Blogs, eZines (electronic magazines) and eBooks (electronic books) are other ways to market to potential customers. 

A blog is really just an online forum for people to write anything they want and brand it as they wish, either using their own name, or their business’s.   Blogs are generally online stories about a person or business – they tend to be a bit like diaries.  Blogs can appear on specialist blog websites or on a business’s own website. 

It’s important to remember that blogs are not at all private and the whole world may see them, so be careful what you write. 

A blog can be used to draw attention to a business. For example, a veterinary surgery may write a blog about animal health care, with articles on how to groom dogs, cutting guinea pigs’ nail’s, brushing dogs’ teeth etc.  This is not only useful information for their target market (pet owners) but also draws attention to the vets. If a person goes online to find out how to cut their guinea pig’s nails, they may come across the blog and then follow the links back to the vet’s website. Then that vet may come to mind so when they next need a vet and they become a potential client. 

Some people may write blogs about themselves for marketing purposes. For example, a travelling salesman may write about the places he visits and who he sees (maintaining confidentiality of course) as a way to draw attention to what he does. 

EZines are similar. An eZine is an electronic magazine. A business may produce a magazine online every week/month/year to inform new customers and potential customers about what they are doing, new products and so on.  An eZine can be simple and easily whipped up or a highly produced marketing tool.

eBooks move beyond eZines. A person or people in a business who may be specialists in their field may produce eBooks as a way to advertise their business. For example, the veterinary surgery may write an eBook about caring for hamsters. The eBook would also contain information on the veterinary surgery and the vets who wrote the book. The eBook can also be sold to potential customers as an additional product.

WHEN AND WHY DO WE CARRY OUT PROFILING?

Assessments of various types may be conducted throughout a person’s life, but an individual profile is usually carried out when there is a specific need. For example, intelligence tests may be given to children at certain stages in their school career. An aptitude test may be given to someone when they are applying for a new job. A forensic profile analysis may be carried out when a person is charged with certain crimes, and so on.

Why do we carry out profiles? We have already discussed a range of reasons why we create profiles. Basically, they provide a ready source of information to help us understand and predict behaviour. There are many different tests which are used to assess many different dimensions. But why test at all?

If a person demonstrates a certain personality trait then it is possible to help them.  For example, research has found that people with Type A behaviour are at more risk of heart disease. So if a person is recognised as having Type A behaviour, they can possibly be helped to change some areas of their behaviour to reduce their risk of heart disease. 

People will often say they are depressed, when they mean really that they are just a bit “fed up” or disgruntled. It is therefore important to be able to recognise when a person is suffering from a mental health condition that requires treatment. There is a world of difference between being fed up and being clinically depressed. In conjunction with other data, psychological tests can be used to help determine if a person is clinically depressed, and possibly the form of depression they are suffering from. This information may subsequently be used to provide an indication of how they can best be helped.

Also, the more we learn from individuals, the more we know about certain groups overall.  If we study one person who we think has depression, this would be a guess. But if we study 1000 people who show similar characteristics, then we are safer to assume people with depression will show some of the same characteristics. Therefore, the information from many individual case studies may be extrapolated to a wider population.   

Psychological test results provide information about an individual's score in relation to normative groups.  A normative group is a reference group against which a psychologist may compare a person’s test results and scores.  For example, people may experience debilitating phobias, such as agoraphobia. This is a fear of new situations being unpleasant or embarrassing and being unable to get away from them easily, which can lead to extremes, such as the person being unable to leave their homes.  So, if a person goes to see a psychologist, the psychologist may carry out a psychologist test or series of test to help determine their level of agoraphobia. An extreme score might be 100 and a low score below 20, for example. If the psychologist finds that the person has a score of 91, they will realise that they will probably need psychological help and treatment to overcome their condition. Therefore, it helps to determine the severity of the disorder and the treatment required.  The person can then be measured again following a period of treatment to determine if their agoraphobia has lessened.

Everyone is obviously different, but classifications of this kind can be helpful.  If we know that people with depression have similar symptoms, then we can devise better psychological and pharmaceutical treatments to help them.  If we learn that people with Type A behaviour demonstrate certain behaviours, we can help them with ways to change their behaviour to reduce their risk of heart disease. If we see that children display certain gaps in their knowledge in their intelligence tests, it may make the educators realise that there is a gap in the curriculum leading to a gap in children’s knowledge of a topic.  So, carrying psychological profiles can not only be useful for the person, but also to determine how we should respond to specific conditions.

• Some paths may take you to a desirable place; while others might not.
• Some paths are easier to get onto than others.
• The thing that many people do not appreciate is that most paths have many different entry points. It is often easier to jump from an undesirable path to a more desirable path than to get onto a desirable path when you are on no pathway at all.

The first and most important step in finding a satisfying career path is to get started in the workplace. Get a job, any job, as soon as you can. It doesn’t matter too much what your first job is. It might be delivering pizzas or newspapers, mowing lawns, washing cars or working in a fast food restaurant. It doesn’t even need to be paid. It can be a volunteer job.

If you are studying at secondary school or university, still try to do some part time work at the same time. An education is always important, but the majority of people who study something will end up working in something different to what they studied. Even doing volunteer work or starting a small business while you are a student can have a major effect upon your prospects after you complete your studies.

Experience and learning acquired through part time employment are often just as impressive to a future employer as the qualification you are studying. Either one without the other may put you in a less advantageous position in the future.

Once you have a job keep looking for opportunities to improve your situation, whether in the existing job, or by moving on to something different. You will learn skills in every job you do, even if they are not skills you recognise at the time. As you progress through your career you will build on your skillset and develop new skills. Even if you change career you will often still be able to draw on skills you have developed in a different career, just in a different context. For example, if you start working in hospitality you will develop skills in customer service which can be applied to a job as a medical receptionist; if you start working as a journalist you may develop critical thinking skills that can be applied to a career in nursing; if you work as a teacher you may develop an understanding of children that can be applied to work as an occupational therapist.

THE BIG QUESTIONS

Do you know yourself? 
Consider your personality, persistence, changeability, skills and talents, passion, susceptibility to stress; take stock and assess your own potential, realistically.

Do you know the industry? 
Get to know what it takes to work in the sort of industry you are targeting. Make sure you understand the down side of that industry, and whether you are realistically suited to dealing with the down side. Do not fool yourself into thinking there is no down side. No job is perfect; and every industry has a down side.

Are your expectations and goals realistic?
Goals are things we set so that we attain a certain outcome – it is a checking system; we set a goal and when the time frame for that goal has elapsed, we check back to see what we have actually achieved - compared to what we wanted to achieve. Setting goals too high can result in disappointment for some – on the other hand some people thrive on achieving what may appear to be unrealistic goals.

A simple goal may be to ‘get a certain job’ – realistically you would need to ask yourself:

• Am I suited to this job i.e. do my skills suit the position and will I fit into the company culture?
• Am I suitably motivated to get and keep this job?
• Am I open minded and keen to learning new skills?
• Am I dependable?

It's not difficult to get work; it's just sometimes difficult to get the type of work you want.
Some people have very set ideas about the job they want, others are really undecided. The first step in getting a job is the same for both types. In fact anyone of any age, sex or level of skill needs to take the same first step:

The first step in getting a job is to develop a REALISTIC ATTITUDE! Realistic goals are based on a sound understanding of what constitutes a successful career for that individual, of one’s strengths and weakness and current marketplace trends, and of likely changes to which one must adapt. Because very few people begin in the same job they want to finish in, a career must be realistically seen as something that evolves or develops. You will probably not begin in an ideal position, but with careful planning, you can probably improve your position in your career as time goes by.

To develop REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS:

• Don't expect to start at the top.
• Don't expect to like everything about your job at first.
• Be prepared to make the best of your situation and maintain a positive attitude.
• Be prepared to accept any job in your field at first if you cannot get your ideal job or any job at all if you cannot get a job in your chosen field. If you are in employment, even though not in your chosen field, you are developing your career further than you would be if unemployed (or not studying).

Are you physically and mentally capable?
Not everyone is suited to being a rocket scientist or an Olympic athlete!

Physical Suitability
Some jobs will require the candidate to have certain physical attributes to be suitable for the job - for example a fire fighter, builder, paramedic, pilot, nurse, miner, warehouse staff and so on. Where appropriate, before appointment to a position, a medical doctor should examine the applicant and inform the personnel officer/department of any conditions which might affect the performance of the job (examples follow).
 
Physical activities and characteristics to be considered in determining a person’s suitability for a job include:

• Muscular strain
• Constant walking
• Constant standing
• Constant sitting
• Constant stooping
• Right handedness
• Left handedness
• Hot working conditions
• Cold working conditions
• Damp working conditions
• Exposed working conditions
• Acute hearing
• Acute vision
• Discrimination between colours
• Dry (non-sweaty) hands
• Food handling safety (sinus, sniffles, coughing)
• Dusty work conditions
• Indoor work
• Nervous strain
• Climbing
• Risk of falling

Mental suitability
Some jobs will require specific mental capabilities to be able to complete the required tasks. For example an engineer will need to have a sound understanding of physics, mathematics, spatial awareness, and so on, that some people just might not be capable of. Other jobs will require someone who has attention to fine details, such as an accountant; or the capacity to be patient, such as a nurse or teacher. Other jobs require particular personal attributes, such as leadership skills, good decision maker, problem solving abilities, an ability to think logically, negotiating and mediation skills, etc.

