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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

Summer Arrives Early In My Garden

October 14, 2015 @ 18:23 By Gavin Webber 7 Comments

Summer has arrived two months early here in Melton.  With temperatures sometimes 15°C above average over the last two weeks, I have started planting our summer crops.

Normally I plant my tomatoes in the first week of November (around Melbourne Cup Weekend), which is the old gardeners axiom here in Victoria.  Not so this year.

I have turned over a garden bed that has been sitting dormant for a year and put in my first seasons tomatoes.

Big red and cherry grape tomato plants

Big red and cherry grape tomato plants

They’re small, but growing well.  Thanks to our friend Stacey for donating them out of her vast collection of seedlings!

I’ve also planted my chillies which normally don’t go in until around mid November as the ground is just not hot enough.  They have doubled in size since I planted them two weeks ago.

Chilli plants

Chilli plants

The self-seeded Basil has gone bonkers, with more plants than I’ve ever grown from last years seeds.  The soil has to be between 18-35°C before Basil germinates, and rarely do any sprout before December.

Basil

Basil

The Rainbow chard has bolted to seed, as has the perpetual spinach.  I’ve been picking off the largest leaves for the chooks to give them an iron and calcium boost, which has improved their laying output to three eggs a day from four chooks.

Rainbow Chard

Rainbow Chard

My Dwarf Beans are growing strong.  The only trouble I’m having with these is keeping the slugs away from them.  Now the first true leaves have emerged, they are a lot taller, and the slugs are having issues getting to the new leaves.

Dwarf Beans

Dwarf Beans

Where there are gaps in the back row, I replanted more Dwarf Beans on Sunday past.  They should start to poke their little heads through the soil by the end of the week.  The Lazy housewife beans I planted had 100% germination failure, so the seed must have been too old.  Only good enough for the next Minestrone soup.

Thankfully, Jessie from Rabid Little Hippy dropped by to collect some coconut oil for soap making, and brought her seed collection.  She had a variety of climbing bean seeds, so I took about 5 of them, mixed them up and planted them to replace the failed ones.

She also gifted me a hops bush last year for my birthday which I planted in this bed.  It is much taller this year than last, and has about 3 runners from the single plant.  I should get a lot of flowers from them this year for beer making!

Hops - Americana

Hops – Americana

The first lot of Terrific Sweet Corn is growing strongly in between the leeks.  So far so good, and there seems to be no companion issues at the moment.  There are about 10 plants in this bed, and this weekend I will plant some more into the small wicking bed in the pool area.  They are very hungry and thirsty plants, so they will be less likely to wilt in the hot summer sun this year.  Should get a great crop.

Sweet Corn - Terrific

Sweet Corn – Terrific

And finally, my feathered girls.  They are coping with the early heat due to their thoughtful owners forward thinking and providing them with ample shade in the form of a Mulberry tree in their run.

Babs, Bunty, Edwina, and Chooky Chook

Babs, Bunty, Edwina, and Chooky Chook

They’ve been getting lots of greens, snails and bugs from around the garden, and lots of fresh water.  Chooks don’t particularly like drinking warm water, so we replace it first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon so they get their fill.

It’s going to be an angry Summer when it really gets here after the solstice, so we are going to have to devise some shading methods this year for the garden beds and fruit trees.  Not sure what I am going to construct yet, but it will be something that can withstand the strong northerly winds we get here when it gets above 35°C (95°F).

We are in for a heck of a killer El Niño this season, with crop losses already on the slate.  It’s predicted to be hot, dry, with below average rainfall.  Welcome to climate change, right here, right now.  I hope they reach a global climate agreement at Paris and actually take strong action to reduce GHG emissions.  Otherwise this sort of seasons will become permanent.

Not a happy place to be.

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Filed Under: garden, Gardening, vegetables

Growing Citrus in Temperate Zones

July 1, 2015 @ 17:10 By Gavin Webber 2 Comments

We are blessed with mild winters where we rarely get frost.  We also have hot dry summers.  We live in what is known as a Mediterranean climate or Temperate zone.  These are pretty good conditions for growing citrus fruit, especially due to a couple of amazing micro climates that I have in our yard that help during winter.

We have four trees against a east/west facing brick wall that provides the trees with extra heat, and five trees in the pool area where they receive abundant reflected light and full sun in winter.

This year we have been rewarded with a bumper crop of all types that we grow organically on our suburban food farm!

Just a note to remember.  All of our citrus trees are grown in pots as the soil is a heavy clay which not particularly good for establishing this type of fruit tree.  Citrus likes well-drained soil and hates wet feet.  Check out this post titled Tips for Growing Citrus in Pots.

Meyer Lemons

Meyer Lemon

This is a Meyer lemon which is growing in the pool area of the garden.  It gets a lot of reflected sunlight and is a heavy feeder.  The fruit is almost seedless, and it ripens in late April.  We just pick the fruit as we need it for hot lemon drinks or meals, and they are great preserved in jars or as a pickle.

Navel Oranges

Navel Orange

I have two navel orange trees, but only one of them has ever set fruit.  I feed them well with organic fertiliser, and make sure that they are always moist.  They should ripen by the end of July.  You can still see a little bit of green skin, which will turn orange when ripe.

During winter you will always notice yellowing of the leaves.  As long as your citrus trees are well fed every month and kept moist, it is nothing to worry about, because this is just the tree renewing leaves.  The older ones yellow and drop off, with new green shoots appearing soon after.

Lemonade

Lemonade

This is one of my favourites, the Lemonade.  It kind of looks like a lemon, but it is sweet and can be eaten straight from the tree.  It grows large fruit and the tree is always loaded in the colder months.  Great for making juice as well.

Mandarins

Mandarin

We also have two Mandarin trees, with only one fruiting this year.  The other decided to drop all its leaves and regrow just as it was in flower.  Anyway, the Mandarin fruit is nearly ready to pick.  It’s still a little sour and has a little green skin on the bottom, so it should be ready in a few weeks time.  When ripe, they are very sweet and delicious straight off the tree.

Eureka Lemons

Eureka Lemons

Eureka lemons are our general purpose citrus used for juicing, cooking and cleaning.  The tree fruits abundantly and flowers for about three months of the year.  We even use them for making Paneer!

Tahitian Limes

Tahitian Limes

Our Tahitian Lime tree always has a few fruit on it most of the year round.  Great in Key Lime Pie, Lime pickles, and in Cerveza.  We do use them for refreshing drinks in late Spring as they do last on the tree for quite a while.  They do eventually turn yellow, but it the colour does not affect the flavour.  The fruit are mostly seedless.

Blood Oranges

Blood Oranges

This is the first year we have had a decent crop of Blood Oranges, but I may have picked them too early.  They are just beginning to turn crimson inside as you can see from the cut fruit.  They are a combination of sweet and sour, so probably should have stayed on the tree for another couple of weeks.  Not to worry though, as they are very edible and will juice well.

Grow Some Now!

Anytime is the right time to plant citrus trees, especially if you have some large pots spare.  If you have loamy soil then you should have no problems growing them straight in the ground.  If your place is frost prone, you will have to protect them for the first few years until they get a bit of height especially if growing citrus in temperate zones or cooler mountain climates.

So, not only is citrus fruit delicious and versatile, it provides you with loads of Vitamin C, which when deficient in your diet, can cause scurvy.

I cannot recommend this easy to grow fruit variety highly enough.  Just make sure that you fertilise regularly and keep the soil moist and you should have no issues setting fruit in a few year.

When all other fruit is a distant memory, citrus come through in abundance during the winter months.  Love it!

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Filed Under: fruit, garden, Gardening, Organic

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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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