How To Make Your Homegrown Patch More Productive!

Learn how to make your homegrown patch more productive for bumper backyard crops!

MELISSA KING

Join me as I give you practical garden ideas on BHG TV on Fridays at 7 pm on Channel 7. (Apologies, may be subject to change) Go to bhg.com.au for more garden tips and tricks.

A gentle, lingering visit to your local community garden or urban farm, or even just a quick squiz, can spark ideas for your own little vegie patch. You can pick up tips such as using ‘cover crops’ that eliminate weeds and improve soils, learn how scratching chooks can aerate your soil and peck at pests, and also come across brilliant ideas on how to get around your limited space by letting your tomatoes hang low from a high-up basket while herbs rise to the top.

TOMATOES ARE SUMMER’S GO-TO FRUIT

For huge, tasty yields from a small plant, try growing Floriana’s Roma ‘Little Napoli’ (above). It’s disease-resistant and ideal for pots and containers. Hugely versatile, you can use the tomatoes in salads, sauces or hot dishes. Available as seedlings from Bunnings.

IS TOMATO A FRUIT OR VEGETA ABLE?

Scientifically, a tomato is a fruit because it contains seeds by which it reproduces. But in the kitchen it’s considered a vegetable since its taste falls on the savoury rather than sweet side. So you can have it both ways! avid vegas Cute hamsters nibble weeds but will devour your garden if let loose! get hooked on chooks These feather dusters are great for your garden.

ANIMAL AID