Contributors
The hugest thank you to each and every one of these community-minded people who donated both their time and expertise for the benefit of everyone who lives in this area.
Please support them where you can.
Interviews
These wonderful humans submitted to in-depth and often long interviews, usually covering many different plants. Some are professional local growers. Some are long term experienced local backyard growers. Their expertise has formed the foundation of the knowledge in this project.
Alan Johnstone
local gardener extraordinaire
Andrew Turbill
Andrew The Bird Guy
Camilla Bonnici
Autarky Farm
Charles Filet
Bellingen Seed Savers
Colin Broadfoot
Boggy Creek Natives
Daisy Dollisson
professional grower
Harry Campbell
Pollinate Permaculture
Ian Epic Earth
The Gourmet Garden School
Jeff Alcott
Bellingen Seed Savers
Jeff Holmes
Bellingen Seed Savers
Joel Orchard
Young Farmers Connect
John Hodgekinson
via Biodynamics Australia
John Ross
Lacebark Native Nursery and
Alternatives Bookshop Bellingen
John Vernon
via the Bellingen Seedsavers blog
Kyles Woodbury
formerly of The Vegie Gardener
Mark Graham
Bellingen Nature Tours
Michele Morozumi
Bellingen Seed Savers
Nick Radford
Bellingen Permaculture
Nicole Cisterne and Matt McGovern
Dolly’s Run
Nidya Bellido
The Patch Organics
Paul Hoschke
Barefoot Fruit & Veg
Pete Bufo
local gardener extraordinaire
Phil Gilmour and Carole Helman
local gardeners extraordinaire
Rasa Dover
Byron Hinterland Seed Savers
Shaun Robinson
Thora Veg
Steve Smith
founder of Northbank Community Garden
Tim Cole
Bellingen Farmers and Producers market
Tim Hill
Bellingen Seed Savers
Tom Macindoe and Kaycee Simuong
The Mandarin Bend
Tony Johnson
hobby avocado farmer Korora
Cath Eaglesham
David Pepper
Bellingen Seed Savers
Gillian Salvestro
Bellingen Seed Savers
Jean Hamey
Carobana Confectionery
Jennie Fenton
Joy Foley
Kathleen Hannah
Ken Lewis
Stringybark Farm
Kevin Turner
Sue Lennox
Mini interviews
These wonderful humans gave their time to answer searching questions on a few select plants, filling in crucial knowledge gaps.
Community callouts
Many people responded to requests for assistance via social media based local gardening groups, and in casual conversations.
These requests were for knowledge and clarifications on particular plants based on personal experience of growing in this area (the key criteria!).
Adam Jones, Adrian Betts, Alica Cook, Alicia Ballard, Alison Heeley, Alison Pope, Andy Truong, Angelle Hughes, Arne Nelson, Beth Edwards, Bruce Naylor, Carla Allen, Corinne Sanford, Don Cooper, Donnella Bryce, Eric de Jong, Evelyn Wilke, Georgie Moon, Glenda Borsboom, James O’ Brien, Jen Tredinnick, Julie Hutchinson, Julie Morgan, Kathryn Wood, Katie Crane, Kevin Evans, Kris Heather, Lauren Natili, Lesley Green, Linda Bizon, Lori Wilson, Moana N Chuck Ngaira, Nell Heydon, Nicola Fraser, Pat Wheeldon, Paul Mersh, Rachel Gray, Ruth Maitland, Shekhinah Morgan, Susan Doyle, Waveney Ayscough, Yasmin Kellner
Thank you
Your insights often gave weight to suspected localised trends and uncovered key local advice for backyard growers.
I’ve done my best to include everyone who has made a useful contribution to this project. If you have been omitted, would prefer your real name included in place of your screen name or would rather your name be removed, or some other edit to your contribution, don’t sweat it. Just let me know.
References
Local hands on knowledge was prioritised.
Researched and generally applicable information for each crop was collected from reputable references. These are detailed at the end of each article.
In general, these were growing guides published by NSW and QLD Departments of Primary Industries, Agrifutures Australia, and the federal Department of Agriculture Australia, published scientific papers and other official sources as relevant.
Further sources include respected books such as the Seed Savers Handbook. Selected online guides were chosen for inclusion from people with direct growing experience, with different climate conditions taken into account.
