Ordinary Eco

Earth Hour 2012

2012-02-02T09:28:00.005+08:00

I was so excited to find the new video for Earth Hour 2012.

It is one of my favourite times of year and I love the connection with the rest of world.
Earth Hour asks one small thing, turn off your lights from 8.30 to 9.30pm on Saturday March 31st 2012. We usually go further and turn all our power off but that is our personal choice.

Last year I spent an afternoon in Mikayla's class the week of Earth Hour,we looked at the history of Earth Hour, did activities on food miles and planted up heritage seeds in handmade tubes.
This year we will be throwing a huge Earth Hour party with activities for kids and adults.We might even try to build a new wicking bed or a pond that I would love to incorporate into the garden.

Last year Earth Hour incorporated Beyond the Hour. What could you do beyond Earth Hour to continue your commitment to helping the planet? Our commitment this year has been the No Supermarkets Challenge. By avoiding shopping centres and supermarkets we have reduced our packaging waste, created more business for local suppliers and taken another step close to the connection with our food/products.

So spread the word, we have time to let everyone know.This is one small thing that we all can do to show the world our support for a better planet.

Earth Hour 2011

Lighting the tealight 60!

Games of UNO by candlelight

What will you be up to on March 31st 2012?

Summer 2012 plus some before and afters

2012-01-19T09:19:00.008+08:00

A little update on the garden this summer. I hate that I am forced to not plant during this season but it would be a ridiculous exercise in this heat.

Sharing some of our fruit with a "local"

Pomegranate fence

"The Orchard" Oct 2008

The Orchard January 2012 (3 years 3 months old)

Apple trees under nets so we actually get some fruit

The Seven year bean has gone crazy

Carrots that actually survived repeated attacks from the chooks

Nursery area cause I just can't stop myself from sowing seeds!

The long view March 2009

The long view January 2012

On the no supermarket front we are 19 days in and still going strong (LOL huge achievement I know). Even managed to shop for a weeks camping without succumbing.

New Years Revolutions

2012-01-03T08:24:00.003+08:00

So here we are in 2012!!
Wow where did the last year go?
We have had a great year and achieved some of our eco challenges.

The solar panels have been installed for nearly a whole year and I am happy to say that 2011 was a no electricity bill year...woohoo!!
We put in a few rainwater tanks but much more are needed.
The garden grew taller and the soil seems just a little more water retentive.
We achieved nearly 9 months of buying nothing new

So onto 2012!! What are the challenges for this year.

To coincide with the nothing new challenge that we started last year we will continue to buy nothing new unless it is replacing something large that is broken/worn out. Even then we will look at second hand options first.
We are joining the Little Eco family in not buying food/supplies from supermarkets, shopping malls and super chains.
We are uping our green lunches with new Kids Konserve lunch packs to create waste free lunches now that all 4 children will be attending school ( scary I know) We have been fairly good in the last few years but this will eliminate the plastic element.

We are majorly cutting back the kids extra activities to just piano ( walking distance) and one sport. This will give our family more time together and cut our travelling miles down immensely.
We will start looking seriously at a new house with larger space for our children to enjoy the outdoors more often and take a step closer to a more sustainable lifestyle.
Increase the use of our solar oven. We just received an upgrade from the builder of our solar oven ( posting soon on that development) that will increase our oven temperature by another 15 degrees. Will be using that to it's full advantage.

We will do a fair amount of air travel this year so I am very keen to offset that impact with our daily living choices. So here's to a fabulous and greener 2012!!

It's the simple things

2011-09-26T21:20:00.004+08:00

At the moment I have a cold. Might be the explanation behind this post. Anyway I was at my mum's when I realised I had left my hanky at home. I had just bought a set of hankies the week earlier and although they are very old man and tough on the nose they will do.
So I was telling my mum I left my hanky behind and that I needed to find some girlie ones. Well up she jumps in a flash and brings me back a bundle of hankies.
As I went through the little pile she told me the stories of who they belonged to and how she came to have them. I have never been so happy over such small pieces of cloth. These are more then hankies they are practical memories. I went home with a little bundle of hankies and a heart full of family history. You would never get such joy out of a tissue.

Two of my childhood hankies.

My mother's childhood hanky given to her at Christmas time by a friend.It's monogrammed.

My mother's "something blue" hanky that she wore at her wedding.

My grandmother's hankies, one machine laced the other hand laced.

On my mind...

2011-09-23T12:34:00.004+08:00

Another inspiration from Rhonda Jean at down to earth.
My garden is on my mind today.It will be open tonight as part of a Sustainability Expo. Will others love it as much as I do?

Eco guilt

2011-09-21T21:47:00.004+08:00

Have you ever heard the saying that too much information is dangerous? Maybe it's a real saying or maybe it's something I heard from my family. Some days I wish I didn't know so much.I wish I didnt look at a packet of biscuits and think about how much sugar is in it, how many preservatives, how unrecyclable the packaging is? I wish I could mindlessly drive my car without thinking about the fossil fuels, the ever impending oil crisis and time I spend behind the wheel. I could wear my rose coloured glasses as I shopped at the local mega mart and not see the waste, the very bad produce or the products flown in from the other side of the globe.
But I do! I have eco guilt!! I am still so far from my place of self reliance, my world were i have said goodbye to packaging, the one where I can say I don't eat that junk food crap.But I'm not. Days like today feel too hard and just for a moment I want to hide in the Reject Shop and buy trolley loads of cheap, nasty crap while I eat fast food and not recycle any of it. But then I sit at my computer with my not so much a baby sleeping on my shoulder reading blogs and articles from people around the world who are moving forward and maybe not living the dream but doing a damn good job pretending to be, and I am thankful for my knowledge as annoying as it can be. Cause like you know, knowledge is power and power means you have a choice, and as apathetic as i am this night I know that this knowledge will be better for the planet and better for me.

The Great Strawberry Battle

2011-09-17T08:19:00.005+08:00

My children are addicted to strawberries. Pace our youngest can eat an entire punnet without a blink of an eye. I had heard that strawberries were high on the pesticide list and I could understand why.Growing strawberries at our place has always meant one for us and three for the slaters. However when The Environmental Working Group released their 2011 Dirty Dozen list Strawberries were up there at number 3!!! Scary stuff considering how easy they are to eat. Further research and I found that is not even as easy as washing them before I feed them to the kids. Most of the pesticides and herbicides are absorbed into the fruit as it grows. This was not good news!
I have had an old pot belly stove planted with strawberries since we moved in but this was really just for a treat as I walked around the garden.

