Are our minds prepared for action?
Is our day’s work set before us?
Home January's Challenge: BE TIDY
Family are staying for a couple of days, so there will be no special "tidy-ness challenge" today ... just the normal household tasks of meal preparation and cleaning up, plus having fun!
Garden PLANNING
Son-number-2 has a plan for his garden. He has even drawn up a plan for crop rotation. I suppose I have a plan of sorts, but being a beginner gardener with no mentor, and living in suburbia where people traditionally grow decorative plants rather than edible plants, there has certainly been a good deal of trial and error.
*First, I consolidated my aim: to learn to be as self-sufficient as possible and to hopefully encourage others to do likewise.
*Second, I spent at least a year improving our sandy soil.
*Third, I ordered a free seed catalogue from Eden Seeds, then bought seeds from both our local shops and from Eden Seeds.
http://www.edenseeds.com.au/content/default.asp I was encouraged by Eden Seeds' practical approach to today's situation of minimal home gardening and reliance on shop-bought produce.
Here are some words from Eden Seeds:
TOWARDS SELF-SUFFICIENCY SEED COLLECTION
The more we take responsibility for our own food the less prone we will be to natural or technological disasters. Start now to grow some of your food and learn to save seeds and exchange them.
A lifetime garden can result
A cottage garden, even a window box, keeps growers in touch with nature. It is self empowering. Eat what is in season and preserve surplus and exchange with friends and neighbours.
Wouldn’t it be good if there was no longer any need for Eden Seeds to be concerned about our endangered food heritage?
*Fourth, I learned to grow seedlings and transplant them into garden beds with a some degree of success, and plenty of failure, learning along the way.
*Fifth, I kept my eyes open for plants that I had difficulty in growing as seedlings. It was during this time that I discovered that old fashioned herbs were being grown by Renaissance Herbs.
http://renaissanceherbs.com.au/ Perhaps our grandparents didn't even know about some of these wonderful renaissance herbs that I was sourcing from our local Bunnings and also from the delightful Le Jardin Gardin Centre & Cafe at Flaxton in our Sunshine Coast hinterland.
*Sixth, I propogated new plants from old. I saved seeds and grew seedlings of Amaranth, Borage, Calendula, Capsicum, Chili, Coriander, Dill, Herb Robert, Job's tears, Sensitive plant and Toothache plant. A variety of Lettuce along with Pak choi and Mustard have self-propogated, after some were allowed to "go-to-seed" last season. Passionfruit, Paw-paw, Pumpkin and Rockmelon seeds have been buried as kitchen scraps, and they too are popping up here and there. Some plants such as Job's tears, Lebanese cress, Lemon balm, Mints, Nettle and also Oregano have multiplied by root division. Strawberries and Sweet potatoes are being reproduced by runners popped under the damp soil and mulch while still attached to the mother plant. Yacon (sweet fruit root) which I was kindly given by a lady also called Robyn, along with Dragon fruit and Leaf ginseng have multiplied with cuttings. And so the garden lives on!
*Seventh, I have given plants and accompanying information about the culinary and medicinal uses of the plants to others who have shown an interest in them. And these plants are still giving pleasure to my friends.
*Eighth, I am experimenting with using plants from the garden, primarily following Isabell Shipard's practical guide to growing Australian culinary and medicinal herbs.
Thanks to Isabell Shipard, a local resident from Nambor, whose amazing research in her book "How can I use Herbs in my Daily Life" has been a wonderful source of knowledge.
And so, while I do not have the traditional "gardening plan", I do actually have my own agenda. I was going to say, "my own agenda that I am muddling my way through!" BUT, I have a lovely friend, Mandy, who chastises me for putting myself and my efforts down, where actually much has been achieved in this little patch of suburbia, even if I am not successfully growing such things as carrots, tomatoes, pumpkin or marrows - perhaps they weren't destined to grow in my garden!
Are the decisions we make
And the time we take
Helping us to create
A form of insurance
Against trouble, or trial,
Or economic
crisis?
Robyn
as we reach for our dreams.
from Robyn
Painting of robin by Brenda, Robyn’s mum