Community Gardens

Without land, growing your own food becomes just a slightly impossible.... so Google... Google.. ah... community gardens :-)

Permaculture gardens are dotted around Melbourne.  A local high school gave over an acre of land to local permaculture peeps who open the place to the public twice a week.
Attending morning sessions of the permie garden became my social life, as my teenage son became old enough to have a job and entered the hospitably industry - without a car!
How did that happen?  Well you see, he had taken a loan to purchase a car, was enticed by the roar of it's V8 engine, and bought the blinking thing without conferring with me!  Australian law precludes 18 year olds from driving a V8, yet the unscrupulous seller went ahead without an explanation to the young man.
Really, there is dirt at the bottom of the barrel.

So, loaning my car to my son every Thurs to Sun night removed my evening social life completely.
Morning activities ???? - Google.. ah community gardens.

Working the community garden meant that I learnt about soil, worm farming, chickens and seedlings. Wonderfully, I made some friends.  Both Mary and Martha worked the garden - if you know what I mean ;-)

After working in the garden, on occasion, volunteers were able to take home some of the harvest.  A great way to fill the young man's belly :-)
Naturally, after learning to propagate pomegranates, I donated a seedling to the garden as a thank you.  Through food swaps, a gentleman was passing out a banana tree, so I volunteered to take it to the community garden.  The place has around 40 fruit trees, 12 vegetable beds, vast berry shrubs and many wicking beds.  Quite an abundance.

Although my son is now an independent young man, I still feed him!
Often :-)  Now, however, I feed him (and his friends) from my home potted garden and raised bed.

Preserves and Empty Jars

Once upon a time, my grandparents would say 'Waste not, Want not'.
'What on earth do you mean?' I would think to myself........ :-)

People who preserve their excess from their bountiful food gardens in Australia's 1/4 acre blocks, have great need for empty glass jars, empty bottles and containers.

So all of my empty bottles get saved to go to Food Swaps, where those who need them for preserving are able to take them home.  In return, they bring some of their preserves to the swap, which I take home to feed my hungry son (remember, he eats enough for 4 people).

Empty glass jars come from coffee, feta cheese, vegemite, salsa (tomato sauce), drink bottles etc etc. Folks use these many variations to bottle jam, chutney, marmalade, lemon butter, pasta sauces (sugo), olives, sauerkraut and any vegetable del'olio.

'Money for jam' - 'Bottles for jam' :-)

Plastic drink bottles are used by worm farmers to store and share their prized black liquid gold - worm wee :-) Don't waste your empty bottles, take them to a food swap where worm farmers will take them home to use.

Worm wee is a great fertiliser for any plant and is coveted by any good gardener.

These bottles can also be repurposed as a mini greenhouse.

Empty milk bottles can come to the same use.  They can also be cut open and used as herb pots or seedling containers.  Take your pick of these images.

What great abundance - taking empty containers to a food swap, and coming home with fruit, vegetables, preserves, and fertiliser.

So I guess Gran was right!

If you Waste Nothing, you will Want for Nothing!

Propagation and gifts

With a passion for pomegranates developing quickly, my next journey was to see if I could propagate the trees from seed.  Youtube is a great education sharing platform: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWQxAC5Zdo&noredirect=1  The video is slow to watch, but the method works -
BINGO!

Out of 50 seed, I got 5 plants.  The one pictured is 2 years old.  I gave 3 to friends for Christmas or birthdays, and 1 to the local community food garden as a gift for all they had taught me.  I will do a separate post about the community food garden another day.

So seeing that I was now providing very generous gifts for birthdays and Christmas with very little outlay, I was hooked on propagation!!

Succulents are easy to propagate, and are readily available at Food Swaps.  Various succulents have become 'Thank You' presents for the many friends and colleagues who have assisted me when unwell, and dazzling Christmas presents. My Kris Kringle at work was so coveted, there was competition to receive the succulent I had prepared.  Propagation has saved hundreds of dollars in presents and gifts over the last 2 years.  Succulents are great indoors, particularly in a bathroom, as they require little water, and are very difficult to kill.  The perfect gift for your friends who work long hours.