So last year the decision was made to try and plant as many strawberry plants as possible to see if we could even make a dent in the strawberry consumption with home grown produce. I drooled over photos of others (usually in the USA or UK) with huge hedges of strawberries and tried to replicate with 24 strawberry plants in the orchard.I had dreams of our own cardboard punnets of strawberries and jars of strawberry jam in my head. Well I think we ate about 10 strawberries last summer.With the combination of slater attack and scorching sun they did not survive. Strawberry season ended and I forgot about our strawberry attempt until last month when there they were again in the markets and shopping centres, plastic boxes (yuck) of bright red sweet strawberries. But this time all I could see was a box of poison so back to the strawberry harvest idea. This year they will all be above ground to keep the slaters away (hopefully).

Lovely one was set the task of creating a strawberry box and I replanted the pot belly with new stock and a large pot by the front door.

So now there are about 30 plants above the ground that will hopefully keep my strawberry fiends happy. Wish them luck!!

The lost art of homemaking

2011-09-13T17:56:00.004+08:00

Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do or do without. This little saying was on the fridge at my best friend's house for many years when I was teenager and young adult. I always stopped to read it, maybe because it would become a mantra in my life or maybe just because it was next to the cupboard that always had cookies in it.

Over two years ago I presented a talk on the lost art of homemaking that I would love to share with you.

I think my generation lost it or maybe our mothers lost it and we weren’t taught to find it. Grandmothers used to teach us to knit and bake but I think our mothers taught us to work and succeed. Now those things are important but on the way we lost a valuable skill. With the economic times as they are I feel we need to rediscover these lost arts to not only enrich our own families but to help provide for others.

I came across this message in the 1978 Ensign entitled Degrees of Homemade Glory. It is from a Mormon Church Magazine and I think it really amplifies how times have changed.

"Relief Society sisters of the Kahului First Ward, Kahului Hawaii Stake, recently doubled their attendance at homemaking meeting with an innovative “degree” program, part of a series of miniclasses. By completing specified requirements in different areas of homemaking skills, women were able to obtain a bachelors, masters, or doctorate degree in the “Art of Homemaking.”

To obtain a bachelors degree, a sister had to complete fifteen out of twenty-three listed goals. Her visiting teacher or the Relief Society president verified the completion of each item by signing her goal sheet. These goals represented achievements in basic homemaking skills, such as making a crocheted or knitted item, darning a sock, making a girl’s dress or a boy’s shirt, baking bread, making a white sauce, setting in sleeves, sewing an item with gathers, making a tossed salad and a jello salad, sewing in a zipper, organizing a recipe file, giving the lesson for family night, and giving increased attention to one’s husband for two consecutive days.

Once the sisters had obtained their bachelors degrees, they could work toward a masters. The requirements for this degree emphasized more difficult tasks based on skills learned in the bachelors program. For instance, the sisters had to make a one-piece dress or suit for an adult, make a throw rug, prepare a year’s supply of sewing items, make a flower arrangement, make a quilt, add two new recipes to four sections of their recipe file, make a raised sweet roll, make one foreign dish, plan and serve a dinner or luncheon party, avoid gossiping for three consecutive days, or be patient, kind, and understanding for, three consecutive days with either children or husband. The sisters had to complete ten of twenty-four suggested items for the masters degree.

Seventeen enterprising ladies went on to earn their doctorates in the art of homemaking. They completed ten of twenty-one challenging activities, including painting a room, sewing on cording, putting a washer in a faucet, refinishing a piece of furniture, putting up a shelf, weeding the yard or garden, upholstering a piece of furniture, baking all the bread the family used for a month, making and following a schedule for routine work for two months, adding to their book of remembrance, reading the scriptures at least fifteen minutes a day for two months, having family prayers in their home night and morning for three months, and anonymously giving something homemade or homebaked."

How many of you can say that you could do the skills listed in the article?? That was written the year after I was born and I am pretty sure that most people my age or younger will say that they wouldn’t have the first clue how to set sleeves in a dress, knit an item or even bake bread from scratch. I wonder why. Are these not skills that we still require? Would we rather spend our hard earned money paying someone else to do it for us?

It continues to astound me that people think it is more worthwhile to buy something, use it once and discard it, then learn to repair it. I can however understand the feeling of not knowing how to do it even if you wanted to. Who do we turn to, to teach us? If we are lucky we still have grandparents, aunts, uncle and parents to ask advice of. But so many of us are not so fortunate anymore.We live so far away from family and many of use don't talk to our neighbours. With the passing of the older generations we are losing the skills that we may soon discover we need. By then it may be too late.

So how do we change this?? Talk!! Ask questions, speak to friends, if your own family is unavailable adopt another. Choose a skill and then find a mentor or just sit and chat with people in your neighbourhood,even your virtual world. There are amazing blogs out there of people that are willing to share their skills, learn from then. Thanks to Rhonda Jean at down to earth I have my first rack of homemade soap in my craft room nearly ready for use.

Make wiser choices when you buy products. Can it be repaired?Teach yourself how to repair it. Will it last the distance?Unfortunately this is becoming less common. Ask older members of your community what they buy, you can bet they are still using a trusted old brand.

And believe me when I say I know how hard that can be. With 4 children in my home I find it an uphill battle to buy goods that will last more then a month. The saying they don't make it like they used too is oh so true around here.

If someone can suggest a pair of shoes that last longer then a term I am all ears.

But I will continue to look and learn how to make the products stretch and last. It is a choice I am willing to make though I know I will not always succeed. I can bake, although I don't always do in preference to convenience snacks, I can sew, though anything more then a pillowcase gets a bit wobbly and I can garden.It's a start. But without conscious effort I would easily fall into the consumer trap and fill my trolley with $5 pairs of shoes!!!

So the real trick is to broaden your horizons and learn the skills before you actually need them.

I leave you the challenge to discover a new skill this month whether it be learning to bake your own bread, sewing on a button or give increased attention to your husband for two days. I can guarantee your life will be richer for it.

Oh and when you do find someone else to teach!!

