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Garden Renovation

June 9, 2016 @ 19:46 By Gavin Webber 3 Comments

With the slow death of the old Blood Plum tree, and the need for a new storage shed for the ever-growing green business, it was time for a garden renovation.  You know, just like a backyard blitz but slower!

Due to some issues with my hands (arthritis creeping into my thumb joints, I had to get some help to complete it all.  Mick the Handyman and his wife Anne were hired to put down a slab, erect the new shed, and cut down the plum tree and tidy things up a bit.  The condition was that they reuse all the materials from garden beds they were moving to make new beds and structures.

Chook house #1 when first built

Chook house #1 when first built

So lets start at the beginning.  This first photo is way back in 2009 when my son Adam and I had just finished the original Chook House.  This was well before Cluckingham Palace was built behind it.

As you know, Ben and I dismantled this structure in March, and the what remained was just a vacant space.

Demolished Chook house

Demolished Chook house

I had started to cut down part of the old plum tree, but my hands just hurt way too much.  I needed help to do all the things I wanted to achieve in this part of the garden.  I wanted the tree fully removed, and replaced with a nice area to sit, and a new garden bed in which to plant a couple of espaliered fruit trees.

So work began in early May 2016.

Plum tree cut down

Plum tree cut down

The area was cleared and the tree was cut down.  After this photo was taken the stump was removed as well.

Now for the shed area.

The old raised garden bed

The old raised garden bed with trellis circa 2010

This photo was taken in 2010, after a had planted in some cabbages and broccoli.  It was quite an under utilised space, so we decided that was could make better use of it by moving everything down the yard a bit.  This including reuse of the trellis and brick work in the area where the plum tree once stood.

Ground preparation for new shed.

Ground preparation for new shed.

So once all the trellis, stone and beds were removed, the ground was prepared for the new slab on which the shed would be built.  Not very green I know, but we investigated a wooden floor for the shed, but it would have rotted within a few years.  This being a stock shed for the business, I wanted it waterproof.

New garden beds

New garden beds

Anyway, the garden bed was rebuilt behind where the shed now stands.  All the soil, bricks and wood was reclaimed and reused to make these.  Thankfully, nothing went to waste, and any unused soil was placed in my front yard veggie beds.

Overgrown Fountain

Overgrown Fountain.  It’s in there somewhere!

Also the jasmine had taken over the beds and we lost the fountain somewhere within it.  This needed trimming to regain a beautiful space.

After some much-needed pruning, the fountain reappeared in all its glory.

Rediscovered Fountain

Rediscovered Fountain

The pool that the fountain stood in was full of decaying leaf matter, so I had to don some long rubber gloves and remove about 5 buckets of gunk.  Once refilled the fountain worked perfectly!  We refilled it from the rainwater tank and it looked amazing.

So with the new beds in place this is what it all looked like.

IMAG2802

We could see the potential, but it wasn’t quite finished.

We had some left over pavers and a pile of stone, so asked Mick to do a nice bit of landscaping.  Behind the far bench is a new garden bed built from retaining bricks that they removed from where the new shed now stands.  That’s where I’m putting one of the espalier fruit trees.  I’m putting the other one where the tarp is in the photo.

IMAG3019

Looks pretty good.  I even gave the Jonathan Apple tree a prune as well.

The big tarp was strung up there because I didn’t want to smoke out the chooks when I lit the brazier!

Area fully landscaped

Area fully landscaped

Here is some context, looking from the pizza oven area.  You can just see the entrance to Cluckingham Palace in the background.

Looking towards the new shed.

Looking towards the new shed.

Looking towards the front yard, you can see the new shed and a fully landscaped garden.  We just have to throw a few plants in the new garden beds this weekend and it will look amazing.

I also had to heavily prune the ANZAC Peach tree as it was growing over the roof.  I cut of one of the two main limbs in the hope that it springs back and grows straighter this time.

Gav and a well deserved beer!

Gav and a well deserved beer!

I was so happy with the finished result, I decided to throw a birthday party for myself and have a well deserved home-brew beer that I’d been saving for the occasion.  Definitely a nice way to celebrate.

Whilst Mick and Anne did the majority of the work and were paid for it, Ben and I pulled down the chook house and Kim and I did the clean up afterwards and made it all beautiful.  As I get older and busier, I am finding that I am in the need of more hired help.  I can’t do it all like I once used to.

The only material brought in was the concrete for the slab and the shed.  All other materials were reused in the construction of the new beds and areas.  Now that’s a garden renovation!  I think it is a job well done and is now a great place to relax in the sunshine whilst watching chooky antics!

I’m looking forward to showing you the garden beds when they are planted out with native shrubs and how I am going to espalier the transplanted fruit trees.

But that’s another story!

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Filed Under: Chickens, fruit, garden, Gardening, reuse

Back in the Saddle and a New Business Venture

March 30, 2016 @ 13:10 By Gavin Webber 6 Comments

Well friends, we’re back!

Kim and I have been out of action for the last few weeks due to both coming down with the flu at the same time.  It knocked the stuffing out of us and had to spend a bit of time recovering.

The veggie patch has been sorely neglected, with just enough energy each morning to feed the chooks, and collect the eggs.  Then it was back into bed for the day!  This was our routine for about a week.

About two weeks after first being quarantined, We ventured out and taught a cold process soap making course a couple of weekends back.  We struggled through the session, but got there in the end.

