Our Patch

THANKS!

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:36:00 +0000

Thank you everyone for your concerning comments and especially to Lisa from The Tin House for your most generous offer and concern.

We did not have major flooding here, just water lapping at the back door!

I have not been "in Blog Land" as I have some "things" happening in my life that has been occupying my thoughts lately.

I'd rather not get into it.....sorry for worry you!!

I also want to apologise for not visiting your blogs either....I have a lot of Blog reading to catch up on!!

image from www.nepress.co.uk

Building an ark!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:49:00 +0000

We have had so much rain lately!

Since the beginning of February we have had 364.5mls; 70ml in the past 24hrs and 104ml in the previous 24hr period! Don't get me wrong, I'm loving it :-)

Our chooks (hens) need to grow webbing though, so they can swim,lol!

One frustrating thing is that our second rainwater tank still hasn't been delivered and it was due here on the 4th February.

Media Consumption

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:38:00 +0000

Lightening has tagged me for an interesting MeMe which asks us to look at our media consumption over the past week.

Media refers to various means of communication and therefor these days encasulates the internet as well as the more traditional forms of newspapers, television, radio and books.

The internet has become a huge media source for many people and I must admit that it is my biggest source of media consumption. This is due to the enormous amount of reading (and even listening) that is possible from one source!!

I used to read many books but know it usually just to quickly refer to a gardening book; I have so many that are topic specific that it is quicker than "googling".

So, my media consumption for the past week is not that varied;

* TV ~ snippits of the news each day, Biggest Looser, snippits of Oprah!

* Books ~ a quick glance at a gardening book

* Radio ~ whenever I'm in the car and a bit on the weekend

* Internet ~ daily I read a number of blogs, read various news websites, check my local Freecycle group, log in at Swap-bot and "waste" a lot of time internet surfing!

* Newspapers ~ I read our free weekly local paper and flick throught one weekend newspaper.

What has been your main source of media consumption this past week?

image from http://www.allposters.com.au/

Gratitude

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:43:00 +0000

The Miriam Webster online dictionary defines gratitude as
"the state of being grateful"

I often think about how fortunate I am for many things in my life.

Recently I compiled a list of 100 Things I am Grateful For. It was for a swap on Swap-Bot, an internet based swapping group which I recently became a member of. I thought this swap was a wonderful idea though at first I thought "100", I'll never be able to do that!!

There is even a blog where people from our swap can post their lists and I've added mine to it!

This is my list;

100 Things I’m Grateful For

1. My good health
2. A home, safe place to sleep at night
3. My husband ~ for everything
4. My daughter ~ for being “her”
5. The opportunities that living in Australia can present to me if I wish
7. Having enough money to never have to go without
8. My parents for raising me as they did
9. Airconditioning to help with humid summers!
10. Having traveled so much as a child ~ opened my eyes to the world
11. Being able to travel overseas regularly
12. My two dogs ~ their companionship
13. My hens ~ their delicious eggs and manure for the garden
14. Being able to have the garden of my dreams
15. My organic veggie patch and it’s produce
16. The people who read my blog (www.ourpatch.blogspot.com)
17. Rain
18. Living near the beach and walking there often
19. Not living in a third world country and having to struggle for everyday things in life
20. Both my parents & inlaws for all that they do for us
21. The lovely breeze when it’s windy
22. Plentiful food
23. Hugs and cuddles from both my husband and daughter
24. Walking in the bush near our house and seeing kangaroos regularly
25. Butterflies hovering in our garden
26. All of the opportunities I’ve had so far in my life
27. Earthworms in the garden
28. Flower buds about to open
29. Developing veggies growing in our veggie garden
30. The bright cheery sunflowers
31. Our comfortable king sized bed ~ having a great nights sleep
32. My dogs being excited to see me
33. My daughter telling me any problems/issues she has
34. Airplanes ~ a great mode of transport to just about anywhere!
35. Money ~ never needing to worry about it
36. The support of my husband & daughter with my environmental “efforts” at home
37. My daughter’s good health
38. Having a car and being able to drive anywhere if I choose
39. Internet
40. The beautiful plants in our garden
41. Being able to jump in the shower when hot/dirty
42. My husbands like of cooking as I dislike doing it!
43. Smiles
44. Hugs
45. Friends
46. Family
47. Time together with my husband ~ just him and me
48. Holidays, especially overseas
49. An abundance of foods
50. Always having clean water to drink
51. One on one time with my daughter
52. Family outings/events
53. My dogs wagging their tails at me
54. The beautiful view from my windows
55. The natural beauty of the bush
56. The smile and laughter from my daughter
57. My husband, for just being “himself”
58. Friends accepting me for whom I am
59. Talks on the telephone with friends who live a long way away
60. Bargains when shopping
61. Treasures in op/thrift shops
62. The joy on someone’s face when I give them something
63. Dreams
64. Imagination
65. Laughter
66. The sound of my husband’s car on the driveway when he arrives home
67. Our huge Balinese daybed to relax on
68. Mocha flavoured drinks, either hot or cold
69. Kookaburras laughing in the nearby bush
70. The beach
71. Public holidays as my husband is then at home more!
72. Talking with friends
73. Bees that germinate the flowers on my produce plants
74. The wind on a hot day to help cool me down
75. The dogs wagging their tails
76. Airconditioning in my car
77. Holidays
78. Cool showers
79. When school resumes after long school holidays!
80. How supportive my husband is
81. The love from my husband
82. The love from my daughter
83. Lychees
84. Cold drinks on a hot day
85. Warm drinks on a cold day
86. Asian foods
87. Caramel flavouring
88. My craft desk and “stuff”
89. Music
90. Books
91. Colour
92. Rainbows
93. Trees
94. Flowers
95. Gel pens
96. Our house
97. Computers / technology
98. Jewellery
99. My hearing
100. My sight