Winter Garden

2011-08-08T12:52:00.005+08:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted a blog entry. Busy isn't even an excuse.I have continued to garden and create a simpler life (kinda) in the past few months. The solar panels are doing fantastically and we haven't paid a bill since they were installed.In fact we are still in credit!! The garden is looking quite bare with most of the trees in winter dormancy but I have learnt from past years that this is not the time to stop planting as it only leads to a huge gap in the spring months. So although things are far from productive at the moment here is tour of the garden as it currently looks.

I divided the rhubarb a month or so ago and planted one out in a tyre...seems to like it!

Kumquat that just brings a splash of colour to the back yard. Already made 6 jars of marmalade this season.

The great passionfruit vine eating the chicken enclosure.Will bring fantastic shade come summer and is currently covered in big juicy passionfruits.

Purple sprouting brocolli.Can you see the nasty caterpillar?? I didn't until I looked at the photos on my computer, a quick dash outside and the caterpillar is now hiding in a chicken's stomach!!

The wicking bed is still earning it's keep.

Peas, brassicas and fennel in a raised bed.

The mulberry tree reaching for the stars. Can you believe that two years ago it was barely a stick!!

Seven year bean. Looks like a snow pea tastes like a bean.Beautiful purple flowers.

The orchard all bare except for the guavas and one pomegranate.

A surprise!! Thought it was a red kale but found out today it's a Kohl Rabi!!

The girls are all back on the lay so we have eggs a plenty!!

Pretty Calendula one of the newest additions to the garden.

I hope your garden is growing strong and that the caterpillars are on a diet at your house.

Tromboncino Squash

2011-03-30T09:23:00.005+08:00

I have followed the garden adventures of the Dervaes family for over a year now. They are an amazing inspiration when it comes to Urban Homesteading.One of their most fascinating plants is the Tromboncino Squash (Cucurbita moschata). They grow them on a pegola and they hang like swan necked bells. After happily finding the seeds at Diggers I set to work growing my own.
It has been a joy to watch it grow literally an inch a day and soon cover my arch as well as travel over 3 metres each way along my fence.

I watched with anticipation as the first flowers

and fruits appeared and celebrated when they too started hanging like bells. Each visitor to our house was given the special tromboncino tour and they even made an appearance at my daughters school for an Earth Hour presentation. This week we finally got to eat one and they are delicious.A cross between a butternut squash and a zucchini. They are susceptable to powdery mildew so you need to be vigilant.I have been spraying mine with milk spray.

If you are after an interesting and delicious addition to your garden then I highly recommend the Tromboncino Squash. By the way if you leave them to sprawl on the ground they curl up like a trombone hence the name :)

Solar Update

2011-03-27T21:37:00.003+08:00

At one day under 8 weeks since the solar panels were installed, today we crossed the 1000kwh mark.1008 kwh to be exact. We only had the new meter put in about a month ago so the first half was just solar used during the day and second half has included export as well.
As of this afternoon we had used 242 kw and exported 346kw so we should have a nice surprise in our first bill.
As lovely as the sunshine is the garden is dying for rain..I am not sure how much more of this weather it will take.

A solar we will go!

2011-01-31T17:09:00.004+08:00

Today the Baudains' went solar. We had a 2.8 kw system installed on the roof. It looks amazing and is already generating power even though it has been cloudy all day.
This is another big step to making our place a sustainable home in the suburbs.
We have a little room for expansion which we hope to do once we add an alfresco to the backyard.
I am sure that this step will help us become even more aware of our power usage,we already turn off lights and don't do standby but I am sure there are many more ways we can improve our power consumption.
Will let you know how the first power bill goes.

Solar Oven

2011-01-22T06:41:00.004+08:00

Inspired by Tricia's pics of her new solar oven I thought I would share mine with you. It was made here in WA about 6 years ago. I am pretty sure the man is no longer making them which is a shame because we love ours. Unlike Tricia's one it is just a black box with large glass panel and doesn't have any wings. I haven't used other solar ovens but I have no complaints about this one. Just a few days ago it got to 120 degrees which is a tremendous heat. It's main body is metal with a wood framed glass top and wool felt lined insulation. It is rather large and heavy but this is not a travel model. We have it set up permanently in the back yard. In winter we bring it under cover to protect the wood.
The temperature of your oven will only get to a certain heat depending on where in the world you live.Where I used to live the max temp I could get was 110 degrees. Even though these temperatures may seem low compared to a conventional oven it is more then sufficient to cook food and the plus is that you can never burn anything no matter how long it stays in.
We have cooked everything from snags to bread and even a few Christmas turkeys. Bread and baked good do take a lot longer to cook in the solar oven but as long as you plan ahead and set them up for say afternoon tea you will be fine.
Solar ovens come in a range of sizes, shapes and designs, what does yours look like?

Open Garden

2010-09-07T14:03:00.002+08:00

This weekend my garden will be open to anyone who wants to see how to grow food in a small space.It is open from 4-5pm on Saturday the 11th Sept with an informal afternoon tea afterward.
Email for the address if you are interested.

http://www.dalyellup-permaculture.com.au/news

Fast forward 6 months

2010-08-28T08:11:00.004+08:00

It's insane that it has been 6 months since my last post.I have been so busy with family and work that unfortunately something had to give.The garden however has not been neglected and is powering away.
We are on a backyard blitz atm as we have people from our local gardening group wanting to have a tour of the garden. I know so cool hey!!!
So we are busy at work building a wicking bed and tidying up around the place.
I am hoping to get here more regularly but for now here is the garden as it stands at the end of Winter (If you can call what we are having as winter..more like a very long Autumn)
Will post pics of the finished wicking bed...see you soon.

new chicken enclosure

Sorry can't stop to chat...

2010-02-22T18:42:00.004+08:00

The garden in February 2010

The salvaged Jarrah sleepers for the wicking beds.

The strawberry "pot belly" gets a new home

Baby "Stars and Moon" watermelon appearing

Kale my newest favourite vegetable

Sesame and Ginger are now three weeks old and settling in beautifully

Friday River Cottage Challenge (RCC) Update

2010-01-08T20:54:00.001+08:00

The first week of my challenge has gone well, as is to be expected when you start a new challenge. This week I cooked.

Quick Fried Onion and Cabbage with Black Pepper

Rhubard Fool (Rhubarb from the garden)

Soda Bread

These three were so quick and easy I could scarcely believe it.

Roast Free Range Chicken…again so easy…why do I always think these things take so much time? I was obviously cooking the wrong food.

The best ever mash…well a bit of a cheat I mean really how easy is mash.

