Recording the Newsletters issued by Casino Community Garden, located on the corner of Adam and Hartley Streets (adjacent to entrance to Queen Elizabeth Park), South Casino, NSW, Australia.

The garden is a project of Casino Neighbourhood Centre, overseen by the Community Development Project Coordinator. As the flier concerning community gardens says, it is a place of beauty, joy, peace and kindliness, and friendliness too.

All links active at time of publication. Please report any broken link you come across to Jan. Thank you.

2 July 2013

NEWSLETTER JULY 2013

CASINO COMMUNITY GARDEN

Monthly Newsletter #5 Issued July 2013

 

Around Casino Community Garden this Month

Every Tuesday from 8.30am: Join in at the garden with Jo and Mark, weeding, general garden activities, and planting still going on.

Every Wednesday 12 noon:  Lunch gatherings every week at the garden - come on down at noon and have a bite to eat, a cuppa and join in the chat with the regulars, topics include good food, gardening and healthy living.

NEWS: 

All Weather Access Path

Next project is to install a concrete path. It will be built by Novaskill.  Jo will seek sponsorship from the local community for each metre of the path to cover costs and get the community involved.

Names of Sponsors to be displayed on the undercover area for good visibility.   It will be 25 metres long, and a media campaign will be launched as soon as all the details are confirmed.
 Path  will go through this area
All photos at Casino Community Garden unless stated otherwise

Installation of Tank
The tank stand is complete and weldmesh or similar is being considered to create a storage area underneath for wheelbarrows etc.  The tank itself is due to be installed by the end of July.

Next Garden Clinic Day
Consideration is being given to the content of the next Open Day.

Garden Club Competition
Ideas are floating around about entering a couple of sections of the Casino Garden Club competition this year.

Join us on Facebook for news from our Casino Community Garden and interesting garden posts from Australia and around the world. 

Read current and back issues of this newsletter online at our newsletter blog.


Vegetable Planting Guide by Gardening Australia For July
On website click on subtropical, then vegetable, for description

Broad beans, burdock, cabbage (loose and tight headed), carrots, chicory, chives, endive, garlic, hauauzontle, Jerusulem artichoke, kohlrabi, collards, lettuce, mangle-wurzel, mustard greens, oregano, pak choy, bok choy etc. parslye, peas and snow peas, radish, rocket, salsify, silverbeet, spinach, turnips/swedes.

July in your patch (North from Coffs Harbour)
  • Time to plant winter wonders - leeks, beetroot, celery, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, turnips, onions, kale, kohlrabi, spinach and silverbeet.
  • Check out the herbs - lemon grass, spring onions, chamomile, thyme, mint, rosemary and lemon balm.  Try lemon balm in a pot around the outdoor area. It will stop it spreading, and keep away mozzies!
  • Pretty up your patch with these flowers - marigolds, lupins, pansies, cornflowers, violas, snapdragons, stock, ageratum, verbena and lavender.
  • Growing these flowers will add colour and interest, and attract beneficial insects.
  • Feed your plants with a seaweed tea, especially the new seedlings.
  • Keep up the weeding, mulching and watering when needed.
Sustainable Gardening






NO DIG VEGETABLE GARDEN

Do you need a new garden bed, but not up to digging much these days?  We've all heard about the No Dig Garden, but may not have tried it ourselves.

The no dig garden is build on top of the ground, existing beds, lawn or even hard rocky ground and can be any size or shape.

Choose a spot that gets at least four hours sun a day.

For a bed 1.5 x 2.5 metres you need:

  • a bag of organic fertiliser -  cow poo or compost,
  • a bale of clean straw (try to get clean straw without too many seeds)
  • a pile of old newspapers,
  • a bale of lucerne hay,
  • your garden hose, gardening gloves, water,
  • a tub (we use an old baby bath) to soak the newspapers.
  • water as you go!
Method

 

(Illustration - Esther Dean's No Dig Garden from Hunter Organic Growers Online)

  1. Choose the position for your bed, full sun best, or at least 4-5 hours per day
  2. Prepare the site by mowing the grass if necessary.
  3. Build the border if you are having one.
  4. Start with a thick layer of soaked newspaper, about 10 sheets at a time and make sure to overlap.  Glossy or coloured paper not suitable because of inks and plastics.
  5. Lay down sections or 'biscuits' of the lucerne hay to a height of 100mm - 4 inches (no gaps) .
  6. Sprinkle on even 20mm layer of good organic fertiliser.
  7. Cover with loose bedding of straw, about 200mm thick.
  8. Add another layer of organic fertiliser.
  9. Finally insert pockets of compost in the straw, or a layer of compost or soil where you want to put the seeds or seedlings.
  10. For most vegetables it is recommended to raise seeds in a tray first and transplant into your patch once they have developed their set of second and third leaves.  


