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- Butter-making with sour (off) cream Butter making: Too simple, too tasty, too economical.
- Carrot Seeds - how to collect them Too simple - leave one carrot to 'go to seed'
- Building An Elevated Waist High / No Dig Garden Bed The beauty of an elevated waist high garden bed is that it's a no dig garden, it's extremely friendly to the aged and disabled, and if you are away for a month, there are very few weeds in the garden when you get back.
- Assembling Your Plant-A-Genda This photographic guide steps you through how to assemble your new Plant-A-Genda product
- July 2010 Garden news Well, after some 4 or 5 days of really cold, rainy weather, today, here in Armidale, Northern N.S.W., we are having a brilliantly sunny day. Just the right temperature for some serious gardening.
- Keeping Track Of Your Plantlings While the Plant-A-Genda product may keep your seeds safe in the correct month of planting, it makes life easier if you also create a calendar to record when you planted rows and also for optimising your planting in the seasons to come.
- Seeds for Good Health – How Eating More Vegetables Will Benefit You 'Seeds' for Good Health is not to be sneezed at! It's an extremely effective way of improving your health and quality of life, and can be achieved through this natural and healthy selection of foods.
- Are You A Beginner Veggie Gardener? Are you a beginner veggie gardener? Or have you been collecting seeds and need to get organized? If so, then the Plant-A-Genda is for you. Read more about this product in our write up.
- What To Do With Unrecyclable Rubbish Although many things can be recycled these days, there are still things which may remain in your general rubbish which can also be recycled effiiciently by other means aside from your general pickup or drop of recycling centre.
- Compost Heaps Help Your Seeds Grow! Composting can make a huge difference to your garden, and is also a good sustainble practice. A neat compost heap can be made up from just an old rubbish bin with the bottom removed and holes drilled in the sides.
- Healthy Lifestyles Can Start In Schools A healthy lifestyle and good life skills can easily be integrated into childrens school and home activities. This information provides some information and projects which teachers and parents can take to help kids they work with enjoy gardening and develop some really healthy habbits and life skills.
- Choosing Your Climate Climate has a big effect when growing vegetables and herbs, and correctly identifying the climate you are in will help greatly in identifying what to grow and when to grow it, ensuring a year round productive garden.
- Celeriac Celeriac resembles celery in the leaves, and the smell. It is very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber [2g], Vitamin B6, Magnesium, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin C and Phosphorus.
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Choosing Your Climate
Climate has a big effect on growing vegetables and herbs, and correctly identifying your climate before you start your gardening will help you immensely when identifying what to grow and when to grow it, and ensuring that you reap the benefits of a year round productive garden.
Many products provided on this website also depend greatly on knowing what climate you are in, so that you can select the correct product edition for your climate zone and assign the correct seasons and instructions for your garden.
Cold Climate
If you have ANY frosts in your area, then your Climate is usually going to be classed as Cold.
There are many vegetables that you can grow in a Cold climate: Brussels sprouts, broad beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, spinach, silver beet, carrots [all year] lettuce, coriander, garlic and rocket. Potatoes, tomatoes, capsicum, zucchini, watermelon, and cucumber cannot be planted out until after that last frost.
Tips: Whilst you can start your seeds in punnets inside in Spring, [using Jiffy pots - you don't have to disturb the roots when planting out] do not plant out until AFTER your last frost. This is usually after the last Full Moon. If in doubt, ask your local Nursery. They'll know!
Tropical Climate
If you live in a Tropical zone, then the system used for cold climate will still be helpful.
Sub-Tropical is a great place to grow most vegetables, although it might be difficult to grow coriander and lettuce, as they bolt easily.
Temperate Climate
A temperate is the best climate for growing vegetables, and you have the greatest chance of growing every vegetable known to man!
You can plant carrot seeds every 2-3 weeks, and have a constant supply all year round. The same applies to lettuce, although if it gets very hot, you must shade your plants, mulch heavily, and water often to stop them bolting.
In a Temperate climate, and having a garden bed approximately 3 metres by 10 metres [30 square metres], you should be able to produce approximately $500 worth of vegetables. Think how lovely it is to go out into your garden before dinner and say "Now, what vegetables can we have tonight?" Fresh as, and no spray. Environmentally conscious as you haven't leapt into a car to buy at the supermarket! A saving on petrol, tyres, oil and maintenance. So the $500 worth of veg. is probably much more.
For any climate, think about an elevated garden bed which is waist high. These means no bending, no weeding, no digging, and great drainage! The plans for an elevated garden bed are in the PLANT-A-GENDA-FOLDA! and also featured in this Hints and Recipes section. It will take one weekend to make, but then it's yours for life. You will then need to add compost, vermiculite, manure etc. before you plant a new crop. However, that's not difficult.
Our Products
Our products have been designed with the amateur veggie gardener and kids in mind, however experienced gardeners will also appreciate being able to use our products to stay organised and make life easier in the garden.
Plant-A-Genda
Plant-A-Gen!us
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