http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au en-us Sat, 02 May 2026 07:47:03 +1000 Rocketspark http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/post/11005/situation/ Galvanised Water Tanks Addressing a few things in relation to tanks, I want to cover as much as I can in this. I am calling it an opinion piece, but I have been making galvanized tanks now for over 30 years (in fact I started my apprenticeship on 8th May 1989, so as I write this, I am approaching 35 years).Firstly, I want to point out a quick reasoning for this:We are having an issue with the supply of material. We have prided ourselves over the years on using local products where possible.... Fri, 14 Mar 2025 14:04:03 +1100 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/#post11005 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/post/10413/bio-char/ It's been a while since I last did a blog, now I have been playing with something new so I thought I'd share it here.Whilst I am still a novice on the subject, I can offer some advice and that may inspire you to look further into this concept. It isn't new, it isn't hard and there are many benefits. Bio-char. What is it?It isn't exactly charcoal - in essence it is "cooked wood". Charcoal is burned wood.What do I do with it?You can cook with it and you can bury it in your garden or mix it in... Mon, 17 Jun 2024 06:49:42 +1000 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/#post10413 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/post/10110/tomatos/ Hi again, it's been a while, I haven't really caught up on this "Blog" thing as it has been really hectic, however, it's time:I made a call back in September that we were done with frosts here in Seymour Victoria. Usually the rule of thumb is Melbourne Cup Day (A horse race) to plant out Tomato's. I went early! I usually do take a punt (not on the race, nag drags don't interest me one iota) and put a few early Tomato's in so that if the weather Gods smile on the land I end up with ripe Tomato's ... Thu, 26 Oct 2023 06:49:22 +1100 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/#post10110 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/post/9947/aquaponics-rural-tanks-style/ We are running two types of fish in our system here at The Factory. Catfish and Australian Bass, these fish co-exist well and are seemingly happy after adding a few hiding spaces and blocking off the pump (I lost a few that got sucked up into the submersible pump).The grow beds are now showing the results I had expected to see - that being that the charcoal is out performing the expanded clay in spades! I scattered lettuce seeds over both beds and put in garlic & onions (some Walking Onions ... Fri, 19 May 2023 06:55:33 +1000 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/#post9947 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/post/9839/changing-yard/ When I purchased this block in 2005 and had the factory built in 2006 (which we moved into Easter 2007) I never envisaged the changes in the business, the amount of visitors to the yard, or the evolving garden bed industry that has resulted.This has caused two effects which must be rectified/managed and until now has sort of slipped by due to many factors.The display area I have built since 2006/7 has run its race. It is not really a safe and practical area to take visitors.Tanks have been solde... Thu, 23 Mar 2023 07:04:03 +1100 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/#post9839 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/post/9708/hugelkultur/ I accidentally stumbled across a relatively unknown (despite being an ancient form of gardening) method using raised garden beds. Admittedly this form of gardening most likely didn't utilise corrugated iron raised beds back in the day like I do, but the principle remains the same.So what is Hügelkultur?Basically it is building a raised garden by layering timber: beginning with large logs/blocks, then stacking gradually smaller and lighter timber until you get down to leaves and bark. This is th... Thu, 19 Jan 2023 10:39:55 +1100 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/#post9708 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/post/9076/spaghetti-vegie/ I thought I might explain "Spaghetti Veggie" for anyone who has never heard of it/grown it.The plant grows similar to a Pumpkin and has football shaped fruit (that's Aussie rules football I should add). These are a creamy colour that have green tinged stripes although these are not very prominent and only appear on the top side (well mine did anyhow). They look similar to a Butternut Pumpkin minus the "ladies waist/hour glass" part.You harvest them similarly to a Pumpkin and to us... Mon, 18 Apr 2022 14:47:05 +1000 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/#post9076 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/post/8146/terracing/ A friend (and somewhat mentor gardener), known locally as Bare Foot Brian, came to me with a concept to prevent his back yard being washed down and across the road whenever it rained. Basically he wanted some sheets of corrugated iron rolled up into semi circles (Brian called them "curvy bits") that he intended to bury into the side of his hill of a back yard and back fill. I thought they would simply topple over but made them for him all the same. They were sheets that I cut lengthways to ... Sat, 25 Sep 2021 06:52:16 +1000 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/#post8146 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/post/7674/special-seymour-medlar-marinade/ It's always a bit of fun trying new things in the kitchen. Tonight, we created a new recipe with (homegrown) medlars, which we used to marinate a lamb shoulder, cooked in the Weber Q.Ingredients:1 lemon, juiced 3 Cloves of Garlic 1 Pinch of Parsley 2 Shakes of All Purpose Seasoning 4 Shakes of Dried Oregano Pulp of 5 Bletted Medlar 1 TSP of Chopped MintMethod:Combine ingredients in a bowlRub liberally over the meat (we used lamb shoulder) and leave to marinate for at least 3 hours before cookin... Sat, 29 May 2021 19:31:16 +1000 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/#post7674 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/post/7632/our-wicking-bed-system/ The first Wicking Bed I made was 14 years ago and I chose to do one of the unique corner/heart/kidney shapes we do. I simply put a bottom on it and then sealed it. As I was a "newby" I went by the book so to speak. I put an overflow pipe in at a predetermined height, I laid pipework in the bottom and I added some plastic upturned crates which I covered with matting. The first crop went gang busters, it really performed well however the second crop (which was corn) f... Sat, 15 May 2021 15:59:23 +1000 http://www.ruraltanksandgardenbeds.com.au/blog/#post7632