I'm just going to have a little rest before I go to bed

Last Tuesday I turned 40.

I had been looking forward to it for a while now, and by a while I mean about 2 years. I don't really know why but I liked the idea of saying "I'm 40".
Anyway I've been 40 for 6 days now and it's been somewhat of an anticlimax. I just don't feel any different. I don't know why I thought I would, I never really feel older I just look older. I still feel about 20 which isn't necessarily a good thing.
I often look at women or pictures of women of "a certain age" (I say that because I'm hopeless at estimating peoples age) and I think they have wisdom, maturity and I'm waiting to feel like that.
Will it ever happen? I don't know and I'm not sure I really even care...................

Kurtis is nearly 4 and I recently noticed he has lost his little pot belly. My baby is growing up and I know I'm biased but he really is a delight to parent. He is in the process of dropping his day sleep. Some days he doesn't sleep but on the days he does its still 2 to 3 hours. Today he didn't sleep and while I shopped and lazed about at the Hot Springs with friends he spent the day at his grandparents. He wasn't interested in dinner and before I suggested it was close to bed time he lay down on the couch and said to me "Mum, I'm just going to have a little rest before I go to bed".
Oh my little buddy bear I do love you. xxxxxx

Kurtis and  Louis

Georgia xx

Heavy metal, reggae and nursery rhymes

3 years and 8 months old. Most people would say something like "wow it seems like yesterday I was holding you in my arms" or "where did the time go?"
Not me, I feel as though Kurty has been around for, well, about 3 years and 8 months. After all I've been right beside him for most of it.

Lately, my little buddy,you have been really getting into music. Not long ago you only wanted to listen to children's Cd's from the ABC Shop. Then one day, literally overnight that all changed. I think it was after Dad put on AC/DC's Thunderstruck, you grabbed your guitar and jumped around the lounge room and you kept wanting to turn up the volume. Since then your taste in music has broadened significantly.
At the moment your favorite songs and bands include;

Love to have a beer with Duncan (you know every verse word for word, but won't sing it too the video camera)
Jumpin' Jack Flash
Black Betty
Bosom for a pillow (that's what you call it anyway)
Gorilla radio
Get up, stand up
Blur song 2

AC/DC
The Beach Boys
The Country Drinking Songs CD (Thanks Clint)
Spiderbait
John Butler Trio

In the car we channel surf a lot and you always ask me to stop and turn it up if there is base, drums and screaming vocals. Think Led Zepplin, Rage against the machine, Soundgarden and Foo Fighters.
You always want me to sing one song before you go to sleep. This could be one of four songs, the Collingwood theme song, Rudolf the Red nosed reindeer, I can sing a rainbow or Sing a song of sixpence.
Nothing like a bit of variety.


On Sunday we had a little family outing to the Melbourne Aquarium and a good time was had by all.
Kurtis cracked me up as we sat at the largest tank for a while just watching the fish do their thing. Those of you who know my son know that he LOVES his food (his first word was "bowl" closely followed by "more" and "soup").
So we are sitting watching the fish, which I find sooooooooooooo relaxing, and Kurtis' dialogue begins.

"Can you eat those ones?"
"You can eat those ones"
"You can eat those little ones in one go!"
"You can eat those ones but you have to chop off their heads first"

And so it went on. And on, and on and on. Always thinking about your next meal aren't you buddy.

random

Funny things Kurty has said,

Driving down Shands Rd "I like bumpy roads, they make my cheeks wobble".

Gives me THE biggest hug of all time "I want to keep you forever"  26/7/2011. *melt*

On his birthday I am going to ask him a few questions and then ask them again every year on his birthday a record the answers.