Money, Security or Passion?
Few people find it all. The reality is that almost everyone has to make compromises in their careers.
Consider your values and what is important to you in a job.
Why do you work? Is it primarily to earn money so you can survive? Perhaps work gives you a sense of purpose? Maybe you have altruistic reasons such as helping others and making a contribution. Some people look for other things from a job; perhaps social reasons (interacting with other people), maybe they are pursuing a passion, or something else. For some, job security or flexibility of hours may be more important than anything else.

Thinking short, medium and long term
Always think ahead. Industries do not tend to disappear, but jobs within an industry do disappear, and new jobs emerge. You need to stay in tune with your industry, alert to changes, and plan how you can adapt to changes as they come along. Keep your options open, and prospects broad.

Self employed or working for someone else?
Certain industries are dominated by self-employed people, while others are dominated by large enterprises.
If you are attracted to an industry where most successful professionals are self- employed you may have difficulty advancing your prospects unless you are inclined to operate your own business. Similarly, if you want to work in an industry where very few people are the owners, and almost everyone is an employee, you will need to be comfortable working within a large organisation; and perhaps dealing with politics and bureaucratic processes that may not be so prevalent in self-employment.

Some employers want all their staff to hold qualifications, and others tell me “qualified” employees are incompetent and lack the willingness to learn. Horticultural education in Australia has become a mess over recent decades; politicised, and driven by enterprises (public and private) who are more preoccupied with passing audits and making money than with providing effective learning. People who know little about the psychology of learning now make decisions, while teachers who have studied education for years are no longer given the power to practice what they studied.
The industry today is overrun by myths and misunderstandings about horticultural education, and employers, students and parents have developed skewed ideas about what education is, or should be.
How things have changed

When I started my horticultural career, I had only two options for becoming qualified:

1. A Diploma in Horticultural Science at Burnley Horticultural College: 4000+ hours of study, 7 days a fortnight in the classroom, 3 days hands on work rotating through gardens, nursery, mechanics and carpentry workshops, orchard and vegetable plots. We studied sciences as well as horticulture, and were expected to be able to identify over 2,000 plant species.
Or,

2. A Gardening Apprenticeship which involved close to 1000 hrs in a classroom plus 4 years of on the job work under direct supervision of someone who had completed a similar apprenticeship, or something better.
When I graduated with a Burnley Diploma, we were told we could be a “gardening assistant”, and if we worked hard, maybe a “horticulturist” a few years later. Today graduates emerge from very short courses, with little knowledge and much higher expectations of what they can do than anyone had in the 70’s.

I have seen people with certificates and diplomas only 6 to 12 months after leaving high school. This would not have happened in the 1960’s and 70’s.
The knowledge and skills of today’s graduates are not predictable as they once were. Informed employers will quiz job applicants on what they know, rather than just employing them on the basis of them having a qualification.
Don’t Expect Everything
Good education should only ever be seen as a foundation. If you have properly learnt the fundamentals of horticulture, you will have the ability to adapt those fundamentals when you encounter a new plant, product or process. The plants we grow and the way we grow and market them is changing faster than ever. It is impossible to predict what cultivars or products will be most popular in 5 years time; but a person who has ALL the fundamentals will encounter new things, understand them and remember them faster than someone who has not acquired the same foundation. Staff who have a broader based and more in depth foundation will see the possibilities and be more likely to perform every time something changes in the workplace. Good education makes the employee more productive and adaptable; while qualifications may be little more than something to put in a frame on the wall.

SOME THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT EDUCATION
• Good Education is stored in a person’s long term memory. The Australian Training System tests short term memory.
You cannot fast track learning. Most people only retain and properly understand things by encountering them repeatedly, and in different ways, over a period of time.
You can show someone something, test them and declare them competent all on the same day, in a short space of time; and that may be all that is required to award someone an accredited training package qualification.
• The traditional way of planning for and providing education is fundamentally flawed
Traditional education (e.g. TAFE’s, RTO’s and Universities) commonly take many years from identifying a need for training, to when they commence delivering on that need. The world is moving  faster than ever though.  Commonly, after determining the need, committees are set up, research is conducted, funding is sough, curriculum is written, tenders are called, course notes are written; and finally funding is arranged to deliver a course and students are recruited. Often the course being delivered is based upon a need that was seen many years earlier. Does this make any sense in today’s rapidly changing world?
• Diversity is really important
I discovered early in my working life that if I had a team of 5 staff from 5 very different courses, I would get lots of different ideas about how to do a job; but when I had 5 who all did the same course, the range of ideas was far less. It may be attractive to politicians and bureaucrats to create “standardized” “national” training; but it is diversity that drives the world today. We need a lot of different courses teaching different things and producing graduates who approach problems different ways.
• Distance Education is more Cost Effective and Flexible than Classroom Based education
This wasn’t always the case.  Compare:
A classroom based course requires physical infrastructure (e.g. buildings, equipment), a dedicated teacher etc and must be timetabled to happen at a particular time. Students have travel costs.
A distance ed. course doesn’t need the above; and with modern technology, it can connect students and teachers over the internet. Students can watch videos, take virtual tours of nurseries and farms all over the world, conduct research using the internet, submit assignments in a flash, and receive marked work back as soon as it is marked; and study at any time of day or night that suits.  Each student is treated as an individual.  Distance education used to be chosen because it was more convenient; but today people are choosing it because it is better and provides more one on one interaction with their tutors.
• Traditional Horticultural Education is in Crisis, but Other Alternatives are Growing.
Horticulture courses have been shrinking at TAFE's and Universities over recent times. Funding has come under pressure. Colleges are expected to produce more graduates with no extra funding.
The bright side of horticultural education though is that new learning options have been developing eg.  Social Networking –Gardeners around the world are connecting and sharing over facebook & other social media
RHS Courses are now  being offered by Distance Ed world Wide
Alternative Education is booming –The ACS network, Permaculture Network
Garden Shows on TV are more prevalent and popular than ever. Shows like Gardening Australia, Better Homes & Gardens and Garden Gurus have been educating the broader Australian public.  Home gardeners, as well as new people entering the industry, are developing a broader & deeper understanding of horticulture than ever before.

Education driven by politicians & bureaucrats  more than teachers …We now talk about outcomes, licenses and lifelong learning where we used to talk about learning and having a foundation to start learning on the job.

People expect courses to give everything that is needed to walk in & start doing the job…but that shows a fundamental misunderstanding….What should employers expect….The value of an educated staff member is not that they know it all, but that they will learn it faster.

Perhaps people are looking in the wrong place for work. I hear about plenty of successful individuals and businesses, but increasingly, most have one thing in common: They are not following traditional employment pathways.

The keys are "Be different", "Be relevant to today and tomorrow",  "Do things at the right time -being too early is just as bad as being too late"

Most people still have their mind set in the past when it comes to work.

The old idea of getting a university degree or apprenticeship, and having a guaranteed job simply does not work any more. If you can manage to push such prejudices aside and look at work in the context of a rapidly changing world, career opportunities can take on a whole new appearance.

I sawtwo interesting things in the media recently:

1. Quotes from "Whakademia" -a new book out of NSW University Press http://newsouthpublishing.com/articles/wrong-sort-knowledge/

"Academic experience: general disillusionment, over-regulation, stress, casualisation and a drift away from the profession."

"Worrying is the demise of non-compliant academic eccentrics who have been largely displaced by acquiescent operatives."

"Despite all the talk about excellence, innovation, choice, opportunity and flexibility, it seems that many students graduating in business, journalism and other courses are less than job-ready."

This is worth a read!

2. There was also an interesting article in the Australian Magazine (in the Australian Newspaper on Saturday). Loretta Napoleoni - Economist answered 10 questions, and these were some of her comments:

- On the Chinese being better Capitalists than westerners: "They can get things done much quicker than us"

- On western politicians having lost control of their economies: "Politics in the west has turned into a form of show business"

- On the Australian workforce: "More jobs will go offshore to Asia, real wages in the west will decline, the middle classes will contract, trade unions will die, but there will be a growing class of super rich."

- On the future of debt laden economies: "Stimulis packages can work if focused on lifting the productive sector. Encouraging consumers to spend more and rack up debt is a terrible waste of money."

- On whether the Euro will survive: "No -Within the next three to four years there will be a severe contraction across the world economy."

I see these as further indicators of a massive restructuring of global society that is underway - perhaps on the scale of the industrial revolution - and the fact that most people are simply not recognising and adapting.

I think this situation presents us with fabulous opportunity; but also a challenge to create all new ways of doing things. Tweaking the existing political, economic and education systems will probably be insufficient.

Now is not a time to be working "within the system"; Now is the time to be creating new systems!

by John Mason

Principal and Publisher at ACS Distance Education www.acs.edu.au 

I saw this in one of our old newsletters, and thought it was an interesting read:

From 2005....