I challenge you all to compile your own list; don't worry about trying to list 100 things, just write and see how many you can come up with :)

It's raining it's pouring......

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:08:00 +0000

What a night!!!

It's been raining for most of the time since about 8.30 pm last night and during the night we have had some monstrous downpours including thunderstorms.

I awoke at 1am this morning to the loudest clap of thunder I've ever heard!!!

Earlier in the night I had to get up and let the dogs inside due to them being pertified. Are your dogs scared of thunder too? We always end up with them sleeping in our bedroom on the floor and I have to lay there with my arm hanging off the bed to keep patting/comforting our Staffie!!!!

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night; my eyes feel like they're hanging out of my head this morning!!

At 7am I ducked outside and saw that there were 78ml of rain in our rain gauge. I wonder how much will be in it at 9am when I take our reading and record it.

** Updated **
At 9am the reading on our rain water gauge was 100ml!!!!

Ironically our second rainwater tank is delivered later this week..........

image from www.quietlywild.com

January records and other goings on

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:21:00 +0000

This past month saw us with a record number of eggs from Ruby, Penny and Lucy; a total of 91 which we are so grateful for!

We also receievd 100ml of rain which has kept our 3000l (660 gallon) tank topped up. This next week our other 3000l tank is delivered which will go on the other side of our house. The concrete slab is ready and waiting for it :)

Today I got this box of lettuce scraps from the greengrocers (free) for our chooks. They are currently happily pecking away at a handful of it oblivious to the drizzle which has just begun!

I have decided to put our paper/plastic recycling tub in the garage as it's only a short walk from the kitchen. It's out of the way there so can't be tripped over and also not far from the outside council recycling wheelie bin that it needs to be emptied into on a regular basis.

It's interesting, after yesterday's post to see that we all do things in a similar way. Thanks for your comments :)

Organising household recycling

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:55:00 +0000

Here at Our Patch we recycle as much as possible.

Any food scraps go into a container in the fridge and then whatever is suitable for the chickens goes to them, and the remainder to the worm farm or compost bin.

We have a plastic tub in the family room for paper waste as there isn't much floor space in the kitchen for it; the kitchen bin gets in the way as it is!

We need a better place to this plastic tub but don't have any spare kitchen cupboard space at present..........

How do you organise the recycling, especially the paper waste at your home? Do you have 2 bins in the kitchen?

Much Better!

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 05:05:00 +0000

Ta-Daa!!

The Embarassing Mess!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:53:00 +0000

This is to embarrass me into tidying it!

Even though it's no excuse, our kitchen is in the centre of our house making it easy to be the general "dumping" area!!

Our house is long and narrow in design. To the left of the kitchen is the family and lounge room and then down a short passage way is the main bedroom with ensuite, the garage and the laundry is off the back of the garage.