Spagetti Bolognese. Again you would think easy but this one had vegetable pieces in it and milk..yeah I know!!!

Chicken Curry with a whole chicken that I jointed myself..don’t let hubby the ex butcher see how I butchered that one.

Baked Lemon Cheesecake..to die for.

Oven Roasted Squid

Oh and the boys (7 and 5) cooked drop scones from the book this morning by themselves..with my very watchful eye. I was so proud of them.

And so ends one week since I made my resolution and so far so good. I don’t think it will take me a year at this rate but then there are some tricky recipes ahead and life will soon take over when school and work recommence. It’s actually comforting to just decide on recipes from one book instead of the usual bookcase full.

Simplifies life just a bit!

2009 Tally

2010-01-07T08:02:00.002+08:00

With the garden just completing it's first full year,it's time for a produce tally and evaluation.

I learnt a very important lesson this year and that is don't wait. It seemed that the weather went from too cold to too hot and vice verse and I missed some very productive growing time. I also waited on crops that were taking up space when I should have just pulled and replanted so that I could continue the cycle. There were many big gaps in my productivity but hey it's all about learning isn't it. With the addition of 6 more raised beds this year I should have both the space and the rotation required to keep vegies growing all year. I may even created some winter covers to go on the new beds to keep productivity up during the winter. With both chicken now laying we should get a nice little egg supply that may not cover all our needs but definitely help to support it.

So what did I manage to grow this year...
20kgs tomatoes
4.5kg pumpkins
1.4 kgs carrots
1kg peas (most eaten before they ever got to the kitchen)
1 kg zucchini (got a very bad case of powdery mildew but I am on that already this year)
5.2 kg Chinese Cabbage (these were a winner despite how much snail damage they endured)
1.5kg shelled broad beans
1 kg rhubard (impressive plant)
44 eggs

The following we grew but never got enough to actually weigh (just eat!!)
mulberries
strawberries
Cape gooseberries (did make some jam)
Perpetual Spinach
Herbs
2 Figs
1 guava
5 Pepinos

So not what I had dreamed for my first year.I had grand images of excess produce and jars of preserves but we all have to start somewhere and I have learnt lots of valuable lessons.

So a grand total of just over 35kgs last year. My aim is for 100kgs this year. I better get off here and back to the garden then.

Happy Gardening!!

Cheese,Jam and Eggs

2010-01-06T18:14:00.003+08:00

What a productive week.!!
With inspiration from my RCC I have been baking,cooking and preserving.
I made my first batch of Feta this week and I think I am getting the hang of this cheese making thing. I made some ricotta with the whey ( oh my goodness heaven in a cube) and preserved some Feta in some oil to see how it would go.

Hanging the Feta

Boiling the whey to make Ricotta

Preserving the Feta in olive oil and Basil from the garden. Not sure how it will go.

Mum and I also made a small batch (just 4 baby food jars) of Cape Gooseberry Jam. It was lovely to stand in mum's kitchen while we exchanged techniques and chatted as the jam bubbled away. I see lots more of that in the near future.

Bowl of golden Cape Gooseberries

Last to report this week is that both our hens are finally laying. Soy the barnevelder has been laying for nearly 2 months now but Honey chose yesterday to be her first. She is a mixed bantam and her egg was soo tiny. Just 30 grams and the cutest thing I have ever seen. Just in time too there were rumours circulating that she was rooster.

Honey's first egg surrounded by Soy's brown beauties.

So all in all a great start to the year. Now to get some work done on those garden beds so that we can get some serious planting underway.

The River Cottage Challenge

2010-01-02T12:08:00.001+08:00

Inspired by Julie and Julia I have set myself the River Cottage Challenge. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his River Cottage series were among my earliest inspiration for self sustainable living. A couple of years ago my mother bought me his Family Cookbook so I have set myself the challenge to complete its recipes and projects throughout 2010. Everything from planting tomato plants to hosting a pancake race. There are 101 recipes in the book and 14 challenges.Nowhere near the amount in Mastering the Art of French cooking but this is more about reconnecting with food then actually learning to cook.
We decided that there would be zero purchases of fast food this year so this will help me to explore cooking techniques and recipes I may not have thought about.
I will update my progress in this blog along with our continuing garden journey.
So I'm off to make some bread for dinner..oh and finish the cheese..more on that later.

Maybe you want to try some of the challenges on Hugh's website.

Happy New Year!!

End of the year

2009-12-29T21:05:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the long absence but you know what the end of the year is like. Add to the fact that hubby and I were able to get away to Bali alone for 5 days and well the year is over.
So here is how the garden stands at the end of 2009. Way less plants then I hoped but plans and actions for a blasting start to 2010.

Heirloom Pumpkin I think it is a Red Kuri.

Black Beauty Zucchini

I want to:
Install 6, 2 by 1 m wicking raised beds
Solar pergola down the east side of the house
Add another layer of soil conditioner,manure and mulch to the whole garden
Re-engineer the reticulation system
Create an outdoor shower,bali themed tropical food forest, jungle down the dead side of the house including an aquaculture setup.
Alfresco area with cob oven,outdoor kitchen and space to hang my hammock.

Nothing too major right???? We all have to have dreams.
We will work on one project at a time and keep you informed.

Till 2010, happy gardening!!

The good, the bad and the plain ugly.Garden beds still bare...sigh!

Seedlings to fill beds

Happy New year Honey and Soy!

Mulberry Thief

2009-11-07T16:58:00.001+08:00

Purple

2009-10-19T08:38:00.001+08:00

The colour in a spring garden is glorious after months of only green.

English Mulberry

Blueberries

Lavender

Globe Artichoke

Eggplant

Purple Podded Peas

Sage Flowers

Is anyone out there?

2009-10-16T13:49:00.000+08:00

I have a large number of blogs that I visit and granted I don't comment on them all but I was wondering today if anyone out there is actually reading this or if it's for my own entertainment. Not that I really mind I just wanted to share with others and think maybe the others out there are just my imaginary friends. If you have a moment let me know you are there,I like friends.

Red Centred Lime

Donut Peach

Anyway Spring is officially here.Today was a glorious day filled with music lessons, sports carnivals in the sun and freshly baked bread. Lots of eager plants are awaiting their transfer into the big garden beds and we are starting to pick food daily from our garden.(Granted the kids eat it before they leave for school but I am not complaining about children that get disappointed that there is not enough peas )

The weekend will probably involve some more paving,gardening and taxi-ing but hey that is what being alive is all about.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine if you are lucky enough to have some.

