feeds from gardens.com.au http://gardens.com.au/rss/ en-au http://gardens.com.au/rss/ http://gardens.com.au/static/campfire/layouts/images/omg-logo-small.png http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/4/1/drug-labs-could-be-anywhere-and-their-poisons-linger-for-years/ Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 EST news A SIMPLE shower cubicle does the job; a garden shed, garage, or suburban kitchen is even better.The proliferation of domestic drug laboratories to feed the demand for ice, speed and ecstasy is gaining momentum. Last year there was a 43 per cent increase in "clan labs" raided and dismantled by police across NSW.The drug "cooks" and their financiers - who need just power, water and a little privacy - do not discriminate by suburb."It's opportunistic," Detective Inspec ...

A SIMPLE shower cubicle does the job; a garden shed, garage, or suburban kitchen is even better.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/4/1/24-hours/ Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 EST news BOTANICAL PRIZEIn the world of botanical illustrations, the Margaret Flockton Award is a big deal. It encourages artists who focus on the scientific detail of plants, producing intricate black-and-white works of art. "Even in our high-tech society, black-and-white scientific botanical illustration remains essential for scientists because an artist can capture detail impossible to photograph and present it all in a single illustration," says Dr Tim Entwistle, the former executive direct ...

BOTANICAL PRIZE

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/4/1/vision-for-birrarung-marred/ Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 EST news The Melbourne riverside space has not fulfilled its potential, say its designers. By Megan Backhouse. WHEN eight hectares of inner-city rail yard and roadway were reconfigured into the first significant park to be built in central Melbourne in more than 100 years, hopes were high for a radical rethink of what we want from a municipal garden in the 21st century.Melbourne's last wave of urban park creation started around 1850, when such spaces featured exotics, lawns and rotundas. Until Birrarung ...

The Melbourne riverside space has not fulfilled its potential, say its designers. By Megan Backhouse.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/30/and-another-thing/ Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news SCIENTISTS can model climate change with 95 per cent probability. Economists can't model economy-wide carbon pricing, yet Martin Feil (Comment, 29/3) thinks economists' forecasts of costs are certain, but he's not sure about climate change. Julia Thornton, Surrey Hills PoliticsIF CARBON pricing is impossible, what will be the most effective method for changing humans from fossil fuels to renewables?Barbara Fraser, BurwoodDESPITE tabloid reporting, the myki system works fine for me and everyone e ...

SCIENTISTS can model climate change with 95 per cent probability. Economists can't model economy-wide carbon pricing, yet Martin Feil (Comment, 29/3) thinks economists' forecasts of costs are certain, but he's not sure about climate change. Julia Thornton, Surrey Hills

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/30/clever-family-comfort/ Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news EXPANSIVE views of Lake Macquarie,privacy and high quality of design andfinish make this house a rare offering.Its three levels are designed for familyliving.At entry level is a children’s play room,a study anda billiards and bar room thatlead out to the elegant pool in a secludedcorner of the rear garden.There is also a bedroom with an ensuite on this lower level, which isperfect for guests, and the area could betransformed into independent living.A staircase, o ...

Smart design marries practicality to style, writes Fran Thompson.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/30/watercolour-vista/ Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news Melbourne's flower and garden show is back from the dry years. By Denise Gadd. THE Carlton Gardens are a vision in green with a touch of autumn gold to welcome today's opening of the 16th Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. It's a sharp contrast to past years when Victoria was engulfed in the worst drought on record, trees and plants in the gardens were suffering and all everyone talked about was saving water.This year the emphasis is also on water but more as an entertainment factor ...

Melbourne's flower and garden show is back from the dry years. By Denise Gadd.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/30/uni-plan-for-grand-manor-advances/ Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news A PROPOSAL to sell or lease historic Gleniffer Brae has moved a step closer, despite fierce community opposition.At a Wollongong City Council meeting last night, administrators endorsed a report into a University of Wollongong proposal to lease Manor House and Sorenson Gardens and buy a smaller portion of the site that once housed SCEGGS school.Under the proposal, the former school site along Murphys Ave, Keiraville, would become an arts centre incorporating the Conservatorium of Music and the F ...

