The wet summer season in the subtropics is a time for lush grass, sunshine, Christmas holidays and vigorous plant growth. So what better time to investigate some new and interesting fruit trees for your orchard? The traditional fruit trees that require a cold snap to set fruit are never going to be winners in the
Growing new plants from cuttings is a great way to increase your plant collection and save money at the same time. Growing new plants from cuttings is a great way to increase your plant collection and save money at the same time.
In order to make the best use of your space, you need to know what will grow successfully in the shade.
There’s so much to learn as a beginner gardener….To that end, here is a dictionary of important terms used in gardening. It covers everything except plants!
This is the last in a series of articles about the issues I’ve had in my geodesic dome greenhouse and grow tunnel. Here is the previous chapter, where I tell about the possum problems. With a feeling of failure weighing heavily upon me, I left the greenhouses to fend for themselves for a few weeks.
This is the fourth part in a series of articles on my self-built geodesic dome greenhouse. If you need to catch up, here is part 3. It’s All About the Possums! As if my problems with light and powdery mildew weren’t enough, I now had pest damage to contend with. Will it ever end?! The
Not only does mulch make an impressive weed suppressant, it plays a vital role in keeping your plants healthy. As mulch breaks down, it turns into “black gold” a.k.a. organic matter. This organic matter provides much needed nutrients to your plants, and also protects the roots from too much sun, temperature fluctuations, and moisture control.
Nina (my wife) and I were lying in bed the other night and she said, “I wish we could go back to the 80’s life was so much easier and innocent then.” And I nodded replying, “that’s so true…” I knew exactly what Nina meant because when we were kids in the era of big
Pumpkins are part of the cucurbit family of vegetables. Cucurbits are veggies like cucumbers, zucchini, button squash, watermelons and even gourds. I’ve been growing and eating a ton of pumpkins this past year- I’ve eaten them fresh, frozen them, made soup, given them away, you name it. You can do this too, by following my
‘Permaculture’ is one of those words we often see and hear when reading about gardening. It’s like some sort of mythical desert oasis…you’ve heard about it, you know it’s a good thing, but you can’t put your finger on what it really is and what it looks like in the real world. So what is
A guest post authored by Lauren Schwartz of www.lawn.com.au There’s more to self-sufficient gardening than ornamental plants and decorative sculptures. A productive garden is a healthy garden, and one that can lead to an excellent life goal: self-sufficiency! By growing your own food and in the process caring for nature, you can make the land
Gardens never stay still, do they? They’re always changing-plants grow, die, and multiply. The seasons change, and with that, the weather. You could say they are dynamic. But did you know there’s an actual thing called dynamic gardening? Yes, really! And it’s more than just having a garden that changes naturally- it’s an authentic gardening
At the start of any growing season, people plant like crazy with the excitement of growing vegetables. The excitement can quickly die down though, when those veggies start to pitter out before the season is fully finished, leaving gaps in your garden bed & a gap of time where you could still be growing, harvesting
WHY ARE EARTHWORMS SUCH A BIG DEAL FOR GARDENERS? Earthworms are the largest & most productive part of the plant-food cycle: they can work harder and faster than any other organism, and produce a huge amount of nutrients for the plants. To see exactly how they work within the soil structure, read our article here
Place a teaspoon of soil in the palm of your hand. In that teaspoon of soil, there could be as many as 3000 species of bacteria, 200 species of fungi and 20 000 algae. In fact, there are more organisms in a handful of soil than there are people on earth…but most of them can
Ginger is a valuable ingredient in food and drinks the world over, not to mention expensive- yet it’s easy to grow at home from just one bulb. A little bit can go a long way, and we can add ginger to all sorts of drinks and food. And it has a ton of other uses!
So, you are thinking of taking that idealistic step away from the modern mainstream, and moving towards self sufficiency. It’s a term we’ve heard a lot this past year, but it’s not always clear what it really means. And is it realistic these days? We all have work, families, responsibilities, vehicles and modern technology that
I’ll happily admit to practising the art of lazy gardening! Years ago, we used to make our gardens pristine, with rows of plants all the same height, lawns mowed within an inch of their life, annual flowers planted with perfect spacing, and trees all neatly pruned…in other words, a green desert. While our gardens were
Often the plants that grow the best are the ones totally adapted to the area they are growing in and whilst most examples in the home garden are ornamentals here are some examples of edible plants that are native to Australia. Macadamia Everyone worldwide knows about the Macadamia nut, but most don’t know it’s a
Most of us have at least one citrus tree in our gardens. Be it a Meyer lemon down the backyard or a Kumquat in a pot on the front verandah. Meyer lemon fruit (image above) Autumn is citrus care time. Right before they begin flowering is the best time to treat all the ails of
Self Sufficient Me is a blog about self-sustainment by growing our own produce (plant/animal), and self-fulfilment by looking after our health (physical/mental) through exercise and slowing life down a little.
