ALS members Blogs

Today I took the teen to the Talbot Market, & how I love that term and being the parent of a teenager for one whole week!! It was a gorgeous day here in Ballarat and I had heard there was a lady there that had organic seeds (Green Circle Organics) and the food there is divine so after only hearing the night before that it was on we made an inpromteu decision to go.Didn't regret it one bit! I brought a some treats for the family - A belt for hubby after sizing up a slightly overweight man and asking him his size so I could work out hubbies ;) a wallet as hubbies has also seen better days. A couple of pkts of Pokemon cards for the boys - that is the latest phase, some Yellowbox honey, a Jade plant, some chocolate liquorice - well you do need sustenance,...

Sorry I haven't had much time to post of late, work has been flat out, however after a lovely evening walk while Ken was putting together a desk for one of my boys we I snuck out to the garden and make some hot houses. I usually use the Bunnings brought greenhouses to grow my seeds, but they don't last I don't really mind a couple of years use and then use the frames to hold the seedling trays however last year it was 4 months use before the plastic tore in a storm so the whole thing was useless and this year decided to take some valuable advise from the Ballarat Permaculture Facebook people and built my own! I got the idea from a link given to me by them;http://www.urbanfoodgarden.org/main/seed-planting-and-propagation/seedlings/styrofoam-propagation-box-advantages-disadvantages.htmI have been to a talk by John a few years ago and a tour of his garden and did...

I love berries and am happy to pay for them when in season although its wonderful to grow your own! Once again this year I have been picking berries Black this time as unfortunately there is a creature taking my Strawberries, it is unfortunately as my son planted them and was looking forward to them! So this weekend in between working as I have had a flood of clients all wanting Massage this week my middle son and myself got busy picking Blackberries and later in the evening I got busy making a creating with those and some brought berries :)Original link...

Very excited to see some vegies finally growing in the garden beds. We have Zucchini, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, Onions all harvested but we are still using them, some Lettuce, and Potato's which didn't do too well although I have been able to harvest some for a soup I made. Recently we didn't get too much time to get down to the shops, we run 5 plus businesses from this house Kens 3 my 2 plus Jordan's new venture will I will blog about in the future, so sometimes things get very, very hectic around here. I have some pictures of a meal we made on the day to prevent a last minute dash to the shops and it was delicious - please enjoy the pictures.The Slap up soup recipe is as follows;Handful of Zucchini.Few Potato's.Few onions.Some water to cover.1 litre of stockCook altogether and then mulch up with a stick...

I have just been reading over last years resolutions and am quiet amazed at how many I didn't achieve and how much they have changed for this year!The things I did not do were complete 3 fun runs - in fact I didn't complete any! I possibly became more unfit although I did lose 6 kgs I rapidly gained 4 back around Xmas 2011.I didn't go on many day dates with Ken although we did get quiet a good walking routine up through Winter - they always ended with a coffee though so not so sure how much they helped with weight loss!Going on the kayak more - I didn't seem to achieve this much either but we have been on an average weekly paddle over the school holidays.I did manage to get back to Fernwood regularly, but now I am now using my gym quipment...

Today I harvested 2 beds of Onions and was pretty impressed with the yield. Counted over 100 Onions! Think we will be having onion soup for the next few weeks! I can't possibly store that many Onions so I just tie in bundles and hang up around the veggie garden, doesn't matter if they get wet as they soon dry again and don't seem to go off.Also thought I would show you another picture of my next bath of dog poo compost, it's going great looks nothing like it's former self but a rich compost with billions of worms coursing through it. I am still not game to go directly on the veggie bed although I desperately need something to add to the old now weeded Onion beds I will transfer it to another compost to break down over another 6 months.We have been renovating our bathroom and have a...

We also went to another open garden today called "Ercildoune" this is a massive property intially 73,000 acres, then sold in 1872 and sold off and I believe it is now about 28,000 acres, the gardens seem to be about 10-20 acres? There is a large walled garden on 1 acre, and many old and dilapidated houses on the property that the owners are doing up. But the gardens are stunning and the owners that have owned the land now for around the past 12 years have done a fantastic job in restoring this garden to it's former glory, it has also a hydro electric station on the property - no longer in use. I have included the link explaining way more than I can of this magnificant property and taken some pictures of out day and the gorgeous garden, we ended up taking a picnic lunch and they had...

