Creative weekend projects: getting crafty

Project 1: The veggie garden for small spaces

Decking frame plus polythene sheet provides tray for bucket plant pots

Thanks to an Urban Pantry talk (highly recommended), I learnt a great tip for getting veggie results even in the cosy corner of my deck which I like to call my "garden".  Square buckets.  That's right, it's time to clear up the eclectic mix of terracotta urns and quaint milk pails.  We waste less space and less water if we pack our plants in cubically.  Well, maybe I won't get rid of the eclectic mix just yet - I get sentimental about my plants and their unusual collection of pots!  But I was determined to try out the environmentally friendly approach as well.
The buckets were cheap (much more so than plant pots) but the challenge was working out a tray to hold water beneath them.  My low-tech solution is a frame of decking timber and polythene sheet liner.
Buckets 10 @ $2.50 = $25
Polythene (much more than I needed) = $7
Decking timber (cut into the lengths I needed in the shop) = $6
Basic power drill to put it all together and drill holes in buckets = $40 (but who's counting?  It's about time I owned more power tools...)
So my pea seedlings are happy, I'm happy and kitty is certainly happy!

Project 2: Cute cushions!

Piping and ties on the left, and on the right, laboriously quilted by moi!

Some have bold pattens on one side and ties on the other 

I can never quite find the right level of quirky colourfulness in bought cushions.  Or if I do, they cost a fortune. I was convinced I could do a better job myself.  If I'd known how much work it would be, I might not have started!  My darling and very creative sister has been an invaluable tutor and partner in crime.
I now have four cushions pretty much finished and two to go.  I just need to finish before Ross' mum comes back to NZ and wants her sewing machine back...
Fabrics, piping, thread, etc. = c.$60
Cushion inners = $30
My sanity while learning to quilt = priceless

Project 3: The worm tower

Installing the worms - bleurgh!

Actually, I can't take credit for this one.  But I have watched enthusiastically as my ex-biologist boyfriend has brought it to fruition.  It all started with Ranui Community Garden and Ben Cheah's passion as he told us about all the good worms can bring to your garden when you put worm towers in.
This is a little different than an above-ground worm farm - the tower is part buried in the soil and the worms are free to come and go through large holes.  It's a lot more difficult to get the "products" of worm-farming with this method - the casts and tea tend to end up going into the soil or are only gathered periodically.
However, it's practically free to create and they process all your compostable waste for you whilst also improving your soil - not bad, eh?
We're waiting to see if we've got it right - if the worms are happy, they'll stay!
Buckets = $5
Worms = gift of Ranui Community Garden
Garden fork to get through the solid clay which passes for soil around here = $11
Old egg cartons etc for bedding = free!

Project 4: a bit of greenery

Life needs a bit more pistachio green, don't you think?

My walls were bare, I needed some cheering up and fast!  Luckily Ikea came to the rescue.  I started with some cheap-as pine frames and then added green paint, green silk, some flowery green cotton, sponges, beeswax and a fair bit of PVA glue.  Ta dah!
It also helped that the nearby dollar store was having a closing down sale (Headline: Sue takes Ulster thriftiness to new levels - waiting til the dollar store is closing down before making her purchase...) and was selling beautiful green mounts at 60 cents each.  Bargain!
Frames and clock = c.$40
Printing my fave photos / maps / etc. = c.$4
Mounts and paint = c.$5
Everything else = scrounged!

Disclaimer
Before you think I'm superwoman / a liar, I didn't achieve all of these in one weekend!  The worm tower and the planter are probably feasible one-day projects.  The cushions I wouldn't recommend to anyone who has a full time job!

Which is your favourite project?

Brisbane in the springtime

Barely a moment to blog these days - I've been buzzing across the Tasman Sea for work.  I'd like to see more of Sydney, meanwhile I enjoyed a few days in Brisbane with Owen and Elaine.

Owen & Elaine putting on a brave face despite the wind against the Brisbane skyline

Story Bridge at night, Brisbane

One of BrisVegas's prettiest buildings is a casino...

Early morning in Sydney

Having been away so much, I got a nice surprise coming back to the garden.  Everything is sprouting and shooting upward.  I can't help being excited about all the growth.

Chooks & books

Ross at Tawharanui

My birthday was almost two weeks ago now and I still haven't shared the lovely time we had in Tawharanui -  a peninsula not far from Ross' parents.  Actually it wasn't lovely.  My birthday is preceded by two of Ross' brothers' birthdays, and I'm the kind of girl who doesn't like to share the limelight on her birthday.  Bad planning on somebody's part...  Apart from that it was rather nice.  Tawharanui (ta-fa-ra-nooey) is a native bush and marine regional park (you can see it at the top right of the map to the left).  It has big spiral fences keeping mammals out, and posters explaining why even cunning cats can't get past 'em.  It has electric gates that make you feel like you're entering Jurassic Park.  It has lovely beaches where the most cunning mammal of all goes surfing.

