My garden retreat

It’s holiday time now and I’m looking forward to relaxing outdoors … making the most of some R&R and enjoying my garden. I have a bench seat in the corner of my little backyard that beckons me whenever I’m out there. Whether I’m working hard digging,...

Growing and Harvesting Garlic

The plaiting is finished and the aroma of fresh garlic fills my kitchen. I’ve had a nice crop of garlic this year and it always brings a sense of satisfaction to harvest my annual supply of organic garlic bulbs for cooking. Garlic is one of the easiest things to grow...

Natural Beekeeping

“The future of bees is not in 1 beekeeper keeping 60,000 hives but in 60,000 keepers with one hive each.” Simon Buxton This is a quote I heard last weekend when I attended Milkwood Permaculture’s Natural Bee Keeping course in an inner city suburb of Sydney. I was...

Remembrance Day 2011

“Going back to living the way the rest of the world lives gives combat veterans serious problems.  Other people have not had their experience.  In being blooded, the soldier has become a member of an exclusive club, which has high membership fees”. That’s...

Fascination with ‘Fasciation’

I was asked a question by someone contacting the Australian Institute of Horticulture website (www.aih.org.au) about a strange looking pumpkin. I suggested a possible solution and so the pumpkin owner sent me some photos to see if I could confirm the diagnosis. I’m...