"Trish Brown" wrote in message
...

A hearty ROTFLMAO from me, Otterbot! I hope you won't be offended if I say
you're preaching to the converted? I was converted about thirty years ago
when I studied Landscape/Amtosphere systems and learned about energy
transfer. Like you, I tend to get pretty ranty about it and like you I am
the Queen of the Second-Hand Shops and Council Pickup Day. Sadly, I have
never ever seen a decent garden fork for sale in such a place, but there's
always a first time. You'll hear me cheering when I find one!

:-) well, keep your ear to the ground concerning advances in 2nd-hand
supplies in your area & you'll be set!

Yes, I do take your point about Bunnings, but (and I say this in all
sincerity) they are just small fry compared to the biggies like Coles
Myers and Woolworths. I mean, people only spend a percentage of their
incomes at places like Bunnings or Home Hardware or even Spotlight, but
everyone has to eat and everyone, like it or not, has to spend their
grocery dollar at supermarkets because that's all there is.

well, not really - only if you live somewhere really useless... but that
might be a discussion for another day. bunnings does actually use the exact
methodology that supermarkets use, though - have you noticed that?

I dunno about your local
Bunnings, but ours is just a big hardware warehouse with a nursery
section. I don't know what you mean about craft aisles and coffee shops.

christ, you're lucky. pray the store doesn't get an "upgrade". the one i
(unfortunately) go into from time to time even has a playground. they're
trying to turn it into a stand-alone suburb!!!

the
supermarkets to whom we look for our daily bread (which is white and
overprocessed and square usually far too sweet - because the supermarket
Said So).

not to be defending woollies - but i've not been in a supermarket for a long
time which doesn't sell some sort of decent bread! of course, we get ours
from the local baker runs away tittering ;-)

Getting back toward the topic, though, can you tell me when it's time to
plant celery? I made a massive batch of celery soup last week and I'm
thinking I can't wait until I can make it from my own home-grown celery!

now here is a timely question! the short answer is: spring or autumn into
punnets, plant out when big enough.

longer answer: my celery's been dreary for 2 years running - winter celery
because it's meant to be frost-hardy. but dammit, i am having to accept it's
not. i have seed "stringless" from digger's. the weird stalks just MUST be
frost-damaged because i did everything else right, it's time i accepted it
:-) other cultivars may well be hardier.

consulting my planting chart, the answer is aug-dec for my area (cold) with
the band moving forward a few months each for "warm" and "hot" (jan-june)
zones. not sure if newcastle is warm or hot via digger's method. so i'm
going to plant some punnets in august or september & see how that goes
instead - you might want to wait until mid-spring in your area, and maybe
another lot in summer to be ready for late autumn/winter if you are feeling
adventurous (you can only learn by trying). if it's not too hot (they love
water & will go all funny texture-wise without enough of it; also dryness
will make them bolt) and there's no frost either, you should be set - they
grow regardless of cold, unlike some things. also, avoid wallabies g -
when i was plagued with them, i found the plants found it very hard to
recover from having their growing points eaten out - everything survived,
but it's all growing flat :-)

what about celeriac too? planting etc is exactly the same apparently, i've
never tried it though. as my gardening gets more adventurous so does my
eating, but apparently i need to do it in that exact order. g
kylie