The backlog shuffle

 

Blooming now

You know the proverbial saying, of getting it done before Christmas comes? Well this Christmas cactus tells me, I'm knocking on the door now. These beautiful blooms emerge around the festive season. So I'm coming good with a promise I made, at the beginning of the year. Something about an update on life. 

Winter Hiatus - Hello Spring!

 

Plant alter

So I missed winter, on my blog completely! It's been a peculiar year of big changes. We're on the last push to finalise David's family estate, and our eldest moved into town with some friends. So many things had to be rearranged, moved, stored and eventually used. It's an ongoing process. This is some of what I've been up to lately, in our new outside area.

Easy wins

Sometimes on 5 acres, when there's only two of you for labour, and only so many resources to go around (plus, the weather isn't playing very nice) well, you take a few losses in the garden. A substantial few! Like, why am I still doing this, few?

You may have noticed this, when I wrote about food production (or lack there of) in this post, about the necessity of water.  I was going to curtail my gardening efforts, until I resolved the water issue. But then, inspiration happens and you think about the situation a little differently.

Greens

Like how can I get some easy wins, on the board? Having endured so much failure, I wanted something with minimal effort, delivering quick results. Perhaps it will cost me a little more, but buying punnets of seedlings, instead of growing from seed, will get a quicker turnaround. Because I realised winter is perhaps our optimal growing season, and we're already three days into it.

 Infrastructure?

While I'm at it, why not purchase some pots designed to deliver water to my plants, more readily? Two of them, cost me the change out of $50. It's not something I would normally do, but I wasn't happy, avoiding growing food in my garden for a lack of water. I needed something to deliver it more efficiently.

Water conservation

This self-watering pot, works somewhat like a wicking bed. A cavity is created for a water reservoir, under the black insert. While the soil and roots can wick it up, from above. I already had one of these (lasted 12 years) so knew they faired better, than most pots in the garden.

Because the bane of growing in pots, is the capacity for them to dry the soil out, if they're put in full sun. Which is exactly, what I planned to do! But I had a strategy too. This was not just going to be any garden, it was going to be my kitchen garden. I have wanted one, just outside our kitchen door, for ages.

Level up

First thing was first though. Site and design. It was a north facing site, right next to our concrete verandah. Meaning, it would receive all day sun. If I was hoping for an overexposed site, to dry out the pots - I succeeded in finding it. But to my plan!

I was going to raise the pots off the ground, to avoid frost (on the rare occasion we get any) as well as make it easier on my back, to come out at night, and pluck the bits I needed for making dinner. I also didn't want cane toads jumping in the pots, squashing my seedlings. So I dug the site, to level the ground, for my recycled crates.

Shade

Then I put my creative thinking, hat on. I needed something to shade the pots from all day, sun exposure. Luckily, my son had destroyed an inside screen, last year, running through the house, lol. It had three panels, and one was destroyed. I sat an, intact panel, on the edge of my crates, and put up a few recycled wooden stakes, to hold it up. I knew that broken shovel handle, would come in handy, one day.

The beauty of this temporary set-up is, I can remove the screen, if I find the pots actually NEED the sun, to warm the soil. Especially with semi-overcast days. I like the thought of being able to change the set-up, as the weather conditions change.

Pot arrangement

Then it was time to arrange my collection of new and old, pots. The pale ones are new, and the darker ones are old. Because it was limited space too, plant selection was important. I couldn't have anything in these pots, that wouldn't be used. I kept this in mind, when purchasing seedlings.

Most of the new plants were seedlings, but I discovered after planting out, there was room for a few more. So I grabbed some from my existing garden. They will take a while to come back - as their roots were more disturbed and I had to prune them, but I was happy with my final arrangement - which I'll get to in a moment.

Fill

Another one of those easy wins, came about, through purchasing premium potting mix. Two bags full. They're ready made, to give plants a good start to life. But I also had some leftover compost from the wicking beds, I was in the process of breaking down. And David scored some unexpected, free leaf matter, as well.

So I only purchased half the amount of bags I needed, and substituted with the other available resources. It pacified my recycling philosophy, that was getting ruffled, due to the newer resources I was bringing in.

Herbs

This is my favourite pot, I will be visiting regularly. Herbs! Basil, oregano and thyme. There are other herbs sprinkled through other pots, but these are my favourite to eat in omelets.

