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23.01.2022 Our basil plants are covered in flowers and will soon succumb to the cold. If you haven't already noticed, you'll soon find small black spots appearing on some of the leaves. This is a fungal disease and indicates that the plants are nearly finished for the season. So it's a good time to harvest the whole plant and turn it into pesto. You can freeze the pesto to use over the winter. https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/duncans-basil-pesto-pasta/

23.01.2022 Our first frost of the season here in #Kyneton. Not a heavy one, but still enough to completely finish off the sweet potatoes. Our tomatoes are under netting which should provide enough protection... this time around! #winteriscoming #goodbyesummer #jackfrost #sweetpotato #pumpkinvine #sunnyskies #centralvictoria #greatday #gardenworkshop

21.01.2022 All set for today's workshop "Nutrients and Fertilizers: Growing Nutrient Dense Food". It's part of the Science of Edible Gardening Workshop Series that I've put together. Today we're going to look at the different nutrients that plants need to be healthy. We're going to explore what can be done to improve the nutrient density of your home grown produce. At the end of the workshop we will be undertaking a tomato taste test and looking this back to a few of the key points of t...he workshop. What's your favourite tasting tomato variety? https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/science-of-edible-gardeni/ #tastetest #heirloomtomatoes #gardeningworkshop #classroom #kyneton #onehourfrommelbourne #nutrientdense #healthyfood #fertilizer #npk #gardenscience

21.01.2022 Following on from our last post about aphids... One interesting pest phenomenon we have been observing in the garden is an outbreak of some black aphids on our sweetcorn patch. This year we have grown six successive plantings of sweetcorn. We have just finished harvesting from crop number four and are beginning to harvest from crop number five. These two sweet corn crops are planted right next to each other, with only a one metre of vacant space between them. The spent plant...s in crop number four are covered in the black aphids. Stems, old cobs and leaves appear black with the thick infestation. Crop number five are still completely aphid free! I'm not overly worried about the outbreak as any remaining cobs in crop four are small and overdeveloped, so they lack sweetness. They are only good for chook food. There are plenty of ladybirds feasting on the bounty of aphids. Interestingly, the younger plants less than one metre away are showing no signs of aphid infestation. I expect that as the plant growth slows that they too will be overwhelmed with aphids. Hopefully we will have harvested and eaten all the tasty cobs of corn before this occurs. https://site.corsizio.com/c/5fc325dd204846ebcdf3297b

18.01.2022 In the past, when urban farming in Melbourne rental properties, I've been restricted for growing space. As such, I would delay the planting of my winter crops until late April or early May. This enabled my summer veggies such as tomatoes to continue to produce until they succumbed to the cold weather. Delaying planting, also reduce the damage white cabbage moth cause to my brassica crops such as broccoli and cauliflower. You'll notice that white cabbage moth are everywhere at... the end of March and the beginning of April. Once the weather cools towards the end of April they will be far less prevalent. Delaying planting of brassicas until then will ensure they are more successfully harvested. However, we're not limited for space at our Kyneton property. Due to the colder winter temperatures up here we need to transplant all our seedlings by early March. The seedlings are happily establishing under the insect netting with only the odd slug to bother them (you can also use some old terylene curtain fabric). Looking for something to do in the garden this weekend? Check out our autumn planting guide for Melbourne. It's packed full of plenty of hints and tips to successfully grow your winter veggies! https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/autumn-planting-guide-mel/

18.01.2022 Today's harvest is brought to you by the colour GREEN! Asparagus, broccoli, snow peas and broad beans are all featuring heavily in our diet at the moment. Today's spread was topped off with a couple of blue-green eggs from our Araucana hens. Our summer veggies in central Victoria are always a bit behind Melbourne patches. We will soon catch up though. After a lean winter harvest, abundance is returning.... What's happening in your patch? #eatyourgreens #frommygarden #organic #veggiepatch #asparagus #broccoli #broadbeans #snowpeas #araucana #kyneton #macedonranges #centralvictoria #harvest #springtime #growiteatit

17.01.2022 It's the first Thursday of the month.... our Edible Gardening Guide and Newsletter was sent out this morning. Please share with any friends or family who may find it useful http://eepurl.com/hhBBl1

