Botanical name: Ipomoea batatas Description: Sweet potatoes one of the only two edible and non toxic plants in the morning glory family (the other one is water spinach). They are grown for their starchy root bulbs; the leaves and young shoots of some sweet potatoes are also used as a vegetable. They are not closely [more]
Botanical name Convolvulacea Features of morning glory Plants of the morning glory family show a funnel like flower made up out of 5 petals. They grow as vines or shrubs and have winding stems. The leaves are alternate. Some of them produce starchy tubers. Species we grow Sweet potatoes Other common plants in this family [more]
Key to successful gardening is to understand the needs and properties of the plants you want to grow the environmental factors that make them thrive or stall the properties and life-cycles of potential pests As gardeners we are constantly learning. Finding out why a particular problem occurs grows our skills. Embrace mistake, it’s a chance [more]
Insect and fungal pests are a natural part of our ecosystem. We strive to reduce their damaging impact by trying to understand their needs and changing the conditions in our garden to be less inviting to them by tolerating a degree of pest damage to encourage predatory animals to life in our garden. By eating [more]
Botanical name: Fragaria x ananassa Description: Strawberries (together with apples, roses, most stone-fruit and almonds) are a member of the rose family (rosaceae). Strawberry plants grow 20 to 30 cm high, show dark green serrated leaves and usually flowers with white petals, that look like tiny wild roses. The fruit is conically shaped, dark red, [more]
Felicity’s perfect gazpacho – Felicity Cloake Word of mouth blog The Guardian The real secret to gazpacho, if we assume your ingredients are ripe and your fridge cold, is good olive oil, and lots of it. Meanness has no place here, unless you’re a frugal peasant – pour it in in great glugs, and then [more]
In Mort Bay Community Garden we grow a wide variety of crops, which all need a plant-specific set of nutrients and are challenged by different pests. Growing a sequence of different types of crops in any one bed over subsequent seasons is called crop rotation, a strategy already practised by Middle Eastern farmers 8000 years [more]
Water is essential for plants to grow and stay healthy. Without the necessary amount of water, plants cannot take up nutrients, they wilt and they are more prone to get diseases. Watering needs to happen on a regular basis Watering should keep the soil moist, but not wet Water the soil not the leaves, leaves [more]