The Greening of Gavin

Archives for October 2008

Nice Feedback

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Regular readers will remember the review I did on the DAB radio station "Passion for the Planet".  Well, a couple of days ago, I received this nice email.

Hi Gavin,

Google alerts alerted me to your blog – and I just wanted to say thank you for your lovely review of Passion for the Planet. I am glad you are enjoying the station and we’re very grateful that you’re helping to spread to message. We’re always very pleased to welcome new listeners.

All the best from Wimbledon (with the Wombles!)

Chantal

passion for the planet – health and environment focused radio

Zeal House, Deer Park Road, Wimbledon, SW19 3GY

www.passionfortheplanet.com

It is so good when you receive feedback from the very people you wrote about.  Thanks Chantal, I love your station.  In fact I am listening to it now!  Keep up the great work team.

Earwig Problem Solved!

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Thank you to everyone who left suggestions on my Bloody Bugs post. I read all the suggestions and tried the easiest solution first.

You will be happy to know that the prize goes to BevB for suggesting to have a look at Scarecrow’s Garden. However, it wasn’t Scarecrow’s post where I got the solution, mainly because I didn’t have any recycled tyre weeping hose. It was one of the comments attached to that post where I found this idea. Vegetable OIL! (click to enlarge picture)

You see, I have found that the little blighter’s just cannot resist the smell of vegetable oil, in this case olive oil, and go to have a drink and don’t come out of the salsa jar which is buried in the bed up to the neck (photo courtesy of Kate). In one night I have caught 52 earwigs in a single garden bed with no further damage to the rock melons and pumpkins. Unfortunately, I hadn’t set traps in the cucumber or broccoli beds, so they suffered the wraith of the wig! But tonight, I get my revenge. With two more traps in each bed, I will soon have the numbers down to a manageable level!

If you have an infestation of earwigs, give it a go. The photo is a testament to this methods success!

“Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged.”
Samuel Johnson (English Poet, Critic and Writer. 1709-1784)

The Hills Come to Melton

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Today, Kim and I had the pleasure of a visit from Kate and Roger (Hills & Plains Seedsavers).  They arrived via train and I picked them up from the station at about [10:30].  I recognised them both straight away, and into the car and off home we went.

 

The first thing on the agenda was a nice cup of Rooiboss tea, a choc chip biscuit, and a chat about Kate’s world wide adventure.  You could see the excitement in her eyes as she told us of the places she had just visited, and I could tell she was still on a natural high. 

After tea, it was time for a tour of the garden, and we looked at the veggie patch and swapped tips about all things of the vegetable variety. 

Then we checked out the solar PV system, worms, compost, chooks, and discovered that the chooks had laid already.

This is what we found.

It weighed in at a whopping 81 gm.  I dare say it is a double-yolker.

 

Then Kim called us in for lunch and we sat down to a nice lunch of Quiche that I made yesterday, and salad and chat potatoes.

The meal was sensational.  It was the best quiche I have ever made.  Mind you it was only the second quiche I have made, so I could only improve I suppose!

After the meal and some more chat about everything green, we finished off the garden tour by having a look at the fruit trees and the initial effort of a veggie patch in the front yard.

We then proceeded inside again for another cuppa and talked about all sorts of green things.  Kate told me about a method she uses to water plants with terracotta pots as a wicking device for water intensive plants like lettuce and celery.  I will try it out when I plant my lettuce for the summer.

Then it was time for Kate and Roger to leave, so I took them back to the station and after a hug & kiss from Kate, and a strong handshake from Roger, it was goodbye for now, and they offered Kim and I a chance to visit them in Adelaide.  Both Kate and Roger are very nice, like-minded people, who are most welcome at our house anytime.

We will certainly take them up on the offer sooner rather than later.  We better get in quick, before Kate decided to head off for another sojourn!

If you want to read the days events from Kate’s perspective, have a read of "The Greeting of Gavin".

What a great day, and one Kim and I will talk about for a long time to come.