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Cypress Wicking bed Hawthorn

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Cypress Wicking Bed Hawthorn

One of our recent wicking bed installations in Hawthorn East

Our Recent Facebook Posts

Our Recent Facebook Posts

Our Recent Blog Posts

The Impact Of Compost On Garden Soil: A Case Study August 3, 2021
What is the best compost method? September 17, 2020
The Leaf, Root & Fruit guide to Covid-19 Panic Induced Edible Gardening March 17, 2020
Garden Ecosystems Part Three: How to Turn your Garden into a Resilient Ecosystem September 2, 2019
Garden Ecosystems Part Two: Attracting Beneficial Insects into the Garden August 26, 2019
Garden Ecosystems Part One: Pest Predator Dynamics and Balance August 20, 2019
Plant Soil Conditioner Trial March 6, 2019
Spring Planting Guide for Melbourne August 22, 2018
How to Grow Great Tomatoes in Melbourne August 16, 2018
Day Length and Plants (Photoperiodism) July 30, 2018

leafrootfruit

Woo hoo!!!! Our tomato seeds have germinated. The

Woo hoo!!!! Our tomato seeds have germinated.

The winters are too cold in Kyneton for us to germinate the seeds in the greenhouse. These babies have been inside, sitting next to the fire, so their soil warms enough to stimulate germination.

Now that they have germinated I will transfer the pots to the greenhouse to grow them on to strong, healthy seedlings.

Have you sown your tomato seeds yet?

#tomatoes #heirloomseeds #pinkbumblebee #seedling #kyneton #kitchengarden #permaculturevictoria #demonstrationgarden #germination #seedling #greenhouse #itallstartswithaseed

A frosty start to the day in Kyneton this morning.

A frosty start to the day in Kyneton this morning.

#jackfrost #morninglight #kyneton #permaculture #macedonranges #naturallycool #centralvictoria #demonstrationgarden #frosty #crispy

Last week our silver wattle trees (Acacia dealbata

Last week our silver wattle trees (Acacia dealbata) started flowering. We have many of these trees on our property and the first one to flower has always been the same tree adjacent to our dam.

The trees are flowering 19 days earlier than last year. Usually the wattles in Kyneton flower two weeks after Melbourne, but this year they are flowering at about the same time. The flowering of the silver wattle is my cue from nature to start sowing tomato seeds. So accordingly, I have delayed planting my tomato seeds this year.

In Melbourne I would sow tomato seeds and place them straight into the greenhouse. But up here in Kyneton the nights are too cool and germination is delayed by weeks if I place the seeds in our greenhouse. Instead we bring the pots inside beside the fire to germinate. As soon as they've germinated we transfer the pots to the greenhouse.

What varieties of tomato are you looking forward to growing this year?

#acaciadealbata #phenology #tomato #heirloomseed #summeriscoming #seasons #flowering #timetosow #wattle #silverwattle #kyneton

The girls are back on the lay! Most chooks take so

The girls are back on the lay! Most chooks take some time off in winter so they can invest energy in growing a new set of feathers. Just this week they have really stepped up productivity again. It seems earlier in the year then normal, but that could be because many are young pullets.

Have your chooks started laying yet?

#chooks #eggscelent #homegrown #rainboweggs #heritagebreeds #pullets #seasonality #kyneton #backyardchickens

These will be some of the last raspberries we will

These will be some of the last raspberries we will pick for the season.

We picked our first strawberries in early November. Since then we have harvested red and then black currants, summer raspberries, gooseberries. The early blueberries were ready just before Christmas and we have picked them right through to the end of May. Black berry varieties were ripe at the end of Jan and then again in late February. Autumn raspberries such as the Heritage Everbearer began producing small yields back at Christmas time and slowly increased productivity, hitting their peak in May.

We have been able to continuously enjoy freshly picked berries from our garden for 8 months. Designing orchards and berry patches with early, mid and late season crops extends your harvest to ensure you can enjoy fresh fruit for most of the year.

We have kilos and kilos of blueberries and raspberries in the freezer to enjoy for the next four months. Many of these berry plants were only planted twelve months ago. We are expecting yields to increase significantly over the coming years as the plants become more established.

Now is the time to plant berries such as raspberry canes and strawberry runners. Check out our guide to growing raspberries on our website.

#raspberries #berrynice #growyourown #gardenglut #foodscapedesign #beatthebirds #nettedenclosure #antiaviary #autumnberries #frozenberries #kyneton

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE! Today is the shortest day

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE!

Today is the shortest day of the year. Traditionally it's a time of reflection. It is also a time to celebration of the return to lengthening days and the impending spring.

The Earth tilts on its axis throughout the year. This makes the Sun "appear" to change its path at different times of the year. I write "appear" as we all know that it's the Earth that moves not the Sun!

In winter the Sun appears to rise very north of due east and set very north of due west. At midday on the winter solstice in Melbourne it appears very low (28 degrees) on the northern horizon.

In summer, the Sun appears to rise very south of due east and set very south of due west. At midday on the summer solstice in Melbourne it appears almost overhead (75 degrees).

You can use this knowledge to accurately predict which parts of your garden are going to be in full sun and shade at different times of the year. This helps you to analyse your site and decide where to locate elements such as veggie garden beds. There’s finally a use for your high school trigonometry! This image shows the calculations for MELBOURNE (and all locations on the same latitude).

Of course, the amount of sun your backyard receives at different times of the year is influenced by many factors. These calculations are only for sun angles at midday. They don’t take into account morning and afternoon sun, the influence of trees (deciduous vs evergreen) and other factors.