1 What do you want to be when you grow up?
2 What is your favorite song
3 What is your favorite toy
4 Favorite food
5 Favorite place
6 Favorite story

One week and six days away from 40, feelings today..............indifference.

first hot chocolate

Forging his own path

a little adventure

Today Kurty and I went for "a little adventure" as he likes to call it. That is we walked somewhere that we have not walked before. Today it was the track from Red Hill to Merricks, we didn't walk all the way we just went for a stroll 1/2 an hour each way. I can't believe that I have lived here for 8 years and not walked along here before.
Sorry there are no photos of the trail, I just don't think about taking them when I'm 'in the moment'. It was really lovely, peaceful.
We saw goats and alpacas in peoples back yards, toadstools and horse hoove prints on the ground and beautiful red leaves set against the backdrop of a white cloudy sky. Needless to say it won't be the last time we walk this trail.
Kurty gave me a running commentary along the way, as he does. Then he said something quite memorable to me. I can't remember the topic but he was listing things to me "I have so much information in my head and I'm downloading it to you Mum". Ahhhhh the information age indeed..............................

Kurty and dad watching motorbikes at the Red Hill Show

Snuggling up to his fur buddy

Life is good, change is in the air.

IT IS TIME TO MOVE FORWARD

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

I try to be very conscious about how much time I spend on the computer while Kurtis is awake. It used to be not at all, but since I got a new laptop and wireless Internet this little device has been seducing me big time.
Apart from the fact that I recently read that some schools have removed their wireless network and gone back to the plug in option because of unsafe levels of radiation, you're simply not present when your on the computer.
I don't mean to say that I play with Kurty all day. I spend a fair amount of time, washing clothes and dishes, cleaning, tidying, vacuuming, cooking in fact anything to avoid pushing matchbox cars around on the floor!
Kurtis also likes to cook, clean and tidy and I try to include him in all these jobs when he's interested. I mean it doesn't matter how long it takes to do these jobs does it, 10 minutes, 30 minutes. Its the process not the product.
I guess that's the luxury of being a stay at home mum. I could clean this house top to bottom in 4-5 hours, it's a pretty big house. But instead it takes 4 to 5 days. Who cares (well sometimes I do if I know we are having visitors but Clint and I are masters of the 15 minute tidy which is totally fine if you don't look too closely).
What I love is watching Kurty with a spray bottle of vinegar and water and a cloth. He cleans floors, cupboards,windows, showers, most things really. He vacuums with the dust buster and the big vacuum, he loads and unloads the washing machine and hangs clothes on the line. He doesn't do any of these things properly except the laundry but that is so not the point.

Anyway yesterday he was asking for my old laptop for the millionth time and as I'm trying to delay his familiarisation with technology for as long as I can I said No, again. (our local primary school uses computers in Prep, he will not be "behind" if he isn't proficient before that and he can already take a mean photo with my iPhone. Don't ask me how I didn't show him!)
All he wanted was to imitate me so after 5 minutes of cut and paste Kurty had himself a laptop.

   The first thing he said was "mum can I have your iPhone I need to download some photos" so much for delaying familiarisation! He then went on to say something about a modem?

I made this really quickly as I was trying to get something else done but you could make it a lot more like the real thing with a bit of attention to detail

Junior laptop:-

1 manila folder
2 pieces of ribbon
texta
staples
magazine pictures (let your child choose and cut and paste them on)
glue

calculator (to use as a mobile phone)

= hours of fun.
OK not really hours more like 10 minutes here and there but he loves it anyway.

Kurty does not get to play with my phone, you may think that's mean when there are soooo many "cute" apps out there (I have been told, I haven't actually seem them) aimed squarely at his age group. If your wondering why I have made this choice click on the link below.
Its in two parts 7 minute each. Its Dr Charlie Teo on 60 minutes but if you haven't seem it before please watch. For your children's sake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq340oQPfK4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvyFbcCZlrI&feature=related

You may think its propaganda and that is your right but with the jury still out on the link between mobile phones and tumours why would you risk it? The fact is that children's skulls are thinner than ours.


Talk again soon,

Georgia xx

long time, no see

Well, like a lot of things in my life I started this blog with enthusiasm then one day just completely lost interest. No particular reason, I think I just realised that I really enjoy reading blogs a lot more than writing them and I always forget to take photos of stuff that I could blog about and I really do prefer a blog post with a bit of eye candy!

