Introduction, and a small garden rave | Wombat News | New Books |
Schedule for the Next Few Months | What to Plant in April
. the glory of Grevilleas
. how to plant a bulb
. a sulky Venus Fly Trap
Jams and Jellies
Teaching kids to Think about their Stories - and getting kids hooked on writing

Bryan is digging, and so are the wombats. As a matter of fact I’m digging too.
Not that Bryan and I are digging a wombat hole. (Though sometimes- say in bushfire season- the idea of an underground house that’s fireproof and stays the same temperature all year round is appealing.)
Bryan is making a new rock garden. Every so often he gets carried away by rocks, or rather the rocks get carried away by him and a new garden bed emerges somewhere at the edge of the garden.
I’m not so much digging as moving dirt- pulling out ‘farmers friends’, so called because they stick to you, those big smelly weeds with cobblers pegs on the top that work their way into your clothes and start digging into you when you least expect it, like on the plane half way to Sydney and suddenly there’s one in your underwear.
We don’t do much weeding here, but with all the bare ground in the dry and last month’s rain suddenly what was the lower vegie garden is now the lower cobbler’s peg garden, or was till I pull them out.
Actually there are still a surprising lot of veg under the cobbler’s pegs, all growing happily now the soil is damp again. They’re the sorts of veg you just plant and pick, and throw a handful of mulch to every year or so- perennial leeks and perennial beans, perennial leeks, spring onions, Italian chicory, mizuna and mitsuba, burdock, kale, chokos, warrigal spinach and maybe a dozen others.
I thought it would be a bad autumn for fruit this year after so many months- well, years- of drought, plus the frosts last November. But it’s really only the apples and quinces that have failed. There aren’t nearly as many avocadoes, it’s true, but what there are good and large. The same with the oranges and other citrus.
It’s a weird season in many ways. Avocadoes flowering now, instead of late winter. Lots of shrubs like the smoke bush flowering now, too. I’m not sure if that’s a ‘we’ve gone through hell lets flower now while we can’ sort of response or a ‘wow, wet soil let’s bloom a second time’ sort off flowering. Will they all flower again in spring, too?
And we’re just as affected by the weather as the garden and the wombats. (Give wombats good damp dirt and they start digging). We’ve gone mildly overboard planting, mostly masses of different sages or salvias- they ignore droughts, wallabies don’t like them unless they’re starving (the wallabies, not the sages) the honeyeaters go into ecstasies at the flowers and so do I.
Most are blooming at the moment- great velvet flowers in various blues, reds, purples, pinks and a gorgeous dull terracotta. The blue (native) bees adore them too- sometimes the garden outside my study window is almost a haze of buzzing blue.
Sorry, seem to have gone on a garden rave. But I’d forgot what a joy lushness can be. And flowers. And great swelling pomegranates and medlars ... as I write this there’s a pot of lime, strawberry guava and lillypilly jelly bubbling in the kitchen. No idea what it’ll taste like but it smells divine and should be the most magic bright pink. Choko mustard pickles tomorrow, I think. Now back to what I intended to write about.

Wombat News
The wombats are digging. And eating. And fat. And leaving large soft green droppings because the grass is so lush. And are not taking any notice of humans at all- the green grass is much more fascinating.

New Books
PHARAOH:
THE BOY WHO CONQUERED THE NILE
Prince Narmer is fourteen and, as his father's favourite, destined to be King of Thinis, one of the towns along the River, the only world he knows.
But Narmer is betrayed by his brother, and mauled by a crocodile. Now lame and horribly scarred, he is less than perfect and no longer the Golden One. His brother Hawk will be King of Thinis. And rather than remain as Hawk's Vizier, Narmer decides to leave his home and take his chances with the mysterious Trader and the crippled Nitho, whose healing skills have saved his life.
Now Narmer must face the desert, and the People of the Sand as well as the challenges in Ur, the largest and most advanced town in the world of 5,000 years ago. Here Narmer learns of farming, irrigation, tamed donkeys and carts with wheels. Most of all, he learns what it means to be a true king and leader.
Pharaoh takes readers from an Egypt that was ancient when the pyramids were built, across the desert to the ancient land of Punt with its myrrh trees and women warriors, and the city state of Ur in what is now Iraq, but was then the biggest city in the ancient world. The book is set in a time when the world is drying up, grasslands turning to desert, and the nomad tribes (like the Biblical Abraham and his family) seeking refuge in the fertile river valleys.

