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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Frugal firelighters

I would like to welcome Roz from squiltz- she is a fellow Cantabrian and has a delightful blog- well worth a read. Thank you Roz for stopping by.

Self sown Cabbage Tree which towers above our garage.
One of the most useful trees in our garden is our cabbage tree. It's hard to believe that this started as a self sown seedling and is now a majestic specimen. This tree is native to New Zealand. It's leaves are a bit of a nuisance to most people. They don't compost particularly well (sort of look like flax leaves) and they can't be put in our Council recycling green bins. However wind about 12 together and tie with a spare leaf and they make fabulous firelighters! Two with some newspaper get the fire going in no time at all. As we are heading into Winter a good fire is much appreciated.
I try and use the fire for other purposes as well- cooking on top, heating water and drying or airing washing in front of it. It really is the heart of our home.
Firelighters- something out of nothing.
Pumpkin seeds- future planting.
I made up a big pot of pumpkin soup the other day and in my new gardening frame of mind decided to dry the some of the seeds. I manage to grow pumpkins in the compost bins OK, so hopefully purposeful planting will go well. Which reminds me- there is a vine down the back which has deposited a pumpkin on the neighbour's shed roof. I must go and nab it, just not sure how to tell if it's ready. Friends grow pumpkins vertically up supports, so I think I might give that a go. Roll on Spring!! Off to watch New Zealand's hottest home baker, bye for now  Julie

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Peastraw and Poo :-)


At the weekend I had 10 lovely bales of peastraw delivered, which dear Mr SFP barrowed down the back for me. This will go on my gardens once I have them clear again from the huge logs still littering them. I'll also use it to build up my second raised bed and put some of it in the compost bins.
Peastraw waiting to be deployed.
Yesterday Mum and I visited her oldest friend whom she's know since her school days and we picked up a load of horse poo. Mum only has a small car, but we managed to pack a few bags in. For the price of a yummy pineapple and date loaf (baked by Mum) and a bag of feijoas (provided by me) it was a worthwhile trade. This will eventually make its way around the rhubarb and into the compost bin. Dad used to hang it in a bag in water and make liquid fertiliser, but I don't have that strong a stomach.
Horse Poo
I also worked on my raised beds- one I cleared of old tomato plants and courgette plants ready to be planted. The other I needed to move a load of bricks before shifting it into place. The bricks will be used in paths in my future potager garden. It was a bit of a mission, but I got there in the end. The ever useful Mr SFP managed to hammer the posts into the rock hard ground- no mean feat! Now it just needs lots of soil and compost to fill it up. It's amazing how much one of these takes. Still a couple of trees to come down around the fenceline to eliminate shade. This will have to wait as we have NOWHERE to put any more garden waste/logs. I'm so excited about my future gardening exploits.
Cleared raised bed awaiting planting.

New raised bed awaiting a ton of soil.
I managed some time to myself before the boys got home from school to work on the May Christmas decoration challenge. Mrs HMM will be pleased. I'm making good progress, but it really needs to be done in the daylight. Sorry about the picture- took it in the twilight.
Frosty Snowman- progress on May make.
New Zealand Master Chef is on tonight, so I will be sitting down and watching it and taping River Cottage on the other channel. I don't watch very much TV, but these are must sees! Have a nice evening......Julie

Monday, May 14, 2012

Timber..............

This weekend saw a very busy working bee Saturday morning. Four men including Mr SFP all toting chainsaws and attitude. The culprits were 2 enormous silver birches and a liquid amber at the front of our property. They were here when I moved in 18 or so years ago and have just continued to grow. They were close to the power lines and with the recent earthquakes in Christchurch, we thought it safer to take them down. I am not a fan of chopping down trees at the best of times, but had to see the sense in the proposal. Plus we were seriously lacking in natural light in our 2 front bedrooms- not any more!!
One tree already down- left hand corner.
The very helpful friends were on the spot at 8.00am ready to risk life and limb- although I think they all had fun. They belong to our Church and always very willing if you need a hand. My job was to feed them which I did with date scones and soup and buns. Everything was down by 1.00 pm. What an amazing days work!!
Hard to believe how big they were!
Now we "just" have to hire a grunty wood chipper and chip all the branches- good for the garden and chop the enormous logs for the fire next Winter. I think the work is just beginning LOL.
Hard at it.
We have 2 huge piles like this to put through the chipper.
After- seems like a different house.
I have to do a double take when I pull up to our house now because it now looks totally different. Next step will be to turn the garden at the front from a shade garden to something else. Always something to do............

