Howdy Swappers, 
Three years ago we did a letterbox drop to our closest neighbours, we'd had an idea to turn a grassy nature strip outside our house into a community orchard, and we wanted them to be a part of it. We invited them to come one Saturday morning with " a shovel, a fruit tree, some manure or just a whole heap of enthusiasm", and come they did! That day our neighbourhood united and together we planted citrus, stone fruit, pomegranate and avocado. It has become our community orchard, where baskets of fruit are left every few days for whoever needs a lemon or a grapefruit, where Marg from around the corner occasionally potters with her secateurs and some mulch and where, in the not too distant future, our community will reap the rewards of a huge variety of communal fruit... so now is where you come in...is there a space in your local neighbourhood for a community orchard? a patch or a verge where you can foresee lemon, orange and fig trees? If so, let the Crop & Swap community know and we can help with your planting day. Our hope is that swappers will lend a hand, a shovel, a fruit tree or a bag of manure to a fellow swapper starting a community orchard. Our aim this season is to start 3 more community orchards/gardens in the Blue Mountains.

Imagine a Blue Mountains where community orchards in lane-ways are the norm. If you'd like to volunteer your services, let us know below or on facebook how you can help , 
with neighbourly cheer, 
the Crop & Swap team.

Protecting your fruit trees from pests

Apple Box # 4

Ben Silverstone

We've all had moments of jealousy when luscious fruit appears at Crop & Swap, and we wish we could bring the same but the pests get it first. Well Ben has given us some tips on how we can be 'that guy' or 'that girl' smugly rocking up. Just think of Mike and Sue with their luscious plums or Eduardo's flavour packed strawberries - well that could be you!

Ben's top 10 tips on how to build an exclusion to protect your fruit

1. Use exclusion just after fruit has formed
2. Reuse old polystyrene boxes from the fruit and veg shop
3. Cut large holes in box or poke holes in box for air and to allow light in and water to drain out
4. Use fly screen or better still use stockings and seal the large holes you have cut and seal the top opening of the box
5. Cut a line down one end of the box
6. Slightly open box along this line (do this carefully so as not the break the box) and slide branch into box. The polystyrene will close around the branch and hold (may have to pack some leaves in the slight opening along the line)
7. Close stocking over top of box and seal (use velcro, rivet nails etc). The exclusion will allow light and air in and keep out pests including fruit fly
8. Using old wire coat hangers and stockings also works well for some fruit trees
9. Many exclusions need to be adapted to the type of fruit tree
10. Ask me at next Crop & Swap if you have any questions!

I've found this approach to be fruitful ;-)

Apple Box 3 - composting with black soldier fly

Last swap, Joe talked about the benefits of using black soldier fly larvae to compost kitchen scraps, much in the same way that a worm farm operates.

Black soldierfly have a rather short and desperate adult life, with the sole purpose of finding a mate, a pile of rotting compost, and a good pick up line before dropping dead.

BSF larvae eat just about any kitchen scraps including meat and dairy, as well as the usual fruit and vegetable leftovers, and can be cultivated in much the same way as composting worms, to break down food waste. A BSF composting unit can be easily built from materials found at your local hardware, and once a colony has been established they can consume food waste much faster than worms. The larve themselves make a fantastic feed for chickens and even fish. BSF larvae are high in both protein and calcium, which is perfect for chooks. they are non invasive and do not enter houses or spread disease like other flies.

Our black soldierfly composter

Our Black Soldier fly composter

Here is how it works. Food scraps go inside and the female BSF are attracted by the scraps. They fly in through the pipe at the top and down into the bin where they lay their eggs (in the hundreds). They like to lay their eggs in crevasses, so some sheets of corrugated cardboard attached to the inside make great maternity wards. the eggs hatch and the larvae fall on the food scraps, and get to work munching it up.

to begin a colony, start with a small amount of vegetable scraps. As they begin to break down, the adult fly's will naturally be attracted and enter the composter to lay their eggs. this can take some weeks, so be patient. BSF are most active during spring and summer, which after the best times to begin a colony.

the larvae crawl up the pipes and into Jo's Tupperware container... thanks darling...sorry

 As the larvae mature they develop the instinct to climb to higher ground. The larvae find their way to the pipes and climb up them, then slide down into the separate storage container, where they are unwittingly trapped to be fed to the chooks.