Oh Ok then

2009-10-12T20:33:00.000+08:00

Well since I found the time to write that I would find the time I thought a quick update wouldn't hurt.

Currently Eating

Frizzle Lettuce
Cape Gooseberries
Blueberries
Strawberries
Sugar Snap Peas
Broad Beans
White Star Potatoes

"Honey" our mixed bantam getting cuddles from Roh.

Currently Growing
The above plus
Black and Red Kale
Purple Podded Peas
Rhubarb
Sweet Potato
Celery
Beetroot
Sugar loaf Cabbages
Raspberries
Edible flowers
Plus what's slowly developing on the trees

The joy of springtime Strawberries...there are never enough!

Currently in seed trays
Fat Bastard Asparagus
Lazy Housewife Bean
Mini Cabbages
Sweet and Striped Cucumbers
Bull's Blood Beetroot
Baby Cos Lettuce
Mixed Heirloom Pumpkins
Mixed Heirloom Tomatoes
Gem Squash
Stars and Moon Watermelon
Black Beauty Zucchini
Mini white cucumber
Corn

and last but not least....

Happy Birthday Baby Boy! Pace shares his birthday cake with his older brothers.(Lala was away)

"Waves"

2009-10-12T20:31:00.000+08:00

Hi
I am still here. So much is happening and although I have taken tonnes of photos I have not had the time to upload and share them. Maybe once school has gone back I will allocate myself a day. Until then hello and happy gardening!

Welcome Spring!

2009-09-01T15:04:00.000+08:00

or at least I will when it arrives.

Oh well at least the new plants that went in yesterday will be happy.

Sustainable Schools

2009-08-31T08:00:00.000+08:00

I had the pleasure of spending the weekend at the annual WACSSO (Western Australian Council of State School Organisations) conference. We were privileged to hear from many excellent keynote speakers but the ones that stood out to me were those from Sustainable Schools. Environmentally two schools stood out a mile with their innovative and environmental focus to schooling.
Australind Senior High School used a vacant piece of grass and transformed it into an Earth Garden complete with chickens, worm farms and outside classroom. Senior students completed brick laying courses at the local TAFE to built the raised garden beds and students from the Home Economics rooms located next door harvest and cook with the produce. Really what could be better,
Harmony Primary School in Atwell, a school close to my heart, has recently increased their growing space with the addition of 7 aquaponics grow beds with 150 Rainbow Trout in the winter and barramundi in the Summer.
These students are responsible for maintenance, promoting and selling of their harvest and livestock. They are also a WA pilot school for the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Gardens Scheme.

I also heard stories from around my table of other schools that are on this sustainable path.
What a fabulous resource for our children. This truly is the future and hopefully these children take their skills home and plant in their own garden and inspire their parents.

As Richard Joyce from Friends of the Earth said " It is too late to leave it up to our children, that was thirty years ago.We need to be making the changes for them."

An inspiring weekend and one that has increased my desire to see this happen at my own school.

If everything grew this big

2009-08-27T21:07:00.000+08:00

"That's either one big leaf or one small boy" quoted from Phil.

It's both although the small boy is about to turn 5.

This has been my first attempt at growing rhubarb and I think for gardener ego boosting it is a keeper. It's such a shame the leaves are poisonous because they are so impressive. Another plus was the fact it made the most delicious rhubarb pie. This was my first attempt at handmade pastry, yummy but still needs work. Can't wait to try it with the mulberries.

Inspiration and challenge

2009-08-27T06:20:00.000+08:00

It's early morning and I'm lying in bed with the new (gifted) laptop. The house is silent except for the tap of the keys and the dog snoring softly below me. What am i doing up? I'm gaining inspiration. This is my time to disappear into the wonderful world of bloggers.If you look you will see I have an extensive list of blogs I follow, and follow them i do.Everyday I open their pages and dive into their worlds, their gardens, their crafts. These are my mentors, my inspiration and, although it might sound sad, my friends I just haven't met yet.It all started with the Notebook story on Ally and Rich from Happy Earth. After sending them an email Ally suggested I start blogging our journey. Literally that day the You tube video was created and the blog began soon afterward.I don't kid myself that is anywhere up to the standards of say Little Homestead but it has already provided a journal of our nearly first year. Then two days ago I read a post from the Simple Green Frugal Blog.They were looking for new writers. What a great opportunity. However they had three stipulations, blogging for a year (not quite), blogging at least 3 to 4 times a week (not currently) and provide them with two entries a month (achievable). So now the challenge has extended. Not only do my list of blogs provide simple living inspiration they will now be the stepping blocks for my blog writing. Maybe by next year I will be able to fulfill all the requirements. Until then I will live in the gardens of others, will learn from their success and failures. I will continue to move my life in a direction that is gentle on the planet and uplifting to the soul and I will blog about it.

slowly but surely

2009-08-12T14:39:00.000+08:00

Little by little the garden is coming back to life.
I wish the gap between the super hot and the cold had been longer and I had more time to plant winter veg because it is only now that I am harvesting again after what seems like a very long time.

In the past week I have harvested 5 Pepinos. 2 Chinese cabbages and a few cape gooseberries.
The gooseberries didn't have a chance of being photographed as they headed straight for my mouth.

Slowly but surely spring is coming...I can't wait!

Self seeded Basil pushing its way up.

Dwarf Sugar snap peas

Gorgeous Mulberry, can't wait for this years pickings

Pepinos

Chinese Cabbage weighing 2 kgs after the outside leaves were fed to the chooks.

Part 4 : Garden update

2009-08-01T08:57:00.000+08:00

Well as we reach the 10 month mark I thought I would give you an update of the garden.
I took the photos from outside the fence this time to give you an idea of the space of our garden.
With the entire parcel of land at just over 400 m2 in total the garden is very small scale but is already proving to be very productive.
I have started sowing seeds in trays to out in as soon as the ground warms up. Can't wait to start the spring planting and watch the trees come back to life.

Part 3 : Casa De la Chook

2009-08-01T08:34:00.000+08:00

It's finally finished. The chicks are now outside in their two storey chicken coop.
It requires some final paint to make it look swish but functionally it's all done.
The chicks spent last night in their new digs and seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.
Now we just need to teach the Barnie how to climb the stairs.

It makes a wonderful addition to our garden.

Nestled snuggly in the front yard to show the community that its possible to do a lot with a small piece of land.

