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Archives for December 2014

Suburban Food Farm – Summer Fruit

December 15, 2014 @ 21:01 By Gavin Webber 12 Comments

As promised, this post is all about summer fruit, which is something we have in abundance here!

I am so pleased that seven years ago, we decided to plant as many fruit trees as we could possibly fit into our 779²m suburban block.  Only a couple of trees have met their maker, so I would count my fruit-growing as a success.

So what summer fruit do we currently have growing around the garden.  Well let me show you.

Jonathan Apples - summer fruit

Jonathan Apples

No explanation really needed.  These are amazing apples, and we have about 30 on the tree.

Apple and Plum trees

Jonathan Apple (L) and Blood Plum (R) trees

It is on dwarf rootstock, so we have been able to squeeze it in next to the Blood plum tree.  Both are currently being watered with grey water from the washing machine and are thriving because of the regular watering.

Blood Plums - summer fruit

Blood Plums

This is the best crop of plums that we have had in years.  The secret was laziness.  Yes, because of my knee injury in the middle of the year, I just didn’t get around to pruning any of my fruit trees.  Subsequently, they are all heavily laden with fruit.  I was told by a reliable source (Craig Castree) that you prune in the summer for fruit, and winter for growth.  I have come to the realisation that I have been doing it wrong for so many years!

Pepino - summer fruit

Pepino

The pepino bush has gone wild.  I let it go to see what it would do, because I read somewhere that it was a ground cover.  Well that certainly is true if you look at the photo below.

Pepino bush

Pepino bush

What I have found is that any little branch that comes in contact with soil strikes roots, and therefore it is much greener on the ground than it is climbing a trellis.  Climbing is a poor choice of words, because you have to tie it up, with the bush having no mechanism to hold on.  We have the space on that side, so as it is laden with fruit, I am not going to cut it back yet.

Cocktail Pear - summer fruit

Cocktail Pear

I probably mentioned this somewhere before, but we now have fruit on one of our cocktail pear trees.  Five in total, so hopefully I can keep the pear and cherry slugs off the leaves long enough for them to ripen.

Divinity Apricots - summer fruit

Apricots

Not a lot of fruit on the Divinity Apricot tree this year as we had a large crop last year.  We are going to net the tree on the weekend.

Sultana - summer fruit

Sultana

In the pool area we have our grape vines, which although there is no fruit, they are growing very tall now and in the next month will be able to be trained over the arbor.  As well as this Sultana, we have a Ruby red seedless, and two Merlot (for wine making).

ANZAC Peaches - summer fruit

ANZAC Peaches

The ANZAC Peach tree has gone crazy!  Largest peaches ever, which I can only attribute to the grey water that we have been supplying it.  So much fruit that we just had to net it as it was starting to blush.  The last thing we want is to give it all to the rainbow lorikeets.

ANZAC Peaches netted

ANZAC Peaches netted

So on Saturday, Kim, Ben, and I netted the beast of a tree.  It took us about an 45 minutes with a bit of swearing.  It is now so tall that we had to let some branches stick through and close the netting around it.

There are no gaps, but Kim’s peg basket is a little light on, now that we have used about half of them to keep it all together.  I used twine to gather it around the trunk.

ANZAC Peaches Netted Side view

ANZAC Peaches Netted Side view

Here is the side view.  It is also on dwarf rootstock, but you wouldn’t think it.  We are going to have so many peaches!

Goldmine Nectarine - summer fruit

Goldmine Nectarine

Lastly, our Goldmine nectarine tree.  Not as much fruit as last year because I intentionally knocked off every second fruit as they developed.  In 2013 the fruit was so small all we could do was make jam out of them.  There was not enough flesh on the fruit to preserve.

So there you have it.  We have fruit, lots of fruit!  I left a couple of plum trees and an apple tree out, because the photos didn’t turn out very well.

Now what else did I miss?  Well we also have blood oranges, navel oranges, mandarins, lemons, Tahitian limes, and lemonade but I will leave that lot for another post.  They won’t be ready to eat for a few months or until winter, depending on the variety.  Not really summer fruit, so I didn’t show them here.

My fruit tree philosophy is simple.  Get them in the ground, the sooner the better.  Which reminds me of this chinese proverb I read a few years ago;

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

So true.   Get planting!

What sort of fruit trees do you have planted in your yard, or what are you planning to plant?

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Filed Under: fruit, garden, Gardening, Organic

How to Move Away From Plastic

December 14, 2014 @ 17:40 By Gavin Webber 13 Comments

Plastic is everywhere.

Just take a second to look around you and I bet you spot at least 10 objects that have plastic on or in them.  Case in point, I am typing this blog post on a plastic computer keyboard, pointing with my plastic mouse, and editing the words with my plastic computer monitor.

It is everywhere and that is not a particularly good thing.  There are many types of plastic, usually numbered from 1 to 7 to indicate the composition of the item made from it.

Plastic Recycling Codes

Plastic codes and common uses

Many petroleum-based plastics take many, many years to break down in the environment around them.  In truth, they don’t really break down, they just shatter into smaller pieces and persist in our soils, waterways, and oceans and killing wildlife when they ingest these pieces.  Compostable plastics are now entering the marketplace, but still in very low volumes.  These are usually made from plant starches and breakdown over a few years.

