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In our segment Don talked about the value of animal manure in the garden. Manure conditions soils of all types, it provides nutrients, it is already more or less decomposed and it is teeming with bacteria and other beneficial organisms. Animal manures can either be...
Harvest Size, Colour Matters It’s often difficult to tell when fruit and vegetables are ready to harvest. With produce that does not actually ripen, such as root crops, you often have to go by colour and size. Citrus Citrus trees are fabulous to have in the...
Harvesting Growing your own fruit and vegetables is tremendously rewarding. However, knowing when the produce is ready for harvest can be a problem for many gardeners. Here are Don’s tips on harvesting tomatoes, pumpkins, figs, corn and olives. Tomatoes...
Harvesting Vegies Don returned to the Rowland Village vegetable patch at Galston in New South Wales, and checked to see if the carrots, sweet potatoes and parsnips were ready to harvest. Carrot (Daucus carota) There are many varieties of carrots. Topweight, Western...
Palm trees evoke memories of relaxing holidays, secluded tropical beaches and cool, moist rainforests. The good news is that you can instantly create a restful oasis in your own garden: just buy a mature palm, dig a hole and drop it in. Even better news, palms are...
Macadamia Farm When in Hawaii last year, Don visited a macadamia farm. Although introduced to the world as the ‘Hawaiian Nut’, macadamias are actually Australian rainforest plants. They are members of the Proteaceae family, and are related to grevilleas...
Don looked at some of the materials commonly used to build retaining walls. Treated pine log or sleeper walls are popular, cheap and easy to erect, and they are used for both small and quite substantial walls. However, they don’t last well. Examples shown in our...
The October edition of the Burke’s Backyard magazine includes a free packet of Asian green seeds. The packet contains mixed seeds of Chinese cabbage, kailan (Chinese broccoli), pak choi white (Chinese white cabbage), pak choi green (bok choy) and tatsoi (Chinese...
Revving Up the Lawn in Spring Spring is a good time of the year to give your lawn some attention, particularly if you have any bare patches that need replanting. Sowing seed in the bare patches is an option for some lawn varieties such as cool climate grasses, but it...
Citrus plants have fragrant white flowers, glossy, evergreen leaves and delicious fruit which is very rich in vitamin C. They develop into attractive small trees when planted in the garden, but they are also well suited to pot culture. In fact, many species will crop...