16.01.2022 Beetroot 'Cylindrica'. They're a bit like an iceberg.... they look small and undeveloped from the top, but there's plenty of substance below the surface! What's happening in your veggie patch at the moment? #heirloom #heirloomseed #cylindrica #beetoot #roots #veggiepatch #growyourown #permacultureliving #autumnharvest #timeforaroast

16.01.2022 2020 was a difficult year for scheduling workshops and events. However, recent easing of restrictions in Victoria have got us thinking about our workshop and event series for 2021. Here's your opportunity to make sure we run workshop topics that are relevant to you. Please fill in this 2 minute survey to help us with planning for next year! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RFGBYDG... Our Kyneton based classroom and demonstration gardens make for an ideal setting for learning about all things gardening and permaculture. We will also look to resume our Community Night and Food Swap in 2021. However, the location will change from Burwood to Kyneton. What workshop topics are you interested in attending next year?

16.01.2022 Our planting guide and newsletter is out today. It is time to get your winter veggies in. Check out our guide to see what you should be planting over the Easter break. Please share with your friends and family who may find it useful... https://mailchi.mp/83431a/your-april-planting-guide-4753850

13.01.2022 The watermelons were almost ready. Then we had over 50mm of rain this week. Heavy rainfall often leads to splitting fruit. The plants quickly take up the extra water that is available to them. Fruit quickly swells like a balloon, but the skin can't stretch and grow rapidly enough. This results in splitting fruit. This week you may have noticed splitting tomatoes, figs, apples, pears and melons. Many of our melon fruits have now split. So we're in a rush to consume as much of ...it as we can before it rots. Delicious watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe. The kids are loving the good stuff and the chooks are enjoying the spoiled bits. What's happening in your patch? https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/watermelons-in-melbourne/

13.01.2022 Just completed our #backyardbirdcount for @birdlifeoz. We focus on our garden being a healthy ecosystem and love the birds that visit our property. The windy, cold day made bird spotting difficult. Even in these challenging conditions we managed to spot eleven species. In the year we have lived here, we we have observed over 40 species of birds in our ecosystem. We discovered this Blue Tongue Lizard as we were finishing our 20 mins of bird spotting this korninh. It's our firs...t reptile spotting for the season. Given it is ten degrees here in #kyneton today, it seems a strange day for her to be out and about. As spring has warmed, we have noticed the food web slowly come out of hibernation. First the insects such as mosquitoes and white cabbage moth become prolific. The frogs become more active and vocal a few weeks later. Then higher level predators such as lizards and snakes become active last of all. Healthy garden ecosystems provide great opportunities to observe the ebbs and flows of pest predator population dynamics. What have you been observing in your ecosystem? #ecosystem #gardenpests #pestcontrol #bluetongue #predator #reptile #balance #nature #populationdynics #gardenecosystem #insects #frogs #observation https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/garden-ecosystems-pest-pr/

13.01.2022 Melbourne Cup Day is approaching and so is one of the traditional days for planting tomato seedlings into the garden. Melbourne based gardeners could have planted their tomatoes over a month ago, but up here in central Victoria it is a good idea to wait until early November. In late July we sowed lots of tomato seeds and now we have a greenhouse full of healthy, advanced tomato seedlings. All being well (and pending a final weather forecast check) our team in of interns will... transplant these tomato plants into the market garden on Wednesday. How are your tomatoes coming along this year? Check out our blog post for some tips on growing great tomatoes, including how to grow that elusive but coveted Christmas tomato! https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/how-to-grow-great-tomatoe/ #tomato #cupday #melbournecup #giddyup #seedlings #internship #marketgarden #growyourown #growgreattomatoes #sowfromseed #greenhouse #kyneton #macedonranges #centralvictoria #plantingguide

11.01.2022 Cucamelons.... They're such a great addition to the veggie patch. I find they hit peak productivity just as the cucumbers start to fade away. I thought 4yo Angus had been doing a great job of harvesting our crop (and eating them there and then). But a closer inspection today found masses of them hiding under the foliage. Angus loves cucumelons and pickles... so we thought it might be time to try some cucamelon pickles. They'll be a great snack for him over the winter, when hi...s beloved cucumber and cucuamelon glut are a distant summer memory. See our blog post for more about this tasty little crop https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/cucamelons-melbourne/ #cucamelon #pickles #childrensgarden #gardeningwithangus #preserving #catchandstoreenergy #abundance #tinyhands #dillpickles #homeharvest

