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Beautiful Berries Workshop

Published April 1, 2019 at dimensions 720 × 479 in Beautiful Berries Workshop.

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If the large Blue Gums adjacent to my netted enclo

If the large Blue Gums adjacent to my netted enclosure are affecting some plants in the berry patch (see yesterday's post), then the blackberry bushes are just pointing and laughing like big school-yard bullies.

The one-year-old blackberry canes are covered in ripening fruit, and we’re enjoying a bumper harvest of ginormous Chester blackberries (I used to grow Waldo as well but ripped it out because its fruit was insipid). But it’s not just the bucketloads of blackberries that impress me. The new canes, which will support the next crop in January 2026, are massive.

The top of my netted enclosure is a roomy 4.8 metres high and these new blackberry canes are doing their best to reach up and touch it.

Find out all you need to know about home-grown berries: come along to my Grow Great Berries workshop on Friday May 2.

Head to my upcoming events page to find out more and book tickets (link in bio)

🫐 In January, the focus of the berry harvest is

🫐 In January, the focus of the berry harvest is blueberries. Clusters of ripening fruit are clinging to my blueberry bushes. The laden branches sag down until the tips drag on the mulch. The difference in the flavours and textures that each variety provides is amazing.

This year, I’m noticing that some of the blueberry bushes are suffering from some drought stress. A few years ago, when I first discovered these sultana-like symptoms, I thought it was a sign of sunburnt fruit. But with more experience under my belt, I realise that blueberry bushes can survive heat waves unscathed if soil moisture is adequate. There’s no need to rush out and cover the ripening crop with old sheets or shade cloth on the really hot days. Just keep the plants well watered.

To me, these shrivelled berries are a sign of drought stress caused by a lack of soil moisture. I don’t think sunburn is the cause.

It’s not currently an extensive problem. I’m noticing only a few clusters of shrivelled fruit and only on some of the bushes. I suspect there isn’t a patch-wide irrigation inadequacy, but rather, roots from nearby trees have invaded and are sucking the life out of specific areas in my berry patch. For now, a small reduction in yield (if that even eventuates) is not going to bother me, but if the problem grows as tree roots invade (I suspect) further, then I’ll need to come up with a solution.

Read more about growing blueberries in my How to Grow Guide
➡ Head to my Substack to read it.

🌽 I love the sensation of wading through a crop

🌽 I love the sensation of wading through a crop of sweet corn. Ten weeks ago this was a barren patch of soil. Now the sweet corn is taller than me. What a transformation!

I’ve planted five successive crops and the first two of those already have their feathery male tassels flowering at the top of the plant. Crop one even has cobs developing. Based on my records, the first ripe cobs will be ready for picking at the end of January. The successive plantings will ensure that I’ll be able to harvest sweet corn well into April.

Last year I had all sorts of problems establishing sweet corn. My biggest issue was poor germination due to some dodgy seed. With some fresh seed from a different supplier and a favourable warm spring, my crops this year have rocketed along. The plants are lush and healthy.

Read more about growing sweet corn in my How to Grow Guide.
➡head to my Substack to read it

✅ My to-do list this January For me, January is

✅ My to-do list this January

For me, January is a wonderful time of the year in the garden. All the summer crops are planted and promise abundance to come. But the frenetic autumn harvest and associated picking, preserving and processing haven’t really kicked in. It’s a small stutter in the summer growing season and I like to make the most of this short pause by spending some downtime with my young family. But it’s not the complete shutdown that the depths of winter provide, and there’s still much to do. Here’s what I’ll be focusing on this month:

🥦 Planting winter brassica crops

🍑 Picking peaches and apricots, blueberries and blackberries, zucchini and tomatoes.

👇 Carrying out finger checks of soil moisture, knocking to assess water tank levels and watching for irrigation system blowouts. A hot dry summer allows little room for error when it comes to irrigation. I’ll be the Wedge-tailed Eagle of the irrigation world this January, hovering vigilantly and swooping on any problems that arise.

🐦 Chasing the delinquent cockatoos and corellas from the garden. All the main crops are protected and I’m happy to share some of my unprotected produce. But I don’t want these vandals to get too comfortable – they make a terrible mess of anything from roses to sunflowers, and sometimes even buildings and timber fences. In other years they’ve destroyed young sweet corn seedlings by nipping them off at the base. Flying the drone seems to be the best way to send them packing.

🍦 Taking the kids fishing, devouring scoops of homemade ice cream, beach adventures, and reading a mountain of books in the hammock. Summertime bliss!

My monthly garden update and planting guide was sent out this morning. Check it out for more hints and tips about growing your own food and what to plant in January:
➡link in bio

Some more recent images from my garden. It's hitti

Some more recent images from my garden. It's hitting the summer peak and I'm loving all that it has to offer my senses.

