Skip to content
Back Home

Supporting you to grow food

Supporting you to grow food

  • About
  • Substack
  • Workshops
  • Consulting
  • Foodscaping
    • Permaculture Landscape Design
    • Edible Garden Landscaping (Foodscaping)
    • Edible Forest Gardens
    • Orchard Netted Structures
  • Other events
    • Private Garden Tours for Groups and Individuals
    • Workshops For Councils and Community Groups
    • Fruit Tree Pruning Masterclass
  • Blog
  • Contact

Education & Events

Upcoming Events and Workshops
The Science of Edible Gardening Workshop Series
Workshops For Councils and Community Groups
Fruit Tree Pruning Masterclass
Blog

Share this:

  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Tweet
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky

Our Recent Facebook Posts

Our Recent Facebook Posts

leafrootfruit
Once the solstice has passed, the garlic plants wi Once the solstice has passed, the garlic plants will begin investing energy in bulb formation. This month, I’ll carefully weed around all the plants and then give them a thick mulch of compost. This layer of compost will help to suppress the weeds and give the plants a nutrient boost to help with forming big, tasty garlic bulbs. Read more about growing garlic here. ➡ https://leafrootfruit.substack.com/p/how-to-grow-garlic
Time to give carrots a lift! This month, I’ll lif Time to give carrots a lift! This month, I’ll lift the remaining carrots for long-term storage. Carrots are supposed to be biennial plants. That is, they grow for one year and then flower in their second year. But I find they flower like clockwork at the end of their first year. In warmer climates, such as Melbourne’s, you should be able to keep them in the ground for a second year. Experience has taught me that any mature carrots in my garden need to be pulled up in June and packed down for long term storage. This enables me to enjoy fresh carrots through spring until the next crop is ready for harvest in December. More on my method for long-term storage of carrots here. ➡ https://leafrootfruit.substack.com/i/138292532/carrots This year, I’m going to try something new. I’m going to keep the biggest, straightest carrots in a separate tub of sand. In spring, I’ll replant these roots into a dedicated garden bed and allow them to re-shoot, flower and set seed. I’m going to have a crack at growing carrots from seed saved from the biggest and the best to see what the outcome is. Over several seasons I aim to increase the odds of winning carrot roulette. Normally I buy fresh carrot seed to plant – carrots readily cross-pollinate and the next generation can result in tiny, woody roots, or other undesirable characteristics. I’ve seen the outcomes of cross-pollination action. Carrots readily self-sow all over my garden, with a mixture of robust, straight and delicious roots, and plenty of split, forked and fast-to-bolt carrot monsters. Most of these self-sown carrots are edible, but some of them are a lot of work. Carrots that grow themselves are great, but they could be much better. In future I’ll manage the self-sown crop by pulling any obvious undesirables before they set seed. I won’t be saving seed from these carrot monsters!
My “Okitsu Wase” mandarins are colouring up. I sho My “Okitsu Wase” mandarins are colouring up. I should be used to their timing by now – they coloured up in late May last year, too. They’re edible at this point, but very tangy. You need heat for sweet citrus. Last year I exercised patience and discovered that fruit left on the tree becomes much sweeter in spring. This is strange, because normally mandarins aren’t great keepers. There’s usually only a fortnight between optimum sweetness and dry, puffy fruit. “Okitsu Wase” is a great choice of mandarin for cool temperate climates. But you need to be patient with the picking. You may notice that the leaves on your citrus are starting to turn a pale yellow. That’s normal. It’s caused by the cooling temperatures. More on that and what not to do about it here. ➡ https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/the-danger-of-adding-epsom-salts-to-the-garden/
I’m picking around 250 grams of raspberries every I’m picking around 250 grams of raspberries every week. But that’s fairly typical. I usually harvest ripening raspberries right into June. They have a very short storage period and lack the sweetness of their summer-ripened siblings. At my recent Grow Great Berries workshop, I was surprised at how many participants preferred the more tart varieties to the sweeter ones. Each to their own, I suppose. By growing four varieties to spread the ripening times, I manage to harvest raspberries for a continuous season from early December right through to late June. That’s over six months of raspberries – no wonder the kids are sick of them. Winter is a great time to plant a new raspberry patch. Read more about growing raspberries, including what varieties you should plant, here. ➡ https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/raspberries/
