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Does Australia have a 'Salad Bowl'?
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Posted by chrisms MS z8a (My Page) on Wed, Jul 5, 06 at 22:15
| Hello!
I live in the United States and am curious about Australia's food crop production.
From what little I know about the country, parts of Australia have climates similar to that of California. Does Australia have a "salad bowl", i.e., an area where lettuces and other greens are grown? These prefer a cooler maritime climate.
God bless,
CKB |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Does Australia have a 'Salad Bowl'?
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Chrisms,
Australia has a huge climatic range, as Im sure the USA does. But apart from the large arid central areas, and the extreme south and highlands which have snow and frosts in winter, Australia's general climatic range is tropical through to warm temperate. The east coast tends to be more wet summers dry winters, the west, & some of the south, the reverse. The north is true tropics, be that wet or dry.
Given the long growing season in most arrable parts, I would say that Australia probably has MANY "salad bowls"
I can only speak for the south east of Queensland.
There I guess one of the best know areas is the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane. A lot of vegetables are grown there. It is a very rich area, unfortunately it is also susceptible to terrible devastating storms, at times.
"Greens" are probably grown all over to some degree, even lettuce as hydroponics if one has the area. Sometimes access to markets seems as important as climate and people just adjust. We have a rich culture of immigrants who brought their market gardening experience from other countries and just adapted it, despite hardships and what the climate threw at them.
Apart from the "greens" and from my local experience, various areas of the east coast have been utilized for produce. Lower coastal flats for sugar-cane, cooler areas for citrus and blossom crops mainly apples. Bananas in clusters (bad joke), pineapples in hilly areas of no use for anything else.
Your question was interesting, I hope some folk from other states will come on board.
Generally I would say that the face of agriculture in Australia is changing dramatically. We have severe droughts. We have a virtual monopoly by major supermarket chains dictating what they will buy and therefore what will be grown. We have extreme competition from overseas imports.
We also have, god bless them, a lot of people still getting a thrill from producing something home grown from their own quarter acre block or even their townhouse patio.
Google for the Lockyer valley and you will find plenty of links. |
RE: Does Australia have a 'Salad Bowl'?
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| I think Tasmania might be a good area for growing lettuces, carrots, or celery since they like cool temps. CKB |
RE: Does Australia have a 'Salad Bowl'?
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Tasmania had a large share in the market with their lettuces, until a couple of years ago, when a thrip managed to make it across from NZ and rapidly increased in numbers.
This is now in Victoria and will probably spread north. I think Qld has taken a larger share of the market in that time, but eventually things will balance out again. |
RE: Does Australia have a 'Salad Bowl'?
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Victoria in the south seems to grow just about anything. There is a large area of saNDY SOIL AROUND mELBOURNE WHICH USED TO BE THE VIRTUAL sALAD bOWL. mARKET GARDENERS HAVE HAD TO MOVE OUT AS LAND HAS BECOME THE SUBURBAN SPRAWL.
Large potatoe area in the hills and a drained swamp. Sweet corn in far east Gippsland(exports seeds to USA!). Somebody was growing chinese goosberry(Kiwi Fruit) but has pulled the crop out because the market in Sydney and Melbourne will not take less than half a transport. Citrus growers in various states have pulled out their trees because of cheap imports from Brazil. Talk about going down the drain. That's free trade for you. Pears/apples grow in Gippsland not far from Melbourne. You may have heard of Pakenham Pears. Rice is grown inland all along the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers of Victoria /NSW. Cotton further north in NSW into Queensland. Kunnanurra in North of Northern Territory has been turned into a salad bowl when the big Argyle dam was built(forget about the diamonds under 100's feet of water), and after they got rid of the cockatoos . Out of Darwin, tropical fruits vyeing for the Queensland market.
Going deep south, Tasmania is known as the apple isle,also grows tulips to export to Holland, and those little purple crocus for the stamens for cooking. The list is endless. And it is true. Before the 1950's most vegetables/fruit was Old English type, but now a days everything goes. The latest is Asian Vegs. Bananas have become very expensive because of huge cyclone in that area , but they will come good again. |
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