Its getting hot here really fast, we have had afternoon storms and its looking like a very warm Summer ahead should be good for growing maize and sweet potato which is exactly what I am looking at doing. The Bananas have produced monster bunches and I think its actually a plantain allegedly a sweet plantain?
My ducks are growing well and I thinking I might get my first eggs in a month or so fingers crossed. The drakes wings have sorted from the taping which is great.
I have pulled the radish and harvested about 5 or six kg of each variety I grew, the black Spanish are extremely spicy the watermelon radish are sweet and great in salads.
My Spanish onions are starting to bulb nicely ready for harvest in a month I would think
The elephant garlic is doing well and I hope for some big bulbs by December.
Today I turned the beds back over gave a good hit of dynamic lifter and organic phosphorus pellets and planted out some maize.
I have found a great organic coarse layers grain mix to feed to my Muscovy ducks. Brendale produce on the north side of Brisbane stocks this and a few other similar products. Price wise its about $8 more then standard layers mix. In combination with greens fodder from my yard and azolla (water fern). I am confident I can supply my birds with a steady organic food supply. These birds are meat birds so this is very important to me.
One step closer to organic duck meat, next project is to build a more suitable run for my adult ducks and to reconfigure an area for the birds we will be processing.
My adventures as a duck farmer are well underway. My Muscovy ducks are now 12 weeks and growing very well, I'm almost certain I have 3 ducks and a drake which is an ideal mix for my families needs. We had a little issue with our drake Francis, he developed a condition called droopy wing however with the help of some gaff tape we have helped him overcome this. Droopy wing is a condition that occurs in Muscovy ducks and geese, when the duckling often the drake grows too fast and struggles to hold his wings in place, letting them hang down. By taping them in position you can let him get strong enough to sort it out and caught early enough they usually do.
Even though these birds are pets I cannot get lost in the fact that they are here for meat production. I think though and where a lot of people struggle with this concept is that if you are going to eat something you really do want it to have the best possible life that it can. A happy healthy animal is a tasty one. From egg to the table poultry need a high quality of life after all you are what you eat.
Ducks are amazing creatures and a lot of people do not understand their dietary requirements. Even most animal produce stores will tell you all you need is generic poultry mix. To a point this is true if your duck has the opportunity to free range at will, however most suburban enthusiasts have limited space and need to restrict poultry otherwise they tend to run amok. Ducks also need large amounts of water to keep clean and to help digest food. I have been researching various options for food production and am in the process of implementing a couple ideas in the hopes of being able to produce my own true organic duck meat. I will be sprouting wheat and barley grass as a green fodder crop, I experimented on a small scale a few weeks ago and the ducks really took to the green tops not such a big fan of the seeds and roots but green fodder is what I am looking for.
After doing a little more research I have come across a really amazing green fodder crop ideal for ducks and used in organic loop systems all around the world. Azolla or water fern is an Australian water plant very similar to duck weed. I have lotus growing in barrels in my backyard I so already have a significant culture of Azolla pinnata well established (I think this is the species). Azolla is an attractive extremely fast growing surface plant that has nitrogen fixing properties and often used to help improve water quality in water treatment plants. Azolla as duck fodder
Although it can become an almost pest in water ways it is a highly nutritious green fodder and also ideal as a green manure for fertilising garden beds. It is used in organic rice and duck farms where ducks are incorporated with azolla to maintain pest control and provide natural fertiliser for rice crops. Organic duck and rice farming with Azolla Azolla is capable of creating a thick blanket on the water surface stopping mosquitos from breeding and limiting blue green algae out breaks.
In a large container it is an ideal food source for back yard ducks, I top the vessels up with the water from the duck pen and this duck poo water is an ideal fertiliser for the Azolla so utilising the "old" water very well also. Azolla is used to purify stagnant bodies of water and so again another mutually beneficial outcome for a small holder. Now all I have to do is source some organic poultry grain mix which ducks eat very little of if greens are provided daily and I will be able to produce organic meat at a sustainable cost environmentally and financially.
Its September already the year is running away from us. Many projects are started some are coming together some are still getting off the ground. I have cleaned up a few beds and planted out some of warmer month crops. Sweet potato is in the ground which is great. I have a heap of radish down however the beds where very nitrogen hot so I have had excess leaf and small roots so far.
