• I get into the nitty-gritty of grafting with Tony from the Dig It Down Under community. We talk about getting started, techniques, grafting heirloom apples, fruit trees and more.
• Tony and I talk about favourite heritage apple varieties.
• I discover a mystery tomato disease when I pull up my plants and I go in search of answers
• There are plans afoot for a major upgrade in the Veggie Patch and work begins

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Grafting links:

Videos of grafting techniques (Including Gene Yale’s Amazing Garden of Heritage grafted fruit trees):

http://digitdownunder.com/vegetable-gardening/category/grafting/

Grove Nursery:
http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter-nsf/WebPages/LBUN-5NU7KK?open

Tony’s top picks for heritage apples:

• Granny Smith;
• Fuji;
• Freyburg;
• Splendour;
• Spartan;
• Cox’s Orange Pippin;
• Lord Lambourne;
• Kidds Orange Red

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Tomato Affliction:

Here is a picture of my mysterious tomato affliction – root systems were severely affected. This was not root knot nematode, which is relatively common but something more sinister again…
Notice how the vascular tissue which carries water and nutrients has rotted and fallen away.  The soil was kept on the dry side…this was no case of ‘wet feet’.

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Veg patch upgrade:

Here is a picture inside the first igloo with  crops of beetroot, mignonette lettuce and seedling dwarf variety peas  in the background. Current winter daytime temperatures in Melbourne are between 10 and 15 degrees celsius with heavy frosts overnight. Watering systems are installed under a very thin layer of mulch so the humidity is reduced in the igloo.  Veggies stay dry and cosy.

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Costa’s garden : The backyard revolution

Below is a link to a series of videos featuring a makeover of a suburban backyard. Costa installs an aquaponics system, self watering Veggie Patch, fruit trees, a chook run and much much more

Costa’s backyard revolution, please click here.
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Here is the address of the salvia garden:
Nobelius Heritage Park, Crighton Ave, Emerald Mel 127 G4
More information:
http://www.salvias.org.au/Collections.htm
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Dig It Down Under Community : In the members area this month there will be more links and information regarding grafting. The site is temporarily down for maintenance as of mid June 2010.

It’s simple to register to be a part of the Dig It Down Under Community, just REGISTER HERE It’s free to join and your privacy is respected.

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Welcome to the special edition of Dig It Down Under.  I’m taking a break over the summer and so I’ve put together some garden related stories for this month.

Featured are:

• A book reading by author Sara Hardy from ‘The unusual life of Edna Walling’
• Monika’s Story – The woman who lived in her garden
• The Bird from Berwick – Running out of space to plant veggies?  Front lawn??  Now you see it, now you don’t!

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There is no download this month but next month I’ll be back in full swing with a jam packed new episode and new downloads.

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• I visit the Orchid show and learn about growing Australian Native Orchids
• Permaculture – A view from the outside looking in.
• The Dirt on Rock Dust – a chat over the back fence with Tim Bratton from FCRD.
• Luculia vs Hydrangea
• Fukuoka Revolutionary Gardener
• Quick Start Veg Patch in a weekend

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Masanobu Fukuoka : more information

http://fukuokafarmingol.info/

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Rock dust is available to purchase Australia wide at:
https://myfabstore.com.au/garden-gifts/

Dig It Down Under Members can purchase (from 22 Nov 2009) at:

https://myfabstore.com.au/DDUmembers/?

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Quick start veg patch cheat sheet is available for download from the members area.  It’s free to join and you will have access to all the information sheets and any special offers in the future.  Simply sign up for the newsletter.

I respect your privacy and will not pass on your details to third parties.
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• Review : Beleura house on the Mornington Peninsula with its grand garden.
• Weird & Spooky plants -  Gympie Gympie and Colletia.
• Day Lilies – more than meets the eye.
• Helleborus -   Heirloom favourite back in fashion
• Book review : Growing Chinese Vegetables by Geri Harrington
• Inspirational gardener : Peter Andrews, bringing life to barren land.
• The veggie patch report including a look in the latest Diggers Seed Annual.
• An chat over the back fence with my friend Annie.  We chat about her unusual garden, her love of ferns, her mosaic mermaids and we have a bit of a laugh.

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Beleura house and garden on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, is open to the public on set open days.

For more information or to book in for a tour :

http://www.beleura.org.au/ or call (03) 5975 2027.

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Helleborus :

Here are links to gallery pages showing some of the different ranges of flower types found in Helleborus.

http://digitdownunder.com/flowers/?p=407

http://www.hellebores.org/gallery.html

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Colletia : beauty from the beast.  The vanilla scent is quite divine.

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Day lilies (Hemerocalllis fulva) :

Some species of day lily have edible flowers (don’t eat the leaves or stems).   The Chinese use them in stirfries, soup and more.  It’s best to make sure you have the right variety as some lily species are poisonous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylily

http://www.missouriplants.com/Redalt/Hemerocallis_fulva_page.html

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Peter Andrews is an inspiration to all gardeners.  Here is a link to the ABC TV website which has video footage of a show that featured his story and how he brought dead and barren soil back to life :

http://www.abc.net.au/austory/content/2005/s1383562.htm

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Book review : Growing Chinese Vegetables in your own backyard by Geri  Harrington

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Gympie Gympie – A spooky Australian native plant.

http://asgap.org.au/APOL2007/sep07-s2.html

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Here’s a picture of the Wallaby who prunes number one gal pals garden.  Cute and rather well fed wouldn’t you say?