In a recent speech at a high school, Bill Gates, one of world’s wealthiest men, listed 11 rules that students won’t learn in school:

Rule 1: Life is not fair …get used to it.
Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will not make $60,000 a year straight out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.  Your grandparents …called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They became that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were.
Rule 8: In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

      (Source: Gold Coast Bulletin, 1-2 January 04, pg.20)

Physical and Motor Development
Many changes occur in the first 18months of a baby’s life. When babies are first born they have very basic motor abilities. They have a range of inborn reflex responses that occur involuntarily in response to specific stimuli. These reflexes are primarily to ensure the baby’s adaptation and survival in their new world. Basic reflexes include breathing, sucking, blinking and swallowing. These reflexes will stay with the child for life, but become partly, or entirely voluntary responses. Babies are also born with a range of other reflexes that weaken and disappear over a few months. for example the rooting reflex, where the baby turns their head in the direction of touch to the cheek (in order to find breast or bottle to feed), and the grasping reflex, where the child will curl their fingers around objects placed in their palms.

Along with these reflexes, infants start developing motor skills (voluntary movements). Development usually occurs from top down – motor skills develop first in the head, then the torso and arms, then the legs – and from proximal to distal – motor skills in body parts closer to the centre (such as entire arm and leg) develop before motor skills in body parts further from the centre (such as wrists and fingers).
All babies are different in the exact age that they reach specific milestones, but the order of developmental progression is generally the same. Once the infant has mastered one skill, they will build on it and progress to the next skill, and so on. Below shows the general timeline for infants motor development.
 
 Age   Skill mastered
• 4 weeks – 2months  Lift the head when lying on the stomach  
• 2 – 6months   Roll over      
• 3 - 6 months   Reaching and grabbing    
• 4 – 6 months  Supported sitting
• 6 – 8 months  Sitting up without support
• 6 – 9 months  Pulling up to stand with support
• 6 – 10 months  Crawling
• 7 – 10 months  Walking with assistance
• 10 – 13 months Standing alone
• 11 – 16 months Walking alone

Cognitive Development
During infancy, the brain is developing at a rapid rate. Within the brain there are millions of neurons, connected to each other by synapses. All the neurons are created prior to birth, but the synapses, or pathways between the neurons are being constantly created and re-created. The pathways create structure within the brain, so when the baby has an experience, when the same experience appears again, their cognition of the experience occurs faster because the pathway is already in place. These pathways get strengthened, or weakened, depending on how often the event is experienced, and begin to form patterns of thinking that can continue into adulthood. At this stage in development, an infant’s primary caregiver has a vital effect on healthy development. Up until about age three, these synapses continue to form until the brain is dense with connections. This continues until around age eleven, when the brain eliminates pathways that are no longer used, making the remaining pathways more powerful - allowing for more effective and efficient mental processing.

Primary caregivers can have a profound effect on an infant’s cognitive development at this stage. Providing the infant with stimulating experiences (for example colourful toys, frequently being spoken to, interactive toys, interesting sounds and smells, novel environments and stimulus) increases the number of synapses that are formed, which can facilitate learning at a later stage. Infant’s that are not spoken to often, and have had limited experiences exploring their environment can end up with a permanent intellectual disadvantage, despite having a normal genetic make-up.

From a very young age infants begin to develop recognition and memory abilities. Although they can not report their memories, in studies, psychologists measure infant’s heart rates to gauge their response to specific stimuli. Novel stimuli will cause curiosity and a decreased heart rate, whereas familiar stimuli will either cause no change, or an increased heart rate. Studies have shown infants will display recognition for an object, even after a period of time, suggesting a display of memory function.

The biggest problem for professional writers in today’s world is often “change.” The world is changing fast….places that you can sell or use writing skills are changing fast too.

The type and style of writing required can differ from one situation to another. A writer who can change and adapt their style according to demand is more capable of getting work in the short term and sustaining a career in the long term.

Market Change
The one thing that does not change is that people will always communicate through writing; but the way in which they communicate and the way writers are reimbursed for their work is something that has changed a lot in recent decades; and is likely to continue changing.

In the mid 20th century, the writing market was more straightforward than it has now become. Many professional writers in the past would be employed and paid by publishers of printed books, magazines or newspapers; who generated an income from both selling publications, and from selling advertising. Broadcast media also paid writers (largely with revenue generated from advertising revenue). Public organisations would provide financial support to writers, funding coming from the public purse. Commercial businesses would provide other opportunities, such as writing marketing materials, product manuals etc.

Today’s world is a different world for the media industries, as well as politically and commercially. Government finances are under more pressure than in the past; traditional media is unable to generate income through advertising at the same levels, or in the same way as in the past. The print media has seen reductions in their revenue from advertising and so on.  This revenue funded writers and other aspects of the running print media.  With the advent of the internet, more and more newspapers offer online forums, where people can subscribe to their paper or actually receive it for free. There will also be adverts on their websites as well.

There is also online news from other organisations, such as the BBC, Sky News and so on, they also offer written word online newspapers. This has reduced the need for people to buy a printed newspaper.  This is not to say that people don’t buy newspapers or magazines, but at a lower rate than in the past. Consider before the internet or television, newspapers were the only way really to get the news. Apart from being told by someone else verbally.  So at that time, the print media had a pretty much exclusive opportunity for advertising.

Many other things have changed.

Writers need to recognise not only that changes have occurred in the “writing market”, but that they will continue to occur.

The opportunity for work in newspapers or magazines diminished from 2000 to 2012; but opportunities to sell writing for electronic publishing on the internet increased. Writers who were “in the know” have found opportunities in emerging media, and been able to find new places to sell their skills.  

The world continues to change though; and the rate of change that has occurred over the past decade is only likely to accelerate over the next. Professional writers should be asking themselves how the writers’ marketplace might change over the coming years; and be adapting to changes as they occur.

Deadlines
In the past, publications were often planned well in advance; and writers may have been given greater flexibility in meeting deadlines. Example: If a book manuscript was a month or two late, it might not have mattered so much in the past as it did today.  This has changed as well with the advent of new technology. Look at a news website now and the news is updated virtually as it happens. We also see this on TV with 24 hour TV stations, the news is also updated as it happens. Writers are there writing the news for the newsreaders to read. This has put a more intense pressure on writers, particular in the arena of news and current affairs to be writing NOW.  Even writing novels and fiction deadlines have changed. The market is so fickle and you see writers bringing out one novel after another in quick succession, particularly when they are popular. Look at the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, The True Blood books by Charlaine Harris, The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling and so on.  They are popular and the publishers use that popularity to increase their sales.  This puts more demand on writers to get books written and published quickly. Obviously popular and bestselling authors, such as Harris, Meyer and Rowling can work as full time writers, spending their time doing their writing. But this still can affect their creativity and can cause a struggle to find new ideas.

Technological Change
As we have already said, the advent of the internet and television, has changed writing. It has reduced the need for some types of writing and increased the need for other forms of writing.  The internet has changed the way writers get published; but perhaps there will be changes in the future that could impact upon writing opportunities in the future.

EBooks is an area that is increasing rapidly.  EBooks are electronic books. Books can still be bought as hard back and paperback. But many are now also available as a downloadable eBook. But some book sellers and publishers are now only selling via eBook.

Technology changes rapidly. New things become available all the time and we don’t know how this will impact upon writers and how people write. 

Digital writing is the term used to describe those who write online, for any reason.

Writing sound bites for an online magazine requires a different form of writing skill to a writer who is writing romantic fiction.

Look at social media, such as twitter and facebook. With twitter, only 147 characters are allowed in a “tweet”. This has lead to a new “language” almost developing, a short hand for those using twitter. But many people using twitter still write in “proper” words, so this requires a writer to be able to write in a sharp, punchy way. A different style to writing a long description of something, perhaps in a travel article or wildlife article. 

A writer on twitter is often writing to encourage the reader to look elsewhere – at their blog, their adverts, their book, their website, their newsletter, their products and so on. 

Many writers will also write blogs. As we said earlier, this can be for personal use or to encourage a reader to visit their website, buy their novel and so on.  Again, blog writing requires a different skill to novel writing.

Legal Changes
Many of the media laws of the past (in developed countries) were designed for a media industry that was primarily broadcast and print media; operating within state or national borders.

With a rapid growth in electronic media and shifts in the nature and scope of other media; law makers have struggled to keep up to date. Governments are really not equipped to react quickly to change; but with a world that is changing faster than ever; difficulties keep emerging for professional writers.

More in the book -It should be published march/april 2012

GARDENING WITH HERBS

INTRODUCING HERBS

Herbs have a history almost as old as man himself. Used as much for medicines and foods as their colours and scents, herbs have a practical charm unmatched in the world of plants. No garden is complete without them and no kitchen fully stocked.

The scientific definition of a herb is a plant which has no persistent stem above the ground, that is, the leaves and stem die back to the roots after a period of growth. By this definition, strictly speaking, you would call plants such as daffodils and dahlias herbs along with plants such as mint and garlic.
The more popular definition of a herb is any plant whose roots, stems, leaves or flowers are used for culinary flavouring, medicinal or perfumery purposes. Herbs then, are essentially plants which are grown because of the beneficial characteristics of the oils or other chemical components to be found in their tissues.
Herbs have been gathered or grown and used in all parts of the world for thousands of years. They are some of the easiest, hardiest and fastest garden plants to grow and there is generally little cost involved in growing them apart from your own labour. These factors, coupled with a growing preference today for natural alternatives to chemicals, have resulted in a revival of interest in the use of herbs.
Herbs have long been associated, in many different cultures, with things magical or supernatural; perhaps due to the seemingly miraculous healing power of some herbs.
The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all used herbs as did most other early civilisations but most of the herbs we commonly use today were developed by European herbalists during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. By the mid 16th century, most European households grew at least 50 different varieties of herbs in the garden.
Many medicinal uses of herbs have been thoroughly tested over the centuries and their credibility firmly established. In recent years there has been considerable interest from scientists and enthusiastic amateurs in determining just what effects herbs produce and what components of herbs cause these effects. Much effort is also being spent in introducing new herbs into widespread cultivation.

