Africanaussie

I suppose like all gardeners I do a few strange things.  One is that I cannot bear to throw away (or even recycle) cardboard.  We were very blessed recently to be able to purchase some new items for our home.  These all came wrapped in a huge amount of packaging.  What couldnt be immediately torn up into the worm buckets and compost heap or used as mulch was laid in the veggie garden paths.  This keeps it out of the way for now.  It soaks up the rain and watering runoff, so that when the compost has room again for more browns I simply rip up the floor!  Worms  (earthworms and red wrigglers) simply love cardboard, so even laying it down on a patch of dirt will do wonders to your garden.  You can cover it with mulch if you dont like the look of it. I was burying a pile of prawn shells under one such pice of cardboard last night and the worms were big and fat and juicy.  I wonder if they eat the prawn shells? - I know someone does, ...

I noticed for the first time when we went shopping this weekend that more and more shops are now charging for plastic bags.  Target sells compostable plastic bags. I must admit have been a bit lax in the plastic bag department. Some reasons: (excuses, if you like!) 1. We re-use the supermarket bags in our little kitchen garbage bin. 2. I keep forgetting my green bags in the car and only remember when I get to the checkout. 3. I have a very cute little storage bag for used plastic bags in the kitchen. 4.  We never throw them out or re-cycle them, every one of them is re-used. 5.  I actually thought they were all now compostable! So I have decided to be a little more pro-active and in response to the above excuses will take the following steps: 1.  All of the veggie peelings and messy stuff goes into the compost, tins and bottles go into the re-cycling, so really the rubbish can just go straight into the bin and then get thrown into the large...

I dont know how many solar garden lights I have bought in my lifetime and they have all eventually stopped working.  The solar part of the top starts to rust and they slowly dim, until they dont work anymore.  Since I hate to get rid of something that might go on to have another life I have been saving them in hopes I would have a  bright idea. well, talking of bright ideas led to candles...  mmmm how does that look?  I put one on either side of my pathway - they showcase my new stone "welcome to spring" stepping stone.  It was lovely sitting out in the gazebo looking out at the lightly flickering candles.  There was a light mist of rain which did not seem to bother the flame, and just enough to cool things down without making us head inside. I was thinking about drilling holes so that they would drain, and then when one was filled with rainwater I thought that they might also be used as little floating vases to add a bit of colour. ...

I am always interested in giving something new life instead of having it ending up filling the landfill. Sooo.... my hubby found this wheel rim lying around and asked whether I could put it to some use.    I have been hankering after a bit of a water feature, I know, I know, I dont have the room, but still, could I line this with some rubber or something, then plant a water lilly?  I would have to have some fish or things that eat mosquito larvae - is it too small?  Water features here can sometimes cause huge problems, maybe it is better to leave the water feautrue idea alone.  Should I go the other direction, since it already has drainage holes, and plant some colourful pansies or some nasturtiums in it? I do love the shape, and colourful flowers against the black would be good.. I am thinking outside the bedroom window would be a good spot, and we do need some more colour there, and there is sunshine there.  Stay tuned.....

I have always loved chimneas , but in the hot humid tropics any extra form of heat seems superfluous and in fact downright silly. We do however have mosquitoes, and at this time of the year always have mosquito coils burning....... along with a couple of citronella candles,....... along with personal insect repellent on really bad evenings. So.. I was eying these palm fronds that just lie around the bases of palm trees and end up in the landfill. I nabbed this one from a friend and voila - a tropical chimnea :) This is what it looked like in the raw... I cut the bottom end straight and glued it to a pot base. My hubby very kindly spray painted it with a terracotta colour spray paint. It puts out a lovely glowing light, the candle is protected from t he wind and best of all the outlay was a can of spray paint!