3. Good Organic Gardening - May-June 2016 AvxHome.in

Emil Wenner | GARDENING FOLK
Emil feeds comfrey to his chickens
Caterpillar of Swallowtail Butterfly
Feeding the possums
He creates a comfrey tincture for aches and
pains: “I submerge comfrey leaves and roots
in alcohol and use it for sores, wounds and
bodily aches. When I experience back pain, I
rub in the tincture and find that the pain goes
away the next day.”
The birds & the bees
Emil also feeds comfrey leaves to his
chickens. He originally had 10 chooks
but now only three remain. He finds the
English purebred is the healthiest and most
productive. “She’s five years old and still
produces eggs, although we don’t expect eggs
from our chooks. I love my chickens; they have
a good life and we let them die a natural death.”
To ensure his chooks receive plenty of
calcium to form their eggs, Emil crushes
the eggshells and then feeds them back to
the chickens.
Emil finds the Brisbane climate makes it
difficult to grow certain varieties of crops in the
usually hot summer months. For example, his
favourite things to grow are cucumbers and
tomatoes but by November, the tomatoes are
prone to fruit-fly infestation so that’s when he
starts his cucumbers.
The gardener has also realised his pumpkins
don’t produce fruit. He speculates that there
aren’t enough bees and other pollinating
insects, so he’s very keen to set up a bee
habitat to invite them to his garden.
Future organic endeavours include
experimenting with different fruit varieties
while continuously striving to create an
ever more sustainable lifestyle for himself
and his family, as well as the various animals
he cares for.
Emil also has a worm farm and a compost bin,
so food scraps are shared between them, the
chooks and the female brush-tail possum and her
offspring, which sleep in a nesting box he built high
up in the mango tree.
Soursop is being
studied for its amazing
health benefits
Emil’s top tips
Break up clay soil with dolomite,
compost and worm castings to attract
earthworms.
Use your weeds as mulch (making sure
the seeds are absent).
Research the medicinal and nutritional
properties of the plants you grow.
Recycle all your food scraps back
to the soil through worm farming
and composting.
Use greywater to water your trees
and garden, making sure to use only
eco-friendly, biodegradable soaps
and detergents.
Good Organic Gardening | 29