Coping with High Humidity and Cane Toads

Plants respond to the abundant moisture, as well as the increased nitrogen in the soil that follows our summer storms. During this time, Brisbane is lush, luxuriant and fecund. Growth is fast and furious. My garden is fruitful and my production is cornucopian. Did I mention the weeds?

From November, comfortable gardening is generally undertaken in the morning and late afternoon hours. I tend to harvest crops first thing, while it is cool and they are plump, crisp and perky. By mid-morning, many vegetables will be wilting in the hot sun.

The summer growing season is our longest, extending from October until March (and in recent years April). I try to get my larger vegetables in early to maximise harvest. Some of my favourite summer crops are snake beans, rosella, winged beans, okra, pumpkins, basella, luffa, Malay goose lettuce, eggplants, capsicums and Ethiopian cabbage.

Planting during the rest of this season tends to focus on ‘intercropping’, with fast-growing annual vegetables (dwarf snake beans, radish, rocket, toothache plant, amaranth, bok choy and mustard greens).
Each season, I have fun locating new cultivars of familiar vegetables, learning how they perform, and saving seed from the most robust, flavourful and productive plants.

I find annual vegetables are amazingly malleable and seeds saved over a couple of generations are much more successful in my garden. I encourage everyone to save their own seed whenever possible. I often turn off my automatic drip-irrigation system this time of year, but I have to be diligent, as a few warm, dry, sunny days can result in plant stress and vegetable casualties. The focus is definitely on harvesting, feeding and mulching – and weeding.

Cane toads instead of snail pellets

There are generally less pest problems this time of year. My biggest pests – wallabies, bandicoots, scrub turkeys and occasionally deer – have headed back into the bush, and they won’t be back again until food becomes scarce (in a dry spring)

Fencing my vegetable garden four years ago has certainly made a big difference, although it did have one unlikely consequence: an outbreak of slugs and snails – something I had never come across in all my years gardening in Brisbane. While it took me a while to work out what had happened, it was promptly addressed. Cane toads had been fenced out!
While much maligned, three cane toads relocated to the vegetable garden wiped out the slugs and snails within a week and they have been hard at work ever since.

Cane toad numbers have declined drastically in my area over the last two decades, as local wildlife have learnt how to remove the toxic toad skin and enjoy the juicy flesh beneath.*

I garden organically and biologically for better growth and nutrition.
Soil health and plant nutrition has been a fascination of mine over the last decade. I’ve attended many seminars and workshops and tried applying those principles to the vegetable garden.
I’m keen to grow robust, healthy crops and avoid growth setbacks. I also want to ensure that the vegetables I grow are highly mineralised (I’m a great fan of ground rock minerals/rock dusts), so in turn I receive the essential mineral and vitamin benefits.

A noticeable outcome of this regime has been the almost complete absence of pest or disease issues, particularly chewing insects. I put this down to increased plant vigour, which appears to reduce pest and disease attraction.
I also consider stronger leaf cuticle to be a critical issue, a result of adequate levels of calcium.

Calcium is readily leached from subtropical soils, and I apply a dusting of garden lime to garden beds once stripped of previous crops and before preparation for future cropping. My soil tends to be acidic.

In neutral or alkaline soils, applications of gypsum would be preferable. To learn if your soil is acidic or alkaline, have your pH tested or test it yourself. As well as being vigorous, my mineralised vegetables also taste much sweeter and tastier.
Our gardening experiences across Australia are indeed varied, and unless you live in South East Queensland you are likely to be undertaking very different gardening tasks this time of year.

Remember that every season is different. I recommend always growing a wide variety of vegetables, as each year some will be great successes and others failures. It will change each season, so don’t get disillusioned – over time your success rates will improve.

* Australian crows have been seen to select only the edible parts, avoiding the toxic areas.