Growing Gardens

with Julia Hancock

Medicine makers

Plants are our oldest source of medicine and long before humanity learnt to read and write, plant lore was passed down orally from generation to generation. Today, medical research relies heavily on space-age technology and breakthroughs occur almost every day, sometimes arrived at in the most unexpected ways.

Next time you eat a spud, consider the boffins in a laboratory in Europe who are attempting to use the potato as an incubator for vaccines. Their research has indicated that it is possible to manufacture medicines by equipping them with appropriate genetic material to produce antibodies, vaccines and other medicinal proteins. Antibodies are made by humans and animals as a natural process of our biology by cells in our immune systems, but large-scale production is costly and time-consuming. By infecting small fragments of animal viruses into plants, scientists are exploring the mechanisms by which the infected plant fights off the virus by manufacturing large quantities of antibodies that can subsequently be harvested for use by humans.

In Australia daffodils have been associated with cancer research, but indications are that they may also become a symbol of hope for sufferers of Alzheimers disease. Daffodils produce a substance called galanthamine, which scientists are currently investigating for its medicinal potential.

Concern that tuberculosis is on the rise again worldwide has prompted researchers to revisit the cures of yesteryear and Spanish bluebell may be one of several old-fashioned plants that produce compounds to block the development of TB bacteria.

Crops such as oilseed and linseed which can be produced in bulk and processed quickly and efficiently may in future be modified to produce the anticoagulant hirudin which is found naturally in leeches. How much easier to extract the oil out of a seed than to milk the saliva from a leech!

Whether we like it or not, genomic technologies are the way of the future, but let's not entirely forget grandma's herbal cures.

Lismore Garden Club News

The Lismore 2003 Garden Competition is judged next Sunday to Tuesday, September 7-9. Entries are now closed. The prize-winning gardens will be open to the public from Saturday, September 13 until Sunday, September 20. For further information on the Lismore Garden Competition or the Lismore Garden Club phone 6621 5293.

The warmer days are with us and so are all the other signs of Spring - the common Jasmine is among the very first Spring bloomers and along with Rondelitia fills the early morning air with sweet perfume. Many of us that went to the trouble to plant sweet peas around St Patrick's Day are now enjoying the benefits of their sweet smelling blooms. Be sure to pick lots of flowers from them as the more you pick them the more they flower.

Jobs to do now: For those of us that haven't received rain, the topsoil will be drying out in the sunny parts of the garden. Rather than hand hosing, give the garden a good soaking with the sprinkler or irrigation system and then apply a 10cm layer of mulch.

What to plant now: Flowers - Alyssum, Marigold, Petunia, Phlox, Agapanthus, Gladiolus, Hippeastrum, Iris, Roses. Vegies - Beetroot, Cabbage, Asian Herbs, Carrot, Potato, Radish, Tomato.

Gardening Tip: Aphids are already appearing in early rosebuds. Instead of spraying with something toxic, try using a squirt of liquid hand wash soap in some water and spray them with this.

Happy gardening
Ron Burns