GROWING HEALTHY HERBS

Herbs are among the easiest of plants to look after but that doesn’t mean you should plant them and forget them.

There is no one ideal set of growing conditions for herbs. They come from many different plant families which have adapted to different types of environments all over the world – consequently they all require different growing conditions. One of the things they do have in common, however, is that they generally have a scent, and in most cases a sunny position is needed to fully develop the oils or chemicals which give herbs their characteristic scent or taste.
The ideal growing conditions for most herbs are similar to those required by vegetables, namely raised beds, moist but well drained and mulched soil, full sun for at least part of the day but not too exposed to frost and wind, and generally fertile, weed-free soil. Some herbs, however, do prefer soils that are not over-fertile.

WHERE HERBS CAN BE GROWN

Herbs are quite versatile and can be grown in a variety of situations. These include:
 Formal herb gardens.
 Informal herb beds in the garden such as in may cottage gardens.
 In containers such as baskets, herb pots, tubs and window boxes.
 Amongst other plants such as in a vegetable garden as companion plants for insect control or as an additional crop.

New businessmen need to deal with five things:

1. Getting a Product that can be sold
2. Establishing Systems to manage the business
3. Finding Potential Customers
4. Selling to those Potential Customers
5. Delivering the Product

This may be a simplistic view of business, but it is a very helpful way of understanding what needs to be done, and doing it properly.
Think of these as “five key areas of business”.

Businesses Don’t Need to Fail
We’ve all heard stories about how 10% of businesses fail, and those stories may well be true; but businesses that fail will usually fail for one simple reason; because they don’t attend to all five areas of concern above.
Some businesses don’t attend to these things because they don’t have the resources to deal with the things that need doing. For example, it is not good enough to develop a fantastic product, and expect the marketing, sales, customer service and other things to just look after themselves.
When you start a business, you must be conscious of the resources you have at your disposal (including money, time, expertise, networks, property, equipment and anything else). Deciding on the product may well be the first step in starting any business; but that decision must be tempered with an awareness of the systems required to manage that product, the market potential of that product, how well you will be able to sell that product and what is required to deliver that product to customers.  If your product is not matched with your capacity to handle it; you may well be entering a business doomed to failure.

What Products or Services?
Most businesses tend to start with an idea for a product or service.
Common starting points may be:
• Being told by others that you are “so good” at something that you should start their own business.
• Seeing someone else being successful at something, and thinking “I know more about that; and I could do it better”
• Noticing an unsatisfied demand for something –an opportunity waiting to be exploited
• Studying something that qualifies you to work in a job where most people run their own business.
• Creating something (eg. an invention, a very large building, a book, crafts, etc) as a hobby, and wanting to do something positive with your creation.

Do any of these scenarios ring a bell with you?
In themselves, any of these scenarios may be a valid starting point, but alone, none of these things is reason enough for starting a business.

Not every idea is a good one for a new business.
Being capable of supplying a product or service to customers is nowhere near enough for someone to be successful in a business.
Just because you like a product or service doesn’t mean that other people will like it enough to buy it.
Consider the level of demand that may exist for what you propose to offer. Do people need it badly? Can they live without it? Do you have competition for customers? Who would be a potential customer, and how many likely customers are there? Is demand likely to grow over time, or is there a chance that it may decrease? How much control can you exert over the future of your business? (eg. If a single change in government policy or law is able to damage your business; you may be looking at a risky enterprise)
Consider your personality, health and situation in life, not only today, but over the next few years. 
• Start up businesses are often more demanding upon time than what is expected. Families can suffer and stress levels can increase.
• A good business person needs to be healthy, pragmatic and a clear thinker.
• People who overwork, often succeed in establishing a very successful business; but a high proportion of these people will eventually have serious health problems. They may die young, they may be forced by health issues to sell their business.
• People who develop too much of a “personal” stake in their business sometimes find it hard to be “objective” in making business decisions. They can continue doing unprofitable things, because psychologically they cannot accept failure of something the are too close to.
• People who are not serious enough can just as easily fail in a business. Starting and running a business simply does not work if the boss has a heap of other things going on in their life that they consider more important than the business –just as much as if the boss gives priority to working in their business over and above everything else in their life.

How to Manage the Business?
Businesses need to manage all sorts of things, including
• Supply of product or services –Whatever you are selling, you will only have so much that is available to sell over a particular time period. If you are providing a consultancy service, and your business only has one consultant, you may only have 20 or 25 hours a week that you can provide and charge for those services. If you are growing and selling vegetables, you will be limited by the varieties and quantity that can be harvested each week.  You need to set up systems that identify the quantity and quality of what can be supplied; and manage that supply. Contingencies need to be in place (eg. What happens if the consultant gets sick); and any necessary goods must be acquired ahead of being needed, and stored properly so they are available when needed (eg. Office supplies, goods purchased for resale).
• Finances –Businesses are always going to be seeing money going out and coming in. The availability of finance needs to be assured (liquidity); and the level of both spending and income must be controlled and recorded (bookkeeping)
• Legal –Any business will be affected by the laws of the land that it operates in. The business must understand those laws and put procedures in place to ensure staff and the business as a whole is operating in accordance with those laws.
• Staffing –Procedures need to be clear and consistent, to ensure staff do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and in a way that it needs to be done.

So far in this course we have described how to prepare foods from each of the 5 food groups. In this lesson we will consider how a basic dish may be transformed into a gourmet meal by using a complimenting stock, sauce, flavouring or garnish. To do this we will look at each of these in turn and consider basic preparation techniques and dishes where they can work particularly well.

Stocks

A stock is a liquid which is flavoured by meat, poultry and fish, including their bones, and from vegetables and seasonings. Making a quality stock involves the combination of suitable ingredients with correct preparation techniques. Stocks are extremely versatile and provide an ideal foundation for a variety of dishes such as in soups and sauces.

Making stock

A stock is made by simmering various ingredients in water. While it is possible to buy basic chicken/ meat and vegetable stocks, if you have enough time you will find that a homemade stock is able to confer a richer flavour to your final dish.  Also, making your own stock allows you to utilise ingredients that would otherwise be thrown away e.g. chicken carcasses and the bones of roasted meat.

Preparing a chicken stock

When preparing a chicken stock use the raw carcass and chicken bones or wings or the previously roasted carcass from a cooked chicken. Put the bones into a large saucepan along with a large peeled onion chopped in half, a few peeled and halved carrots, 2 halved celery sticks. Add black peppercorns, a bay leaf and some of your favourite herbs e.g. a few fresh sprigs of thyme sprigs and some parsley stalks and bring the pan to a simmer. As you simmer your stock use a ladle to skim of any scum that floats to the top of the pan and ideally cook for about 2-3 hours, tasting often to ensure a good depth of flavour. Once your stock is cooked through pour the contents of the saucepan through a strainer/ colander into a large, clean bowl, and skim off any fat from the surface. Either use your stock straight away or refrigerate or freeze until it is required.

Preparing meat stocks

To prepare a meat stock use the same basic technique used to make a chicken stock but this time ensure that the bones from meat are roasted first. If you've are using the bones from beef or lamb place them into a large roasting tray with 2 unpeeled onions chopped in half and roast them in a hot oven for an hour until they are browned, then simmer bones as described above.

Preparing a vegetable stock

Vegetable stocks are a good base for numerous vegetable dishes, as well as for a variety of fish dishes. Vegetable stocks are an ideal way of using up parts vegetables that would otherwise be discarded. Your choice of vegetables should reflect those you most enjoy and also vegetables that are in season. Different vegetables also confer different flavours e.g. corn on the cob provides a distinctive sweet taste, while mushrooms can help to make a thicker ‘meatier’ vegetable stock. Be wary though of using vegetables that are past their best or those with a very strong taste which may overpower the flavour of other ingredients.

To make a basic vegetable stock wash and chop peelings from your chosen vegetables e.g. from carrots, parsnips and leeks and add to a large saucepan with one Celery stick and a variety of cauliflower, broccoli and asparagus stalks which have been washed and chopped.

Add 1 large onion, 6-8 peppercorns,1 teaspoon salt a few sprigs of fresh thyme and parsley or dried mixed herbs, 1 bay leaf  and enough cold water to cover the contents of the saucepan or to make a reasonable amount of stock e.g. up to around 4 pints. Bring the stock to the boil then reduce heat and cover pan with a lid. Skim any surface scum with a ladle. Simmer for about 30 minutes before removing from the heat. Skim any surface scum that has formed then strain the stock into a bowl and allow cooling if refrigerating or freezing it.

General tips for cooking stocks

Remember to simmer and not boil your stock as boiling your stock will cause any surface scum to boil back into the stock.

If you feel that your strained stock is too weak reduce the stock in a cleaned-out to enhance its flavour.

If possible further reduce the fat content of your stock by leaving your stock to go cold and chill it overnight. This allows you to lift off any fat which may have solidified on top of the stock.