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Download of the month :

They said my avocado tree would never hold up to the wind, especially the way I was planting it.  But five years later its going strong and has withstood winds up to 130 km/h.  Find out how I staked the sapling to help it anchor in the wind.  Simply download the two-page PDF from the Dig It Down Under community members area.

To access the download page and all the downloads from previous episodes, simply sign up for the newsletter. It’s free.

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• Fantasy Gardening : Tree Shaping with Becky from Pooktre.
• Growing Tomatoes – Bumper Bonza Special.
• Over the back fence : One listeners ‘No Dig’ Story – ‘No Dig’ Success on a terrible site.
• TV garden gems to watch out for.
• Veg Patch Report.

Pooktre : Glorious Living Designs

You can buy these for your garden.  There is a book coming out on how to grow your own.

Me thinks I need to try this!

For more information on tree shaping the Web Site is :  http://www.pooktre.com/

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Landline – ABC TV Show – Link to transcripts for April 2009

http://www.abc.net.au/landline/archives/landline_200904.htm

Around the world in 80 gardens can currently be views on the ABC’s iView internet service.    You’ll need broadband internet.  You’ll be taken to a test page and then to a page with a choice of shows. Choose  ‘ABC Catchup’  or if you follow the link below you’re already there, just choose Around the world in 80 gardens. There are two episodes on offer at the moment.

ABC TV iView Service

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Links to Tomato Diseases and Pests Information :

Tomato Diseases

Tomato Pests

Il Tomatina Tomato Festival  : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Tomatina

Gordon Graham’s World Largest Tomato : http://www.bdb.co.za/shackle/articles/gordon_graham.htm

Tomato Tree growing in Walt Disney’s Experimental Greenhouse in Lake Buena Vista USA

http://www.wdwnews.com/ViewImage.aspx?ImageID=101932

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Links to other pages of this site mentioned in Episode 10:

Cranbourne Royal Botanic Gardens Pictures:  http://digitdownunder.com/walkabout/?p=146

My dream orchard for the pie maker in the family:  Check out the What’s Up Page from the 15th of May

In the meantime the web site for the Heritage Fruit Trees is : http://www.yalcafruittrees.com.au/

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The current gift for those on or joining the mailing list is:

A follow up article for the Bumper Tomato special featuring a sketch of Riley’s special trellis set up, a list of the top tomatoes for fresh eating and cooking and how to tell the difference.  PLUS   Instructions for setting up Riley’s own seedling protection system.  Thwart the birds and cats, keep your mulch in place and it’s all hidden from the eye.

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• ‘No Dig’ Garden Special – The Ultimate Guide
• Nobelius – Nurseryman to a nation & Puffing Billy; the Garden connection.
• Reviews : Alfred Nicholas Memorial Garden, Pirianda Gardens & The Melbourne International Flower and Garden show
• What’s up in the Dig It Garden
• Vegetable Garden Report
• This months gift for mailing list subscribers : How to put together the Dig It Down Under worm farm using common garden bits and pieces.

Carl Axel Nobelius
(1851 – 1921)
and the Nobelius Nursey

Nobelius Nursery originally used the business name of Gembrook Nurseries, chosen because it was in the parish of Gembrook.
All photos reproduced courtesy the “Emerald Museum Collection”.

Nobelius Heritage Museum is located at Nobelius Heritage Park, Crichton Road. Emerald VIC 3782

Opening hours Wednesday 10am to 12pm, Sundays 1.30pm to 4pm

Closed July and August and on days of total fire ban.

You can purchase Jo Jenkinson’s book at the Museum.

Puffing Billy also known as Gemmy was a hard working train in the days when it was transporting logs, fruit, passengers and Nobelius nursery produce to Ferntree Gully where it was then taken to Melbourne city for export to other Australian states and to many parts of the world.

Reproduced with the permission of Puffing Billy Railway.

Website:  www.puffingbilly.com.au

No Dig Gardening Sources:

Esther Deans’ Gardening Book – Growing without Digging – Harper and Row

No Dig Gardening by Allen Gilbert – ABC Books

Step one of my no dig garden http://digitdownunder.com/vegetable-gardening/?cat=4

Links mentioned in the podcast:

Stawberry Wall http://digitdownunder.com/whatsup/?p=193

Pirianda Garden  http://digitdownunder.com/walkabout/?cat=22

Alfred Nicholas Memorial Garden http://digitdownunder.com/walkabout/?cat=15

Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show  http://digitdownunder.com/walkabout/?p=108

Daffodil Catalogue : J H Hancock  http://www.daffodilbulbs.com.au/

Rock Dust http://digitdownunder.com/whatsup/?p=174

The Bloke picks my Godzilla Zucchini by mistake  http://digitdownunder.com/whatsup/?p=158

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-53b889babf8e6c870bd85ce6d808c950}

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Geraniums

For more information and pictures. Please see:
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Geranium
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plantprofile_geranium.shtml

Geranium Maderense

Vegetable Garden Harvest:

One zucchini and a big bunch of beans will go into 2 stirfrys for two people.

These are only babies and they are about 30cm long.

At this stage they have little or no pith.

They are pretty much solid zucchini.

The poor desicated rose is the variety Arizona.  This was after a windy day of 44 deg celsius.

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The Voodoo Lilly – Picture taken at Herronswood, Home of the Diggers Seed Club.

Echium Wildpretti – Picture taken at Herronswood, Home of the Diggers Seed Club.

The D Bed of the vegie patch planted with Potatoes at the rear, Zucchini next in & leeks in the foreground. The lettuce that is being harvested is to the left of the stump.

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