Pace gives it the final inspection

Nesting Box

Part 2 : A Simple Meal

2009-08-01T08:16:00.001+08:00

I love it when I can take produce from my garden and that of others and make up a simple wholesome meal.
After receiving some pumpkins from a friend and combining it with my last one I made a lovely pumpkin soup with homemade bread.
The joy was doubled when a friend needed a meal for her family because she was ill and I got to share the joy.
I don't follow a recipe anymore and just go by feel but basically it's ;
2 onions cooked in butter
add boiling water and vegeta or vegetable stock
pile in the pumpkin (i used butternut)
simmer until soft and then puree
There is no need for cream as it is buttery from the onions.
I served it with artisan bread in five minutes.

Catch Up Mayhem Part 1 Green Loan

2009-07-30T09:50:00.000+08:00

Well with the school holidays and returning to work I have been away from my blog.
So the catch up begins with our Green Loan Home Assessment that took place yesterday.
Our lovely assessor Chris took a thorough look at our house and our energy use and had lots of great tips. What a great resource.Talk about eye opening. We went through every room and estimated the frequency of use of every and I mean every switch,light and appliance in the house.
We anxiously await our report so that we can see exactly where we can improve our energy use.We had some great conversations about gardening and products available.
To follow up he sent me some great links about aquaponics and wicking garden beds that I would love to implement.
I recommend that everyone gets an assessment even if you are not planning on taking out a loan.

Waste Free Week

2009-07-07T11:07:00.001+08:00

Well today was to be the beginning of waste free week,where we tried to create zero landfill waste for the week.Well within 5 minutes of waking I discovered that this challenge was going to require a lot more research and preparation before just diving in.
Firstly I awoke to the plastic insides of the cereal boxes as the kids finished the cereal this morning, hmm first obstacle.
Solution: buy cereal from the bulk food place in town and take my own containers.
Secondly a deliver of clothes from a party I had a week ago wrapped in a large plastic delivery bag and each piece of clothing individually wrapped in plastic.
Solution: a) don't buy from this company again
b) ask specifically to have my garments sent unwrapped or at least wrapped in one bag only (not sure this would happen)
Thirdly: the kids went to the deli so buy themselves a treat. Bubblegum!! The paper looks like it might biodegrade but the out wrapper and actual gum i am not sure about.
Solution: research recyclability of bubblegum and educate the kids on making other choices that are more environmentally friendly.
Fourthly (phew) nappies!!! Now I have a huge stack of cloth that I have gotten slack about using so I washed and prepared them all yesterday and have them on him today but I still have last nights nappies to deal with. Granted they are envrionmentally friendly nappies but I am sure they will still create waste. Will look on their website for more details.

All this and only 11 am. So some changes to make already. I guess this is the point, to learn and then to make the choice to change.
Maybe we will call this week waste free training week!!

Simple Home Audit

2009-07-02T07:57:00.000+08:00

Rhonda over at down-to-earth has challenged us this coming week to do a home audit. After the whole clothes dryer discussion I am feeling like I really need to put things back in perspective. Only half a year left and time to follow through on those New Years Resolutions and prepare for the growing season.
You can find Rhonda's daily audit on her site and I will post my results here.

Another MacGyver Moment

2009-07-01T09:28:00.000+08:00

Sunshine sunshine glorious sunshine.

Inspiration struck this morning when I decided the chicks needed some much longed for sunshine. With the chicken tractor still not finished..yes I know!!!...I needed a place for them to safely run around and enjoy life as a true shook should. So the Chicken tent 2009 was invented. I can move it around while they are just visiting outdoors and give them sunshine and fresh earth to have a field day in.

And just for you Trisha...look washing outside...see how small my backyard is (that photo is taken standing at my back door!!)

Something lost and something found

2009-06-30T20:37:00.000+08:00

The rough weather has continued this week. The passionfruit vine looks very unhappy at its shredding and the artichokes look like they've had a comb over. However the rain was good.

The weekend started off badly with the discovery of a dead chick.We have no explanation just a very sad 10 year old. The others thank goodness look healthy and we hope they will continue that way. Miss M and I buried the chick under her fruit tree and offered a prayer for its safety. My heart broke for my baby girl and her amazing empathy for animals.

Monday brought some joy with the delivery of a very small but very substantial package from The Diggers Club.Since I think my fruit tree days are coming to a quick end (I bet I can still make 40 :) ) it is time to get the seed collection underway for annual and perennial growing.

I started cataloging my seeds in my garden journal along with their sowing date and preference and the seeds expiry date. I then put them into my alphabetised seed box that my mum have me (with some very old packets of seed). Now at a glance I can read what plants can be sown in that season and how to do it then open the box and dive into the seedy goodness.

I will organise a seed raising area next week and start some of the kales and onions off.
Then its on to learning to save seed for next year so that I can continue the process for many years to come.

So the circle of life continues!

Sharing

2009-06-22T17:08:00.000+08:00

A wander in the garden today brought to my attention that the local parrots are enjoying my garden as much as I am.
My ever wise nearly 10 year old said to me and I quote " Mum if you want an eco garden you are going to have to share it with the birds."
I think not!!!

Wild Weather

2009-06-22T16:59:00.000+08:00

Friday saw the mother of all storms hit Bunbury. Baby P and I were unfortunate enough to be out in it but thank goodness for a big car we were able to dive for cover just in the nick of time.
Thank goodness no damage to the car or us and the garden seemed happy that it happened.

Thanks Tricia

2009-06-17T21:46:00.000+08:00

Well thanks to the amazing brain of Tricia from little eco footprints I have discovered that my "creature" was indeed a Mole Cricket.
I am sending it to the Museum of WA for their collection and research.
Wow saving the world comes in many different forms:)

Land Lobster?

2009-06-17T14:52:00.000+08:00

I was moving a hydrangea today, because lets face it I should never had planted in such a sunny spot to begin with, when from its depths came this "creature".

At first I thought it was a scorpion since I have heard we have those around here but on closer inspection...well....I have no idea...do you??

This is to give you an idea of scale...the pathetic broccoli next to it is no more then 15 cm tall.