The dining room is in front of the kitchen and to the right is a passage way to the 3 minor bedrooms and the main bathroom.

Things to do...........

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:26:00 +0000

Well, the new school year has resumed so it's time for some organisation around here! (I can't believe Miss M is in year 7 this year ~ the final year of primary school)

I have to stop spending so much time sitting here on line,lol!!

This is what I ~~want to~~ will get accomplished this week, ie. before the weekend;

* declutter the kitchen bench (will post a shocking photo today to embarrass myself into doing it)

* tidy up our bedroom

* tidy up our ensuite including in the cupboards

* purchase/order corn and pea seeds

* clean out the chook run/pen

* declutter the lounge room

Well I'd better get off here, write the food shopping list, go and buy it all, put it away and get started on the above list..............

Seed Decision

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:15:00 +0000

I have decided what I'd like to grow from seeds this year ~ and they are also something that I've never grown before!!

Here in the sub tropics sweetcorn can be planted up til the end of February so I still have time to do this if I hurry up and source seeds this next week!

I will need to wait quite awhile before planting peas here due to the long period of warm weather!

This is part of the Growing Challenge that I've mentioned previously here.

As soon as I purchase the seeds I'll take photos to help record the process along with regular notes which I'll record both here and in my Household & Garden Records File.

If any of you have any tips you'd like to share to help me in the successful germination of these seeds I'd greatly appreciate them becasue as I've mentioned before my seed germantion success rate is extremely LOW......

image from www.allposters.com.au

Prizes to Win!

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 06:45:00 +0000

Lightening over at Lightening on Line has a great Australia Day Giveway and is offering not one but THREE GREAT PRIZES!!

Why not hop on over to her site to check it and enter :-)

Australia Day

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:47:00 +0000

Today is Australia Day, our national day of celebration.

"Australia Day, January 26, is the biggest day of celebration in the country and is observed as a public holiday in all states and territories.

On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation.

It's the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future."

I am grateful to be living in a country full of opportunities, a great climate (for most of the year), lovely beaches and friendly "down to earth" people.

To other Australians I ask you to consider what it is you love about living here and to those of you who live elsewhere what makes your country special.......

image and information from www.australiaday.gov.au

Thinking about what to plant next??

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 05:46:00 +0000

How many of you are like me and planning on what you'd like to grow next in your vegetable garden??

As I am a participant in the Growing Challenge that Melinda from Elements in Time initiated I need to think about what seeds I might plant that I've never grown before!!

As I've mentioned previously I don't have a great track record of successful seed germination let alone growing and then harvesting produce!!

Melinda has written a couple of GREAT posts these past 2 days and if you're in the planning stage like me I urge you to go and read them!!

One is on planning your garden and the other on deciding what to plant;with a number of questions to ask yourself and guide you through the decision process.

As I'm still fairly "new" to the climate here in central Queensland I am going to read a few links that I have bookmarked as well as a couple of magazines to see what's best to grow here now and in the next few months.

Since the lettuce plants began to bolt when the warmer weather began in December I have been building up one third of my vegie garden ~ adding manure, compost, grass clippings etc. ready for my next planting out.

I need to get some seeds growing though so they can **fingers crossed** germinate and grow a bit and then be planted out!!

image from www.allposters.com.au

At Our Patch Today

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:42:00 +0000

Today I gave everything a big "drink" of "worm wee", diluted down to the colour of weak tea. I do this on a fortnighly basis if enough liquid has been collected from the worm farm, otherwise I use fish emulsion instead.

What do you use to feed your produce garden?

As well as 3 eggs I picked these 7 large Lebanese cucumbers, the majority of which will be pickled.

With the summer holidays coming to an end it is time to organise all of Miss M's school belongings for this year. I can't believe she will now be in year 7!!!!

It will certainly be quiet at home from next Tuesday when the school year resumes!

I will organise myself and draw up a routine for during the week when at home by myself to make better use of the time; not spending so much time on here,lol :)

I need to think about what I'm going to grow next including from seed as well as do some more decluttering which has fallen to the wayside past week along with housework :(

Refuse!

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 05:28:00 +0000

Hannah who blogs at Swirlyness left a great comment on my recent post about rethinking, reducing, reusing, repairing and recycling.

