JCR's Garden - a living experiment

Johns garden  is a diverse and interesting collection of food plants and ornamental plants. John has been trying different plants here for a long time and is still trying different species to see how they fair.

There were 2 different areas in the garden. One area had full sun and this is where most of the vegetables were growing in pots or bags. A shadier area on the other side of the house was used for sun sensitive ornamental plants, some vegetables such as lettuce and mint and a whole range of seedlings which John was propagating. John mentioned that Coconut and Frangipanni roots made it impossible to grow food plants effectively and his food plants were well away from any large trees.

Pepper vine (culinary pepper)

 There were several species that John was trying that I did not see anywhere else. The Pepper vine was in a pot in full sun and was full of fruit. I think John said it was less than 12 months old. Considering it’s age it was doing very well. John had not been able to grow it from cuttings even though he had tried a few so he is waiting to propagate it from seed.

Horseradish tree

The Horseradish or drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera) is a small leguminous tree or shrub which produce edible flowers, leaves and fruit and roots. John had this species growing in the ground and it was quite happy with the situation, having set a number or large fruits or pods.

Pigeon pea

Pigeon peas were also growing well in the ground and were flowering and seeding. John had tried chick peas which  were not successful. The pigeon peas have the potential to be good fodder for goats and will produced seed that poultry can eat.

 John found that Turmeric was successful at times but seemed to suffer from pests. He was wondering if he needed to keep it out of the rain.

Other veges and herbs that John was successfully growing include Dill, Parsley, Garlic chives,Basil, Coriander( good harvestable amounts), Mint (Korean), Lettuce (Either oakleaf or everlast), Capsicums, French beans, Zucchini in pot (need hand pollination) and all Chinese greens did well.

Lettuce (looks like a variety called "everlast")

When planting seeds of annuals John recommends putting lots into each pot to take into account that quite a few of them might get eaten by pests during the germination process.

John also talked about successfully  growing both Jerusalem and globe artichokes in the past and Asparagus.

Annual plants in pots

John was growing most of his annual plants in pots or large bags which were either placed in trays to improve the amount of water that was soaked up by the plants. John has some soil mixtures that included gravel which he believed was a deterrent to Beetle larvae and cut worms. (John said that there were three types of cut worms) He also advocated soaking pots to kill pests but then the plant recovers and outgrows the pest attack. Putting iron sulphate or other salts in the soaking water was he believed even more effective at killing the pests in these pots.

On the fruit tree Front John had a pretty amazing bisexual Paw paw. Not all of these did well but there is at least one stunning specimen covered in fruit.

John also had a Lime tree which he has stressed to bring it into early fruiting. This involved greasing the trunk which leads to some sort of stunting of the tree. The results on the trunk look a bit ghastly but it was getting the desired result with fruit on the tree.  There were a couple of Pomellos sitting in pots waiting to be planted, According to Scott Brain the Pomello and Ruby grapefruit should do well on Cocos.

Carob

The Carob tree in a pot was a bit of a surprise to see in the tropics, but there are generally pretty tough trees so they might have half a chance at being successful. They are a legume so have the ability to fix nitrogen into the soil which is a good strategy for a plant on a sand island.

For control of grasshoppers John said Guinea fowl were the most effective control he had seen seen as they worked in a bit of a team to catch the hoppers. I’m not sure how friendly they are to vege gardens though – at least they wouldn’t scratch. They were on the island at one stage but died out because they make very poor mothers and lose their chicks.

On the subject of grasshopper control, there is an organic product called greenguard which provides control through a fungus which parasitises the grasshoppers. It takes about a week to work and is sprayed onto vegetation where grasshoppers hang out. It is however washed off by rain but perhaps spraying it on the underside of leaves of some plants will keep it around for longer. It is available from Elders stores.