It’s time to get bare-rooted! The optimum time to It’s time to get bare-rooted! The optimum time to establish an orchard is in winter (particularly July and August in the southern hemisphere), when deciduous trees are dormant. Then they will have a chance to develop a strong root system during spring, before the onset of summer. Winter is also when bare-rooted fruit trees are most readily available. Bare-root season kicks off at the start of June. If you’re thinking about planting fruit trees, then don’t buy just any old tree from the bargain bin. Make sure it is on the correct rootstock so that it doesn’t grow too big and so that it is going to fruit at a time of year that suits you. I’ve published many articles on backyard orchards. But if you’re short on time and just want a quick overview of what’s important (and what’s not), check out this summary. Regardless of whether you’re planting only one or two trees or a backyard orchard with dozens, the post is an indispensable checklist. Have a read before you race out and buy your trees. ➡ https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/planning-your-backyard-orchard/
My finger lime tree keeps dropping masses of ripe My finger lime tree keeps dropping masses of ripe “dog poo”. The tree shouldn’t survive here in Kyneton, but it stubbornly flips the bird to all naysayers. This tree is thriving in my citrus grove microclimate. To me, finger limes are a condiment, something to be added to fancy drinks. They’d also be great in a summer salad – if only they ripened in summer. The kids love snacking on them. They snap them in half, and squeeze the vesicles out like toothpaste, straight into their mouth. They’ve affectionately named the tree “The Dog Poo Tree”, and I guess the fallen fruit do resemble turds on the footpath. Read more about the challenges of growing citrus in a cool-temperate climate here. There’s plenty of advice that’s also applicable to warmer climates, such as Melbourne’s. ➡ https://leafrootfruit.substack.com/p/growing-citrus-in-a-cool-temperate-climate
The mild autumn has enabled my tomato plants to co The mild autumn has enabled my tomato plants to continue ripening fruit. That’s right, I’m still picking tomatoes. In Kyneton. At the start of June. Sure, they’re not the tastiest of fruit, but given how bland many of my tomatoes were back in February, for this time of the year, they’re not that bad. We had one heavy frost on 19 April, but since then there has been only the odd mild frost. The insect netting I use to protect the fruit from birds and Queensland fruit fly does a remarkable job of creating a warm microclimate to extend the season. And the tomato plants grow on. ➡ https://leafrootfruit.substack.com/p/how-to-grow-tomatoes
I was still wearing shorts last week. By this time I was still wearing shorts last week. By this time of year, they should be well and truly stashed at the back of the wardrobe for winter. In this part of the world, June is typically miserable: it’s grey and dreary and the temperature rarely nudges past 10 degrees. Day after day of June weather can feel like an eternity in Kyneton. No local ever looks forward to June, but this June is forecast to be warmer and drier than usual. In 19 days, on 21 June at 6.24 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, the South Pole will be tilted as far away from the sun as it can get. This is the turning point, the winter solstice. In three weeks, a return to lengthening days will create all sorts of positivity. You will just need to know where to look for the signs of spring. Spring bulbs will bloom. The chickens will return to laying. Some birds, such as the white-browed scrub wren, will begin nesting. The winter solstice marks the start of a new gardening year. Yes, there’s still plenty of cold weather to come. But it’s nearly time to think about sowing tomato seeds to germinate in front of the fire, preparing soil for spring planting and dragging the shorts back out of the back of the wardrobe. After the rubbish that this summer dished up to the vegetable patch, I can’t wait to crack open a new gardening diary and get planting. Read the rest of my FREE monthly planting guide and garden update here: ➡https://leafrootfruit.substack.com/p/june-2026-planting-guide-garden-update
