Sal the Gardening Gal

12/04/2026

It’s safe to say we are officially in our glorious veggie gardening season here in the Midwest, yeeehaaa 🤠.

I can’t help but notice on my regular Bunnings trips that the veggie seedlings are often looking bare, that’s a good thing! People are leaning into growing their own produce, taking control of their food supply, alleviating household pressures and I dare say reducing some stress levels too, win win. 🌱💚 Any excuse to get people gardening is a good one in my book.

I wanted to share some tips for those new to the edible space that I use year round to get the most out of our patch. What do when there is no small seedlings to buy, what to plant during the warmer weather and why, why plant onions that take 10 months to mature when you could plant leeks that’s last years, space savers for the summer, perennial plants that continue to produce for years etc etc.

After quite a few years learning often the hard way my veggie garden must haves are becoming more clear and perhaps those starting out may benefit from some of my failed attempts.

The weather is perfect for getting busy and I’m heading to play in our garden now 🌻💚. Hope you like the tips and if so can share some more soon!

01/03/2026

Introducing a very special project I was lucky enough to be part of late last year ~ MayHill Quays 💛

An absolutely stunning new build, Hamptons style home with arguably the best coastal views in town and a client who was a dream to work with, the goal was simple. Deliver a timeless garden, lush, elegant, high end, low maintenance and resilient enough to endure our coastal summers. My role was to select and install many of the garden plants along with 17 large planters throughout the home and upper balconies.

With hardscape design and elements already installed it was fun to find suitable plants to complement the home and materials.

Front planters included hedges of Raphiolepsis Snow Maiden, Carissa Desert Star and Murraya paniculata - all very tough plants with lush deep green foliage and flushes of white flowers throughout the year.

The large long garden bed at the front was interplanted with combos of Cycas revoluta, Raphiolepsis snow maiden, Kalanchoe silver & copper spoons, Xanadu philodendrons and Liriope - all growing seamlessly together to fill in any spaces and let their unique foliage colours complement one another.

The upper story of the home had a series of areas dedicated to accentuate the large planters - each space posing a different set of conditions to consider. We wanted to make these pots a sight to behold and I’m so happy with how they are settling in albeit some tweaks as the hot summer progressed. Each pot has its own unique plants and feel, under planted with cascading foliage and pops of colour throughout the year.

Spaces include - the semi tropical balcony, the Mediterranean corner, the west facing staircase balcony and so on.

This was a true team effort project with so many different crews on site, it was awesome to be part of. All in all we used around 170 bags of potting mix with many hands on deck moving them around (thank you to the James Groom fellas) and the boss himself Bruce Perry with legend Aaron and of course the multiple trades who made these spaces pop with added retic and lighting.

Such a fun project to be part of and opportunity to show how with the right planning and plants magic outcomes are achieved! 💚

20/02/2026

G’day gorgeous gardeners - a late summer check in of what’s blooming in our patch. 🌱☀️🌻

It’s been a very lazy and lovely summer in the garden. Most years I fret, fiddle and “work” to keep things going, however this year I did the essentials and let nature do the rest for me, it’s been a treat! We have had a few nests of WillyWag tails and most of the babies have hung around to live here, a resident Kingfisher who is slowly getting used to us (he loves the giant grasshoppers), blue banded bees in the basil and apparently a local possum that does night raids on our mango trees!

- African Horned Cucumbers - Holy! H***y by name and by nature they sure are interesting to grow, with very sharp spikes on the prolific sprawling vine and very sharp horns on the fruit. They have taken over a whole bed and are heading sky bound along the towering shade structure. Native to Africa they love our arid summers, quite tart to taste but refreshing cooled down in the fridge and the inner flesh is very pretty/ psychedelic. 6/10 would grow again.

- Solanum season is in full swing, abundant eggplant, capsicum and chilli harvests. I’m just about to start planting some cool weather tomatoes as have had a couple of bad seasons with spider mite in the summer, they’ve been put in the too hard basket albeit some random but delish cherry tomatoes popping up around the place.