AWOL

2009-06-15T16:54:00.000+08:00

Sorry I haven't been around for a while. Things are so busy here at the moment, good but busy.
The chicks are growing fast and love to free range our house (hilarious) another couple of weeks and we will move them out to the chicken tractor.
I moved raised garden bed 1 today and prepared the ground below it for the mountain of seeds I just purchased at Diggers.So now I have two empty plots ready for autumn/winter seed.
We have had lots of rain which is fabulous and most of the fruit trees have turned and are losing their leaves. Feels like a real garden these days.
Here are some garden pics to make up for my absence.
Keep Warm!!

One lone corn.

One lone guava (are you sensing a theme :) )

Self seeded rocket after the big rains

Tomatoes seeding bursting to be separated.

Chinese cabbage that thinks its regular cabbage

Yellow gerberas for some colour

Nearly bare pear!

The Babies are here!

2009-06-03T12:47:00.000+08:00

The babies are here. A little earlier then we expected but the thought of letting the children raise was just too good an opportunity to let pass. There are two Barnevelders and one mixed bantam (with 5 toes and fluffy feet..any ideas) We think they are about 8-9 days old. Being so little we have no idea whether they are boys or girls but fingers crossed for us that they are girls. Either way we will learn about raising them and then make decisions when we get to bridges or however that saying goes.
We want to say thank you to Jacqueline and Tim who graciously showed us around Gardenup and took the time to explain all the elements of the farm, chicks, chickens and roosters to the children.

We are so blessed to be meeting all these wonderful people and making connections all over the South West.

The chicks at Gardenup getting a last drink before the big drive to their home.

Cuddles with dad on the first night home...so spoilt!!

Barnevelder 1

Barnevelder 2..really hope she is a girl as she is already so pretty

Mixed bantam and the favourite.

Oh and we've named our place Fairway Farm since we now have "livestock"

7 months 3 weeks

2009-05-25T21:06:00.000+08:00

My reward for a busy day's work was to plant some of our new additions in "the orchard".
Although I know our place is small I feel its "biggness" when I'm in it everyday.
Then I take some photos and realise how small it truly is. It's just a matter of perspective.
Anyway thought I would update the blog with our progress so far.

March 2009

May 2009

"The Orchard" October 2008

"The Orchard" May 2009
10 fruit trees,2 grapes,a pumpkin,sweet potato and a Cape Gooseberry

The new additions

2009-05-24T15:37:00.000+08:00

The weekend has brought 6 new additions to our little farm.

A Lots a lemon
Tangelo
Sundowner Apple
Sensation Pear
Kosui Nashi
Red Currant

The "orchard" is nearly finished and just requires these new additions to be put in the ground and strawberries to be planted as the living mulch.

We had a massive storm that hit last week that has stripped most of the trees of their leaves. I sat by the window and ohhed and ahhed as I watched them get thrown about. Nothing like your babies being outside in a storm to make you a little edgy. Luckily though it sees that none have suffered any permanent damage.

Will take photos shortly of the new additions and post about the lilly pilly jam I currently have cooking on the stove.

Today

2009-05-19T15:32:00.000+08:00

Listened: to the rain pelting on the rooftop (first real rain all year)
Stressed: about the newly painted chook house sitting out in said rain
Harvested: rain
Transplanted: silverbeet, sugar bowl cabbage and brocolli seedlings
Saved: seeds from the butternut pumpkin and Tommy Toe tomatoes
Relocated: raised garden bed number two and the gazebo
Loved: my husband for being so helpful
Danced: to the Bananas in Pyjamas with my two year old music class
Pounced: to Trepak with my three year old music class
Laughed : when my 35 year old friend got hit on my by the 17 year old deli boy
Ate: homemade cinnamon scrolls
Smiled: well wouldn't you after a day like that.

It's the little things

2009-05-16T08:15:00.001+08:00

Since my garden is so new I still have long periods of watching and waiting. So it makes my day when I go for my morning wander and spot these little things making there way into the world.

Cape Gooseberry

Pepino: Cameron's Apple

Butternut Pumpkin

Swiss Chard

The Zero Waste Meal

2009-05-13T12:10:00.000+08:00

It all started with a call from my girlfriend asking if I had any sundried tomato pesto. No I said but we could make some, I have tonnes of basil.
After a quick search online we found this recipe and she was soon on my doorstop to harvest some basil. Well that got me thinking about dinner and the idea of potato gnocchi and sundried tomato pesto. Having never made gnocchi before and an extremely hectic day (that's Tuesday)I embarked upon the challenge.
When my girlfriends son arrived after school with a half jar of the homemade pesto I was already roasting the potatos for the gnocchi.
While I was peeling the roasted potatoes a thought occurred to me. Why not make some wedges type things out of the peels(they still had a small amount of potato sticking to them). So I sprinkled them with olive oil and seasoning and put them back into the oven to crisp up.
I pureed the last of the summer's cherry tomatoes and heated it through with a few spoonfuls of the pesto and served over the gnocchi with the crispy skins.
Voila a completely no waste meal.

Spring Valley Orchard

2009-05-13T08:20:00.001+08:00

On Saturday my family and 5 others spent the day at Spring Valley Orchard just south of Donnybrook in WA. It is a pick your own orchard that I found on someone's blog (man I wish I could remember who you were.
Diana and Geoff Robb were the most gracious of hosts taking us for a tour of their beautiful piece of land. There were 13 children in our group and I don't think there was a minute that they sat still,though maybe for a second while they ate lunch.
Diana was a wealth of knowledge and showed the kids the lamb, fish, chicken house, vegie garden and a walk around the whole 32 acre property.
We stopped at the vegie patch to pick fresh tomatoes and cape gooseberries as well as bandicoot some potatoes to have with lunch. We enjoyed a sausage sizzle lunch with homemade plum fizz to drink.
After lunch we explored the property and saw the dam. The kids were in heaven. Then we walked back to the house through the orchard.
Spring Valley has 2500 apples trees (Pink Lady's and Sundowner) They also have a couple hundred plum trees.
Once back the children got a paper lined bucket each and set to work picking some apples for us to take home. What a joy to see these kids out on the fresh air picking the food they loved so much and talking excitedly about size, shape, insects and other tree issues.
After a divine afternoon tea of ice cream with homemade chocolate and caramel sauce we got to watch the original apple sorting machine in action as the kids loaded their apples into the machine and ran excitedly to see which barrel their apples would end up in.
We all returned home tired and exhilarated about our day on the farm.
All I can say is wow what a day. My dream of acreage has just been boosted to no end.
Thank you so much Diana and Geoff (and Jessie) we all had a day to remember.
If you would like to visit Spring Valley Orchard give them a buzz it truely is worth it.

