Tropical vegies and herbs

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Tropicana, Dec 23, 2008.

  1. Tropicana

    Tropicana Junior Member

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    Hi everyone,
    I'm new to this site and new to gardening in the dry tropics. We have just moved to a new (for us) rental property and plan to make it home for the next several or more years. Thanks to Len's garden I have decided to create straw-bale gardens for the main vegie garden, which will be great for my back. I will use the no dig method for the herb garden,too.

    I'm finding it difficult to locate the straw bales I need to set the gardens up to prepare them for the next planting season, which is March/April. They should be well broken down and ready for planting by then. So if anyone knows where I can find them in the Ayr area of NQ. please let me know. I have enquiries in the pipe-line for yams and other tropical veg, but no-one seems to know where I can get tumeric tubers or cumin seed (I've triethe seed from the supermarket and it seems to be too old for growing.

    Any advice on what else I could grow, which is more suitable for this area, I would appreciate. Also any tips on the tricks for successful gardening in this climate would be welcome. :p
     
  2. Max E

    Max E Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    hi there, not sure where to get the seeds etc but have a look at the book "tropical Food gardens" by Leonie Norrington, it is very good.

    regards

    Max
     
  3. Jana

    Jana Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    Growing At-Risk Medicinal Herbs — Richo Cech
    The Potential of Herbs As a Cash Crop: How to Make a Living in the Country — Richard Alan Miller


    There may be a online herb distributer in Oz that would have fresher seeds than those in the stores

    BUCKWHEAT GOOP AND SOIL MATRIXING MOLECULES
    In growing my sprouts I found that the buckwheat gives off a thick gelatinous goop as it germinates. This being rather unpalatable I used to rinse it off and put the goop on a indoor plant. I noticed that the plant immediately responded with increased growth and greenness, whereas it hadn’t when I gave it the soak water of my other varieties of sprouts. It dawned on me that the assimilation faculty of the roots had improved with the introduction of the goop and that mere minerals and nitrogen had not contributed significantly to increased growth. Goop-mucigel consists of mucopolysaccharides and glycoproteins and inorganic salts suspended in water producing colloidal homogenization and holding water in the soil to serve as protective matrix which allows minerals and molecules to be more readily uptaken by plant root hairs; as well as improving the soil crumb structure (tilth). These molecules would naturally form from the breakdown of plant and animal material in a natural ecosystem, however urban environments starve the soil of these soil-matrix molecules, thereby the soil loses its water holding capacity, its ability to withstand leaching, its colloidal suspension of nutrients for supplying plant roots, the protection of root hairs and a moist soil condition that supports thriving microbe populations.
     
  4. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    Tropicana,

    I live in the tropics. Can you be a bit more specific as to where your 'dry tropics' is. Rainfall and hence soil type and growing conditions are hugely divergent. The problem with the description of the 'tropics' is both geographical as well as meteorological.

    cheers,

    ho-hum
     
  5. paradisi

    paradisi Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    turmeric is seasonal and available even in woollies and coles - but stick to proper fruit and veg shops and you might still find it available

    cumin - - try herbalistics or shaman asutralis they may have them

    bales - - look for sugar cane bales - they come in huge round bales and should be dead easy to find around Ayr
    if you still can't find any head off to your local bowls club and ask around fro cane growers - they'll put you on the right track.... though in Ayr they might just burn the old cane?? lots around the sunshine coast but a bit far to travel

    try growin everything - you'll find out in a year or two what is good and what wont grow - - bit wasteful but it teaches you a lot about gardening and growing

    and stick in sweet potatoes - good starch substitute - -and pumpkins, all you need is the seed from a good one you buy at the shop - chokos -

