My newly purchased curry trees are being planted in my greenhouse in what looks like becoming my tropical garden section. Ta Dah!

Quite exciting. Jonny and I will be on the look out for prowling tigers and take malaria tablets before safariing there.

To plant my new additions, I dug a decent hole and half filled it with composted cow manure. Flooded the whole hole and then planted the curry trees finishing them with composted hay (from the local mushroom farm), a sprinkling of organic Rapid Raiser and a watering in with a bioactive organic mix of GoGo Juice.  They will be watered daily and hopefully (actually, no doubt) establish secure roots by the dormant winter months.

My concern is that the Bowral winters can be fierce. Frosts seem to have a way of burning plants, even in the greenhouse. That said, my previous curry trees have lived for years in the glasshouse, baring many rich harvests of uniquely scented leaves for my authentic curries.

Incidentally, here we are sorting through the piles of just-picked curry leaves. These will be packed in tightly sealed containers and frozen.  That’s right, frozen. It is a technique I have been successfully employing for decades. Curry leaves very quickly lose their flavour after harvesting; however, by freezing them, and using the leaves in your cooking straight from the freezer, you lose none of their culinary impact.

For recipes on Geoff Jansz Food using leaves from the curry tree, click here.

Curry leaves are also a necessary ingredient in my Spicy Tomato Relish.  That’s as much of the recipe you’re getting! Please feel free to purchase this wonderful product hand made here on the Farm. Proceeds go towards malaria tablets and camouflage clothing.

As you may or may not know, I have a particular star performer growing every year on the farm. It’s a variety of tomato that has become so dear to my family as well as me professionally. It looks like an Ox Heart, but tastes like no other Ox Heart. Could be bundled in with the Beefsteak gang of tomatoes, but doesn’t behave in cooking like any Beefsteak. In this intermediate naming vacuum, it has been affectionately called ‘Geoff’s special tomato’. Poor thing… A bit like having called Mozart ‘Mummy’s little piano darling’. Nevertheless, until a box full challenges me for inflicting emotional anguish and wins the right to rename itself, then ‘Geoff’s special tomatoes’ they will remain.

You may know by now that I have reserved the front patio of our house for my elevated garden and a variety of edible pot plants. North facing, additional reflected light as well as stored heat emanating from the dark tiles beneath.  Its pride of place for, here we go again, my “special” crops. These plants are provided the sort of treatment that can make my other veggies green with envy (maybe a good thing) and red with rage. Ever been to a proper outback sheep station? Totally remote and enduring the full harshness Australian climate can deliver. Here every breathing entity has to pull their weight. Rations are hard earned and never excessive. Unless, you ‘re that fluffy little lap dog that gets to live inside with the farms matriarch. That blow dried, clipped little yapper sits at or under the table, hand fed morsels of the lamb it’s canine brothers and sisters have toiled under 45°C heat to herd into submission, only to be thrown working dog rations of a shot kangaroo and trough of water. Yep, that’s my patio!

It actually goes completely against my nature to single out favourites and I feel shameful describing the patio with literary license to be a place of privilege. It’s more accurately a growing space under my watchful eye, and constitutes being the standard to which my proper crops need to perform. Somewhat a horticultural guilded cage but I actually recommend having a trial area like this for seriously curious gardeners on the quest of intelligently assessing their season’s efforts with an eye towards better future crops.

Anyway, getting back to my pampered pomodores, ‘Geoff’s special tomatoes’. Here is a prechristmas (20 days into summer) photo of the tight little clusters of fruit (berries to the pedant). Very exciting. Can’t wait to harvest and show you great tomato recipes.

In addition to the ‘Geoff’s Special Tomatoes’ I have growing on the patio, I planted several rows (amounting to around 100 plants) of my special tomatoes in the field. They were sown 3 weeks later than the plants on my patio, and just after Christmas, I sent a cry for help to Noel and Vince regarding my vigorous plants needing more flowers. Noel responded with some great advice (see comments); however it turns out, Noel, Vince… I need to relax and trust the pre-preparation on which we all collaborated.

In preparing the tomato beds, we performed a soil analysis. Vince, you looked at the report and knowing my crop expectations, asked me to feed the soil with only Seamungus. And Noel, we formed the beds with Gino to be able to capture sun. All other characteristics of ample water supply, great soil texture, pH balance, and general soil quality were in place (Angela and I have always been soil -respecting farmers). Lo and Behold, our preparation actually paid off. Because 10 days after my mayday call regarding needing more flowers, THEY APPEARED.

Pleased to report I am the proud father expectant to a vibrant crop-to-be.

