What's with snake beans and green ants? As soon as the first flowers appeared on our snake bean plants the green ants were there clustered around the flowers and setting up home in the leaves. Until those flowers appeared ( in July, first bean harvest August for us) there had been no green ants at all in our veggie beds. Once the flowers dropped their petals and the beans … [Read more...] about Snake Beans and Green Ants
August Harvesting and Planting
What's growing, fruiting, flowering, germinating and cropping in our tropical food garden in August. Remember, we're in the southern hemisphere, just 16 degrees south of the Equator, you may have to flip the seasons if you're in the tropics in the northern hemisphere. August is the last month of winter for us and we're in the dry season. We've had a good amount of light rain … [Read more...] about August Harvesting and Planting
Make Your Own Fertiliser
15 Ways to Fertilise Your Plants, Without Buying Chemicals None of us wants to spend a fortune on our gardens and many of us are gardening because we want our food to be cheaper. But, our plants do need fertiliser, always, be that in the form of nutrient-rich soil or added liquid or solid feeds, healthy plants need an extra boost of minerals and organic matter along with … [Read more...] about Make Your Own Fertiliser
July – Harvesting and Planting
What are we are picking harvesting and planting here in tropical Queensland in July. Every year we will update this post as our garden grows and matures, we have a post like it for every month. As we are in the southern hemisphere July is one of our cooler, drier months, mid-winter. If you are in the northern hemisphere you may have to flip the seasons upside down a bit. The … [Read more...] about July – Harvesting and Planting
First Steps in Tropical Food Gardening
Gardening in the tropics is different. It's not as easy as many gardeners in cooler climates might think. We in the tropics have to deal with phenomenal amounts of rain that can wash away soil and nutrients, change soil pH and leave food plants sitting in a swamp. We have to learn new techniques to cope with a tropical climate, sometimes we have to build our soil from … [Read more...] about First Steps in Tropical Food Gardening