Good Organic Gardening

Last issue we featured frogs in our Garden Life series. This issue it’s the cutest of the cute, possibly our most adorable native animals: gliders. Steve McGrane profiles the most common species and the accompanying images will have you wanting some

Common name: Eastern water dragon Scientific name: Intellagama lesueurii lesueurii If you’ve ever seen an eastern water dragon you can count yourself lucky. Greyish-brown with black bands along its length and a spiky spinal crest from head to tail, t

We used to talk as if we had time to stop climate change but the reality is we are already living with a rapidly changing climate. Temperatures have risen, the ice is melting and things are going to get a lot worse unless we act decisively to stop th

Nobody admires the blue berries of Dianella more than the satin bowerbird. Before blue milk bottle tops and plastic pegs became common in the environment, the satin bowerbird used the berries to decorate his bower and attract females. A large bird wi

The plants: Sow this seed collection to provide the best year-round accommodation for one of our garden’s most valued guests: the beneficial insects. Each packet includes Queen Anne’s lace and alyssum for winter and spring flowers, dill, borage and C

A range of leafy vegetable crops in the garden means there’s always something tasty, fresh and packed with nourishment to harvest and add to a meal. Spinach and silver beet are good crops for leafy harvest but there are many others to add interest an

When the weather turns cool and the trees are bare, my thoughts always turn to planting deciduous trees and shrubs. Of all of the deciduous fruit trees, I have a real fondness for plums. As a small tree they are delightfully pretty with glossy green

To share the love of gardening with young and old is a wonderful thing: a gift to those receiving and an inspiration to the curious of mind, young and old. One woman delivers all these things to many on a daily basis through her business and workshop

Is there another fruit tree as magnificent as the mulberry? Its thick green canopy provides deep shade in summer, its sturdy branches are made for kids to climb and its sweet dark berries keep cropping from late spring through to summer so you don’t

River mint is a rambling native herb found in moist forests and waterways across southeast Australia. A summer grower, it especially thrives after floods, often on riverbanks or in bogs. Also known as wild mint — in fact it’s one of a half-dozen nati

An hour’s drive north of Brisbane, Queensland’s Sunshine Coast spans 60km from Caloundra to Noosa. Once a subtropical swamp and tea-tree wilderness, this string of coastal towns is now Queensland’s third most populous region and one of the fastest-gr

In the township of Lethbridge, northwest of Geelong on the Midland Highway, is Bert and Sue Moritz’ fiveacre property, of which a full acre is given over to vegetables. Sue, a retired nurse, and Bert, a former primary school teacher, were both born i

Winter is all about nourishing, warming brassicas and root vegetables, along with rich herbed tomato sauces. Lighten up your dishes with peas and winter greens. Moving towards the end of our official winter, it’s time to start thinking about preparin

Variously known as mountain pepper, pepperberry and Tasmanian pepper, Tasmannia lanceolata is a temperate rainforest tree — more exactly, a large shrub — native to south-eastern Australia. Its spicy, aromatic leaves and berries can be used to flavour

Spinach and silverbeet are often confused with each other — and these leafy green veggies do have similar tastes and appearances — but for the best growing success in your garden it’s worth taking note of their differences. We give the name silverbee

Amaranth is a flamboyant and far from mainstream crop. Its flamboyance comes from its tall, robust growth, red stems and dark leaves and its crowning glory of blood-red feathery flowers that form drooping tassels as the seeds mature. Indeed, this pla

What’s a medlar, you may well ask. Indeed, after reading this you may well wonder why a medlar! The medlar is a fruit tree and it’s a bit of a curiosity, an edible from a bygone era that was once better known than apple. It’s a small tree (just 3m hi

Citrus trees, particularly lemons, are among the most popular of all backyard fruits. This popularity is due to their heavy crops — which are known to be tasty, good for you and rich in vitamin C — as well as their adaptability to a wide range of cli

For many people, wattles are a comforting symbol of Australia. We admire their rapid growth, golden balls of flowers and their distinct scent, and celebrate them as our national floral emblem. While Australians tend to admire all wattles, it’s the go

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, anyone? Last issue we discussed a range of nuts that grow well in warmer climates. Now that we’re definitely into winter, it’s appropriate our thoughts turn to nut-producing trees that require a cool to cold climat

If planting seedlings directly into pots, fill with a mix of organic potting mix, adding around 20 per cent compost and 20 per cent manure Container gardens are easy to establish, plant and harvest — so, from pot to plate, serving up delightful winte

Chooks are the new backyard pet and you can enjoy their company whether you live in the city or the back of Bourke. They’re adaptable, very smart and live for seven to 14 years. Provided your hens have safe, comfy housing, they’ll be low-maintenance

Pests and diseases take a break over winter but the cabbage white butterfly is about, as are snails and slugs. Handpick and squash any green caterpillars on brassicas then cover these crops with insect exclusion netting to prevent the adults laying m

As the days lengthen and soils begin to warm, there’s an urge that comes over most gardeners to plant! If all threat of frost has passed, plant away, but if there’s still the chance of a sneaky late frost, hold off planting out cold-sensitive summer

The adorable creatures on these pages are native gliders (gliding possums), so called because of their ability to use a gliding membrane, a thin sheet of skin that stretches between the forepaws and ankles. As the glider leaps from branch to branch,

In last edition’s article on permaculture’s energy-efficient planning, we looked at the concept of zone planning, which was concerned with managing energies within our systems. This article will explore the second aspect of energy-efficient planning,

With two or three hours of cooking, chicken thighs are rendered melt-in-your-mouth tender. Because of this lengthy cooking time, I always use a firm potato variety here, as floury potatoes would just fall apart. If you are super-organised, you could

Khoresh is an exotic-sounding Iranian term for a stew, where a whole bunch of ingredients are gently cooked together in a pot to produce a delicious meal. For this one, I’ve made things even more exotic by including rhubarb, which is more often cooke

By Dr Gráinne Cleary, Allen & Unwin, $29.99 Did you hear about the injured cockatoo which, when returned to the wild, apparently taught the rest of the flock how to unlock a cage? That’s just one of the fascinating stories wildlife ecologist Gráinne