Sometimes governments do give sound advice to their nations… During World War I and World War II, in a an effort to reduce the public demand on food supplies and leave more food to send to the soldiers fighting overseas, governments encouraged their people to plant ‘victory gardens’. What is a Victory Garden? A victoryContinue reading “Beginner’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening – Part 1, Selecting a Location for a Food Garden”
Category Archives: Resources
How to Control Queensland Fruit Fly in the Home Garden, An Integrated Pest Management Approach
Queensland fruit fly or Qfly (Bactrocera tryoni) is one of the most damaging pests of fruit and vegetables in Australia. This insect is native to eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, but has extended its range due to transport of infected fruit, the planting of exotic host crops, and climate change. Now that theContinue reading “How to Control Queensland Fruit Fly in the Home Garden, An Integrated Pest Management Approach”
Australian Native and Exotic Fire Resistant Trees and Plants for Fireproof Landscapes
Fire protection is especially important in Australia, the driest continent in the world, which is plagued by periodic bushfires. These fires can burn uncontrollably in wilderness and rural areas, tearing through forests or grasslands, consuming dry combustible fuels which build up from prolonged dry weather and drought conditions, causing widespread destruction. Understanding Bushfire Dangers ThereContinue reading “Australian Native and Exotic Fire Resistant Trees and Plants for Fireproof Landscapes”
What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
The problem of garden pest control is as old as agriculture itself, which started when humanity first cultivated plants for food more than ten thousand years ago. Modern conventional pest control methods often use chemical controls as the first option, and usually ignore the real causes of pest problems. They rely on routine, scheduled pesticideContinue reading “What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)”
Fruit Trees with Special Pruning Requirements – Figs, Persimmons and Pomegranates
Most fruit trees are pruned the same way, making winter pruning a fairly straightforward task, but there are a few exceptions. With some fruit trees, the ends of their branches shouldn’t be cut off, otherwise they won’t fruit, because they either fruit from the ends of the branches, or only produce fruiting branches from theContinue reading “Fruit Trees with Special Pruning Requirements – Figs, Persimmons and Pomegranates”
How to Prune a Fruit Tree, Step By Step
Fruit tree pruning is both an art and a science. The art to fruit tree pruning is not something that can be taught in a short article or video, but basic pruning technique is quite easy to understand, and once grasped, almost anyone can maintain a fruit tree, and do so successfully, year after year.Continue reading “How to Prune a Fruit Tree, Step By Step”
How to Prune Grape Vines – Cane and Spur Pruning Explained
Grapes fruit on new season’s shoots which arise from one-year-old canes. Once these canes have produced their fruit for the season, they will not produce again. To keep grapes productive, they need to be pruned to renew the young canes which will produce in the following year. Getting Started, Planting New Vines, Creating the FrameworkContinue reading “How to Prune Grape Vines – Cane and Spur Pruning Explained”
How Far Do Large Tree Roots Extend?
Arboriculture is the cultivation, management, and study of trees and shrubs, and arborists use several formulas for calculating how far tree roots extend in order to protect the health of trees when construction works and soil disturbance occurs nearby. Knowing how far tree roots extend can be important for locating large shade trees so theirContinue reading “How Far Do Large Tree Roots Extend?”