Schedule for the Next Few Months
Tuesday 15 May, 2007, Allwrite Festival, Adelaide.
May 28 Sydney Writer’s Week Kid’s Big Night out: Parramatta
May 29 Sydney Writer’s Week Kid’s Big Night out: Wollongong
May 30 Sydney Writer’s Week Kid’s Big Night out: Sydney
May 31 Sydney Writer’s Week Kid’s Big Night out: Newcastle
... and another talk at the Festival; too, but not sure when yet.
2-4 July SLANZA Conference (School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa)
5 July Adelaide: International Library Association Dinner
August, 2007: Book Week talks in Sydney and Melbourne (just a few) Contact Lateral Learning for details (bookings@laterallearning.com.au).
13-16 September Albany Writer’s Festival, W.A.
17 September: talks and workshop at the Fremantle Children’s literature Centre, W.A.
4 November Open Garden Workshops at our place…rain hail or drought these will go ahead, even if I have to video conference them from a hospital bed with a broken leg!

April Garden
What to Plant in April
Food garden: Fruit trees, pots of herbs, artichoke suckers. Coriander rushes to seed in hot weather - try it now! Plant seedlings of broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, leeks, mustard, silverbeet, spinach, seeds of broad beans, onions. In frost-free areas you can also plant beans, capsicum, parsnips, carrots, beetroot, scorzonera, burdock and potatoes.
Flower garden: Ornamental shrubs and climbers, Spring bulbs; in cold areas plant seedlings and in frost free areas plant seeds or seedlings of alyssum, amaranthus, balsam, bellis perennis, calendula, California poppy, honesty, Iceland poppy, larkspur, pansy, primula, snapdragon, statice, sweet pea, viola, Virginia stock and wallflower. Frost-free areas only: nasturtium, petunia, ornamental chilli, salvia and sunflowers.

How to Plant Bulbs
Dig a hole twice as deep and wide as the bulb. Plant the bulb with the pointy bit upwards, the flat side down and with the claws pointing down for ranunculus.
Remember not to plant bulbs against hot concrete walls nor to leave pots of bulbs in full sun. Bulbs need cool soil or they’ll bloom and die before you can blink.

