Posts tagged ‘gardening’
Reduce: Tool Replacement. Grr.
Ok, I’m a bit ticked off.
We have a push mower – my parents gave it to Yankee Elv and I as a Christmas present in 2007. We were really happy to have it. Our yard is quite small, so it was great to have an eco-friendly (no fuel required!) way of keeping it in shape. It’s very achievable to mow it by hand and it’s a good work-out. I prefer it – I’m always paranoid that pebbles will fly from under a regular mower and hit me in the leg.
Ozito push mower, with blades no-one will sharpen or replace.
Anyway, the blades on the push mower are dull. We have been trying for more than 6 months to find someone to sharpen or replace the blades and no-one will do it. Bunnings used to (that’s where my parents bought it originally), but apparently it’s too cost-prohibitive for them to continue anymore. Everyone else has the same excuse. We’ve called mower places, hardware stores and tool shops. We even reached out on Freecycle and had someone agree to do it for us, but then he backed out. I emailed the mower company and got no reply. I’m very frustrated!
The mower is not usable, and we can’t continue whipper snipping the lawn, small though it may be. The day before yesterday, Yankee Elv went to Bunnings – one of those shops that won’t sharpen my current mower’s blades! – and bought a new mower. The fact that she needed to do that really pisses me off!! We got an electric mower, so at least we can use green power rather than gasoline… but that’s really not the point. The push mower we have is just fine.
It annoys me that people feel it’s not worth keeping up a perfectly good product because of their impact on their bank account. What about the impact on the environment? It’s not like the damned mower is recyclable even.
Grr.
Update Again
I haven’t posted since the big dust storm, which seems ages ago now. We’ve had a couple more since then, but nothing like that first big one.
I’m sorry I’ve neglected the blog, but it’s just been a bit crazy crazy. Here’s an update on the latest goings-on.
Diva Princess broke two of her toes and has been stuck inside for a month with a bandage on her foot that she insists on trying to rip off. She looks so pathetic with the cone around her head that I try not to make her wear it unless she’s getting really crazy with the bandage pulling. She’s also had an ECG to check on a mild heart murmur we just found out she has.
Diva Princess is highly disgruntled that she is stuck inside with a bandage on her foot.
There are new white Tim Tams. Yankee Elv is obsessed. There have been a lot of Tim Tams in our house. Yankee Elv’s mom is obsessed too, except she lives in America, so it’s hard for her to have lots of Tim Tams in her house. Fortunately for her, they’re staring to sell them in the US soon. There’s lots of excitement about that, on both sides of the Pacific. I feel bad that the Tim Tams come in a plastic tray, in a plastic packet. They need to make eco Tim Tams that come in cardboard and paper. Plastic or not, I still eat them. Bad hippy. Bad.
Dog/cat/turtle-sitting is over. A great time was had by all. We introduced the dogs to a new dog park, which is full of very friendly people and is split into a section for big dogs and another section for little dogs. Loodle was not very sociable with the dogs but wanted everyone to pat him. Everyone loved him. Pseudo-Marley was simultaneously scared of the big dogs and desperate to play tag with them. Everyone loved him too. I like how they supply all the dogs with biodegradable poo pick-up bags.
I got a long-awaited promotion, Mr Teeny-bop has become a Drama-king (lots of school plays) and Yankee Elv has gone back to school.
I walked to the supermarket last weekend (for exercise and to reduce car trips – I took my green shopping bags too). Loodle can’t walk that far with us anymore, but Mr Teeny-bop came on his scooter. It was nice to walk along with him. We’re keeping our eye on a mango tree in a park along the way. In a couple of months we may be able to score some free mangoes. Yum!
Mangoes!
Loodle is getting into shaving season. He’s a North American dog all the way and doesn’t handle the heat, so we have to shear him like a sheep (although he ends up looking like a pink piggy when we’re finished). Shaving will occur this weekend. The first shave of the season is always very laborious, but not as bad as the weekly bath. The arthritis in Loodle’s hips is getting so bad he needs to sit down for his bath now. 
Yankee Elv and I celebrated (quietly to ourselves) a year of using menstrual cups and cloth pantyliners instead of disposable ‘sanitary products’. Going for reusuable menstrual items is one of the best decisions I ever made and I don’t just not regret it, I celebrate it – every month, every time I walk past tampons in the shop, every time I see an ad about pads and every time some poor girl tiptoes up to me at work and whispers “I don’t suppose you have an extra tampon in your bag, do you?” (I actually do keep a few tampons in case of emergencies so they are always lucky.)
Diva has figured out how to open the screen door and Loodle has figured out how to open the gates. I love having smart pets but this kind of extreme Houdini-style behaviour is a bit much. We’ve had to institute some counter-measures. Now our gates rival Fort Knox and the screen doors are always locked. That doesn’t stop Diva climbing them, and with summer coming we can’t close the wooden door all the time. Any suggestions?
