WELCOME to my BLOG

Hi there!

I’m slowly working towards some simplicity within the home, but hey! It’s a lot of hard work!

I love having a go at growing my own veges and always use herbs fresh from my garden. I try to plant from seed whenever I can and have learnt to save and share my own seed for the following year. I make Award Winning preserves and pickles; and my husband brews Award Winning boutique beers as well. I love to stockpile and try to limit quick trips to the shops. I dabble in bread making and enjoy making my own stocks too.

I enjoy feeding my family good hearty meals, nothing like those tiny restaurant stacks you have to look for on the plate. My husband maintains our vehicles and machinery and we both enjoy fabricating on a small scale mostly relying on metal & timber recyclers for any materials needed.


While I don’t always have time to reply to comments, I love reading them. I hope you enjoy your stay and I hope you learn something new because I love sharing what I learn, and I'm always looking for another new skill myself.

Cheers!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

New garden bed

Hello Kimmie, and Gooseberry Jam..
I love your blog and will look around more when I get time.
Welcome to my blog, 
I hope you like what you see, stick around,
 ask questions, and share your knowledge around....
I love that I have found a group of people who love to share what skills they know. We are creating a new generation, one with far more wealth than any old bank....The wealth of knowledge; that is!!!
How rich we are, with the knowledge we have at our fingertips.

Some of you have seen this photo  before,...
I mentioned that I seen an ad in the local paper, 
offering free cement bricks....
 Well, I started moving them around the other day.....I can't believe they are so heavy......after this move....hubby decided that they were sticking out from the wall too far, and that it would make it difficult to get the trailer out....We have nowhere else to put the trailer...

So I moved the bricks, again....did I mention they are made out of cement....and that they are really heavy.

 Here it is...my new garden bed..so many wonderful possibilities.....I am thinking of an edible garden for the most part, but I certainly need to add some colour to attract more bees to the property.

Underneath, is a huge amount of cardboard, to try to repel the grass...
I covered the cardboard with sand, it's not necessary,
but I have a large pile of sand for a paving job, and decided I could get rid of some in here too.
Then I put my 15 bags of old mushroom compost in....Oh wow, I can go back to the mushroom farm again....Yayyyy.....I love mushrooms.....
You can see now, why I haven't posted over the last few days....it's because I have been extremely busy, lugging soil.....I even had to go get another trailer load of veg mix soil which cost $50 which I don't think is too bad, because it already has mushroom compost, horse manure, and also mulch.....no bark chips at all.
It's a lovely soil, so much so, that when you close your fist full of the soil, it compacts to that shape, but is also easily crumbled again.....I sure hop it lives up to my expectations...I have had this on my mind ever since I got the bricks. The two plants you can see, are just sitting in their pots...nothing is permanent yet....I will sew some seeds in pots....baby them, let the rain fall on the bed, and make it settle more.....Once my plants are established, then they will go in....Oh sure, I may just have to get some 'colour' from Bunnings....but can't help myself.. It's rather exciting having a fresh brand new garden bed....


As I will  be working in the kitchen over the next few days...baking and preparing some meals, I couldn't go past the chicken shop again today without buying some chicken carcasses....I got 6 for $1.50....I will simmer this through the night, any meat left on the bones with be easily removed....I also added a smoked pork hock....
Preparing the evenings veges I was able to add the peelings to the stock....I don't peel fresh potatoes, so no spuds peels went in, but the carrot peels and the hard pieces off the cauliflower and broccoli...and all the celery leaves...Yep, they all go in my stock. I love no waste.

 The veges in the steamer as part of the evening meal....Potato, celery, broccoli, caulifower, spinach, carrot, and a few beans from the garden.  As exhausted as I was after the garden, I rested a little, then went and done some shopping...
Bargains today were:
Broccoli $1.99 per kg
Cauliflower $1.99 per kg
Potatoes $1.98 for a 5kg bag.
Carrots $1.29 kg
Bag of baby spinach $1.00
 Rissoles and sausages for 5 adults.....$7.19   not bad!


Being totally exhausted tonight, all I could manage was to start dishcloth #6....Mum wants me to start doing plain and purl...Hah...I still can't make a dishcloth without going to her to fix mistakes...when that happens, maybe I will try a different stitch like purl.
I just want to be able to say...."I finally made a dishcloth with no mistakes."


Hope everyone had a lovely weekend, achieved what they wanted to achieve, and got a hug of someone they love.


TOMORROW'S LIST OF THINGS TO DO
Bake muffins, scones and maybe a bread pudding.
Finish stock
Make a soup from stock
Store cut soaps
Make work sandwiches
Prove bread dough in bread machine...maybe bake rolls in oven.
Prepare evening meal in crock-pot
Prepare yoghurt in mums crock-pot

Phew!! That'll do !


What plants do you think I should grow in this garden bed..?
I have to be able to use it in some way...what flowers are really easy and colourful to grow?
Also, have you found any bargains this week in your shopping? please tell!



7 comments:

  1. I love your new veg garden as I'm also a new veg gardener I would grow cooking herbs to start off
    Good luck Cathy

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  2. I love the garden bed, what a great idea! A lot of hard work it sounds like.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks ladies....It certainly was hard work...I worked on it all day yesterday....and finally got some much needed help to fill it from hubby and the boys. I thought I would be doing a bit each day, and would still be lugging soil by next weekend. It was lovely to see everyone pitch in.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I t would have been a day of hard work for you but a new garden is worthwhile :0)
    Looks like a big day ahead for you.

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  5. Hi NellyMary,
    The garden looks great and I'm sure it will produce much to eat for your family. I like the little instant planting holes that you have created around the outer edge.
    I have come to your web site from Down To Earth. I also enjoy home making, growing veg, gardening, craft but I also work part time. Kind regards, Lucy

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  6. It's nice to see hard evidence of someone else who buy's the mark-down food like I do! If someone is coming over I tend to cover it up with a tea towel if I'm defrosting it!

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  7. Debby: It sure was, I had to get the boys helping too in the end....sorry I missed your comment.

    Lucybelle: Hi and Welcome.....you can check out a more recent photo of that garden bed here:
    http://justlikemynanmade.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-growth-everywhere-you-look.html
    I like the separate holes too, it's great for herbs........Don't cover up your marked down meats anymore...Rejoice that you got the Bargain..That's what I reckon anyway...be proud that you weren't forced to pay the higher price that 'they' expect you to pay.

    ReplyDelete

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