She so rightly pointed out that there is another R ~ REFUSE that we should be taking into consideration. This does tie in with the rethinking and Hannah said this;

"There is another R - Refuse

Refuse waste. Buy food at a food co-op where you can fill up your own containers, take your own bags instead of getting plastic ones. Buy a good drink bottle, rather than using plastic ones that have lots of embodied energy. I have a friend that strives to have zero waste. If she has to buy things at the supermarket she pays then empties the packets into her own containers and bags and gives the attendant the waste back.

What could you refuse??? I know I see people's bins overflowing every week, when I am likely to only have one or two bags of rubbish on an average week, and I share a house with two other people. I agree with Late Bloomer - lets set a challenge to reduce our waste (this should include recycling, it still needs high energy processing to be re-used, and has high embodied energy to start with."

That's what I love about blogging, we can share ideas and/or points.
Thanks Hannah for bring this to our attention :)

At Our Patch we don't have much general household rubbish; our green wheelie bin only has a couple of bags in the bottom of it each week but that's still a couple of bags worth that ends up as landfill.

Rest & Relaxation

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 04:22:00 +0000

This weekend I haven't been doing ~~much~~ hardly any decluttering at Our Patch. Other than the usual and necessary washing of J's work clothes and general garden, household and chook maintenance we have all been taking it easy :)

Yesterday we were all invited to a work mate of J's home for a party. This is the first time in the year since we've been living here that we've been invited to some one's home other than by J's family. It was great to be out socialising and meeting new people.

I am currently looking for part time work also to meet people. I think as an adult it is more difficult to make friends, especially as my daughter is now nearly 12 and walks herself to school (so the opportunity to meet mothers there is not open).

Anyway, back to relaxation; I've been whiling away the time reading various things on the internet and chatting with both J and Miss M as well as playing with our dogs.

It is lovely to have the occasional day of "slothing" around......

What do you like to do to while a way a few hours and if you have young children/babies what would you like to do if time permitted?

image from www.allposters.com.au

Photo Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:57:00 +0000

A little bit of Our Patch.

Enjoy!

Another 7 Random Things MeMe!

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:51:00 +0000

Robin over at Simple Aussie has tagged me for the 7 Random Things MeMe.

I did this late last year but might as well tell you another 7 random things about me!!

1. Turquoise is my favourite colour.

2. I don't like driving long distances in the car by myself as there's no one to talk too, lol!

3. Caramel is my favourite flavouring.

4. Mocha is my favourite drink ~ cold or hot!

5. I have two tattoos ~ one on my ankle and one on my arm.

6. I LOVE to talk (as does my daughter!!)

7. Past jobs have included being a laboratory assistant, Census collector, garden designer and landscaper.

I'm going to be slack and not pass this on to 7 others as just about everyone I know has done this, but feel free to list & random things about you on your blog and leave a comment here so I can come and have a read :)

The Growing Challenge ~ Are You In It?

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:42:00 +0000

Belinda at Belinda's Place wrote about a great challenge yesterday that I want to be part of. Thanks for bringing it to my attention Belinda :)

Melinda at Elements in Time has challenged us all to grow one additional type of fruit or vegetable than you did last year, and grow it from seed.

As Melinda mentions, this is what the challenge will do for you;

* it will push you harder,

* it will keep you going when you run out of steam,

* it will regularly remind you to keep up with what’s important to you,

* it will give you a network for finding out more,

* it will help you move toward a goal of becoming more frugal, sustainable, and self-sufficient, and

* it will make you feel like a part of a group of people all moving toward the same goal.

I'm definitely in on this as I have not had much success ( in fact the only things that germinated and have successfully grown from seed are the pumpkins) so far from seed germination and I do want to end end growing all of my produce this way instead of purchasing seedlings.

I will attempt to grow at least two vegetables from seed, snow peas will be one and I'm not sure of the other one yet!

I will post about this challenge regularly under the label The Growing Challenge and fingers crossed that I'll be able to write about successful germination, growth and finally eating this produce!!

Worms and vermicast.

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 07:09:00 +0000

This afternoon I began the arduous job of separating my worms in the worm farm from the vermicast.

I set up my worm farm in early July last year and this is a job that I've been needing to do for a few weeks.

I will be using the separated vermicast in my vegie garden to add valuable nutrients.

