Eight Acres

 I learnt to hand-sew and embroider as a child.  I particularly remember my first cross-stitch kit, it was a rooster (now I wish I still had the finished product!) that I was given for Christmas when I was nine.  I remember struggling and making so many mistakes, but eventually I learnt how to read the pattern, count carefully, make neat stitches and produced a nice enough rooster.   Hooked on Cross-Stitching! From them onwards I was hooked on cross-stitch and made several kits before my mum bought me a pattern booklet (flowers and birds) and I made many of those (my grandmother had them hanging all over her house, what else do you do with them?!).  Finally I got a full book of sampler patterns and designed several of my own themes as gifts.  And then like so many childhood hobbies, I stopped, and my cross-stitch cotton, needles and fabric sat in a box at my parent's house for years until they made me take it away. The main reason I stopped cross-s...

 Chamomile is one of my favourite herbs, but I am only now writing a post about it because in the past I've had little success with growing it.  I have been buying and using dried chamomile, but I currently have a lovely healthy plant out in the food forest , so I'm going to tell you all about it (and maybe learn some tips for myself to keep it alive this time). Firstly, what do I mean by chamomile? When I started reading looking for chamomile in my herb books, I realised that its a bit complicated as there are several species and varieties with similar names and different names for the same species!  Even the botanical names have changed over time, which makes it a bit tricky to know which plant I have in the garden.  This is why it helps to have multiple herbs books to check, as they will all have slightly different information on the same herb. Chamaemelum nobile ( syn. Anthemis nobilis) - Garden Chamomile, Roman Chamomile , Lawn Chamomile, Mayweed Perennial...

What is a food forest? A food forest is a permaculture concept, best explained by the following quote from My Smart Garden : A ‘food forest’ is a system of gardening using a diversity of mostly perennial (long-lived species, as opposed to annual vegetables) chosen and arranged such as they compliment and support each other, minimising weeds, pests and maintenance while providing a rich variety of harvests. (What is permaculture?  Find out more here ) The more I read about permaculture and using perennial plants, the more I wanted to develop a food forest.  I also watched a DVD called The Permaculture Orchard : Beyond Organic ( affiliate link ), which shows how perennial plants and bushes can be grown amongst fruit and nut trees. I also read some books about perennial food plants ( see post here ) and have been working on incorporating perennial food plants into my garden. The only thing holding us back from starting a proper food forest or permaculture orchard was water ...

 We have been in our "new" house in Kumbia for nearly two years and thing I've missed the most is not having a proper garden ( read about our secondhand house here ).  The vege garden I had at Nanango (Eight Acres) had just hit a productive high point, with lots of perennial plants and herbs and veges that self-seeded each season.  I was watering it using greywater from our bath and washing machine, and there seemed to always be something to harvest, even it was just some herbs and leafy greens. It was sad to leave that productive garden behind, knowing that I would have to start again at our new house.  But it was also an opportunity try something different and put into practice some of the ideas I had read about and seen on other blogs.  I wrote in detail here about my inspiration .  Essentially I wanted combine raised beds, wicking beds and hugelkultur.  In the meantime, I've been growing what I can in several large pots and trays on my potting ta...

 I have been following Erin Rhoad's blog The Rogue Ginger for years, and I love her clever tips for reducing waste.  I was pretty happy to find her book Waste Not at the airport, something to read on a long flight and enjoy while on holiday. With beautiful photography showing the details (not just pretty, but informative!) and all the tips and tricks in one place, this book is a great kick start of anyone thinking about reducing waste.  After the introduction, the book is split into three sections: Tools, Tips and Tricks.      In the Tools section it was really interesting to read about how and why Erin started reducing waste in the first place Erin watched a documentary called The Clean Bin Project and then got involved in Plastic Free July.  It seems very common to have an epiphany moment where you realise that you should reduce waste (or live simply etc), and its ironic to think that reading this book could be that moment for someone else. ...