Willows are fast growing, deciduous trees that are mainly found in the Northern Hemisphere, in cold arctic and north temperate zones, in regions with moist soils. The Weeping Willow appears to be a native of extra-tropical Asia, from Japan and China to Armenia and the […]
Here are the final figures for the garden yields for the period of Oct 2009 – Oct 2010, the garden’s second year. The annual production for this first year was 202kg, up 71kg from last years 131kg. The total garden bed area is 686 sq. […]
Most people passionate about living sustainably and harmoniously with nature will eventually stumble upon the system of Permaculture, it’s hard not to, it’s a world-wide phenomenon and it’s growing! If you’re reading this, then you’re one of these people! Some of you will eventually study […]
In Permaculture we like to do things naturally, and we like to exercise our initiative to make use of the resources at hand to achieve our ends. What better way to do this than to brew up your own DIY garden natural pesticides, fungicides, plant […]
One thing a growing garden needs is plants, and lots of them! To buy enough plants to fill a regular backyard garden can be quite an expensive affair, but, thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way. Nature provides freely and abundantly, and when we […]
In a cold climate, such as in Melbourne, Australia, the summer is never quite long enough to grow all your summer annuals vegetables, such as tomatoes, chillies, capsicums and so on. The best way to get a long productive season is to start the seedlings […]
A serene, reflective pool has its allure, it’s something that has always drawn mankind. There is something about water that relaxes us, that makes us feel peaceful and calm. It resonates with a deep inner part of us, a part perhaps long forgotten, but the […]
Regular composting, also known as cold composting, involves placing a variety of organic materials in a compost bin, enclosure, or even just in a large heap, and leaving it there until it breaks down several months later. It’s a very slow process and typically takes […]
A veriety of “Devil Plant” , giant devil fig Solanum chrysotrichum for grafting eggplant Would you like to grow an eggplant tree, yes you heard right, a tree, that can produce dozens of eggplants, and not die down in winter? Well, you can if you […]
Wheelie bin as a water storage container You can never have enough water storage, and a spare wheelie bin makes a handy water carrier that can easily be moved around (when it is empty of course, a full one can’t be moved!) This design was […]
Rainwater is a valuable resource that is largely under-utilised in urban environments. It’s one of nature’s free resources that we can use to grow food, and considering that Australia is the world’s driest continent, rainwater is a very valuable resource, far to valuable to let […]
This article is an introduction to the gardening technique of Backyard Orchard Culture – a system of high density planting of fruit trees which allows for a wide variety of fruit to be grown in a limited space, and harvested over a prolonged period of […]
