Home Grown
Crown Vegetables
28 April 2015 | Linda RossAsparagus and rhubarb are two long-lived plants you can grow from crowns planted in winter. Both these plants do best with an entire garden bed to themselves.
Read MoreMail Order Vegetable Seed Supplies
25 April 2015 | Linda RossWe like to buy our vegetable seeds from trusted mail order seed companies, this way we get a considerable range of varieties for a lifetime of experimentation and flavour. Here are our favourites.
Read More10 things you didn’t know about fruit flies
13 December 2018 | Robin PowellRobin Powell reports from behind enemy lines on the fascinating, infuriating fruit fly.
Read More5 steps to starting a veggie patch from scratch
25 April 2015 | Linda RossIsolation at home is much easier when you have a nice project. Ever wanted to grow your own veggies but never knew where to start? Here are five steps to consider when starting a patch from scratch.
Read MoreAsparagus
19 February 2015 | Linda RossHome-grown asparagus is easy, but it’s not quick. You’ll need to wait three years from planting before you can harvest a bunch of tender green spears, but the wait will have been worth it, and the asparagus patch will keep on giving for decades. Linda Ross shares her growing tips.
Read MoreAugust Jobs
21 May 2020 | Robin PowellDaffodil displays are the prize in August. It's time to get out there and enjoy them.
Beetroot
16 February 2015 | Linda RossThis versatile and nutritious vegetable can be grated, shredded, boiled or roasted. It can be a pickle, a soup, a dip, a side dish, a main event or
a salad. It is a great match for fetta cheese, goat’s cheese, walnuts, hazelnuts, horseradish, yoghurt, cumin, pine nuts, oranges, dill, mint and
rocket. Not quite convinced the beet deserves a place in your patch? Consider this: the leaves can also be eaten, cooked when harvested, or picked
young leaf by leaf to add colour and flavour to a mixed salad.
Berries
01 May 2015 | Linda RossGrowing berries is not a cinch - they have fierce thorns, troublesome pruning rules and require commitment (and hardware) to keep wildlife away from ripening fruit. But if berry-stained lips sound to you like a rich reward, take notes from Linda’s masterclass, and plant in winter.
Read MoreBest crops for small plots
06 March 2015 | Linda RossEven the smallest balcony plots can produce crops from an interesting range of small-fruited, ‘patio’-sized vegetables. Linda Ross shares tips on making it work.
Read MoreBest-ever roast potatoes
20 May 2019 | Robin PowellWant the best-ever roast potatoes? Simple, delicious and deeply comforting the humble roast spud is a must-have in the cook’s bag of tricks. Here are a few of our favourite versions.
Read MoreBroad Beans
22 May 2015 | Linda RossBroad beans offer one of spring’s best seasonal flavours. And as well as tasting good they enrich the soil with nitrogen, and handle the toughest frosts so can be planted now in all areas of Australia.
Read MoreBrussels Sprouts
20 May 2015 | Linda RossThe much-derided Brussels sprout is delicious when grown fresh and cooked quickly. Here’s how.
Read MoreCauliflower
13 February 2015 | Justin RussellJustin Russell says cauliflower is no cheesy addition to the vegetable patch; it’s a stand-alone star.
Read MoreCauliflower
24 May 2016 | Justin Russell
In a classic segment of ‘River Cottage’ host Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall damns the cauliflower, describing it as insipid and boring. Not fair.
While caulis can devolve into tasteless watery mush when treated badly in the kitchen, the best
varieties are packed with flavor.
Read More
Chinese style Brussels sprouts
20 May 2015 | Robin PowellThe European sprout gets an Asian makeover in this tasty stir fry.
Read MoreCompanion Planting 1
03 March 2015 | Linda RossCompanion planting is about wisely using plants to reduce the work of the gardener. These are our favourite garden workers.
Read MoreCompanion Planting 2
16 March 2015 | Linda RossWe love any strategy that reduces human intervention in the vegetable garden. Here are a few of our favourite tips for creating a productive garden with less personal effort.
Read MoreComposting
25 April 2015 | Sandra RossAll too often gardeners start composting with great excitement and enthusiasm, only for interest to wane as the results disappoint. Here is a quick guide to help you produce the best compost in whatever composting bin you choose.
Read MoreCool season vegetable guide
06 March 2015 | Linda RossMany vegetable gardeners believe that the date to start planting cool season crops is on the first day of winter. Big mistake. The time to start winter crops is early autumn.
Read MoreCrop Rotation
25 April 2015 | Linda RossPassionate vegetable gardeners and those looking for a holistic approach will want a way of rotating their crops for maximum benefit, health and harvest.
Read MoreCuttings from the Garden World
22 May 2020 | The Garden Clinic familyHere's what's happening in the garden world this winter.
Delicious: Lentil’s summer breakfast bowl
13 December 2018 | Lentil PurbrickBreakfast eggs get a super-fresh makeover in this dish from ‘The Village’ by Matt and Lentil from Grown and Gathered.
