3 wild and wonderful things

how to grow awesome tomatoes + brain tumour awareness month + First Nations hip-hop

Oct 05, 2023

Dear friends,

It’s the school holidays here in Tasmania and I have been enjoying a quiet house. My three youngest children are staying with their Grandma (thanks Mum), my oldest is at a sailing camp.

Its been wonderful.

And strange.

I have been looking forward to days like this for a long time, but now I find myself feeling confused — what should I do with my free ‘time’ — and lost — what am I when I’m not ‘mothering’?

In this letter, I am sharing my 3 wild and wonderful things for October.

Thank you, as always, for being here and for reading my writing.

Kate x

Tomato seedlings growing in our greenhouse

How to grow awesome tomatoes

I spent last weekend in the garden with my family. We sowed seeds in raising trays and popped them in the greenhouse, pulled out kale and lettuces ‘gone to seed’, and dug compost, manure and lime into our garden beds in preparation for spring vegetable planting.

In the Southern Hemisphere, October is an exciting and frantic month for gardeners. Warmer soil + longer daylight hours + lower risk of frost = lots of planting and sowing.

It’s also the time we plant tomato seedlings.

I love growing tomatoes.

In preparation for the growing season, I’ve been diving into The Practical Australian Gardner, by gardening guru Peter Cundall.

I’m also fortunate to have a brother who grows organic seedlings and vegetables for Valley Fresh in Huonville, Tasmania. I often ring him for growing tips and to order a delivery of seedlings, thanks Tom. You can find his fab seedlings at the Valley Fresh stall at the Hobart Farmers Market.

Here’s five tips for growing awesome tomatoes in your garden:

Stagger planting
Don’t rush. There is a big growing season ahead — 6 months+ depending on your climate. Plant some seedlings now and some later. Grow a mix of early and late fruiting varieties to harvest tomatoes through summer and autumn.
Wherever you live, when you should plant comes down to soil temperature. Ideally, wait until the soil reaches 16 + degrees and after the latest chance of frost. Here, the local lore is to plant your seedlings after ‘Hobart Show Day’, this year it falls on 26th October. What’s your local planting guide?
Deep planting
When you are ready to plant or up-pot your seedlings, snip off the lower branches and place in a deep hole so that 1/3 to 1/2 of the stem is covered with soil. This encourages the seedlings to grow more roots from the stem, creating a healthier and more robust plant.
Water consistently
Tomato plants must be watered consistently. Don’t let the soil dry out too much or flood the plants with too much water, this can cause fruit splitting and brown rot. Also water the soil and roots not the leaves.
Pick tomatoes from the bottom of the plant first
When its time to pick, start at the bottom of the plant and work upwards. The fruit at the bottom will be ripe first. Remove any leaves up to the next fruiting stem. This will help your plant put energy into ripening the remaining fruit.
If fruit is ripening slowly, pick some green and bring inside to ripen on the kitchen bench, in a paper bag with an apple or banana works best.
Did you know that it is temperature not sunlight that ripens tomatoes!
A little tough love helps
Use nitrogen-rich fertiliser sparingly on young plants. Too much will encourage leaf growth at the expense of flowers and fruit. Re-pot seedlings into a slightly bigger pot to encourage root growth before planting out.

“I’m being terribly cruel to my tomatoes again. They are being deliberately starved and receive just enough water to keep them alive. […] It’s the best way I know to get them to produce early crops.” — Peter Cundall1

My favourite tomato variety is the Tigeralla — a red and yellow-striped tomato, the size of a small apricot (5cm in diameter). Delicious, great for salads and eating straight off the vine, high yielding, even in cool places like Tasmania!

What’s yours?

If you are living in the Northern Hemisphere, you might be harvesting the last of your autumn garden produce. Perhaps eating and enjoying homemade tomato sauce and relish, from your summer tomato crop. I’d love to hear what’s in your garden this time year?

There is talk here, that due to early warm temperatures (human induced climate change?) we may be able to plant tomato seedlings earlier.

