Eucalyptus cladocalyx, sugar gum and Corymbia maculata, spotted gum.

On farms and lifestyle properties Eucalyptus cladocalyx, sugar gum and Corymbia maculata, spotted gum are two of the best performing trees producing timber for construction purposes and for fire wood, in the Mediterranean climate of southern Australia, that is, with cool wet winters and long hot, dry summers.

What makes these two species the best is their ability to quickly grow into a large tree in the given conditions therefore producing a lot of wood, the density of the wood they produce makes the timber strong, hard and durable and also gives off more heat when burnt.

Corymbia maculata, spotted gum, is a tall, fast growing species to 20–30m in height, has an attractive form and has been popular for park planting in the past but is too large for residential gardens. …

Simple tips for better gardening results. Bonus tip at the end.

One. Use a long-handled rain wand and water breaker nozzle when watering pots and seedlings.

Ghosts, disembodied voices and the feeling of being watched or touched!

Capital of South Australia.

Adelaide, the city where I live, was founded in the 1830s by the British Government as a colony. There was already a whaling station and a tent city established on nearby Kangaroo Island but the site of Adelaide on the mainland was chosen as the future capital of South Australia.

The decision was based on the site having a freshwater river flowing across a wide open plain, with nearby hills for additional timber and water sources, while still being close to the coast for shipping.

The Adelaide Plains and parts of the Adelaide Hills are home to the indigenous Kaurna People, they have been here for thousands of years and are still here. …

My experience with the high fat, moderate protein, very low carb, no sugar, ketogenic diet.

I’m in my early 60s and have been on a ketogenic diet for over 2 years now and lost 20 kilograms of weight over the first few months of being on the diet, without too much effort, certainly didn’t exercise, just changed what I eat. I also feel so much better overall and no longer have lower back pain.

I’m not a medical person, my qualifications are in Environmental Science, this article is about my own diet related experience and readings.

Even so I think it is quite clear that if we eat foods that are of low nutritional value and artificially manufactured, not naturally occurring high nutrition foods, we are inviting obesity and disease. …

Plant potting media and fertilizers.

Over the years I have collected lists of ingredients and the added fertilizers for different potting mixes used in plant production nurseries. These are listed at the end of the article for those plants people who would like to make their own potting media mixes.

Many home gardeners and hobby plant propagators prepare their own potting mixes from what ingredients they have on hand and by trial and error. Judging the suitability of the mix by appearance, feel and smell and if this is providing good quality plants, it is gardeners experience that should be followed.

But much researched has been conducted over the years to ensure potting mixes are designed so that they perform well, are reliable and don’t have variable performance caused by too much fertilizer, incorrect pH or lack of aeration. …

Micro and macro-organisms that comprise living soil.

In Lewis Carroll’s 1865 book Alice in Wonderland, when Alice and the White Rabbit, who was wearing a waist coat and running very late, were about to jump down the rabbit hole, they may have been standing on a layer of grasses and mulch that was full of small critters. These are the micro and macro-organisms that live in the top layer above the mineral component of soil, what soil scientists call the 0 layer of a soil horizon.

Amongst the grass and leaf litter, that is the dead leaves, twigs, floral parts and seeds, live many macro-organisms such as termites, earthworms, beetles, millipedes, slugs, snails, ants, cockroaches, cicada nymphs, spiders, pseudoscorpions, slaters, nematodes, together with soil fungi and fungi fruiting bodies, all eating the organic material in the mulch and taking it underground to release nutrients into the soil. …

Has ESD been achieved in Australia?

Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) was introduced into Australian legislation and institutions in the early 1990’s largely through the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (National ESD Strategy, 1992).

The Commonwealth Government in 1990 suggested the following definition for ESD in Australia: “Using, conserving and enhancing the community’s resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased.”

The need and awareness to protect our world and the resources that support us, such as air and water, has grown since the industrial revolution and that growth in awareness has been marked by milestones. One of the first milestones could be said to be the 1960s publication of the book ‘Silent Spring’ (Carson, 1962) which described the toxic effects pesticides were having on agricultural production in the United States. …