New Releases on DVD
December 3rd 2010 03:54
:
Give Away
Pinochet in Suburbia
In 1998 former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet visits Britain for medical treatment.
On being tipped off, Amnesty International seize the chance to bring to justice a man they insist is guilty of multiple human rights violations. The newly-elected Labour government is initially amenable, and soon Pinochet is under house arrest (albeit in a detached house in leafy suburbia) and awaiting extradition to Spain.
However, Amnesty are up against the complexities of British law, the vacillations of Home Secretary Jack Straw, Pinochet's former ally Margaret Thatcher - and the Senator's own vast reserves of cunning.
ISBN / Catalogue Number: R-111135-9
Earlier in my life there was a debate among my friends and family, as to which was the better gardening program, was it Gardening Australia or Burke's Backyard?
I have always stepped up for team Gardening Australia as I never warmed to the overt commercial interests of Don Burke in the context of maintaining a garden.
I like to take a simple and non-political approach when being spoken to by a television program - gleen what is useful, mute what is not.
"Here is a seed, here is some dirt, watch as we bring them together in ways you may have never thought of," works really well for me.
The variety of presenters on Gardening Australia is also a big plus. It is very interesting to get different insights from different parts of the country, and there never seems to be any obvious bias, it's a truly national program as opposed to a Sydneycentric view that mostly reaches over borders with competitions for products sponsoring the show.
Just in time for Christmas comes the new release of Gardening Australia on three DVD's complete with a bonus floppy green hat. The three DVD's in the set present Waterwise Gardening, A Year in Pete's Patch and Edible Gardens, each contain valuable information and demonstrations of the processes involved in managing a working domestic garden.
A Year in Pete's Patch is my current favourite of the three, as it has been what seems like so long without enjoying the warm nature of presenter (and Horticulturist) Peter Cundall, I think I am favouring it because I find him particularly easy to watch, and I inevidably pick up something every time I do.
Australian gardening is not very easy. Our climate is quite harsh and at times it is a wonder that anything grows at all given our remarkably hot summers and dry winters. Being water-wise was drummed into us youngsters in the 1970's.
We were forever drawing taps with drips hanging from them in class while hearing about how we in South Australia live in the driest state, on the driest continent.
Consequently recent wide-eyed grumblings about watering restrictions tend to fall on deaf ears around me. For goodness' sake, we have to be as wise as possible with water - and the advice on the Waterwise Gardening will definitely come in handy for a lot of people who are still watering the concrete surrounding their homes "To freshen it up," or "Cool the house down," (according to my neighbours - migrants who arrived in the 1950's and haven't adapted at all!).
There is not much better than an edible garden. I have one on my small four by two metre patch out the back. I have an amazingly huge tomato plantation that is the result of following Cundall's.
Devilishly simple to do - if you are eating a tomato on a sandwich or in a salad and you think the taste is great, for some reason this tomato is really appealing to you - then collect a few of the seeds before you finish eating it, dry them out a touch and plant them.
Well I did this and now I have a magnificent plantation, as I call it, with a few dozen tomatoes ripening and looking magnificent. Economically I may save twenty dollars in the long run, but that's not the main point. What I am waiting for is that taste of the tomato I originally discovered in a h/c&t sandwich, and so far so good, the plant smells rich and is definitely being fruitful.
My backyard is not really what I grew up understanding a backyard to be - it is so small, and half the space it taken up by the washing line, so what else have I been encouraged to do to make it edible and water wise?
I've turned some low cost plastic seating from Ikea into fantastically deep and stylish pots for planting. I have trained a grapevine to grow as a sun shelter against the iron fence decreasing the amount of radiated heat in my confined garden as well as creating a munching ground for several caterpillars. They can munch away to their hearts content as long as they steer clear of my wild rocket and calendula.
Over-all I can see quite a strong impact on my personal knowledge directly resulting from Gardening Australia. No wonder really - it is all very good information. Helpful. Easy to understand, and free from any obvious commercial influences.