Worth pointing out, my 28 years of growing wonderful tomatoes has been more akin to witchcraft than scientific analysis; very successful witchcraft, mind you. Naume was the grand Wizard, Merlin, and I the sorcerer’s apprentice (Shut up Geoff!) He had a more intuitive approach to growing; something that couldn’t be passed on without professionals like Noel from Elders and Vince from Neutrog applying their explanations to what Naume taught me, and then recommending accessible ways for you, the reader, to follow our approach of planet, plant and people friendly growing, without boiling the cauldron. Mind you, I still do a little cauldron work from time to time in honour of my mentor. Looking at this years crops, However, I think Naume would have had a beer or two with Noel and Vince.

Working with Elevated Gardens was my first and most compelling foray into encouraging urban dwellers and anyone else interested in low maintenance, high yield self supply where available growing  space is limited.  Self contained units of various size, in which water and nutrients are circulated under solar power are set up where a reasonable amount of sunshine can trigger the photosynthesis required for healthy plant growth. Furthermore, being elevated and multi layered, gardening should be easy on the back. I loved the theory.

The brains behind Elevated Gardens are Andrew Olley (inventor), and Tracey Perez (Manager of Sales and Marketing), who were recommended to me by the Elders experts at Bairnsdale, visited me in Bowral. We shared the same enthusiasm for having more Australians experience the rich rewards that come from successful self supply. Successful being the operative word . What’s the point of spending time and money setting up a system, only to be frustrated along the way and ultimately crestfallen when at the end of it all, there’s no salad! Andrew and Tracey were confident, so we set up a Sustain 3D model right at my front door, facing north.

I would like to point out two things. Firstly, no money changed hands and secondly, I don’t personally require extra growing space. This was an open experiment so everyone visiting my site could watch the journey from set up to success or failure and make up their own mind.

Here are the images from when Andrew and I put my unit together.

 

Andrew Olley contemplated what was the best spot to set up my garden: an open airy site, relatively wind free and with access to at least a few hours sunlight each day, both for plants and the solar panel.

We carried the main body into place and systematically attached the various components.  Andrew wanted me to do most of the setup – we need to show “even an idiot can do this!”

First we set up the base lining, wrapped in porous cloth to allow excess water to pass through the growing medium. The upright was first assembled, then attached and the baskets simply clipped on.  There were a series of screw in pieces: water gauge, overflow valve and reservoir lid.

Next the cocopeat – I found the texture to be quite unique; an organic by-product from coconuts, it seemed to be both friable and sturdy.

Finally the pipe system and filters, followed by the solar panel and pump, then a pre wetting with the hose before filling the reservoir to the recommended 300 litres. This was all achieved in under one hour.

Time to plant. According to Andrew, it is best to transplant seedlings directly into the cocopeat even though seeds can be scattered directly on to the cocopeat. I will nevertheless try seeds later and let you know.

When planting seedlings, it’s important to wash off as much of the potting soil mix so we don’t fill the reservoir with soil. Simply immerse roots into a bucket of water and shake about.

Then pull away some cocopeat and pop the roots straight in and tamp around the base to secure the plant, much like planting into the soil.

Now we play the waiting game…

10th September 2013 – Two weeks down the track. I’m pretty amazed that without nutrients, my plants were able to stay so Perky. Really impressed in fact. By the way, Andrew explained it’s a good idea to let the plants embed and settle for two weeks without nutrients. I expected saggy seedlings. However, not the case. The cocopeat is truly  an excellent product. It’s texture is perfect for plant roots to take a secure hold and have immediate access to water. Surprisingly, not one seedling wilted – even in full sunlight. The solar pump kicks in only once in 24hours and delivers enough water to saturate the cocopeat, with the excess flowing back through into the reservoir, which means just the right amount of water is retained to keep the plants happy until the next watering. I wonder how adding nutrients will affect things.

Unbelievable! The liquid fertilisers were added as instructed and the plants just loved it. Have a look and listen to the video shot 2 weeks after planting. Notice the plant vigour (also, my excitement with the bug management).

 

 

There is an Elevated Gardens product to suit everyone who wants an easy to use, sustainable growing solution for vegetables, herbs and flowers. Elevated Gardens thrive even in densely populated, urban spaces, as long there is sun. They are ideal for apartments, rooftops, backyards, schools, restaurants, resorts, office buildings, aged care homes, correction facilities and community gardens.

Older fruit trees were shaped like a vase. These days, the modern orchard, striving for higher yields per hectare and employing advanced scientific methods have dismissed this approach. However, in the transition to smaller upright trees, many older varieties of apples were thrown onto the scrap heap. Luckily, I managed to get a few from surrounding  orchards and Geoff Brooke taught me how to care for them.