I think another reason for my lack of interest is the subject matter. While I'm truly happy about growing healthy food for myself and my family and I'm grateful for the learning opportunity for Kurty I don't love gardening and I probably never will. Although I hope it grows on me. (pardon the pun)

So I will use this blog for other things too. Namely as a record of events and occurrences and the little things that my sieve like memory could never retain on its own.

What inspired me to open up this blog again was that just a moment ago when Kurty was in the middle of this 3 hour day sleep (I can usually set my watch by him and yes at 3yrs and 8mths (OMG really) I really do know how lucky I am to have this time to myself every day) he cried out at 1.5hours and I raced in and yes at 3yrs and 8mths I still cannot let him cry alone for more than a moment, crying during the day when he doesn't get his own way, well thats another story.
Anyway I rushed in to "mum, my arm is fuzzy" bless him "that's pins and needles buddy roll over and it will go away in a minute". Probably only cute because I'm his mum but I thought it was adorable and I didn't want to forget it, and now I won't.
So the house is quite once more except for the chirp of crickets. Some people I believe quite like this sound, I think I used to be one of those people. Not any more now I bloody well HATE the little buggers. They chirp VERY LOUDLY day and night and have been keeping me awake night after night for months, since about October last year, lately I have tried ear plugs and some nights I have even gone to sleep in the spare bed which seems ridiculous. I even called Dawson's pest control, but they told me there is nothing you can do and they are seasonal. Which seasons is what I'd like to know! Oh she did suggest pouring boiling water on them but all this achieved was the death of one previously very nice plant.

So the garden, if your interested, has been good, good for zucchinis that is. I think we pick one or two a day and that has been going on for ages although I think things seem to be slowing up now.
I have only thrown one away of which I'm very proud.
I have made:-
a very yummy zucchini slice (thermomix recipe)
zucchini, feta and ricotta fritters    yum
zucchini chocolate cake      I liked it more than the husband and kurty just wanted icing on it

Zucchini has been a pizza topping, a filling for chicken soft tacos, grated into pasta sauce, added too minestrone soup, pumpkin soup and vegetable soup, added to garden salads, rice salads, pasta salads,beetroot carrot and apple salads and coleslaw.
I'm sure there has been more and I have a recipe for a zucchini,carrot and shallot risotto planned for tomorrow.

I'm too lazy to write any recipes but message me if your interested.


Today Kurty came out with two other little gems. Dad said as they played with a footy "I'll kick it to ya" to which Kurty replied "I'll kick it to you dad, not ya" I was soooooo proud. And then at the beach this morning as Kurty hitched a ride on Dad's shoulders I asked if he would like me to carry him for a bit (to give poor sick dad a break, he is suffering with a horrible cold right now) "No thank you mum, I'm rather happy up here"
Seriously sometimes I think we are raising an upper class English school boy not a three year old Aussie kid.
Still I'm not complaining I'd rather Kurty sound like a snooty little rich kid than a bogan. Is that snobby of me?

Mind you take a look at the photo below, seems were not all that far from bogan status around here after all.
God help me.

Harvest

The good news..................

We are now the proud owners of not one but two zucchini's. Feeling pretty chuffed. Kurtis picked them and started eating one on the spot.
I have a great recipe for the yummiest zucchini slice I've ever had, we'll be having that in the next day or two.

Oh and we have a little baby eggplant, so cute.

The bad news.....................

Something is eating our basil and our corn. What could it be?

Lots of space in the veggie patch to plant what, any ideas?


And totally unrelated cuteness. The other day I thought Kurtis had been pretty quiet for I while, so I thought I had better check things out. This is what I found.

Kurtis was reading stories to Max in the back seat of our car. 

So please tell me what to plant now. I do have books and charts and Internet access but it would be easier if you just tell me :)


Georgia xx

not just butterflies and bumblebees

THIS

PLUS THESE

= THIS

I spent a lot of time penning a witty little explanation of the pictures above but I have been wrestling with the computer tonight and it seems to have disappeared. I can't be bothered trying to recreate it sorry, so long story short. I thought the pretty little white moths were the culprits but after most of the damage had been done I found the perfectly camouflaged caterpillars. They now live in the park across the road. Needless to say I'm not planning on making cauliflower soup any time soon.

