Rustic Lifestyle in the Outer Suburbs

Hi  Fellow Gardeners                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Gabrielle and John have been running their upholstery repair business from home in for about thirty years.  They met up in Townsville when they were both in the forces, she was in a corporal ain the Air Force and John a private in the army, she outranked me then he said! After a stint in Darwin they made it to Geraldton and worked and raised a family of three here. They shared with us that they love the rustic lifestyle that they have been able to create.

Victoria and Holly are the two resident Saanen goats, one is being milked and the other is pregnant. The milk is used for drinking and cheese is made from the residue. Sitting around their kitchen table sharing yarns I told them many years ago as a young married couple we had a pure bred Saanen goat tethered to a post out in the bush next to humpy we lived in. Her name was Esmeralda Tasenalda the Third and had a pedigree that was of a higher order than the position she found herself in!

The Full Monty on Sustainable Living

Hello Gardeners                                                                                                               

Sustainability is the buzz word according to my mate Bob. Although his idea of sustainability probably refers to making enough home brew to last until the next mix! But the course I am engaged in at Durack Institute of Technology, (DIT is the new nickname,) is towards a diploma in sustainability. Since no one actually knows what that is, it is a bit of a worry if we can pass it!

So that’s what bought me to have a look at what Peter and his partner are doing up there at Howatharra on his thirty acres of land near the highway. Gardening is only part of sustainability and Peter has gone the whole monty by designing  his nine and half star rated house. He decided to invent a new slant on straw walls by building inside with fastwall bricks. On the outside of them, he will fasten about 300 mm width of straw bales, covered outside with three layers of plaster to form a very effective insulated 540mm thick wall around his open living house. The windows are all double glazed and filled inside with Argon gas. 

How I set about making a garden in a small unit.

Hi Fellow Gardeners,                                                                                                                                                    

Recently I shifted into a two bedroom unit. It is brand new but only has a small area at the back that I could use for a private garden. Since I have been talking about growing vegies at home, I thought I better set out an example to you, our readers what the hell I was on about. This is what I had to show and tell.

Nice garden up Kalbarri way, You should visit!

Hi fellow gardeners                                                                                                                    

We had heard about Alison from Kalbarri so I gave her a call and Ada and I went up to look at what she was up to. Turns out she is one of Kalbarri’s original citizens, having lived in this one house for fifty two years. When me and me mate Tony from Three Springs camped on the river bank back in 1964 she was living there then in what was a small asbestos lined house. This was the only one in that street apart from a few shacks around about.

Surviving in the suburbs on the pension.

Surviving in the suburbs on the pension.                                                                         

I have raised this issue with Bob and a few others at different times down at the local. Being on the pension is a tough call if that is all you got.

“I reckon you gotta be able to grow something yourself,” Bob said. “Not like you can get a killer for a carton and skin it in the back shed like we did back in the good old days. Or have your own chooks and get a rabbit or two now and then.” He complained. “Save a few quid if there was a way pensioners could get vegies or something that was easy.”

“I heard of a bloke in Gero who is doing something like that, “I said.

“Well, why don’t you go and ask him?” Bob answered.

And so I did.

Wilf  hailed from Cockatoo Island in the North, been a crocodile hunter, baker, haul pack driver and a few other things in his career. Now in retirement in Chapman Valley Road, he is growing vegetables, herbs and all good stuff to the extent he and Rose are self sufficient and also supply friends and family with much needed clean, untainted produce.

Freds Slant on growing Vegies.

Greetings garden lovers

We met Fred shovelling horse manure onto his newly prepared garden bed behind his house at Glenfield. There were melons and corn growing well as Fred prepared the beds for future planting. The water for this large garden comes from a bore on the property. It has 1600 parts per million of salt in the water and he uses powerful magnets wrapped around the bore discharge pipe to change the state of the salts and calcium which then lay on the surface. Fred claims that this is okay and can be worked back in the soil later. His plants certainly did not look to be suffering any ill-effects from the bore water. I have read some articles from scientists who refute the use of magnets to improve bore water quality. But Fred is the second person I have talked with in Geraldton who said they have definitely worked for them. Both are keen gardeners.

Got that Veggie Patch ready yet?

Hi Folks.

Got that veggie patch ready yet? Winter will come. I am over this summer and like a lot of people, ready to start planting! Talked to a couple who shared their ideas with me about this.

David and Deb of Bluff Point are interested in sustainability and permaculture. Their veggie plot out the back has been build up over the last few years from impoverished soil.