We all want the satisfaction of doing things ourselves, but sometimes we need help. Â However, many of us find it difficult to ask. Â Let me tell you something.
STOP trying to be Superman or Superwoman and start asking for help.
You can’t do it all yourself. Â Honestly, I know, because I am speaking from years of experience. Â There’s nothing wrong with asking for help.
There is no way I could have built all the garden beds around here or let alone filled them with the layers of cardboard, straw, and compost.  NO FREAKING WAY.  It would have taken me a month of Sundays.  Thankfully I asked Adam, Megan, Amy, and Kim to give me a hand and they kind of volunteered to help me out over a few very wet weekends back in March and April 2007.  They were happy days, excellent character building exercises, and best of all; we had fun.
Veggie Patch circa May 2007
Another example was building our chook house. Â Every single family member helped to make it. Â Amy and Megan dug post holes (begrudgingly as they were teenagers at the time) for the initial chicken run. Â Adam and I built the first chicken enclosure and coop, and Ben helped me to paint the coop. Â It was a family affair, and once again, I asked for help and people joined in and had fun.
Painting the first chook house circa June 2008
My final example is our Backyard Clay Oven.  This project was certainly not finished in a day.  It took many weekends of hard graft to get the oven completed.  Sure, I built the plinth of breeze block (cinder blocks), but there was no way I could have lifted the four very heavy slabs that formed the base with my friend David’s help.  Nor could I have finished the first layer of cob by myself in two hours.  The members of the Melton Sustainable Living Group helped out during a clay oven workshop that I held and everyone pitched in.  Once the first layer was on, the other four were a breeze, even though it took me another two months to complete it, and that was with help from my family.
Cob Oven Firing 4th layer with Megan and Jake circa Sept 2011
As you can see, all of the projects I have completed around our Suburban Food Farm have not been singular tasks. Â I am not Superman, and neither is anyone else I know.
Don’t be scared to ask for help anytime during your own sustainable living journey, because my friends, that is what makes it interesting and fun.  Team work with others, sharing the joy of a completed project, and being able to use the fruits of the joint labour with all your friends for a very long time.
In reality, this blog has not been about my sustainable living journey, but the journey of every single person that has helped me along the path.  Every. Single. Person.  And for that, I thank you one and all including every reader of this blog.  You have also been on my journey with me, helping me keep motivated via emails and comments, and inspiring me to try out new things, ideas, and ways of thinking.
So reach out and ask someone to help with your next project.  You may be surprised at their response, because everyone knows that sustainable living projects are the best fun!
Hey Gavin,
Something about help.
I didn’t ask you for help.
(We live too far away anyway.)
But you give me help with all this information.
So I think it’s time to say thanks to you for doing this for free.
Sincerely,
John
Thanks John. You’re most welcome!
Great post and yes without wonderful inspiring blogs from seemingly ordinary people with a passion where would we be. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane
Thanks Kathy. I love popping over to your blog occasionally and checking out the great things that you do in your garden. Your soap looks great, but I am still holding out for the cheese!
I agree with John. I live quite locally and I know you have given away so many hints and tips to me I don’t know where we would be without you. Thanks for all your help Gav. 🙂
And I agree. You can’t do it alone (as much as sometimes I try 😉 ) and know we would not be where we are without the help of my husband and even the kids, as young as they are. Seeds swapped with friends and seedlings too. And our mate S has been tremendous in bringing us heaps of ameliorating manure and lake weed for our gardens, worms, compost and so much more. 🙂 We in turn have helped him out with plenty of seedlings and lots of gardening advice. 🙂
Cheers Jessie. Help is only an ask away.
Hi Gavin,
This is something I find quite difficult to do but need to get better at. I’ve had the courage to ask my family for some help when I was getting really overwhelmed a few years ago but as always I’ve got too many things on the go that just seem to drag on and on. My latest is an aquaponics system that we’ve decided to half bury which means digging a big hole!
Something I need to work on this year is finishing projects and asking for help, which both go together quite nicely!
Thank you Gavin for all your posts and pod casts that provide inspiration and sharing your knowledge and experiences of various projects that you’ve tackled.
Cheers,
Paulie
Hey Paulie, thanks for your kind words. Didn’t we meet at the Sustainable Living Festival last year? Your aquaponics project sounds very interesting. I wish I had the space around here.
Great post Gavin!
Thanks Erin!
A great post Gavin. A reminder for me to thank my neighbours over at the allotment for their help too. Especially the fellows who wield the “big tools” when I need to knock in a stump or support for my veggies.
But not forgetting the many old stagers with a wealth of knowledge who have advised me since I started as a real green horn a few years ago and didn’t know my spade from my shovel.
Cheers Jean. It is great to hear that community cooperation is still as strong as ever!