- It tastes like summer every evening in this household, the most juicy and flavoursome mangoes for desert. I always feel very grateful to the previous owners for planting these trees for us and our friends to enjoy (thank you)!

- The small guava tree is starting to produce fruit, papaya ripening weekly, ashwaganda ready to dry and store. Mother of herbs is still stunning this late in the summer, so aromatic and lush! Fennel is in seed (great for fresh breath) passion fruit taking over everything including the moringa tree which is now free to flourish once again.

The seasonal change is in the air and it’s time to start getting ready for the winter veggies - sowing brassica seeds/ seedlings and thinking about where the root veggies will go this year. Always something to keep us busy in the patch 💚

29/12/2025

I really love this time of year ✨ The slow starts to the days and lack of large to do list. I hope anyone reading is enjoying too - close to family, friends or whatever makes your heart full.

It’s a time for reflection for me and doing so brings such a great appreciation for our region, our community, for gardening as a whole and most of all for this lucky life 💚🐝👩‍🌾🪏🏡

~ 2025 was a busy one! I decided early on to embark into study and am so glad I did ~ learning from the industries absolute best and getting a somewhat basic understanding of how to use CAD and draw fancy 3D models. A personal highlight was a lecture from about the History of Australian Gardens. It was fascinating learning of the inception of gardens from the Romans through to present day and how landscape design has evolved through the centuries.

~ was full steam ahead with our delivery of the program into Mullewa DHS and MEEDAC Arts Centre, building gardens, cooking skills and a team of absolute local legends. I can’t wait to see what next year brings for us all out there 🫶

~ An absolutely gorgeous incursion with the kids @ Binnu learning about soil, seeds and everything in between 🧡

~ Mingenew Shire workshops and first seeds sown in their cool community garden 💚

~ not to mention spending time with my little girl in our own little patch 💕

I’m forever grateful I chose this career many moons ago, gardening has brought me a deep sense of appreciation for our natural world, the altruism, the presence, the fleeting moments and beauty. It fills your tummy and your soul in more ways than one.

Next year feels exciting and I hope it does for you all too! Sending a massive thank you to all that have supported me this year. Lots of love ###



drylandsgardening
ediblegardening veggiepatch

12/11/2025

Another incredible capture of our backyard 💗

10/11/2025

Wow look at this colourful critter in our local bushland!

07/11/2025

Home from a much needed holiday and straight into our , the garden looking delightfully colourful and abundant! 🌈💚🌻

Most of the winter crops are out or left to seed - cauliflower looking like medusa, rocket, sweet peas, nasturtiums and a ladybug filled 2 year old celery.

Summer crops full steam ahead - cucumber, zucchini, button squash, spaghetti squash, tomatoes, eggplants and chillies.

Sadly the retic didn’t work while I was away, murphies law hey!!! Albeit the set back the gardens still held on, I put this down to lovely rich soil and some late season storms.

I’ve already had a few good sessions in the garden beds adding in my favourite trifecta combo products - super compost by , dynamic lifter and .carp to oomph up the senses and soil 💚

Lots to plant into empty spaces - basil, Egyptian parsley, snake beans, marigolds, snake and bush beans, sunflowers and lettuce. Pumpkin and melon season is here too, great to time sow many a variety!

I’m growing a few interesting herbs this year, ashwagandha for its roots and stress management, Spanish sage because it smells divine, serated leaf coriander as it withstands the heat and keeps the coriander party going all summer long (apologies to those that don’t partake in the coriander experience).

Shade cloth getting rolled back over, retic turned up, pea straw galore and time spent pondering life!

It’s nice to be eating straight from the garden again after two weeks away, silver beet and rainbow chard in everything, endless leeks in place of onions, pick your own sweet potatoes and carrots, bloody glorious!

This year is on the wind down and feels so good to potter, happy weekend yall xx

11/10/2025

It’s the perfect get in and garden weather here in the Midwest 🧡🌱. Delightful sunny and calm mornings with the southerly blowing in like clockwork after lunch, this is as good as it gets to prepare for the summer ahead!

