It's now the perfect time to pop on a warm jacket and head down to your local nursery to check out the fantastic range of citrus trees available.  

Citrus trees fill the gap for nurseries until their bare rooted tree stock becomes available once we're into winter proper.  If you haven't had a close look in the citrus section for a few years I think you'll be amazed at the variety of trees that are available.  Old backyard favourites such as

Raise your pitchfork to the sky…it's International Compost Awareness Week!

It may have passed right by you but we're at the end of International Compost Awareness Week!  And before you start moaning about yet another week of something or other, I'm going to start waxing lyrical about this marvellous stuff.  

You know in all the years I've been reading and talking to people about gardening I've NEVER heard anyone suggest that using compost is a lousy idea.  It seems that no matter what the problem is with your soil,  plant or veggie patch, compost is always offered as the magic elixir.

So what actually is compost and how is it different to soil?

Portable gardening
For the first time in several years I currently find myself in rental accommodation.  For a gardener this can often mean forgetting about getting your hands dirty until a later date when you have ownership of a property.  But if we think about it there is still plenty of scope to enjoy producing your own food no matter what your current living situation is.

The highly underrated broad beans...

My early childhood experience of a broad beans (also known as fava beans) was a haunting one to say the least…   Who knows, maybe that's why Hannibal Lector turned out the way he did because according to Silence of the Lambs, he used to enjoy them with a "nice chianti" and some poor blokes' liver  No wonder they've got such a lousy reputation!

Thinking about chooks?

If you've been pondering over whether or not to get chickens for your backyard then keep reading - this post is for you.  

I'll start with the positives (which far outweigh the negatives as far as I'm concerned)

You can't get better than freshly laid eggs.  Now an egg may just be an egg to you, but they really are nature's power packed vitamin pill.  And if we feed our hens the right stuff they'll then be full of long chain fatty acids which - if you believe the internet - can help you to live forever and probably ensure your football team will win this year's grand final…

FREE GARDEN WORKSHOP!

This Wednesday evening at Danawa Community Garden in Torquay, Backyard Harvest will be running an introduction to sustainable and organic gardening workshop.  We'll be looking at water saving strategies, alternatives to chemical herbicides and pesticides, composting etc. 5:30pm to 7:00pm and proudly supported by the wonderful folks at the Surf Coast Energy Group!

Guerilla Gardening - it's time to pimp our pavements!

Okay okay, so let's get all the Dad jokes out of the road right now; don't tell me…you didn't know Gorillas could grow tomatoes and while we're at it you're also surprised monkeys could be trusted with wheelbarrows?  

How to save tomato seeds, step by step.

Before my tomato crops had well and truly finished, I made sure I picked some of the best looking and plump fruit.  "Save the best and eat the rest" is a saying I once heard from an old gardener that sums it up beautifully.  A little bit of sacrifice each season is paid back in multiples the following season.  

Green Manure

Last week I encouraged you to replace your summer crops with Asian greens and to start thinking about putting in winter vegetables such as cabbages and cauliflowers.  Well if you're not up for another season of gardening, or if you're heading up north for some warmer weather, green manure is a great way to give your soil a boost with a minimal of effort and no maintenance.  

The idea of a green manure crop is that you sow seeds in an empty (or fallow) garden bed and simply just let the plants grow.  But rather than obtaining any kind of harvest, you simply dig the mature plants back into the soil!

Four wonderful edible plants you can grow in Geelong that may surprise you...

I've mentioned previously about how lucky we are to live in a temperate climate along Victoria's coastline.  We generally end up with slightly milder summers with the edge taken off the afternoon sun with sea breezes.  While in winters we all but avoid frosts, especially in our more urban areas.  

So what does this mean for you and your productive garden?  It means you can take full advantage of our weather and plant some amazing things you may not have even heard of!