This DVD collection not only makes an excellent guide to gardening, it makes a great deal of sense as it does so.
In 1998 former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet visits Britain for medical treatment.
On being tipped off, Amnesty International seize the chance to bring to justice a man they insist is guilty of multiple human rights violations. The newly-elected Labour government is initially amenable, and soon Pinochet is under house arrest (albeit in a detached house in leafy suburbia) and awaiting extradition to Spain.
However, Amnesty are up against the complexities of British law, the vacillations of Home Secretary Jack Straw, Pinochet's former ally Margaret Thatcher - and the Senator's own vast reserves of cunning.
ISBN / Catalogue Number: R-111135-9
Earlier in my life there was a debate among my friends and family, as to which was the better gardening program, was it Gardening Australia or Burke's Backyard?
I have always stepped up for team Gardening Australia as I never warmed to the overt commercial interests of Don Burke in the context of maintaining a garden.
I like to take a simple and non-political approach when being spoken to by a television program - gleen what is useful, mute what is not.
"Here is a seed, here is some dirt, watch as we bring them together in ways you may have never thought of," works really well for me.
The variety of presenters on Gardening Australia is also a big plus. It is very interesting to get different insights from different parts of the country, and there never seems to be any obvious bias, it's a truly national program as opposed to a Sydneycentric view that mostly reaches over borders with competitions for products sponsoring the show.
Just in time for Christmas comes the new release of Gardening Australia on three DVD's complete with a bonus floppy green hat. The three DVD's in the set present Waterwise Gardening, A Year in Pete's Patch and Edible Gardens, each contain valuable information and demonstrations of the processes involved in managing a working domestic garden.
A Year in Pete's Patch is my current favourite of the three, as it has been what seems like so long without enjoying the warm nature of presenter (and Horticulturist) Peter Cundall, I think I am favouring it because I find him particularly easy to watch, and I inevidably pick up something every time I do.
Australian gardening is not very easy. Our climate is quite harsh and at times it is a wonder that anything grows at all given our remarkably hot summers and dry winters. Being water-wise was drummed into us youngsters in the 1970's.
We were forever drawing taps with drips hanging from them in class while hearing about how we in South Australia live in the driest state, on the driest continent.
Consequently recent wide-eyed grumblings about watering restrictions tend to fall on deaf ears around me. For goodness' sake, we have to be as wise as possible with water - and the advice on the Waterwise Gardening will definitely come in handy for a lot of people who are still watering the concrete surrounding their homes "To freshen it up," or "Cool the house down," (according to my neighbours - migrants who arrived in the 1950's and haven't adapted at all!).
There is not much better than an edible garden. I have one on my small four by two metre patch out the back. I have an amazingly huge tomato plantation that is the result of following Cundall's.
Devilishly simple to do - if you are eating a tomato on a sandwich or in a salad and you think the taste is great, for some reason this tomato is really appealing to you - then collect a few of the seeds before you finish eating it, dry them out a touch and plant them.
Well I did this and now I have a magnificent plantation, as I call it, with a few dozen tomatoes ripening and looking magnificent. Economically I may save twenty dollars in the long run, but that's not the main point. What I am waiting for is that taste of the tomato I originally discovered in a h/c&t sandwich, and so far so good, the plant smells rich and is definitely being fruitful.
My backyard is not really what I grew up understanding a backyard to be - it is so small, and half the space it taken up by the washing line, so what else have I been encouraged to do to make it edible and water wise?
I've turned some low cost plastic seating from Ikea into fantastically deep and stylish pots for planting. I have trained a grapevine to grow as a sun shelter against the iron fence decreasing the amount of radiated heat in my confined garden as well as creating a munching ground for several caterpillars. They can munch away to their hearts content as long as they steer clear of my wild rocket and calendula.
Over-all I can see quite a strong impact on my personal knowledge directly resulting from Gardening Australia. No wonder really - it is all very good information. Helpful. Easy to understand, and free from any obvious commercial influences.
This DVD collection not only makes an excellent guide to gardening, it makes a great deal of sense as it does so.
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