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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

2 comments:

  1. Wow - I've never heard of a cabbage tree before, but what a wonderful tree to have and very versatile too.

    Nina x

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    1. Hi Nina. It is native to New Zealand and is quite architectural to look at. This one grew from a tiny seedling and now towers over the garage. The cats love to scamper up it LOL. Julie X

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