PEST CONTROL: The Three Ds
When faced with pests eating vegetables many people instinctively reach for a powerful poison, but this should be a last resort only. A better way
June 11, 2020
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MONTHLY VEGETABLE PLANTING GUIDE – Cool Mountainous
This Cool Mountainous monthly planting guide is based on information drawn from six planting guides for South Eastern Australia, both contemporary and historical. The general
February 22, 2021
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Using Single Cell Seedling Trays To Grow Seedlings
While the easiest way to produce seedlings is to grow them in a STYROFOAM SEEDLING BOX or similar large box seedlings that do not like
October 10, 2020
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Stressing Tomato Plants To Encourage Early Fruiting
Here in the Rat (Ballarat) the food gardening Holy Grail is to get ripe tomatoes by Christmas. Yet food gardeners often tell me that they
October 13, 2020
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Potting Up Tomato Plants
While most of the seedlings I grow are planted straight into the ground sometimes I pot them up into pots before planting them out as
October 13, 2020
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SEASONAL BLOG: My Cool Zone June Pea Planting Experiment
My June pea planting experiment As an experiment I planted bush and snow peas in my main vegetable patch at the start of June, a
August 22, 2020
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Planting Distances And Harvesting Times
Planting distances and harvesting times for individual vegetables can vary considerably depending on factors such as the climate, seasonal weather variations, and the varieties of
August 13, 2020
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SEASONAL BLOG: Early Start To The Asparagus Season
A bit early to tell but it looks like it is shaping up to be an early asparagus season for the Ballarat area. This photo
August 11, 2020
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SEASONAL BLOG: Early beginning to the Asparagus Harvest
Following up from my Early Start To The Asparagus Season blog post back on 11th August. It has indeed turned out to be an early
August 21, 2020
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Creating Your Own Local Vegetable Planting Guide
Some twenty years ago I put together a planting guide specifically for Ballarat and District vegetable gardeners. What went into the guide was based on
August 6, 2020
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Seedling Planting Suitability Chart
Not every vegetable is suitable for planting as a seedling. This seedling planting suitability chart explains which vegetables are best suited to be planted as
April 19, 2020
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Fertilsing Vegetable Beds
How much fertiliser should be added to a vegetable bed depends on three things: THE VARIETY OF VEGETABLE BEING GROWN THE TYPE AND STRENGTH OF
July 1, 2020
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Commercial Seedling Propagation Boxes
The standard commercially made seedling propagating boxes that are widely available at Australian nurseries and hardware stores (such as the Yates Mini Greenhouse) have their
June 7, 2020
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Growing Corn
CHARACTERISTICS AND REQUIREMENTS Large plant that needs plenty of space if it is to grow decent sized ears. Requires a rich well drained soil with
June 30, 2020
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ANNUAL VEGETABLE PLANTING GUIDE: Women’s Weekly (Circa 1974)
Historical Women’s Weekly seed planting guide circa 1974. To make it easier to understand it has been reformatted, though it remains true to the original
April 5, 2020
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SEASONAL BLOG: Signs That It’s Time To Buy New Chilli Seeds
If you grow a single chilli plant far enough away (beyond bee flight range) from any other plants of the genus capsicum it would still
May 2, 2020
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