Keep the composter in the shade, out of direct sunlight.

the larvae hard at work on one of our defiant choko's and watermelon rind

Make your own
there are a number of DIY designs on the net. we made ours using a clip lock tub, some PVC pipe parts, , some hessian and fly screen, a saw and a drill. The key is to angle the pipes at 35 degrees so that it is not too steep for them to climb.include some ventilation holes and cover with fly screen, and some drainage holes in the bottom, which you can cover with hessian. It takes less than half a leisurely hour to put together and cost us about $40 or you could buy one of the fancy ones online for about $200.

the main benefits are:
1. a very efficient method of waste disposal
2. meat and dairy waste can be added to established colonies, unlike regular composting methods, reducing your waste output.
3. the larvae make an excellent source of food for poultry and fish, and can be frozen for later use.
4. they don't spread disease like other flies, and rarely enter the home.
5. they emit a natural repellent to other flies once the colony has been established.

Downsides:
The smell can be an issue if you add more waste than they can consume. Sawdust or coffee can help here too.

Apple Box 2 - Irrigation

As we eagerly await tomorrows swap and Apple Box #3, let’s not forget one bright November morn, when all manner of crops and homemade treats had been swapped and free-flowing conversation filled the hall, that veteran Crop 'n' Swapper Alice Warner took her place on the proverbial apple box to share her knowledge and experiences on setting up your own backyard irrigation.

DIY Irrigation by Alice Warner

So what is irrigation? Well it’s like lego for your garden. You can connect it yourself and the possibilities are endless. It all fits together using small connectors of different shapes.

There are two main types of polypipe hose that I use: brown dripline with holes pre-punched into the line, and black polypipe without holes which I attach precision drippers to at intervals as I please. The brown dripline is best for vegie beds where you need water every 30cm, whilst the black line is useful for fruit trees and larger shrubs that are spaced further apart where you don’t want to waste water in between the trees.

The various connectors I use to join it all together can be placed according to the job they need to do.  There are elbow joiners, end pieces, straight connectors and tees. There are locks to hold the connectors in place, as well as plugs to plug up unwanted holes or mistakes and tools to punch holes in new places. You can buy pieces to connect your irrigation to a regular garden hose, and mounts with nails to attach irrigation to the sides of garden beds or other surfaces. The possibilities are endless. There are usually helpful booklets in the hardware store put out by the manufacturer to explain all this.

The main benefits of irrigation that I have noticed include: less time watering and more time in the garden doing other things; reduced evaporation while watering as droplets are not blown away by wind or spread all over the ground to areas where they are not needed; water is directed straight to plant roots; reduced weed growth in between plants as the area is not watered; reduced water run-off and wastage; reduced fungal disease due to lack of overhead watering.

Here are a few tips to help you set up your own irrigation system and learn from my mistakes

1) Place the brown dripline under mulch to protect it from UV rays but above the soil (sections of black polypipe without holes punched in may be buried under soil when transporting water between trees)

2) Draw a diagram before you begin and use a key to label how many of each connector type you will need, thus avoiding many trips back to the hardware store.

3) Buy more locks than you think you will need as every connection needs a lock.

4) Lay your brown dripline before you plant and then place seedlings or seeds right next to a dripper.

5) Use a container with multiple compartments to keep your various connectors organised.

6) You will also need pliers and a small saw to cut the dripline to the lengths you require.

7) Don’t use second-hand polypipe without checking for holes first (although this can be useful for creating a frame when netting fruit trees or garden beds).

