from little things, cucumbers grow

These are my baby cucumbers which have been grown from seed. I stuck them in egg cartons with some propagating soil, into an old plastic box to nurture them through the initial part of their life. The water in there is from the luscious rain that we have had here. They have actually been flooded a couple of times & I have had to rescue them by bailing out the box. Today I am going to separate the sections of the egg carton (now quite soggy) and just stick the whole thing in the ground. This means that the roots will not get disturbed and hopefully lead to a happy and productive life.

Giving Christmas Trees

(Image borrowed from the Oxfam website)

I just placed the order for our Christmas tree from Oxfam.  It will be delivered for free somewhere between 12 & 15 December by volunteer drivers of 4WD club.  You can too if you live in metropolitan Melbourne.  Check them out.  Maybe you could volunteer as well. 

By buying a tree from Oxfam you will help them to provide long-term solutions to people experiencing poverty and injustice. Good one.

Decisions, decisions....

3 Landcruisers in 1 picture!, originally uploaded by Berten Smekens.

There have been a lot of things on our minds of late with regard to the upcoming year and all that this will entail. There are decisions that we have to make, and we are not usually quick to make these big decisions, especially when they have such a big impact on our hip pocket & potentially the environment.




The first big decision that we have had to really knuckle down on is what vehicle we will be travelling in for the 9 or so months. As we are a family of 5, 5 seats would probably do, however, over time, this would eventually lead to people (ie those lads sitting in the back) poking, prodding, and fighting. Let's face it, we usually only last about 10 minutes in the car before that happens - no, usually there is a fight about who is going to have to sit in the middle. So, we have made the decision that an 8 seater is imperative for all of our sanity so that all can have a little personal space to live and breath in that close confinement.



Ok, 8 seater, but what next? Fuel was my next concern. I wanted something that wasn't as harsh on the environment (is there such a thing?). Bio fuel sounded fantastic, but was it viable? What vehicles were able to take it? A friend of ours makes it from waste from restaurants, we can smell him coming, and he drives a diesel. It was settled then, we would get a diesel. Hopefully along the way, we would chance upon some great people who are making biofuel who we could get it from.



Seats, fuel, next was the type of vehicle. Not as easy as it sounded. We realised that a 4wd was gong to be imperative to get to the places that we wanted to - not that we wanted to go crazy off road, we just want to be able to see the beautiful natural places in Australia that are only accessible via 4wd. So, a Van or The Big 4WD - that was the question.



After loads...and loads of research the only van that came up looking like that it could do it was a Mitsubishi Delica, an import from Japan. Had never heard of it or seen one before. Suddenly, they were everywhere - weird how that happens. I looked at loads of them on the internet, spoke to people, found the "Delica Club", had a look at one, drove one (kind of like a truck, with luxury seats inside, loads of space inside), found the dealership (only 3 suburbs away - who knew!!!), all ready to go ahead. Kids even loved it. It was kind of daggy, but lovable. Called insurance to find out what it would be - they wouldn't do it - "an import". Called RACV motoring advice to find out what they thought about the car - SLAMMED it! I don't think that the guy had one nice word to say about it. Not even that it was really comfy inside. Apparently it is really hard to work on, parts very expensive, has to get towed out (of the desert) to be worked on if things go wrong (read "very expensive"), and that it wouldn't cope well with towing constantly for 9 months.



He said that there is only 1 car for us and that is Toyota Landruiser 80 series GXL diesel (which he then repeated many times in many different ways). Reasons: most reliable, easy to find parts, anyone can work on them, economical, strong and I am sure there were others. I have since found out that people who love these vehicles, really LOVE them....



Other things we have found out:

• the early models of the 80 series are better because they are built more like a truck, stronger, the newer ones have a front panel that is not as strong,

• best to get one around the 250,000km range (very hard to find),

• according to one mechanic who check out one that we looked at, we really need a turbo to enable it to have enough power to get up the hills given that it is pulling a camper trailer the whole time,

• it will need a snorkel to keep the air clean for the turbo & air filters (make them last longer),

• it's a whole new world after driving a commodore for so long - I think I will need lots of practice.

At the moment we have one (our second one) being checked out by RACV (the car club people) to see how it is. We think it looks pretty good. Everything is crossed at the moment. I am not sure that on our return I could reasonably driving such a vehicle to drop the kids at gym and whatnot - a van seems a little more reasonable in some weird way. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get to that.