Pigface is a great Australian succulent, and edible.  Masterchef featured this little Aloe Vera plant on one of their cook-offs. Although I haven't cooked it yet, I hear that it is an acquired taste, and you have to know what you are doing.  It is a ground cover, and produces beautiful pink flowers when in season.  Very easy to propagate - just cut a piece off and plant in pots or the ground.  It will take root independently like any succulent.

At one of last years swaps, a kind gentleman had propagated 10 to 20 Goji berry plants.  What a treat!!  The bush produced hundreds of Goji berries in a very short time - delivering great taste to my daily breakfast cereal or porridge.  What a treat - Goji berries are about $33 per kilo in the shops, and I just walk into my back yard and pick them for free!!  Packed with vitamins and taste, I felt like a princess :-)

So this season, I learnt to propagate Goji Berry plants from Youtube, and now will be gifting them to relations for Christmas!  

In this photo, the propagated plant has full roots growing out the bottom, and small buds beginning to pop up in the middle of Melbourne's July.  So they are healthy and ready for fruiting in spring, and then gifting for Christmas.

I am reminded of this silly children's song.  I don't celebrate this festival myself, but there are truths in this little tune.  Just substitute 'dreidel' for your favourite fruit. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKreDYVWark

Generous gifts, for next to nix..... whoever said 'money doesn't grow on trees'?  

Yes it does!!

Money grows on Trees!!!

Herbs in Pots

Pots, pots, pots.... so now hooked on food gardening, how to fit many varieties into a small rental space.....???..... POTS!  and HERBS!
How to afford pots when on a limited income?...... discarded pots, and swapped herbs.
"One person's trash, is the next person's treasure!"

So planning - how to feed the hungry man/child with pots and herbs?
Well, spaghetti bolognese is nothing without sage, basil,  rosemary, oregano and thyme.

Starting with Basil, purchased at ALDI for $3.99, the plant has flourished so well it not only went into  Spag Bog, but it has been split several times and given to friends and colleagues.  Enough basil has grown for it to be harvested and used as pesto for my contributions to work morning teas - saving money - and making me very popular for bringing organic, home grown food without those nasty preservatives :-)




PIZZA THYME - also great in roasts, and baked fish.


Oregano


Sage - also good as a tea to help clear bronchial infections.  http://teasense.com.au/


Rosemary - a slow grower, but good in sooooo many dishes!  The plant grows in many, many public places in Melbourne - roundabouts, nature strips, public parks - but people pay $3 for a tiny bunch wrapped in plastic at the supermarkets!  It only costs about $3 to buy a plant, and it cares for itself.  Easy to propagate - just take a cutting, dip in honey and plant.  :-)

Herbs for Health - a talk from Sarah Cowell, and put on at Hawthorn Library by the local council brought great enlightenment on how these herbs enrich our immunity and help treat common minor ailments.  The sage tea works for me!

Below - Flat Parsley is amazing - grows rapidly and is fabulous for Tabouli, and the man/child loves it.  The couscous fills him up, and the cost is next to nix!




Below - Curley parsley as a condiment.......



Next money saving plant - Chocolate mint!
I haven't bought a packet of tea since i got this plant :-)  One or two leaves in a teacup - bit of hot water and voila!  It is sooooooo delicious!  Again - it grows rapidly, so easy to propagate - keep in a pot because it will overgrow any land.




New additions to the potted garden, and so new learning journeys ahead include Pineapple Sage,  Fever few, Sorrel, Thai Basil, Vietnamese mint and Apple Mint.  Perhaps if you have recipes for these herbs, you can leave them in the comments below.

CAUTION - I am told that anyone on medications needs to be aware that herbs can interfere with certain medications - so look into it before experimenting.

The aromas that come with herbs, fill the kitchen and enrich our lives, are very much appreciated.

