Wanna be startin’ somethin’ : 10 steps to get planting in a day

Okay, so you want to get digging, the time is right for planting and you are desperate to get your hands dirty. But you just don't know where to start. The first thing to do is make a list of what you need before you even begin any work. I am going to show you …

Lookin’ for some pot stuff

I bought some plants by mail order the other day and they arrived, carefully wrapped, and each sitting in their own individual grow bag, and seem to have survived the journey okay. I have no idea where I will plant them, these babies are Bunya "pines" or Araucaria bidwillii, that will grow gigantic cones sometimes …

Gloves will tear us apart

I try to propagate my own plants as much as I can. It's usually cheaper than buying plants and it's endlessly fascinating to watch the plants develop from seed or cuttings, or watch a grafted bud shoot away in the spring. But for whatever reason, it's not always possible, and we do sometimes have to …

Growing the seeds of stuff

So much of what is written about growing food is based on commercial information. The methods of broadscale monocultures are scaled down to home gardens, based on the experience and research of commercial food production. But this may not be the best way to go about growing things in a local home garden. Fruit trees …

The way things are goin’, they’re gonna crucifer me

Someone asked me the other day if they could eat Broccolini leaves. They wanted to use them in a recipe, some kind of quiche-like tart which called for Kale to add some greenery. The answer was "Of course you can, they are the same thing". Because ultimately, they are the same plant species. In south-western …

I started a choke, that started the whole world laughing

Everyone knows what Artichokes look like, right? Of course. They come in a jar marinated in oil and vinegar and garlic. If you look at my planting calendar you will see that in many parts of the country it's the time of year for planting Artichokes, it's also time to plant a couple of other …

Green-age wasteland

A lot of people probably don't realise, or at least don't stop to consider, that when they buy fresh fruit and vegetables, they are often buying the means to generate more fresh fruit and vegetables. Every time you spit out pips of any fruit you eat, you are probably throwing away the means to grow …

Weeds don’t need no propagation

When most people think of weeding the garden, they probably think about kneeling down and digging or pulling out the  grass and the various seedlings that have popped up in unwanted places between the plants they want to keep. The most useful working definition of a weed is a plant out of place. And it …

Wade in the water

I have often commented that one of the major reasons, if not the single biggest reason, for failure in growing plants is forgetting to water them. There are ways around it, putting in irrigation systems, for example, or having timely reminders from people like me. But ultimately, if plants don't get water, they don't grow, …

Come up to the lab lab, and see what’s on the slab

I have been asked recently "What are some plants that look good in an ornamental-type garden, but also produce something edible?". Well, to be honest, there's no reason a useful garden cant be designed for looks from scratch. Any plant can be planted in any design, as long as it suits the style. That's a …