A row of Pink Lady apples ready to pick

Old meets new as the need to be connected to the world sits on a piece of history.

Apples heading up to the sorting level.

Divine countryside!

Picking tomatoes for lunch

Real Mother's Day Presents

2009-05-08T14:48:00.000+08:00

On the home front...

There is nothing like vomit to remind you that you are a mother. Today both my boys presented me with this prestigious gift. Ahh happy mother's day to me :)
On the garden front...
Things have been quiet. We have had a rather sad week with the news that my step mum has breast cancer and my brother's farewell as he joins the Australian Troops to fight the war in the middle east. A very reflective week on what is truly important in life. The garden, the little trouper that it is, has just continued on in my absence...though I was never really very far.
Today was a tidy up day.I pulled down the tomato wall and hung the remaining plants upside down to get the last of the tomatoes. I also had to fix the retic, i was hoping to wait until spring but with no rain in sight i still need to rely on it.
The chicken coop is slowly moving forward but hubby has been out of action all week recovering from a procedure. I have discovered that I am actually very handy with a mitre saw and a drill. Another skill for when we move to the big farm.
On the food front...
I pulled my first full sized carrots...what a joy! It still surprises me that this food comes from my garden.It just makes me want to grow more and more. We are constantly snacking on peas and eyeing the Chinese Cabbage for our chance to attack them.

Let's hope the rain falls soon and I can find some time for some real gardening..I'm thinking some more beds are required!!

So with the week I've had I'm very grateful to have received the gifts of my health, my safety,my children and my garden.

It truly will be a wonderful Mother's Day!!

The roost goes in and laying boxes formed

Next step is the handles so then we can move it around the garden

I know not a glamorous magazine shot but more important than any carrot I have ever eaten.

How big is your foot?

2009-04-29T08:51:00.000+08:00

Found a great site today the Bigfoot test.
It estimates how many hectares you are currently consuming to live. Now I have done a few of these over the years but what I liked about this one was when I finished I could go back and choose some key areas that I wanted to improve on and then calculate how that affected my footprint.
A worthwhile thing to do when you need to remind yourself of all the little things you can be doing to improve our world. I am happy to say that I use less then the average Australian but since I know what huge over users and wasters we are it doesn't give me too much praise. I can always do better.

First day back at school for my kids today and with a wonderfully clean house (had a ripper of a day yesterday) I get to have an eco day woohoo.
First on the list is

some homemade laundry wash,
a wonder in the garden,
transplanting the guava to the "Orchard"
some work on the chicken coop and
baking for school lunches

Should be an eventful and fulfilling day.

Don't forget Sunday marks to beginning on International Compost Week. I am so happy to see that WA has a number of workshops and talks planned. Might see if I can get to Perth to participate. I will however use this as the motivation needed to start my compost system. Having a brand new garden I have not had anything to compost, happy to say no weeds either, but now that a cycle of food production is coming to an end it will be time to get one going.

Have a happy gardening week!!

Blessed are the Handy

2009-04-27T18:57:00.000+08:00

For they shall recycle the world!!

Hubby has been super handy man lately, constructing me a laundry,shelves,a work bench (well that's for him) and the wonderful chook house (with my help).
The work bench was created out of left over materials from the building of my mum's house and is as solid as a rock.

So super kudos for super hubby!!

Chicken coop under fairy lights...how romantic!!

Super sturdy workbench..now what else can I get him to make :)

Strawberry Propagation

2009-04-26T15:37:00.000+08:00

My children are strawberry mad. Luckily last year we were supplied by the Farmers Market and the local pick your own strawberry farm. This year however I would love to be able to supply our family with all their strawberry needs.
I had a dream of growing strawberries in an old pot belly stove and as soon as we moved in the dream became a reality. After a fruitive :) season we have had lots and lots of runners from the plants but how to propagate them when they were hanging in mid air. My mum came up with the idea of using little cups tied to the runners so I recycled some seeding punnets and attached some garden wire to secure the plants so the roots would grow.
Today I planted out some that I did earlier in the year that are now growing strong on their own roots. These are going in half moon pots on the outside walls. Strawberries in the air are not worried by snails.
While I was at it I used the same technique on the plant out the front. Since I ran out of the punnet pieces I used some egg carton because these are on the ground.
So from my original 7 plants I have gotten 20 new plants.
We will see if we can feed the hoards this year.

The Chicken Tractor

2009-04-25T15:41:00.000+08:00

The next major project for the garden is the chicken tractor. For those who don't know what that is a chicken tractor is a mobile chicken coop, one you can move around the garden to where it is needed. I have researched many designs and finally decided on the Catawba Coop from the US. We ordered the Google Sketchup plans and started work on the design. It will take us a while as Phil has been working extra hours and with school holidays on I have not had time to do any alone..not that I would after a major stuff up this week :)
This is it so far. It will eventually house 2 chickens that the Shire of Capel have so nicely given me permission to have ( we do not fit into the shire guidelines but after an email explainly our situation they have granted us permission).On the garden front this week saw the addition of the 30 and 31st fruit trees (and vines). I think we are about half way there!! It is so rewarding to wonder and look at all that we have accomplished.Pace is refering to the strawberries (which are still fruiting) as lollies and has decided he doesn't like the cherry tomaotoes. Rohan has become a great fan of the peas (who would have thought the vegemite kid could like a vegetable) and Mikayla is in love with the Cape Gooseberries.Xander just likes the trampoline but we will keep working on him.

Pumpkin number three

2009-04-14T18:43:00.000+08:00

Today I picked pumpkin number three. What a joy! I actually grew full sized butternut pumpkins!! It still blows my mind. I also spied a few tiny borlotti beans forming though I don't give them too much hope as the patch of ground they are in is horribly undernourished even with the assistance I gave it. That's what you get for gardening in sand.
The banana and the kiwis are still growing strong in spite of the hot weather and serious lack of rain. Why did everyone else get rain???

All in all things are coming along nicely and hopefully when the cooler weather hits I can do another serious plant up without using too much water.

In the meantime I will live vicariously through Hugh and his River Cottage gardens with their jet black soils and copious amounts of rain....ahh rain.

You tube

2009-04-14T18:34:00.000+08:00

This a small video I made of our garden journey so far. We have been in the house (Harold) for 6 months now and the garden is 5 months old.

You Tube: Ordinary Eco