The Glory of Grevilleas
Winter is the perfect time to have a garden filled with flowers. You get their beauty to cheer you up on dull cold days; the birds get plenty of tucker …and the flowers themselves last much longer in cool weather than in the heat of summer.
It’s not easy to have annuals blooming through winter- you need to remember to plant them in early autumn so they’re ready to flower by the time the cold weather slows growth down. The best way to make sure you have masses of colour in your garden all through winter is to plant hardy shrubs...and then forget about them, till you see the flowers.
Which brings me to grevilleas. Lovely, ever blooming grevilleas. There are hundreds to choose from, so you’ll find some suited to exactly your climate. Many bloom all year round...and many others give a really spectacular display all through winter.
Grevilleas are fast growing but not terribly long lived. They also come in hundreds of different shapes, sizes, colours and needs.
How to buy a grevillea:
Head to the garden centre, look under ‘natives’…then don’t be put off by the spindly boring little plants in pots. No grevillea would ever win the ‘best baby’ shrub competition. They’re not even good looking teenagers. But as soon as they start to bush out and get to flowering size the ugly duckling turns into a definite swan.
Don’t be put off by shaggy grevilleas you might see in neglected gardens, either, or along freeways. Grevilleas are low maintenance, which is why they’re used in public plants. But they need to a bit of a trim now and then to look good- and few street plantings ever get the bit of care that would make them look really good.
How to grow grevilleas:
Once you have found the right spot for your particular grevillea, it’ll thrive with almost no attention.
LOOK AT THE LABEL TO SEE WHAT YOUR GREVILLEA NEEDS. Almost all of grevilleas need perfect drainage and full sun. But some tolerate quite a lot of shade. And the hotter your climate - the more shade they'll take.
Some grevilleas tolerate snow and frost so hard it curls your toes; others survive frost but don't do well and are prone to leaf problems; others demand heat, sun and more heat, and most tolerate acid soils. Again, look at the label!
If you don't have perfect drainage grevilleas can be grown in above ground beds - also good to reduce humidity - in tubs, drainage pipes (some varieties can sprawl down beautifully) or even hollow logs.
How to cosset:
If you want to keep your grevilleas happy, give them a mulch in spring and no artificial fertiliser. Your grevilleas may seem to love a few years of artificials or hen manure or Dynamic Lifter - but they are really too efficient in taking up nutrients and will soon break down. You’ll end up with very short lived shrubs.
Slow release pellets specially designed for natives are best, if you think your grevilleas need feeding. But you shouldn’t need to feed them every year: I just bung on a few handfuls for a couple of years when the plants are small, then let their roots do their own foraging.
Remember in sandy soils that mulch is NOT an optional extra - you won't be able to grow good grevilleas without it.
Grevilleas also do best if they are regularly watered - even though they are incredibly drought tolerant in most cases. But do make sure the leaves can dry out before evening in cool climates, or if the grevilleas are in partial shade, or they may get leaf spots.
Prune your grevilleas. They grow fast and so can become leggy - too much stalk and not enough flower - especially if they get partial shade from a tall tree. I don't mean serious hacking back - just a haircut every few months or at least once a year. If you think grevilleas are messy or have too much leaf and not enough flowers, you haven't seen a well tended one. Grevilleas can happily absorb as much care as roses and are just as generous when well treated.
Grevilleas also grow well in tubs, big pots (naturally choose smallish species) and even hanging baskets.
A few problems
Don’t panic at this list. In fact just ignore it, unless you are a born plant cossetter who wants to make sure their plants are perfect. Grevilleas do get a range of problems- but in most cases they just keep growing and flowering even with a few pests or leaf spots.
Like all shrubs, Grevilleas can get infestations of scale, caterpillars and borers. But if they are growing strongly and in the right place, they probably won't. Elderly pest prone ones are best replaced. NB Prune your grevilleas often to promote pest and disease free growth.
Gradual yellowing of grevilleas (iron chlorosis) can be due to alkaline soil - either naturally alkaline or because grevilleas are planted near a brick or concrete wall with lime leaching into the soil - or even in soil placed on top of builder's rubble. You can add sawdust and organic mulches to reduce the acidity - but in many cases it may just be better to grow something else. As a bandaid measure try two teaspoons iron chelate in ten litres of water four times a year.
If your grevilleas look brown round the edges, they may be cold stressed or shade stressed - but they may also be suffering from a phosphorus overdose. New growth will also be yellowish and may die back. Add phosphorus free compost and other low phosphorus mulches (not lucerne hay, which may be high in phosphorus), sawdust or wood chips or gum leaves are better.
In rare cases you may get yellowing of old leaves - a nitrogen deficiency - usually if you've put on a thick coat of wood chips, sawdust or leaves. This should only be temporary as the mulch absorbs available nitrogen as it starts to decompose. Add a little nitrogen fertiliser if you wish but I'd just wait till the problem corrects itself.
Leaf spot is common in some grevilleas in humid weather. Improve air circulation if you can - often difficult in jungley 'native' gardens. Spray with Bordeaux in cool weather or late in the evening; or wipe foliage with a sponge dipped in chamomile tea.
Can I Grow my own?
If you want to grow your own grevillea seedlings (these will often pop up by themselves and in some areas have turned feral and are a weed - especially G. rosmarinifolia and G. juniperina) place a paper bag over the green capsules - seed is quickly dropped when the capsules turn brown. Seed is often scarce and may not germinate well.
Grevilleas for the birds
Birds love grevilleas more than almost any other shrub. Even insect eating birds love grevilleas, as there are usually lots of insects feeding on the nectar too.
It's not always the most spectacular grevilleas that produce the most nectar, though. G. 'Forest Rambler' is quite undistinguished but literally drips nectar in spring - and the air above is quite dense with hoverflies and birds. I suppose when you're a grevillea you can either be showy or full of nectar - you don't really have to be both. Also the bigger the flowers (like the G. banksii hybrids such as G. 'Robyn Gordon') don’t suit some of the smaller birds.
Try to plant a range of cultivars with different sized flowers so that the smaller birds like the spinebills and New Holland honeyeaters are catered for as well as the bigger wattle birds and lorikeets.
Grevilleas in vases
Big branches of grevilleas look great in vases, though you may need to trim them a bit so they look neat indoors. But my favourite trick with grevilleas is to have a small posy of them in an old cream jar or other small vase on the table. Somehow little back yard posies have a charm that big florist type bunches can never achieve.

Venus Fly Traps
My son was given a Venus fly trap by a school friend. It’s supposed to catch flies but all it does is sit there! I think it’s dying too. Should we have tried to catch flies to feed it?
Answer: Venus flytraps lose most of their leaves in winter, so don’t panic. But they do need a hot sunny spot, either outdoors or on a bright windowsill, and lots of water. Sit the pot in a saucer of water in summer, or on a wet sponge.
Venus fly traps will catch their own flies, though your son can catch a few for his pet if he wants to! It’ll probably show a bit more carnivorous savagery when it’s older and bigger!