This however is turning out to be a blessing in disguise as the Muscovy ducks have been ravenously eating the green tops so great secondary use there. Talking ducks, they are doing great we have had some good luck with the sex of the birds having 3 girls and a boy. Unfortunately the boy has a moderate case of angel wing which is caused from high protein diet and genetic susceptibility. The wing grows too fast and is too heavy for the bird to hold up properly. So unfortunately he is carrying his wing lower then he should, from what I have read it causes no pain to the animal just makes him look a little silly.
The Bananas are almost ready to harvest and there is another bunch setting so will have too many bananas very shortly.
The Elephant garlic is growing nicely and getting nice and thick stems I am mostly using this season to get some good sized seed stock so I can plant enough to sell a few.
Onions are growing nicely and so are the leaks. I really love this time of year, the place just comes alive and there is plenty to do in the garden.
Two weeks ago we bought four Muscovy ducklings from the produce store. Muscovy are a great beginner duck, being very hardy, they are also excellent utility birds for those who are happy to kill there own. Muscovy meat is more like goose and often compared to good quality veal, much leaner then tradition duck meat. Muscovy's are unique in that they are the only domesticated duck not related to the Mallard. South American natives they do not quack and are extremely quiet if you are used to what "normal" ducks sound like. They are large birds with a lot of character and become very used to human company.
Its been a few years since we had poultry. Previously we kept chooks for eggs and Japanese quail for meat and eggs, but rodents put us off and in the end we got rid of everything feathered.
6 week old Muscovy ducks
So why ducks, how will the story end any different? Ducks don't really rely on grain as chickens and quail, particularly Muscovy's which seem more aligned with geese then standard ducks. I have to date fed them mostly greens from my work (I am a chef), and clover and kale from my garden, just keeping a small container of pellet and grain to fill in the gaps.
The thing is they are ravenous eaters and if I want to keep this diverse green diet up I will have to get organised. While researching I came across the green fodder concept where farmers are sprouting wheat and barley in trays and growing up "biscuits" of fresh shoots to feed cattle and sheep. I'm going to give it a go.
Obviously on a much simplified system but I will be trying barley, wheat oats and lupin. Very easy and a great way to produce high protein green fodder perfect for ducks, this should remove the need for me to purchase pellet food and ensure that my birds are eating organically principled pesticide free feed, important if I end up eating their eggs or them for that matter.
Well a few months ago we built some no dig beds made from lucurn and horse stable waste with a little mushroom compost added. I have put radish and red onions in the beds first up. Radish are an excellent first bed crop as they help break up the new soil. We planted the onions as I had them left over from the farm and needed to get them in the ground. So far everything is growing really well and I look forward to cropping some black Spanish radish and Chinese meat radish in a few weeks. The onions will take a little longer but are starting to get a good size. As you can see the radish are coming along really well, his is the Black Spanish radish a fairly spicy long keeping radish good as a horse radish substitute and also often cooked like turnips.
Well its been a while since I have updated the blog, busy with work and the community farm and family and everything else that comes with modern life.
The gardens are growing well and I have planted out some elephant garlic and a few seedlings for Spring already. The winter corn has tassels and produced some seed for next seasons plant out. The 3 metre bed challenge has yielded me an incredible amount of kale so much so my kids are asking when I will be planting something new in the bed lol. The red clover green cover crop is doing very well as is my now feral patch of stinging nettle (I am now very regretful of my decision to put this in the ground lol.
The lucurne beds that I built have been planted out with red onion and some interesting radish varieties and everything is growing very well. I bought ducks.. not just any ducks Muscovy ducks, awesome creatures they have been eating all my garden waste and I have planted a forage garden for them consisting of various lettuce, kale and herbs and other greens.
I really like Muscovy's as they do not quack at all, are excellent egg producers and great meat birds. Their meat is much leaner then duck as they are more like geese then the standard mallard variety's.
Well our winter is often like some places summer so we have not got much to complain about when it comes to weather, unless you actually want to grow cool weather crops.. The 3 metre bed challenge is going great guns, so much kale and kohlrabi I'm going to have to start giving it away.
Nasturtium patch comes up every year and reseeds itself. All edible and delicious.