    and grow loofas - even permies have to wash LOL
     
  6. Tropicana

    Tropicana Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    Thanks everyone for your interest.
    I've been inquiring locally and it seems that I can get bagasse from the local sugar mills. I'm not sure what sprays are used on the cane crops around here, but I think I will give it a go as part of the structure of the garden. However, I need the traditional oblong bales to create the "walls" of my garden.
    Ayr is south of Townsville, Northern Queensland, for ho-hum.
    Most of my time so far has been spent weeding or recovering from weeding sessions. I've found that I can go for longer if I sit on a lowish chair while I'm pulling out weeds and unwanted grasses from our "lawns". I've got an excellent pile of the extracted matter to incorporate into the no-dig areas, plus quite a few black plastic bags of some stuff that was going to seed. I'll leave these in the sun for a few more weeks yet to try to kill any unwanted seeds. I've heard that this works well. Any other hints on this?
    We planted the coffee bushes a week or so ago and they already look 100% better than they did in the pots they were in. The poor things were looking rather sad They'd been in pots for a couple of years while we were waiting for our ideal place to plant them.
    The next planting job is our bananas, they don't look too bad, but they are in the biggest pots I could find. I've read in this forum that bananas are planted in circles. Why is this and are three banana plants enough? Do I need to know anything else before we put them in the ground?
    Still haven't found any turmeric, but trying.
    I've heard that there are quite few yam varieties, so I'm interested in finding out more about these. Sweet potato (or kumara according to my kiwi husband) is on my list and I've found someone who will give me some runners when we're ready for them.
    We're feasting on mangoes and lychees from the huge trees in the yard, Yum
    Because of the limited remaining space,we're thinking of planting dwarf avocados and citrus. Can you graft standard lime/grapefruit/orange onto a dwarf lemon tree?
    There are cane toads everywhere! We want to put in a small pond (we know not to put it too close to the mango trees) but we're worried about setting up a breeding ground for these beasties. Help!
    Love the forum, thanks for all the info
     
  7. paradisi

    paradisi Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    my bananas got stuck in hwere they would fit - two got put on top of a pit I dug to bury about a cubic metre of lemon grass - - their descendants seem to be doing the best
    mine are in a line and the fun bit is trying to encourage the sucker that's point ing the direction I want them to grow and chopping out the rest.

    circles are used methinks in conjunction with composting - the compost material is put in the middle of the circle and the bananas feed off it

    three?? in queensland the governemnt has legislated you can only have ten - it isn't clear in the law if that is ten plants or ten producing plants or if the suckers and pups are called plants before you cut them off - - the law is to protect the banana growers

    three will becme a dozen in a short time - take the first pup or so from each plant and plant it out

    what sort are they??

    https://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/horticulture/5201.html this tells you a lot of info - -if you want other varieties you have to contact them on the page link and write to the nambour research station - they sell plantlets in april or may
     
  8. aroideana

    aroideana Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    Local Tully business is supplying TC bananas via mail order , some great ones , Java Blue , Bluggoe etc.
    google backyard bananas , they are called 'Blue Sky Bananas'

    Ponds must be fenced or raised up more than 50 cms to stop the dreaded toads from breeding in them .
    Nightly patrols with headlights gloves and a bucket can control slightly .
    Stacked besse bvlocks with a thick liner is good and cheap , plastic tanks long lasting but expensive .
     
  9. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    shear envy
    probably do/graft almost anything
    Grapefruit are a bit heavy so it might be a big ask for the tree

    Herb wise
    I purchased a 'Mushroom Herb' last year. It was supposed to have the flavour of mushrooms; but it did not survive my winter(It was a cold winter but I am 50K north of Sydney on the coast. However it should grow for you)

    The herb that loves the warm weather is Coleus amboinicus that goes by a dozen different names. "Cuban Oregano" "All Purpose Herb" 'Spanish thyme' ,'Soup mint' 'Mexican mint' 'Indian mint' 'C ountry borage(!?)' 'French thyme'
    Ayurvedic - tulsi kul
    Hindi name- patta ajwain
    Sanskrit name- parnyavani
    Gujarati name- ovapaan etc etc. It has more common names than any herb I know.
    It is very easy to grow from cuttings
    I have seen almost NO recipes using the fresh herb
    So in return for this info I need some recipes please! :)
    [​IMG]
    https://hortiplex.gardenweb.com/plants/p1/gw1031377.html

    There is also a variegated variety which to me smells like Eucalyptus leaves!!
    [​IMG]

    Don't try to grow sage and many Mediterranean herbs they won't cope with the humidity.
     
  10. Tropicana

    Tropicana Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    Hi again, everyone

    Thanks for your input! I'm not sure what kind of bananas I have, paradisi, when they were given to me I was assured they were lady fingers, but someone else told me they were sugar bananas. I guess the taste test will be the way to find out. I had no idea there were so many varieties! Isn't it a shame that more aren't available in the fruit and veg shops? I'll take your advice and dig a nice deep hole and fill it with goodies before planting them. Was your lemongrass well composted before you planted? Ours go in soon, so maybe we'll just have to use the usual goodies to the hole if any composting is required.