Yankee Elv went blonde (partially). Anyone know what the ecological impact of bleach is?
I keep forgetting to water the herbs and veges regularly, so while they are not dead, they are not flourishing as they should be. The Spanish onions down the side of the house are growing best – they are out in the sunshine (but not too much sunshine) and the rain. I have had a tarp down beside the driveway for a couple of months to kill off the grass and hope to create a proper vege garden over the next couple of weekends. I think between exposure to the rain and my haphazard watering, they should fare better.
I got my empty witch hazel bottle refilled at the local organic shop. The cost was nearly three times what I pay for a whole brand new bottle in the supermarket. I don’t think I can justify spending that money to save buying a recyclable plastic bottle, which makes me really sad.
Yankee Elv has been helping me avoid buying lunch at work by cooking up big batches of food and freezing it. It’s like I have a restaurant inside my freezer that I get to go to every morning. I love that I’m saving money, eating super tasty food and not getting a bunch of disposable containers and cutlery each day.
Many, many grapefruit.
We got rid of about 80% of our grapefruits from the fallen branch via Freecycle, which I love! There is no way those hundreds of grapefruits were going anywhere otherwise. There are still hundreds more on the tree – the possums and bats are stocked for the summer. The passionfruits and pawpaws will be out before we know it too (if the morning glory doesn’t choke them), and then they’ll have dietary choice. I hope this choice encourages them not to eat anything out of my vege garden-to-be though. My colleague tells some lovely stories about possums eating her herbs and capsicums and her mad spraying with garlic and chili water (first the plants in an attempt to stave off the eating, and then the possums in retribution).
Cheeky possums eat everything, including bread, grapefruits, passionfruit, pawpaws and people's herb and vegetable gardens. They especially like the flavour of chili and garlic.
We’re planning another local holiday – south this time, just after Christmas. It should be good! No tents for a change. I need a break from holey air mattresses and tarps. I really hate putting up tarps.
So that’s what’s been going. Life has been interfering with my eco-life, which kinda sucks. Why are there so many things I wanna do, that I can’t do, cos I don’t have time, energy or money? (Mostly the first two.) Has anyone managed to find a balance? I could really use some advice.
Recycle: Polystyrene
I bet you thought you couldn’t recycle polystyrene. I know I thought that!
You can recycle this kind of polystyrene, but not the little 'packing peanuts' or the kind used for food packaging (I think).
Today in my Freecycle Cafe daily digest email, though, I got the following message:
———————
Just thought I’d let people know that it is apparently possible to recycle polystyrene in Brisbane. The details are at link A and link B but basically you can take polystyrene produce boxes for free recycling at the address listed in Acacia Ridge. They apparently charge for recycling other packaging types of polystyrene and I’m not sure of the details.
As I often see these boxes advertised on freecycle I thought I’d let people know what to do with them if they don’t get any takers. You can also post it to:
REPSA
PO Box 211
Richmond Vic 3121
if you’re feeling super green that day!
happy recycling!
———————–
(Someone also mentioned that you can use the polystyrene boxes to grow herbs and veges in, which my mum already does.)
Super awesome, huh? The Brisbane EPS recycling place is in Acacia Ridge, so that’s definitely local. Thanks Freecycle Cafe lady!
Meanwhile: Bug-free Gardening
What am I going to do about the bugs in my container garden?
They are these weird little flying critters that look a bit like fruit flies. I think they are the same ones that killed my herbs last time I tried to grow them. They hang around, looking innocuous and blending their little black bodies into the soil. Then they suck all the moisture out of the plants… like those creepy prehistoric bugs sucked the moisture out of people on The X Files! And there’s nothing you can do about it.
Or is there? Does anyone know how to get rid of these bugs? My basil is just a tiny bud, and my parsley and oregano aren’t even up yet!
Tiny baby basil.
And they’re lurking around my shallots (spring onions).
Little shallots, all in a row.
Strangely, they’re not bothering my onions and spinach.
No bugs by the spinach.
Maybe it’s because they’re out the back and the herbs and shallots are on the front verandah. The herbs were out the front last time too, but I made sure to scrub the pots and use different soil and I grew from seed rather than buy seedlings… and still there are the bugs!
I don’t really have room to plant companion plants (I already have nasturtiums, in a hanging basket), but I will find room if that’s the wayto fix it.
Nasturtium seedling.
Anyone, ideas?
Meanwhile… Daffodil Day
Yankee Elv is sick at the moment. Yesterday when I stopped off at the shops to get her some icy poles and ginger ale, since she can’t keep anything else down, I saw some fresh daffodils for sale. I bought some to cheer her up, and she really liked them. They’re in a vase in our bedroom right now, so she can see and smell them (they have a really strong, lovely smell).