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

A busy weekend in the garden

I have been very inspired by a fellow Cantabrian with a gorgeous garden blog- Ruth at Deep into the Darkness Peering (see link at sidebar). So much so that I rolled up my sleves and spent 3 days in the garden. My aim is to grow plants from seed- preferably heirloom and feed the family. With tomatoes currently $7.99 a kg at the local supermarket this just makes good sense!!

I was so inspired I purchased a plastic glasshouse which was delivered on Tuesday- can't wait to get it up and running. Tomatoes in Christchurch have been very disappointing over the last couple of years- only ripening at the very end of the season. Hopefully this will make a difference. Plus with somes shelves I'll be able to start my seedlings, saving more money.

My new baby- can't wait to get it put together.
I'm also getting 10 bales of pea straw delivered on Saturday and I'll be off to a friends to get some free horse poo. I've taken some before photos of my rather overgrown and unloved garden, hopefully this will be a visual diary of my progress. I've had a go in the past at planting and it didn't "take". I feel more positive with all the amazing self sufficiency and frugal blogs out there, so watch this space!!

Aerial view over black and red currents to raised bed.
Aerial view of raised bed and sad end of season tomato plants.
Rosie dog and nectarine tree on left.
Compost tumbler and cabbage trees now removed.
Raised bed- has had work done on it, so I'll be able to take an after picture.
2 Feijoa trees and convolvulus patch. This needs to be cleared as it is the biggest useful bit I have.
Mint plant, rhubarb, nectarine tree and 2 grape vines.
Strawberry patch- never done well as it's too shady. I have chopped a tree down and may relocate patch.

I have some good features in the garden already- 2 lemon trees, 4 feijoa trees, 3 apple trees, golden peach tree, nectarine tree, 2 pear trees, 2 grapevines, black and red currants and a couple of other productive plants. I have always made compost- I have a 3 bin system, tumbler and small black compost container. A worm farm, one raised bed and now a fabulous greenhouse. What more could a girl want? So......this will be the year of the garden. Over Winter I will get the trees cut down that shade the garden and clear the weeds- I also have a horrible convovulus problem. Come Spring I'll be ready to go.
Wish me luck and I'll be back with progress pictures soon. 

Saturday, May 5, 2012

The week that was.......

Well, I thought I was going to be organised this week. I took the pictures and planned what I wanted to share, but got side tracked by life and other people's blogs.

So here is just a general "round up" of some of the things that happened.

Monday is my opshop day. Not as much treasure to be found as in the past, but I did pick up these cute wee tops which will be "repurposed" into designer clothes for dolls.

Old clothes to be repurposed into cute designer clothes for dolls.

I discovered over ripened bananas in the fruit bowl. The family won't eat them like this, but will if made into a yummy cake, complete with chocolate icing. Sorry, no picture of the cake iced, it went too quickly!

Life gives you squidgy bananas.....make banana cake!

















Necessities from Spotlight.
Tuesday necessitated a trip to Spotlight, with a list which always must be added to. I needed threads to start our May challenge on Friday and new fabric.

The first 2 of our 4 feijoa trees are producing a bountiful harvest. They are youngest son's favourite fruit- he would sit under the tree with a spoon if he could. They seem to be an acquired taste- I just love the smell, taste and texture. Other family members don't fancy them at all. They are always a pleasant surprise at this time of the year when the garden is starting to shut up shop.
Thank you feijoa tree.
Thursday bought belated birthday celebrations from my lovely workmates- I was away from work last Thursday for my actual birthday. Lovely morning tea spread plus beautiful flowers to bring home- gerberas and roses.



Friday afternoon after work is Mrs HMM's and my time to catch up and do a little crafting. We critique Project Runway and New Zealand's Hottest Home baker. Of course we both think we can sew and bake better than both programmes. I am still working on this little Debbie Mumm cross stitch in funky colours. I am a particular fan of her style- especially the black and white chequer board patterns and borders she uses.

A work in progress.
This will need to be put aside very soon to take up the May challenge which is:

Frosty Blue- May challenge.

Now Mrs HMM didn't think this looked too bad, but I've studied it closely. It looks equally as challenging as Harriet did........we shall see. I think this will be a during the day project in very bright light!! Watch this space........
I hope to post tomorrow about my exciting new garden adventures....we shall see about this too.