New bed at Barry and Jan's backyard, with netting to keep out cabbage moths and sparrows, 
suitable for vegetables that don't need pollination by bees.


Featured plants around our garden this month

The Herb Borage 

Borage is a wonderful plant to have around the garden.  Borage (Borago officinalis), also known as starflower, bee bush, bee bread and bugloss, is a medicinal herb with edible leaves and flowers.  It is a favourite of the honey bees, and also bumble bees and small, native bees.

With a taste comparable to that of cucumber, borage has various culinary applications.  The leaves can be used as a salad green and the flowers as edible decorations.  Can be used in soups, salads, borage-lemonade, preserves, borage jelly, various sauces, cooked as a standalone vegetable, or used in desserts, in the form of fresh or candied flowers, to name a few.

This herb is also the highest known plant source of gamma-linolenic acid (an Omega 6 fatty acid also known as GLA) and the seed oil is often marketed as a GLA supplement.  it is also a source of B vitamins, beta-carotene, fiber, choline, and trace minerals.

The uses of borage include repelling garden pests, attracting pollinators, and aiding many plants when interplanted by increasing resistance to pests and disease.  It is also helpful to, and compatible with, most plants especially tomatoes, strawberries and squash.  Borage adds trace minerals to the soil and is good for composting and mulching.  An annual, it readily self-seeds and thrives in full sun.  It is so proficient in self-seeding that once a borage plant has established itself in your garden, you will likely never have to reseed again.  The plants can easily grow to 3 feet (91cm) tall and 2 feet (61cm) wide, so give them room to grow, and let them shade your partial sun plants. Treat this easy-to-keep herb well and it will reward you with scores of beautiful flowers, lush foliage, and fertile soils.


Rosemary for Remembrance



Rosemary is used as a decorative plant in gardens and has many culinary and medicinal uses.  The plant is said to improve the memory. The leaves are used to flavour various foods, such as stuffings and roast meats.  Rosemary is high in iron, calcium and vitamin B6. Rosemary antioxidant levels are closely related to soil moisture content.

Rosemary grows on friable loam soil with good drainage in an open sunny position.  It will not withstand waterlogging and some varieties are susceptible to frost.  It grows best in neutral to alkaline conditions (pH 7-7.8) with average fertility.  It can be propagated from an existing plant by clipping a shoot (from soft new growth) 10-15cm (about 4-6in) long, stripping a few leaves from the bottom, and planting directly into soil.

Sprigs of rosemary are worn on ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day in November signifying remembrance. The herb grows wild on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

More at Rosemary

Recipe Corner

Choko and Apricot Jam

Ingredients

2 kgs chokos
1 packet dried apricots soaked overnight
2 kg sugar
1 x 50g packet powdered Fruit Pectin (Jamsetta, available at supermarket)
Juice 2 lemons

Method
  • Cut up choko (small)
  • Sprinkle with 2 cups sugar, cover and let stand overnight
  • Soak apricots
  • Next morning strain water off apricots and save 
  • Add two cups of this saved water to choko
  • Boil until tender
  • Add apricots
  • When boiling add remainder of sugar, fruit pectin and lemon juice.
  • Boil until jam forms skin on saucer when tested.
  • Bottle jam into sterilized jars, seal, label and date.
Recipe by Shirley Wheatley who delighted those present at last lunch time meeting by bringing 
along a jar of the jam, and fresh bread for everyone to taste.

Any suggestions?
Or bring suggestions along to lunch Wednesdays

Ask Jo about joining the Garden (cost $5) to join email list.

All photos this issue Jan Brine
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Casino Community Garden
A Project of the Casino Neighbourhood Centre 
Coordinator - Jo Nemeth Phone 6662 5435
Weekly Garden Gatherings -
Tuesdays from 8.30am and 
Wednesdays at noon for a free lunch - All Welcome
________________________________________

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