Today we decided to take a much needed garden break and visited a couple of open gardens. The first was a 2 block Bed & breakfast place in Ripon Street, Ballarat called Ripon Cottages and the second I will need to do another post for it was massive and we spent the entire afternoon there after packing lunch and afternoon tea! Anyway this place had some lovely idea's on re using containers for the garden I would never think of such as an old pair of boots and a suitcase with the centre cut out with plants inserted some lovely wrought iron pieces and they were selling Water Irises for $2 per plant so after trying to sell our very good condition bath and not getting any nibbles I have decided to turn the bath into a pond and buy up on the Water Irises but a pump and make...

Hello all and hope you had some time in the garden! As you might recall I have been growing some Sunflowers from seed, I had hoped I would get enough to share with friends however after planting the first lot out the front I see the snails have been busy and pretty much eaten 3/4's of the leaves and completely ruined many of them. I decided it was war and have been out at all hours collecting snails popping them in a pot and after wondering what the heck I was going to do with them and getting rather a large collection I decided maybe just maybe the chooks would like them.They went mad for them the first day but I did notice they coped ok with the small baby ones but the large mumma's not so good so I am now having a snail crushing session each day I...

I have been busy over the school holidays in the garden weeding the veggie beds and the entire rest of the garden. I have a cottage garden at the front of my place and over Winter I planted a ton of Daffodils, a little late really but most have done their best to get their little shoots up and flowering for me and with the Freshia's, Jasmine and Lilac bushes out (we have 3) it has just been a delight to be in the garden with the mild weather and lovely flowery perfumes.I have weeded the Lemon and Lime fruit trees, added some rabbit manure to the bases and then some pea straw I had in the shed for some nitrogen and as a weed suppressor. Have planted some Zucchini in the greenhouse and also some Sunflowers they will be great to attract the bees and hopefully look awesome too....

I thought I would post an update on a previous post from this year on the Rhubarb. I moved from a pot where it was doing badly and really not growing at all. I transplanted it and it had no leaves at all on it was just starting to sprout really and now only 6 weeks later it is huge!! One exciting thing is that it's literally 2 feet from where the chickens sleep at night and I wonder if perhaps the manure is playing a part of the health of it. I like to think so, fortunately the wire is small and the chooks will never be able to get their beaks through to peck at it! We also transplanted a huge Elderberry which snapped at the base in the process and I wondered firstly whether it would even transplant at all and secondly how well it would grow...

Over this Fathers day weekend we decided that too much dust was coming onto the veranda and completely coating everything and mostly responsible for this was the dogs running around in area large made up of dirt. They had their kennels in this area which is partially undercover but considering they mostly sleep on their hessian stand beds which are undercover I wasn't too worried about shifting the location of their beds and turning the whole area into a herb and garden patch. We had previously fenced on an area near the chooks so I knew I was able to build a good enough fence to keep the dogs out. In the area I planted Boronia, Geraldton Wax Flowers, Lemon Balm, Paper daisy's, Bay Tree, Comfrey, Feverfew, Coriander, and Marjoram. Some things I just transplanted from other parts of the garden, also brought a water plant for the pond pot...

Recently I made some soap and some of my blog readers will already know the recipe it's just your basic coconut oil, olive oil, caustic soda, beeswax and essential oils, you need the perfect temperature for the making and it involves loads of stirring.I didn't actually keep the flyer with the recipe as once the caustic soda was explained to me I decided I would rather pay for someone else to make the soap than risk scaring on my lungs from breathing that stuff - totally no proof that happens just my overactive imagination going on overdrive, and acid burns from any spillage! I also can't see myself having the patience to be doing all that stirring as the soap melts the beeswax took ages! I now know of 2 friends who have made some soap and it looks fantastic! So anyway here is a picture of my soap some...