There are so many simple ways to make the move away from plastic easier.  Refusing to buy food in plastic containers is one of the easiest I can think of, which also includes disposable coffee cups; even the paper ones that are lined with plastic.  Ironically, I use a KeepCup.  Although it is made from plastic, it is better than using disposables, and can be used over and over and recycled at the end of its life.

Plastic shopping bags are easy to refuse.  Take along your own canvas or market bags to the shop.  We always have a bundle of canvas bags in the boot of our car for such a purpose.  If you do get given a plastic shopping bag, you can recycle them at our major supermarkets as well as other soft plastics.

If you do get stuck without an alternative to plastic, make sure you recycle the item.  So much recyclable plastic gets thrown into landfill.  Recycled plastic can be turned into things like ceiling insulation, park benches, thermal filler in jackets, and all sorts of useful things.  Curbside recycling is available in most suburbs in most cities in Australia, so there is no real reason not to recycle these items.  There are now even many recycling bins on our city streets.

By taking small steps to move away from plastic is an easy way to start, and poses less of an impact on the environment.  All I ask is take the time to think about the plastic you use in your daily lives, then consider an alternative solution.

Now as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so during my research for this post, I came across the infographic below.  Even though it has stats for the United States, much of it is similar for Australia and other western countries.  From what I can tell, the volumes are way higher than here in Oz, but the percentages are similar.   Check it out.  Some of the information will astound you!

Click to Enlarge Image

Put Down The Plastic

Put Down The Plastic
Infographic by CustomMade

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Filed Under: Environment, recycle, waste

TGoG Podcast 093 – Greening Our Business

December 11, 2014 @ 22:58 By Gavin Webber 1 Comment

Listen to the Episode Below (00:36:37)
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Greening our business is now second nature for us.  When Kim and I started our Little Green Workshops business, we wanted it to be as green as we possibly could.  We strive to make sure that our personal values shine through when we teach our classes and that all of our ingredients and equipment are as sustainably sourced as possible.  From local milk for the cheese making, to as much locally sourced oils for soap making, and eco-soya wax for candle making.  We reuse things as much as possible and recycle everything that is possible.

During this episode you will hear Kim and I talk about how we started our business and what we teach.  We get a bit off track at the start, but get to the greening part at around the [12:40] mark.  If you just want to specifically listen to greening our business then fast forward to that time mark.

Greening our business - soy candle making workshop

We have carried that through to our on-line business and all our new products where possible.  Additionally, around the office we make sure that we source post-consumer 100% recycled paper, refill our own toner and ink cartridges for printing our booklets and invoices, and of course we use 100% renewable energy here at home.

An as for packaging our products we use recycled cardboard boxes and brown paper for most of our shipping.  We even shred our old tax documents and any other paper we can get our hands on for filler for shipping.  Nothing goes to waste around here.  Boxes that we receive stock in gets reused for our own shipping or cut into soap mould lids or given away to friends.  If we can’t find a use for it, we then recycle into curbside recycling.

We hope you enjoy the show and learn a little bit more about how we try to keep our business as green as possible.

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Filed Under: Candles, Cheese, Green Office, Little Green Workshops, Podcast, skills, Soap Making, Soya Wax, TGOG Podcast

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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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Podcast Reviews

  • Always inspiring and entertaining!
    August 4, 2016 by floriographer from Australia

    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!

  • ms
    July 22, 2016 by Ketaea12 from New Zealand

    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!!

  • Well worth your time to tune in
    October 23, 2015 by A Vision Splendid from Australia

    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
    June 28, 2015 by Scared pax from United Kingdom

    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!

  • opened my eyes
    May 25, 2015 by Gorn4lyfe from Australia

    A wonderful show!

  • Inspiring
    April 30, 2015 by Alan Whelan from Ireland

    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

  • Green Living, inspiring and practical
    January 8, 2015 by EliseMac from Australia

    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
    December 27, 2014 by allotmentadventureswithjean from Australia

    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

  • Morning motivation
    December 8, 2014 by Bunnyworm from Australia

    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
    October 18, 2014 by BoomOpGirl from Australia

    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
    October 13, 2014 by Green gavin from Australia

    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
    October 9, 2014 by Kwasikwami from Australia

    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!!

  • Easy listening inspiration on being green
    September 24, 2014 by Broomedy from Australia

    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!
    August 31, 2014 by Honeywoodmilk from Australia

    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!

  • Enjoyed those ideas for staying warm
    August 15, 2014 by enduringdragon from United States

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

  • Green Podcasts
    July 26, 2014 by Carneu from Australia

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

  • Practical ideas and inspiration
    July 19, 2014 by HeathrowHeath from Australia

    I highly recommend Gavin's podcast and blog. Down to earth, entertaining and inspirational. Thank you.

  • Interesting & easy to listen to
    April 27, 2014 by Velocity3 from New Zealand

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

  • Great green listen
    April 18, 2014 by Obscurenickname from Australia

    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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