The hens are still laying, thankfully. Between one and four a day. On average, two. It's not bad for 6 hens, with some going through a moult and the sun hours are diminishing. So I still have the opportunity to eat my herbs with fresh eggs.

Kale leaf

You saw the mixed lettuce, in the first image, but we also like to eat kale. I got two different colours, and pretty advanced specimens, at that. So I shouldn't be waiting too long to snack from the kitchen garden.

I've had this kitchen garden on the back-burner for a while, and I'm happy to see it finally take shape. Of course, you may think this next plant I chose, to be a rather odd placement, in a kitchen garden.

Strawberry flower

Strawberries. Only three plants. It won't make much of a meal, but I do like to snack on berries in the garden. Being so close to the house, I dare say the kids will find them, before I do!

But that was the whole point of placing strawberries in the kitchen garden. To make it a place of interest for the kids. They may not like to snack on herbs, and thankfully one of my kids will at least, eat lettuce - But neither can resist strawberries!

Common mint

I've wanted garden mint for a while. Every time we've tried it however, it didn't receive the kind of moisture it needed. I ran out of space on my raised area, but knew I could rig something up for the mint. It would sit on the Eastern side of the kitchen garden, so would be shaded by afternoon.

I also had another strategy up my sleeve, to help.

Two buckets

I have many, 5 litre buckets, around the place. The pale bucket (above) once grew ginger in it - hence the holes. I was going to make my own self-watering pot, and create a layer of insulation from direct sunlight, by placing the bucket with drainage holes, inside the sealed bucket. I should hope the mint will do well.

Finished kitchen garden

All in all, I'm happy with the result. I can grow a small area of food, without running out of water, or depriving the plants. I can alter the shading arrangements, to suit the climate also. It's easier on my back to pick from the raised platform, and I have outside lights, for ease of picking at night too. No more, trudging outside with the torch.

It may not be pretty, but it's an easy win, all the same. So I'll take it!

Rustic bench

One of the projects I completed recently, came about, when we had to clear everything off the verandah. You'll see what hoarders we were, when I eventually share the adventure of the verandah project.

Needless to say, we threw away a lot of junk we hoped we could turn into something else. When it starts rotting on your verandah though, it's a good sign you're never going to use it. One such item, almost made it to the dump.

That long piece of tree trunk, had been individually shaped, and someone attempted to paint a picture on the other side. It was faded beyond recognition now. I was going to make a "Gully Grove" sign out of it, but it just didn't happen.

Another item to go to the tip though, was my old washing basket trolley. You know the ones, which roll your wet clothes to the line? Well the dodgy wheels had fallen off, years before. It sat at the clothes line though, to receive my basket of washing instead. It really helped my back, not having to bend down to the ground, all the time.

With the trolley in the trailer to go to the tip, I decided I had to come up with an alternative bench. My mum gave me that piece of wood, years ago. Also those stumps of wood underneath. She had one of her trees cut down and didn't have a fireplace. Neither did we. So we used the short logs instead, as individual seats near the front door. A place to hold bags as you attempted to get the keys for the door. Well, everything just had to come off the verandah though!

Like a lego master-builder, knee deep in junk, it just all clicked in my head. Those pieces would soon make my new rustic bench, at the clothes line.

Only the wood wouldn't last long, out in the sun, without a coat of linseed oil. I like to use raw linseed oil, to help preserve the wood. It adds moisture, so it doesn't dry out too much, or soak in too much moisture in the rain.

That's one of my children's, damaged baby singlets too. Very rudimentary tools, for a very rustic project. I didn't have to purchase anything for this. It was already here - including the linseed oil.

The wood was very thirsty, so I just poured the linseed oil, directly onto the surface. I did this several times, as the wood just soaked it up like a sponge. It hadn't seen any kind of moisture for a while. In the middle of summer too, it was bound to be dry.

Then it was just a matter of gently rubbing it all in, with the cloth. I found this part of the process, extremely enjoyable. How can I describe something as tactile, as oil and wood - and the gentle rhythms of massaging it back to life? I had no idea how beautiful it would look afterwards.

The grain just glowed back at me, and signed. I sighed too. Did I already say, how enjoyable this process was? That old piece of wood, destined for the tip, had rekindled some divine quality it didn't have before. But for a bit of TLC, and a new purpose, it came back to life.

