Wildlife in Focus: Often regarded as shy and retiring, the channel billed cuckoo doesn’t make the cuckoo, cuckoo noise. Why not you might ask, find out by listening to the complete segment here.
Vegetable Heroes: Summer Broccoli, Brassica oleracea Cymosa group (syn. var. italica)-Calabrese, - Broccoli heads are actually groups of buds that are almost ready to flower; each group of buds is called a floret.
To grow broccoli as a cool season crop you need to sow seeds now and until the end of November and plant out seedlings in late summer, except for subtropical and tropical areas, when you have to wait until February or March.Some cultivars , such as the Calabrese or 'sprouting Broccoli."are adapted to spring and autumn planting only, but the best known variety, 'Shogun', can be planted year round. Broccoli being a leafy green vegetable needs a fertile soil and don't let the soil become dry. Add plenty of chook poo or other type of animal manure, add a handful of Potash as well. Add plenty of lime-pH 6.5 to 7.5 is the 'ideal' range.
ECO-Tip:Plants growing in Spring and Summer can end up with quite heavy green caterpillar infestation. This can be prevented by using light plastic netting to keep the butterflies out. You can buy this online.
You might like to try spraying Dipel or Spinosad based insecticide – it’s a bacteria mixed with water that kills the caterpillars but is safe for humans, pets etc. or another remedy is 2 Tablespoon of Molasses dissolved in 1 L of warm water and sprayed on. You can also try to remove the caterpillars from the leaves or brush off any eggs you can see.
The broccoli is ready to cut about 2½ months from transplanting in the summer and a bit over 3 months in winter.
The sprouting type of Broccolis is perhaps the oldest, and least known form of broccoli. Known as “green Sprouting Calabrese” in online catalogues.You can also get catalogs sent to you by ringing the number of the company.www.greenharvest.com.au You can also get Broccoli Raab-another looser type of sprouting Broccoli at this web address.
Design Elements: Part 2 of the Basic Garden Design series, listen here how to go about drawing your garden design.
Plant of the Week: Yellow Tingle. Eucalyptus guilfoylei
The Tingle eucalypt trees are referred to as the Giants" or the giant yellow and red tingle trees which are only found in a particular area of Walpole and Nornalup in the Walpole Wilderness Area.
Yellow tingles are smaller, growing to thirty-five feet or more. The red tingles, however, reach almost eighty feet into the air! You can see images of the amazing treetop walk http://www.rainbowcoast.com.au/areas/walpole/valleyofthegiants.htm
The Yellow tingleTree, 5-40 m high, bark rough, short-fibred & crumbly. Fl. white/cream, Nov to Dec or Jan. Gravelly loam. Slopes & ridges. Yellow tingle is a medium to tall eucalypt, with height up to 35 m and diameter 1 m. This tree prefers an annual rainfall over 900mm per year, otherwise it will grow, but more poorly.
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