Next big decision will be the camper trailer. Have already been "glancing" at eBay for one, might have to ramp it up a little.


Note: the vehicle we are getting is to be a second hand vehicle

Beautiful fresh potatoes

Ok, do you remember when I decided to try planting potatoes in a tyre on top on concrete?  With newspaper on the bottom & just some compost...

Well, finally the plants have died off, so I decided to do a treasure hunt on the weekend to see what I could find.  To be honest, I wasn't actually expecting a lot.  I was beginning to think that the potatoes were all rotten as well because it has been so hot here, so you can imagine my excitement when I came across all of these little beauties!

This was just one tyre's worth of potatoes, I left the other tyre for the boys to do their own treasure hunt (much to their glee!).  So all in all we were left with double this amount of potatoes, by only planting 10 seed potatoes in 4 tyres on top of concrete.  We neglected it for the 4 months that passed, and were well rewarded.  The taste is quite different to the bought ones - better, sweeter, tastier, more solid.  We were eating by the bucket load.

Do the math and you'll see that it really is worth planting your own potatoes, even if you live in the inner city like I do! (you just might want to plant more if you have a bunch of hungry kids like I do ...)

Lessons to be learnt from rubbish

Spy Hill Landfill - 4, originally uploaded by D'Arcy Norman.

We just had our hard waste clean up this weekend just gone & I was really excited as it was a great way to clear out some of the crap that had accumulated around the edges of our life that we really didn't need anymore. We always try to be very careful with our decisions on what we purchase, we barely buy new, unless we really have to (knickers & food etc), and only buy when we really have to (the decision process, "do we need it, or do we just want it").

When we are getting rid of things, we look at their reusability, is there someone else that can use this, can we pass it on, op shop it, change it & reuse it, or is it past it? If it is past it, then out it goes.

So, that is how we got to have a bunch of stuff for the hard garbage. Not many people would pick up stuff from our pile, however, regretably there were a few things that I did put out, that probably could have still had a bit more life in them. I did put them out thinking that someone might chance upon them & take them away. They did not. They have now gone to landfill.

So on Saturday morning, I woke to the sound of the garbage truck scraping the old trolley that was ugly, but had really good wheels still (just took up too much space in my laundry) being broken & squashed, & my bubble burst as I imagined my muck becomming a blob of landfill that would never go away. I realised that I could have done better - with that & with other things.

• All of the metal could have been taken off things and taken to metal scrap yard.
• The timber - I am not sure, but maybe some of it could have been used be a salvage yard.
• The chairs might have been picked up by someone on Freecycle.
• The window frame could have gone on Freecycle too.
• The shopping trolley really should have gone to the op shop, the wheels were great, the handle great, it didn't even need new vinyl, I just didn't like the colour of it.

The only positive was that the table frame was picked up by someone - my neighbours across the road. They will hopefully make a top with it a little faster than we didn't (it has been waiting for us to do it for 3 years!).

We live, we learn.

The Big Trip Around Australia

We have made the great decision that next year we are going to clock off from "normal" life for 9 months or so and go travelling around our great country. So many reasons have led us to this point, some of them are that the boys are the right age (10, 8 & 6 yrs), Skip shopper is in the "contracting" style of work at the moment (GFC) so there is no leave to beg for, our minds are wanting more, our feet are itchy....need I go on? It feels a little like jumping off a cliff sometimes, others, it is just damn exciting!

Needless to say there are a great deal of decisions to be made, a house to prepare for rental...la la la!

Our family car, the trusty commodore, we initially thought might be OK to take, however, after a relatively short trip to Bairnsdale (4 hours) during the last school holidays, with the kids screaming at each other about touching each other & who was sitting where, put us back to the drawing board on that. Watch this space on this. Van? 4 wheel drive? We do know that we want to go with diesel as this does give us the opportunity to use bio fuel whenever possible (Yay! to the environment!).

Accommodation, well, we thought that we would go & get some inspiration at one of those 4wd & camping shows - eep! Full on! So much choice that we were both very overwhelmed. It is so hard when you are "non-consumers" to come at the idea that you are going to have to buy some stuff to get going. Looking around all I could see was gearheads buying up on stuff and I had no idea on what to "get". Left with nothing & no idea (huge pile of pamphlets of camper trailers), other than very cold, and the kids had a great time watching Monster Trucks for the first time. Super! So we are thinking/hoping that a second hand camper trailer or pop top caravan will be the right thing.

