Harvest Basket E-Magazine
Creating an edible garden that doesn't cost the earth

 Hello and a special welcome to my first ‘Harvest Basket’ e-magazine for people interested in fresh, home-grown food and a healthy, eco-friendly lifestyle.
 
The Harvest Basket is designed to inspire you to create a deliciously edible, eco-friendly garden, regardless of size.
 
It will guide you to the latest workshops for you to enjoy. I have had over two thousand people attend my workshops, seminars and talks and I know you will want to join in the fun!
Plus, my selection of stories, practical tips and handy hints will help you to solve some of the common food-growing problems you face in the garden.
This first edition reflects the first of my key messages on successful gardens. If you take these to heart, you will go a long way to achieving the satisfaction of bountiful harvest, the healthful vitality that clean food can bring and a significant contribution to a healthier planet. It’s easy, even for busy, time strapped people. Enjoy the reading and see you at a workshop soon! Cheers, Linda

Eco-friendly Gardening Workshops
Coming up in October and November

Book for one workshop $65 (incl GST), Or book a whole series and save.
 
Each workshop also includes your own workbook and organic products to try at home.
 
Naturally Good Vegies series at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha.
A series of 3 workshops.
Imagine stepping outside your door and harvesting dinner fresh from your garden! We get into the vegie garden at Mt Coot-tha. You will learn how to create, design protect and harvest your own productive, organic edible plot at home. You will be the envy of the neighbours!
 
Fabulous Fruit Series at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha.
A series of 3 workshops
What fruits grow best in the southeast? How do I grow really nice looking fruit? What can I do about the pesky problems?
Find out the best to choose, where to get them, how to plant and look after them. This hands-on workshop series teaches you the essentials you must know for healthy fruit trees. Great for new or established gardeners.
 
Easy Grow Gardens at Roma Street Parkland.
A series of 3 workshops.
Cooks – do you love fresh herbs and vegies, but don’t have time to grow them? Let me show you how. Each workshop in this series has an international food focus that’s just a bit gourmet and especially good for busy cooks!
Learn how to create a small Thai garden, an Italian kitchen harvest garden and a mesclun salad mix garden so you never have to buy greens again.
Of course we will have to sample some of the produce too!
 
Herb Garden series at Roma Street Parkland.
A series of 3 workshops. Would you love your own seductively special herb garden that’s sexy and beautiful?
I show you how to design your herb garden; learn what grows well so you avoid costly failures and find out how easy it is to care for your beautiful new herb garden.
 
Family Christmas fun at Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Cootha
Help your children to make their own naturally beautiful eco-friendly Christmas wreath. This workshop combines Christmassy stories with low impact garden-focussed creativity.
 
Book or enquire now.
phone 3349 2962


The Simple Ingredients
My recipe for success

Ah yes, the success of the ‘4 Simple Ingredients’ book had me thinking that there had to be a simple formula for gardening. After all, if you can cook using 4 simple ingredients, why can’t you garden using 4 simple ‘ingredients’?
 
Recipes with huge ingredient lists and hard to understand methods are off-putting, especially if you are a beginner, in a hurry or out of all those things in the cupboard. So it is with gardening. Many of us juggle family, work and play with extra demands of modern life.
 
If you are like me, you love the idea of a garden but just can’t find lots of time to make it happen. Well, I have distilled the essence of a successful and highly productive garden into three simple ‘ingredients’ or a simple philosophy of garden care. Here is the first...
 
First, a well fed soil. Beneficial soil micro-organisms like good bacteria, fungi macro–organisms like worms and woodlice and many others, are responsible for converting many complex compounds in the soil, into simple forms that plants can use for growth.
 
If we feed these beneficial organisms so they proliferate in our gardens, it stands to reason that our plants will have greater access to nutrient-rich growing opportunities. The relationship with beneficial organisms is paramount to supply the myriad things a healthy growing plant needs.
 
To feed your soil, incorporate plenty of organic matter – anything that was once a living plant is good.
Ensure a good soil oxygen supply, avoiding compaction by feet and vehicles.
Provide your soil with a constant moisture supply without being too sodden.
 
A component of each workshop series is good soil preparation and care. Why not find out the easy way. Book into a workshop now and have your garden growing great things for Christmas. Email me bookings@ecobotanica.com.au or call 3349 2962.
 
I invite you to come along to a workshop and find the very best alternatives for a healthy garden. You will get your own  workbook to take home, products to try and attention to your needs from an expert. We find easy-to-do solutions and inspire you to save money by growing your own luscious garden, no matter how big or small.



 
 
  
 

Eco Tip:
 
Global warming and your compost heap
 
Did you know that your backyard compost heap can contribute to global warming?
Compost heaps that smell like rotten egg gas are emitting methane, a greenhouse gas 22 times more toxic to the atmosphere than carbon-dioxide.
 
To prevent your compost heap becoming a greenhouse stinker, follow these simple steps:
 
1. Turn or aerate it at least once every week to encourage friendly aerobic (oxygen-loving) bacteria. They help make a delicious compost for your garden and don’t smell bad.
 
2. The compost should be as moist as squeezed out sponge. If the heap is dripping wet and slimy, it pongs. Add a lid or cover in the wet weather to keep out the heavy downpours.
 
3. Make sure you have a mix of dry brown and wet green materials mixed through your heap. A wet, smelly heap full of slippery, slimy mush means you need you to turn it and add plenty of dry brown materials like shredded paper or dry leaves.
 

Handy garden hint:
 
The rot with potted plants
 
Saucers are essential under potted plants to reduce the drips on the patio and help keep out the ants that play havoc in a pot. However, a saucer constantly full of water can also be a killer for your plant. Remember to empty it out regularly to help prevent root rot and plant death.
 
 
 
In the garden in September
 
In my frost free sub-tropical garden, I have been enjoying the balmy warm weather before it turns hot, planting seeds of lettuce, Asian greens, English spinach, celery, Redland Pioneer bush beans and Borlotti beans.  
I love those hardy, climbing Borlotti beans. We cook them into soups and create fresh bean salads!