A PROPOSAL to sell or lease historic Gleniffer Brae has moved a step closer, despite fierce community opposition.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/29/suicide-theory/ Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news The deaths of a man and woman whose bodies were discovered at their home in Auburn yesterday were probably a double suicide, police said. A cause of death has not been identified. The bodies are believed to have lain in a garden shed for up to a week before they were found by a real estate agent. "The circumstances do not appear to be suspicious," Inspector Chris Hill said.Lifeline: 131114

The deaths of a man and woman whose bodies were discovered at their home in Auburn yesterday were probably a double suicide, police said. A cause of death has not been identified. The bodies are believed to have lain in a garden shed for up to a week before they were found by a real estate agent. "The circumstances do not appear to be suspicious," Inspector Chris Hill said.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/29/couple-found-dead-in-garden-shed/ Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news THE bodies of the quiet, middle-aged couple lay in their garden shed for about a week as mail piled up in their letterbox.Just after 2pm yesterday a real estate agent passing the dilapidated wooden home noticed the shed door in the backyard - visible from the footpath - was ajar.The agent called paramedics after seeing what lay inside.By early evening, police had not established how the couple, believed to have lived at the suburban Auburn house for about three years, died.Investigators were com ...

THE bodies of the quiet, middle-aged couple lay in their garden shed for about a week as mail piled up in their letterbox.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/29/three-of-a-kind-shallot-pancakes/ Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news Menus often refer to these as shallot cakes or pancakes but the principal ingredient is what we in Australia call green onions and Americans refer to as scallions. The slender root vegetable was wrongly labelled shallot in decades past and the name has stuck. The pancakes are eaten as street food in China, particularly in the north. Here, they are most often listed as an entree. Usually they're a simple, unleavened flour-and-water dough, rolled, embedded with sliced green onion, coiled, sliced a ...

Menus often refer to these as shallot cakes or pancakes but the principal ingredient is what we in Australia call green onions and Americans refer to as scallions.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/28/diary-dates/ Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news - March 31: Maitland Transition Town meeting, Cornerstone Cafe at Organic Feast, East Maitland, 6.30pm, info@purplepear.net.au, purplepear.net.au.- March 31: Family day, Fig Tree Community Garden, Albert St, Wickham, from 9am, figtree.org.au.- March 31: Cessnock community garden, meet 9.30am, Calvary Aged Care, cesscomgarden@gmail.com.- April 1: Critical Mass bike ride, from Civic Park, meet at 5.30pm for 6pm start, criticalmass.wikia.com/wiki.- April 2: Showerhead exchange (bring old showerhead ...

- March 31: Maitland Transition Town meeting, Cornerstone Cafe at Organic Feast, East Maitland, 6.30pm, info@purplepear.net.au, purplepear.net.au.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/28/home-grown/ Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news THE work of Pat Coleby, while mostly applying to farming, has a lot to teach gardeners.She immigrated to Australia with her unwell husband in the late 1950s, seeking a warmer climate.As a tenant farmer she began a goat dairy, and has been involved with goats ever since.Her Australian Goat Husbandry (1983) is a classic, and I can recommend her Natural Farming (2004) for the points below.Coleby's main work as a farmer, writer, and farming consultant is to do with keeping healthy domestic farm anim ...

THE work of Pat Coleby, while mostly applying to farming, has a lot to teach gardeners.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/28/rise-the-diary-people-events/ Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news MONDAYCessnock City Toastmasters, 6.45pm, Cessnock Leagues Club, Darwin Street, Cessnock.GROW, 10.30am, parish rooms, Cathedral Street, Maitland, 1800 558 268.Kiwanis Newcastle, 7pm, Club Macquarie, Argenton, 4947 1516.Warners Bay Rotary, 6.15pm, Bayviews.Adult education TAFE outreach, 9.30am-12.30pm, Woodrising Neighbourhood Centre, 4959 4624.Gentle exercise, 8am-9am, Belmont Neighbourhood Centre, 4947 0031.Yoga, 7.15pm-8.30pm, Belmont Neighbourhood Centre, 4947 0031.Port Hunter Toastmasters, 6 ...

