Its the time of year that the weather and life generally heats up...

There's time for one more Edible Eden Design class this weekend, Saturday 26, 1-3pm, Bush Foods and Herbs.

The warmer weather has the Bush Foods in my garden growing like crazy, including heat-loving ones like the aromatic Lemon-scented Myrtle (delicious tea, baking, fish, rice), and the obscure but gorgeous Aniseed Myrtle (tea, baking)

There's an exciting new Bush Food to see and taste in my garden, a special variety of Saltbush. It should have great potential as a salad herb, as well as the usual use of it's dried leaves for a salty herb. 

There's lots of easily grown plants in this class, many in pots, so come along and put something new on your Xmas menu. 

Bookings are from a link at the Edible Eden Design website, as usual. 

In the garden generally, there's still time to plant Tomatoes and Beans, for late summer crops. Choose varieties that are quick to ripen! There's a multitude of wonderful heritage tomato types out there now to choose from. This year I'm growing a couple of different types of the tough cherry tomato - Sweetbite (slightly bigger than the usual cherry) and Reisentraube (meaning 'bunch of grapes' in German). 

Don't forget to plant some Basil to go with your Tomatoes, and protect it well from snails, with some coffee grounds or crushed eggshells. 

If you've seen my garden, you may wonder where I'm going to fit more plants? Well I've moved up with a roof-top garden, (thanks to the older John, my Dad, strengthening the garage roof for me). I now have a sunny spot for potatoes and other root vegetables (seems ironic growing them on a roof), and some self-seeded pumpkins. I need to add some Borage for the newest inhabitants of the roof garden - bees!

I took delivery of the bees and a lovely home-made top-bar beehive from Martin of The Urban Hive couple of weeks ago, and they've settled in well. They've been seen feverishly darting into the hive with their fat yellow legs bristling with pollen. Looking forward to that honey! There's a picture on Facebook

Christmas Gift Ideas

Any gardener would love a copy of Kate Herd's book, "Kitchen Gardens of Australia", full of inspiring stories and gorgeous pictures.

(And if you're curious about my garden, check out chapter 4)

Or give an Edible Eden Design Gift Voucher, for a class ($35), which includes notes, refreshments and seeds from the garden, or an on-site consultation (from $132 per hour, depending upon distance)

For a homemade gift, pick a bunch of flowering Oregano (it's almost flowering in my garden!) and hang upside down to dry - delicious crumbled into pasta sauces when herbs are feeling sad over winter...

Or take a 500ml or 750ml plastic soft drink bottle, and make it into a gentle seed/seedling waterer. Remove the lid, and using a metal skewer heated over a gas flame, poke 5-7 holes into it. It's good to do this under the exhaust fan so you don't poison yourself with melted plastic fumes! When the lid is on, and the bottle full of water, a very gentle flow is created when watering.

Have a fruitful Xmas break and see you all in 2012.  

Your Subscription:

Karen Sutherland has been growing food since the age of 8, and has worked designing and making gardens for the last 25 years.

Classes are held in her own edible eden, with over 150 edible plants, featured on 60 minutes and Gardening Australia. 

Her dream is detailed in her website, which also has details about other classes.