But the best part of my weekend was getting back to the veggie garden, which is starting to sprout.  I had some beetroot seedlings to "companion plant" beside my onions - which are showing a few green spikes above the clay-ey soil.  I planted out some strawberry plants (10 for $10 - bargain!) and am waiting to see which tastes better out of "Elsanta" and "Camarosa".  Camarosa is what I've put in the hanging baskets in Auckland, so here's hoping they're good.  I put them in my raised bed, which despite the name has sunk considerably, so I topped up part of it with bought compost.  None of the compost bins Hugh put in at the start of winter are finished yet.  I'm going to get him some compost activator to speed things up.  When buying the strawberries and compost, I also spotted some raspberry plants in the clearance area, which pleased me no end.  I have planted them against the fence in Auckland, and I'm hoping they hold their own against the palms and kiwi vine on the other side.

Enterprising chook

Also delightful are the chickens ("chooks"!? as they call them here) now installed at Ross' parents.  Very tame and friendly, and I can't wait to try the eggs.  The two ewes and two lambs are slightly less exciting, but do keep the grass under control in the olive grove.  Only one of them - a little black-faced lamb - has a bit of personality about him and has won the hearts of the carnivores around me.  I hear he'll probably live to a ripe old age...
But the moment of my birthday which will be hardest to forget, mainly because I haven't recovered yet, was a quintessentially kiwi experience.  I'd heard quite a lot about the annoyance of sandflies.  Foolishly, I assumed (a) that they couldn't be as bad as the evil mosquitoes who'd already sucked me dry, and (b) that I could avoid them by avoiding sand.  Of course, Ross had already set my boundaries for complaining by opining, once again, that people who suffer only have themselves to blame because they don't itch unless you scratch them.  Why anyone would scratch something that didn't itch I'm not sure.  Anyways, I didn't.  Yet I got the full-on rash and swelling experience.  In no time at all, they'd got me five times on the arms and three on one leg (which might seem slack on their parts, but give them credit, I was wearing trousers).  I now own repellent, anti-histamines, hydrocortisone cream...
In the absence of nephews, cats or other achievements, I share with you my pride and joy - my seedlings:

I'm off to Oz twice this month.  To Brisneyland (where I plan to visit cousin Owen) and then back to Melbourne at the end of the month.  I'll see the place in a whole new light now that I've read "The True History of the Kelly Gang" (a much-vaunted biography of Ned Kelly).  To be honest, I didn't get as much out of this book immediately as an Australian probably does.  I think it'll stick with me though, and bits will take on meaning as I learn more about the place.  Gradually I'll instill in myself an interest in this antipodean culture.  But just now I miss Italy.

Tawharanui estuary

Veggie garden update for July

After a cold spell (well, cold for Auckland, i.e. 5-10 degrees) the veggies slowed down a bit, but now they seem to be shooting upward once more - especially the broccoli which is ready to eat, as are the spring onions.  We've eaten the baby carrots which we thinned out - tiny but yummy.  The leeks and cauliflower still have a long way to go.

In this pic you can see (clockwise from top left) broccoletti, broccoli, leeks, beetroot, spring onions, carrots.

Planning for the summer planting is progressing apace.  I had two fabulous helpers in with digging and pruning last weekend - Ross' nieces were visiting for the school holidays.  We had a fun time at the beach too.

Meanwhile work is going well, and I'm looking forward to visiting Wellington - the capital of New Zealand at the bottom of the South Island - to meet a client in a couple of weeks.  Probably just a short trip this time, but there will be others.

In italiano: i progressi di luglio nell'orto
Dopo un periodo freddo (beh, freddo per l'Auckland - cioe' fra 5 e 10 gradi), le verdure si sono rallentati un po'.  Ma addesso ricominciano - in particolare i broccoli, i quali sono pronti per mangiare, insieme ai cipollotti.
La progettazione per l'estate nell'orto va avanti.  Avevo due voluntari bravi al finesettimana - le nipoti di Ross c'erano per le vacanze invernali.  Ci siamo divertiti anche alla spiaggia.
Il mio lavoro va bene al momento, e non vedo l'ora di visitare il capitale, Wellington, al sud dell'isola del nord, per un cliente fra un paio di settimane.