MONDAY Cessnock City Toastmasters, 6.45pm, Cessnock Leagues Club, Darwin Street, Cessnock.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/27/our-own-english-rose/ Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news Jane Reddy finds a weekend wonder.There's no surer way to kill the afterglow of a spontaneous weekend interstate trip than to find - at check-in - that the return flight is booked for a Sunday too far away.That was the situation last month when the travelling partner and I faced another 24 hours together.Handing over the credit card to secure the last seats on the right flight, I calculated what else that eye-watering amount would have bought had we stayed closer to home.The Werribee Mansion and ...

Jane Reddy finds a weekend wonder.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/27/guide-to-athens/ Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news David Whitley uncovers the best of a city where ancient history meets the modern world. STAY BudgetThere are a number of decent budget options in the unfortunately rather seedy area near Omonia Square. The design-focused Hotel Chic (25 Pireos, 522 2822, chichotel.gr) is the most interesting, with high-tech rooms where you can light up the pictures from behind, available from €53. Of the solid-but-unspectacular competitors, Hotel Cecil (39 Athinas, 321 7079, cec ...

David Whitley uncovers the best of a city where ancient history meets the modern world.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/27/friday-april-1/ Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news RATING: 3.5/5NEW TRICKS8.30pm, ABC1Another strongly plotted episode that throws up a number of surprises, both in the resolution of the cold case, and in some personal action behind the scenes. Highly entertaining.RATING: 3.5/5BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS7.30pm, Channel SevenTonight the crew are at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, so along with all the usual lifestyle stuff we get to see some truly exceptional show gardens, and the latest on all things horticultural.RATING: 4/5S ...

RATING: 3.5/5

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/27/points-of-distinction/ Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news Two high-rises are looking to the outside to sell the inside, reports Sue Green. A few herbs on the windowsill, perhaps a struggling cherry tomato plant on the balcony. For most apartment residents, the low-maintenance lifestyle means relinquishing the chance to grow your own vegetables. But at riverside Yarra Point tower, residents will be able to potter on roof-top garden allotments.While it is usually the features and fittings inside the building that are the focus when a new apartment develo ...

Two high-rises are looking to the outside to sell the inside, reports Sue Green.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/27/youll-love-it/ Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news Paul Caine Director & auctioneer Caine Real Estate"East Melbourne is at least half gardens with no industry, although there are traces of it at the periphery of the suburb. It's a bit like Central Park in New York — rarely will you find that amount of greenery so close to the CBD. From the far end of East Melbourne to Spring Street, it's a 10-minute walk, and you'll spend most of that 10 minutes in the Fitzroy Gardens. With its consistency of streetscape and heritage buildin ...

Paul Caine Director & auctioneer Caine Real Estate

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/27/school-is-in-with-saucy-bits/ Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news The Red Feather Inn combines French-style luxury, convict history and a chef who loves to share his passion for paddock-to-plate cuisine, writes Sam Vincent. IF IT'S true that people grow to resemble their pets, Lee Christmas is in deep trouble. The head chef and manager at Tasmania's Red Feather Inn, Christmas rears Wessex saddleback pigs, a breed of mud-stained scrap-snuffler that won't be winning any beauty contests at this year's Royal Hobart Show."That may be so," Christmas says, ...

The Red Feather Inn combines French-style luxury, convict history and a chef who loves to share his passion for paddock-to-plate cuisine, writes Sam Vincent.

http://www.gardens.com.au/news/2011/3/27/top-10-gardening/ Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST news Kitchen Gardens of Australia Kate Herd(Lantern, $49.95)Rural Australian GardensMyles Baldwin(Murdoch, $89.95)Yates Garden Guide2007(HarperCollins, $39.99)Seasons in My House and Garden Holly Kerr Forsyth (Melbourne UP, $49.99)One Magic SquareLolo Houbein(Wakefield Press, $45)Organic Vegetable Gardening Annette McFarlane (ABC Books, $35)What Garden Pest or Disease is That? Judy McMaugh(New Holland, $49.95)Creating an Australian Garden Angus Stewart(Allen & Unwin, $49.99)Fruit and Vegetable Ga ...

Kitchen Gardens of Australia Kate Herd