Everyone wants to know, or should know, the difference between a spade and a shovel! The Famous Final Five are back (with special guest @bulbus_bulbvarian ) for Vegetation Establishment and Maintenance, getting the low down on horticultural tools from Andrew Smith who has 30 years experience working in and managing the Burnley Gardens; then off to the veggie plots to be blasted by Antarctic winds, harvest a few carrots and select some seed potatoes for spring planting #burnleygardens #burnleyfieldstation #gardeningtools #spadeshovel #headgardener #toolshed #depot #semesterhasbegun #winterveggiegarden #harvestingcarrots #chillfactor #thiswillbeonthetest

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I’m going to eat Rhubarb flowers for the first time, like bizarro broccoli... #rhubarbflowers #tryingsomethingnew #rheumrhabarbarum #polygonaceae #perennialvegetables #redstalks

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Burnley’s Banana bunches surviving winter well - it’s a pity looking at tropical plants can’t warm you up when it’s 9 degrees Celsius at midday #bananasinmelbourne #burnleyfieldstation #musaceae #winterwhinge #undertendegrees #itsnotthatbad #denial

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Three leaves and Onion Weed on the menu for winter soup - New Zealand Spinach/Warrigal Greens, Perennial Nettle and Okinawa Spinach (this last one still growing despite many cold nights!) #alliumtriquetrum #edibleweeds #urticadioca #tetragoniatetragonioides #nativespinach #okinawaspinach #gynuracrepioides #tropicalplantsinmelbourne #eattheweeds #stingingnettle #ouch #weargloves

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Now is the Melbourne winter of discontent made kind of easy by tracery of bare plum tree branches, soul saving scent on Luculia and darkness smashing Kniphofia #winterflowers #kniphofia #luculiagrandifolia #scentedflowers #deciduoustrees #leaflessbranches #sunnywinterday #melbournewinter #richardthethird

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When your Anglo-Celtic genes fail you and you’re a hot sweaty mess in tropical Cuba, afflicted by a week long bout of diarrhoea, do the following: meet a Peruvian born Cuban surgeon at a conference who takes you to his spacious apartment to meet his completely charming wife; then find that he starts digging around for ‘blocking’ medication for your impending long haul flight, then shows you his father’s private photos of Fidel Castro; finally have dinner together where you all discuss Cuba’s future and its need to fend off corporate neoliberalism while still opening its economy and government. Mucha(s) gracia(s) Sergio y Roma! #hotandsweaty #toomuchinformation #bodilyfunctions #solucky #imustlearnspanish #angloceltic #vivalarevolucion #fidelcastro #neoliberalismsucks #firstworldproblems

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Storm clouds last night in old Havana before an hour long drenching - the city feels cool and fresh this morning #oldhavana #cuba #stormclouds #oldcities #narrowstreets #neighbourhood

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Medicinal herbs for sale on a busy Saturday morning in old Havana. My colleague bought something for his upset stomach. From what I can gather most of these plants are foraged in Havana’s largest urban park, equivalent to say Yarra Bend in Melbourne...hoping to get out there next week #streetseller #pavementseller #medicinalherbs #medicinalplants #weedforaging #cuba #havana #dodgystomach

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Such odd ball plants these Oca/New Zealand Yams. I planted these straight into the ground from cuttings after equinox in late March. You can see that they barely formed any roots and just went straight into tuber production. When you do it this way you can plant them very densely! #strangeplants #oxalistuberosa #lostcropsoftheincas #reallydelicious #plantsfromcuttings #pinktuber #pinkplant #novelcrops #novelcropsproject #panc #plantsofperu #plantpropagation #stemtuber #ancientcrop

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Today was harvest and cook-up day in the plots for the final class of semester in Food Production for Urban Landscapes - always a great privilege to teach super-bright enthusiastic students who want to grow food! #burnleyfieldstation #lastdayofsemester #harvestingcrops #awesomestudents #changetheworld #finallyasunnyday #urbanagriculture #thatsnotazucchini #newzealandyams #oxalistuberosa #chokos #sechiumedule

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When too many Sweet Potatoes is never enough...today my class and I got soaked in cold sheets of rain followed by late afternoon sunshine - never has being shivery and uncomfortable felt so good! #burnleyfieldstation #rainyday #morerainplease #keepraining #abitmuddy #harvesting #ilovesweetpotatoes #teachingoutdoors

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The Famous Final Five decanting their Rosemary cuttings - counting and judging roots from different hormone treatments; what does better: 1000ppm, 3000ppm, 8000ppm or nothing? 🤔. The answer may just surprise you...or will it?? #plantpropagation #takingcuttings #plantgrowthhormones #sometraditionsneverdie #groundhogday #burnleynursery #lastoftheirkind #thelasttime #rosemaryisforremembrance

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