Jams and Jellies
Jam and chutney making used to be the way to use of fruit that couldn't be used fresh, as well as to fill the store cupboard- not just bruised or surplus fruit, like mangoes, pineapples, and pumpkins, but fruits like loquats, elderberries, gooseberries, currants that grow easily but are better for a little processing.
Nowadays jam is cheap and hardly anyone needs to preserve their garden surplus. But I have yet to find a supermarket jam that tastes of much, no matter how glorious the colour. And even most ‘home made’ jams in gift shops are suspiciously bland. (I suspect you shouldn’t believe the ‘home made’ label unless the seller made it with their own hands- or their mum, wife, husband or gran did.)
Jam making is tricky. Cook it to much and you have toffee or just a black saucepan. Cook it too little and it runs away from the spoon.
But finally- after decades of jam making- I think I have finally worked out a foolproof way of getting stunning jam and glorious jelly. (Jelly is jam without the bits in it). And by foolproof I mean proof against jam makers like me who sit down at the computer while the jam is bubbling and remember it only when the fire alarm goes off.
Step 1. Choose slightly green fruit when making jam. Never use mouldy fruit- it may well go off. Beware of fruit in very wet years too- reduce the mount of water if you think the fruit may be unusually squashy.
Step 2. Use big saucepans. Jam swells as you make it to 4 times its original size.
Other useful hints:
Some jams set well i.e. anything with apples or citrus in it. Other jams don’t have enough ‘pectin’ to jell well, especially in wet years. That’s why some recipes add lemon or lime juice or apples to fruit like strawberries, guava, pineapple etc that may not set without it.
If your jam has large berries or bits of peel in it, leave it for about twenty minutes before bottling. This will help stop the fruit rising to the surface.
Stand jars on wood or newspaper so they don't break.
Wipe dribbles of jam off before they set. Otherwise you may scrub for hours- or the ants my clean them before you do.
Seal jams with cellophane dipped in vinegar, placed wet side downwards over the jar and kept in place with a rubber band. This will contract as it dries and form an airtight seal.
Store jams in a cool dark cupboard- light destroys the colour and quality of jam and may start it fermenting.
Basic Jam
Use 1kg sugar for every 1 kg fruit
Place fruit in pot. Use as little water as you can to cook it till soft. Turn off heat.
Pour in sugar. Mix well.
Turn on heat.
Boil and stir till the bubbles go glop glop glop- usually 10-20 minutes. I know this sounds vague but you’ll know when it happens.
Turn heat off.
Leave till cool.
Check to see if it’s set well. If not, boil and stir for 5 minutes.
If it has heat again till liquid- gently- , turn off the heat then ladle into jars while hot.
You can also test a bit of the jam on a cool plate as it boils- if it sets it’s ready. But the other method is safer for a sometimes distracted cook like me.
WARNING: JAMS JELLIES AND PICKLES GET VERY HOT- much hotter than boiling water. Even a small splash can cause a bad burn. JAM MAKING CAN BE VERY DANGEROIUS AND IS NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN
Never leave jam or jelly unattended.

Berry and Plum Jam
2 kilos of berries- blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, loganberry etc
1 kilo plums
2 kilos sugar
water
Boil all ingredients till a little sets in cold water. Apples may be substituted for the plums. Either makes a very good jam.

Lime and Choko Marmalade
12 chokos
juice of 6 limes or four lemons if you can't get limes)
1.75 sugar
1 cup water
1 dessertspoon preserved ginger (this can be left out if you absolutely hate ginger)
grated rind of two limes or one lemon
Peel and chop the chokos; sprinkle with the lime juice and a cup of sugar. Leave overnight. Now place in a pan with the water, ginger and rind, simmer till the sugar dissolves, boil for an hour and a half. Add the rest of the sugar, stir till it dissolves, boil rapidly until a little sets in cold water. This takes about an hour to an hour and a half. Bottle and seal when cold.
This is a very old recipe- don't let the chokos put you off, or memories of chokos disguised as pears. This really isn't just a way of using up a choko glut- it's good.

Lime marmalade
10 limes
1.5 litres water
1.5 kilos sugar
Leave the sliced limes in water overnight; drain and cover with fresh water and leave for another 12 hours. Drain; add the water; boil till the rind is tender then add the sugar, stirring well till it dissolves. Boil till a little sets in cold water.

Passionfruit Jam
5 granny smith apples
1.5 litres water
pulp of 12 passionfruit
1.5 sugar
Boil the apples and water for about 2 hours. Keep a lid on and stir infrequently. Strain, add the liquid to the pan with the passionfruit pulp and sugar. Stir till the sugar dissolves, then simmer for about half an hour till a little sets in cold water bottle and seal while hot.