Before

 After

I've already used it to hold my laundry basket. It's much more sturdy, than the rickety trolley with missing wheels. I've also used it as a seat. Perhaps a little short for that purpose, but perfect for little people. I discovered Peter crushing some sort of plant on it already. The perfect work space!

So projects don't have to cost a lot of money. Sometimes it just requires looking at what you've already got. I found when I made myself choose an item's worth, with threats to go to the tip, I suddenly found a practical use for it. All those years I took it for granted, collecting dust on our verandah, while the rocking trolley was falling apart.

Now I love my new rustic bench, and the process of bringing it back to life.

Getting things done

Monday was a good day. No, it was a great day. I wish every day could be like Monday, but we just have to accept what each day brings. Why was Monday so great? Well the day was so warm and enticing, we decided to move a lot of things around the yard.

We started by collecting dirt which was dumped by the side of the road. There was so much dirt from clearing all the drains after the flood, the Council ran out of places to put it all. So they've dumped tonnes of dirt in a clearing, near one of our local streets. It's got a lovely collection of weeds growing on it now, but we take a trailer load of dirt every now and then - plus rocks we find for our drystone retaining wall. While we were there recently, we also found this...

Plant in the foreground is my propagated rosemary

It's a lovely old piece of wood. Could have been a telegraph pole for all we know, but it was very big and took a lot of creative thinking to get it into the trailer, then up a slope once we got home - to it's final resting place. Dave and I enjoyed the challenge and working together as a team.

Timeless

If it's going to end up in land fill, I can't see why it shouldn't find a useful place in our yard. I love the rusted nail (the size of a large bolt) or whatever that metal thing is. And I know the lizards will love the extra hiding space it will create for them.

We unloaded the trailer, full of soil, rocks and the log, stopped for some home made yoghurt for lunch, and then found ourselves starting another project. But first we had to build a plinth.

It begins

We hunted around the yard for some old bricks. I found the perfect amount in a neat pile, gathering moss, and some snails! There's a bit of Toowoomba history in those bricks, as they have "Toowoomba" stamped on the bottom. They were given to us by a friendly Toowoomba resident, but alas, we don't know the story behind them.

A splash of sand

Then I used the old fish tank sand, which has been sitting in a bucket for around 2 years. Sarah often plays with it, but I didn't need much, so I borrowed a little.

Fills the cracks nicely

Then I swept it into the grooves between the bricks, to ensure no weeds grew up between them. So our make-shift plinth was finished. All we had to do now was move a few rocks to get to what we wanted to put on it.

Welcome home

It's been a long time coming (about 5 years here) but we finally found a proper spot for our wedding day wishing well. It was built for us by some lovely relatives, for guests to put their cards in at our wedding. The two other houses we lived in prior, we never managed to find the right spot for it - and it only took 5 years to find the perfect place here.

Our daughter was chuffed to see it close to the back door, rather than down the back. She turned the handle as she had always done in the past. We spoke about what we were going to plant around it and possibly "in" it. The possibilities...

 Needs some TLC

But all that time spent unprotected outside, has left it's mark. You can see some kind of fungus or scale has developed underneath the eaves. And below we've lost some shingles that will either need replacing or be disguised.

The well was built around an old washing machine barrel

I'm all for looking rustic, but I also want the wood to last a bit longer. I've got some clear varnish specifically used for marine applications, which I think will be good protection for this old gal!

Not me - the wishing well. ;)

 Going up!

I would also like to say, no snails were harmed during the plinth construction. Although I'm sure some would say, that's a shame. I just couldn't knock them off. The foundation of our wishing well, had to share with the little things in life too. After all, it's the little things that make the big things worthwhile.

Looking through the arch which has a 3 year old luffa vine

We can see the wishing well from the back door and it's a reminder of how far we've come. Monday was the best day we've had in a while. Not because the other days aren't good enough, we just got in touch with what's important. Family, and getting things done together. It's not always possible, but when it is, we cherish those days.

Garden progress

I've been pottering in the garden again and it's been absolutely wonderful! Even though it's still winter, the days are getting noticeably longer. One of the great things about living in this part of the Lockyer Valley, is that even in the middle of winter, you can have 20 degrees Celsius days outside. Plants are still growing in the garden, even if they're not growing as quickly as in summer.

