When Coffs coast farmers Kellie Potts and Nigel McIvor decided to pull out original variety blueberries that had gone past their time in the sun, they did so with the realisation that the next crop would have to grow in above-ground containers.
The method is the common practice of avoiding phytophthora, or root rot. In this case, the change also offered the option of diversifying production.
In a year when harvest labour is dictating what they will and won't pick, Ms Potts and Mr McIvor are excited to "diversify in the face of adversity" and are using a team of full time labour that M Potts amassed herself, on social media, in the wake of disastrous experiences with contractors supplying labour.
The biggest cost in the change-over was initially buying pots and substrate. In this case coco peat was supplemented with gypsum to maintain a pH of 6.6-6.8 and laced with diatomaceous earth for its silica, soft rock phosphate. A trial using sawdust as a growing medium failed, with the material failing to wet evenly. New plantings go into substrate that is pre-saturated to reduce stress on young plants.
A balanced nutrient diet through fertigation supplied to the other varieties of blueberries on the property is also used on the vegetables, albeit in diluted form when seedlings are young.
Vegetable rows don't get watered with full strength while everything gets a drink of dilution, including weekly waterings of ammonium nitrate and calcium nitrate to deliver N in two forms. Included in the mix are humates - which buffer plants against salts found in fertiliser and the recycled Coffs Harbour City water used on farm.
Russian variety garlic was the first crop, grown over winter as a trial. Set up cost for that seed alone came to $15,000 but next autumn's plant will use home-grown cloves to sprout the next generation.
Vegetable seed sourced and delivered to an automated facility in Sydney proved much more affordable with 12,000 seedlings propagated - each one placed under a small flake of silica to maintain humidity - and delivered for $1200. Some seed is cheap - basil comes in at a penny; others are dear, like $1 a pop for yellow capsicum.
The variety of produce can be almost endless, but Ms Potts - who will market produce under the label Kellie's "potts" of produce - selected for market relevance including capsicums - red, yellow and a long variety known as Toro; chives, shallots and garlic, basil; red, white and yellow beetroot; eggplant and tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers; ginger and tumeric. In the way that social media helped deliver keen workers, so to will the online world hopefully help to create a market for fresh produce.
The rise of coco peat
Coco peat pioneer Patrick Paternott, Magic Soils Australia at Donvale Vic, says the rising cost of the pot plant growing medium is the result of steeply increasing transport fees, not because of supply issues.
Mr Paternott was inspired by the use of coir fibre pith, sourced from the husk of the coconut, in his native Sri Lanka, where village gardens make use of the soil substitute. The mountains of pith may have dwindled as a result of the rise of potted horticulture in everything from blue and blackberries to medicinal cannabis. However the supply is still substantial with his company now working with Indonesian suppliers, as well as Indian and Sri Lankan. Coco peat is regarded as a better growing medium than mined peat from Canada or Russia because its hosts fewer pathogens and can be considered a sustainable resource, not a nearly- fossilised one. The fibre is washed to remove chloride salts absorbed by sea air and combed into twine before export.
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