Sauces

The word "sauce" is a French word which is taken from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.  Use of sauces in cooking can be traced back thousands of years and even as far back as Roman times (200 AD) where sauces were used to disguise the taste of the food and also a lack of freshness. The most common sauces are made from 3 types of ingredients- a liquid which makes up the body of a sauce or the first layer of flavour, a thickening agent which adds substance and body to the sauce and a seasoning to give a sauce a second layer of flavour. We shall now look at each of these ingredients in turn.

Liquids

The particular liquid added varies according to the purpose of the sauce, e.g. whether it is to be served as an accompaniment to vegetables, fish, poultry or meat or as an integral part of pasta dishes like macaroni cheese. Stocks are among the main liquids used to make a sauce while other commonly used liquids include milk, cream, egg yolks and wine.

Thickeners

Thickeners are used to make sauces thick enough to coat foods. Types of thickeners include a roux which is a cooked paste made from wheat flour and fat, a starch solution made from starch and water e.g. cornstarch or vegetable/ potato starch, or a liaison thickener which is a mixture of cream and egg yolks that are added to a sauce at the end of the cooking time.

How to make a basic roux

To make a Roux you should use equal parts of all-purpose flour and fat e.g. 2 tbsp. butter or oil to 2 tbsp. of flour. A roux is identified by its color – a white roux is made with oil and cooked for a short time and is used in a sauce like bechamel or veloute sauce.  A brown roux is cooked for longer and is commonly used to make gravies and in dishes such as stews.  When using a roux to thicken a sauce it is important to add the roux correctly. If you are using a cool liquid such as a chilled stock, the cooler liquid should be added to the hot roux and you should whisk the mixture as you add the liquid to smooth out any lumps that may form. When adding a roux to a hot liquid gradually add enough hot liquid to dissolve the cold roux and then pour the dissolved roux into the simmering liquid. Sauces thickened with roux need to simmer at least 45 minutes to remove the starchy or pasty taste and gritty feel of the flour. 

Thickening sauce with a starchy solution

A starch solution will thicken quicker than a roux.  To use a starches, stir the starch e.g. cornstarch,  together with a cold liquid until it dissolves and then gradually add the starch solution  to a simmering liquid, stirring continually until the liquid thickens (this usually takes around 2-3 minutes).

Seasoning a sauce

Seasonings and additional flavourings add a 2nd layer of flavour to a sauce. The most basic seasonings are salt and pepper while other flavorings include aromatic vegetables, herbs, spices, and mustard. Some of these flavorings are described further on in the lesson.

Types of sauce

There are hundreds of different sauces whereas most chefs will use and adapt 5 grand sauces (or mother sauces) which are:

1.      Brown sauce, which is a rich dark sauce typically served with meats. A brown sauce generally refers to a sauce with a meat stock base (e.g. those described earlier in this lesson), thickened by reduction or sometimes by the addition of a browned roux.

2.      Veloute sauce, which is a white sauce made by thickening poultry, fish, or shellfish stock with a white roux. Veloute sauce works well with chicken and fish.

3.      Bechamel sauce, which is a white sauce made by thickening milk with a white roux and as described in lesson 5 works well with different pasta dishes.

4.      Tomato sauce, which is made by simmering tomatoes and flavoring ingredients such as basil or garlic until the tomatoes are soft enough to puree (see recipe 1). Tomato sauce works well with pasta and a variety of chicken and meat dishes.

5.      Hollandaise sauce, which is made by blending melted butter into slightly cooked egg yolks. Hollandaise sauce works well with steak, eggs and vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower (see recipe 2)

Tomato sauce (recipe 1):

To make a simple tomato sauce use as many tomatoes as desired but generally around 1.4kg (3lbs) of tomatoes will allow you to make around a pint of sauce. To make the tomato sauce, core each tomato, then cut in half and squeeze tomatoes expelling the seeds. Add the juiced halves into the large stock pot placed over high heat and use a wooden spoon to press the tomatoes. Once enough juice and water have accumulated, cover the pot and leave the tomatoes to cook for 20-30 minutes until pulped stirring intermittently. After tomatoes are cooked press them through a sieve and return the puree to a clean pan and add ½ a tablespoon of salt, 4 oz (110 g) granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of paprika, a pinch of cayenne pepper and 1/4 pint (140 ml) distilled white vinegar. Stir the ingredients until the sugar has dissolved, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer gently until the sauce has thickened. A thicker sauce will be achieved by cooking the sauce for longer as this allows more of the excess water to evaporate.

Hollandaise sauce (recipe 2):

Add 3 egg yolks to a small saucepan and whisk until the egg yolks thicken (after about 1 minute) then whisk in 1 ½ tablespoons of lemon juice and 25g of chilled unsalted butter and place over very low heat. Whisk the sauce constantly while the butter is melting, and continue whisking until it begins to thicken enough so that the base of the saucepan becomes visible between strokes. At this point remove the pan from the heat and beat in an additional 25g of chilled butter. Finally, season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Seasonings and additional flavourings

Herbs and seasonings are an essential ingredient of great stocks and sauces and can also be added directly to meats, baked goods and salads to impart flavour and aroma. In this section we shall consider some popular seasonings and flavourings and describe how to prepare them and use them to compliment different foods.

Herbs

Herbs do two common things in the kitchen

1.      They replace salt and sugar as food flavourings.  Which is good for our health as salt and sugar are often consumed in quantities which are detrimental to health.

2.      They greatly expand the variety of tastes which can be experienced.

The quantity produced in a small garden, even off one plant, is frequently much more than would ever be used by one family. The only limitation to the availability of herbs is that your favourite culinary herbs might not produce at all times of the year. Even this, is not really a problem. Herbs can be harvested and kept many different ways ‑dried, frozen, preserved in oils or vinegar etc. until the time you are ready to use them.

Herbs can greatly increase the flavour of a meal, and can supply additional nutritional benefit. They can also increase the health of the vegetable garden. Herbs can be used in cooking many different ways; both as freshly picked parts off the plant, or as dried parts or products.

·      Fresh - most have a stronger flavour if used fresh; and this use is generally preferred.

·      Dried - many retain flavour well on drying; others do not.

·      Products - herbs soaked in vinegar or oil transfer the flavour to the vinegar or oil. The vinegar or oil can then be used when preparing food to add the herb flavour.

Culinary Uses of Herbs

Culinary herbs make two important contributions to food preparation:

·      They replace salt and sugar as food flavourings.  Salt and sugar are widely known to be consumed by most people in quantities which are detrimental to health, so any move to replace them with an increased use of herbs is a positively healthy move.

·      Herbs greatly expand the variety of tastes which can be experienced. They have been used since man’s earliest times to add to the flavour of food. With the tremendous variety of herbs now readily available, today’s cook can use them to provide interest in the form of colour and texture as well as flavour.

In cooking, herbs can be used freshly picked, dried or frozen. The treatment of herbs before cooking can, however, influence their flavour and appearance:

·         Fresh herbs have a stronger flavour, and this use is generally preferred.

·         Dried herbs are widely use in cooking. Many herbs retain flavour well on drying, but others to not. Also, the flavour will diminish with improper storage and time, so do not use very old dried herbs.

·         Herbal infusions in vinegar or oil are often used for flavouring sauces, salads, etc.  The flavour in herbs soaked in vinegar or oil transfers to the liquid, which can then be used when preparing food to add the herb flavour. The flavour will be less pronounced than the flavour of fresh herbs, which can be desirable. Herbs stored in vinegar or oil might need to be removed as they become old, but the infused flavour should remain for quite a while if the products are stored out of the light and in cool temperatures. Many medicinal uses of herbs require the production of herbal infusions.

·         Herbal infusions in hot water are used to produce teas and tisanes.

Some Hints on Cooking with Herbs

·         Grind dried herbs to get the best flavour.  This may be done using a mortar and pestle, or simply the back of a spoon.

·         Never cook fresh chervil as heat destroys the flavour.  Add just before serving.  (Chives are similar.)

·         Do not shake leaves from a storage container into cooking food as vapour from the cooking can get into the container and cause the dried herbs to spoil.

·         Do not store herbs next to the stove or in sunlight, as heat can reduce their flavour.

·         To keep fresh herbs longer, stand with stems in a container of water, keeping the leaves dry, in a refrigerator.

·         If you do need to wash herbs, make sure that the leaves are fully dried, spread them out on a wire rack in a single layer and allow water to evaporate before tying in bundles or freezing.

Learn More

Study our Food Prepartation Course  http://www.acs.edu.au/courses/food-preparation-foundations-of-cooking-572.aspx

Cutting propagation can be carried out on a very wide variety of plants, and after seed propagation, is the most commonly used method of producing new plants. Cutting propagation is most commonly used for shrubs, indoor plants and many herbaceous perennials. As a general rule, it is not as commonly used to propagate most types of trees.

This book sets out how to grow plants by cuttings, including:-

-          different types of cuttings,

-          where to obtain suitable material for cuttings,

-          how the cuttings can be treated to increase the likelihood of success,

-          different materials and equipment used to take and strike the cuttings,

-          how to take cuttings of a range of popular plants.

Propagation by seed or spore is known as sexual propagation. Propagation by non-sexual methods is known as vegetative or asexual propagation. Other types of asexual propagation are layering, budding & grafting, separation and division.

The Importance of Cuttings.

Plants are reproduced by cuttings for a number of reasons, including:

*Cutting grown plants are identical to their parent.

