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Digging a mini swale to grow some bush tucker plants

2/6/2017

One of the challenges for our garden overhaul is how much of the original garden to keep the same, and how much to change. This post shows how we added in a water harvesting feature (a mini swale) within an existing landscaped area, to enable the establishment of new plants - some local bush tucker species!

The perils of pH: watch out for alkaline commercial soil mixes

21/4/2017

The pH of your soil is critical for good plant growth. When we buy in soil we expect it's suitable for growing plants in - but amazingly, this isn't always true. In fact, the issue of alkalinity of bought soil here in Canberra doesn't seem that uncommon - I've heard from several people of similar issues, so this post is relevant for anyone who's thinking of buying in some soil!

Growing perennial leeks in Canberra

7/4/2017

The leek we're all familiar with that you can readily buy in the shops is an annual plant, meaning that new seeds need to be grown every year to grow new leeks.

But did you know that leeks have a perennial cousin?

The perennial leek is a variant of allium ampeloprasum - the other being elephant garlic. I didn't know about it either, until I happened upon a market stall on the south coast, about 2 years ago, where someone was selling a few tiny leeks in a pot. So I bought the pot and took them back, and now, a few seasons on, it's taking off! From that tiny punnet, we now have a whole bed of them! What's more - they're delicious!

The challenge of gum trees

15/11/2016

A challenge to the would-be food gardener in the 'Bush Capital' is the amount of gum trees planted throughout Canberra as street and garden trees. Eucalypts are surprisingly water-hungry and pump huge amounts of water up from the soil to their leaves. Their light dappled shade allows more sunlight to reach the ground under the canopy, so that, unlike the heavy shade zones under deciduous trees in European and North American forests, where it's often quite damp, it's usually dry and crunchy under a gum tree. Combine this with the fact that gum trees produce chemicals to inhibit the growth of competing plants, you'll see that the hard, dry soil near to a gum isn't going to be a great habitat for your next planting of lettuce.

Making wicking beds from recycled apple crates

5/2/2016

Some pictures of setting up some apple crate wicking beds in our front garden.

The indestructable Jerusalem artichoke

5/6/2012

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If ever there was a plant that can make you feel like you're the greatest gardener, it has to be the Jerusalem artichoke. Give them a little water, forget about them, and then after their cheery yellow blooms fall (they're a relative of the sunflower) and the plant dies down for winter, there's a secret haul of sweet knobbly tubers just below the surface.

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Forward>>

Digging a mini swale to grow some bush tucker plants

The perils of pH: watch out for alkaline commercial soil mixes

Growing perennial leeks in Canberra

The challenge of gum trees

Making wicking beds from recycled apple crates

The indestructable Jerusalem artichoke

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