What's happening in your garden?

The summer planting is done. The grass has been mo

The summer planting is done. The grass has been mowed. The garden is tidy. It’s time for me to relax and enjoy the yields of all the hard work completed in spring.

I'm enjoying the freedom to wander the garden and soak in all the sights, smells and sounds. There's plenty of tasting going on too.

Here's a few images that I've captured recently.

What's happening in your garden at the moment?

🎆 Happy New Year! 🛌 I’m not overly enthus

🎆 Happy New Year!

🛌 I’m not overly enthusiastic about New Years Eve. I’d much rather sleep than stay out raging all night. I was in bed by ten, so I don’t have any spectacular NYE fireworks photos to share with you.

🌼 But I reckon these flower fireworks that are exploding in my garden are even better. Packed full of colour, they anchor my resilient garden ecosystem. The birds, bees and beneficials love them. Plus they look great. Not every plant in your garden needs to produce food!

❓ What's your favourite firework flower?

#nyefireworks #flowerfireworks #inmygarden #gardenecosystem

🎉 Happy New Year! ❓ Did you make your resolu

🎉 Happy New Year!

❓ Did you make your resolution to grow more of your own food? Keen to get planting? Here's a list of what you can grow this month.

🌞 January is a tough time for young vegetable seedlings. They need special care and attention to ensure they survive our baking hot sun, high temperatures and strong winds. That being said, it's still possible to establish a vegetable garden at this time of the year.

🥕 The Vegetable Patch from Scratch series is popular with both novice and seasoned gardeners alike. It covers everything you might want to know about growing vegetables. It might save you a bit of time and frustration by steering you away from preventable crop failures.

➡ head to my Substack to read it

#plantingguide #melbournegardens #whattogrow #vegetablepatch

🤩 Wow yesterday’s post has really resonated w

🤩 Wow yesterday’s post has really resonated with my readers:

…the post I just received has to be the best one I've read. Honest, clever, witty and so so true…

I appreciate your honesty Duncan. I found your words reassuring as a beginner gardener… This would be a great article for The Guardian or The Age.

Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

➡ head to my Substack to read it.

#substackwriter #LowestPricesGuaranteed #gardenadvice
@guardian @theageaustralia

The first two zucchini of the season are ready. To

The first two zucchini of the season are ready. Today my 4yo daughter Emily picked two zucchini. She sowed the seed into a pot, transplanted the seedling and now we get to enjoy the fruits of her labour. Emily is really excited at the prospect of zucchini and walnut loaf, but alas, she’ll have to wait a bit longer. These are destined for tonight’s stir fry.

Have you started harvesting summer vegetables yet?

I’ve done it! I’ve grown a Christmas tomato wi

I’ve done it! I’ve grown a Christmas tomato without using a greenhouse. A month after harvesting my first tomatoes from the greenhouse raised plants, I’ve finally picked my first tomato from the Stupice plant.

It’s a bit wonky, but it will still be tasty. The first of many to come.

The second image shows today’s harvest from my greenhouse raised plants which are beginning to ramp up.

The big difference between the greenhouse raised plants and my experimental plants was the amount of light and water each received as seedlings. I think I could have harvested tomatoes much earlier from my experimental plants if I’d lavished them with more attention and care. With the automatic irrigation, protection from the elements and exposure to full sun, the greenhouse plants are “set and forget”. For me, this makes them far easier to propagate. I’ll be sticking to the greenhouse method from now on. But it’s good to know that it is possible to raise a Christmas Tomato without using a greenhouse.

Head to the LRF website to read more about my quest to grow a Christmas Tomato without using a greenhouse.

Snake or lizard? Who wants to pull its tail to fi

Snake or lizard?

Who wants to pull its tail to find out?

There was a great article in the @@guardianaustralia newspaper this week about snakes. The author, Calla Wahlquist is a Macedon Range local and I really appreciated her method for telling the difference between a brown snake and a copperhead: "...nearly step on it. If it strikes, it’s an eastern brown. If it stays still as you jump back, it’s a copperhead." We have mostly copperheads on the property and they are indeed so docile compared to the browns.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/dec/08/australia-snake-season-protection-how-to-prepare

I agree with the premise of the article, that there are far more snakes about this year than usual. Each day I come across several in the garden. But I don’t just think it is the warm spring behind the “snake plague”. The last few years have seen a rising abundance of frogs on our property and right across the area. Copperheads apparently eat (almost) exclusively frogs. More frogs = more snakes. Interestingly, the frog numbers seem lower this year. So I expect the snake population to drop again in another year or so.

What’s your take on it? Are you seeing more snakes than usual this year?

#snakeorlizard #macedonranges #watchyourstep #snakeseason

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