About a month ago Penguin sent me John Seymour’s New Self-Sufficient Gardener to review. I have to admit I was super-excited to receive this book to review. Whenever I have spoken to almost anyone about the ‘art’ of homesteading, and whether they have a book they’d recommend, have pointed me towards John Seymour’s The Self-Sufficient Gardener. I … Continue reading
Tag Archives: potager garden
Repotting Strawberry Plants
Way back in September I bought six strawberry plants. At the time they came in one punnet, so tiny were they. Given that I knew that I would be out of action from the garden for quite some time, I repotted those tiny strawberry plants into another pot – two to each one. I kept … Continue reading
{Results} Pricking out Tomatoes
Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago I decided to prick out some of my tomatoes because they were competing with some other seedlings. At the time I was slightly concerned that I had transplanted them early because their true leaves hadn’t come through yet. Well, today I was outside (repotting some … Continue reading
Planning the Vegetable Patch
This year, in an attempt to stay on top of my vegetable patch (and my plans for companion planting) I thought I would actually plan out my vegetable patch. It turns out that, ideally, it looks a little something like this: It also turns out that, although I know which plants I want to plant, I … Continue reading
{Book Review} The Australian Vegetable Garden
I’d been umming and ahhing about whether to buy “The Australian Vegetable Garden” by Clive Blazey for a few months when I came across it at the local library. I immediately borrowed the book and decided to read through it to help me make up my mind. At the end of reading through it, I’m … Continue reading
Pricking out Tomatoes
As you’ve probably all realised by this point, I’ve had some trouble growing tomatoes from seed. While that all seems to have sorted itself out, it occurred to me that I would probably need to prick my tomatoes out. Until I went to the seminar on growing vegetables from seed, I’d never heard of this … Continue reading
Raised Garden Beds
Recently Nick came into a little bit of money, and he agreed that I could have some of it to spend on whatever I wanted. “Excellent!” I exclaimed. “That means I can get some raised beds and begin my Backyard Makeover.” “Really?” he said to me, incredulous. “That’s what you’re going to spend your money … Continue reading
How Long Do Seeds Last?
About four or five years ago, after re-reading the Little House on the Prairie series for the umpteenth time I decided I was intrigued by these food stuffs she referred to as “ground cherries”. It was at about this time that my urge for increased domesticity and self-sufficiency kicked in (that Christmas was the first time … Continue reading
{Book Review} Whole Larder Love
A few weeks ago I was delighted to discover the blog Whole Larder Love. My main reason for excitement was the fact that the blogger, Rohan, was based in Victoria (the same state as me), and after reading a number of American blogs I was ecstatic that I was finally sharing seasons with someone! So … Continue reading
Book Wish List
As Christmas nears my family (and friends) start asking me what I want for Christmas. Usually I have a list floating around somewhere that I’ve been adding to all year, but that goes into hiding around birthdays and Christmas (because what’s life without a little mystery?). To prevent that from happening this year, I thought … Continue reading