8) Once your irrigation is connected, turn it on for at least an hour at a time to get the full benefit, or use a bucket under a dripper to see how long your plants will require.

9) Install your irrigation properly. Don’t just curl it around like a snake. Cut it to size and connect it at right angles using the appropriate connectors, you will thank yourself later.

10)You can connect irrigation in raised garden beds – you just need to go down to the ground, under the soil and up to the next bed.

11) Use short lengths of wire folded into U-shapes and pushed into the ground to secure the dripline and prevent it from curling back into a snake when you first lay it down.

Feel free to chat to me at the next Crop and Swap if you have any more questions or suggestions. Good luck!

November Crop & Swap This Saturday!

 

 

Well it is time to jar your jams, bake your breads, harvest your heirlooms and get on down to the Crop & Swap this Saturday. Don't forget to arrive by 10 to give yourself time to register, set-up and have a coffee before swapping starts promptly at 10:30. Looking forward to seeing you and your bounty there, with neighbourly cheer, jo, joe, annemaree and steve

APPLE BOX SERIES: Let Chickens Be Chickens - How to raise happy chooks

Eighty or so people were  excitedly swapping apple-plum jam  for their silverbeet, or a raspberry plant  for sourdough when the first ever Crop and Swap Apple Box commenced. Once everyone realised this they shuffled forward, their excitement switching to the Crop and Swap regular who had been given the floor to share her knowledge on keeping healthy, happy chickens.



The first of many apple box talks

"They're pretty amazing creatures," our speaker on 'the apple box' was explaining. "and you don't need to read all the books out there and become an expert before you keep them.

"Just let chickens be chickens! They're very good at that and will generally get on with the job without any interference from you."

(Left) Our speakers chickens coop, (Right) Four happy chooks in the run

While our Apple Box speaker would be the first to tell you that it can seem daunting to begin with, if you do the simple things right, both you and your clucky friends can reap the benefits.

"Keeping chickens comes with the same responsibilities as any animal. Give them a safe place to sleep and clean water to drink. Plus, chickens need a dark place to lay eggs and a patch of dirt for them to ‘bathe’ in, and they will be happy.

"Also, remember the four Gs: grain, greens, grubs, and grit. As long as they have these, their diet will keep them healthy too". (More tips below!)

It's easy to overlook the benefits of having chooks. The weekend after her Apple Box talk, our local chicken expert and her husband invited us around to see their set up in Bullaburra and understand how their chooks contribute to their backyard garden.

Their four chickens ­– Australorps, bred for Australian conditions – have ruled the roost for nearly two years. Cornelius, Polonius, Laertes and Eglamor eat food scraps, turn over compost bays, rid the vege gardens of bugs and provide a rich manure for improving the sandy soil.



(Left) The first coop (decommissioned), (right) free-range chook

For safety they spend nights and most of the working week in their pretty ingenious coop and chook-run, made from mostly reclaimed materials.

Their first coop was much smaller – while this didn't bother the chickens, it provided a few challenges to their owners. For instance, when the chooks were young they had to be lifted up to the warmth and darkness of the enclosed second level at the end of the day as they didn't know how to go up the ramp yet. This involved the chook owner crawling inside the coop, lying on their back and lifting up the chook only to find she had fallen asleep cradled in their hand in the dark! The addition of a small window helped somewhat but they knew a slightly bigger coop would be easier for all.

(Left) Room with a view, (right) wormwood planted next to coop - see the tips below

The current coop was lovingly handmade by a family member and has been purpose built. It has doors that raise up for easy cleaning, a little window so the chooks know when it is daylight and clever features such as a sliding door holder and a smaller chook door so the parrots don't fly in. The coop and chook run also have two layers of wire fencing dug under the ground to stop any predators getting in."The best way to figure out what will be right for you is to do exactly this – ask  friends and neighbours who already have chickens if they would mind showing you their set-up. Most of us are happy to answer questions and give a tour."