Daffodils for Yankee Elv
Daffodils aren’t usually just sitting around in the supermarket, it’s just that Daffodil Day is coming up next Friday, so merchandise is everywhere. I don’t like to buy random stuff that I probably won’t use again (like badges or teddy bears), even if it is for a good cause. I’d rather just donate. However, the flowers won’t hang around in landfill for all time and there was a very good reason for purchasing them – to make Yankee Elv feel better!
It did get me thinking, on the bus home though. Where are the daffodils grown? Are they grown sustainably? And, big picture – are cut flowers bad for the environment?
I know that the flower industry in the US and South East Asia is really bad – lots of chemicals that leach into the ground and affect the workers, illegal workers who are taken advantage of, sometimes slavery is involved… but I thought that it couldn’t be that bad in Australia. I can’t find much on the importation of flowers to Australia (although Australia does make up about 1% of the world market in the cut flower industry, mostly exporting Australian and South African natives). Apparently we do import roses (and snow peas) from Zimbabwe, which is pretty bad considering we’re thus giving tacit support to Mugabe’s reign. I think the for the most part, Australia must grow it’s own flowers – apparently about 90% of flowers grown here are sold on the domestic market. If we imported more, then I think there would be some record on the net.
However, to be sure, I’ve emailed the Queensland Cancer Council, asking where the fresh daffodils sold for Daffodil Day are grown. I’m definitely going to be interested in the answer…
Spotlight: Window Farming
Check out these pics! They’re photos of window farms in NYC.
Britta and Rebecca with the first window farm, May 2009. Photo by Julia Makarova.
Window farming came about because some folks (Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray) didn’t want to wait around for a new style of urban planning that would bring farms to the city. They decided to join forces with whoever else wanted to be involved and come up with their own DIY version. Thus, Window Farms.
Gabriel Willow's Window Farm, July 2009. Photo by Gabriel Willow.
I really like how cool it looks, that you can grow heaps in a small space, and that so many of the things you use are simple, cheap and/or ‘rubbish’.
The first window farm, Brooklyn, May 2009.
They’ve even had a feature window farm at an art gallery, Eyebeam.
Detail of big window farm at Eyebeam, July 2009. Photo by Sydney Shen.
We have perfect windows at work for this, but I don’t know if work is quite ready for it. The company does rent potted plants, but edible plants is probably a foreign notion. I might start small – a pot of spinach maybe. I have plenty of seedlings! I can put it on the window sill – I scored a window seat when we moved offices. That bit of sunshine makes it so much easier to get through the day. If I worked in NYC, I think I could arrange for the Window Farm girls to commission a window farm for work, but coming to Australia might be a bit much.
Detail of big window farm at Eyebeam, July 2009. Photo by Sydney Shen.
It looks so cool though…
Detail of big window farm at Eyebeam, July 2009. Photo by Sydney Shen.
Check out this video to learn more:
Good clean fun
Good times can be had without trashing the earth. Fun stuff I did this weekend:
Saturday we had friends over for afternoon tea – one of whom I haven’t seen for years as she’s been overseas, and Yankee Elv has never met before. We ate, sat and chatted for hours, ate some more, played with the dogs (they brought their 6-month old puppy over) and ate some more. They want to ‘steal’ the grapefruits from the tree out back, which is fine with me as no-one here likes them. The puppy/cat encounters were quite hilarious as puppy hasn’t interacted with cats before – there was lots of puffing, hissing, barking and hiding behind people (the dog hid, not the cats!). Loodle took advantage of the fact that he’s tall enough to see onto the dining table without stretching way, way too often.
Sunday sleep in + general silliness and laziness made for a gorgeous morning, topped off only by Yankee Elv’s delectable pikelets/mini-pancakes (the nomenclature was a contentious issue). I couldn’t decide whether I liked sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice the best, or butter and jam (strawberry, or mango + passionfruit + pineapple). It was all so tasty!
Pikelets (or mini-pancakes - it's up for debate).
Yankee Elv and Mr Teeny-bop had some mother/son time at the movies and dinner while I stayed home and spent the afternoon digging a hole (in which to plant a couple of little jasmine bushes) and planting seeds. The ground was so hard I had to stop before getting to the planting as I was getting blisters, but that hole is going well and I felt like I’d accomplished something! Plus I got a work out – my arm muscles would be positively butch if it weren’t for the chubby layer covering them. (Yankee Elv likes them anyway.) As for the seeds, I’m hoping to get mint, basil, parsley, oregano, spring onion and nasturtium sprouts in a few weeks time, to go along with the spinach and onions I’ve already got going.
