Use a small squirt of shampoo to a cup or two of water to clean house plant leaves. It doesn’t need to froth. Wipe mixture on leaves. No need to rinse. Result is nice glossy leaves without using a leaf shine.

A use for old guttering: board up the ends and fill half with spagnum moss and then soil on top. Plant out with parsley which will grow nicely even over winter. Probably can do little lettuces too.

A large section is not necessary. Some vegetables like leeks, silver beet and lettuces can be popped in among the flowers. A dog or cat is less likely to scratch them.

If you lack gardening knowledge, do so some research. Go and ask the elderly – grandparents, neighbours, oldies groups and how to go about it.

A cheap “glasshouse”. I made mine by purchasing clear plastic shower curtains (Kmart seems the cheapest and Bunnings the more expensive) and attaching them to the inside of my balcony with curtain hooks. Apart from the easterly breeze which blows them around, have managed to keep my plants warm and sprouting nicely.

Garlic is impossibly easy to grow. Don’t plant supermarket bulbs as they are sprayed so they don’t sprout. Go to your farmers market, garden centre or friendly neighbour. One bulb will produce 10 or more the next year and so on and so on. We had over 150 this year. It also keeps the bugs […]

Here’s a tip to make a cheap glass house. “Kept an eye on the Trademe windows for sale. Many houses are converting to double glazing so single glazed windows are going cheap, often for only a dollar. I now have 14 square meters of glass house and total cost was under $80. Old glass doors […]

Why complain about the high price of parsnips, carrots, leeks and silver beet in the supermarket when growing even a few winter vegetables is so easy and much cheaper. One packet of seed or one punnet of seedlings plus the fertiliser is less than one kilo of vegetables on sale. Winter vegetables require fewer sprays […]