Tree Pruning, How to Prune Tree Branches Correctly
The first step in pruning a tree, before making and cuts to change the shape or size of a tree, is to remove any dead, diseased or broken branches. If removing a branch completely, it’s important to make the cut correctly so as to not cause any further damage to the tree. Thinner branches aroundContinue reading “Tree Pruning, How to Prune Tree Branches Correctly”
How To Plant a Fruit Tree, Step by Step
“He who plants a tree plants a hope.” -Lucy Larcom Planting a fruit tree is truly an investment in the future, it may take a year or three before a tree begins to bear fruit, but most fruit trees can be productive for 20 to 30 years or more. To give a fruit tree itsContinue reading “How To Plant a Fruit Tree, Step by Step”
Chop and Drop Gardening (Sheet Composting)
Permaculture is all about working efficiently and in harmony with Nature. We can garden far more efficiently, with far less effort, and improve the soil at the same time by emulating Nature’s soil building processes through practising Chop and Drop gardening. How do most sustainable gardeners garden? At the end of each season, many gardenersContinue reading “Chop and Drop Gardening (Sheet Composting)”
Citrus Problems – How to Control Citrus Gall Wasp, Methods That Work
What are Citrus Galls? Citrus galls are unsightly swellings caused by a tiny female citrus gall wasp (Bruchophagus fellis) which lays her eggs in the soft new growth of citrus trees in spring. As the new growth hardens off, a woody gall forms around the growing wasp larvae. Each gall contains many wasp larvae, eachContinue reading “Citrus Problems – How to Control Citrus Gall Wasp, Methods That Work”
Converting Months to Seasons – Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Meteorological and Astronomical
Good gardeners learn to time their work according to the seasons, but when do the seasons begin and end? There are different ways to divide up a year into seasons, changing when each actual season starts. Seasons can be meteorological or more traditionally astronomical, so which is which and how do you convert between theContinue reading “Converting Months to Seasons – Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Meteorological and Astronomical”
Free eBook Download – Bee Friendly: A planting guide for European honeybees and Australian native pollinators
Here’s a great free e-book produced by the Australian Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation – “Bee Friendly: A planting guide for European Honey Bees and Australian native pollinators” by Mark Leech. This comprehensive planting guide lists both Australian native plants and exotic plants which can be used as bee forage for European honeybees andContinue reading “Free eBook Download – Bee Friendly: A planting guide for European honeybees and Australian native pollinators”
The Difference Between Seedling, Grafted and Cutting Grown Fruit Trees
Fruit trees naturally reproduce themselves from seeds, but most fruit trees that you buy are not produced that way for very good reasons. There are many ways to propagate fruit trees, and each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Whether you propagate fruit trees yourself or buy them from a garden nursery, all fruit areContinue reading “The Difference Between Seedling, Grafted and Cutting Grown Fruit Trees”
The Organic Gardener’s Guide to Fertilisers and How to Use Them
The plants in your garden need food just like you do! That might seem obvious but you’ll be surprised how many people never bother to feed their plants and then wonder why they aren’t flowering, fruiting, or growing all that well. Even if you do give your garden the occasional feed, knowing what to feedContinue reading “The Organic Gardener’s Guide to Fertilisers and How to Use Them”
Bokashi Composting, How to Process Waste That Can’t Go in Your Compost or Worm Farm
Are you into recycling but are still throwing away some food scraps because you can’t put them in your compost bin or worm farm? Large amounts of citrus and onions, or any food that contains fish and meat should not be put in your worm farms. Likewise, your compost bin is not meant to beContinue reading “Bokashi Composting, How to Process Waste That Can’t Go in Your Compost or Worm Farm”
Crop Rotation Systems for Annual Vegetables
The great thing about gardening with annual vegetables is that it’s very cheap to get started and the plants grow very quickly, so gardeners get to see (and taste) the results of their efforts in a very short time. Some gardeners get discouraged after a few years of successful vegie gardening when things start changing.Continue reading “Crop Rotation Systems for Annual Vegetables”
How to Compost Logs and Branches with a Hugelkultur Bed
Composting allows us to recycle plant materials so they can be re-used in the garden, but the materials need to be broken up into small pieces for the composting process to work efficiently. Traditional composting works fine for for soft green plant matter, twigs and small branches, but what do we do with thick branchesContinue reading “How to Compost Logs and Branches with a Hugelkultur Bed”
Wicking Bed Construction, How to Build a Self-Watering Wicking Bed
A wicking bed is a self-watering raised garden bed, and even though the design is a relatively new innovation that is catching the attention of many produce gardeners worldwide, it is essentially nothing more than a large-scale version of a self-watering pot. Self watering pots have been around for decades, and are based o theContinue reading “Wicking Bed Construction, How to Build a Self-Watering Wicking Bed”