Alan's Garden Blog

It had to happen, I have built a Jumbo garden. At three metres long it is 25% bigger than my Extra Large. That's as big as I can get without adding extra centre support (and cost). I have built two in Pale Eucalypt if you want a really big garden. They may become 'collectors items' as I am not sure whether to make any more, the extra length is not user friendly in my workshop. At only 15% more to buy than the Extra Large they are good value at only $380. Please respond to the blog or send me...

Yes, I have finally designed a trellis to fit the Space Saver, Standard and Extra Large Watersaver Gardens. It is quite strong, made from aluminium tube and plastic coated wire. It fits on the short ends of the beds at this stage but I intend to also make one that will fit along the long side of the Extra Large-I will keep you posted. If you go to the bottom of the 'Products' page you will find it in Accessories. At $55 it is a great addition to the range.  

The Qld Garden Expo was brilliant with more than three hundred exhibitors and truckloads of people. I sold as much on the Friday as my best day in Melbourne so it was definitely worth it. Unfortunately did not get a chance to have a good look around and didn't even get to the bar. Even sold the same garden twice which is good business. I had double the space so was able to display all the sizes which made a big difference to sales.I thought I was getting away from the cold but have a look at the frost in...

Not much exciting happens in Toowoomba gardens in July but I have just planted some carrots, spring onions, broad beans, lettuce (in a sheltered area), and silverbeet. Beat this, I got twenty eight silverbeet seedlings out of one punnet. So visitors to my gardens in six weeks can expect free silverbeet to go with the free limes, mandarins and spring onions. The tomato plant I have in the frame with cling wrap (previous blog) got frosted because I left a gap near the top to let in air. I have closed the gap so now it has only about six...

All is good this winter, particularly my cash crop, ninety garlic. On the way out but hanging in there: sweet basil, chilli, eggplant and cherry tomatoes. I still have a good range of herbs saving me money at the supermarket: galangal, dill, coriander, vietnamese mint, thai mint, thai basil, greek oregano, thyme, flat leaf parsley, rosemary and dill. Veges all doing well: kale, fennel, rocket, silverbeet, cabbage, snow peas, spring onions, carrots, chinese veges, and broad beans. All this with the minimum of fuss in the watersaver gardens.  You can see some of my garlic on the left and the fennel on...