At the moment, we are trying to imagine what it will be like to live in it (whatever "it" is) for 9 months (putting it up & down, cooking, getting to the places that we want to, etc) and what is going to work for us. Talking alot, looking on the internet alot, speaking with other people alot, hoping that some great ideas come our way and that the ideas that are not going to work will just .... fade away...

Like your parks & got some time to spare?

Our parks are beautiful places to visit and enjoy, however this doesn't just happen without the help of volunteers. An email came my way that provides plenty of opportunities for people to either get their hands dirty and help in the parks or in the office to help. So, if you live in Victoria, and have the time to help out, give them a call or an email. If you are living elsewhere, check out what is happening with your people and parks to see how you can help out.

Start of email from People & Parks Foundation:

Victorian People & Parks Foundation Volunteer Help Needed

Field Day Volunteering
If you would like to assist out in the field, we have the following events running. You don’t need any specific experience, just a happy disposition an interest in conservation and wiliness to pitch in.
This is a great opportunity if you wish to gain experience in community environmental work. A free Working with Children Certificate can be obtained for volunteers.
Please let me know which of the following days you are available:

WED OCTOBER 7 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group Royal Park (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED OCTOBER 14 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group Blackburn Lake Sanctuary (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED OCTOBER 21 RETREAT ASSISTANCE Corporate Volunteers Caitlin’s Retreat, Eltham (9:15am – 3:00pm)
FRI OCTOBER 23 GREEN CONNECTIONS Corporate Volunteers Albert Park (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED OCTOBER 28 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group TBC (Eastern Suburbs) (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED NOVEMBER 4 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group Blackburn Lake Sanctuary (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED NOVEMBER 11 SEA SEARCH School group Ricketts Point, Beaumaris (1:30pm to 4:30pm)
THUR NOVEMBER 12 RETREAT ASSISTANCE Corporate Volunteers Caitlin’s Retreat, Eltham (2pm – 4pm)
TUE NOVEMBER 17 GREEN CONNECTIONS Corporate Volunteers Werribee (9:15am – 3:00pm)

* Green Connections days consist of working in the environment with revegetation, planting, clear up etc
* Sea Search days consist of intertidal marine monitoring
* Retreat Assistance days are held at our retreat centre for special needs children and involve activities to improve the property
Email greenconnection@peopleandparks.org if interested


Friends of Caitlin's Retreat Volunteers
We are starting a Friends of Caitlin's Retreat for those that are interested in helping out on the Eltham property. Roles can include hands on assistance in the grounds, permaculture gardening, helping create programs for special needs children, networking with the local community and many other activities. The group will meet once a month at the Retreat Centre in Eltham. It is envisaged that this will be a working bee day for those that can participate and a general meeting. You can just attend the meeting, it is not necessary to assist in the working bee.

We are deciding whether the meeting will be held on a weekday or a weekend. If you are interested in being involved specifically in the Friends of Caitlin's Retreat please let me know your preference by emailing volunteer@peopleandparks.org

Office Volunteers
Do you have a day or two spare and would like to volunteer? We have the following skilled activities that require volunteer assistance.
Event Calendar Creator Volunteer needed for 1 day to conduct internet research and put together forward calendar of environmental events that People & Parks Foundation can participate in.
Park Database Creator Volunteer needed for 2 days compile information on Victorian parks and community groups including maps, photos and contact details for future volunteer projects.
Graphic Design Brochure Volunteer needed for 1 day to create brochures for volunteering days.
Writer / Marketing Volunteer needed for 1 -2 days to write copy for corporate and school volunteering programs.
Survey writer Volunteer needed for 1 day to write survey questions for volunteer groups
eLearning Creator Volunteer needed for 2 days to create induction PowerPoint for volunteers. Option to evaluate interactive elearning opportunities if interested
Data preparation We are transferring to a new CRM system(salesforce) and would like 1 days assistance in preparing and cleaning our data for this

If you are interested in any of the above activities, our preference is for volunteers to help on one or more of the following weekday dates during business hours.
October 9, 12, 13, 15, 19, 20, 22, 26, 27, 29 or November 6, 9, 10, 13, 20, 27. Email volunteer@peopleandparks.org if interested.
** Please note that we have attempted to have volunteers work remotely, however, with a small staff we have found this difficult to manage this successfully and projects have become drawn out. We realise that this is not ideal for volunteers and I have therefore set the above dates aside to work with volunteers directly on projects in our offices.

