From Paris, from England to Africa to an Australian outback setting.

From her small flat in Paris and he from his bleak mining town in Yorkshire, onto Kenya. From out of Africa to Geraldton’s sunny shores Isabelle and Charlie settled and have created something unique and pristine in suburban Bluff Point.

Isabelle told their story, in her parisienne accent, as we drank coffee on the balcony overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Aquaponics and Salty Garden Tales

Hi Folks, aquaponics and fishy tales.                                                                                                       

Neville and Anita  heard our story about how Ivan and Margaret were catching dinner plate size perch from out of the old swimming pool in their back yard. “Come and have a look at this” he said.

Turns out that after arriving in Gero from Cervantes they set about, with the help of Father in-law Dwayne,  to build a Aquaponics set up under a shade house in their back yard.  A year later with info from the enthusiastic bloggers on the net and local knowledge he ended up with what looks like a small sailing ship with leafy vegetables climbing up the masthead and silver perch swimming around the bottom of the captain’s cabin!

Your lettuce bolting on you?

 John rang me because he was concerned about his lettuces.                                                                  

“Why are they running up to seed before it makes a heart?” he wanted to know. So we decided to go around and take a look. What a surprise! John has established a great vegie patch on a vacant bit of dirt and had some tricks up his sleeve I hadn’t heard of before. And he was able to share them with me to pass on. All of his vegies were very healthy indeed.

First thing though, we tackled the problem of lettuce running up to seed before setting a heart. Nature does make sure that it more than adequately protects it s species. Because a plant can’t run away from predators or adjust itself to sudden climate changes it does certain things. If a dry spell sets in, or a few hours of intense heat occurs, or any other outside unusual stressful event takes place the plant will almost immediately start setting seed. You may have noticed some species of plants will flower profusely in a drought even though there is not much actual plant or leaf growth. In the case of John’s lettuce we were not able to determine what actual event occurred to force the plant to seed, but it may have just been some unseasonal hot weather for a day or so before rain. They were planted on the 14^th of April and started to run up to seed about a month ago.

Country Life.........Easy Style

Greetings Fellow Gardeners.                                                                                                                                                     

“Raodasider couch, the sort I get off the side of the road” is how she explained her lawn. Looking fresh and green, it makes a great foundation for the low care gardens around the Rose Cottage of Roseanne and Charles down Greenough way. It doesn’t mind the bit of salt that comes up with the bore water she said.

Hidden away across the Greenough River the house is an excellent example of the architecture of the late eighteen hundreds. Roseanne and Charles have used their talents to create a pleasant, open garden of low care plants that give the feel of country and space. Using odds bits and pieces Charles designed the eye catching examples of his art positioned carefully in the surrounds of Rose Garden cottage. They have a feel of the times gone by with their rustic character.

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.