Kurtis and I were very excited. I thought this flower was a good sign but never having grown any food (except herbs) before I didn't know if this was a good sign or not. I thought I had heard of things "going to seed" or "going to flower" before and I thought this may happen after the plant had fruited.  I made a note to myself to ask someone without sounding like a complete fool. Anyway before I had a chance to do that Kurtis and I were out surveying the progress in the garden a day or two later and I said to Kurtis "I hope we get some zucchinis" to which he replied "They're here mum" as he pointed to the fat green stem behind the flower. I must say it looks a lot like a zucchini and I'm rather inclined to trust him. What do you think? 

And I cannot believe how quickly they grow, they would have to be three times bigger than everything else we planted at the same time.

Our first strawberry.

Luckily I took this photo for you as proof because when we went to check on it today,  it was gone!

When I asked Kurty where it was he just said, with a very serious face "someone must have eaten it". Someone indeed.

spiders

Spiders, usually I'm ok with them, unless its a huntsman. For some reason huntsmen make my skin crawl. Its always been this way much to the disappointment of my husband who occasionally gets woken up in the early hours of the morning by me holding an ice cream container and a piece of card. He knows what to do but is never happy about it.
We had one this morning after Clint had left for work. It was down quite low compared to their usual hangout near the roof. I saw it and ignored it because I have heard that fear is a learned response and I don't want to pass my issues on to Kurtis.
Kurtis saw him shortly after.

 "Mum there's a big spider"
 "I know buddy I saw him too, he's a big one isn't he"
 "he's a Daddy Enormous Legs"

Oh how I laughed. I think Daddy Long Legs are the only ones he knows the name of and he's never seen a Huntsman before as they always seem to come out at night and I have them removed immediately.
So he just figured that's what they must be called. I told him they were called Huntsman but he thought Daddy Enormous Legs was really a much more appropriate name and I really can't argue that one.
Then something amazing happened. I got the cardboard and the ice cream container and I calmly put him outside! Amazing what you can do when your child is the motivation.

So why am I telling you all this? Well, this blog has been a funny thing. I used to wonder why people would put there thoughts out there for anyone to read and I also used to wonder who read them. Then I started to read them, and found them interesting, entertaining and fascinating. I love to be a fly on the wall to peoples thoughts. I have always been a reader and sometimes you can stumble across blogs that are well written and thought provoking or just delicious eye candy from all the amateur photographers and crafters and interior stylists.
Then a friend suggested I start documenting the birth of our veggie garden and here we are.
What has surprised me most is that in a few short posts I have been read in 6 countries! AUS, USA, UK, Canada, Sweden and Malaysia. What the?    I don't even know anyone in Canada or Malaysia. Even more surprising is how chuffed I feel that people are reading what I write.

I also love how permanent this is, I have a crap memory and I mean REALLY crap so I am going to start documenting other things here too. Veggies take awhile to grow so I need to diversify if I want to post regularly.

Stay tuned.

 
 
I do love photos in blog posts so here is mine for today. I love beautiful houses and this is one gorgeous kitchen.
I should have taken a photo of the spider but I know I people with real arachnophobia can't even look at a photo of a spider without freaking out and I don't want to be put anyone through that!

Image from a blog that I enjoy daily The house that a-m built. 

Georgia xx

unbelievable

So I did it. Finally. And boy did I laugh. After saying that my printer wasn't compatible because the installation disc said XP and Office 2000 I simply plugged the thing in and it installed! All by itself! I'm amazed. I guess discs to install hardware are old school. I am so glad I didn't go and buy a new printer without checking this first. So all this time I had a way to get my photos over here. Who knew. (probably all of you)  I am hoping they will now upload quicker than before so here goes............