Finally the cauliflowers are done for the year, the harvests have been abundant and the colour range very speccy. Steam them, roast them, coat them in spices, theres lots to love about the humble cauliflower but I sure am happy to see them leave the gardens to make space for the summer veggies!

Beetroot, carrot, beans, peas and curly lettuce harvests galore. Curly lettuce is a personal favourite as you only sow one season, allow them to seed and let the wind do its wonders, you’ll have them popping up in random spots for many years to come 💚

Summer veggies are full steam ahead - self sown tomatoes in a bunch of different varieties, capsicum, eggplants, cucumber, zucchini, basil and squash.

Pumpkin seed sowing season approaches too - this year I’ve sown stored bought organic butternut pumpkin seeds that were on sale in the bargain bin for around $2, a great option if you want to stay away from the store bought thiram packaged options. As harmless as they say it is I don’t like the idea of planting seeds that clearly state “do not eat” and “poison” on them. It’s a personal choice but worth a look in when purchasing mass produced seeds.

Chamomile is now in flower with calendula along beside, the dream combo. Both incredibly medicinal and useful in the kitchen/ home and for one’s health. Looking forward to making some more calendula lip balm in the coming months. Chamomile flowers are straight into the teapot and believe me when I say the peace and bliss that follows is pretty special.

Last year I bought some locally grown macadamia nuts and raised them up into plants. They are ready to get into the ground and I couldn’t be more excited for summer mango and macadamia nut ice cream!

Our home is smelling unreal with the mangoes, citrus, papaya and wisteria in flower! A treat for the senses and ones soul 💕

It’s a good time to get busy in the patch - replenish soil with organics, wetting agents into beds and summer seeds to sow 🌻💚🌱

07/09/2025

Spring has sprung and winter reflections from the patch ✨🌻🌱

The seasonal changes always feel so obvious here in the Midwest, crops are colourful, flowers in bloom, the sun is warmer/ days longer and the patch is hungry for some love 💕

Brassica season is nearly done (thank goodness), broccoli, cabbages and caulis. They are such an impressive and rewarding thing to grow, in fact probably my favourite however they sure do take up some space! Harvests are happening now but am leaving a few strong broccoli plants for tender stem harvests/ seed collecting and a cauli too. Caulis had a range of colours of the year and I tried to protect from them from the sun by pe***ng their giant leaves together as shields, worked for some but not all!

Absolute highlights from winter - kim chi from cabbages, zinnia blooms, near perfect carrots and beetroots, winter soul saving soups (silverbeet, broccoli, chives, parsley & lemon), endless beans (can’t believe they are $6 a bag when they grow so easy), delish self sown tomatoes and last but not least…. low water bills 💕

With the highs of course come the lessons - •too much lupin mulch in beds made for perfect slater conditions, something I’ve never seen when using pea straw, many seeds planted in situ were stolen by the slaters, I had to replant many times before I clocked on.
•planted the caulis too late in the season (April instead of my usual time in Feb), so harvests were slow.
•more w**ding less procrastinating

There’s lots do now to get the most out of the warmer months : feed the soil adding manure and compost, turn on retic, weeeeeeding, so many seeds to be sown - cucumber, corn, capsicum, tomatoes, eggplant, basil, parsley, pumpkins, radish, zucchini, squash, silver beet, lettuce, peas, beans, to name a few.

Timing is everything for success in our region, I really encourage all the gardeners to grab their seeds, w**d out your beds and start building up the soil so you can plant your little hearts out before it gets too warm! 💚

03/09/2025

Looking forward to this one 🌱💕

Now that Spring has arrived, here's a great opportunity for you to get some locally grown plants for your garden.

02/09/2025

The Midwest bush is putting on a show with our wildflower season in full swing! There’s nothing quite like it 💚

Literal carpets of Golden waitzia, pom-poms, daisies and of course our infamous orchids. There’s something about orchids that really give me a thrill, I think this is a shared phenomena for a lot of us - I wonder if there is a special word for this feeling?

If you haven’t already get on out there and amongst the magic 🌸🌞🥾🧡💚