In some of our upcoming workshops we will be exploring how changes in light impacts your garden at different times of the year.

Eg. Photosynthesis: Irrigation, Rainwater Tanks and Sunlight (as part of The Science of Edible Gardening Series). See the events page of our website for more info.

#sunlight #solstice #highschoolmaths #gardenmaths #sunangles #shadediagram #duenorth #wintersolstice #gardenplanning #gardendesign #gardenscience #gardenworkshop #melbourne

The first Broccoli Romanesco of the season.... The $The first Broccoli Romanesco of the season.... The funky pattern of the Romanesco is fractal and self-similar in character. Each bud is a logarithmic spiral and is composed of a series of similar, smaller buds, all arranged in yet another logarithmic spiral. This self-similar pattern continues at several smaller levels. For those maths buffs out there... the number of spirals on the head of Romanesco broccoli corresponds to the Fibonacci sequence! It's great weather for gardening this weekend... what's happening in your patch? #romanesco #broccoli #fibonacci #fractal #gardenmaths #naturalart #brassica #frommypatch #growyourown #kyneton #wintervegetables$

It has been a very busy few weeks. After two years

It has been a very busy few weeks. After two years of COVID disruptions folks are super keen to get back into the classroom for face to face learning. I've been running many workshops for various councils and community groups. We have also hosted quite a few workshops on our property in Kyneton. Participants are enjoying the warmth of our onsite classroom and the opportunity to explore various topics in the orchard, netted enclosure and kitchen garden.

Check out the events page of our website for upcoming workshops.

#destinationeducation #gardenworkshop #classroom #practicaldemonstrations #whatson #kyneton #macedonranges #centralvictoria #melbourne #makeaweekendofit #onehourfrommelbourne

This evening's quick autumn harvest. Broccoli is

This evening's quick autumn harvest.

Broccoli is plentiful at the moment, especially the sprouting variety 'Di Cicco' which I find to be one of the quickest to harvest.

The first cauliflower of the season 'Snowball'

Our autumn raspberries are at peak production. We have to harvest every second day to prevent them from rotting on the canes due to the high humidity. We picked over 400g today, mostly from 'Jan's Raspberries' but also 'Heritage Everbearer' (which is a different variety to 'Heritage').

What's happening in your patch at the moment?

#raspberries #cauliflower #broccoli #autumnharvest #quickpick #frommypatch #harvest #kyneton #centralvictoria #winteriscoming

Gosh Dora (The Explorer).... you are not the most

Gosh Dora (The Explorer).... you are not the most fashionable of chooks... what with your '80s hairdo and all... But I've got to say... right now.... you are one ugly chook!

You might notice that your chooks have gone off the lay of late. That's because most chooks moult at the end of autumn. Moulting involves replacing all the old feathers with new ones. It takes a lot of protein to grow new feathers, and chooks can't eat enough to lay eggs and replace feathers... hence the break that they take. Some heritage breeds take long spells over winter, other breeds take shorter breaks. If you have hybrid chooks such as ISA browns or Hylines then you might only notice them slow down a bit a this time of the year.

Your heritage chooks should start producing eggs again in spring.

Dora is an Araucana. She and her two sisters lay blue eggs (when they're not moulting). We also have a Barnavelder, Australorp, Dorking, Scott's Greys, Marans and a Rhode Island Red. This motley crew gives us quite a colourful array of eggs. We also have a separate flock of Hylines that are fantastic foragers and useful for pest control, preparing garden beds and turning compost.

What breeds of chooks do you keep?

#araucana #backyardchooks #moulting #uglychook #kyneton #doratheexplorer #rainboweggs #protein #heritagebreed #heritagechickens

Last night at around 8:30 I clicked 'schedule' on

Last night at around 8:30 I clicked 'schedule' on our latest newsletter so that it would arrive in your inbox this morning at 7am.

In the 10 or so hours in between those events we had a visit from Jack Frost. It was quite a severe frost this morning and will wipe out most of our summer veggies that were still productive, including basil, zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers. This year the first frost has arrived quite late... last year we experienced our first frost on the 21st April. That means we've had an extra fortnight of summer abundance this year.

Eagle eyed readers of our newsletter may have noticed the following paragraph....

"Our summer veggies are slowly grinding to a halt. The first severe frost of the season is due any day now and the summer veggies will come to a complete stop."

Here's an admission that I'm not awake all night typing the newsletter so that it arrives for you first thing in the morning! That being said, a lot of time and energy goes into producing each one and I'm always grateful for the fantastic feedback I receive from our readers.

Did Jack Frost visit you this morning?

#jackfrost #autumn #goodbyesummer #frostdamage #takethataphids #white #newsletter #gardeningguide #kyneton #victoria #centralvictoria #cabbage #zucchini #echinacea #rhubarb

My first ever Hyakume Persimmon... I love persimmo

My first ever Hyakume Persimmon... I love persimmons and have helped to manage many trees over the years for clients.

We grew several persimmon trees in pots during our days as renters. The trees always looked healthy enough, but never flowered. Since moving to Kyneton, most of the potted trees have been neglected. They have remained hooked up to an automatic irrigation system and largely ignored. Imagine my surprise when I walked past the trees yesterday and saw one lonely little fruit hanging from a naked tree branch. What's amazing is that I spotted it before the birds did!

Last year we planted two bare rooted persimmons into our orchard and we are looking forward to an abundance of the fruit in coming years.

What "firsts" have you achieve in the garden lately?

#persimmon #hyakume #autumn #beatthebirds #backyardorchard #kyneton #autumnharvest #backyardharvest #myfirstever #cantwait #neglected #macedonrangesfood

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