Six wonderful students walked away with 1 kg blocks of soap ready for curing and use in about 4 weeks.  Normally we teach two classes in one day, but we had the foresight to transfer those student to term 2.  Unfortunately we also had to cancel a Bath, Soak, and Scrub course as well.  We just didn’t have the strength.

Gavin and Kim

All better now!

Anyway, we have fully recovered and have been getting our strength back now over the last couple of weeks.  Just in time for an Easter break of a week where we tried to catch up with pressing Little Green Workshops business requirements and fulfilling customer orders.  The only problem with being your own boss is that getting sick is something you just have to deal with.

We have also turned our renewed energy to plan the launch of a new business venture that we’ve been working on since January, but more about that in a future post.  We are nearly ready to reveal what we have been working on.  It has something to do with green gift boxes.

Little Green Gift Box

Our new business venture, Little Green Gift Box

Anyway, besides working on that venture over Easter, Ben and I demolished the small chicken house, partly because the chooks don’t use it anymore as they have Cluckingham Palace to roam around in and I wanted to free up some space, and partly because I needed to get to the old Blood Plum tree.

You see, the old tree, which we estimate to have been planted in the early 1970’s, is now full of borer beetles.  There is a cavity in the main trunk that I can put my hand into which goes about ¾ of the way in.  I have also found sawdust in some of the main limbs, which is probably why this old tree has not been fruiting very well over the past couple of years.

Demolished Chook house

Where the Old Chook House used to be.

We’ve made the decision to cut it down, use the big bits for firewood in the clay oven after six months of seasoning, and replace it with an apple, another blood plum, and probably a pear or cherry.  We have a golden delicious apple and a blood plum in the front orchard that we’re going to transplant because they are too close to a deciduous tree that is fully mature.  The big tree is robbing the smaller ones of water and stunting their growth.

It will be sad to see the old plum tree go, but at least we will be able to replace it with three espalier trees against the front of Cluckingham Palace.  We just have to remove the old tree, and wait until the existing trees go dormant so I can dig them up and transplant.  Best to wait until mid winter to do that.

One thing I have been pondering is the future of the Greening of Gavin podcast.  We haven’t recorded an episode since the Christmas Special, and feel that a three-month hiatus is probably not too long a break before starting up again.  There have been longer breaks in between episodes, so we’ll just have get back into the studio and record a few episodes to get things rolling again!

Anyway, that’s whats been going on around here since I last posted.  Sick, slow then go, go, go.

I’ll let you all know when the launch of the new e-commerce site occurs.  We’re very excited.

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Filed Under: Chickens, Health, Little Green Workshops, Sustainable Living

Cluckingham Palace Renovation

February 17, 2016 @ 11:11 By Gavin Webber 5 Comments

With the addition of 4 new chooks to increase the flock to 8 hens, it was starting to get a bit crowded in Cluckingham Palace.  I decided to do something about it over the weekend.

Cluckingham Palace

Way back when Dad and I first built the extension to the nesting boxes/sleeping house, we only had 4 hens, so it was adequate back then.  But times they are a changin, so I decided to make a little more space.

This is what their house used to look like (the top board was in place before I started, I just forget to take a before picture before I started).

Cluckingham Palace Renovation

It was dark inside, hard to clean, and not enough space.  I figured that their cage was always locked at night time anyway, so I could not only remove all these boards, but get rid of the little flap at the bottom as well.

So I set to work.

Cluckingham Palace Renovation

Boards removed and new perch added.

Once I removed the boards, the door flap, and placed them aside for later reuse, I was surprised on how much space there actually was inside.  I fixed the taller perch in place with more screws as it had moved and was unsafe.

Then I mucked out the house, fastened a kick board to the bottom so their bedding wouldn’t get scratched out, and replaced it all with fresh sugar cane mulch which is nice and soft.

It was so easy to clean out.  I just used a leaf rake then scooped up all the dried manure and bedding into a large bucket and piled it into a garden bed to dig in later.

Fresh bedding added.

Fresh bedding added.

I also gave it a brush down inside and out with a stiff brush to remove any cobwebs and spiders.  There were a couple of White-tailed spiders living inside, so I quickly dispatched them with the back of the hand broom because I didn’t want any chooks eating them and getting sick.

So now that there was more room at the inn, I also removed a garden bed that I had previously placed in the cage and had filled with sand and ash as a dust bath.  The girls had other ideas and never used it, so I dismantled it and put it into storage until required.

I then set about adding a big perch for them to rest on during the day.  I had a long piece of cypress pine left of from a previous project, so fixed that in place at a decent height so they would feel safe.

New Perch

New Perch

I fixed it in place with long screws at either end so it wouldn’t move.  It’s a very solid piece of cypress so it won’t bow in the middle.

One of the new girls decided to try it out after I gave Cluckingham Palace a wash down.

New chook on perch

Once that was fully tested, I moved on to checking the chicken wire.

There were some bits that had come away, so I used fencing wire pins to nail them back into place.  Not that I had seen any foxes in our suburb, but better safe than sorry.

Chicken wire fastened

So with the renovation completed, I took the time to just be.  I pulled up an old coconut oil drum and sat and watched the girls in all their chooky glory and enjoyed the show.  It is something that I should do more of because they are just so funny and it fascinating to watch the new pecking order develop.

Well that was most of my Sunday activities which were long overdue.  So glad that I got stuck into it and got the job done.  I’m very satisfied with the result of the Cluckingham Palace Renovation.

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Filed Under: Chickens, Cleaning

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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
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    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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