Read MoreDelicious: Sweet potato and chickpea curry
21 May 2018 | Robin PowellSweet potato and chickpea curry is comfort food of the first order - warming, satisfying and dead-simple.
Read MoreEdible Weeds
20 April 2015 | Linda RossThe annoying habit of weeds to grow fast (and often better than the vegetables they smother!) is good news for foragers. Follow these rules for weed eating: check and double check the identification; pick new leaves; pick leaves before flowering; pick only from areas that haven't been sprayed; and wash everything before using. These are our top 5 weeds.
Read MoreEdibles everywhere
26 August 2019 | Robin PowellDelicious ideas seen on our travels this year
Read MoreFennel
13 February 2015 | Justin RussellAmong the carefully chosen selection of seeds and plants that the First Fleet brought from England in 1788, was fennel. The plant has been held in high regard since Roman times, and at one stage, people believed that stuffing fennel seeds into their keyholes would keep ghosts from entering the room.
Read MoreFlower Farm: Summer jobs
23 January 2018 | Linda RossWe've dedicated a part of the patch to growing flowers just for picking. And the bonus? Armfuls of flowers for vases and arrangements.
Read MoreFlower farm: Winter jobs
30 May 2018 | Linda RossHere Linda gives advice and plans for winter; planting sunflowers, ranunculus, and spring bulbs; admiring the pansies, and picking winter flowers.
Read MoreGlobe Artichokes
25 April 2015 | Libby CameronGlobe artichokes look good in the garden, taste great at the table and improve things in the bedroom! Or so they say. Libby Cameron turns the light on globe artichokes.
Read MoreGrowing Soup Vegetables
18 March 2015 | Linda RossHomemade soup made from home grown vegetables is both nourishing and nurturing. Start now by sowing or planting out soup vegetables, including parsnip, carrot, swede, turnip and leek. In 12 weeks you’ll be picking your first soup pot harvest.
Read MoreHerbs / Autumn
25 April 2015 | Linda RossCut & come again herbs such as parsley, rocket, sorrel, chervil and coriander, prefer growing in the cooler months. Sow some seeds every month straight into the garden for a trickle harvest into the kitchen.
Read MoreHome grown: Lemons
21 May 2020 | Linda RossThe plant that gives Garden Clinic gardeners more grief than any other is the lemon. Here’s how to grow gorgeous lemons.
Read MoreHome Grown: Nashi
19 December 2016 | Justin RussellCrisp and crunchy nashi pears are just as cold-hardy as common pears but need fewer chilling hours to produce fruit, making them a delicious choice for
every climate zone in Australia.
Homegrown: Sweet Potato
30 May 2018 | Linda RossThis delicious tuber is one of the least-demanding vegetables in the patch. All it wants is sun and space.
Read MoreHow to: arrange flowers
31 May 2018 | Linda RossI love the look of flowers picked straight from the garden and casually arranged in a charming jug, jar, urn, vase - even a bucket. But when I pick a posy from my garden and aim for a natural aesthetic with casual grace, my arrangement looks not so much just-picked as just-plonked! So I asked Sonya Gardiner for help and these are her tips - the 5 Fs of Fabulous Flower Arranging.
Read MoreHow to: brew compost tea
05 September 2018 | Arno KingWhen I was a child all our neighbours and friends had a large tub - generally an old enamel washing machine tub - buried close to the vegetable garden. This was the ‘brew’ tub. Ingredients for the brew - compost, manures and seaweed - were widely discussed and benefits widely acclaimed. And it turns out these gardeners were onto something!
Read MoreHow to: build a salad bar
15 May 2015 | Linda RossOur salad bar makes the most of winter’s great salad greens.
Read MoreHow to: fix the lawn
31 May 2018 | Narelle SmithMost warm-season grasses stop growing when the nights turn cold, allowing weeds to get a foothold while your attention has turned indoors. So now is the time to target terrors like bindii, wintergrass and dandelions and avoid seeding - and many years more weeding.
Read MoreHow to: fix your tomatoes
27 May 2017 | Linda RossFresh, vine-ripened tomatoes are one of the great joys of summer. The best way to ensure that your tomato-growing experience delivers baskets of delicious fruit is to keep plants healthy.
Read MoreHow to: grow a salad bowl
17 March 2015 | Isla BarlowEden, Isla and Skye amazed their school friends when they took their own salad greens for lunch. Lettuce show you how easy it is!
Read MoreHow to: grow African violets
20 May 2019 | Linda RossAfrican violets are treasured, long-lived indoor plants. Make them shine with these tips.
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How to: grow amazing geraniums
01 October 2015 | Linda RossThe plants I'm talking about here are botanically speaking Pelargonium though commonly called geranium. True Geranium species are delicate-looking perennials, usually with blue flowers.
Read MoreHow to: grow blueberries
28 May 2015 | Linda RossBlueberries are pretty shrubs, with delicate, pink, bell-shaped flowers that give way to delicious purple-blue berries full of goodness and high in antioxidants.
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