Brain Tumour Awareness Month

It’s Brain Tumour Awareness Month here in Australia.

Every year an estimated 2000 malignant brain tumours are diagnosed in Australia and they can affect people of any age. Brain cancer is the leading cause of disease related death in children aged 0-14. Benign brain and spinal cord tumours are more common than malignant tumours.

There is no cure.

Please find some time this month to pause and think of those living with a brain tumour diagnosis. Hug your loved ones. Support a charity or donate towards research:

If you live outside of Australia:

The International Brain Tumour Alliance
or your local support organisation

My awareness raising this month is educational.

As many of you know, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour ten years ago. I am grateful for the support and treatment I received. Every year or two, I return to hospital for a routine MRI brain scan. It’s a scary time. I often feel vulnerable, worried, and anxious.

I am not alone.

Feeling anxious before a medical scan — scanxiety — is very common. I wrote an article for Brain Tumour Alliance Australia’s October Magazine about scanxiety. You can read the full article here.

Scanxiety: 5 strategies for coping:

Learn about anxiety and your own response to it.
Notice when symptoms begin, know it is normal and okay to feel anxious, focus your attention on what you need to do to get through.
Schedule scans at times that suit you
Anxiety is fueled by uncertainty and a loss of control. Switching your focus to things that you can control may help. Schedule scans at times that suit you, where this is possible. Then make a plan for follow-up appointments. Include rituals and routines that help you — lunch with a friend the day before, watch a favourite movie while waiting for results.
Engaging in self-care activities
Eating well, staying hydrated, getting enough sleep, and taking your medication can give you more capacity to cope. Exercising, such as walking with a friend, can be beneficial too, this is because it helps gets rid of excess energy and manage mood and sleep.
Learn and practice distraction techniques, breathing, and mindfulness
Many people become preoccupied with ‘what ifs?’ when a medical scan is approaching.
Drawing, gaming, or doing a puzzle with a friend are activities that redirect your attention and help to pass the time.
Relaxation breathing can be helpful. Start by becoming aware of your breath, breath in for a count of four, breathe out for a count of 4, and hold for 4 counts, then repeat.
Mindfulness techniques can help reduce anxiety. You can do this through a formal meditation practice or mindfulness of everyday activities, like brushing your teeth. Start by paying attention for two minutes to all of your five senses. Every time you get distracted, acknowledge it, and then just come back to your teeth.
Communicate your concerns and seek support
You may wish to communicate your concerns with your health care team. They will be able to refer you to a mental health professional. Effective treatments are available. It is important to talk with the people around you. Sharing your experiences with other patients and survivors can be beneficial too.

Please share with family and friends as you need. There is a great fact sheet about scanxiety available here.

First Nations hip-hop

I picked up a copy of Homeland Calling when I was in Geelong - an inspiring collection of poems/songs created from hip-hop song lyrics, written by First Nations youth communities around Australia. You can feel the passion and determination of this new generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders for change.

And it is a time of change in Australia, with a referendum to take place on October 14th, to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia and establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. I won’t write here about the details. You can read more about the Voice to Parliament in this article by the Guardian.

I loved the song You + Me by the Colli Crew.

Watch and listen to the The Colli Crew perform You + Me on YouTube here.

Or read an extract here:

all the colours together
we kicking up the red dust
connect
communicate
create a culture of trust
all around the world
living together is a must
because you + me
= us

And just because I love poetry and tomatoes:

In My Next Life Let Me Be a Tomato
Natasha Rao
{…}
I want to be unabashed, audacious, to gobble
space, to blush deeper each day in the sun, knowing
I’ll end up in an eager mouth. An overly ripe tomato
will begin sprouting, so excited it is for more life,
so intent to be part of this world, trellising wildly.

You can read the full poem here.

I hope you have a lovely October.

I hope your tomato seedlings grow wonderfully wild.

I hope you Vote Yes! (if you are Australian).

I hope we find a cure for brain cancer.

Kate x

Wild and Wonderful

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