Download 6. January-March 2011

sixth issue : January - March 2011
quarterly newsletter of the Caboolture Seed Savers Club
Last-minute Reminders ...
Next meeting is Saturday 26th March 2011 at 10 am, the workshop
is a demonstration on RAW FOOD.
Next outing is Sunday 27th March 2011 starting at 10am venue is
private property at Redcliffe. $10 each includes lunch, informative
talk and practical pruning. Bookings essential!
Last meeting, Rob's talk on Moon Planting was well attended with
many questions for him to answer. The greenery in the foreground is
just part of the newly-introduced swap-buy-sell table which was well
patronised.
Seeds in Time – sixth issue : January - March 2011
Our Vision
Caboolture Seed Savers is a non-profit community group dedicated to all aspects of growing,
saving and storing seeds.
We endeavour though our meetings and workshops, by sharing everyone’s knowledge and skills,
to develop an increase in home food growing, retaining local varieties and helping to insure
food sustainability.
By collecting and sharing seeds and other plant materials we hope to preserve these locally
adapted varieties for the generations to follow.
Seeds in Time is published by the Caboolture Seed Savers quarterly in
electronic form only and is available to all subscribers to CSS. A complimentary
copy is available to anyone free for the asking.
Closing dates for regular issues in 2011 are:
15th February for the March edition
15th May for the June edition
15th August for the September edition
15th November for the December edition.
Management Team:
Michael - President/Secretary
Jessica - Co-ordinator
Elaine - newsletter editor
All enquiries to [email protected].
Items, letters, photos for the newsletter to [email protected].
Current updates for activities and notices are sent by email to subscribers and
are also available at http://brisbanelocalfood.ning.com/
Website: www.creec.org.au/ click on 'news' for a sample copy of the newsletter.
The views expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual authors and
may not necessarily represent the management and members of CSS. All text is
copyright and may be reproduced with permission and acknowledgement.
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Seeds in Time – sixth issue : January - March 2011
Dragon Fruit
Jessica writes ...
After many months of not knowing what to expect my yellow Dragon Fruit eventually
flowered and is now hopefully producing fruit. I started off with two flowers on the one
plant, however not long after it started forming fruit a nasty little critter thought it
would test out one of them and left a nasty hole in the fruit. So only one left.
It was by fluke that I was actually home on the night it flowered. Dragon Fruit, also know as Pitaya,
only flower for one night before they close up. From what I have read they need to be hand pollinated
- unless you have your own bat or moth to do the job, so there I go out into the darkness with torch in
one hand and paintbrush in the other for my first ever hand pollination. They don't make it easy by
flowering during the day.
So far it looks like it might have worked. So now a patient wait to see if it has worked.
Thank you Jessica for the notes and photos ...
now, did you pollinate the flower? I've read
about cross-pollination being needed which
could be a pest if you only have the one
variety (as I do). Keep us up to date! - E
Photos clockwise: Bud; bud opening;
flower open; whole plant; developing
fruit.
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Seeds in Time – sixth issue : January - March 2011
The lighter side of gardening ...
And that, my
friends is why
the chicken
crossed the
road! Now you
have the real
story!
"Gardening adds years to your life and life to
your years."
"Gardening requires lots of water - most of it
in the form of perspiration." - Lou Erickson
"You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the
dirt."
[thank you Michelle]
Bernadette came across the website below – some interesting stuff on it –
especially the recipes…
www.ecobotanica.com.au
Another hint: if you wish to buy reasonable priced books (and if you are a
book lover [worm] like me you might want to check out this option),
www.fishpond.com.au sells them for very reasonable prices and they do
charge no postage at the moment (sometimes even cheaper than eBay,
especially if you consider postage).
And your editor, co-ordinator and Michelle are keen participants in
Brisbane Local Food: http://brisbanelocalfood.ning.com/ we’d love to see
more CSS members subscribing to BLF. The Garden Visits can be a real
social and garden occasion with seed/cutting/plant swaps and plenty of
good conversation and food. A bit like CSS meetings!
A rather belated edition ... thank you to the contributers without
whom there would be no newsletter!
The swap-barter shop was a great idea and I hope that it
continues - I bought some seriously delicious veges and fruit
and for very affordable prices. Looking around there was quite
some activity with deals being made in a spirit of good humour.
Not sure where this url came from but it is very helpful if you
are growing or wanting to grow Pomegranate: Pomegranate
lore ...
http://sharemykitchen.com/how-to-choose-store-and-de-seedpomegranate/ incls excellent colour photos.
Elaine, editor
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Seeds in Time – sixth issue : January - March 2011
NOTES ON THE MACADAMIAS OF AUSTRALIA
by Ian R. Smith, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland; Pine Rivers
Catchment Assoc.