Some of the swales still have water after weeks without rain

We've been working different sections of the garden - still digging our swales at the very top, and planting Lomandra Hystrix to combat soil erosion. These probably won't grow to the size we need this coming summer, but it's still a start and we're very relieved to have reached the planting stage.

There's still much to do on our swales as it's being dug by hand, but it's wonderful to realise some sections are being put to rest at last - given over to the hands of time, growing and maturing as nature decides. Another project we've been working on - probably as long as the front retaining wall (so about 2 years now) is the mezzanine garden, where all the ramps for our front retaining wall merge together.

All ramps merge in-front of this garden

We've slowly been collecting rocks from around the property which is why it's taken us so long to complete. We don't have many rocks, but you'd be surprised what we dig up sometimes. We even had some large ones, roll in from the storms earlier in the year. That's how strong the water flow was! But it was a great windfall for our little retaining wall project. You just have to wait for the right materials sometimes. It says something about instant consumerism, and the lessons you sometimes miss out on if it weren't for forced patience and miraculous opportunity.

There have been many occasions we've driven to the local landscaping shop to collect blue-metal, for behind our retaining walls, so we're no stranger to instant purchasing. But there's something deeply satisfying to watch your property bring forth what you need. Sometimes you don't even realise it's there, or haven't figured out a way to utilise it yet.

Never miss an opportunity to recycle in the garden!

You'll notice in our cobbled together garden, we've used logs to create mini tiers. These logs are felled spotted gums from our property, merely held in place with metal stakes. They grow like weeds around here and we try to get them out before they grow too big near the house.

Of course they'll decompose in a few years and need replacing, but that's all part of the plan. We try to utilise all the green materials on site - rather than cart them away. Actually, the mulch on this garden, is the recycled green material people take to the local tip. It gets chopped up and offered to the public for free, on the first Sunday of every month. We love the stuff and so does our garden!

Other news in the world of green thumbs: I've been busy propagating plants in the our new Middle Ridge nursery. Lots of seed germination going on, re potting and I'm eagerly awaiting our new banana trees which should be arriving by mail soon. Being in Queensland, we required a permit to have them in the garden, which is free, so it wasn't too much of a drama to get one.

I'm sure to be doing a lot more pottering in the garden, in the months to come.

The great shading experiment

To refresh my memory, here is a picture taken of the trellis erected on the western side of the house.

The sole intention behind this trellis was to shade it from the harsh western sun. It was heating up the house, even with a 1.8 metre verandah around it. You can see from the image above, how far the sun actually comes in under the verandah. The concrete is acting as a heat sink if anything. Great in winter - terrible in summer!

After much trial and error with the luffa seeds though, we finally got them to start covering the trellis.

I think I'll put it down to a false spring, which prevented the germination of the seeds originally. False spring, meaning we got warm temps during the day but night-time temperatures still dropped low enough to chill the seeds again. Luffa seeds only germinate in temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius, consistently.

But how did it achieve at shading the western side of the house after all? See for yourself...

This picture was taken at approximately 1.30pm, yesterday afternoon. Clearly, the sun is still getting through to the verandah. I have noticed a slight change in temperature however, but only when a breeze passes through the leaves. Perhaps even the shaded and moist bed itself, is acting to reduce the heat the concrete absorbs initially?

From the above picture though, it's clear that I need an overhead trellis (or pergola) to do the kind of job I'm after.

Now this brings up another two important questions. Firstly, do I risk growing a vine from the ground which contacts the roof, in a termite prone area? Secondly, do I risk an increased fire risk which contacts with the roof, in a fire sensitive area?

Either option doesn't seem like a safe risk, so I'm in a bit of a conundrum at the moment. What strategy do I try next?

Lattice attached directly to the verandah posts - without contacting the ground, does seem like a better option. But then again, it won't be easily moved in winter to allow the sun in, and made of either wood or plastic, it still becomes a fire hazard attached to the house.

Lay your ideas on me people. I'm ready for any suggestions...

Beat the heat!

I figured it was one thing to talk about alternatives to buying air-conditioners and fans, but another to provide resources for people to consider. Em brought up the excellent idea of building a pergola on the western side of her house. I've got two trellises on my western side, but the sun still gets in. Maybe I have to wait longer for the luffa seeds to cover it, for maximum effect?

