Do you remember seeing more flying insects in your childhood than you see today? If you have, you're not alone. There's a frightening trend worldwide. Research has found populations of flying insects have dropped dramatically - by as much as three quarters - over the past 30 years.

So, what is causing it? (Hint - it's more than you think.) What does it mean for ecosystems - and ourselves? And is there anything that we can do about it that goes beyond platitudes and that will make a meaningful difference? This post explains what's happening and the key reasons for it. My following blog episodes will explore how to effectively tackle each cause in turn.

As the climate warms and rainfall becomes less predictable, water harvesting in gardens will become more and more valuable. Everybody knows about the value of rainwater tanks, but did you know there are other ways to harvest rainwater and runoff too?

Read on to learn more about the benefits of water harvesting in Canberra. Watch a video showing how we capture rain and greywater using a couple of grated drainage channels cut through the driveway. Because our driveway is very long, that's a lot of water. We reckon this might harvest as much as our roof does!

Here's a little pictorial overview of how we get our wicking beds and pots ready for the next crop. If you are wondering how to keep container gardens fertile from season to season, then read on...

The tragedy of the brutal fires sweeping through eastern Australia, with images of apocalypse-red skies and horror stories of loss and grief, seems to keep on unfolding, grimly marching onwards as the weeks go by. It’s only the beginning of January - the fire season has at least another two months to run. It feels as if we’re in for the long haul. Thankfully we are still safe here in Canberra from any imminent bushfire threat, although the terrible air quality poses its own significant health risks.

This autumn we harvested summer beans until almost the end of April - an unexpected bonus harvest because the frosts took so long to arrive this year. This may be part of an emerging trend. Did you know that Canberra’s winter nights are forecast to get warmer over the coming years? This will mean fewer and fewer frosty nights over the coming decades. Could this eventually change what we can grow here in Canberra?

Since 1 January 2019, we have grown over 300 kg of fresh produce in our moderately sized suburban Canberra garden: from tomatoes, zucchini, tomatilloes, green and purple beans, and herbs over summer to Jerusalem artichokes, perennial leeks, parsley, Asian greens and kale now it's winter. But we'd like to let you into a little secret: we have done this without using any insecticides, bug killing sprays, or chemical fertilisers. Read on to learn how we did it, and why it matters so much. We'll share our 7 key principles to get you started.

There are many edible plants that you can grow successfully in Canberra, but here is a list of five stand-out plants that grow here very easily and with relatively little maintenance. We chose these five plants because they also produce a lot of food for relatively little input from you.

Read on to discover why we think these five plants are so awesome!

It's been a hot, dry summer this year. But, in spite of this (and perhaps because of it) we've recorded our biggest ever two-month harvest - almost 140kg. The freezer is bursting and we already have a year's supply of tomato passata! Read on to learn the 5 key lessons we've learned in growing vegetables productively in a regular Canberra suburban garden with the usual uninspiring clay to begin with... 

Seriously, this has been the most exciting tomato year ever! 

In fact, until this year, I can't say we have ever had that much success with tomatoes, and I was actually a bit skeptical that this year would be any different. But something changed this year and the result has been a harvest of over 50 kilos of tomatoes so far!!