Current Volunteers
Thank you for to those volunteers who have been helping us out already. We are working through some of the projects that people have started for us and this assistance has been very useful for us.

Next Volunteer Meeting
Our next group volunteer meeting is at 5:30pm on Wednesday 28th October at Level 10, 535 Bourke St. This is a great opportunity for you to meet other volunteers and to find out about the work People & Parks Foundation will be undertaking. Please RSVP to volunteer@peopleandparks.org if you are attending so that I can ensure there are enough biscuits!

End email quote from People and Parks Foundation

I hope that you can find something interesting in there!

Ad hoc planting

I love holidays, especially as the boys are getting slightly older (10, 8 & 6), and are happier-ish, to play/fight amongst themselves and we regroup as a family. We have been having some brilliant spring rains here and I have been really enjoying my gorgeous bulbs that I stuck all over the place, in the middle of the lawn and in the vegetable gardens. I really do love taking advantage of the weather whilst it is here so the boys and I have been madly sticking vegetable seedlings in before they die (I forgot about them for a couple of weeks), and then we started going crazy with all of the seeds that I have lieing around the place. Part of the thinking was that because we are going to be travelling around Australia for most of the year next year, so let's use up those seeds, and part of it was over zealous behavour from the younger members of the family (I'm not going to stop planting power), and part of it was a curious thought of mine.

This curious thought went a little something like this. I was wondering what would happen if all of these seeds did just happen to get planted all over the place (did I mention that they were not planted into garden beds?) and it ended up looking like a bit of wild meadow of herbs and vegetables... That is the visual artist in me, I just wanted to paint a wonderful picture! Yummy and crazy?!!?! I was also wondering whether if there is more plants then, perhaps, just perhaps they might support each other through the drought of summer...? I love to test things out... I will have to wait and see : )

Get your Trashbag

Trash bags! I love these bags for many reasons and one of them is because by buying, you would know that the money goes to the people who have laboured over it, and it would help support the communities throughout the Asia Pacific region who are using recycled materials to make these fantastic useable (and some of them very flashy) bags. The bags grew out a very important problem in the Asia Pacific region which was the rising amount of garbage. This is just one of the many bags that they have on offer on their website or at some of the retail outlets.

The company has very strong ethics with the bags all being made using fair trade practices (ensuring amongst other things fair pricing, fair pay, prompt payment, gender equality, safe & healthy working conditions) and an active role in environmental sustainability. Something that we can get behind and support. Thanks to Amber for pointing Trash bags my way!

save your seeds

I don't know about you, but I am always stuffing seeds in paper bags and old takeaway containers, either because I'm or because I love growing from seed. Anyway there will be some experts talking about, and showing how to become a seed saver if you are at all close to Randwick in NSW this weekend. If I was up there, I would go and then maybe more of my seeds might actually work!

Here are the details.

Introduction to Seed Saving Workshop
This is a rare opportunity to learn everything you need to know about seed saving from two of Australia's best...
Jude & Michel Fanton, Seed Savers' Network, Byron Bay - www.seedsavers.net

WHEN: Sunday 20 September 2009, 10am to 3pm
WHERE: Randwick Community Organic Garden
Northern End Paine Reserve Cnr Rainbow & Botany St Kingsford (enter via Botany St)
BOOKINGS: essential as numbers are limited.
Contact Emma Daniell on 9371 1602 or mobile 0402 287 393 or emmadan13@gmail.com
COST: $60 - please pay cash or cheque upon admission at the workshop.

You will learn about:
seed identification & collection
seed gleaning and storing
germination testing & isolation
and much more

WHAT TO BRING:
a plate of food to share for lunch (morning and afternoon tea provided)
BYO hat, water, gloves and secateurs (optional).

ORGANISED BY:
Randwick Community Organic Garden (RCOG) - www.rcog.org.au
Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network (ACFCGN) Sydney - www.communitygarden.org.au