For generations, gardeners have used woodfire ash in the garden as a kind of free homemade fertiliser. Grandparents swore by it. Old orchard growers scattered it beneath fruit trees. Veggie gardeners sprinkled it around the tomatoes and roses. But does wood ash actually help the garden… or is it just another one of those old gardening myths that’s been passed down over time?

There’s something almost other-worldly about the first time you see a barn owl glide across a paddock at dusk. And here in South Australia, we are lucky enough to call them our own. An adult barn owl can consume several rodents each night. A breeding pair raising chicks can remove hundreds over a single season. It’s not about eradicating rodents entirely. It’s about maintaining equilibrium.