Persimmon and Ginger jam
persimmons
grated fresh ginger
lemons
sugar
For every 500grams of persimmon pulp add 350 grams sugar. Let it stand overnight; add the grated rind of a lemon for every 500 grams of pulp, and the juice with a dessertspoon of grated ginger. Boil till a little sets in cold water- about 45 minutes to an hour.

Red Currant and Cherry Jam
A luxury jam.
1 kilo cherries, unstoned
400 grams red currants
1 kilo sugar
Boil the sugar with a very little water for five minutes; add the fruit. Skim frequently- scum my help it to ferment later. When a little sets in cold water bottle and seal.
This is perhaps the world's best jam. The red currants help the jam to set quickly so little cooking time is needed, and the fruit flavour isn't spoiled.

Rhubarb and Rose Petal Jam
50grams rhubarb
the juice of three lemons
500grms sugar
3 handfuls deep red rose petals
small knob butter
Place the chopped rhubarb in a pottery bowl with the sugar, water and lemon juice. Leave overnight. Next add the chopped the petals, simmer very gently till the sugar has dissolved, then boil till a little sets in cold water. take off the heat and stir n the butter, bottle and seal. This is a wonderfully coloured deep ruby if red rhubarb is used.

Rosehip and Apple Jam
500 grams rose hips
three quarters of litre water
500 grms apples
500grms sugar
Simmer the hips for two hours. Strain through muslin overnight. Add the juice to the peeled sliced and cored apples and cook till the apples are pulp. Add the sugar, simmer till a little sets in cold water.

Strawberry Jam
Strawberry jam is hard to make well - it ferments easily, and the fruit soon goes mushy and loses its colour if cooked too much. It is most successful when the strawberries aren't over ripe. (It is a temptation to use squashy ones for jam. Don't.)
Make sure the scum is rigorously removed constantly; and the sugar is cooked before the fruit.
500grams strawberries
300 grams sugar
Sprinkle water on the sugar; boil for five minutes; add more water only if needed. Add the whole strawberries, take off the heat and leave for 10 minutes. The strawberries will absorb the syrup. Now cook the lot for ten minutes; skim off the scum constantly. Spoon out the strawberries, place in jars, boil the syrup till a little sets in cold water; pour over the berries and seal.

Tomato Cheese
This is lovely. Forget about tomatoes as a vegetable- remember they are a fruit too, and make wonderful jam.
1 kilo tomatoes
1 kilo sugar
grated rind of three lemons
12 peach leaves (optional)
Boil all except the sugar till soft and mushy; add the sugar. Boil till thick and a little sets in cold water- about half an hour. Bottle and seal.
This is lovely- like a very dark honey, quite unlike tomato. It's good on bread or crumpets; also good with cold eat or hot roasts.

Japonica or Quince Jelly
This is tart, amber and clear. It is traditionally eaten with cold meat; it is best perhaps on very fresh, hot bread.
Cut the fruit into quarters. Don't peel or core. Cook till soft. This may take several hours. Strain through a cloth into a bowl overnight. Now take a kilo of sugar for every kilo of juice, stir till the sugar is dissolved and then boil till a little sets in cold water. Bottle and seal.

Mint jelly
This can be made with round leaved, slightly woolly culinary mint; or spearmint; I prefer apple mint or ginger mint.
1 kilo granny smith apples
1.25 litres water
juice of three lemons
a bunch of mint
about 500grams sugar- more may be needed
Don't peel or core the apples. Boil them with the water and lemon juice till soft. Strain off the juice. Add 500grams of sugar for every 600mls liquid. Add the mint and sugar, stir till the sugar dissolves, boil till a little sets into a blob in cold water. Bottle and seal while hot.
The mint can be strained out after about ten minutes cooking, but I rather like left in, as long as it is finely chopped.

Orange Jelly
For people who love oranges but don't like bitter marmalade. This jelly is sweet and good.
a dozen oranges
a cup of apple juice
500 grams sugar
Juice the oranges; strain carefully to get out all bits of flesh. (it will make it bitter).Sprinkle the sugar with a few drops of apple juice; boil for five minutes. Add the other ingredients. Boil till a little sets in cold water or the boiling mixture c the spoon.
Strain again if you want very clear jelly, though this isn't necessary.
This jelly can be eaten like jam, or in small pots with cream.

Strawberry and Passionfruit Jelly
Add a cup of passionfruit pulp, 2 cups strawberries and a cup of sugar for every cup of fresh apple juice. Boil for an hour, or until a little sets in cold water. Bottle while hot and seal.
This is a wonderfully coloured, very gentle jelly; perhaps the best topping for pikelets there is.

Getting Kids Hooked on Writing Stories