Local retailers agree the weather made for poor growing conditions and higher prices for leafy greens, such as lettuce, cabbage and broccoli. Dario Vescovi, of Pershouse, a fruit and vegetable agency in Brisbane, said yesterday the cold weather in Stanthorpe was preventing lettuce from developing a good heart. She s put off by recent steep price rises in fruit and vegetables at supermarkets. John Menin, of Menin s Foodworks, says too much rain down south, and too little up north, is behind...

Orchard owner Racy Garis cuts open a peach and explains, This should be brilliant green on the inside but when you cut it open, you can tell that it's dead because it's brown. It was 80 acres of fruit that included peaches, nectarines, plums, blackberries and muscadine vines. Fortunately, I've got a really good bank [laughs] that's willing to work with me and we'll plan for next year and hope that it will be a successful next year," he says. As for Garis, he says he'll rely on his...

She is now applying to the Environmental Risk Management Authority for approval to undertake garden-scale field tests in Canterbury of the pest resistant forage kale, cabbages, cauliflower and broccoli. The aim of the trial is to assess agronomic performance of vegetables and forage brassicas over 10 years. Dr Christey has been working on the problem of brassica pests for more than five years and says there is great potential for Bt-producing plants to kill caterpillar pests. The...

GROWING BY THE RULES The leafy greens included under the new safety guidelines are: iceberg, romaine, green leaf, red leaf, butter and baby leaf lettuce escarole endive spring mix spinach cabbage kale arugula chard After three people died and more than 200 were sickened from spinach contaminated with E. GROWING BY THE RULES The leafy greens included under the new safety guidelines are: iceberg, romaine, green leaf, red leaf, butter and baby leaf lettuce escarole endive spring mix spinach...

As entertainment goes its pretty tough to beat watching kids bury their faces into slices of pumpkin pie with their hands behind their back, trying to spit pumpkin seeds, rolling pumpkins or any of the Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn type of games that are all free. Theyll be a bit more frost on the pumpkins this year when Mantecas biggest two-day party of the year gets underway celebrating the Manteca crop that dominates the West Coast markets. As entertainment goes its pretty tough to beat...

Growing up on a farm, Borich s passion for gardening started to bloom as a youth. Borich s family raised a big vegetable garden and sold the harvest to their local grocery store. Soon, her yard will be a picturesque scene highlighted by the radiance of flowers, vegetables and fruit. The power, the symmetry, the beauty, the smell, the colors, the shading and the variety are all aspects that drew Borich to gardening. Borich said when a gardener sees a plant on the counter at a garden center...

They farm 150 acres of corn and beans, 10 acres of watermelons and five acres with pumpkins. Hobby farmers loosely defined as those whose incomes are derived not solely from farming often bring little or no hands-on experience to their new avocation. Until they bought the farm, which includes a four-bedroom house, a 1,000-square-foot weaving studio, animal sheds, a wool shed and gift shop, Sullivan had not gardened before. Some hobby farmers embrace the rural life because they love...

Cut back dead stalks of perennial flowers; dig or pull out weeds or any remaining spent vegetables; rake debris off the lawn; and prune away dead or diseased branches from trees. The key to making it fun is to pace yourself -- starting soon and doing a little at a time, rather than waiting and then being inundated with too much to do all at once. Except for formal shrubs, which get sheared, shrubs respond best to loppers; use that tool to cut some of the oldest stems, which no longer...

She is now applying to the Environmental Risk Management Authority for approval to undertake garden-scale field tests in Canterbury of the pest resistant forage kale, cabbages, cauliflower and broccoli. The aim of the trial is to assess agronomic performance of vegetables and forage brassicas over 10 years. The vegetables will be modified for resistance to caterpillar pests like cabbage white butterfly and diamond-back moth. Contained tests like this one have been possible under existing...