About Justin
My Quick “Official” Bio:
A passionate organic gardener with a love for home grown fruit and vegies, Justin Russell began writing about gardening more than a decade ago and has since contributed to a range of national publications, including Burke’s Backyard, Organic Gardener, Country Style and G Magazine. Justin’s weekly “Secret Garden” column in the Toowoomba Chronicle is a popular weekend read and his quarterly articles in Highlife Downs Living Magazine showcase the finest gardens from across the Darling Downs. Recently, he began contributing weekly blogs to the Organic Gardener Magazine website. Justin’s family business, Thistlebrook Nursery, supplies heritage fruit trees and other edible plants to home food growers across mainland Australia.
Justin is a sought after speaker at events ranging from festivals to local garden clubs. He is a regular at Toowoomba’s annual Gardenfest, has spoken at the Toowoomba Carnnival of Flowers and in 2009 spoke at the Greening Australia national conference in Toowoomba. Justin has formal qualifications in science, journalism and landscape design and is a member of the Horticultural Media Association Qld (HMAQ). Justin, his wife Kylie, and three young children live on a productive smallholding just outside the village of Hampton in the high country north of Toowoomba.
I’d be happy to discuss proposed speaking engagements or writing opportunities – please contact me for rates, topics and other information.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi mate my name is Tarl Keam.My wife, our two childeren and myself are saving all of our money for a block of land to set up our smallholdings. I am a tafe student and I am studing horticulture. Over the last two months I have been buying berrybushers blackberrys, respberrys, blueberrys ect and I was looking for information on the net. When I found your work on thistlebrook ,I was so happy to hear of someone else that grows berrys up here, as I have been told thay will not grow up here.And second ,that you have a small holding of your owne in the area. If its ok with you and your family, we would love to meet you and see your farm as it is our dream to do what you have done. And would love to get any advice you may have to offer.
Thank you for your time
Thanks for the comment Tarl. We’re in a cold area here at Thistlebrook, which combined with our red soil, means that berries do very well. There is a blueberry farm up the road, and blackberries grow wild down at the creek. On our property we grow blueberries, thornless blackberries, and raspberries, and have plans to get in some gooseberries and currants. Depending on where you are, you may have some success as well. You need a genuinely cold winter (we get around 40 frosts per winter). If that’s not the case, try growing lower chill “rabbit eye” blueberries, and autumn fruiting raspberries such as ‘Heritage’.
In terms of starting out as a smallholder, some general advice I would offer is to consider the type of fruit, vegies and livestock you want to grow, then look for a property in an area that matches your preference. I’ve got no real interest in growing subtropical plants, and love temperate varieties like apples that thrive in a cooler climate. That’s one of the reasons we bought here. Soil is worth thinking about if you’re wanting to specialise in a particular type of plant (eg berries do poorly on black clay), but it can be improved and modified to a large extent.
Be very careful with water. This year might be good season for rainfall, but you can guarantee it will get dry again, so look for something that either has good water infrastructure in place or potential for being well watered with either reliable rainfall or a bore. Dams, tanks, pumps etc aren’t cheap, but on a rural property they are essential. We have town water for the house and rainwater tanks/recycled water for the garden. This is just enough for our needs for the moment.
The other thing I’d suggest is that you look for an area with a strong sense of community. We’re fortunate to be surrounded by lots of great neighbours, many of whom are also pursuing a smallholding lifestyle and have become good friends. There is plenty of mutual support, free exchange of produce and ideas, but peace and quiet when you need it.
We moved from suburban Toowoomba four and half years ago and haven’t regretted it for second. Smallholding is a wonderful, deeply satisfying way to live, and though it’s unlikely to make us millionaires, we feel very rich indeed. If the opportunity arises, give it a go!
Cheers,
Justin
Hello Justin
Firstly let me congratulate you on your excellent column in the Chronicle each Saturday. This is the first part of the paper i read!!
I am interested in planting more fruit trees/fruiting plants in my average sized back yard and was wondering if you could give me some advice on what type of trees or other fruiting plants would be suitable.
I currently have a lime,lemon,orange,mandarin,strawberry guava,olive and feijoa.They are all doing well, in particular the lime . As i don’t have a large amout of space i was thinking of dwarf trees but i don’t want to plant plants that are not going to do well.I live near the top of the escarpment at Rangeville and i have red soil that gets a little sticky when it is wet.Also, what do you think of those “fruit salad” trees -the ones that have four plus trees grafted onto the one tree.I was thinking of buying one but as they are quite expensive i did not want to waste my money on a plant that doesn’t perform.
Any advice or referral to a book etc would be appreciated.
