Family

LITTLE TREASURES

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On the way home from a morning ramble through the Queen Victoria Market we came upon a little antique store and all the pretty things without price labels begged us to enter. The owner looked one part surly to two part enigmatic, the perfect countenance for bargaining I suppose, I am neither surly nor enigmatic and avoid bargaining where possible. But my dearest spotted a collection of sweet little tins, that are my one true weakness, and and I selected one to go home with me with its funny little grain travellers label and the darling timber Kraft Cheese box. One for my tiny treasures and the other for my larger ones.

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Garden, Permaculture design

A LOOP AROUND THE GARDEN

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We have finished our PDC course. The final task was to design a garden for a Permablitz in Coburg. It was really interesting doing a design for a real place. The client is time poor so our design centred around an “everyday loop” that they could walk in 5 minutes around the garden to harvest all the things that need to be collected everyday, including chicken eggs. Perennials and orchard trees are on meandering little stepping stone paths off the main loop. My favourite part is the arbor which will be abundant with pumpkins and zucchini in summer.

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Garden, Permaculture design

VEG OUT UNDER LUNA PARK

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As part of our PDC course we visited the community garden Veg Out in St Kilda. It has quite a lovely history, it began as an abandoned bowling green, the building had been taken over by a group of artists who after a while felt sorry for the weed infested green and began nurturing it and then it sprawled and rambled out into one of the prettiest, creative community gardens I have seen. It was so loved by the community that the council couldn’t kick them out and now have grown to cherish it too. Dinosaurs made of trash metal stalk under the shadow of Luna Park and, there is a garden bed shaped as a ship complete with a mini sail, each plot has a letter box so when there are water restrictions everyone knows when they are allowed to water. It was a very inspiring place, every child at heart couldn’t help but melt.

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Garden, Recipes

COLOURFUL CARROTS – MAY IN THE GARDEN

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Sage cuttings in glass jars and bottles on a window sill

Purple sage cutting in a shot glass of water

A purple sage hidden by autumn leaves

Pink Cosmos Picotee flowers

 

Peas climbing up a bamboo support

Beans, potatoes and orange marigolds

 

Chopped heirloom carrots ready for a autumn soup

 

Autumn has finally hit and the orange and gold leaves are stunning. I took some rather late sage cuttings, I assume spring would have been a better time, but perhaps a warm window sill will be enough to encourage them to anchor into the soil. Pulling beautiful purple and yellow carrots from the ground was such a thrill, although I must admit my carrots had quite the cushy life and had more top than root and had to be supplemented by some absolute giants from the Sunday Market. I’ll have to be much meaner to them next time so they fatten up!

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