 A cutting grown plant is identical (genetically) to the parent plant (the plant from which the

 original cutting was taken from). This is not necessarily so when plants are grown from seed.

 Cuttings are the most widely used technique for reproducing "true to type" plants. This ensures that

 the unique characteristics, such as leaf variegation or flower size & colour, of the parent plant are

 perpetuated in the progeny. When a plant is grown from seed, the flower and foliage effects, for example, can be different to the effects on the parent plant

*It is easier to produce new plants from cuttings

For some types of plants, seed production is difficult, due to one or more of the following reasons:

  a/ The plant doesn’t produce viable seed, or produce seed at irregular times,

  b/  Seed is difficult to germinate (e.g. Boronia, Eriostemon),

  c/ Seed that is difficult to collect, for example, plants that have seed pods that burst open

     dispersing the seeds widely,

  d/ Seed is produced at a time when seed cannot be collected, or collection would require

     a further trip to the area (often very difficult for remote areas), or can only be collected

     with difficulty (e.g. plants whose seed matures during wet seasons when access may be

     limited).

*  Producing plants that flower or fruit sooner

  Many plants grown from seeds go through a juvenile stage, in which flowering, and hence seed

  production do not occur. Some plants may take 5, 10 or even more years before they commence

  flowering. Once a plant has flowered, plants propagated from that plant by cuttings will avoid the

  juvenile stage and flower early, often within months of the cutting having struck.

  Many plants also have undesirable growth forms when they are young. These include very

  vigorous growth, thorniness, or unattractive foliage or form. By taking cuttings from adult plants

  these undesirable characteristics can be avoided.

* Maintaining juvenility

  In some cases the juvenile form of a plant may have characteristics that are more desirable than

  those of the adult form. A good example of this is the smaller, immature foliage of the Hedera helix

  cultivars (English Ivy). For some plants cuttings will strike more readily from juvenile material.

WHERE TO GET YOUR CUTTINGS

You may take cuttings from plants growing in gardens, pots, parks or in the wild; and you may successfully produce new plants from cuttings taken from any source; however, you will always get much better results if you carefully choose your source of cuttings.

            -If you know the cultivar name of the plant, you can be more certain of how to propagate

            it, and be confident of the characteristics that will be demonstrated by the new plants.

            -If you take cuttings from healthy plants; they are more likely to develop roots faster, and

            produce healthier plants quicker.

Genotype versus Phenotype

Genotype is the genetic makeup or 'blue print' of an organism. When a plant is propagated by asexual means the genotype of the newly propagated plants, or progeny, will be identical to that of the parent plant. The phenotype of a plant is it's actual appearance and behaviour. The phenotype of a plant arises from the interaction between the genotype of the plant and the environment in which the plant is growing. Factors such as soil conditions, exposure to light, moisture levels, pollutants, pests and diseases, and nutrition will all have an impact on how a particular plant will grow. This means that a batch of cuttings, propagated from the same parent will have an identical genetic makeup, but once planted out there may be some differences between them in outward appearance and performance, such as foliage colour or height, as a result of environmental conditions.

If a plant is propagated due to its appearance and growth habit in a particular district, the resultant plants may not be identical to the parent when it is grown in a different locality, for example, a plant that grows to 2m in one locality is propagated and promoted with those attributes, but may grow up to 4m in a different locality due to factors such as different climate and soil type.

This highlights the importance of selecting plant material with desired traits for use in a specific locality only, or that the progeny is grown (tested) in a variety of environmental conditions (i.e. soil types, climates) before its attributes are described in promotional materials.

Why Cuttings

Despite all the difficulties that can be experienced with various techniques to propagate a plant, the cutting technique still remains one of the easiest and cost effective techniques to produce a number of new plants, whether that be for commercial or domestic production.

The home gardener will find that cuttings are easy, time effective and cheap. The rewards in watching a plant produce roots and develop into a new plant encourages them to propagate even more plants and share them with friends etc.

Commercial production nurseries know the benefits of the cutting technique. Their profit and existence relies upon using the right technique for the right plant. Improving their techniques can increase production and hence increase profit.

Growing plants by cuttings can be a very rewarding exercise, and for commercial propagators may be the most economically viable method for many plants. This book will hopefully provide a valuable resource to anyone with an interest in cutting propagation.

How to grow a Cutting

Most cuttings are pieces of stem, often with some leaves left at the top of the stem. Some plants can be grown from cuttings of other tissue (eg. A piece of leaf, or section of root, or even part of a bulb, with no stem at all).

Cuttings are usually planted into a mix of materials such as sand, peat moss, perlite, rockwool or vermiculite. Part of the tissue is usually below the surface of the mix, and some exposed above the surface.

The cuttings should then needs to be kept moist, and other conditions such as light, temperature, humidity and hygiene should be kept appropriate to the requirements of the variety of plant being grown.

Other things that can be done to enhance development of the cutting, will either speed the rate of growth, or improve the percentage of cuttings that succeed.

Chemical hormones may be applied to stimulate the formation of either roots, or foliage/shoot growth. Pesticides or disinfectants may be used to prevent diseases or pests. Heating may be used to warm the root zone (ie. bottom heat), to encourage faster growth of roots; or periodic misting of the foliage to cool the top of the plant, or prevent dehydration of the foliage.

This article is based upon extracts from John Mason's book "Propagating from Cuttings"     See http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/2108-propagating-from-cuttings.aspx

If you want to get even more serious, study Cutting Propagation in our 100 hour distance learning course    See http://www.acs.edu.au/courses/cutting-propagation-309.aspx

Many farms today are under financial pressure, with traditional enterprises such as cattle and sheep becoming a less reliable source of income. Farmers are more than ever susceptible to such things as changes in the international market place, land degradation problems, drought and flood, changing cost structures in the market place, etc.

One solution is to diversify, creating more than one source of income for a farm.  In essence, the strategy means that instead of depending mainly on one type of animal or crop for farm income, there is income generated by several different sources.

POSSIBILITIES

With a little creative, lateral thinking, there are all sorts of ways you can make money from a farm property. You already have a major asset in your land, and it might not be too difficult, or disruptive, to develop a supplementary money making venture such as one of those following. In due course, such a new venture may develop into a major part of a farm activity, or simply remain a small supplement to the main source of income.

Accommodation

Farmers in some areas do good business providing on-farm accommodation to tourists and other travellers. This may be in the form of self-contained cabins, providing bed and        breakfast within your own home or camping facilities. Promoting such a venture may be relatively easy and inexpensive to set-up. Contact local or state tourist authorities or motoring organisations (e.g. an automobile association) for information on licensing details, standards and marketing.(Before anything, check local planning regulations i.e. certain permits may be required before operating this type of enterprise).

Depending on what type of accommodation is being offered, you must consider things such as what space will be available, shower and toilet facilities to be used, and what catering will be provided and how much time must be spent with guests.  For instance, offering primitive camping facilities would be inexpensive to start up and require little time from the owners, yet would bring a lower return.  A bed and breakfast would involve more effort, cost and time, such as cooking breakfast and acting as host, yet would provide a much higher income.

Tourism

Farm tourism is a growth industry. For many barely viable farms, a tourist venture can provide a valuable second source of income. These may include such things as a farm shop, guided tours, open gardens, adventure activities (e.g. trail rides, canoeing, etc.), creating an exhibition area (e.g. a museum, animal show etc.), restaurant, or a working farm experience.

Gardens surrounding farms in New Zealand, England and some other countries are often opened to the public. A fee is charged to explore the garden, sometimes guided by the a family member; sometimes left to your own. Similarly, sections of farm buildings, or a farm house may be converted to a gift shop, a craft shop, a small museum, or a produce shop.  There is a high maintenance component to such a venture, to ensure that the visitors feel that they have received value for money.

Farm tours may be developed, to show paying tourists various aspects of farm operation.

Horse riding, hiking, picnicking, bushwalking, abseiling, canoeing and other activities may be appropriate to some properties. Properly organised, any of these can be a good source of revenue.

Agroforestry

Trees can be planted on boundaries, scattered through paddocks, or in blocks; to be harvested and sold for timber at a later point in time. In the meantime, the land around the trees may or may not, still be used for grazing animals. Some rapid growing trees (e.g. Paulownia), under good conditions, may be able to be harvested within a few years of planting, although most agroforestry is usually a long term prospect, taking one or more decades to produce a harvest.

Your choice of tree variety is critical. If you want to graze animals under trees, you will be advised to avoid dense planting or planting species that deter the growth of grass (e.g. avoid pines and other conifers). Different trees are suitable for different markets; some being high value timber used in things such as furniture making, others may only be used for housing frames, pallets, or wood chips. Proximity to markets may influence what is grown - but remember it may take decades to reach harvest; so consider where the market may be in the distant future.

Trees which may be considered for agroforestry (depending on your climate and location) include:

§                     Acacia melanoxylon (Blackwood)

§                     Allocasuarina torulosa (She-oak)

§                     Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)

§                     Birch (Betula spp.)