Regards
Michael
Thanks for your kind comment Michael, and great to hear that you’re already growing a few fruit trees. Rangeville and other areas along the Toowoomba escarpment are right on the cusp of the temperate and subtropical climate zones, which means you can grow quite a wide range of species. Dwarf plants are indeed the way to go on a smaller block, but the other thing you might consider is espalier. At Thistlebrook we have an “espalier orchard” of 15 different heritage apples in a 50sqm space. Most fruit trees work as espaliers and other trained forms, so you might be surprised what you can fit it.
As a general guide, you should have no trouble growing peaches, nectarines, almonds, Japanese plums, lower chill apples (such as Granny Smith, Anna, Dorset Golden, Pink Lady), quinces, persimmons, mulberries, figs, grapes, and blueberries. You could also try cooler climate apples, pears, European plums and sweet cherries (such as Stella). Fruit salad trees can work well, but it’s important that the varieties are carefully chosen to ensure that the vigour of each is about even, and pollination is adequate (for those varieties that need it – apples in particular) by having varieties flower around the same time.
This spring I’ve propagated a small selection of multigrafted apples for our fruit tree nursery – these are potted trees, and I anticipate that they’ll be ready to go in the couple of weeks prior to Christmas if you are interested. The other thing you might be interested in are our workshops. On Saturday November 13th we’re hosting one on “Homegrown Fruit” – you’ll find more info on our workshop page.
Finally, books. In my opinion, the best general Australian home fruit growing guide is “The Complete Book of Fruit Growing in Australia” by Dr Louis Glowinski. It’s a bit dated in regards to chemical use etc, but remains the standard by which the others are judged. “The Australian Fruit and Vegetable Garden” by The Diggers Club is also a good general guide. For specific varieties such as citrus and apples, anything by Allen Gilbert is also very good.
Hope that helps answer a few of your questions. Please feel free to get in touch if I can help in any other way.
Cheers,
Justin
Hi Justin,
Thank you for continuing this wonderful blog. I check it regularly and always find it a great source of information and inspiration.
I was wondering if you have some advice regarding killing off lawn organically. We are about to move to an old house with a hearty looking buffalo grass lawn, but are keen to use most of it for edible plants so want to take out the lawn without using poisons. Can you recommend anything?
Many thanks!
Thanks for your kind comments Melanie. Glad your enjoying it!
To kill a persistent plant like lawn grass organically can be difficult, but you have a couple of options at your disposal. The first is to spray with an organic herbicide such as “Slasher” or “BioWeed”. These products are based on plant acids, so they’re completely no-toxic and biodegradable, but repeated applications will be necessary to kill the grass, making it a fairly expensive option.
The other way you could kill the grass is through a process called sheet mulching. It works something like this: mow the lawn short, wet it down, throw on a layer of blood and bone, and then cover with a continuous layer of degradable, light restricting material, such as newspaper or cardboard, and covering it with a generous 20-40cm layer of mulch until the grass dies. To do the job properly you might need to leave the mulch in place for six months or more, but you’ll be left with a lovely, soft, semi-composted soil. I made my first vegie garden in Toowoomba this way, and it worked a treat!
Hope that helps, and feel free to get back to me if you have any other questions.
Cheers,
Justin
Hi i live on the sunshine coast and might not see a frost for years but am wandering if it is possible to grow blackberries here as lantana thrives and it looks like the same plant family any suggestions ?
Thanks for the question Paul. Depending on where you are on the Sunshine Coast, blackberries may do okay, but they really are cool climate plants that need plenty of chilling during winter. If you’re up in the hinterland around Maleny, they may work for you, but down on the coast they’re unlikely to thrive. Lantana is a subtropical plant in the Verbena family, but blackberries are a temperate climate plant in the rose family, so they’re not really comparable plants, unfortunately.
Best wishes,
Justin
I not only work at a local garden centre but i also fill the rest of the week by either growing tube stock for sale at a local market but also regulary work in other peoples garden. I have been hearing about a product called “slasher” for controling couch in among roses etc. I have been unable to find out what the ingredients are and if it is yet another organic product ( yes, I am strictly organic, with common sense) that requires me to hit the offending item with the sprayer to be of any use. Have you heard of the product or used it with any success?? would appreciate any comments on the product.
Hi Susan,
Slasher is based on pelargonic acid (which is derived from perlargoniums) and is certified organic as far as I’m aware. It was introduced to Australia by OCP, the same company that introduced the Eco Garden range of products such as EcoNaturalure, EcoRose etc.
It’s not a systemic herbicide. Instead it bruns the plants foliage, which means it’s okay for soft leaf weeds but not so good for woody weeds and tough grasses like kikuyu. The company claims it will work with repeated applications, but the cost of doing so would be quite prohibitive.
I’m still on the hunt for a highly effective organic herbicide, but there’s nothing of note that’s yet available. All are based on pelargonic or acetic acid and work in a similar way.
Hope that helps,
Justin