My first ever snake bean, growing well in a polytunnel on a 44 Degree day - overhead irrigation tunnels are surprisingly ok places to be when the world has turned into an oven #toohottotype #toohottohashtag #imcooked #powerisout #boilingday #climatecatastrophe #losingit #snakebean #ohthehumanity

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It was all hands on deck yesterday preparing raised beds for two species of indigenous sweet potatoes in the Burnley Field Station. Jess Gardner’s research project will test water and nutrient regimes and we’ll get to see how they grow at Melbourne’s latitude. Big thanks to Nick Osborne for coming back as a volunteer to plough and cultivate the growing area (you can see him in the background on the red tractor)! #digging #shovelling #workingupasweat #hatweather #bendyourknees #goodposture #raisedbeds #dustydirt #discplough #fieldtrials #novelcrops

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What do a Lotus flower and a Blue-tongued Lizard have in common? Nothing, except I saw both today #nelumbonucifera #whitelotus #bluetongueskink #australianreptiles #australianlizards #urbanwildlife #urbanecology #novelecosystem #putmedownplease

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So the Rainbow Lorikeets (top left) took off from the Sunflower when they saw me peering through the window; so the more diminutive Scaly Breasted Lorikeets (top right) took their chances and moved straight in. But it was all too much when I appeared outside and off they went as well (bottom right) #rainbowlorikeets #scalybreastedlorikeet #birdslovesunflowers #sunflower #birdstakingoff #birdhide #australianparrots #peckingorder

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So now the great Zucchini Glut begins at the Northcote Pool - expect lots of zucchini frittata at the pool’s Healthy Choices café #summerveggiegarden #northcotepool #zucchiniharvest #zucchiniglut #kitchengarden

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Part of my contribution to Christmas Day lunch - a Crayfish and a Babaco. The Babaco I grew myself, the Crayfish I caught with my bare hands at the Preston Market once I forked out $130 😱. Worth it though... #seafoodforchristmas #southernrocklobster #crayfish #babaco #bringfruit #homegrown #prestonmarket

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Cherry plums rescued from marauding Lorikeets, Cockatoos and Fruit Bats. In bird and bat world the ‘low hanging fruit’ are the ‘high hanging fruit’ so these were picked at the comfort zone bipedal primate level up to about 1.5 metres off the ground. What’s so fascinating is that the Lorikeets eat only the flesh of the plums and let the seed drop while the White Cockatoos eat chew through the fruit to get to the seed. Then the Fruit Bats arrive at dusk and clock on for night shift - everyone’s a winner! #cherryplums #plums #handpickedfruit #wildfruittrees #beatthebirdstothem #backyardfruit #summerfruit #birdsandbats #novelecosystem #urbanwildlife

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We loaded the truck, we drove to Dandenong Market, we planted out interesting plants with the Horticulture team from the City of Greater Dandenong and then we drove home via Roth Hetherington Reserve to drop off some Themeda Oat Grass (‘the other Themeda’). It’s always a pleasure to work with the gardeners at Dandenong led by the formidable Steve Nelson. These guys are a precious example of passionate and creative municipal maintenance gardeners working on 800 hectares of open space across Dandenong and Springvale. “Urban Green Space” gets a lot of attention in the academic literature for its real and potential ability to ameliorate a range of urban induced problems. None of this will happen I don’t think without investment in high quality and dedicated gardeners... @cityofgreaterdandenong should be very proud of theirs! Plants that went in today included Mountain Paw Paw, Babaco, Abyssinian Banana, Taro, Sweet Potato and more #dandenongmarket #municipalgardens #plantingout #highviz #highvizgang #novelcrops #panc #ensete #babaco #plantsofecuador #soapboxmoment #editorializing #urbangreenspace #onthetools

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My mum turns 80 today! Here she is as a three year old in 1942 with her uncle Jeff and an orphaned joey. This was on a farm my grandmother’s family were developing on infertile coastal plains at Inverloch in South Gippsland after escaping years of drought in the Mallee. Jeff died a year later shot down over Libya in a Hurricane during the Second World War. Anyway, after a 50 year career as a nurse my mum is still gardening and while as Anglo Celtic as you can get a huge eater of her son’s Taro and Yams Crops! Go Mum! #mumturns80 #familyphotos #familystories #babykangaroo #joey #anzacs #kelpies #farmdogs #inverloch #kongwak

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It’s that time of year when the Novel Crops Project is distributing plants from student pracs and projects to community gardens. Here I’m with designer and facilitator extraordinare Kieran Dickson. He’s taking a Ute load of plants to the West Brunswick Food Forest and the Pentridge Community Garden. In case you’re wondering I’ve decided to dress like a Stock and Station agent from now on, partly in honour of my favourite newspaper the #betootaadvocate and for all round quality hort/ag class. #burnleycampus #burnleynursery #novelcropsproject #givingstuffaway #foodforests #communitygardens #westbrunswickcommunitygarden #plantsonthemove

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Freshly picked and washed ‘Pink Eye’ potatoes, at gourmet size. I remain firmly in the Underground Storage Organs (USOs) are the best carbs School of Thought #pinkeyepotatoes #solanumtuberosum #solanaceae #freshlywashed #backyardstaples #homefoodproduction #urbanagriculture #foodoftheincas #undergroundstorageorgan #acronym

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I went for a snorkel at Gordon’s Bay, Sydney next door to Clovelly. I saw a couple of big Blue Groper, a few Morwong and a Wrasse, and plenty of algae (sea weed); certainly lots more biodiversity than in my normal haunt of the Northcote Pool #sydneybeaches #sydneysnorkeling #gordonsbay #talkingfish #snorkelling #decompressing #visitingmybro

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