Soldiers and sunshine

After several weeks of autumnal showers, I decided to bring a hat and scarf to the 6am dawn service in Auckland Domain.  But I didn't need it - we had a gloriously warm sunny day, so even pre-dawn it was comfortable.  The service was in recognition of the Anzacs - Australia New Zealand Air Corps soldiers.  The First World War battle for Gallipoli is the most important date for Anzacs.  In fact, if the speakers at the service were to be believed, it may have been the most important date in the history of New Zealand: the moment when the colony proved itself.  The sacrifices made by the soldiers are hard for someone born in 1979 to understand, especially those of the Maori brigade, who suffered the greatest losses of the army in WW2, being always put as the spearhead of attacks.  It was good to have a day apart to think about it.
Meanwhile the veggie garden is coming on apace.  I'm particularly impressed with the broccoletti, an Italian vegetable of the same family as broccoli, but in this case the leaves are eaten.  Our broccoletti, which Ross loves to eat with Italian sausage meat in pasta or pizza, has shot up, surviving the caterpillars much better than the broccoli.
We took a walk down to the shore to gather more seaweed, but no luck - the tide was in.  Better for photos than bladderwrack.
The orchard has been fruitful, if you'll excuse the pun, and I've been scouring the net for persimmon and feijoa recipes.  Can't wait to try persimmon cheesecake and feijoa lemon ginger marmalade.  Ross is worried for the pots.



In italiano!  Sole e soldati
Dopo delle settimane piovose e autunali, decisi di mettermi la sciarpa e il cappello per andare alla ceremonia prima dell'alba nel Domain, il parco piu' grande di Auckland.  Non fu necessario, divenne un giorno limpido e caldo, cosi' caldo che gia' prima dell'alba si stava bene.  La ceremonia ricordo' il sacrificio degli Anzac.  Infatti, si ricorda in particolare la battiglia di Gallipolo - se si crede agli interlocutori della ceremonia, fu allora che nacque la nazione della Nuova Zelanda, quando i neozelandesi si dimostrarano grandi come i loro colonizzatori inglesi.  Molto commovente fu la storia della brigata maori, che persero piu' del loro numero di tutte le brigate, grazie ad essere sempre messi in avanti in ogni azione di guerra.  Qui in NZ, si ricorda i sacrifici molto meglio che nel Regno Unito.
L'orto cresce velocemente!  Sono molto fiera dei broccoletti, che sostengono gli insetti molto meglio dei broccoli.  Anche il frutteto e' stato produttivo, e adesso cerco su internet per le ricette con i cacchi e i feijoa.  Non vedo l'ora di provare il cheesecake ai cacchi e la marmellata di feijoa, limone e zenzero.

Veggies t = 6 days!

Just a quick post to say I'm so impressed with the veggie garden after only 6 days!  It's now got an industrial scale bird cover, and the brocoletti are shooting upwards!

Frogs, flower beds and feijoas

So much to tell!
It's been such a busy week that I haven't had a moment to write down all the thoughts flowing through my head like a streamgraph.  It's been a week of truly lovely evenings in the greenness of Titirangi with Sandy, Billie and Moeanu (yes, I loved it guys, despite the mozzie menace!), a week of getting back to my heartland in terms of work, and then seeing new horizons in the fascinating field of data visualisation, and, very excitingly, the week when our first little seedlings went into the raised bed.
So much to tell, so I'll try to show instead - here are my pics.

In italiano!: Rane, l'orto e i feijoa
C'e' tanto da raccontare!
E' stata una settimana cosi' piena che non avevo un momento per buttare giu' i pensieri che scorrono nel mio cervello come un streamgraph.  C'erano delle serate bellissime nel verde di Titirangi con Sandy, Billie e Moeanu (si', mi piaceva nonostante le zanzare!).  C'era il ritorno al mio lavoro basilare di ricerche, e poi, il vedere di nuovi orrizonti nel campo della visualazione di data.  Con grande anticipazione, c'era inoltre l'inseminazione dell'orto.
Con cosi' tanto da descrivere, cerco invece di mostrarlo - ecco le mie foto.

Auckland's skyline at night on one of our evenings out - the highest bit is the Skytower which changes colour to suit the occasion

(I'm not sure what red signifies!)

T

Titirangi sky - we spent two lovely evenings in Sandy's wonderfully welcoming home

The first question all guests are asked is: "Can you play the frog?"  We did our best

It turned out to be easier than playing the didgeridoo

Some champion cooking and baking went down, and I also tried feijoas for the first time

Meanwhile, back at the office I've been closely following some data visualisation sites, and I'm loving this fab discipline.  I'm more interested in making data as intuitive as possible, but there are also more artistic and fun applications, like this Amaztype - a site that makes words out of Amazon's books on a given topic - in this case New Zealand.  Have a play.  

I also promised an update on the veggie garden - well, Ross' dad kindly waited for my arrival before finishing the raised bed.  We planted all our tiny seedlings - although the beetroots don't look too perky! - and I feel a certain motherly pride in the results.