I found this great information from the Gardening Australia website;

"Vermicast compost is different from normal compost because it has been through the worms' intestines. It is soluble food and its nutrient is up to 800% more available to plants than other composts.

It is important to cover vermicast compost with soil or mulch since ultraviolet light can destroy its goodness.

Seedlings can be planted straight into a hole filled with vermicast to give them a good start. Similarly seeds can be sown into seed drills partly filled with vermicast."

I did not know til today about UV light destroying the goodness in the vermicast!

Do any on you have some great tips on an easy way to remove the worms from the remaining vermicast??

At the rate I'm going it is going to take me hours and hours to sort through the rest!!

Not 3 R's but 5 R's!

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:06:00 +0000

This morning I read a great post by Late Bloomer over at Soccer Moms and Single Chicks about reducing, reusing and recycling.

I've thought a lot about this today and done some reading on the internet.

Whilst reading the Australian Government Environmental website I came across a page where they talk about not 3 R's but 5 R's! These are listed as follows;

* RETHINK - the use of all resources. Is there a more environmentally friendly way of doing things, or do you really need to do it? Each time you purchase you create a demand. Think before you buy!
For example, walk, join a car pool or catch a bus instead of taking the car, take a shopping bag instead of using plastic bags

* REDUCE - the use of all resources, especially non-renewable ones. If you must do it use the alternatives that technology makes available.
For example, send and read information electronically instead of printing it on paper, use renewable energy sources such as solar power.

* REUSE - where possible reuse resources
For example, use newspaper for garden mulch and milk cartons for tree guards, an old top for a rag.

* REPAIR - rather than throwing things away
For example, try to buy repairable equipment, sell/give broken white goods to repairers rather than sending it to landfills.

* RECYCLE - waste items wherever possible
For example, sort your garbage and recycle all cans, bottles, paper and glass, set up a compost heap for food scraps.

There are many more things that can be added to the above lists and I challenge you to think of the 5 R's ~ Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair and Recycle as you go about your daily lives.

Decluttering both inside and out.

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 07:50:00 +0000

Sadly, due to the high humidity the non productive gardens have been a bit neglected as of late.

I've just got back inside after a short sharp weeding stint. If I do half an hour early evening for the next couple of days I'll be back on top of things!

Whilst outside I took a couple of photos.

These are the first passion fruit on our Red Panama vine. As you can see, we are growing it along the top of the fence to give us some privacy from our neighbours house.

This is the red capsicum which I shall probably pick tomorrow. There are a couple of baby capsicums and plenty of flowers on that plant as well as two others so hopefully we will have a steady supply for the next few months.

I've been decluttering here in the study/craft room during the past couple of days too. I can now reach my craft desk, even sit down at it to work!!

It's a great feeling to finally be making headway in this room. I am actually enjoying the tidying up/sorting things out process :)

Mending........

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:05:00 +0000

DEFINITION
* garments that must be repaired
* repair: the act of putting something in working order again
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

In todays throw away society the process of mending something is not done enough as the "quick fix" is to dispose of that item and purchase another one. Sadly this just adds to landfill and to increased consumerism.

It is the lazy option.

Usually mending something actually doesn't take long. (unless it sits there waiting for weeks or months on end!!)

The act of grabbing a needle and thread to sew on a button or mending a seam/hemline only takes 5 minutes; yesterday I sewed up a split in the seam in a pair of J's boardies and actually timed it.

Of course mending isn't just about sewing, it could be gluing something back together or hammering in a nail.

If things sit gathering dust waiting to be fixed why not schedule in mending after your house cleaning or another weekly job. That way it stays as a simple job and you don't end up with a pile and variety of things to go through and mend.

Allocate a set area for "things to be mended"; perhaps a basket in the laundry or linen cupboard or on top of the fridge.

If you have a set way to organise your mending please share your ideas/strategy with us in the comments section.............and Happy mending!!

Todays pickings........

noreply@blogger.com (Ali) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:40:00 +0000

Woops, sorry for the dark photo ~ it's raining here so it's very overcast and dark inside!

This is this mornings pickings.

These are Lebanese cucumbers but are BIG! They weigh a total of 1.1kg!!

I'll be pickling these this morning as we're still eating the last "normal" cucumber from the other vines.

Everything seems to grow large here ~ it must be the weather conditions, hot and humid!