So to update you.
Not everything died after the hot spell we had the day after I planted. I worked out how to protect the tomatoes on hot days (they are actually feeding us right now although Kurtis eats the ripe ones in the backyard each day so I can't collect enough for a salad )  That is my late Grandmas beach umbrella, looking at it takes me straight back to Portsea back beach circa 1976. I can smell the coconut oil now.......

Status update:

zucchini - growing very well, with any luck we will be eating zucchinis eventually
eggplant - growing well, has a couple of purple flowers?
cabbage - being eaten by cabbage moths
watermelon - still small seedlings
rhubarb - still small seedling
basil - growing well
tomatoes - growing well
strawberries - fruit is growing
cucumbers - not much change since planting
corn and sweet corn - growing well
carrots - got fried in the heat, thought I would leave them there to see if they recover
pac choy - moths are loving it
spinach - thought it was lost in the heat but new growth shows it may just recover
celery - lost to the heat
cauliflower - moth food
cos - two out of three look ok
dill - doing well
chives - thriving
coriander - thought it was lost but looks like it may recover

 As I went out to start planting this is the scene that awaited me.

Kurtis after planting, looking very unimpressed. He had a good time with the planting he's just not into having his photo taken.

Well those took awhile to upload, not as long as the old laptop but still longer than I would like. I believe you can take photos on the iphone and upload straight to your blog. That sounds great, with any luck I will have that nutted out by Christmas.
So any ideas about how to stop those moths? I was given a suggestion but I forgot what it was, I really need to write stuff down!

Worm update - they are still not eating much but after re reading the booklet that came with the farm I realised my worms are babies and therefore don't eat much. They take 3 to 6 months to mature so no need to panic yet.

Well I can here my boy stirring from his afternoon siesta so I must go. You can look forward to more regular updates from now on, or not, depending on whether you have enjoyed the previous ones.

Georgia xx

 

Don't go away

I promise that today I will work out how to put photos on to this computer. I have been putting it off because I'm lazy and i don't like all things technological. I also don't like to break a promise so now I have promised you something I WILL follow through.

Watch this space

ooops!

This post is without photos, sorry. I am on the new laptop, yay but have yet to connect a printer so I can't get photos off the camera yet.
Anyway, I actually did what I said we would do and went to Bunnings last Friday. We spent $70 on seedlings. Went home very excited.

 First mistake, I brought too much.

In our excitement we planted them on Friday afternoon. My chest puffed out as I showed my husband our perfect veggie garden full of seedlings, now we just had to sit back and wait and water until we could harvest our beautiful homegrown veggies.

Second mistake, I didn't check the weather forecast.

Saturday was the beginning of four days in a row over 35 degrees celsius, one day got to at least 39. Needless to say at least half our seedlings have curled up and died.

Feeling pretty stupid right now but you live and you learn. Oh well back to Bunnings..................................

The beginnings of some lettuce

Our beautiful sunflowers in all their glory. I feel happy every time I see them. Kurtis believes they are still growing and he checks on their progress regularly, 4 or 5 times a day at least.

We have visible growth from our lettuce seeds! It happened just four days after sowing. I'm blown away.
So, I should have documented this earlier but my six year old laptop walks with a limp. That is, it seems to take an eternity to upload a photo to this blog amongst other things. A minor issue I guess but it kinda takes some of the fun out of posting. Hence the infrequency to date.

Things should be a lot better soon.  I have a brand new Sony notebook right here beside me. I got it on Monday after my hubby nagging me for the last twelve months to upgrade. And I kept ignoring him. Hang on that is sounding strangely and embarrassingly familiar.
I had been resisting because it just seemed too hard. To say I am technologically challenged doesn't even begin to describe the situation.
So I thought I had finally done it and was feeling quite proud. Until I tried to load the software or whatever for the modem and the printer. It turns out neither are compatible with Windows 7.   FUCK.
 I should have stuck with XP but I was trying to be cool and move with the times. So now I need to buy a new modem and printer. Not happy.

