Apricots lend themselves beautifully to a variety of preserving techniques, but the most popular are dried and jam. We cover jam-making in another article (Summer - Week 10), so here we have an in-depth look at the art of drying. Read the arti [...]

Most of the chemicals in nonorganic agriculture are used for controlling pests and diseases, and despite the organic sector holding more than 12 million hectares of land in Australia, chemical farming still accounts for more than 99% of the fo [...]

Also called Radium weed, Milkweed and Cancer weed, Petty spurge is an annual plant growing to 5– 30 cm tall, with smooth hairless stems. It’s native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, where it typically grows as a weed in far [...]

Phytophthora is a pathogenic (disease causing) soil fungus that causes root rot, and collar rot, and can kill fruit trees. It’s favoured by poor conditions, and can be very hard to get rid of once established in the soil. Read the article in W [...]

Every fruit tree in your garden should be pulling its weight, which means it should be fulfilling the purpose you have in mind for it. If it’s not, grafting may be the solution, and while you can still be doing the last of  the winter (well, s [...]

Every fruit tree in your garden should be pulling its weight, which means it should be fulfilling the purpose you have in mind for it. If it’s not, grafting may be the solution. Winter is the time to be making some decisions about which trees [...]

By creating an annual plan for your pruning it will help you fit this important job into your busy schedule in the most efficient way, and make sure each tree is pruned at the best time. Read the article in Winter - Week 7.

Spring is the time we need to be on the ball with nutrition, to make sure our trees have enough of what they need to produce fantastic fruit! Find the activity in Spring - Week 5.

Summer is a great chance to notice whether your fruit trees are meeting your needs...maybe you want to produce a year’s supply of fruit for your family, provide shade for the kids play area, screen the yard from the neighbours, or ensure a ple [...]

Not the large cooking banana, but the extremely common herb found in gardens, lawns, and roadsides throughout Australia, Europe, and Asia, plantain is also called ribwort, narrow-leafed ribwort, flat weed, common plantain, and lamb’s tongue. I [...]

Planting your fruit trees carefully will help to get them off to a good start in spring. Being shifted from the nursery is a shock to the tree, and always involves the loss of a lot of roots. Some tender loving care, plus the right soil additi [...]

This is a family favourite that can be enjoyed throughout summer (or whenever you can get berries), is very quick to make, and is an absolute crowd-pleaser. The filling can be made with berries alone, or a mixture of plums and raspberries (or [...]