For those who love their spuds, you’ll love the variety of seed potatoes we have available now at BAAG. They come in 1kg bags or boxes and all the big names are there, such as Desiree and Pontiac. Why not try some of the designer spuds, such as Lustre or King Edward, in your plot this year? There’s still plenty of time to plant , so get ready by preparing their beds for planting, with loads of well-rotted manures and composts. These are hungry plants so you can’t overdo it. Seed potatoes refer to the fact that they are disease-free. They still look like ordinary potatoes, not seeds! You can’t guarantee that the spuds that have started to sprout in your pantry aren’t carrying viruses, so sometimes planting those leads to disappointment.

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Spring is here!

The signs of lengthening days are unmistakeable now. Blossoms are appearing on seemingly lifeless branches, birds are twittering away earlier in the morning and the chooks are coming back into lay after their winter hiatus. Get with the urge and venture forth into the garden. There’s plenty to keep you busy now.

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Sculpture By Jenny Steiner
6 August to 5 September

This exhibition includes a series of work where woodland imagery is captured in metal and glass. It was inspired by the bush around the Koonung Creek area near sculptor, Jenny Steiner’s studio and garden in Blackburn North. Click here for more info.

From the 16th to 19th September 2010, Melbourne will see the launch of its only dedicated environmental film festival. This smorgasbord of feature length documentaries on cutting-edge environmental issues will entertain, inspire and frighten even the most hardened environmental cynic. Covering topics from the social unrest in Nigeria caused by Big Oil, to the consequences of our society’s obsession with The Plastic Bag, to the philosophy and dinner plates of Californian dumpster divers, there is something to whet everyone’s appetite. Read more at http://www.effm.org.au/

Nothing compares to the taste of a home grown, freshly picked peach or nectarine. Bursting with flavour and heavy with juice, once you have tasted peaches from your patch you’ll never go back to those rubbery, gooey things from a can again. As well as being super tasty, peaches and nectarines are also really darned good for us, having a fair whack of Vitamins A and C, as well as potassium, magnesium and beta-carotine.

Oh, and just so we are all on the same page, nectarines are essentially a smooth-skinned peach…that’s why we have whacked them all together on the one factsheet.
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Bursting with flavour plums are a summer delight.  They come in a wide variety of colours and sizes and are commonly divided into either European or Japanese plums. European plums are oval or oblong, about 5-6cm long, with a range of pink to purple skin colours. The flesh is multi-coloured from yellow, creamy-white to blood red and encloses a single large oval seed, which may be a freestone or clingstone. Japanese plums are slightly different, being more rounded to heart-shaped, 5-8cm long, with a depression at one end and a slight point at the other. Their skin colour can range from yellow to red and their flesh can be yellow, amber or yellow with red.
These graceful, deciduous trees with thick, coarsely-toothed leaves are an asset to any gardens and were once found in most suburban back yards. Leaves have a downy underside and the white flowers are carried singly or in pairs. When it flowers in the early spring, your plum tree will be covered in blossom and look simply stunning, in a good year approximately 50% of the flowers will be pollinated and become plums.  Biting onto a sun warmed ripe plum picked from your back yard tree is a childhood rite of passage.
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Codling Moth Cydia pomonella

The chemicals commonly used to control codling moth also kill beneficial insect species, which contribute to biological control of other pests. Consequently increased chemical sprays are required for control of other pests. The most successful way to avoid this problem is to use Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Using a combination of pheromones and sticky traps, good orchard hygiene and traps will help you avoid the revolting coddling moth.

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The delicious, beautiful fig – known to the Egyptians as the “Tree of Life” – is a wonderful addition to Melbourne backyards (and kitchens).  A large, deciduous, well-shaped tree, the fig is an excellent shade tree for small to medium sized backyards, as they can be trimmed and trained into a manageable size.

Figs are a versatile fruit, able to be eaten fresh, glazed, dried, poached and cooked, and they are a darned healthy little option as well.  Figs are high in fibre, pack a punch of vitamin C and the sap of fig trees is reportedly useful in getting rid of warts!  Ah figs, is there anything you can’t do?

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Prized for the delightful onion or garlic flavour of their leaves, chives are a member of the onion family, but are much easier to grow than traditional onions and garlic. Chives are ideal plants for pots and also make attractive grass-like plants in herb beds.

Chives are definitely not needy and will thrive in just about any type of soil. A little bit of compost mixed through the soil prior to planting is ideal and if planting in a pot, go for an organic potting mix.  Chives in pots should have their soil replaced every three years to enhance the flavour and performance.
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Once prized for their antiseptic and medicinal properties, marjoram and oregano and now fairly common in Aussie kitchens and gardens and with good reason. Easy to grow, gorgeous to look at and tasty as, these two herbs are a vegie gardeners dream! Oregano, due to it’s spreading habit, is also an excellent ‘living weed mat’ giving you a tasty plant that does the weeding for you.

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Parsley – okay, it can be a bit ubiquitous, turning up as a garnish on all manner of dishes, from salads to steaks and everything in between. But don’t write it off; parsley is amazingly good for you and is an excellent cure for the dreaded ‘onion breath’.

Positioning parsley depends on the variety of parsley you choose to grow – flat leaved ‘Italian’ parsley loves a hot spot in full sun, whereas the ‘Curly’ parsley will do best in a part sun position, where it receives about four hours of sun a day.

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All oranges are self-fertile, small to medium evergreen trees. They have large, dark green, glossy and aromatic foliage. The pure white flowers also fill their surroundings with their characteristic scent in spring.

The trees themselves grow large, but are easily kept pruned to a height and width of approx. 4 metres. All oranges prefer a sunny aspect with protection from frost.

As we know, they produce juicy fruit packed with Vitamin C and are generally eaten fresh or juiced. Blood Oranges are excellent for garnishing too.

Orange trees are perfect for hedging, screening, espalier, shade and as a specimen tree in any garden. Dwarf varieties can be used in pots to lend a Mediterranean feel to your courtyard garden.

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Mandarins are attractive, evergreen, compact trees. They have small glossy green leaves which contrast beautifully with the intense orange fruit. They are self-fertile and fruit easily when given full sun, fertiliser and a well drained soil that is kept moist over the fruiting period. Thinning of flowers encourages larger fruit to form.

Mandarins are commonly used for screening, hedging, espalier or specimen plantings.

Dwarf varieties are also available for growing in large pots. Eat fresh or use in desserts.

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