I have a few fruit trees in the paddock at the rear of our block, well 2 Plum trees, 2 Apple, a Lemon a Lime, 2 Pear Trees, 2 Apricot and 1 Nectarine - the other died. So 11 in total, and the all need to be weeded every year around Spring time. I decided to get in early this year and weed during the Winter, as the soil would be wetter and in theory the weeds easier to pull.Its hard work as the paddock pretty much doesn't get mowed near those fruit trees and the grass by Spring is waist high. Some of the weeds needed the Folk but most with pure Sue aggression were tugged from that ground shaken and thrown into the chicken pen. The pile has been high, the chickens have been busy fossicking for worms and eating the greenest leaves. I re-use all my rabbit...

Last weekend I planted some Desiree Potato's and thought I would share the pictures, I brought 10 potatoes and were able to cut the tubers in half some into 1/4's to make around 40 tubers to plant. Its always important to buy the virus free seed, usually easily obtainable from your local nursery. I had a gift voucher from my birthday so even cheaper I didn't have to pay a cent!! The total cost would have been around $8 though and I anticipate getting over 150 potatoes in total, just a guess though, we did do so well with the potato's last year I thought it needed to be done again although this time we have chosen to plant them in a wine barrell and some smaller pots, I really hope that works alright as if will definantly get drier in Summer, I plan to mulch with some pea straw...

I can't believe it's actually nearly August and Ive blogged so little this year! Its been such a busy year with my youngest going off to school and now having all 3 boys at Primary School for 1 year until the eldest moves onto high school next year I actually thought I would have a ton more time and get out into the garden more!!!I also work part time as a Remedial Massage Therapist and work did manage to get a little busier then dropped off again about a month ago, my husband as well as working full time as a Firefighter also runs a web based business selling weather meters and other safety and fire gear and needed an Admin person to help him out after 9 years in the business, the past few have taken off and he's super busy so I am now helping him out, helping...

Well finally after carting over tons of Horse manure from a neighbour, adding gypsum and cow manure and a dash of rabbit poo and then letting the rain do it's job, more turning and breaking down the horse manure - someone please remind me to mow the darn stuff first to make it little more fine and workable next time I do this!!!It's ready! One more rake over with he metal rake and ready for planting, all aligned with the moon planting guide all set!Ive planted some red onions a couple of weeks ago for this season as they did well last year, Carrots, Turnips a special thin sort though more like a Carrot, a red Turnip also long and thin, Broccoli, loads of it, Rocket, Cress, gourmet Lettuce and some White Pak Choy and snow pea's. Many have been planted as seeds so won't see much action for awhile...

Had a busy week here with my 2 does Ambika and Sian in the maternity pens, they have each had a litter of kits Sian 4 babies and Ambika 5, the kits are now in their3-4th week and they are VERY lively little beings! Sians seem to be the more outgoing but Ambika's although a bit more shy now they will certainly come out of themselves by the time they are sold. Took Sians and her kits to the school this week to show the preps in my youngest sons class and the grade 3/4's in my middle sons class, I love showing the kids our pets and seeing their little faces light up when they see babies, gentle handling and lots of it is good for the kits too, although I didn't let the kids hold them they are too young and fragile.I have had to clean these guys...

I am slowly starting to suspect that Chick Chick my little chick born late last year from Rocky the Hamburg and Henry the Cochin is actually not a hen but rather a little cockeral!! Last week we noticed the chickens had scaley legs and Id not treated for worms for a while either or mites so I teamed up Ken Jordan and once it got dark for easy access to the girls as there are all roosting and I prepared a syringe with garlic water, Ivomectin in another syringe and a massive tub of Vaseline and lavender. One by one we plucked Henry and his girls off their perches to be given garlic via their mouth, Ivomection on the back of their necks and have Vaseline smothered all over their legs. This suffocates any mites that might be there.I noticed at the time that Chick Chick had awfully long rear...

Today I decided the time was right to uncover the cake of dog poo compost I have been collecting for about the past 9 months. I stopped using the compost bin and starting adding to much larger one. We have an awful lot to collect each day with a Rhodesian Ridgeback, Golden Retriever and Border Collie.I also added straw from the chook pen to the pile and old leaves, but mostly it was dog poo I then left the top open to collect the rain and left for a good 6 months and then turned it probably every 3 months.There was pretty much no smell after the first 3 months and the end result is a lovely rich loamy type of compost, it was full of worms you may be able to see some when Ive put it in the wheelbarrow. I am not quiet game to throw directly on...