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Preserving your excess garden produce
I have been preserving my excess produce for the last 2 years by freezing, dehydrating and bottling (canning) and wonder do any other members preserve their surplus fruit and veg and if so, by which method. Also what type of fruit and veg you preserve and what type of preserving equipment and jars you use as well as…
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Ultra cheap and easy irrigation system using an old garden hose
Today we have just installed a super cheap irrigation system in our raised vegie bed using lengths of an old garden hose and a few plastic elbow and T-joints etc. We cut the hose to the desired lengths, clamped the ends and drilled the holes along the hose with a 2mm drill bit at 100mm distances. We then attached the elbow…
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Ripe Near Me website - a valuable resource !
Some months ago I came across an absolutely brilliant website called "Ripe Near Me" - http://www.ripenear.me - which is a great resource for gardeners and foodies alike. The website was started in 2012 when the founders noticed that there were fruit trees around their area that had the fruit going to waste because it was…
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Growing strawberries
Today I picked the equivalent of 2 punnets of strawberries. Some of the strawberries are whoppers (the plate in the picture is a large dinner plate, not a small bread and butter plate). Tonight I will be making "Eton Mess" which consists of mascerated strawberries, whipped cream and lightly crushed meringues. Just combine…
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Any tips or advice for growing Fig Trees?
I am thinking about planting a fig tree but have no experience with growing figs at all. I have read that some of the recommended varieties and better tasting figs are Black Genoa, Brown Turkey and White Adriatic but would welcome actual knowledge from Workshop members. I know that fig trees grow quite successfully in…
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Growing Cucumbers Vertically using my new "Tomato Cage Tower"
I have come up with what I think is an original idea which I have not seen used anywhere else and hope it proves useful to other Workshoppers. I have a small vegie patch in suburban Canberra and as you can appreciate growing space is a very valuable commodity. I have come up with a solution to growing cucumbers and…
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Recommendations for secateurs and a reliable electric hedge trimmer needed please
Yesterday our electric hedge trimmer packed it in so I wondered if any Workshoppers have recommendations for one that will stand the test of time. We mainly use it on our photinia robusta hedges and other light limbed bushes around the garden. Also the blade on a pair of secateurs broke yesterday after cutting a branch…
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Christmas Tree went up today
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Deck the hall with boughs of holly.............
It takes both Hubby and I over 3 hours to put up our Christmas tree. Lucky we only have to do this once a year.....😄
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Tips for making Beef Jerky needed - Has anyone made their own?
Soon I will be making beef jerky for the first time for our son but before I take the plunge I would like to know if other members have made it. I have bought the beef and the liquid smoke, and I have a dehydrator but have not yet worked up the courage as I don't want to unintentionally poison any family members or friends…
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Use Gumtree to network, get freebies and make new friends into the bargain.
I am a great fan of Gumtree and over the years I have obtained the following items for FREE : * 9 bookshelves to store all my homemade pickles, chutney, jars & preserving equipment etc. * rocks for the garden * tiered plant stand * plastic pots for my seedlings * terracotta and glazed pots * plants for the garden * baskets…
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Share the love and let other members know when and where there is a REAL bargain to be had.
I am generally one of those envious people who hear about other people's absolutely dirt cheap bargain buys, although having said that, I do occasionally pick up the odd bargain here and there. I would love to see members alert the Workshop Forum when they see a REAL bargain so that we can all share the love and hopefully…
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Excellent YouTube Vegetable Gardening Links
As mentioned in a previous post I said that would compile a list of my favourite YouTube vegetable gardening links. I subscribe to each of these channels and have gained so much information which has turned my previously brown thumb into a green thumb 😉 I hope other members gain as much help and ideas from these channels…
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How do you store your gardening tools?
We are trying to figure out a better system for storing our tools and gardening supplies etc. in our small garden shed which is 2.9m x 1.9m and I would love to know how other members store their tools etc. Do you use a brilliant storage solution to help make my gardening life much easier? As shown below, our garden shed…
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Using rustic antiques as garden ornaments
I have a love of antiques, both indoors and out and I have found that the rustic out-doorsy ones make very affordable garden ornaments. Hubby lovingly calls them my rusty s*** - at least I think its lovingly 😄 These photos were taken nearly 5 years ago when we had the backyard re-landscaped and the bushes have grown…
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Raised Garden Bed - Hubby did the hard yakka and I supervised :)
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Should I put weeds in my compost bins ? What do other members do?
For 3 years since we started our suburban vegie patch we have been throwing weeds into our compost bins but Hubby and myself are not in total agreement as to whether weeds should go into the compost bins at all. What do other members do? Hopefully your answers will settle a longstanding discussion in this household about…
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My herb garden - dill, basil, oregano, parsley, chives, rosemary etc.
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More strawberries - Last year I harvested about 35 kilos from 170 plants over the whole season !
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My Strawberry Patch - I started 3 years ago with just 20 plants and I now have about 250 plants !
