Veggie bags

It still amazes me how many people still accept plastic bags at supermarkets when there are alternatives available.  Mostly I remember to take the big carry bags but have been using plastic bags for fruit and veggies...but no more!

I saw a tutorial about making vegetable bags from net curtains on a blog that I follow.  I happened to have some obsolete net curtains to repurpose so went to work.  I used a supermarket plastic fruit bag as a template as to size and sewed across the corners of the bottom of the bags to make a flat bottom.

My bags do not have drawstrings as I decided to try them first and if they need one I can easily add it.  On their first outing they worked very well. The checkout chick was very impressed.  Every time we can refuse plastic it is a little act of kindness for the planet.

Propagating a plan

This is the area behind the shed next to the neighbours fence.  The last owner of this property had the recycling gene and collected all sorts of stuff and reused it.  He used pipes like these to make the frame over the veggie garden and covered it with bird netting.  When he left he took a lot with him...but not all of it.  Next door's rose was also making this area difficult to enter.  So today I took to the rose with the secateurs and long handled loppers.

So this is what it looks like now.  I also moved some of the piping from the middle to the left of the picture.

Now imagine a little bit more tidying up and some plastic draped down and around those mesh shelves.  Don't you think this is going to make a great place to grow seedlings?  It gets lovely morning sun and the metal mesh will allow me to water freely.

And this is my propagation table, just around the corner from the shelves and sheltered under a big tree, with ready access to the tank for water.  I will be able to put containers with seed raising mix etc underneath.

I've got worms!

I am pleased and excited to announce that I have worms! In the compost! It is interesting to see a compost heap go through its various stages of decomposition.

This particular compost was assembled at the end of May. It consisted mulched garden prunings, grass clippings, autumn leaves, piggy poo, a little chicken poop and some kitchen waste. The pile became hot really quickly and was steaming on the cold days. I turned it a few times to aerate it and kept it covered with cardboard. After a while it cooled down and then I went on holidays for a month.

It is now only about one third the size of the original pile and full of worms and other little beasties doing their work. I can't wait to use it when I replant the veggie garden in the spring.

Wooden chores.

Today my niece and her husband visited and spent several hours cutting up logs left on the side of the road nearby by the road crews. The result was three trailer loads of wood. Some will need to be split, but you know how I enjoy that!

Sam the foredog

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The workers hard at work.

One of the trailer loads of fire wood.

A faggot at the front door.

From Wiktionary:

Noun

faggot (plural faggots)

1. (rare, dated in US) A burning or smouldering piece of firewood.
2. (chiefly British) A bundle of sticks tied together.
   • 1853, Sir Francis Bond Head, A faggot of French sticks: or, Paris in 1851, page 2:

     In the depth of, winter, however, a faggot of real French Sticks — although of little intrinsic value — may possibly enliven for a few moments an English Fireside.

     
     

I actually took this photo because I thought it looked welcoming at the front door...a hint of the warm fire waiting inside.

Sweeties

Anybody who played in my father's garden will recognize this little pretty. It is salvia of course, and all the kids know that if you tug on the flower it comes away and you can suck the nectar from underneath. You know my aim is to grow as much food as I can, and therefore I am planting fruit and vegetables mainly. Well this wasn't here, I planted it... but I am classifying it as edible.

Chores

Have had a busy couple of days, making the most of the lovely weather. Have cleaned out the chook house, and put up a partition to keep them warmer at night, mowed the front grass, cleaned up the outdoor area, repotted the gardenia and bamboo, planted some mint, pruned a few things, raked up leaves, turned the compost, and scrounged some kindling.

Woody Matters

Check out this load of wood! It is old railway sleepers cut into 30 - 50 cm lengths. One of these burned for 10 hours in the Coonara last night. Worth every cent! Also, check out the trailer...an ebay purchase. It has half a tonne of wood on board and still had bounce.