    I think I will try your idea of the raised pond, aroideana, since we are virtually surrounded by cane farms, I imagine that the capture and dispose method would be a fairly useless venture. Wouldn't it be great, though, if everyone caught a few every night? I've heard that the most humane way to dispose of the toads is to catch them in a plastic bag and pop them in the freezer. Mmm, you'd want to make sure they didn't come into contact with any of your edibles n'est pas?https://forums.permaculture.org.au/...&t=9642&sid=78af3b380c76d258d3bf9476f257d553#

    That's it, I'm going out to get a dwarf lemon tree as soon as I can. I love citrus and they're so versatile! Thanks for your info, Michaelangelica. Might hold off on the grapefruit graft as you suggested. I'll mostly use the lemons, limes and oranges anyway. As for your coleus amboinica, I've not seen nor heard of it, but as you know what it tastes like, why not substitute
    it in recipes that call for mint, oregano or basil. If you add a little at a time you won't wreck any nice food with overkill. Throw some torn leaves into a salad, or into some oil/vinegar mix and let it rest before using it as a dressing. Add other herbs as you like.

    Cheers all,
    and all the very best for 2009
     
  11. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    Hiya Tropicana,

    If you are in Ayr, there are no restrictions on what will grow there.
    Just on the cane toad thing, those poisonous interlopers love to jam their freckles in pots in the dry season and will either squash seedlings or poison them. Make sure you get your seedling above climbing height.

    Any sort of banana will grow there. 'Lady Finger/Sugar Bananas' to most of the great unwashed are the same. Generally speaking Lady Fingers, given great conditions, will fruit at about the 6m mark. Sugar Bananas will fruit at about the 3m mark. It is all in a name.

    Lemongrass is a fabulous barrier plant and in your climate you only need 1 plant for consumption. However, use it as a border/blocker/barrier plant and it is awesome, it will respond to any amount of fertiliser and will certainly tolerate being planted and left. It is a great garden starter, ie, if you want to eventually put something else in, plant lemon grass first. It is easy to remove and makes good mulch too. It also traps a lot of dust in its structure and creates a weed free environment underneath it.

    Cane toads can be captured with an electric fence spike and stored in a wheelie bin till the council pick-up, and they are gone as soon as you spike them.

    Right now, you can plant nearly anything you want as the rainfall is reliable for the next while.

    That herb they are talking about looks like '3-in-one' 'mother and child' 'queensland herb' 'chook & chickens'. It grows on most old properties in qld and is actually a great thing to stuff a chook with. It will grow in any sheltered spot with occasional rainfall. If you are into lamb at all, grab 1 fat leaf and rub it all over the lamb joint, you dont need much.

    Sweet potato is a ground cover, so poke it in anywhere and you will always have some.

    In Ayr, you need lotsa mulch and water. Make as much compost as you can. I doubt you can grow stone fruit with any success but anything else is doable.

    cheers,

    ho-hum
     
  12. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    Star Anise is an attractive, dark-green-leafed bush. I saw it on TV tonight.
    i grew it; it flowered, but it never set seed.
    Perhaps you need M & F or a warmer climate than mine.
     
  13. Tropicana

    Tropicana Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    My poor hubby can't keep up with my demands for mulch but that is a good rather than bad thing.
    I am looking for some calendula seeds, not the fancy marigolds you see available these days as seeds or seedlings, but the original medicinal herb. I think it's Calendula Officionalis.
     
  14. Tropicana

    Tropicana Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    It seems that my last post was absorbed by Michaelangelica's reply. So I'd like to state again that I am looking for some calendula officionalis seeds. There is no competition going on for mulch, Michaelangelica, hubby has a job outside of our home and we need the mulch more quickly than he can fetch it for me. With my back problems, I'm just proud I can actually keep up with him! posting.php?mode=reply&f=1&t=9642&sid=60ab85a55093c0b4c5efceeaba5de665#I only have to remove woody and large weeds from the areas to be mulched, he does the rest. We are both having fun planning,designing and then implementing the ideas. We love our new home and garden.
    I hadn't considered star anise before, but it is a beautiful as well as useful herb. Thanks for the reminder.
    We had quite a bit of rain over the Christmas/New Year period. One day we had 6 inches in the old measure! (I can still visualise inches much more easily than centimetres). Everything looks so great and of course, the weeding has become that much easier now that the soil is more moist and soft. No sprinkler required for a little while yet.
    Things are coming together well, thanks for all your input and ideas
     
  15. permasculptor

    permasculptor Junior Member

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  16. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    Sorry tropicana.
    This is happening a bit at the moment
    A bug in the system that no one seems to know how to fix
     
  17. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    It is hard to get the old Calendula seeds as they have been hybridised so much.
    You might try the wholesalers' "Royston Petrie" in Sydney if you think you can place a big enough order.

    i don't believe the really old Calendula offiinalis really exists any more-so much hybridising has been done.
    Still the calendula ointments I buy seem to work
    You might also try Richters in Canada (on line) they will have seed and it is legal to bring in to OZ.