§                     Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) can be pollarded

§                     Black walnut (Juglans nigra) - coppice or pollard

§                     Castenospermum australe (Black Bean)

§                     Cherry (Prunus avium)

§                     Coast redwood (Sequioa sempervirens)

§                     Cricket bat willow (Salix alba ‘Caerulea’)

§                     Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)  

§                     Eucalyptus calophylla, camaldulensis, microcorys, propinqua, regnans

§                     Fraxinus excelsior (European ash)

§                     Grevillea robusta (Silky Oak)

§                     Italian, black and red alder (Alnus cordata, A.glutinosa and A.rubra - nitrogen-fixers that can also can be pollarded

§                     Larch (Larix decidua, L. eurolepis, L. kaempferi)

§                     Lawson’s cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)

§                     Lophostemon confertus (Brush Box)

§                     Melaleuca leucadendron

§                     Platanus acerifolia (London Plane)

§                     Paulownia tomentosa

§                     Pinus canariensis, caribaea var. hondurensis, ponderosa, radiata, Corsican, Lodgepole, Pinus nigra maritima, P.contorta,, P.sylvestris)

§                     Populus delatoides (American Black Poplar) other Populus spp. e.g. boelare, beaupré

§                     Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa)

§                     Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)

§                     Toona australis (Red Cedar)

§                     Western red cedar (Thuja plicata)

(Most of the above are suitable for sawn timber; many also have other uses).

Alternative Animals

Try thinking about different animals (depending on your locality) such as angora goats, deer, dogs, cats, ostriches, alpacas, emus, crocodiles, crayfish, etc. There are farms that make money from all of these and other types of animals as well.

A kennel or a cattery can make money from breeding animals and boarding pets when owners are on holidays. The pet business is large, and opportunity always exists for a new operator offering a quality service. Many pet owners have the money and inclination to spend on their pets, but are often hesitant to put them into kennels which are "not as comfortable as home".  Providing clean, comfortable accommodation and a caring atmosphere will ensure ongoing business.

There is a growing demand for exotic animals (e.g. ostriches, deer, alpacas etc.), and the products they produce. These are however new industry sectors in which both supply and demand are increasing in a relatively unpredictable ratio. As such, they are high risk sectors which may lead to high profits, but could equally lead to big losses.

Cut Flowers and Foliage

Some types of cut flowers (e.g. bulbs and annual flowers), can require a lot of attention; and these may not be an ideal supplementary enterprise. Other cut flowers, such as proteas or Geraldton Wax (i.e. Chamaelaucium), Buddleia, Caryopteris etc. are woody shrubs. Once established, these plants require relatively little attention, apart from protection from livestock and spraying against pests and disease (provided the climate is suitable for the variety).  Foliage used in floral arrangements can also be grown and sold to the cut flower industry.

Community Markets

Community markets can be profitable, if you are selling the right product in the right market. To be successful, you need to experiment; trying different markets, and also trying different products. Some ideas for market products include:

§                     Fresh produce, eggs, honey, etc.

§                     Crafts or hand-crafted items (dolls, wood furniture)

§                     Home-made foods (preserves, pies, sauces, etc.)

§                     Hand-made clothing

§                     Value added products (spun wool, goat's cheese)

§                     Bunched flowers

VALUE ADD BY PROCESSING FARM PRODUCE

Things which are already produced by a farm may be made more marketable, and sold for a higher price, if they are used to produce something beyond the raw product. Wool shorn on a farm can be processed and used to produce garments. Dairy products can be used to produce cheese or yoghurt. Animal skins may be tanned and used to produce various leather products. Crops such as fruit and vegetables can be used to make preserves. These products may be sold through a farm shop, or local retail outlets.

The major consideration is the price of the necessary equipment to "value add" versus the selling price of the end product.  If you do open a retail shop, then producing some of your own product, while often work intensive, can give a very high return on the investment.

OTHER IDEAS

Farms have found success by diversifying into many other areas, including:

Starting a plant nursery;

Planting an orchard or vineyard (can be expensive to set up);

Earth worm farming;

§                     Leasing land for events (shows, meetings, markets, billboards etc).;

§                     Agistment: lease land to other farmers;

§                     Subdivide (if you are desperate);

§                     Running courses/ workshops;

§                     Hiring land for trials (experimentation) to large companies (e.g. to field trial agricultural chemicals);

§                     Share Farming a section of the property.

With a bit of creativity, hard work and often good marketing, there are many enterprises that can bring extra income to the farm. If you choose to diversify, make sure you choose an activity that you are interested in.

Read More about Improving a farm in "Profitable Farming", an ebook by John Mason   http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/2236-profitable-farming-pdf.aspx

We all want the best value when we go to buy a plant, but how do you tell what is a good deal?

The cheapest plants are not always the best to buy. What is the value in buying something cheap if it doesn’t live, or grows slower than a more expensive plant?

There are two decisions to make:

1. What plant variety you should choose.

2. Which plant from those available you should choose.

WHAT VARIETY?

Some plants are very easy to grow but others are a great deal more difficult. Choose plant varieties according to your own capabilities and the amount of time and effort you are able to devote to caring for the plant. For example:

·         If you don’t have the time to water and feed tender annual flowers, you may be better off growing woody flowering plants like roses.

·         If you don’t have the time or skills to identify and spray pests and diseases when they come along, perhaps you would be better off avoiding roses and growing something relatively pest-free, like lavender.

·         If you have limited water available and live in a dry climate, you might be better growing drought-tolerant succulents rather than struggling with water-loving plants.

Too many people try to grow the plants they dream about, and end up with a collection of sick plants. These same people could have had a collection of healthy but different plants, if their choice of plants was better matched with their ability to care for them.

Be prepared to Replace Sick Plants

Plants have a limited lifespan – and that time varies from place to place. For example:

·         Lavender does not last as long in warm temperate or subtropical climates as they do in mild and cool temperate climates.

·         Some bulbs never flower as well again as they do in their first season.

·         Marguerites can become woody and leggy, and produce less flowers.

Grow what you want and discard it when it’s finished - it’s still cheaper than buying a bunch of flowers!

LOW MAINTENANCE PLANTS

The easiest plants to care for can also vary from place to place.

• Plants that are easy care species in one locality may often be declared a weed and illegal to grow somewhere else (e.g. Lantana, a native of the Mediterranean region, is a problematic weed in subtropical Queensland, Australia - but a very hardy prized garden plant in some other places).
• Some plants are not particularly easy to care for when they are first planted, but once established they may require little ongoing care.
• Be careful about who you take advice from - you don’t have to be an expert or be familiar with local conditions in order to sell a plant. Do your own research and take advice from people in your locality, but recognise the fact that the only way you will ever be sure about choosing the best plants is to get to know them for yourself.

Note: Plants suggested here, or in other books, might not all be appropriate in your locality. You should never use a book, website or other published material as a definitive guide for what to grow where you live.

Plants that can be easy to care for include:

·         Gazanias

·         Hebes

·         Callistemons

·         Eucalyptus

·         Plumbago

·         Most daisies

·         Nandina

·         Agapanthus

·         Cliveas

·         Cannas

·         Lantana montevidensis

·         Juniperus conferta

·         Abelia

·         Camellias

·         Oleander

·         Indian Hawthorn

·         Japanese Flowering Quince

·         Red Hot Pokers

·         Agave

·         Aloe

·         Bromeliads

WHICH PLANT?

At the nursery, you’ll be confronted with lots of choices. Even after you’ve decided on the plant variety you may still need to decide whether to buy a large one, small one, one covered with flowers, or one without flowers. Always think about what’s going to give you the best long-term results.

General Guidelines

• Plants that are healthier and not pot-bound are more likely to grow faster and overcome the effects of diseases or insect attack.
• Larger plants often take more effort to establish but if you are prepared to put the effort in, they will give a more immediate effect. If you don’t put the effort in, they are more likely to die.
• Plants with a good, uniform shape i.e. straight stem, symmetrical branches, and a good coverage of leaves will get off to a good start as soon as they’re planted out.
• Watch out for plants with lots of soft, lush new growth – these aren’t necessarily the healthiest or best plants to buy. Unless you can give the plant ideal conditions (moist, fertile soil in a sheltered position), lush growth is likely to wilt and die back once the plant is put in the ground. The plant will most likely recover but it may take several weeks for new shoots to grow.
• A plant covered with flowers is appealing, but isn’t necessarily in good health. Even very sick plants can flower well. Instead, look for sturdy well-formed plants with healthy green leaves. If you really want a plant that will give you flowers quickly, choose one with lots of buds rather than fully opened flowers.
• Check that your plants have not been exposed to a fluctuating water supply that will cause problems later on.
• Try and ascertain whether the plants have been fed, and if so - on what?  A change in their nutrient supply can be devastating.
• If the plants have been stored in a shade house or under a cold frame they may need acclimatising.  Try to replicate their growing conditions in your garden.
• Avoid plants with any sign of insect attack or visible disease.  Not only are these plants potentially going to die on you, but they could devastate the rest of your garden by spreading pests and diseases.
• Observe the standards set around the nursery.  A clean and tidy site where health concerns are readily observed is more likely to produce healthy plants than one where cuttings are left lying around, compost is left exposed, and pots are not sterilised before re-use.     

Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Advice

A reputable, well-established nursery will normally give you sound advice on what the best value plants for your garden are, particularly if staff are formally trained and have been working in the industry for 10 years or more.

A good horticulturist won’t try to pressure you into buying their most expensive plants, nor will they attempt to sell you old, tired stock. After all, they need your repeat business.

Give the sales staff a clear indication of what you want in terms of plant size, type, and maintenance requirements – and you’ll be more likely to get the right plants for your garden. 

