09 October 2015

Repurpose - Reuse - Recycle

A monthly post to (hopefully) inspire you to look at old things in a new way. 

New Ways to Use Old Bedsprings

Outdoor candle holders.
Source unknown

A unique way to display dried flowers.

Use them to display old family photos.
Four Corners Design
Organize your office using the base from a cot.
Source unknown.


One for the sewers in the family.
Stamp Girl

Fun snack holders for a children's party.
Source unknown  

Marie Niemann's wind chimes

Test tube vase.
Free Pretty Things for You

Shabby chic table decor
Source unknown
"Spring" wreath

And finally, my favourite way to use them.


03 October 2015

Bugs and Blooms


Geraldton Wax

Water drops on an Oregon snow pea flower

The bees are loving the flowers on the "With Love" lavender

Verbena peruviana pink

Spanish Bluebell


Livingstone daisy

Carpet beetles
Lemon scented pelargonium

Scabiosa atropurpurea

Marguerite daisy

I have no idea what species this is but they seem to like the daisies.
Seaside daisy

Rhubarb flower
Kangaroo paw "Little Gem"

01 October 2015

From the Veggie Patch

Pickings from the veggie patch have been a bit thin over the past few months, but now suddenly everything has sprung into life and I'm harvesting once again.

The first asparagus (which I forgot to weigh). It was delicious.

Silverbeet, just over 5 kilos. I gave this lot away as there is still a lot more in the garden for my own use.
It seems that earwigs like silverbeet as much as I do
The first pickings of rhubarb and peas and more asparagus.

More peas, asparagus and a few broccoli sprouts.

So far I have picked just over 1 kilo of peas, 5.15 kilos of spinach, 628 grams of rhubarb and and a little over half a kilo of asparagus.

The broccoli is finished now and it was really disappointing this year. The plants never grew as big and the heads were very small compared to last years, but I have had lots of side shoots which kind of makes up for the smaller heads.

There will be no plums again this year. Honestly, I don't know if growing your own fruit is worth it. Last year I lost all of the fruit to the wind, this year it was the rain, but I persevere because there really is nothing better than fruit from your own trees.

I haven't planted anything new in the garden this month as I'm still waiting on the winter crops to finish. I have sown all my seeds though so when a garden bed empties I can plant straight away.

 I don't like summer, it's my least favourite season and one of the tasks that I don't enjoy doing during the hot weather is watering the garden. To keep veggies alive and thriving, it has to be done often, and it takes up a lot of my time, so next week I will be installing a drip irrigation system in the veggie patch. It is something I should have done years ago, but it looks so complicated that I wasn't sure I could do it, but I am going to give it a go, what's the worse that can happen. It will make my life a little easier and be much better for the plants too.

I was saddened this week to find that one of my favourite bloggers, Daphne from Daphne's Dandelions won't be blogging anymore, I understand her reasons, but she will be missed.

So, that's it from the veggie patch this month, I'll be back next month with another update.