Ask me (almost) anything
A guide to seeking my advice
I receive a lot of emails and comments on social media from readers asking questions about growing food. I love that I can extend my support to you to grow your own food and I welcome your questions.
If you do have a question or need some advice, I’d like you to consider the following before getting in touch with me. This will help me to help you.
Please note that any questions or images you submit (and my response) may be shared publicly in a Substack post, on my blog or on social media. I will only ever use your first name and suburb/town for identification purposes.
What questions can you ask?
Anything! But please keep your questions to the broad topic of growing food. General questions about pittosporum hedges or dahlias are starting to get a bit off track.
Will you publish my question?
I publish some of the questions I get asked, along with my answers. I choose the ones I think will be most useful to lots of readers. If I publish your question, I might need to edit it for length, clarity, or some other reason.
You can review many of the previously answered questions here.
Have I already answered your question?
I receive a surprising number of questions that I have already answered in the form of a blog post. Please check if this is the case before sending your question through. You can search my blog here.
The Vegetable Patch from Scratch is a comprehensive guide to growing vegetables. It has lots of general information. In due course I’ll be publishing how to grow guides for specific vegetables.
Don’t forget that there’s a big back-catalogue of work on the Leaf, Root & Fruit website, including my guides to:
Please keep your questions specific.
Asking me to design your backyard via email? It’s not going to happen (it takes me around 60 to 70 hours to complete a design). The more specific your question, the more quickly and accurately I can answer it.
Good questions:
I’ve noticed this damage to the leaves of my tomatoes. Any idea what it could be? (with images included)
I’m considering growing beans for the first time this year. Do you have any recommended varieties?
I want to grow a productive vine over a trellis to screen the water tank. Any suggestions?
Not so great questions
I’ve read your blog post on controlling possums. Are there any other magical tricks you can share with me? (This is one of my most frequently asked questions. The short and polite answer is “no”.)
Here’s a photo of my backyard. Where should I put the vegetable patch? (There’s virtually no context here for me to work with. I need a lot more detail – this is bordering on design, which is complex.)
My apple tree didn’t have any fruit this year. Any ideas why? (Some basic observations can help narrow down the problem. Did it flower? Did the fruit set? Did you protect the fruit from birds and possums?)
Who can ask a question?
Only paid subscribers are guaranteed a response to their questions.
How many questions can you ask?
I love hearing from my readers and answering their questions.
For now, I’m not putting a limit of a number of questions you can ask. However, each emailed question takes me around 10 to 20 minutes to read and respond to. Please consider that the more time I spend answering individual questions, the less time I have for writing new posts that are relevant to a large number of people.
Where possible, please use the comments section on a relevant post
I love it when my readers ask questions on relevant Substack posts. For example, a question about the size of your planned new raised garden beds is best added to Part 6: What size should your vegetable patch be?
This is usually a quicker format for me to respond to, and I prioritise answering comments on Substack over responding to individual emails. The added benefit is that the answers can be read by all of my subscribers.
This way we can all learn together!
A picture tells a thousand words
“What’s wrong with my lemon tree?” is an oft asked question. The answer could be
Not enough water
Too much water
Not enough fertiliser
Too much fertiliser
Too hot
Too cold
Too windy
As you can see, there are many conditions that are stressful to a citrus tree (more on that here). It is challenging, if not impossible, to diagnose the underlying issue without seeing the citrus tree in person.
When asking a question, please give me as much information and context as possible. Consider including images from several different angles. A close-up of the problem as well as an image of the whole tree can give good context.
Unfortunately, Substack doesn’t yet allow for pictures to be posted in the comments section. Instead, paid subscribers can email images to me directly, along with questions.