11.01.2022 I've grown gooseberries in pots for years and never had a hugely successful crop. Our current property came with an established berry patch, including a bed of gooseberries. Last year we had a mediocre crop from this patch, but the birds gobbled them up before I got around to netting them. This year we have a bumper crop of gooseberries. I put it down to all the spring rain and actually remembering to feed them (gooseberries are heavy feeders). Determined to protect this bump...er crop, I thought I'd best to weed the patch prior to putting the netting over. Whilst busy pulling fumary, cleavers and cats ear out of the jungle I noticed a female superb fairy wren flitting about making some agitated noises. So I stepped back and she eagerly flew back into the gooseberries. Turns out the fairy wren has her nest right in the middle of the goosberry jungle. Her nest is strategically placed so that it is only possible to net one small gooseberry plant properly without upsetting the nesting bird. I'll be keeping a close watch on the gooseberry crop (and fairy wrens) over the coming weeks. Hopefully we manage to harvest enough ripe fruit for some goosberry pie, but I suspect the blackbirds will beat us to it. What birds have been visiting your garden lately? #nature #gardeningwithnature #fairywren #naturewins #gooseberry #berrypatch #jungleofweeds #gardenecosystem #nesting

11.01.2022 Scarlet runner beans... Also known as 7 year bean as they grow as a short lived perennial plant. We sowed this crop last spring. They produced masses of beans and then died back in winter. The rhizomes have been sending out new growth for weeks and are already covered in these gorgeous scarlet flowers. I used the emergence of the new shoots as an indicator for when to sow our annual bean crops in the market garden. Scarlet runners are a great addition to your veggie patch or... edible forest garden. They are very ornamental, fix nitrogen in the soil and produce huge crops of beans. Although, you do need cool night time temps to encourage the flowers to set pods. What varieties of beans are you growing this summer? #scarletrunner #legume #edibleforestgarden #phaseoluscoccineus #edibleforestgarden #bean #indicator #vegiepatch #growyourown #kyneton #seedsaver

11.01.2022 First blueberry of the season. This variety is Joy, a very early variety that produces large tasty fruit. Blueberries are a great option for growing in pots. They crop over a long season. Growing a early, mid and late variety will ensure you pick blueberries all summer and well into autumn. They prefer acid soil, need regular watering but must have very good drainage.... Do you have any tips for growing blueberries? How is your crop looking this year? #blueberry #containergarden #greatforpots #growyourown #firstofthesummer #joy #frommygarden #acidlovingplants #vaccinium #vaccíniumcorymbosum #bloom

10.01.2022 Dinner sorted, kids in bed and the dishes done. There was still some daylight left so I went for a quiet wander through the garden (while watching another great sunset in #Kyneton). Then I stumbled upon the strawberry patch and realised I hadn't harvested since Monday afternoon. So I grabbed a berry punnet and started picking. Then I had to grab another punnet, and then yet another. My quiet stroll turned into picking 1.2kg of strawberries. Looks like berry season is now well... underway at our house. It's not surprising with the combination of a wet spring and the warmer weather. Summer abundance is coming! With plenty more strawberries on the way, do you have any suggestions for managing a glut of strawberries? #berrynice #strawberriesandcream #summerabundance #growyourown #livingmulch #beatthebirds #redripestrawberries #juicy #timeforjam #foodswap

10.01.2022 On Saturday we ran another workshop in our Science of Edible Gardening Series. The theme of the workshop was population ecology. During the day we discussed beneficial insects and how to increase their presence in your garden ecosystem. Doing so increases the resilience of your garden and reduces garden pests. At the end of the workshop our participants completed two practical activities. The first was to construct an insect hotel to take home and place in their own garden. I...nsect hotels are very easy to make. Simply take a vessel such as a washed tin can, a piece of pipe, a besser block, or in this case, a piece of cardboard tube. The options are only limited by your imagination. Once you have a suitable vessel, fill it with lengths of hollow vegetation. Again, let your imagination run wild. We used some bamboo stake offcuts, some old sunflower stems and even some dried stems of thistles. The latter two items still had plenty of white pith in the middle. It can be good to include materials with this pith as some of the native bees and beneficial insects like to excavate their nest before using it. Using a range of materials with different diameters ensures that a larger diversity of visitors can utilise the insect hotel. The second activity we completed was a larger insect hotel. We made this by drilling holes of different diameters into a large piece of Redgum timber. The timber was then placed in our orchard so that the holes were protected from rain. Our participants will be able to check back in on the second project each time they visit for upcoming workshops. Our next workshop is Reproductive Genetics, where we will explore seed saving, taking cuttings and fruit tree grafting. https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/science-of-edible-gardeni/

