Words by Jane Mahoney and Sophie Bannan Phoebe and Dave Atkinson’s gardening practice is deeply entwined with their family and community. Twelve years on from purchasing their Forrest Hill property, the garden and their gardening ideology have expanded to include a seedling stand as well as the community garden. Their two beautiful children are involved in every aspect. For as long as Phoebe can remember, she’s been drawn to gardens. If she ever came across some kind of structured productive space, she gravitated there. Her early years were spent on a classic quarter-acre (1012-square metre ..read more

May is autumn’s last hurrah, days are shortening and nights are getting cooler. There’s lots to enjoy in the garden this month and it’s the last chance to get those bulbs in the ground before it gets too cold. Prep your soil. If you were still harvesting in April now is the time to dig in compost and sheep pellets before planting to replenish nutrients used by previous crops. In warmer climates plant beetroot, bok choi, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, coriander, garlic, kale, lettuce, mesculun, onion, parsnip, parsley, peas, radish, rhubarb, rocket, silverbeet, and spinach ..read more

Words Kate Flood. Photography Honey Atkinson. Kate Flood aka Compostable Kate is happiest when she’s teaching people about compost or is elbow deep in the stuff. She’s a compost nerd and sustainability educator, and she’s on a mission to help others step-up their household waste management. Her book, The Compost Coach, is a guide to creating the very best compost and is pitched at the home composter, including people who live in apartments and houses with or without gardens (yes, you can compost without a garden!). She explains what compost is, what it does and how to slow compost, which is ..read more

Kitchen gardens, often referred to as “potagers” in French, have a rich and diverse history dating back centuries. Their origins can be traced to the medieval monasteries of Europe, where monks cultivated herbs, vegetables, and fruits within the confines of their cloisters. These early kitchen gardens served both culinary and medicinal purposes, reflecting the intertwined nature of food and healing in the past. Over time, the concept of the kitchen garden spread across continents and evolved to suit the needs and preferences of different cultures. In colonial America, for example, kitchen gard ..read more

Autumn gardening is about preparation and nourishing soil for winter crops. As you harvest the final summer produce it’s time to prepare your garden for winter staples including kale, spring onion, spinach, blueberry, citrus, cauliflower, parsley, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, celery and silverbeet. Turn the soil It’s time to turn the soil and prepare for the cooler months. Dig in compost and sheep pellets before planting to replenish nutrients used by previous crops. Compost is also excellent at drawing and retaining moisture. Plant Support If your beans are floppy, tie them and keep them w ..read more

Over the last year, you’ve put recycling habits in place, made more ethical shopping choices and tried some upcycling. Now what? It’s a new year, and smack in the middle of summer, so there’s no better time to move your sustainability actions to the outdoors. With a few small tweaks to the way you tend your garden, you can refresh your outdoor spaces and set the stage for a thriving ecosystem for plants, bees, butterflies and birds. Best of all, you can do it without increasing water or energy use. Support native birds, bees, and flora Bees, butterflies, birds and insects play a vital part ..read more

How to protect your precious garden over summer. Summer is the season most of us who love gardening wait all year for. For me it’s collecting baskets full of basil and sweet cherry tomatoes, my kids racing each other to the strawberry patch every day after school, and slicing cucumbers, still warm from the sun, into our salads. I love looking out our kitchen window at the vibrant tangle of colour from the wildflowers dotted between our veggies and seeing the bees and butterflies reveling in the pollen and nectar. It’s the time of year when we see the fruits of our hard work and are rewarded w ..read more

Sometimes it feels like no matter what we do, we find our green friends holding on by their last leaf. It’s not always because we have neglected to water them though, sometimes there are other tiny forces at large like a whitefly invasion! These tiny sap-sucking insects are small and pale, and they love to attack soft plant tissues. They are among the most common, and damaging, plant pest, especially during the summer months. Authors of The Abundant Garden, Niva and Yotam Kay, say “Whitefly prefer warm conditions and can attack a wide range of plants such as beans, cabbages, cucumbers, eggp ..read more

As the weather warms and days lengthen, it’s time to ensure your bird bath in an inviting spot for your local birdlife. Life and Environmental Sciences Researcher Grainne Cleary takes a dip into bird bath ethics.   Bird baths are a familiar sight in Kiwi gardens, but surprisingly little is known about the precise role they play in the lives of birds. In a recent Bird Baths Study, it was revealed that bird baths are much more than just ornamental splash pools for feathered visitors. They’re also a site where animals socialise and intense rivalries play out. Human choices – such as the d ..read more

The summer garden has to be my favourite garden. It feels so alive with the colours and scents of blooming flowers, the bees and butterflies and fast-ripening fruit and vegetables. It’s the season of abundance and harvest, which is welcome after the slower, quieter seasons. We often go away on holiday for a few weeks over Christmas and return to a jungle of cherry tomatoes, basil, rocket and enough cucumbers and zucchini to feed a small village. We hate to waste, so for a few weeks there, it’s zucchini everything! The extra produce from our garden is shared around with neighbours and friends ..read more