Anyway, about the garden. It is still devoid of plants or seeds but we have filled it with composting soil or something so it really is ready to go. We are going to buy some seedlings on Friday. Apparently there is still a lot of stuff I can plant now.
And the lettuces are growing, in punnets for now. Please don't comment on our planting technique.(Or my photography skills this is a gardening blog remember) I know they are waaaaay too close together but the seeds are sooooooooo tiny and combine that fact with the fine motor skills of a 3 year old, and you may see where I'm coming from.

I really had to reign in my inner control freak here and let the boy do his thing.
I want him feel ownership over this garden. This project is more for him to learn and connect with the earth than it is too feed us. Although if it feeds us I will be ecstatic. And I thought it would help us fill in the sometimes seemingly endless days at home. There is only so long one can discuss at length the differences and similarities between some 99 matchbox cars!  
Now a couple of questions. How much do worms eat? I realise their mouths are tiny so I haven't been giving them much. Probably something every five days or so but they seem to eat so very slowly. I kind of thought they were going to help us get rid of our kitchen scraps but to be honest I don't think that they're doing their fair share. I have been chopping up their veggies in the Thermomix so they don't need to chew too much but so far they're efforts have been pretty disappointing.
The other question is, when I plant the seedlings into the dirt should I put a layer of Lucerne hay or something around them to try and keep the soil from drying out too much?

I would love to know what you think.

Georgia xx

my beautiful boy

Just some photos of my oldest child for some one out here in blog land. Hi Sarah.

baby steps

Well I hoped I would have had more to report by now.
The garden beds are still empty and awaiting a bit more soil to be filled.
But progress has been made. Today Kurtis and I met some beautiful friends at Heronswood. We chatted, we snacked and we wandered the beautiful gardens. I got some inspiration and we brought some seeds at last.
I was however slightly disappointed. I had imagined buying quite a variety of vegies but when I asked the lady in the shop what  to plant now she told me that it was really too late for most things other than lettuces and boc choy type things. She said we could try tomatoes but if we didn't get a long Summer then we would be left with green tomatoes that wouldn't ripen.
I have looked at a few websites and they all say that there are quite a lot of things you can plant in January where I live. Beetroot, Asparagus, carrots, radish, silverbeet, turnips and zuccini for example. So I'm a bit confused.

Anyway Kurtis was very eager to get planting so we planted 2 types of lettuce seeds in to punnets. I hope they grow so we can transplant them into our garden.
He has been very excited lately as some sunflower seeds that he planted into egg cartons at playgroup last year have finally started to flower. He is beaming with pride at his achievement (although not in photos!). I'm really glad we did this now as he realises how long things can take to grow. Four months is ALONG time when your 3 and a half, but he seems to have the patience for our new venture, I think I can learn from him in that department!
I would love to hear from you with regards to what if anything you are planting now. Surely lettuce isn't our only option, its possibly the only vegetable Kurtis doesn't really like.
I have some ironing that will wait no longer, its been in the lounge room for about a week, so I must go but tomorrow I want to talk about the worms, curious little creatures they are.    

slow and steady

So it took 15 months to start this project you didn't think we would finish it in one weekend did you?

So we stapled black plastic around the sides (a tip from my friend's dad).
Turns out the mulch in the park did belong to someone. Why they think its ok to dump it in our local park and leave it there for over 6 months is a mystery to me. So I raked up all the leaves in our garden today and added them to the plots then my husband shovelled in the mushroom compost. One bed is as good as filled and we should get another metre and a half of the mushroom stuff tomorrow with any luck. I have then planned a trip to Heronswood next Wednesday to buy some seeds.
I also found this site today which should be helpful.
The book I have been reading "Fabulous food from every small garden" by Mary Horsfall, published by CSIRO while informative is a bit off putting. If I followed every step in this book tending to my vegie patch will be a full time job! This is the sort of thing that has put me off in the past. I like to do things properly, "by the book" no pun intended and it just all seems so hard. But then real people not books keep telling me that really it is very simple so I hope they are right.
I'm sure it won't be the last time I ask but short of building a fence (which would be another 12 months in the making I'm sure) how am I going to keep my very sniffy beagle cross off my vegie garden? He loves to jump up and in to it already and we haven't even planted anything.

What we've done so far...

