South Australia - 29th April 2002

• I was reminded recently that with mushroom season is here and that you must cut mushrooms to harvest them and not pull them up. Pulling them is akin to harvesting flowers by pulling the shrub up. If the mycelia or root system is removed you have effectively stopped the mushrooms from coming again in that patch, so use a knife to collect your mushies.
• A reader is curious as to why she cannot purchase Russell Lupin seed this year. In fact you haven’t been able to for at least the past three years, because AQIS have listed it as a restricted import that means you have to pay about $800 to import even one packet, since it must go into a certified quarantine station and be grown on for a year before the approved clean seed is released to the importer. Only a large seed importer would bother and sales of Russell Lupins are obviously too small to warrant the cost.
• Crickets also trouble the same reader and while they provide some amusement to her cats in the game of chase, she is looking to control their nightly chirping. Well they like eating grain and so get 100 grams of roughly ground wheat, barley or corn kernels and shake it up with 5 ml of 25% malathion in a sealed jar, leave overnight to absorb, then sprinkle it around their hiding places. The cats won’t be interested and the crickets will succumb.
• Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA-SA) are looking for participants for their “Green Reserve” over 40’s team of tree planters who are receiving the New Start Allowance and prepared to contribute 2 days a week for a 6 month block at local sites, planting trees, pruning and culling weeds in Conservation Reserves and roadsides. Enquires to 8212 0777.
• For the younger troupe, Conservation Volunteers (CVA-SA) are seeking volunteer tree planters to plant the Southern Freeway all winter. They provide a shuttle bus to take folk there and back and there are no daily costs involved. Very popular with backpackers and long-term tourists, enquires to 8212 0777.
• It’s garlic-planting time from now and for the next two months. If you think you don’t have room, they thrive and so will your roses when planted side-by-side. The volatile fragrance from the garlic keeps soft-bodied creatures like aphids and thrips away and the grey leaves compliment the roses.
• A Smithfield Plains reader is curious as to why she cannot purchase Russell Lupin seed this year. In fact you haven’t been able to for at least the past three years, because AQIS have listed it as a restricted import that means you have to pay about $800 to import even one packet, since it must go into a certified quarantine station and be grown on for a year before the approved clean seed is released to the importer. Only a large seed importer would bother and sales of Russell Lupins are obviously too small to warrant the cost.
• I noticed this week that some of Annie’s roses and the Chrysanthemums have heavy infestations of black aphids that even hungry predators cannot control. I washed some off with a jet of water and some have returned, but so late in their season I’m encouraged not to spray, since the small insect eating birds really rely on the aphids going into winter, so spare them a thought too.
• I visited the International Melbourne Flower and Garden Show recently and was staggered at how impersonal their event was. The internet appears to be having more effect on gardeners that I imagined, at least in Melbourne. The only trade displays were those with an internet presence and the majority of exhibits were from Florists and Landscape designers and not nurseries or even seed merchants. Even at the Mount Gambier Field days last week, several nurseries pulled out to concentrate on their site business, rather than attend a garden show and deal with real people.
• I can’t help wondering what plans AQIS has to stem the flow of off-shore seed into Australia via internet sites that are not interested in Australia’s quarantine laws and when the collection of GST will be enforced at the Post Office point of entry? 
• It’s time to be searching out suppliers of those dwarf Asiatic Liliums for a Christmas display. Few bulbs are as reliable and the modern cultivars are sensational, with brilliant red, yellow and of course traditional white flowers that provide a lavish touch in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
• The oak trees or all sorts are shedding their acorns on the roadsides in the hills at present, but if you want to grow some from those acorns, they need to be fresh, as the ‘nut’ only remains viable for a short time. Sow onto a very organic media and leave it outside in your coldest aspect. They chit or make a root quickly, but wait until spring to make a stem.
• Crickets and earwigs are particularly active at this time of year especially is you mulch your garden heavily or leave a lot of leaf litter lying about. That provides them with ideal cover and a protected breeding ground. One easy form of control is to rake up the leaves and compost and mulch both over winter. The soil will warm more quickly without the mulch and leaves and you’ll have good aged compost to put back on your garden beds in spring.