    Of course we don't know yet if the new calendula varieties are just as good, or perhaps even better, than the old original herb.(?)
    Want to do a PH.D on it! :)

    Where are you seem to be an amazing amount of rain falling in N. Australia at the moment
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009 ... 460969.htm
     
  18. lovingmygarden

    lovingmygarden Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    Hi there Tropicana,
    I'm also from just out of Ayr. I have been here for two years now and have had many sucessful and some unsucessful plantings in my garden. Tomatoes grow especially well, but not so at this time of the year, I have planted for the next season now though, and I will plant lettuce soon. Cucumbers are growing really well now too.
    You were asking about hay bales around here. I do know where you can buy lucerne bales at around $15.00 depending on how many you buy. It is located near Giru on Shirbourne road(I think that is how you spell it).On the left hand side after the Houghton bridge as you head towards Townsville. Turn left into Shirbourne then I think it is the first house on your left(you will beable to tell once you see it). There is also the big round bales of hay available for $25.00 at Dowson Farm on Clare road. It can be hard to catch up with him sometimes though. Don`t but any from the produce stores, they charge like wounded bulls for it. A &B Rural stock seed potatoes if your are interested in them. I also have some good kumara tubers too (yes I`m and ex kiwi too), they grow really up here as do jap pumpkins......just need good seed.
    We had a big problem with the dreaded canetoad here to, but after going out each night and catching (withthe bag and freezing them) we have managed to keep them down quite a bit. Not sure how you would go with the cane surrounding you though, that might hinder you a bit....it`s just perseverance I guess. I also have possums here too and love my pawpaws, so I just have sacrifice trees for them and the rest are for us. If you like custard apples, they grow realy well here too, my husband and I love them, but we have to be quick, so do the birds.
    Happy gardening :)
     
  19. Tropicana

    Tropicana Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    Hello there, Lovingmygarden! It's so good to know that there is someone else in this area who will give me advice. Thank you for your input. Yes, I think the guy in Sherbourne Road does normal hay bales as well, if it's not the same guy, it's someone pretty close to him. My hubby is waiting to get hold of a trailer and a friend to help load up, so far it's been raining too heavily on days that have suited both of them, so I'm being patient.posting.php?mode=reply&f=1&t=9642&sid=5e2d5cfc2eced457518cc6888b654e70#.

    I managed to get hold of some Calendula seeds, after all. (I knew I'd bought some from somewhere in the last few years!) I don't know if anyone has heard of them, but Phoenix Seeds in Snug in Tassie have loads of heritage seed varieties, they have a wide range of other seeds, too. I got their catalogue just over a week ago and have ordered many of the seeds I need. If anyone else is interested in getting their catalogue, their address is:

    Phoenix Seeds,
    PO Box 207,
    Snug, Tas, 7054

    The seeds are $2.50 a pack with a handling charge. I lived in Tassie years ago and dealt with them before and was happy with their service then. If anyone is interested I can update that when I get my order. The guy runs the business on his own, so he has no website unfortunately, but the old snail mail has been working very well for a lot of years and I don't mind waiting that little bit of extra time for things I really want, plus he has things I really want to try. Bonus!

    The garden is coming along nicely. The bananas are in the ground and looking great, the coffee looks brilliant and we've prepared a lot of the block for planting various things. What we have done so far looks great, talk about contentment! I love it here. Much nicer than our previous place which was way too urban for me.

    Thanks all,
    Tropicana
     
  20. chryssy

    chryssy Junior Member

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    Re: Tropical vegies and herbs

    hi,
    i've been living near rockhampton for 2yrs now on 4acres.
    have just found a good seed supplier,not only of everyday veg/fruit but also unusual stuff too.
    Cornucopia seeds & plants.i found them on ebay,if your interested.they are in VIC.
    i've just got some tamarillo,japanese raisin tree,pomegranate,panama red & gold passionfruit,purple dragon carrotts,violet sicillian cauliflower,dwarf bush snake beans,kiwi fruit seeds etc.now i have to get them started before the next lot of wonderfully different food seeds arrive in the next 2weeks.
    this project of mine may be delayed,as my 2month old takes up alot of my time now.
    it's all in my mind what needs to be done,my husband works long hrs driving trucks & can't always do the projects i have in mind.we will get there.
    any suggestions or ideas would be great.
    peace to you & yours
    chryssy
     

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