Veggie garden (t = 0 days)

L'Orto! - The Veggie Garden

I hope to start work at the new job in 3 weeks' time.  3 weeks to keep myself busy without a salary...  Time to plant a veggie garden!
Before you ask, I've never done a garden of any kind before, but they say ignorance is bliss, so I wasn't going to let my ignorance stop me trying.  The veggie garden isn't at our house in Auckland, but at Ross' parents' large plot in Warkworth.  They've been planning a veggie garden for a while, so it'll be a help to them too.
To clue myself in before all the dirt and digging, I did a little web research.  What I read convinced me that raised beds are the way to go.

The plot: :it doesn't look like much now, but it's gonna be great

Raised beds, my research tells me:

• help to protect the plants by keeping path and bed separate
• deter rabbits
• are easier to reach and less back-breaking
• deter weeds
• give the gardener control over soil and water

They're also ready quicker (despite the set-up work to make a raised bed, ordinary soil should be left for months longer after tilling and improving) and I've never been a patient person.

Here's what I did:

1. What plants?  I found out what would grow in Warkworth (it's subtropical) during autumn and winter.  With input from my veggie-eating customers (i.e. Ross' parents!) I settled on broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, beet, onion, spring onion, leek, garlic, carrot and parsnip.  There were a surprising number of other possibilities too.  I'll be doing some from seed and some from bought seedlings.
2. Layout?  Raised beds should be no more than 1.2m wide with access on both sides do you can always reach your plants!  Also, some plants go well together - onions like strawberries and beets for example!  Generally it's good to keep plant families in blocks so when you rotate crops next year, you can easily avoid putting the same kind of plant in one area twice.  I had great fun planning this in GrowVeg.com's free trial - they colour code the plant families and also space the plants for you correctly.
3. How?  Raised beds can be constructed out of many materials.  But when you've just arrived in a country, you don't have a lot of scrap wood or brick lying around.  Freecycle has some good stuff, and lots of greenie points, but not having tools to cut wood to size, etc. I decided to get cheap planks from thw wonderful Bunnings.  I tried to get untreated wood, because treated wood seeps chemicals into your veggies, and I'm painstakingly rubbing raw linseed oil into it to protect it from moisture.  It won't last for centuries, but it should last a few years.  I also got galvanised nails and some short pointy posts to attach the planks to.
4. What soil?  Ross' first question was what are you going to fill raised beds with?  But, I discovered, it's a bit like making compost - you can use lots of waste materials to layer up your bed - no need to dig or fork out lots of cash.  I just have to layer "brown" carbon materials like newspaper with "green" nitrogen materials like grass clippings.  I bought a couple of bags of compost to put around my seedlings, and one of lucerne/pea hay, which is supposed to do wonders for plants, but the rest will all be recycled material.  The best bit is that washed seaweed is great for plants, and we're just half a km from the beach, so I'm now washing bucketloads of the stuff.
5. What about the bunnies?  Stumbling block number 1.  I hadn't thought of rabbit control.  In theory, they should be discouraged by the height of the beds, but I'm not convinced this will be enough.  So I've started making a rabbit-proof fence.  This involves digging a foot-deep trench and burying the mesh underground as well as 3 feet above ground.  I'm down about half a foot and now have blisters.  Will get back to the fence tomorrow.

Bladderwrack type stuff - washing off the salt in a bucket

So that's where I'm at now.  Still got plenty of wood to oil, and plenty of trench to dig, but still enthusiastic.

6 planks oiled, too many to go!

I look forward to hearing your comments, even if you think I'm a nut (as I've already been told!).

In Italiano!: L'Orto
Con una pausa di 3 settimane prima di iniziare il mio nuovo lavoro, ho deciso di fare un orto nel terreno dei genitori di Ross.  Non lo mai fatto, pero' non mi scoraggio!    Dalle mie ricerche su internet, ho capito che ci sono certi vantaggi di un orto rialzato con muretti di legna o mattoni.  Limitano il danno dai conigli e riduce gli erbacci, e sono piu' comodi di lavorare.  Ho deciso di fare un orto di questo tipo con tavole economiche di legna.  Sto impregnando la legna con olio di lino - protegge la legna dall'umidita', ma non contamina le verdure.  Pero', ci metto molto tempo!
Mi piace molto la programma per la progettazione da www.GrowVeg.com - i colori ti dicono di che famiglia sono le piante che ti aiuta con la rotazione delle colture.
Ho deciso di piantare verdure che approfitano dell'inverno mite in questo clima subtropicale: i broccoli, i cavolfiori, i porri, le cipolle, l'aglio, le rape rosse, gli spinaci, le carote e le pastinache.
Il terriccio si puo' fare con tante materiali riciclati, ho scoperto - con strati alternati di materiali secche (es. i vecchi giornali) e materiali umide (es. erba tagliata).  Posso anche utilizare l'algae dal mare - a solo 1 km dalla casa.  Sto lavando un mucchio!
Fammi sapere che ne pensi con un commento!