09.01.2022 Good airflow and reduced humidity in Central Victoria helps us to delay the onset of powdery mildew by about a month after Melbourne gardens. Our cucumbers, zucchini, melons and pumpkins are showing signs of this fungal infection taking hold. However, most of these plants are still very productive for us. I often see social media posts asking for advice with dealing with powdery mildew. I encourage people to "do nothing". Powdery mildew is inevitable at this time of the year.... To me it is just another indicator that the seasons are changing. Rather than trying to rectify the "problem" it's time to remove spent plants and replace them with winter veggies. Of course you can reduce the onset of this disease, but it's impossible to cure. Where ever possible ensure that susceptible plants have good airflow and make sure you avoid splashing the leaves when watering. This can prolong the onset for several weeks. Are your plants suffering from powdery mildew? Do you do anything about it, or just remove the plants when they are done? https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/powdery-mildew/

08.01.2022 A dozen tasty, freshly harvested figs.... Keen eyed folks may notice there are actually only eleven on the plate. I've decided to coin the phrase "a gardener's dozen" because there's always at least one piece that doesn't make it inside. Gosh it was delicious! What do you think.... #gardenersdozen Will it catch on?... #figs #autumnharvest #notabakersdozen #elevennottwelve #beatthebirds #ficuscarica #stickysweet

07.01.2022 The first Red Currant of the season. This is a full month earlier than in 2019. Another urgent job added to the "To-Do List".... put the nets over the berry crops! Recent heavy rainfall has delayed our spring veggie planting and increased weed growth. You can almost see the grass growing. Now our summer crops are ripening a month early. Spring is always a very busy time in the garden, but this year it seems even more hectic than usual.... What's happening in your garden? #redcurrants #spring #workworkwork #harvest #early #nearlychristmasalready #birdnetting #beatthebirds #homegrown #berries #macedonranges

07.01.2022 That's a lot of broad beans! What are you up to in the garden this weekend? #abundance #podding #blanching #freezing #broadbeans #weekend #gardening

04.01.2022 Umbelliferous flowers (flowers that look like umbrellas)... Favourites of beneficial insects such as lady bugs, hoverflies and lacewings. Allowing your veggies to flower and go to seed can increase the resilience of your garden ecosystem. These dill and coriander flowers are attracting masses of insects to our garden. Most of them will lay eggs nearby. The larvae that hatch will feast on sap sucking insects such as the whitefly that are currently damaging plants in large num...bers. Not only are the flowers attracting good bugs into the garden.... They also look great! See our blog post for more info on attracting beneficial insects into the garden with flowers. https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/garden-ecosystems-attract/

02.01.2022 Our runner beans have germinated. This year we are growing four varieties: Blue Lake, Rattlesnake, Purple King and Scarlet Runner. Beans are a favourite crop for earwigs, but so far they've left them alone. What's happening in your garden this weekend? #runnerbean #germination #grandfinalweekend #macedonranges #scarletrunner #rattlesnake #bluelake #growyourown #trellis #spring #marketgardening #earwigs

01.01.2022 Autumn and spring are times of mild temperature and high rainfall. These conditions and an associated flush of new plant growth make perfect conditions for pest outbreaks. We are currently experiencing some heavy aphid infestations in the garden. Broad been seedlings, brassicas and many of the ornamental flowering plants are suffering from outbreaks of various aphid species. I've found that with a bit of patience, plenty of predatory bugs will soon follow. Predatory bugs suc...h as lacewings, lady birds and hoverflies will eat around 30 aphids a day and will soon begin to curb rampant outbreaks. You may be able to spot a lady bird in this image. It is enjoying an absolute feast! The next workshop in our Science of Edible Gardening series is titled Population Ecology: Pests & How to Control Them. We will be exploring pest-predator interactions and how careful garden design combined with dose of patience can go a long way to manage pest outbreaks. Event link: https://fb.me/e/1V6bh56kT