Edible Plants
2May-20

Selecting a site for your food garden

Posted By Category: Edible Plants, Gardening TipsComments: 0
Picking the right location for your food garden is absolutely crucial. A sub-par location can result in sub-par veggies! Here are a few tips for choosing a good site: Plant in a sunny location. Most vegetables need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. There are a few veggies that will tolerate some shade. Plant in moist, well-drained soil. If you have poorly drained soil (water pools), plant veggies in a raised bed. If you have rocky soil, till and remove the rocks.  Plant in a...
5Dec-19

Tea-time with Adriaan

Posted By Category: Edible Plants, HerbsComments: 0
How herbal tea rescued my health and how to grow your own. I cover everything from soil preparation to harvesting and making delicious, healthy herbal teas
WTF Mushrrom Winnie
1Feb-18

What the fungi

From bread mould to penicillin, fungi are an integral part of our world. Although it might not be obvious, fungi are all around us. The Fungal kingdom is so big that in 2017 estimates suggest that there may be between 2.2 million to 3.8 million species in existence. What makes Fungi truly amazing is its diverse range of shapes, sizes, and colours. Fungi range from the microscopic to giant organisms. The Honey fungus is the biggest recorded homogeneous organism...
Chilly Peppers
15Dec-17

Add spice to your holiday with peppers galore!

One of the yearly highlights at Heckers is our selection of sweet and chilli peppers. I am always amazed by the amount of fruit produced per plant as the value of the peppers far exceeds the price of the actual plant. Our peppers are grown right here on the nursery premise. This means that they have a low carbon footprint and are well adapted to our local climate. Sweet and chilli peppers have ingrained themselves into our cooking traditions...
Organic Hecker
12Oct-17

Growing your own organic food: Why and how?

Posted By Category: Edible PlantsComments: 0
Organic food has increasingly become more popular but is it truly worth the hype? Beyond the money one saves from growing your own food, there are numerous other benefits to choosing organic food (even if you do not grow it yourself). For instance, organically grown food minimizes pollution as it is grown without the use of any chemicals, antibiotics, hormones, or genetic modification. It promotes health and optimises biological diversity while protecting the environment and maintaining long-term soil fertility....
Herbs Hecker
11Oct-17

Herb Garden petit

Posted By Category: Edible PlantsComments: 0
It takes almost no space at all – just sun and some beautiful pots – to grow all the herbs you need. Herbs thrive in containers; being mostly bushy perennials that like good drainage and not too much care. They also don’t need much space to grow. Four or five herbs planted together in a large pot can be kept in shape through regular picking and pruning. That makes it easy to grow herbs wherever there is a sunny...
Grow your own Blueberries
30Jun-17

Blueberry basics – Grow your own

Posted By Category: Edible Plants, Gardening TipsComments: 0
Strangely enough, one of my favourite flowers belongs to a plant better known for its delicious fruit.  Blueberries have the most elegant white bell shaped flowers. The best part is that as soon the flowers fade those tasty berries start growing.  Blueberries are packed full of antioxidants, making them a true super food.  Read on to find out everything you need to know about caring for your own blueberry bush. First there is stunning white bell shaped flowers Why you should...
Winter soup
7Apr-17

Grow your own winter soup garden

Few things provide the satisfaction of knowing that you are eating a hearty homecooked meal, but moreover knowing that it is homegrown too. So, let Adriaan guide you through growing your own winter soup garden. A project such as this is also an excellent opportunity to get kids involved. The process of seeing their hard work slowly come to fruition exposes them to principles such as patience, diligence and perseverance that often gets lost in today’s fast-paced and technology-driven...
25Feb-17

Plant a fruit tree now for a bounty in the coming season

Posted By Category: Edible Plants, Gardening Tips, UncategorizedComments: 0
Remember the days when fruit actually had a taste? The best way to guarantee that you can enjoy nature’s bounty is to grow your own. The advantages of healthy homegrown fruit are legion. Not only do homegrown fruit taste like real fruit should, sweet and juicy, but you will save money as well has lower your own carbon footprint. Growing your own fruit can seem like a daunting task but the rewards are well worth the effort. Get a...
18Nov-16

Create your own food box in six easy steps

Gone are the days of massive yards with big open spaces for food gardening.  Enter the age of duplexes and town houses. Despite growing space being limited, you can still enjoy the rewards of growing your own food. One way of getting around the space problem is by planting your edibles in containers and hanging baskets.  Lately, wooden boxes have become very popular and they definitely add a bit of old school charm to your food gardening.  Some of...