Where can you find juicy, flavor-filled and ripe-red tomatoes? Crisp and explosively juicy super-sweet corn? Cucumbers with crunch? And rockmelons with such flavour you will never want to eat another supermarket version! In your own backyard! In this introduction to backyard gardening, we want to inspire home gardeners to make the most of each season to grow healthy vegetables that give your family best nutrition and taste. We want you to experience the incredible satisfaction of eating whole meals out of your own backyard garden!

Rod and Desley Bailey have 6 children (8-20yrs old), 4 horses, 2 chooks, a rabbit and a small flock of budgies. Both coming from backyard gardening parents, they made the transition from reluctant teenage “helpers” in their parents gardens to satisfied consumers of their own home-grown food as their family grew. Still learning and “growing” themselves, Desley and the children are currently preparing their garden on the mid-north coast of NSW for the spring flush as Rod hurries to complete their half-built house.

• Position (light, air, water), drainage, proximity, netting, etc.

• Climate considerations

• Establishing beds (No dig, lawned areas, raised beds, self watering beds, etc)

• Small space gardening

• Building/buying good soil, soil/nutrient analysis

• Fertility and soil cover

• Watering

• Composting

• Worms and other life (bacteria, microflora, invertebrates, vertebrates, birds, etc)

• Tilling the soil

• Choosing the right varieties for your garden and your enjoyment

• Seeds (open source/non hybrid/non gmo/heritage)

• Seedlings (growing, buying), cuttings, etc.

• Seasonal planting, succession planting, family planting guide

• Work scheduling Plant support (staking, trellising, etc) 

• Pest and pathogen management

• Pushing your seasonal boundaries, etc.

• Harvesting for peak nutrition

• Equipment/tools/clothes