Hope you have a great time PP. If you pop in here again could you post a link to where you got your growing bags last year please.
BTW, if you are only getting back in mid August aren't you going to need someone to start some seedlings for you?

Mantis

Start mine, Mantis, start mine.

Have to wait a while yet Grub, its still 4 months till

Mantis, I'll just have to start late, probably best anyhow. Last year the seeds I was tempted to start at the beginning of August became slow runts! Middle of August will be fine I reckon.

I ordered the grow bags from Garden Nursery Products in QLD, who in turn imported them via Premium Plastics in WA, and I had a looooooong wait with several delays (each delay is a month, so start early if you intend to buy them). You should be able to find those companies by Googling. But, the down side is that I had to buy 200, which is fine for me since I grow practically everything in containers here, but might not suit others so well.

PP

And where did you get your black tubes from, PP? Please?

I got the tubes from the same place Spatz - pretty sure they're called native tubes. Can't remember if I replied to your last email - brain turning to mush! :P

tsk tsk tsk, PP. No, you haven't replied yet. :)

Thanks for the tip, will look into it.

Folks, I'm hoping to visit farmer's markets on my travels, in places where I'll be travelling by car anyhow. One never knows what treasures will be waiting.

Apples are one of the fruits that I love, and when I was reading this article I figured some of you would want to read it also.... makes me feel really sad to know how much commercial interests are destroying biodiversity!

PP

Here is a link that might be useful: English Orchards in trouble

Patrina

that is so sad about the heritage apple orchards...Makes me want to go there and take cuttings....What a world we live in that doesnt respect agricultural history and that money talks.

Yes Helen, it's very sad, one of the things I hate about modern commercial practices! An underlying factor may well be the apathy of a vast majority of people who only shop in supermarkets, and who's idea of a garden is a lawn with a shrub or two along the front fence, but if I think about it too long I just get depressed.

PP *sigh*

Well, I didn't get to farmer's markets in the UK at all, but managed to go to a couple street markets in Germany and one in Holland, and I tried a few local apples in most places. The best apple was in New Zealand, called Splendour. Simply scrumptious, the best eating apple I've ever eaten, crisp yet meaty, juicy, sweet and tasty, and no tough skin!

The garden show in Munich was a bit disappointing because there was a huge distance to walk from one main display area to the next. However, the display of fuschias in the main hall was stunning! I didn't know there were so many different colours, sizes, growth habits etc. There were some heirloom tomatoes, maybe about 20 or so varieties, and a handful of different chillies. The one fascinating display was "grave-gardens" with unusual memorial sculptures, amazing landscaping and plantings of flowers and low greens... not much use in a dry Aussie climate but interesting for a wet European one.

Nürnberg's special exhibition of Renaissance Masters was magnificent, as was the Golden Age exhibition in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam! I don't know how my pics turned out as yet - I kinda fumbled with my old camera and foolishly didn't take the digital camera :P

And even though all this was amazing, the most incredible part for me was meeting GW people for the first time - Jennifer in Canada, and a couple chilli buddies in the US! The internet sure has made the world invitingly open (good to escape from the confines of my small backyard!)

So now I'm planning a trip next year to the Mediterranean :)

Patrina

PP, go to Germany/Austria in September/October when the really good apples have just been harvested. :)

Don't tempt me Spatz - I didn't want to leave!!

I forgot to say that I met GWebbers Rosco and Glenn in NZ!!! How could I forget them? As I drove thru the countryside on my way to the south of the island to visit them, I couldn't help but think of Hobbit country! Now that I think of it, Glenn may well have been in Lord of the Rings as an extra

PP