I didn’t need to offset any carbon emissions this weekend, and it was one of the more satisfying weekends I’ve had lately. Much more appealing that a weekend spent sleeping, or partying, or shopping. Next weekend we’re hitting the markets, going to a mulled wine evening and Mr Teeny-bop has a drama rehearsal. I like doing stuff like this – it helps me get through the long working week.
Mid-week public holidays like this Wednesday’s don’t hurt either!
Spotlight: Urban Farming
- Photos like these inspire me.
- Blogs like this intrigue me.
- Sites like this help me.
- Stories like this help me realise urban farming is a bona fide movement now! (Yankee Elv, clearly less obsessed than me, saw this post and commented that she liked the woman’s sleeve [tattoo], although she claims it looks better from a distance.)
In my own forays into urban farming (or urban homesteading):
My spinach has all sprouted except for one seed, and most of my experimental onions sprouts are just poking their tips out of the soil. Mr Teeny-bop helped me plant them, and I was hoping he’d take an interest in their development, but he seems to have gone back to the land of emo-teen again. Maybe next time? I can keep the soil nice and damp now, because Yankee Elv got me a watering can and duct-taped the hose so it won’t spurt on me or the clothesline anymore. These veges are the first things I’ve grown from seed since I was seven, and I’m very proud of myself. Modest too, as you can tell. Now I have to see if I can keep them going! (Sorry no pics, it’s dark outside – I’ll take some later).
I can't wait until I'm eating spinach I grew my very own self! (As opposed to this spinach, which I bought from the grocery shop.)
Next on the list: carrots and snow peas. I have to get the garden bed sorted and work out a trellis. I’ve done nothing with the compost bin since last week’s big clean. Also, I need; herbs for the front verandah, something (what? ideas anyone? maybe nasturtium?) for the hanging baskets, a succulent for Yankee Elv’s bedroom dresser and some water and steam-loving green something for the bathroom.
Not all at once, clearly. I still have a day job.
Sustainable Sunday
Today was a busy day, at home. Not in that horrible frantic busy way, like when you’re at work trying to keep up with a million emails as well as your regular work, plus the five other things your boss has given you to do just cos they know you can, and the printer is beeping and you have fifteen people all trying to talk to you at once, not to mention the seventeen people from the other side of the world all instant messaging you and your partner texting your phone. (I love you, honey!) I’m talking about the kind of busy that involves doing stuff you want to do. The constant, solid busy that makes you feel like you achieved something at the end of the day. Physical work. What can I say, I like doing things with my own hands.
What with work though, I don’t get as much time as I’d like to spend on those types of things, plus just time to de-stress. I always try to set my weekends up so one day is absolute relaxation, nothing else. Inevitably, that means the other day is full of chores. Yesterday was relaxation day (which included a trip to the shops, admittedly), so today was chore day.
Today, I:
- Washed clothes and a quilt; full loads in a front loader, line dried (I had to start early so the quilt would dry)
- Brushed and bathed the dog, then gave him his peanut butter kong ball, which is his favourite part of the bath routine
- Read a book on making jams, jellies, marmalades, preserves, liquers, pickles, relishes and chutneys – there is a really good-looking recipe for an Indian style chutney with green mangoes and a interesting watermelon rind pickle recipe (the book is Preserves by Lindy Wildsmith)
- Planned where I’m going to set out the carrots, onions and snow peas I’m planting next weekend, with the help of a handy dandy gardening site which tells you what you should plant when, based on your climate. We’ll need a trellis. Might see what Freecycle yields.
- Scrubbed a bunch of plant pots (picked some nice ones to keep in the house, put some on the rack on the front verandah for herbs and planted veges in some others)
- Planted some spinach and onions in aforementioned pots, from seed. I’ve never grown plants from seed before!
- Made some final decisions about how to set up the compost bin. We’re going to use the old concrete laundry tubs under the house, but we still need to work out how to make a lid for it (anyone have any ideas?). Then we need to get some buckets to put under the plug holes and clean it all up
- Hung out some solar lanterns to absorb some energy… we’ll see tomorrow if they work or not. They unfortunately got soaked by a torrential downpour in April so I’m not sure how functional they are going to be
- Sorta kinda cleaned the bathroom cabinet
- Worked on a scarf I’m knitting (will do this later tonight – it’s going to match a beanie I made about 3 years ago).
So all in all, a productive day! Plus Yankee Elv made a super yummy dinner of pumpkin and baked ricotta couscous and mixed roasted veges (pumpkin, zucchini, eggplant, capsicum, french shallots, onion and carrots), which was fantastic and just what I felt like. She is the best girlfriend/partner/wife* ever.
I had a good day.
Loodle's opinion of bath time is not high, as opposed to his opinion of his peanut butter kong ball.
*Sometimes I struggle with terminology, but the sentiment is the same.
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