We Got Down & Dirty and Sowed Some Seeds

Gardening has been my project this year to get my shopping costs down, be more sustainable and have local organic produce.

While I garden The Rambling Expat usually tinkers at home or goes fishing for pleasure and food. However on this day he donned his fishing clothes and joined me to get my bottom plot more fertile for planting while Dolly played in the gardens around us.

The Rambling Expat Serious as Always.

We started off with an extremely thick layer of wood chip which I had been watering everyday for 2 months to aid the breakdown. We covered this with a 5cm compost soil.

Original Wood Chip

Raking with Style

We watered the soil and added a thick layer of mulch and we watered some more.

Mulched

We set up 2 tressels on each side of the plot. We planted a passionfruit plant at one side and 3 cucumber seedlings on the other. We also planted 3 capsicum seedlings, 1 chilli seedling and a lone pumpkin seed. Now I water and wait with impatience for the millimeter by millimeter growth.

A few days latter I went shopping at the dump shop... twice. The girl likes the shop if the product is good and the price is right :-)

Home Made Bike at the Dump Shop

Human Power Mowers at the Dump Shop.

I purchased a cage without a base ($2.50) to protect my pumpkin seed that has been growing beautifully. I purchased an old wooden clothes rack ($2.50) to protect the cucumbers and chillis. A lady came by and donated a few tomato seedlings for my garden plot. So I placed an old wooden table base ($5 - from the dump shop) to protect them from THIS. Those cheeky birds LOVE to dig up lovely rich garden beds and seedlings.

Your Trash = My Treasure

Once my seedlings are established and less vulnerable I will use the rack and base as tressels to allow my climbing plants to grow upwards. It's a slow work in progress as I learn the skill of gardening little step by little step.

And not long after Dolly and I made a lovely scarecrow to give our plot some extra girl power.

(I've been searching for a blog on a family in USA that decided to grow their own, buy local and become more sustainable. They wrote a book of their years experience. Do you know it? Can you point me in the right direction? I remember they showed their bountiful harvests in lovely photo's. I want to borrow the book at my library and I know they have 2 copies but because I can't remember the title I can't find it and neither can the staff. I think the family consisted of a mum, dad and 1 daughter.)

Thanks to Lisa's comment I found the book title I was after - and my public library has 2 copies!!! Can't wait to read it. Take a look. HERE. Have you read it? Did you find it informative, entertaining or not for you?