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Winter planting and rain at last

March 25, 2008 @ 13:48 By Gavin Webber Leave a Comment

Yesterday, Adam, Ben and I started the plantings for this winter. But before we begun, I had a few things to do. Firstly a haircut and a beard trim! I was starting to look scruffy, and as I have a presentation to give at our local Rotary International Club about Sustainable Living. After my very nice self serve haircut with my 12 watt clippers, it was into the compost bin with the hair!

Next, I gave the garden beds a couple of watering cans of rainwater each, and then turned each one over again, and transplanted the strawberry plants that survived over the summer into some lovely terracotta strawberry pots made locally in Northcote. It was nice to see pots not imported from Asia. Adam then came out and helped, and we convinced Ben that it would be good fun to help with the seeds and to be the water boy. We planted three garden beds, in accordance with my crop rotation plan. The first bed was planted with two packets of early crop broad beans. The next bed was planted with white onions, spring onions, spinach, and leeks, and in the third bed we sowed french breakfast radish, round radish, parsnips, daikon radish, and two rows of beetroot.

I left one bed fallow for the time being and will plant some sweet peas, poppys, and nasturtium late in April. I also sowed some basil and garlic chives in pots. Hopefully the basil will grow, as it is very late in the season for it. After all the sowing was complete we watered well from the tank and called it a day. We still have two other beds to plant out, but I will do that tomorrow. I am going to plant these two out with Purple Podded Peas, and Snow peas. I collected all of the seed myself from last seasons crop and we will see if they germinate! We had a good time and were very sweaty by the time we finished, and I am happy to report that the Water boy did his job diligently. Thank goodness we finished when we did as it was getting very humid and it looked like a thunderstorm was on the way. I went for a swim to cool off.

After lunch, I started on my presentation for the Rotary club. I have a 25 minute time slot, so I whipped up 25 Powerpoint slides about our journey so far, gave my blog a plug and promoted Earth Hour on the last slide. I am excited about giving the presentation, and to catch up with some old friends. You see, I used to be a member of Rotary myself, but I had to give it up due to work commitments. When I figure out how to convert the slides to pictures, I will add them to the blog for all to see.

Then, as I was settling down to write this blog, a huge lightning show started out to the North west. I quickly jumped on the web to the Met Bureau rain radar site and there was a huge rain storm coming our way in about 10 minutes. So the entire family turned off all the lights and computers in the house, lit some candles and watched the show. It was so enjoyable to have a good downpour, and the garden, family, and my rainwater tank loved it. The tank is now three quarters full, and I have about a months worth of water for the garden now! The rain died down after about two hours, and out come the stars and the moon. What a great evening had by all.

I will leave you with this quote to finish off today’s post;

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler


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About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber's daily goal is to live a more sustainable lifestyle, in an effort to reduce his family's environmental footprint so we can all make a difference for our children & future generations to come.

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About Gavin Webber

About Gavin Webber

An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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    I've crowed about Gavin's podcast before but I just have to recommend it once again - I love that he shares his learning as well as his successes - it helps the rest of us try try try again! Thanks Gavin!

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    I really enjoy listening to Gavin, he has a kind lovely voice. He covers some great relevant topics for the everyday greenie. With lots of tips or how to or what not to do. Thanks Gavin, love it!!

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    I can highly recommend Gavin’s podcast ! I have followed Gavin’s blog since the very beginning and have loved to see his journey unfold. Gavin has a lovely speaking voice so this podcast is always very easy to listen to. Gavin has a very authentic approach to his green living lifestyle. He shares the ups and downs but always provides motivation and practical steps that we can all implement.

  • very good
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    This is a great podcast if you want to improve your life in so many aspects and become a more sustainable person. I love the soothing voice, the good pace, and it contains lots of useful information. Recommended!

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    This is a great podcast if you're looking for practical info on saving money by living more sustainably from someone who's made that journey over the last few years. Told in a nice, easy conversational style

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    Thanks Gav for sharing what has (and hasn't) worked along your journey for living a greener lifestyle. Inspiring and achievable for anyone, I look forward to this podcast weekly.

  • Local food equals less waste
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    Another brilliant podcast from Gavin Webber encouraging us, and showing us how, to cut down on food miles, growing our own food, and cutting down on food waste. Gavin is a really interesting speaker, showing us how to eat better, growing our own food and how to live more sustainably.

  • Honestly australian
    December 15, 2014 by HodgepodgeOz from Australia

    Fantastic podcast, with a wide variety of well thought and researched topics. Gavin is a honest, forthright pod aster with a genuine interest in helping others get green. Like a day alongside is a day wasted, so too is a week without listening to Gavin. Highly recommended for people starting out, or those in the midst of their new lifestyle. Keep it up Gavin, wish there were more great reviews! Kimberley

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    Gavin has a great passion for living this greener lifestyle that motivates others to do the same. The podcasts are always interesting and informative. :)

  • Passionate Advocate
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    Gavin's enthusiasm and passion for creating a more sustainable world is nothing short of contagious. Thanks Gav, you are my weekly source of motivation for living a sustainable life! :)

  • Gavin speaks from the heart
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    Gavin's podcasts are required listening for anyone planning to live a more sustainable life. He doesn't preach, but tells you his story from the heart. You'll laugh, smile, share in his concerns and along the way you'll pick up some great tips on living a simple life.

  • Green thoughts, so well iterated
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    This is a wonderful podcast. Not only does Gavin talk knowledgeably on a range of sustainability topics from gardening tips all the way to the issues facing humanity as a whole, but he does so in such a wonderful voice, it's like listening to my Dad, love it!!

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    Gav knows how to share his journey to a more sustainable life in a manner that shows just how easy it really is. Not to mention healthier, economically beneficial and generally rewarding. The podcasts are an easy way to absorb Gav's great lifestyle. I recommend to anyone.

  • Thanks Gavin!
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    Great practical advice for a greener lifestyle. This podcast is for anybody interested in growing their own food in suburbia, saving electricity, brewing beer, making cheese, all that wonderful business and most of all, saving money! Thanks Gavin, love the podcast mate!

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    Like you we are having winter here in Chile—brrr! Every bit we can save on heating we will.

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    Excellent podcasts, which are full of information to help get started on a sustainable lifestyle.

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    Gavin & his guests make this green journey lots of fun.

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    Gavin is a great down to earth, tell it like it is aussie with a passion for sustainability and growing food and making cheese

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