One trellis with a luffa attempting to climb it

Anyway, here's some links to get your creative minds thinking:

Pergolas

Pergola ideas no plans with these ones, just awesome pictures
Pergola with planters, plans from the Better Homes & Garden website
Simple pergola plans from Mitre 10 website
Another pergola download PFD document from the Bunnings website
Pitched roof pergola download PFD plans from Magnet Mart website
Pergola construction a pictorial tour from start to finish, of one person's project

Arbours

Rustic arbour ideas no plans but some great pictures
Entry arbour plans and instructions from Black & Decker website
Square arbour plans from the Better Homes & Garden website


Trellises

Large trellis which could be used as a stand alone garden feature, or entry way for a house.
Garden trellis download PFD document from the Bunnings website

After all that, you may be wondering what's the difference between a pergola, arbour and trellis? Frankly, I think it's whatever you want to call it. I would consider a trellis anything you can train a plant to grow up, but it can be incorported into the design of an arbour or a pergola too. So what's the difference, LOL?

Have fun looking at all the great pictures and plans - maybe you'll be inspired to look at improving the natural cooling design of simple structures and plants, outside your home.

Just remember you should check with your local building codes (via your shire council) to see if you require planning permission first. If your structure falls under a certain height or floor space you may not need planning permission. If you are intending to attach it to the structure of your house however, you will need planning permission.

If you're afraid of how much it will cost, try using some second hand building materials - not bolts, nails and screws however, as it could compromise the structures integrity. And just think the money you spend on the initial cost, could be saved on less cooling requirements inside the home.

Multi-pronged attacks against the extreme elements, are better than a single option dependant on electricity supply.

EDITED TO ADD: if you use the images links and notice a page about subscriptions pops up. Just use the "back" feature on your browsing window, and press the page link again. I noticed it only did this to me, the first time I wanted to click the next image.

Recycled Garden beds

We've recycled some disposable containers from Dave's work (broccoli boxes & 10lt ice-cream tubs) to create some instant garden beds. I was tired of seeing nothing in the veggie patch growing, due to a lack of rain, so it was time for some instant results!

I haven't modified the containers in any way, as they're living underneath our verandah and all water will be strictly measured out. Some of you may be wondering why I didn't just plant straight into the styrofoam boxes? I feel a little funny about growing food in styrofoam, in case the food takes up any nasties from the boxes. I don't know if the plastic ice-cream tubs are any better, but at least it's food grade plastic.

I wanted the styrofoam boxes however, to help insulate the tubs from too much sun exposure, as they do receive some morning rays. I managed to fit 2 ice-cream tubs per broccoli box.

Recycled garden beds

Not bad for an afternoon's work, but I have to say I still paid money for such instant results. The containers were free, but the premium potting mix and seedlings weren't. In total I spent $42 at the nursery for a punnet of capsicums, roma tomatoes, spring onions, basil, a punnet of strawberries and 2 bags of premium potting mix.

I'm already layer propagating the strawberry however, and should have another plant within a few weeks. If I keep doing this as the strawberry throws out runners, I should make my dollar value go even further.

Layer propagating, strawberry runner

I must say, it's nice to have something to tend to which isn't being scorched by the sun, or using up ridiculous amounts of water every day. And I made sure I only selected plants I knew we would eat. I even selected the "roma" variety of tomato on purpose - as ordinary as it is - due to it's pest resilience and ability to perform well in extreme conditions. I'd rather have an ordinary tomato growing in my garden, than have none for the summer season at all.

To help them a little more, I'll also be buying some seaweed concentrate to add periodically.

These are just some of the compromises we're learning to make here. Even if we can only ever manage ordinary vegetables, it's still home grown and packed full of goodies. That's what we're aiming for by growing our own. Should the heavens suddenly open up and bless us with more rain, we can then start planning for bigger, more demanding crops.

Plans for Spring 2010

It's just turned Spring in Australia this year, but already I can see how unprepared I am for the growing season. Right now I have several seeds in the ground as we speak, two lots of potatoes emerging - plus my sweet potato; but I'm already considering buying seedlings from the nursery at this stage.

It has become apparent, I haven't organised space to prepare a large range of my own seedlings properly. I do have a 4 tier plastic greenhouse from Bunnings, which is mostly full at the moment; seen here...

