Good Organic Gardening

A horticulturist, writer and passionate organic gardener, Chloe is co-owner and presenter of the web-based series The Gardenettes and has been a regular presenter on The Garden Gurus. The mother of two little boys, she has a great following of Austra

Cannabis, marijuana, weed — call it what you like — is a plant best known as an illegal drug due to a mind-altering chemical contained in some strains, called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). All forms of cannabis have been illegal to grow, use and sell s

Despite its South American origins, passionfruit is the topping on the Australian dream. There was a time when it seemed every suburban backyard had a passionfruit vine — right next to the choko and the outside dunny. The succulent yellow pulp seemed

Kylie Treble’s block sits on a hill just over 5km inland from Port Campbell, a small town in southwest Victoria on the Great Ocean Road. It’s something of a microclimate, with high rainfall in winter, salty winds in spring and a dry summer. Frosts ar

For me, one of the best things about summer is the insects. It’s also the worst thing. I dearly love the butterflies, dragonflies, hoverflies, damselflies and bees on our patch of planet Earth — like that beautiful creature opposite, which fluttered

As is often the case with the more unusual vegies, I first came across this one in a food market — in Hobart’s wonderful Salamanca market, in fact. So, given you don’t see this tasty green in shops very often, if you want to enjoy its slightly mustar

Fresh from the tree, stewed or made into sumptuous desserts, peaches are pure summer indulgence. The fruit originates from China and has been tantalising our tastebuds for centuries, mentioned in Chinese writings as early as the 10th century. Histori

Like his fictional countryman Don Quixote of La Mancha, José Pedro Enrique Paronella grew up enraptured by the romance of medieval castles and knightly chivalry. He loved his grandmother’s tales of the Spanish nobleza and their dramatic deeds of derr

Who do you call when you want a nice garden but don’t know where to start? Or you just need a bit of a hand? Try craft gardener Robert Wilson. Robert, who lives on a suburban block in the western suburbs of Brisbane with partner Chelsea Allan, her th

Mid-summer is a time of high productivity but the heat can be very harsh. Protect your plants with some shade and keep the watering consistent if the weather is dry. This month you can start to focus on sowing some cooler-season crops, but you may ne

By this time of year, any of your friends who are growing beans may already have been pressing bagfuls into your hands. In some seasons, beans can be as generous and overabundant as zucchinis. They are also best eaten fresh, which is why growers are

Fruit trees are changing. Most are becoming smaller in stature and more compact overall. This downsizing is in line with a move to apartment living and smaller gardens. Today there’s a dwarf form of just about every popular fruit tree including the a

Once upon a time, this humble staple root veg wasn’t grown for its distinctive orange root at all. In fact, in the 7th century, wild carrots in colours of purple, white, red, black and yellow grew throughout the area that is now Iran and Afghanistan.

My earliest memory of eating macadamias is sitting on the back steps of my grandparents’ house with my brother and cousin. We’d have a pocketful of macadamias each and the hammer. We’d put the nuts on the concrete path then use the hammer to break op

If I only had the space to grow one plant this summer it would have to be a cherry tomato. Why? Because they are such prolific producers of the sweetest lolly-like fruit — so good in fact, I tend to eat a lot of them straight from the plant! Last yea

It’s believed Egyptians used the first scarecrows to protect wheat fields along the Nile from flocks of quail. These days, scarecrows are used the world over to keep marauding birds from munching on farmers’ crops. Not only do they look very cool (an

Years of living with my grandmother and countless hours spent in the garden gave me a true appreciation of and sense of wonderment about the natural world: plants, seasons and wildlife. That included insects and their close relatives. We spent many a

Show poultry a garden or orchard area they can forage in and you’ll be astounded by the intensity of their hunting and gathering. Despite centuries of domestication, they’ve retained their instinct for live food — and gardeners can put this innate dr

With their big blousy heads of blue or pink flowers, hydrangeas are a feature of summer gardens. They are well suited to that shaded part of the garden on the east or southern side of the house and are easy to grow from cuttings, which are taken in w

N-phosphonomethylglycine, better known as glyphosate, is a broad-system herbicide marketed since 1974 as a weed killer. Discovered by a Monsanto chemist, it is widely recognised as the herbicide Roundup, a trade name now owned by Bayer after the chem

Summer spells fun in the sun with the family, long lazy days at the beach and summer barbecues on the deck. Summer is also a great time to grow a bountiful harvest in your potted vegie garden. Use free-draining containers and fill with organic pottin

Summer is a time of bounty but there can be seasonal complications from heat, pests and lack of water. Tomatoes may stop flowering when temperatures rise. They also need to be well watered to avoid blossom end rot in the fruit, a calcium deficiency t

Serves 4 • 3 capsicums (we use a mix of red and yellow), sliced• 1 red (Spanish) onion, sliced• 1 small red chilli, deseeded & finely chopped• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil• 3 tbsp Mexican seasoning• Pink salt• 600g raw prawns, tails on, peeled & dev

Edible plants need daily watering while it’s hot, dry or windy. Leafy crops such as lettuce and parsley can bolt (begin to flower and seed) if they dry out while tomatoes often develop blossom end rot, a nutrient deficiency. Seedlings are particularl

Traditional produce gardens borrow heavily from commercial agriculture practices: they use monocultures with lines of the same plants arranged in widely spaced rows. Whether we’re talking about rows of vegetables, berry plants or fruit trees, it’s pr

Apricot, avocado, banana, berries, carambola (starfruit), cherry (Morello sour), currants (red currant, black currant), grapes, lemons, limes, lychee, mango, melons, nectarine, passionfruit, peach, pear (Paradise, Williams), pineapple, plums, prickly

By Fiona Scott-Norman & Ilana Rose, Pan Macmillan, $32.99 The internet, they say, is full of cute cats but our photogenic feathered friends are catching up fast. Chooks are back in backyards and all over social media. There are even movies about them

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