Welcome to the February newsletter. This year, I’m focusing on helping you grow a sustainable garden. Plants and strategies that sustain you in food, health and medicine. Helping you design a garden you can manage with your unique time, energy, money and resources. A garden isn’t sustainable if you lose your joy, it costs too much and you don’t get the results from your investment.

Sustainable Gardening Tips for February

This month we are looking at ways to save and use water wisely to grow a healthy garden. I rely on rainwater tanks for our house/garden water supply. I’m very conscious of every drop. I intentionally capture, recycle and use water to help the garden thrive. Read on as I share some of my watering practices and principles with you.

There is so much instability in the world. Food producers are closing due to labour shortages and food facility sabotage. Here in Australia, we’re facing a potato shortage. You’re likely aware of accelerating inflation and food prices; fertiliser shortages; supply problems due to transport system disruptions; biosecurity threats; unnatural weather and climate impacts of floods, storms and droughts on crops and farms. Many factors are increasing the likelihood of global famines in the near future. Some countries may experience food riots and rationing. NOW is the time to be growing an edible survival garden with urgency. Find joy in taking empowering actions. Be prepared, upskill and network within your community with like-minded souls. I look forward to helping you grow.

“As I work on the garden, the garden works on me.”

The clouds in our minds seem to disappear in connection with Nature. A garden gifts us that healing feeling. If you are experiencing stress and anxiety, especially related to health problems, the good news is that gardening provides us with a wealth of health and wellbeing benefits. 

“Swedish research studies (Stigsdotter and Grahn, 2004; Stigsdotter, 2005) found that people who had access to a garden had significantly fewer stress occasions per year. They found those living in apartments without a balcony or outdoor area had more stress annually than those with a patio or small garden. Those who had the least stress were people with a large leafy garden, and the more frequently people spent time there, the less stress they suffered.”

Read my article on ‘Growing a Garden for Health and Wellbeing.’ Food for thought!

10 Water Saving Tips for your Garden

Water is a precious resource we need for healthy plants. These easy practical water-saving tips help you save money and manage water wisely in hot, dry weather and drought. By re-evaluating your garden design and watering habits, you can eliminate inefficient practices that waste water and grow your garden more sustainably.

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14 Water Saving Tips for Container Gardens

Download this PRINTABLE PDF with easy ways to conserve water and grow more sustainable container gardens. It’s packed with simple steps you can take to minimise moisture loss and plant stress, choose plants and pots wisely, and make more informed decisions. Enjoy!

What to Plant Now in Subtropical SE QLD

It’s summer! Heat, humidity, dry spells, storms + rain, sometimes! A challenging growing season in our climate. Time to protect your crops from pests and a wide variety of weather conditions. Download your February Gardening Tips PDF. 

The Vegetables Growing Guide is a reference chart to help you grow 68 of the most popular vegetables in Australia and New Zealand climate zones. Includes information on companion planting, making compost, soil and moon planting.

What to Plant Now in other Locations

Click here for what to plant and when. Or visit Gardenate.com (USA, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa)

PLANT PROFILE: Aloe Vera – Living First Aid Plant

Aloe vera barbadensis is one of the lowest maintenance, easy-to-grow perennial herbs on the planet. Everyone should grow at least one plant! It’s a long-lasting evergreen herb with a compact habit, spiky leaves and attractive flowers. Perfectly suited to pots or garden beds. Aloe is an attractive indoor plant, especially in a well-lit bathroom where you can use it as an anti-aging moisturiser, after-shave balm and to promote collagen production. We cut ‘fillets’ from the leaf daily for this purpose. Aloe is an excellent healer for all skin ailments including rashes, bites, stings, sunburn, dry skin, grazes, infections, acne, blisters, scar tissue and burns (keep a few fillets in the freezer). There are numerous research studies that reveal it has anti-aging properties as well as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and six antiseptic agents to name a few. Dip cuttings into aloe vera gel to promote rooting hormones when propagating. If you only have room for one medicinal herb, this should be top of your list! Read More

Aloe vera leaf fillets with healing gel

Shop Gardening Guides and Resources

Use Coupon Code: 10%OFF during checkout to save 10% on all gardening guides and books.

If you are still taking potluck and sowing at any time, your results will likely vary! Some plants might thrive while others fail, bolt to seed, wither or seeds never germinate. Adjusting the timing can make the difference between a productive garden and a frustrating one. It may help to learn more about the benefits of moon gardening. You’ll wish you’d done it sooner!

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