...but find it, cannot be kept in the open, where it receives the most sunlight. If the wind gets a hold of it, it will topple over - this has already happened to me before. So where it sits now (under the eave of our verandah on the Eastern side of the house) it only gets a few hours sunshine in the morning.

One thing I have realised, is that without an adequate heat source, I can't really grow seedlings in winter. This year I tried it in my plastic greenhouse, but nothing really grew until the days got warmer. This is normally when Spring arrives, but by then, you really want seedlings to put in the ground.

I'm not overly concerned, I just realise that by next year I need something else organised, or it will be off to the nursery for seedlings again. I actually enjoy growing my own plants from seed, and would like to see myself doing it every year from now on.

So what do I need for a better system? I've been doing a bit of research, and it's obvious I need either a greenhouse or a bushhouse - or a little of both. I haven't made any firm decisions yet, but thought I'd share some of the ideas I've found on the internet.

I love the idea of greenhouse structure you can walk into. It has the benefit of having an entire room under climatic control, but it also provides a lot of room for seedlings to grow. I would like to build my own, as other's have done before me, so here are a few great links for building your own greenhouse:

How to build my 50 dollar greenhouse
The Frugal World of Doc
The Dream ONE! A strawbale greenhouse * drools *
Gardening Australia Fact sheet
Solar greenhouse basics

The last link in the above list, gives a great description of how a greenhouse works best - using the sun. Although it has information based on the US climate zones, it's otherwise a good start on understanding the basics.

But then if you don't want to go to all that trouble building a whole structure, or you're limited by space - I've seen the mini greenhouses around too.

I've seen these for sale at many hardware stores and nurseries. The image above comes from the Yates website, where you can buy it on-line. Clicking on the name will take you there. I've never used one of these before, but maybe one day I'll come across a second-hand unit?

You can always make your own versions of the above mini greenhouse too; like Little Farm in the City did, in one of her blog posts. I thought it was a great idea, and even made a version of my own - but I've had limited success germinating seeds. I used a container with heavier plastic, and I either cooked it too long in the sunshine or it got too cold in the shade - making the soil go off and killing the seeds.

The issue for me however, seems to be gaining enough heat to cause seeds to germinate in the first place. Something that won't overheat quickly either. Here's an inside solution I've seen working too:

This image was taken from the PVC plans website, and was credited to the Dickey Family. These are only images, not plans for construction. It gives an idea how fluorescent globes can help the germination process along. Having once owned an aquarium however, and attempting to get enough light to grow aquatic plants - I wonder how much electricity it would use, trying to germinate seeds inside...?

I'd much prefer a passive solar solution, if I can manage it.

There seems to be a tonne of ideas out there, and one may be suitable for our situation. I would like an area completely dedicated to growing plants, either from seed or cuttings. This would also require a shade house of sorts, but I've also heard Jackie French places her pots under the shade of a tree to harden them off too.

Decisions, decisions!

At least I've got a whole year in which to plan and build this one. If you've got any great ideas you've come up with yourself, please feel free to leave a link in your comment. :)

Timber!

We've been busy around the yard lately, but mainly getting rid of trees. Why get rid of trees? Well they grow in excess of 30 metres, and the ones we're taking out are too close to the house.

I caught Dave busy chopping away at the root ball. It took him a few hours yesterday just to clear the dirt around it, but today he finally got to fell the tree.

Firstly, here's the size of the root ball he's attacking. Much thicker under ground than it is above. We should've removed this tree last year, but in summer it helped shade part of the chicken run. This year it just has to go, or it will be a professional job to fell it later!

And thar she blows! Or should that be, thar she goes!

The tree fell across our little forest footpath but no major damage was done. Dave then cut off the side shoots with a mattock and I set cutting the trunks into more manageable sized pieces. Even our daughter got into the act and carried away gum leaves so we wouldn't slip on them.

She couldn't help herself in the end and had to jump in all the leaves, pretending to be a gorilla in it's nest.

The branches aren't going to waste however. I've already built this trellis with three long branches, and some scrap fencing wire. I'm hoping to grow some sunflowers in front and beans over it, when spring arrives. This side of the garden shed gets all day sun, so hopefully it will help shade it during summer.

We've been doing a stack of stuff in the yard, preparing for spring, which I'll have to write about later.