The Australian macadamia is one of the members of the Proteaceae family, which emerged
in the Gondwana connections during the Cretaceous -118.5 million years ago (Baker et al,
2007). The macadamias themselves emerged in the late Cretaceous in Australia and
Antarctica (Hill,1994).
Fossils of macadamia were found in rainforests throughout Australia, but with the gradual
reduction of rainforest, because of the climate changes since the Tertiary (especially between
40 000-15 00 mya during the ice age), it is now only found in the remnant rainforest sites in
northern NSW and South east Queensland.
The macadamias are now important for agriculture in the areas of Northern NSW and other
parts of Queensland. However, it was in Hawaii that the industry truly started. Tom and
Walter Petrie, have their names etched on a plaque at the Amcor Cartonboard Mill, Petrie,
Queensland commemorating the role they played in the commercialisation of the Australian
macadamia industry. Seeds from Walter Petrie’s orchard were exported to Hawaii creating
foundations for a flourishing market (Barter, pers comm.).
In the 1900’s a new industry began, when a group of American horticulturists received these
macadamia seeds to Hawaii and began growing and grafting selections of these nuts to
develop today's agricultural success story. The importance of these selected types restarted
the Australian macadamia industry.
The wild macadamia are of three types and is described on the following pages. Each page
will give a description and most information is from Stanley and Ross (1988).
Macadamia integrifolia. This species is commonly known as the "smooth-shell
macadamia." This is the most grown of the macadamia nuts. J. H. Maiden and E. Betche of
the Botanic Garden at Sydney described it botanically in 1897, although the species itself is
native to Queensland.
Distribution: Northern NSW to Mt Bauple (near Gympie). Listed as Vulnerable in Queensland.
Leaves: simple, mostly in whorls or opposite, narrow elliptic to very long and narrow; mostly
entire (in adult plants) with wavy margins; juvenile leaves coarsely toothed.
<<< M. integrifolia
planted at Deagon.
>>> M. integrifolia
fruit.
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Seeds in Time – sixth issue : January - March 2011
Macadamia ternifolia. This species is the one commonly
known as "Maroochy Nut" or "Gympie Nut." It was the first
Macadamia to be discovered botanically. It was discovered in
1857 by the botanists Ferdinand Von Mueller and Walter Hill.
Mueller established the name of the genus and described the
first species. The kernel is cyanogenetic (generating cyanide)
i.e.: bitter and poisonous.
Distribution: North from the Coomera River to Kin Kin. Listed
as Vulnerable in Queensland.
Leaves: Leaves simple, mostly in whorls of 3, oblong
lanceolate; coarsely toothed to 20cm long. Flushes of new
leaves pinkish red in colour.
Macadamia ternifolia. (Painting Ian Smith 2002)
Macadamia tetraphylla. This species is the one commonly
known as the "roughshell macadamia." The exact date of its
discovery is unknown. The earliest description is that by
Bentham in 1870; Distribution: Richmond River in NSW to
Numinbah and Coomera Rivers, Qld. Uncommon. Listed as
Vulnerable in Queensland.; Leaves: Simple, in whorls of 3-4;
margins sharply toothed with a prickly point at tip. Leaves are
oblong-lanceolate, 6-23 cm long.
Macadamia tetraphylla. (Painting Ian Smith 2002)
The closely related Hicksbeachia pinnatifolia — (Monkey
Nut, Bopple Nut, Red Bopple, Red Bopple Nut, Red Nut, Beef
Nut, Red Apple Nut, Red Boppel Nut) is very closely related,
but with this nut it can be eaten raw or cooked, but the flavour
of the raw nut is very bland. It is always better to roast them,
use them in the same manner as other nuts. They are also
vulnerable and are in small remnant sites in coastal areas of
north-east NSW from the Nambucca Valley north to below
Springbrook, south Queensland.
Hicksbeachia pinnatifolia (Painting Ian Smith 2002)
REFERENCES
Barker N.P., Weston P.H., Rutschmann F., Sauquet H. (2007) Molecular dating of the ‘Gondwanan’ plant family Proteaceae is only partially congruent with the timing of the
break-up of Gondwana. Journal of Biogeography 34, 2012–2027.
Barter L. (2006) Pine Rivers Shire Council. (pers.comm).
Field T.S., Zwieniecki M.A., Holbrook N. M. (2000)Winteraceae Evolution: An Ecophysiological Perspective. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 87, No. 3. pp.
323-334.
Hill R.S. (1994)History of the Australian vegetation: Cretaceous to recent. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge., 433 pp.
Stanley, T.D. & E.M.Ross (1988). Flora of south-eastern Queensland. Volume Two. Brisbane: Qld Dept of Primary Industries.
Storey W. B. (1963) Leaf Forms in Macadamia. CMS
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