As a way of escaping extreme heat, as well as to participate in a plant collecting trip for the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens, we headed up to Barrington Tops National Park on Sunday, observing the change in temp from 35C in the valley to 26C an hour later, at an elevation above 1400m. The plan was to camp the night at Polblue camping area, then meet our collecting colleagues there in the morning.

Along with the camping and picnic area, Polblue has a significant peat bog, surrounded by sub-alpine flora. 

Peat bog with pools of crystal clear water

This area is not only of great ecological significance, it also harbours a number of rare and threatened species, including two species of mountain pepper, Tasmannia purpurescens and T. glaucifolia (fragrant pepperbush).

Around the campsite we found an abundance of flowering veined doubletail orchids (Diuris venosa), another threatened species.

There is a good walking track around the peat bog, however it is a surprise to find large piles of horse manure along the track. I took a short stroll into the peat bog and found plenty of large hoove prints deeply embedded in the soft ground. Our guide Bill Dowling indicated there are around 100 feral horses in the area, certainly one of the threats to this world heritage wilderness site.

As we progressed slowly along the track at botanist speed, another major threat is ever-present, the introduced Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), a declared noxious weed. While it is a reasonably attractive plant with its’ buttercup yellow pea flowers and bright green pods, this species looms as the greatest threat to the stability of this fragile wilderness.

Herbalists are quite aware of this species, since it contains the alkaloid sparteine, whose actions include anti-arrhythmic (similar to quinidine, a plant-based drug used to treat arrhythmia) and oxytocic (strengthens uterine contractions), rendering it as a potential abortifacient. Historically it has been used as a diuretic. Due to toxicological concerns, use of the plant as herbal medicine has been restricted. 

Efforts to control the spread of this weed have met will little success. There is plenty of evidence of herbicide applications in the past, and while glyphosate does kill the plant, it can’t control the germination of seedlings from the rich seed bank in the soil.

After a lunch break we drove a little way north to another section of Polblue creek, known habitat for the rare silver tea tree (Leptospermum argenteum) and two threatened species of plantain (Plantago spp.) We disturbed a wild pig, another environmental threat to the region (see photo above), and did find some silver tea tree on the creek bank although it was visibly in the process of being squeezed out by the broom. A few specimens of Tasmannia glaucifera on the edge of the creek were also being overwhelmed by the broom.

The continuing spread of this invasive weed is a massive problem. At Polblue hundreds of seedlings can be seen emerging in places both inside and outside of the walking trail, making a mockery of attempts at controlling this species with herbicide. In fact, I learned that the spray program was put on hold after it was discovered that around 100 T. glaucifera specimens were accidentally poisoned. 

I do have major concerns about the use of herbicide on such a large scale, as we know that much of the residue will end up in the waterways, and ultimately the Hunter River. However there is no viable alternative in sight, physical control by digging out the plants could work in theory, but the scale of the problem means we would require thousands of workers for an extended period, an idea that is clearly impracticable.

As we headed back down into the valley and the heat I had very mixed feelings. On the one hand, it is a beautiful area with so much more to explore and a selection of rare and interesting plant species. On the other hand I felt a sense of despair – it is hard to imagine that within the foreseeable future the peat bog won’t be overrun with Scotch broom, just as the nearby creeks and woodlands are already. 

 

November the time for turmeric? It is the time turmeric emerges from a long dormancy, it skips most of spring, and waits for the real heat to arrive – it is a tropical plant after all. In fact, almost 1/2 way through November and I only have one turmeric plant sprouting, I’m expecting many to emerge in coming days.

Last Autumn I dug them all up – see photo below. Sliced and dried they are being used for their culinary and medicinal qualities, while numerous rhizomes were put back for this summer’s crop.

Meanwhile, I was fortunate to obtain some rhizomes of our native turmeric at one of our plant society meetings. Curcuma australasica is commonly known as the Cape York Lily, though it is no lily. The native species can be used in a similar way to the Asian species (Curcuma longa), the main difference being in the flowers, which appear when the plant first emerges from the soil, in my case in early November.

Curcuma australasica. Native turmeric aka Cape York Lily.

Note that the pink “flowers”are actually bracts, concealing the much smaller true flowers. This plant can be easily cultivated, and it is available through several Queensland nurseries. It dodges winter by dying back, therefore it can survive non-tropical conditions. More information can be found here:

https://www.witjutigrub.com.au/index.php/info-sheets/22-native-turmeric-cape-york-lily-curcuma-australasica

I’m a bit too busy for blogging at the moment, but I thought I would share today’s flower harvest from the orchard garden on Southern Cross Farm.

From top: Calendula, California poppy, red clover, chamomile.

These are dried for use in teas or tincturing. They look gorgeous in the garden, and retain their colour well when dried correctly.

Currently, I’m harvesting about this quantity about every second day. It looks like we are in for a hot dry spell as we move towards summer, having had some really good spring rains. Some of these flowers may be gone within a couple of weeks.

Happy gardening, and don’t overlook the flowers.

 

 

I am fortunate to have inherited a slightly run down orchard, with high fencing to keep out the kangaroos and other critters, and plenty of open space for gardens.

Sunflowers, sage, sweet peas, comfrey and chicory along the fence line.

The beds in these photos were formed last year from composted weeds dumped along the fence line. Wait a year and you have ready made garden beds, they work especially well for pumpkins and melons. A  little added compost or organic fertilizer help to get things moving.

The citrus trees were previously being choked with perennial grasses, notably kikuyu. It took plenty of manual labour to remove a strip of grass roots from around each tree and replace with mulch. I found the trees are now quite happy to accommodate having gardens around them as the picture below reveals. In this case echinacea, yarrow and lemon balm are growing profusely, while under the bird netting is a lush crop of red clover just beginning to flower.

The bird netting was installed to keep the wood ducks at bay, our local ducks just love to eat back the clover! If using this method ensure the trees and herbs are being provided with adequate nutrients and fertilizers. The red clover is a fertilizer in itself, it will be cut back for mulch and/or turned in as a green manure crop. I also grow buckwheat in a similar way,  and it doesn’t need protection from the ducks. It can be cut back for using as mulch, and if left to seed you can harvest them for the kitchen, or leave them to self germinate and produce another crop of mulch.

At this time of year the garden is supplying our kitchen with potatoes, carrots, zucchinis, cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus, hot chillis, beans (5 varieties), strawberries, greens and more. In November I harvested the garlic patch, and it looks like we could have a years supply!

We’re most concious of growing food for medicine, other examples are turmeric and ginger, we also have the native turmeric (Curcuma australasica) not to overlook the native ginger (Alpinia spp.)

 

Then there are the strictly medicinal herbs finding spaces around the citrus trees and fenceline beds, these include Calendula, ashwaganda and baikal scullcap – all currently flowering profusely.

Other summer garden crops we are waiting to mature are corn, okra, melons, pumpkin and eggplant. We started harvesting tomatillas, they make the best green salsa and so easy to grow.

The spring lettuce have self sown, lets wait to see whether they can make it in the anticipated January heat (40C+ forcast for the weekend).

As I mentioned I am able to grow a lot of my own mulch (including grass clippings), however some animal manure is also necessary for adding to the compost. The four resident cows were just moved on to greener pastures, fortunately I can harvest their droppings for a while yet.

For anyone reading this, I wish you a happy new year, and I hope you have plenty of good produce to enjoy and share this summer.