Holiday Project: Terrarium

School holidays are here and this little low-cost hands-on project is a great way to fill in some time.

A few years back one of our sons had a fish, and once the 2nd one was replaced... we decided our fish keeping days were over! So this 'helicopter' tank has lied dormant for a while. Perfect container for a terrarium!

Other items required include, small shells or plastic toys, rocks ($3 from BIG W), succulent potting mix, cuttings from existing succulents and a 'poker' chopstick for making the holes to poke your cutting into.

Thinking about how most of our plants/gardens are suffering with the hot dry summer, this little project is a great way to get kids involved/interested in gardening without tender loving care required for plant survival!

A layer of pebbles on the base ensures good drainage, then add a good layer of potting mix. Plants can start to be added, thinking about heights, begin in a central location and work your way out.

Master 8 decided to add 'army men' figurings to his terrarium, plus shells.

Master 5 taking a closer inspection

A final layer of rock is added towards the end, depending on what needs 'weighing' down.

Some items like shells we found are better placed in last.

All in all, I think you will agree the end result looks pretty fab!

Spud Time

Ok spud time again - check out how we went...

Fantastic little helpers too! It was like unearthing gold to them.

This is the first crop in the new patch, so I had allot riding on this – well my own self-interest anyways.

Yep our yield was better than last year, but I wouldn’t be boasting to the ABC’s Gardening Australia about it put it that way. Maybe we got 6 spuds (good size) under each plant so not super happy with the deal considering the time and space it takes up.

But worth noting is; other than the pre-planting fertilizer, I didn’t add any other fertilizer so next crop I will add some blood and bone and see what happens.

Organic Pest Control

Occasionally we see our children doing some beautiful things together and on the weekend we witnessed some great team work in tackling our grub infestation on the last of the sweet peas and snow peas.

Getting this little National Geographic kit with oversized tweezers, bug catcher and spy glass was hands down one of the best presents I have ever gotten them.

They were quite meticulous in selecting them without squashing them - which is quite ironic when you consider where they were headed...

Also, I didn't have the heart to tell them these old crops were going to be pulled out later today.

They spent a good half hour fossicking and collecting little green grubs and had several trips to the chickens who were hungry for more!

An alternative way to combat these critters is by spraying with a garlic mix: Put a whole garlic bulb through a garlic press and let it sit in a glass jar with a few tablespoons of salad oil. Then mix a few spoonfuls with dishwashing liquid, hot pepper sauce and water in a spray bottle. Spray the affected area once every couple of weeks.

But I think the tweezer approach is way more fun!

Livin' the Dream

Perhaps it is the spring weather or maybe the end of year approaching, but which ever way you look at it seems I've had some time recently to reflect and appreciate...

For starters - we love where we live - apart from the obvious location in South East Queensland, I am also talking about our local area and the place we call home.

Making the move from town to semi-rural a few years back has afforded us the opportunity to experiment/expand the garden and reap the rewards everyday. And it is not just me, Tony has this love thing going on too "Just livin' the Dream!" - his latest standard answer is more truer than you think.

We are rewarded everyday and not just from what we harvest from the vege garden to eat, but also having play spaces for the kids to explore/create/imagine; getting them involved in the planting/picking/checking of the veges; keeping chickens and providing them with glorious greens post-harvest to devour; being able to give surplus food/flowers/seeds to family/friends/neighbours (especially after they have looked after your pets and garden when you go away); but maybe the most important aspect - the sharing of knowledge!

Sorry for getting all philosophical with you, but truly guys - I hope you are all out there livin' your own dream like us :)

Weekend Helpers

There is a change in air – beautiful spring days have emerged and it has been a productive weekend in the garden.

As ever, the kids were keen to help and at one stage the garden was getting quite crowded (with the cat even coming in for an investigative peek).

Stepping pavers purposely placed between rows makes it easy for them to jump around and get within the plants. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as nervous as hell when they get the wobbles and a foot goes astray – but they are learning – and so am I, to chill out a bit.

We also have a colander on hand so they can easy hold the harvest. But honestly, just having them close by, watching us and maybe helping out a little bit … well that is just priceless!

Kids in the Garden

I really love having the kids around whilst gardening; they see you doing stuff like preparing the soil, planting out seedlings, and the coolest bit – picking food!

Sometimes it’s too easy to say “don’t walk on that”, “be careful you nearly stood on that plant” etc, but take a moment to put yourself in their world, you’re doing something very interesting and cool and they want in! So let them in; get them amongst the chickens, let them collect the eggs (cos it’s like a gift to them from the chickens), really who cares if they break one or two in the process.

Let them plant their own seeds and remind them to check for when they’ve sprouted or not (they might forget about it 24 hours later) and let them have their own bit of garden..

Our boys love to eat whatever they can in the garden, sometimes it’s a free-for-all on say, beans, or Raspberries(these are like a currency!)

Any small interest they show in the garden really should be encouraged and should be more of it.

Until next time.....let a kid loose in the garden!