I Want To Be Like Larry!!!

Dear Gardening
We’ve grown a bumper crop of Arthur’s Big Greek Tomatoes. This massive Greek Tomato can weigh almost 1kg. Arthur from King’s Charcoal Chicken Shop gave us the seeds from his family’s farm in Petri Greece, and now Greek Gardeners from all over Sydney come to buy it.

The fruit are as big as your hand, they have very few seeds, so they are full of flesh. It’s an heirloom variety that’s grown for taste.

We sell these seedlings every year to raise money for The African AIDS Foundation in Camden. The money goes to villagers, so they can buy fencing, to keep the animals out of their vegetable gardens.

Nice big plants cost $5.25. All money raised goes to the charity. Stake them with a 1.8m Tomato stake. They need daily watering for best results. They grow beautifully in Tim’s Best Potting mix. Pick the giant fruit greenish yellow, and ripen inside to avoid Fruit fly.

My mate Jimmy dropped in last week to buy flowers. He has pots and troughs on his patio, and he loves to plant flowers that will grow right through the season.

Jimmy is in his 90s and he loves growing flowering plants in his pots. The flowers make him happy and he loves looking after them. I think looking after plants helps keep us alive.

I sold him Supertunia “Jazzberry” and Supertunia “Silverberry”. Jimmy just wouldn’t believe me, when I told him he would only need one plant in each pot. He just wouldn’t.

But I dropped in today and the Supertunias were already filling the pots, and it’s only been a week. Everybody plants these fabulous flowering plants too close to each other. They grow at least a metre wide and they will spill over the sides of these troughs and flower for 6-9 months. They really are spectacular.

I’ve finally got Jimmy using Tim’s Best Potting mix. People think all potting mixes are the same. How wrong can you be?

Every Saturday I pick up my bread from Epicure in Camden. I know I shouldn’t eat bread because I’m trying to lose weight but this Sourdough tastes so amazing I’m willing to be fat. I pick it up religiously, they know if I don’t come by a certain time they can sell my loaf called Tim to someone else.

I’ve always felt a little bit special because my name is on the loaf. It’s my loaf. But last week I got a bit of a shock, I’m still recovering actually. I was walking to my car with my loaf and I bumped into a guy who was just getting into a Porsche.

I commented how beautiful his car was and he tried to sell the the story that this was actually the cheap model that nobody wanted, he tried to tell me his wife’s mini cost more than his Porsche.

I was thinking yeah mate, if you managed to sell that story to your wife you are a great story teller. Anyway he was a great story teller, a bit of a smart dresser too and we engaged in backchat, we had a few laughs.

He folded back his roof while he was telling me stories and then I noticed something that shocked me. There on his spare seat was a loaf of bread just like mine, but it had “Larry” written on it. I had no idea they put other people’s names on their loaves, I thought I was special, my wife’s been telling me I’m special for a while now.

I’ve just been back to Epicure to buy my loaf, the Tim was in upper case lettering today, I find that aggressive. I told them about Larry and how he gets his name on a loaf too. They told me his loaf is bigger than mine, he’s also their favourite customer. “We love Larry” came the cry.

I’m thinking about buying a Porsche now. I want to be like Larry, I start smiling, I’ve just bought a fork from Vinnies for $1.00, I’ve got my Onkaparinga blanket over my shoulders.

Can you grow that from cuttings???? I get asked all the time can you grow plants from cuttings? Well yes you can, and spring is a great time to strike cuttings, but there are a few secrets, that will help you have more success.

The best growing media is course River sand. Yep, it’s so simple you won’t believe it. We sell course River sand here. It has to be River sand, Sydney sand contains salt that will kill your plants.

The cuttings have to be small, no longer than 5cms, and it’s best if you cut off most of the leaves. Don’t use the soft top, cut this back to firmer wood.

Don’t just put one cutting in a pot. The more cuttings you put in the pot the more chance of survival. The plants create a jungle effect, and help keep each other alive, because they help keep each other moist.

Hold your cutting in your hand, cut the top off just above a node. Cut the base off just below a node. Dip in hormone or cutting powder. Often called Rooting compound. This encourages plants to grow roots faster.

Poke cutting into sand. It should be half way in the mix. Put cuttings close together. Water well. Label pot so you remember what you’re growing. Put pot in a shady place. Under a shrub works if you don’t have a shade house like us.

Water daily, for at least 6 weeks. You will know plants have taken when they start to sprout. Give one a tug to see if it’s rooted. If it has, tip cuttings out gently then pot cuttings into 140mm pots using Tim’s Best Potting mix.

Water daily, place in garden where they get morning sun. If they are sun loving plants, move to sunnier spot after a couple of weeks.

Keep pots in your garden rather than on hot concrete. Water daily, watch them grow so fast. Keep potting into bigger pots as they grow. Everytime you repot they get a burst of energy, and grow more.
It’s simple.


It’s time to fertilise your lawn after that amazing rain. We’ve got this amazing fertiliser that will turn your grass bright green in just 14 days. Tim’s Rapid Results Lawn food contains 21% Nitrogen, it wakes up your lawn. It contains a wetting agent so it washes into the soil.

The easy to carry 4kg bag will fertilise 260m2.
Throw it on by hand or use a fertiliser spreader, you can’t burn your lawn with this product. It’s safe for all types of grass including soft leaf Buffalo.

Our customers who use this fertiliser absolutely love it. It costs $29.99 or 2 for $59.00

Our potted Rose bushes are all coming into flower now so it’s a great time to choose your roses. You can choose the colours you love, and smell the flowers, to choose the most fragrant varieties. You can also look at the leaves and choose the most disease resistant plants.
Happy gardening
Tim