Now that we're into winter, your planting options Now that we're into winter, your planting options are slim. For readers in warm temperate climates, like Melbourne’s, there's still time to get some late broad beans or maybe some broccoli (particularly sprouting varieties) planted. Leafy greens such as spinach, silverbeet, kale and lettuce will also grow well over winter. Here's my guide to some of the things you could consider planting this month in a warm temperate climate like Melbourne’s. My planting guide generally refers to vegetables planted in the garden (as opposed to a greenhouse). This planting may consist of seeds directly sown (my usual and preferred method) or plants transplanted as seedlings. My Vegetable Patch from Scratch series is popular with novice and seasoned gardeners alike. It covers everything you might want to know about growing vegetables. It could save you a bit of time and frustration by steering you away from preventable crop failures. https://leafrootfruit.substack.com/p/site-analysis-where-to-put-the-vegetable-patch
🎉Hooray for more workshops! Announcing some new 🎉Hooray for more workshops! Announcing some new workshops for the second half of 2026 Early bookings guarantee you a spot and help me to plan more workshops. To sweeten the deal, until 7 June 2026 you can get early bird pricing on all newly listed workshops. ✂ Fruit Tree Pruning: Gain the confidence to tackle those fruit trees. Friday 24 July ➡ https://site.corsizio.com/event/6a1638f7ab66dc30049c2ad8 🍎Espalier: Create your own garden masterpiece. Friday 7 August ➡ https://site.corsizio.com/event/6a163403ab66dc30049b0fe5 🌿Controlling Weeds Naturally: Spend less time weeding and more time enjoying your garden. Friday 4 September ➡ https://site.corsizio.com/event/6a1644f6ab66dc30049dd747 My gardening workshops are unlike anything else offered in Melbourne or Central Victoria. Designed to give you the knowledge, skills and confidence to manage your garden independently, they’re grounded in local conditions and scientific evidence. See all my upcoming events here: ➡ https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/upcoming-workshops/
It’s been just over three years since I first disc It’s been just over three years since I first discovered Queensland fruit fly in my orchard. I’ve been through a huge spectrum of emotions in my journey to understand and deal with this pest. From depression to optimism, from frustration to empowerment, I’ve felt it all. I’ve also researched. A lot. But research can take you only so far and I’m keenly observing my orchard from year to year, recording data and trying to connect the dots. I set up my five male-biased traps in December 2025 and placed them in locations spread across the property. And I waited And I checked. And I waited. And I checked. Every week I checked. And I didn’t observe any Queensland fruit fly. Not a single fly. I didn’t see any maggots in my fruit. No sting holes. In 2026, I saw no evidence of Queensland fruit fly anywhere in my garden. It was a delight. A relief. A joy. So much fruit-fly-free fruit. I felt confident to once again share my bounty with friends and family. I gave away bags, boxes and crates of fruit. Hundreds of kilos of fruit. For Victorians, there is still much to be understood about this novel pest. You can read my take on the Queensland fruit fly season in 2026 and what I learnt here: https://leafrootfruit.substack.com/p/queensland-fruit-fly-2026-update-central-victoria What about you? Was your fruit infested with Queensland fruit fly?
🌞 Summer sensations saved in a seed! This month I 🌞 Summer sensations saved in a seed! This month I’ve been busy saving seed from some of my summer crops. It feels like every surface is adorned with boxes of mature produce or drying seed heads awaiting processing. Old pillowcases of lettuce seed heads, chicken pellet bags of mustard greens and kale heads, jars of fermenting tomato seeds and a tray of papayadew seeds spread out to dry. Two giant zucchini from my very productive “Black Jack” and crates of tough old landrace cucumbers await seed harvesting. Some vegetables are more suited to seed saving than others. Many of the cucurbits are not likely to come out true to type, but I’m saving them anyway. They’re part of my journey into the unknown – surprise gardening! Read more about seed saving in these Vegetable Patch from Scratch articles: Seed saving: what varieties to save seeds from ➡https://leafrootfruit.substack.com/p/seed-saving-what-varieties-to-save How to save seeds for planting next year ➡https://leafrootfruit.substack.com/p/how-to-save-heirloom-seeds-for-planting How to test the germination rate of your saved seeds and store them ➡https://leafrootfruit.substack.com/p/saving-seed-storage-germination-rate
Follow on Instagram

· © 2026 Leaf, Root & Fruit Gardening Services · Powered by · Designed with the Customizr theme ·

Back to top