Chalet chook

All in all, this was the perfect start to the Apple Box series: inspiring, chock full of tips and listened to attentively by all. Thank you!

By Xavier and Clare (Faulconbridge crop and swappers)

Speaking of tips, here are them all kindly provided by our Apple Box speaker:

CHICKEN WORMING

Recipe

1. Simmer some wheat (organic available from Katoomba Food Co-op).  In water is fine, but skim milk is good if the girls need some calcium.

2. Add: crushed garlic, chopped red chillies, chopped parsley, and chopped onion tops (the green parts of salad onions or shallots, or the shoots from onions).

3. Mix it all together and serve.  I give it to them warm in winter.

Note: you can replace the wheat with cooked vegetables roughly mashed together.  We use potatoes, radish, turnip, parsnip, carrot, cauliflower, broccoli, beetroot – whatever comes to hand that is beyond human consumption but not yet ready for the compost bin.

Other worm preventatives

·         Nettles – boil and add the strained liquid to their mash.

·         A mixture of horseradish and mustard leaves, mixed with minced onions, garlic, grated carrot, and pumpkin seeds added to their feed at a rate of 20% (i.e. 20% mixture and 80% feed).

·         Put several cloves of garlic into a cupful of cold water and let it steep overnight.  Strain the next morning and add the liquid into their drinking water over the next week.  This can also be fed to them by eye-dropper, but that can be a hassle and they give you dirty looks for the rest of the day.

·         Check their poop!  Chickens poop a lot, which is good for the garden, though worth warning visitors about if they free-range (both the chooks and the visitors).  It also means that it’s easy to check a fresh one now and then for signs of wriggling (worms) and dose them up. 

·         Excessive poop stuck to their rear-end feather can be a sign of worms, but sometimes they just get mucky feathers.  If the bird seems healthy, it probably is, and a monthly worming should have taken care of any worms anyway.  If in doubt – refer to the previous paragraph!

GENERAL TONICS

·         Scrape the gel from an aloe vera leaf and mix into their drinking water.

·         Nasturtium leaves and seeds are antiseptic and a great tonic food

·         Comfrey has high levels of potassium and calcium, and is a good source of protein and amino acids. A daily feed will keep them in good health.

EGG PRODUCTION BOOST

·         Nettles and comfrey added to their feed

·         Crushed egg shells to increase calcium and strengthen the shells (a closed loop system!)

·         Add some paprika to their feed when they come back into lay after their winter moult

MITES

·         Grow tree wormwood around your chicken coop/run.  When you prune it, sprinkle the leaves amongst the straw in the coop, where they lay and sleep, and it deters mites and fleas.  The dried and crushed leaves can be sprinkled in the girls’ dust bowls as well.

·         Flowers and leaves of feverfew can be made into a tea and sprayed around the coop (for mites, lice, and fleas).

·         Other plants to grow around the coop are rosemary, lavender, and pennyroyal.  Also add the dried, crushed leaves to the dust bowl.

EGG-EATING CHICKENS

·         Fill an egg shell with mustard or horseradish, put the two halves back together and leave it in the coop.  When the hens peck the egg they won’t like the hot flavour and should then associate egg shapes with an unpleasant experience. This is the theory, and it works for many people.  I happen to have chickens with gourmet palates, so they ate the lot!

·         Another method is to put a fake egg (plastic or china) where they lay, and when they peck it they learn that it’s not edible (Thanks to Joe for this one).

 

Season 2 swap starts next weekend!

There is only one week to go before we start our second season at the CROP & SWAP.

Don't forget, registration begins at 10am, and swapping starts 10:30 sharp. For those of you who are new, bring anything home grown or home made. the more you bring the more you have to swap. get creative in the kitchen and bake some goodies, or pull up some carrots and beets from the veggie patch, or even have a go at making some craft goods. So long as its home grown, home made and good quality, you will have a great time swapping with other growers, bakers and makers in your local community.

See you on Saturday Otcober 13! what are you bringing to swap?