Oncidium orchids are great decorative plants for subtropical gardens and apartments. They flower twice in the year, Autumn and Spring, and are ideal for bringing in as a showy houseplant. I have two types; one with sweetly vanilla scented burgundy flowers on very large spikes, and a smaller one with dense spikes of yellow flowers. The yellow one is easy to divide, so I have a few pots which conveniently manage to flower a few weeks apart. The orchid world is full of complex crosses, and Oncidium is a catch-all for…
Read MoreYear: 2015
Beefsteak tomatoes
For flavour and texture, beefsteak tomatoes are hard to beat. Their large size and fairly flat fruit make them good for sandwiches, and they have thick flesh and less seed than other tomato types, meaning the flavour is less acid.
Read MoreBurnley Bounty tomatoes
Burnley Bounty tomatoes are an Australian cultivar. They have a good classic tomato shape, about 7 cm round and slightly flattened top and bottom, with a nice orange colour ripening to red. I selected it from the catalogue expecting it to have a good chance of being suited to the climate.
Read MoreGoing up: vertical frames for vegetables
A little inspiration in the garden can make a big difference. Vertical frames for vegetables, like these pyramids or teepees, can take trellising for plants beyond stakes and fences and create features to break up a flat expanse of vegetable beds.
Read MoreTime to plant tomatoes
It’s great being on the Web and seeing posts from around the world. The gardening blogs and posts from the Northern Hemisphere have swung into Spring preparation, which includes getting your tomato seeds sprouting indoors, but it turns out that for us here in northern New South Wales the garden advice is to plant tomatoes too.
Read MoreWhen in doubt, sow asian greens.
One of my garden mantras should be; When is doubt, sow asian greens. They seem to always reward with a quick crop and are super handy to have ready to pick. I had given up on growing them for summer, considering them a cool season crop, but after a neighbour gave me some fresh pak choi at the height of the warm weather, I reconsidered. There was a bed newly free after a sunflower crop, so I decided to try a few rows. The result has been a bed of…
Read MoreRosellas; a pretty plant that makes great cordial
Yesterday I cut and processed my first lot of rosellas, and my attitude went from skepticism to planning how many rows I will plant next year.
Read MoreTomatillo failure
Tomatillos might not be a good crop for us here. I’ve tried a couple of plantings, and each time they grew well, then we had tomatillo failure as they were completely stripped by beetles and their grubs.
Read MoreGrowing buckwheat as a cover crop
Buckwheat has been a useful crop for me, and I’m sure it will be one of the staples here. I’ve planted a few stands, starting back in Winter, so I’m getting a feel for growing buckwheat in our conditions.
Read MoreCan a fungus be rude?
Here’s a bit of late Summer wildlife from the veggie garden. Demonstrating our innate need to make sense of what we see, mycologists have named this genus of fungi Phallus. It’s doing well on the decomposing grass in my plot down on the Mid-levels, and sends up a fruiting body every week or so. This morning I saw what appeared to be two squid rings sitting on the grass (outside the veggie patch fence), and then realised that they were Phallus fruiting bodies that had been neatly eaten off. I’d…
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