daughter is more than happy to let me choose her flowers for her. Once was enough!

After the rain….at last.

Welcome rain has filled the dam at Foxground this week. Very much a relief after the longest, hottest dry spell in memory apparently.

Zucchini, capsicum and eggplant at Foxground

Zucchini, eggplant and capsicum.

Temperatures nearing 50C and way below average rainfall has caused all sorts of problems for farmers along the South Coast. There has been a feed crisis for our dairy farmers which places enormous strain on herds, farmers, their budgets and families. Still $1/L for milk?….seriously?!

Heat stress – shedding leaves mid summer.

This good soaking 180mm over 3 days will really help, and you can see the paddocks greening up almost immediately. Good follow up rain over the next few weeks and months is obviously critical to really make a difference.

Soaking it up – piggies love the mud!

There’s not much you can do when the soil is as wet as it is at the moment, but it is just so lovely to be in the garden, and see everything flourishing.

The little creek, once again flowing past the vegies

My most favourite thing is the new sounds. Wet sounds. The creek ‘babbling’, the frogs chorus. I just wish there was a picture to express how amazing sounds ‘look’.

Tiny blue-black frog on the reeds, by the dam

I guess on a blog, this will have to do….

The Yellow House

My lovely friend Charmaine, has been asking me to come and meet her neighbour for about 6 months now. I finally made the time this morning, and boy am I glad I did. Over 3 years, Mim and Neville of Yellow House Heritage Perennials in Nowra, have converted a concrete carpark into a stunning heritage garden.

My beautiful niece Sophie, enjoying the flowers.

Walking through the side picket gate, is to partake in a feast of colour, texture and scents. Lovingly tended and nurtured, hundreds of rare and interesting herbs, flowers and vegetables are everywhere you look, and Mim who is a practicing naturopath, can tell you all about the medicinal and culinary uses of every single one.

Part of the Yellow House perennials nursery.

Like all passionate gardeners, she can tell you stories about how the seed of this was collected, or from where that cutting was ‘pinched’. Inspired by travels to famous gardens all around the world, the Yellow House – though only on a suburban block – feels like a little world all of its own.

Neville and Jim enjoying the shade.

I’ve been looking for a source of French Tarragon for some time, and of course it’s here. Mim and Neville (a retired Heritage architect) will shortly be launching their online mail order business so that we can all access their extensive collection of perennials, herbs and sustainable plants.

The Yellow House garden path…

I look foward to Feast Farms cultivating lots of these yummy edibles for inclusion in our beautiful salad mix, and to sell in bunches at our growers market every Saturday morning in Jamberoo. Between the Yellow House collection, and the unique vegies Tass Schmidt is cultivating at Jamberoo Valley Farm, we are rich for choice.

Mim’s trike

Sadly though, I can’t plant anything more at the moment until either it rains like crazy for a few weeks, or we sink a bore at Warwick Park. The dam is getting seriously low. Need a new rain dance coach…

Turning up the heat!

I always said that our first year of operating a market garden was going to be a complete experiment. We have tested raising pigs for meat vs. saving them as pets, sowing seed vs. buying seedlings, staking tomatoes vs. wire mesh enclosures for them, and several different sprinkler systems vs. drip irrigation systems, just to name a few of the trials. There have been some lovely successes, and some monumental disasters… or should I say, fundamental learnings!

Jac and Gordon bean picking from the heavily laden vines

Jacqueline (Foodscape Tours), and her wonderful tour bus-driving Dad, Gordon visited today to help pick beans for this Saturday’s Jamberoo market. Notice the dangerous bowing of the stakes under the weight of the climbing beans in the photo above? So, although hardwood stakes and twine were a lovely idea, the beans have been blown about way too much in the wind, and have required Andrew to reinforce the structure almost daily due to the weight of the produce.

Eggplants and chard, the day after the 43 degree heatwave.

Along with the ‘try it and see’ challenges, we have had an abnormally dry spring and summer, by all accounts. This has meant that we have given up using the sprinkler system altogether – as although the lovely Foxground breezes make for a comfortable working environment in the heat, too much water was being blown away, and wasted. Therefore, the half of the garden which hasn’t been kitted up with dripper hoses, (and the plans for root vegetables) has been let go – for now anyway – while we arrange more hose to replace where the sprinkler was intended to be used.

Jack by the dam – 11 Jan 2013

The dam from where we draw water for the vegetables is the lowest it has been for a long time, according to Kerry and Nicko, and our watering regimen is strictly, and carefully timed. The cabbage moths seem to have moved on, and the fruit fly have only touched a few tomatoes, and we wonder if this is perhaps due to the very dry conditions? I imagine the answers to so many of the very many questions we have, will only come after years of experience.

Summer sunrise over the baths at Boat Harbour, Gerringong

But… despite the heat and the mixed result experiments, while ever we are blessed to have the opportunity to work this beautiful South Coast land at all, and to live 10 minutes walk away from being able to start every day looking at this glorious sun rise, no problem is really a problem at all. All the challenges and learning opportunities are blessings, albeit sometimes in disguise.

Martin Place farming

Drove all the way up to the city from Gerringong on Tuesday to have lunch with my wonderful, suit-clad brother, and as I trotted down Martin Place, soaking up the Christmas buzz and glittering decorations, to my surprise the country had followed me to town. An enormous screen had been set up and passers by could step up onto the stage, before a blue screen (which was green) and ask questions of a virtual Aussie farmer.

Chatting to a farmer in Martin Place

According to their Facebook page, ‘Ask an Aussie Farmer’ is:

“…an idea grown by real Aussie farmers so you can have your food and fibre questions answered by those who produce it for you.”

So this is how you chat to an Aussie farmer.

Great idea. I hope it gets a few more city folk thinking about the source of all the lovely food offerings in their city arcades, cafes and restaurants; about how it’s all produced and about the security of its supply in our changing world. Most importantly, the cost of an event like this proves that producers know that the decisions discerning city consumers make when they purchase, will make or break their rural businesses.

Foodscape Tours visits Feast Farms

If you wanted to lean on the fence and chat to a real producer though, why not book a wonderful Foodscape Tour? Spend a day chatting to South Coast Food producers and not only chat about the food, but get to taste it too!

Round up blues…

I took this photo this morning in the playground in Gerringong whilst walking my dog. Sadly, we see it all the time. Our Council goes crazy with the Glyphosate (stained blue to presumably make it ‘safer’?), particularly in this lovely children’s precinct. When I opened my emails with my morning coffee, I discover I’m not the only one who is distressed by the indiscriminate overuse of this chemical – Justin of the useful blog ‘The Radish’has just posted the same sentiments.

Just in time for the kids to come out and play…

It is liberally sprayed all over the ground, and if it’s and lucky it soaks a weed which could have easily been pulled. More and more evidence points to the fact that it’s not has harmless as it’s touted to be, and really….is there any safe level of any chemical we should expose our children too? Please re-consider your spraying policy Kiama Council.

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