May – Permaculture Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia

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May – Permaculture Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia by Ewa Bekiesch, Permaculture designer, educator, sustainable living consultant, and healthy food advocate. We are in the middle of the subtropical autumn. The very first “cold-weather” greens and veggies are ready for harvest. Others are starting to compete with each other and with the self-seeded ones which are also trying to claim some space in the garden bed and around, and I love it! Food everywhere 😀 This happens when you allowed them to go into seeds last season. They are simply popping out everywhere and the only job you have is either harvesting or replanting to create more space in the… Read More

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February – Permaculture Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia

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February – Permaculture Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia by Ewa Bekiesch, Permaculture designer, educator, self-sufficient and sustainable living consultant, and healthy food advocate. February is one of the hottest months in our subtropical parts of Australia. Hot and humid! We are thankful for every single drop of rain and appreciate the food we are harvesting at this time of the year, and there is plenty to harvest! We are not running out of jobs in the garden, however, we are limiting the work to the early morning and very late afternoon hours. Additional to the summer gardening jobs described in my post here, February is the month when I prune… Read More

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January – Permaculture Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia

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January – Permaculture Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia by Ewa Bekiesch, Permaculture sustainable living designer, consultant, and healthy food advocate. The summer is here. This is the time when we try to slow down mostly because of the high temperatures during the day. However, there are still some jobs you can do if you love your green space and if you want to harvest all year round! I have prepared a list for you below and I am aware that this might be just a fraction of what is possible in January in subtropics. I have purposely limited it to the edibles I have in my food forest and got… Read More

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Hawaiian Pink Guava – Psidium Guajava

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Hawaiian Pink Guava – Psidium Guajava Who doesn’t love a quick-growing fruit tree that bears delicious fruit within a couple of years after planting, contains lots of nutrients, and benefits your health? Guava is one of them! I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the blossoms and fruits forming just about years after planting the tree in my food forest. The plant was about one year old when I planted it into a slightly raised garden bed. There are many different guava varieties. I have been growing three of them, all delicious and easy to grow, but today, I will concentrate on the Hawaiian Pink Guava – Psidium guajava. General… Read More

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Longevity spinach – Sambung – Gynura procumbens – Perennial Spinach

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Longevity spinach – Sambung – Gynura procumbens – Perennial Spinach by Ewa Bekiesch, Permaculture designer and educator, sustainable living consultant, and healthy food advocate Longevity spinach, Gynura procumbens, is one of the plants everyone should grow. It is not only tasting delicious, and grows super quickly so can be used as biomass in your garden, but it also has many health benefits. According to Tan HL et al, “Gynura procumbens (Lour.) Merr. (Family Asteraceae) is a medicinal plant commonly found in tropical Asia countries such as China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Traditionally, it is widely used in many different countries for the treatment of a wide variety of health… Read More

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Fish Mint Plant, Fish Leave – Houttuynia cordata

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Fish Mint Plant, Fish Leave – Houttuynia cordata Fish mint is one of the perennial edibles I don’t want to miss in my garden. I have it growing as a ground cover in the green house between capsicum, eggplant and tomatoe plants. It also grows in my pond as it is considered as a water loving plant but even though my greenhouse doesn’t sit in water, the Fish mint feels like it belongs there! The plant comes from China and North-West India and it is used there as a culinary and medicinal plant. The Pharmacogn Rev. (Kumar at al., 2014) ‘describes therapeutic efficacy of the whole plant and its extracts,… Read More

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