It’s broccoli harvest time here at Burnley and my Food Production students proudly take their crops with them everywhere, even at the library self-checkout #broccolihead #libraryselfcheck #keepitclose #takeiteverywhere #takemehomeandeatme #randomveggies #harvesttime

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It’s a climbing bean that produces a big turnip-shaped tuber that tastes like a Nashi pear - Jicama or Mexican Yam Bean. It’s become relatively popular in south east Asia because it stays crisp even when cooked, like a water chestnut #jicama #pachyrhizuserosus #sweettuber #plantsofmexico #novelcrops #beanflower #legumes #fabaceae #burnleyfieldstation

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The peanut harvest from the Burnley Field Station is now drying/curing in a polytunnel. The ones I’ve shelled already taste good. Now to investigate roasting them #peanutharvest #arachishypogaea #legumes #fabaceae #plantsofsouthamerica #ancientcrops #novelcrops #novelcropsproject #burnleyfieldstation #polytunnellife

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When Costa shows up with the Gardening Australia team where else to let him loose but the student veggie plots? #costageorgiadis #burnleyfieldstation #gardeningaustralia #staroftheshow #takethree #broccoliontheway

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Sharni Jansen from FareShare gave us such a great tour of their food production plots at Les Baguley’s former flower farm today. The quantity of vegetables going to the FareShare kitchens is seriously impressive, and blue pumpkins are a big part of that. We also did our annual pilgrimage to the Butler Market Garden where, once hair nets were donned, students were able to get up close and personal with Asian veggies #fareshare #urbanagriculture #marketgarden #growingfood #foodbowl #pumpkin #asianveggies #fieldtrip #excursion #studentswholisten #hairnetsarecool

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This morning’s sweet potato haul at the Northcote Pool was 46 kilos from a few square metres. As usual it’s so satisfying to release these mega tubers from the soil after such a hot, dry summer and autumn. Sweet potato curries will soon be available at the NARC café #northcoteaquaticandrecreationcentre #kitchengarden #urbanagriculture #communitygarden #annualharvest #diggingtubers #ipomoeabatatas #volunteering #healthycafe

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Swamp hibiscus flowers look great on overcast days. This plant has been growing in a tub of old potting mix and sub-soil for years, the kind of ‘soil’ or substrate that gives agronomists or garden-variety gardeners nightmares. It dies back to dry sticks in winter and then reshoots in spring just when you think it may have rotted down there in anaerobic muck - some plants are ‘plastic’ in all sorts of ways #hibiscuscoccineus #swamphibiscus #swampplants #aquaticplants #plantsoflouisiana #malvaceae #deciduousplants #autumnflowers #redflowers #soilnotsoil #plasticlooking #alwayscomesback

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Huge fall of Osage Orange fruits - look and probably taste like tennis balls but once eaten by North American mega fauna like Giant Sloths. And related to breadfruit somewhere along the line. Not the most attractive tree but completely and utterly indestructible; resistant to heat, drought and freezing cold #maclurapomifera #treesofnorthamerica #osageorange #toughtrees #fallenfruit #lookslikeatennisball #yellowballs #mindyourhead

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Things you find in old boxes - me injured in Jodhpur, India in 1996. I fell off a motorbike in Jaipur with two Indian students (me in the middle) and then made my way to Jodhpur in a state of delirious shock where I was carted off in a rickshaw into the Blue City where this family who’d just set up a guesthouse looked after me for 9 days until I could hobble off to the train and head to Gujarat. Many tears all round when I left them #flashbackphoto #indiastories #travelinjuries #forevergrateful #skinnyme

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A big hedge of fruiting Chilean Guava in Northcote near All Nations Park - small but delicious and a quick snack on the way to Northcote Plaza and deciding which of the two Coles you’ll go to once you’re there...povvo (small) Coles or bougie (large) Coles... #chileanguava #ugnimolinae #myrtaceae #plantsofsouthamerica #smallfruits #autumnfruits #fruitinghedge #urbanfruittrees #foragingfruit #streetsofnorthcote #twocoles

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The nets are off after 5 weeks of growth - no evidence of attack from Wood Ducks this year for the student crop plots. Today we started harvesting zucchinis and cos lettuce. So far no signs of cabbage white caterpillars on the broccoli after months of warm, dry weather (I think there’s a relationship there!). Anyway, growing food with lots of people never gets old! #burnleyfieldstation #studentsgrowingfood #studentgarden #urbanagriculture #regenerativeagriculture #communitygarden #urbanallotment #lettheharvestbegin #fakedroneshot #secretvantagepoint

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We’ve been watching our jungle garden grow outside the Northcote Pool café for the last few months. In a sheltered spot under two drip irrigation events a week it has grown super quickly. It’s full of bananas, cannas, babacos, mountain paw-paws and sweet potatoes. It’ll need an annual late winter clean up but we’re hoping it will become a summer season pool highlight for years to come. Good work @maddylivingston and @ksduncanj #northcotearc #northcotepool #junglegardens #tropicalgarden #watchingthegardengrow #poolgardens #shelteredspot #lushplanting

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