We had 22 adults, one child, one baby and two very spoiled dogs for Christmas lunch 2010. A prospect I  found daunting to say the least since I don't enjoy cooking AT ALL (something I hope will change with the arrival of my Christmas present combined with growing my own food). And the most catering I had ever done was a BBQ for 6.
The man said he would finish work on the 23rd so he would be around to help me get ready.  Great I thought.
 I need all the help I can get for tomorrow.  As it turns out this is what happened.

Turns out his idea of helping was spending the day in the garden starting the project I had been nagging him for for the last 12 months! I could hardly complain, I was FINALLY getting my vegie garden and didn't see  my 3 year old all day.

I must say I was slightly alarmed when I went to check on the progress and found my 3 year old sanding, with an orbital sander. An orbital sander that was plugged in!! Thats right folks my 3 year old was using a power tool unaided. Am I the only one who is horrified?

But I have to say the look on his face was priceless. I have NEVER seen him happier and that's saying something for a child who is happy 90% of the time. Needless to say I went straight back inside before I tried to take over the situation, something I am prone to doing where my boy is concerned and I don't particularly like what I am seeing. Oh well, at least he wasn't using the drop saw.

n.b. The above photos are from early January as I was too busy getting ready for Christmas day to take photos on the 24th. 

So since the 24th we have dug out the grass laid out cardboard and some grass clipping and leaves. Hopefully with the help of a neighbour who has a small digger we will collect some mulch that has been lying in the park oppisite our house for months now  (I saw a chipper truck dump it there one day so I know it doesn't belong to any of our neighbours). Then some Lucerne straw, not sure if 2 bales will be enough, but at $25 a bale I hope so. We also ordered a big pile (thats the official amount) of mushroom compost. So hopefully we have enough to fill both plots.

Just after Christmas I also brought a worm cafe and a Tumbleweed compost bin but it will be awhile before we can use those goodies. 

$800 worth of timber (The man wanted to use treated pine but I refused so we got hardwood of some sort).

$400 worth of composting stuff.

$50 worth of straw

$150 worth of mushroom compost

$50 for a membership to The Diggers Club, going there this week

$???? for seeds and/or seedlings

So its not shaping up to be the budget version of a vegetable patch. I just hope it can pay for itself over time.

I do spend a lot of cash on fruit and vegies. I try to buy organic when possible and my 3 year old seems to eat more than me or my husband. But after all these expenses I'm feeling the pressure to grow some food. Money matters aside I think it will be a great activity for myself and my boy who both love to be outside.

The reason we went for raised beds is that our soil here in beautiful Shoreham, less than 1km from the beach is the hardest clay soil I have ever seen. When it rains our backyard becomes a large puddle for quite a long time. We also have a very healthy wild rabbit population. At the moment they seem to sustain themselves on plants from our front garden.

 Anyway, I now have 2 plots, one is 1.3m x 5m, the other 1.3m x 3m.

Hmmmmm, what to plant.............

I don't even know what you CAN plant in Summer! Any suggestions? 

p.s. If you know any keen gardeners who read blogs send them my link, I need all the help I can get!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Welcome

This is the first time that I have tried to grow food (apart from some herbs in pots) and I don't really know what I'm doing. It is also my first blog, again, don't really know what I'm doing.
Computers and I have never been friends. Come to think of it plants and I have never been friends either so one wonders how I even find myself sitting here writing what I hope will be a blog about gardening!
My hope is that by way of this blog I will get lots of advice from people that know more about gardening than I do. Not hard.
In October 2010 we moved into a newly built home, while the build was taking place we talked a lot about the vegie garden we would have, I even bought and read a book on the subject.
Now 15 months later and after lots of discussion ranging from subtle hints to full blown nagging (nothing happens too quickly round here) I finally have two plots out the back read for action. The pressure is on.

There shouldn't be pressure as I have heard gardening described as therapeutic, rewarding and even relaxing but when I try something new I always want to be good at it right away.
I constantly need to remind myself that "you learn from your mistakes" and that "its the journey not the destination that's important".