Facebook

So as most folks do, I have published a Facebook page.
If you have enjoyed connecting with the journey here, join me on the Facebook page to see what happens next :-)
https://www.facebook.com/mylittletrowel/

My Little Trowel

Consulting, Creating, Collaborating 

Consulting for organizations with a vision to create collaborative communities around organic food sources.  

mylittletrowel@gmail.com

When life gives you lemons.......

...... make lemon water, lemon tarts, lemon chicken, and lemon basted fish :-)

Lemonade is just lolly water - and costs!  If you have access to a lemon tree, then lemon water is such a healthy, vital way to provide drinks for the hungry man/child :-)

The journey with my lemon tree has been long and arduous.  A dwarf Meyer purchased just before the 7 year long drought starting in around 2005, 2006 ish.  Kept in a large pot, the poor tree withered and became completely bare - not even any leaves!  I thought it was dead, but vowed to keep it one more year - just in case.

My patience was worth it!  By 2012 it was flourishing again and producing a bounty of yellow, juicy Vitamin C packed citrus.  The juice provides daily lemon water, ensuring that colds and flu are kept to a minimum (pharmacy savings there) and providing a healthy drink.  Gone are the sugary soda drinks, and with that savings to the weekly budget.  Pictured here with a drop of mint!

Baked dishes with lemons and herbs are just delicious - organic home grown food - nothing like it! Pictured here is lemon baked fish - lemon chicken is just as delicious (put the whole rind inside the bird).

Lemons are particularly popular at food swaps!  

One gardener’s glut is another gardener’s lunch!  I usually swap my Lemons for Greens!

Beyond the food is the cleaning.  In picking up a stylish trigger for only $2, and filing with white vinegar and lemon juice is a great surface cleaner.  More weekly savings!  You can Google the recipes for various natural cleaners.  While I personally haven't gone completely natural with cleaners, this surface cleaner is a great saver :-)

Any savings are just fantastic!  Four years on and not only have I fed a teenager that can eat for 4 adult males, but have a deposit for a home loan.

Don't feed your children sugar sodas - invest in a little lemon and watch it grow.

My Little Trowel

mylittletrowel@gmail.com

My Little Trowel

How do you do it!?!
How do you feed a teenage male on one income?

These are the questions I asked as I faced a food bill for one son amounting to $200 AU per week.
The phrase 'eating me out of house and home' became reality!
With limited work income, mounting debt, and without financial support from elsewhere, something had to be done.

Necessity being the 'mother of invention' I hit the internet to find solutions.

Solution - food gardening.
With a flourishing Spanish Pomegranate tree in the front of my rental, I learned all I could about how to harvest and care for this beautiful fruit tree.

Middle eastern salads, breakfast and desert toppers became a great way to use these delicious pops of paradise.  With a love for Devonshire tea, I immediately invented the pommie scone :-)

Inspired, I went shopping and I picked up my one little trowel and began my steep learning curve.

My steep learning curve began with Food Swaps.  These are wonderful community events that allow home food gardeners to gather and swap their harvest surplus.  So I took along some of my surplus pomegranates, and returned home with a rainbow chard (pictured behind the trowel), pumpkin and a few lemons.  Suddenly, I was able to cut a few dollars off my food bill in exchange for pomegranates.

Hooked!

I used my little trowel to plant that chard, and continue to eat from it for the next two years.  I dug a hole in this rich Australian soil and planted rosemary, parsley and spring onions right away.  Flourishing now!  Flourishing!  All my cooking is filled with the rich aromas of fresh herbs cut straight from my garden.  Organic, fresh herbs at little cost but the sharing of a pomegranate, and a little tiny bit of work - but fun work - and the arm muscles improving.

My Little Trowel has had a huge workout since then, and I have found the joy of gardening!
I will share my joys and discoveries over the coming days and weeks - hit the 'follow' button on this blog and read about the journey as I share how you too can be enriched, and your cooking enhanced with just one little trowel.