[permaculture-oceania] Fruit fly

Sun Jun 25 21:50:39 EST 2006

Thanks for your feedback on dealing with the fruit fly in Newcastle, Terry.
It was a joy to be in Adelaide recently where they do not yet have fruit
fly... and to enjoy figs from trees free of the creature.

You are right that it is too late to stop fruit fly because there are so
many susceptible plants already around the place that are not maintained.
What worries me a bit though is how people readily plant these species
without thinking of fruit fly and the maintenance and horticultural know-how
that will be required to manage the pest. Even in community gardens where
there have been people with the knowledge to deal with the fly I have seen
plenty of fruitfall on the ground from guava and other species.

In the garden of the place where I am presently living, guava and apple
(coddling moth) were planted by, so I am told, people from a Permaculture
organisation, yet the householder is not a gardener and is therefore
unlikely to be able to effectively control fruit fly, coddling moth and the
like. 

Perhaps the issue here is the design process that was used. Gardens do not
exist by themselves but, like other things, comes with a knowledge set that
must be passed on the the people that will manage the system - that's a
basic consideration in overseas development work and it's a concern that
experienced Permaculture designers have discussed for some years - the
passing on of skills and knowledge to manage an installed system.

...Russ

On 23/6/06 11:47 AM, "Terry Leahy" <Terry.Leahy at newcastle.edu.au> wrote:

> Dear Russ,  
> 
> You are right about fruit fly.  In my experience none of the listed plants are
> so badly affected that you lose your crop (not like the stone fruits).  While
> I am still getting my trees up and have not got much of a crop yet, feijoas,
> guavas, fig and loquat are all prolific in this area (the Hunter NSW) in
> established gardens that I have seen and the fruit is fine to eat.

> I would never advise a backyard gardener to
> go for a crop that needs to be protected from fruit fly to be viable - the
> stone fruits are a definite disaster here though I understand that early
> peaches might avoid fruit fly.  I do not have enough room to worry about this
> really.  Politically, I wonder about the advisability of permaculture
> practitioners hampering their subsistence (non-market)  gardening efforts by
> cutting out a lot of very prolific easy fruit species to suit a commercial
> fruit industry that depends on toxic sprays to protect their crops from fruit
> fly.  I know there are a few organic growers out there who are trying to grow
> stone fruit and that is certainly what people want to buy, so maybe there is
> no easy answer to this.  As above, I think it depends a bit where you are and
> it funnily enough ends up by being a moral and political question really,
> 
> Terry  
> 
>>>> info at pacific-edge.info Wednesday, 21 June 2006 5:49 pm >>>
> Hi Terry...
> Iinteresting plant list you describe below. Just a few questions.
> 
> On 20/6/06 11:50 AM, "Terry Leahy" <Terry.Leahy at newcastle.edu.au> wrote:
> 
>> Dear permies,
>> Find it fascinating that overseas writers are still using the definition of
>> permaculture from Permaculture One (perennials) rather than the replacement
>> definitions (sustainable agriculture and settlement design and ethics) that
>> are more current in Australia.
> 
> Slow learners? Or perhaps they are mainly rural folk and the Permaculture
> One definition resonates with them.
> 
> I think it depends a lot who does the writing. As an example, in the 90s
> there was funding for signage in Sydney community gardens, so a sign about
> permaculture was installed in one or two although many of the gardeners
> would probably not have been familiar with the term. Whoever wrote the sign
> - I think it was a 'sustainability' consultant - only described permaculture
> as an agricultural system and not as a design system for human habitat.
> Small thing maybe, but goes to show that the knowledge base of the person
> doing the work determines what comes out.
> 
> But sorry to harp on
>> The edible leaf taro is really good in a damp spot in the shade.
> 
> This really is a worthwhile plant. Years ago, I brought some back from Seed
> Savers in Byron Bay and grew it, when we had a garden. Chooks are very fond
> of it - I have seen them skeletonise a leaf in a minute or so. Likes the
> shade in warm temperate coastal areas.
> 
>> I also have a loquat which is finally fruiting and has a lot of fruit... The
>> feijoas have been doing nothing... The guava is gradually going ahead... the
>> fig in the shade a bit lack lustre
> 
> How do you cope with fruit fly on these species? All, we have found, harbour
> that little nuisance insect, especially if fruitfall is not cleaned up. We
> recommend avoiding these in our organic gardening classes. Maybe people with
> horticultural knowledge can cope, but that's questionable for most home
> gardeners. There's more chance of dealing with the fly in community gardens
> however I have seen community gardens with plenty of affected fruitfall on
> the soil. For our climate, we recommend citrus, avocado and fruit fly free
> species.
> 
> Loquat used to be planted as an ornamental in Sydney home gardens of the
> vintage you find in Randwick and the Eastern Suburbs. They, of course, act
> as fruit fly vectors as the householders do not seem to harvest them. Take a
> look at the ripe fruit when you next walk through Randwick and notice where
> they have been stung by the fly.
> 
> I also notice loquat fruit is being sold in fruit and veg shops - nicely
> contained in a polystyrene box wrapped in plastic. Great thinking mkarketing
> guys and girls - nice fruit, pity about the waste and landfill.
> 
>> I am also getting good growth on bananas and pawpaw in the shade
> 
> These are good value in warm temperate gardens. Plant plenty. With pawpaw,
> there is a good argument for planting bisexual hybrids where space is scarce
> in small urban gardens as you do not need the numbers as for non-hybrid
> trees. 
> 
> We have a list of fast fruits that we recommend for permanent planting and
> as fill-in crops in warm temperate climates while slower-growing fruit and
> nut trees grow up - babaco (a natural pawpaw hybrid, centre of diversity
> South America), banana, berry fruits (eg. blueberry), cape gooseberry,
> midyim berry, passionfruit, pawpaw, pepino, tamarillo
> (www.communitygarden.org.au). Pepino, a low-browing shrub that produces
> juicy, purple-white fruits to egg size eaten raw and in salad, can sometimes
> get fruit fly.
> 
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> RUSS GRAYSON
> journalism, online content production, photojournalism, instructional
> manuals, media services for overseas aid
> 
> PO Box 1045, Manly, NSW 1655 AUSTRALIA
> info at pacific-edge.info
> P: 0414 065 203
> www.pacific-edge.info
> 
> TerraCircle international development team, Oceania
> www.terracircle.org.au
> 
> Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network
> www.communitygarden.org.au
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 
> 
> 
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
RUSS GRAYSON
journalism, online content production, photojournalism, instructional
manuals, media services for overseas aid

PO Box 1045, Manly, NSW 1655 AUSTRALIA
info at pacific-edge.info
P: 0414 065 203
www.pacific-edge.info

TerraCircle international development team, Oceania
www.terracircle.org.au

Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network
www.communitygarden.org.au
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^