Red clover cover crops that I have planted in the back beds where I will be growing my maize for cornmeal really doing well with these cooler nights, I am looking forward to seeing them flower and watching my native bees take advantage of situation.
Sub tropical Brisbane, there's worse places to be in the middle of Winter. Winter solstice on the weekend so looking forward to the days to start getting longer.
So have been a bit slack keeping updates sorry people. The 3 metre bed of various kale cultivars is pumping, supplying my family all they can eat plus we are giving quite a lot away to friends. Were eating some in a morning juice, using small leaves as salad leaves, and some as wilted greens with garlic ginger and soy being the most popular way to cook out.
The kids eat it, my wife and I love it and the neighbours keep trying to buy it off me. If in doubt over the winter months get some kale in. From our bed we have had no issue with bitterness or woody stems, its been very positive experience. I have also pulled some eggplant and planted out a selection of garlic and leeks.
Not holding my breath with the garlic however will see if I can get some bulbs, I have grown leeks before and I am looking forward to these. This time I grew the leek from seeds a musselbough hardy Scottish variety. They are really slow from seed so stay patient.
This is one of my favourite times of year to grow, a lot of the temperate plants that won't make it in our humid summer really love it here in Brisbane right now. But all of the tropical plants are still doing great in this long hot spell.
Bee keeper-
the words generally conjure up images of people in white suits with mesh vales
and a smoker in hand fending off swarms of agitated bees. Well organised and disciplined
soldiers desperately defending their fortress. Beekeeper seem somehow foreign and
a little bit crazier than the rest of us. I would love to keep real bees, but I
remember running through clover and being stung as a child, I just can’t see
how you can get used to that. Most of us know of European bees and the honey we
can buy in the super markets, however Australia has an abundance of native
bees, some of which are social and can also be kept in small hives. Our
Australian native bees are much smaller and produce far less honey (however
very good honey), then their European counterparts but what sets them apart and
makes them so enticing to many of us is the simple fact that they are
stingless. They still get cranky, they will defend their home when you want to
steal their treasured honey, those of us who live on standard sized house
blocks or who have inquisitive small children our native stingless bees might
be right for your garden. Native Australian bees are such hard working little
insects about the size of a green ant you will find them working many native
flowering plants over the warmer months, they are particularly fond of small
white flowers and have even been trialled as a crop pollinator for commercial
macadamia, lychee and mango farms. I have found in my yard they seem to really
love the palm flowers. Fewer European bees from many factors in our environment
but two major factors are people spraying clover in suburbia and large chunks bush
land being removed for housing and development. A native stingless beehive in the vege patch is
great for helping in fruit set and pollination and in time will give you a
sweet little treat.
The 3 metre challenge bed is starting to look great the kale has done very well and I am now starting to take a few leaves here and there for salads. The turnips I planted are growing but unfortunately I put them in a very nitrogen rich bed and they seem to be producing more leaf then tuber currently, but you like and you learn. I have built a couple more lucerne beds and they will be ready for planting for Spring. I put a layer or horse manure in the middle and top them off with mushroom compost and another layer of Lucerne. I have a few projects for Spring so getting my beds built and in order is priority for me over the next couple months. In the mean time I will be cooking some interesting dishes with Kale and doing some pickling with turnips and radish.
The 3 metre challenge bed so much kale the kids are not happy.
Turnips more greens then root = too much nitrogen.
I have been bitten by the corn bug, after growing an interesting landrace purple flour / hominy corn out over summer. This coming Spring I intend to put a lot of energy into producing enough of maize morado to produce my own flour.. We will see how I go. Here's a picture of my first harvested cob and a link to a facebook page I have created to encourage people to grow this very cool and delicious heirloom landrace. Anyone interested in growing out this corn please don't hesitate to get in contact with me. Maize morado co-operative Brisbane.
Wellits finally starting to feel a lot like Autumn. The three metre challenge bed is hammering along with the red kale leading the charge, I will start harvesting bits and pieces this week.
In other beds the early purple turnips have gone gangbuster and we will hopefully start harvesting these in a couple weeks. Eggplant have proven to be very heavy producers this year, along with various kale planted earlier in the year the the three metre challenge plants. I am trying my hand at garlic for the first time this Autumn, not something I have attempted before as Brisbane's climate is not traditionally ideal for the cool weather crop. I have some plants up and we will see how they go.