 Extract from Garden Design Part 1 

 http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/2243-garden-design-part-1-pdf.aspx

By John Mason Principal, ACS Distance Education, www.acs.edu.au; http://ebook.acsedu.com  March 2011

As writers, we all have a choice to make. We can either fight e-publishing; and probably suffer a big dint in our earning potential; or we can embrace it, and seek to capitalize on opportunities it offers before everyone else does.

E-books are causing a big shake-up in the publishing industry. Bookshops are failing as more people choose to buy e-books instead of printed books. E-publications are also starting to affect the sale of periodicals. They are an obvious threat to traditional print media; but at the same time, opportunities are emerging for those who are bold enough to grasp them.

Consider:

• Some of the largest book distributors in Australia, NZ & the USA are in trouble
• Many leading periodicals are now offering subscriptions for electronic editions
• Over 200 new electronic “readers” were launched in late 2010 for reading e-books
• Google has launched Google Books, aiming to compete with Apple’s iBooks.
• E-books are now being loaned out by libraries
• Some of the world’s major print publishers have been developing policies to move over to e-books

The future is inevitable though.

Despite our love for a printed publication, times are changing, and there is no doubt that a significant part of the print media industry is going to be replaced by electronic publishing.

Different Types of Files

E-books may be created using normal layout software such as InDesign, then converted to any one of a number of different file formats. The two most popular file types are “e-pub” and “pdf”

·         E-pub has been endorsed by the American Booksellers association; but it has a disadvantage in that it can only be read on apple iPads

·         Pdf’s can be read on all types of devices including iPads, and have a better capacity to deal with illustrations

Three Ways to Read

E-books can be downloaded and read in any of the following three ways:

1. On a desk top computer or lap top

2. On an iPad

3. On a Kindle, Kobo, Barnes and Noble reader or any of over 200 other readers that use the “android” platform

Downloading a book onto a computer or laptop is no problem; but downloading directly onto an iPad or other reader is usually impossible unless dealing with books supplied by the company who supplies the particular electronic reader you are using. You can of course download to your computer and then transfer over to the reader.

Different Platforms

The software that powers a reader or computer for an electronic publication, can be either an operating system (eg Windows) on a standard computer; or the “Android software” developed by Google; or the Apple software.  The Apple software is more powerful than the others and drives the iPad, which is arguably far better than any other device (at this point in time). The Android devices are frequently cheaper, and fine for reading a black and white novel; but are frequently problematic with books that contain lots of colour illustrations.

State of Play

We have been doing a great deal of research over recent months.

Currently, big distributors like iBooks and Amazon are focusing on increasing the number of titles available as e-books; but in doing so, they are making compromises on several levels in order to get a short term advantage. Many of the e-books being published are reproductions of old titles, and a lot of gardening books are titles that may be decades old (or older) with very limited illustration.

This is how we would guess the future is likely to pan out:

• There will be a great deal of instability in the publishing industry for between 2 and 5 years.
• Some well established publishers will resist change, and as a result, will loose market share. Some will disappear, taking their authors with them. Some will adapt and emerge just as strong as ever in a new publishing industry.
• New publishing houses will emerge to fill the vacuum; particularly small to medium specialist publishers.
• Apple, Google, Amazon and other big players in the e-book market will continue to battle for a place in the “new order”; and compatibility between systems will not settle until those battles die down.
• Most books published initially are not likely to be new titles; but over time, as the e-book market gains more and more market share; there will be an impetus to publish new titles as e-books.
• The line between publishing and multimedia will blur as e-book publishers incorporate new elements into their books.

Where to Go?

A simple way forward is for writers to self publish and either set up a web site to distribute your own books; or join together to form “cooperative” distribution networks.

Ebook, e-book, ebook, or eBook?

One of the more difficult issues to be faced by any potential e-publisher is how to write the word e-book.  Throughout this article we have used the hyphenated version of the word which seems to be commonly accepted in print publication.  For electronic publication, however, this does not work well.  As a search term ‘e-book’ fares very poorly in comparison to the other options.  A search on Google Insights shows that the simple ‘ebook’is most commonly used as a search term and therefore most likely to draw potential customers to your site.  It is possible that some search engines such as google are not case sensitive and thus ebook. eBook and Ebook might all be read the same way but there are varying opinions on this.      

Aerobic fitness refers to the fitness of the cardio-respiratory system. A person who has good aerobic fitness has the ability to readily take in oxygen (breathing), assimilate that oxygen into the blood, transfer it to wherever it is needed in the body and at the same time remove any waste products from those areas, (including breathing out carbon dioxide). Aerobic fitness is something that all people need for good health. As we move toward more sedentary lifestyles, driving instead of walking, working at a desk rather than in a labouring job, we need to ensure that the exercise needs of the body are met.

It is generally recommended that 20 - 30 minutes of aerobic work 3 to 4 days a week is the minimum necessary for good health. Any increase in activity should result in an increase in fitness. However, people are all very different and there are a number of factors that can affect aerobic fitness.

Factors influencing aerobic fitness include:

1. Genetics (heredity)
2. Regularity of exercise
3. Smoking
4. Diet
5. Age
6. Stress
7. Disease
8. Drugs/medicines.

These things should all be taken into consideration when planning an aerobic work-out.

Anaerobic fitness refers to the ability of muscles to perform to a required work-load or endurance period, without the availability of oxygen (or limited oxygen). Generally these exercises are short bursts of energy. The efficiency of anaerobic fitness is dependent on the overall health, fitness and aerobic level of the individual. Anaerobic fitness is usually about building up muscle, or increasing muscle tone, but is of little value if it is not combined with aerobic fitness.

Depending on the fitness goals of the individual, different types of exercise can be used to achieve a range of results. Twenty minutes of aerobic exercise does not have to be limited to one type of exercise. For instance, two aqua-aerobics classes per week combined with two high intensity walks, gives a good amount of exercise, plus the diversity will lessen the likelihood of the participant becoming bored too quickly.

Many people will lament that they don't exercise enough, but simple things like taking the stairs instead of the elevator can add up during the course of a day. The main goal is to use the body, all of the body, on a regular basis, to achieve the ultimate in fitness.

Read now: Aquafitness Ebook by John Mason

Extract from "Garden Design Ebook- Part 2" by John Mason

There are many types of small garden such as balconies and courtyards, and there are many types of small garden spaces or rooms. They each present their own challenges in terms of gardening and we shall now review some ways in which you can tackle those confined spaces.

COURTYARDS

If your courtyard is looking a bit lacklustre, why not give it a revamp using some of the following ideas.

Add Container Plants

Container plants are a simple solution for livening up a courtyard. You won’t need to dig out planting holes or build raised beds to achieve an instant effect.

There are many different containers available, ranging from man-made reconstituted stone and plastic through to wood and terracotta.

You can place pots along the ground, planters along the tops of walls, planter boxes or troughs on the face of walls, or even hang baskets from awnings and pergolas.

Make sure that the weight can be supported adequately though.

For a formal effect, use matched containers and plantings in a symmetrical arrangement. For a more relaxed approach, group together different styles of containers and plants.

Add a Small Water Feature

A water feature does not have to be big to be effective. Wall-mounted water fountains and free-standing ponds can look equally spectacular. Once again, you will not have to worry about huge installation or running costs as the water is recycled via a pump which can be hooked up to the electricity supply.

Increase Enclosure

Another option is to heighten walls to block outside views. If your courtyard is too open, why not heighten the walls? If there are particular aspects of the view you wish to save, you can incorporate an arch or open window, so that you can retain your favourite sights. This will also add an element of mystery to the garden.

Cover a Bad Outlook

You can overcome an ugly view by installing trellis on the tops of walls or fences. Trellis is also an excellent way of masking ugly walls and fences. Once in place, you can grow climbers up the trellis to further hide the poor outlook, whilst simultaneously beautifying the view. Alternatively, you can use more elaborate trellis panels that look amazing in their own right. Try using trellis to frame wall hangings, wall-planters, murals, mirrors or statues.

Create an Entry

A sure way to add intrigue is to install an arch. Placed at the courtyard entrance, it acts as a focal point, drawing visitors into the courtyard. Inside the courtyard, it can be used to frame a view or a feature such as a statue or bench.

An entrance tunnel is an even more exciting feature for drawing visitors into the courtyard. The longer it is, the greater its impact, but keep in mind that it needs to be in scale with the courtyard and the surrounding garden.

For greater enclosure and shelter, the tunnel can be covered with shade-cloth and used to support climbing plants. Scented climbers are especially appealing because their fragrance is trapped within the enclosed space. If there is sufficient room inside the tunnel, a garden bench will make it a great place to retreat to on a hot day.

Pave It

If your courtyard is gravelled, turfed, or just plain earth, it may be time to pave it. Paving is low-maintenance, durable and can look exceptionally smart. Paving materials range from the more expensive York stone, sandstone and slate stone to the less expensive man-made stones and concrete. Consider tiles for a Mediterranean effect, or granite setts for a more traditional look.

Paint a scene, a gate, doorway or even a plant in a pot on the face of a wall. If this is done well it can trick the eye and make a garden area seem larger than it really is - particularly if the painting is surrounded by real features such as plants or ornaments.

Mirrors attached to a wall will give an impression that a garden is larger. A mirror can break, of course, but so can a glass window - and we usually have windows bordering our gardens.

Read More in John's new Ebook - Garden Design Part 2:  A comprehensive look at garden design with full color beautiful pictures.