A lot of people don’t like spraying toxic chemicals on any of their plants and particularly not on plants where they’re going to eat the produce, like a citrus tree in this case. One of the alternatives to using sprays is using a yellow sticky trap, basically a yellow...
It’s very important when designing a vegetable garden, to make it functional and to also make it a nice area to be in. We had a look at a lovely vegie garden complete with a picket fence to keep the rabbits and dogs out and the garden beds are laid out in rectangles...
Over the years on Burke’s Backyard, many viewers have sent in quite fascinating photos of carrots that have forked into all sorts of strange shapes. They’re not very edible once they get to that stage. The old husbands’ tale is ‘You didn’t dig your soil over properly...
Passionfruit We’re looking at some old husbands’ tales, the sort of things that old men have spread for generations and everybody believes them, but they’re simply not true. Today’s furphy is that all plants need tender loving care. Most plants like to be looked...
Garlic is fun and easy to grow at home. You can buy garlic from the nursery to grow, but if you’re going to try growing it from garlic you’ve bought from the fruit shop or supermarket, make sure you only buy organic garlic as it’s more likely to grow. It’s just a...
Composting is a great way to recycle vegie scraps, fallen leaves, lawn clippings and other green garden waste back into your garden. Homemade compost is a beaut money-saver a good compost from any source should be dark coloured, smell sweet and have a crumbly texture....
Chooks make wonderful pets and are great recyclers, they turn your kitchen scraps into free-range eggs for the family, consume pests in the garden and produce compost for your plants. They’re great for kids, a few chooks can be enormous fun and the kids get to learn a...
According to Markos Dymiotis, when it comes to flavour, taste and enjoyment, there’s nothing greater than growing your own produce. Markos came to Australia 30 years ago from Cyprus. Don was amazed at the range of vegetables and fruit growing in Markos’...
Don demonstrated how to make your own strawberry planter using imitation terracotta pots stacked in a tower formation. When growing strawberries in a tower it is not necessary to mulch with plastic or straw, because the fruit hangs over the sides and stays...
Temperament: docile Cost: $20 – $120 each Lifespan: 9 years Recommended for: children Maintenance: low Appearance The Silkie is a small 1.5 kg to 2kg (2-3lb) soft, hairy-feathered fowl. It is so named because their feathers lack barbs to hold them together so...