Pub theme in our re-use?

Our brickie neighbour alerted us to some secondhand bricks he thought may be suitable for our shed. Build-It Bloke did some negotiating, followed by several hours of moving and stacking, and we now have 5,000 bricks in a 'wall' just outside the back door! No, it's not intentionally a feature, we're just short on storage space. For the record, it's about 2.5 metres high, 3.6m long and 1.2m deep. The clothesline, formerly in that space, has been relegated to near the bottom of the block.

 

Interestingly the bricks came from Soden's [an Albury pub], which is currently being renovated. I say interestingly because they'll be in good company when they become the skin for our shed, as we have quite a few other re-used items from local drinking spots.

Our outdoor furniture includes former pokie chairs from the 'Garro' [Garrison Hotel, Lavington - now the Northside Hotel]. Build-It Bloke couldn't help but adopt a few of them when he worked on the renovations there. Incidentally, it's hard to find a more comfy chair than those designed to allow you to spend hours in front of the machines! Oh, and our (admittedly old and clunky) air conditioner that we use when the summer gets really roasting came from there too. It was from one of the guest rooms.

We've got red gum shelves that came from the Culcairn pub renovation a few years back. Our shelves were scraps in a pile for firewood prior to being rescued for their current application. Yup, Build-It Bloke was on the job there, too.

And I made garden edging from some decking offcuts left over from Paddy's [another Albury pub] outside extension, a year or two ago. Oh, and waiting to go into the shed are some lights that were also recovered from that job. You guessed it, Build-It Bloke contributed to that project.

Great huh? We've found ways to re-use materials that may otherwise have gone to waste AND our 'new' features already have their own stories.

Beer box rainwater diversion

The rainwater tanks are full and the ground is saturated. It still seems an unusual problem to have (drought-think is still with us), but with no way to store the recent rain for future use, we have needed to divert it into the stormwater system. Rather than collect all the rain from the roof into the tank and let it overflow from there, we thought we'd direct some of it to the stormwater drain at the front of the house. (Usually any overflow from the tank is directed to the mini-orchard trees, or if they are saturated, as they are now, we can direct it to the stormwater out the back). We have a system for diverting the main down pipes, but what to use for the smaller ones?

Enter beer slab cardboard packaging. We used it to cover the 'leaf eaters' that usually prevent leaves entering the pipes and tank. The water runs off them, onto a hard surface below that drains to the storm water system.

    

 Here are the selling points the beer companies have yet to capitalise on:

• Easily installed and removed
• Eco-friendly disposal: suitable for composting, adding to a worm farm or household recycling collection (depending on the condition)
• Available in a range of colors and price points
• Can be sized to suit various rainwater fixtures
• Bonus slab of BEER with every cardboard diverter (aka carton) purchased

Ours are even held in place by the downpipe (no tools required!) and have existing creases that fit the shape of the leaf eaters.

Ok, yes, other cardboard and lots of other materials would do. But hey, that's not nearly as fun. Another downpipe has a fetching green Cascade box, so be sure to consider your favoured flavour, too!

Permi8 at Shae's

The October permi8 gathering was held on a gorgeous spring day at Shae's place. It's been about a year since my last visit, and the food garden has come on in leaps and bounds in that time. (Yes, the recent rain has something to do with it too, I'm sure). We admired her mixed vegetable beds and shade trees that stretch from the back door to the food forest Shae is creating at the back of the block. Notice her pretty and practical garden border, made by weaving tree prunings between wood uprights.

We had a good chat as we looked at the new plantings she's done in the food forest, noted the way the older fruit trees had been pruned, and watched the chooks busily scratch around. Shae is improving the soil by depositing all her green waste (clippings, prunings and veg peelings) on the ground here and letting the chooks dig it over as it breaks down. It's continually adding organic matter to the soil, yet Shae describes it as 'lazy gardening' because once she dumps the materials the chooks do all the work. She's already reaping the benefits as the plants respond to the improved conditions by thriving instead of struggling. All the plants are heavily mulched and she has installed an irrigation system from her water tank.

 

We also went to work, to help place exclusion bags on the fruit trees to thwart the dreaded fruit flies.

We headed inside where Shae shared some you-tube clips and discussed her recent experience at a Change the Dream symposium. She spoke very passionately about it and clearly it has had a really positive impact on her. You can read more about it, in Shae's own words, here. Several permi8 people were excited to hear that the symposium is coming to Albury in November (details at that same link), so they too can participate.

Finally, we finished up with some swapping of seeds, cuttings and other 'show and tell', all while enjoying the always-impressive array of homemade goodies people had brought along and a cuppa!

Open garden events, Spring '10

Ah yes, it's Australian Open Garden Scheme season from September right through to May, and boy, are there some great opportunities out there. The biggest decision is working out which ones we can get to.

Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the Hall Garden open in Yarrawonga last weekend. We decided that there’s one thing better than taking in inspirational gardens, and that’s putting in some quality time in our own!  

We’re also going to miss the two gardens opening in Lockhart this weekend (9 & 10^th of October). I went along last year (different gardens), as they open in conjunction with the town’s Spirit of the Land festival which includes an awesome sculpture competition, art exhibition, market on Saturday, dunny tour and lots more! It’s a fantastic day trip from Albury/Wodonga, so keep it in mind if you’re at a loose end for the weekend.

We will be doing some travelling this weekend. We’ll be attending Louise Costa’s open garden in Rushworth. Louise’s garden was featured on Gardening Australia earlier this year (see here) and her blog details her use of recycled and reclaimed materials to create and decorate her garden. And it turns out Louise is friends with several friends of ours ... how could we resist the chance to check it out? 

As luck would have it, having decided to head to Rushworth on the weekend, I discovered a beekeeping field day near Bendigo on Sunday ... so we’re heading there too. I gave the organisers a call and there’ll be hands on opportunities to learn from other beekeepers, check out the wares of beekeeping suppliers and even watch some honey extraction. Very cool! Will keep you posted on how it goes.

And save the dates – later this month there are two more Open Garden opportunities locally.

Thurley Garden in Norris Park will be open the weekend of October 23^rd & 24^th. It’s a relatively new, water wise native garden. Entry is $6 for adults, no charge for children.

On the 30^th & 31^st of October the National Environment Centre will also be open, with a workshop on the Saturday, guided tours of the organic farm all weekend, and the opportunity to check out their Permaculture gardens and enjoy Devonshire tea with proceeds going to the Sanctuary refugee group. Entry is $6 for adults, kids are free.

More info on upcoming open gardens with the AOGS is available on their website - http://www.opengarden.org.au/visityourstate.html or see the Pulse section of the Border Mail on Saturdays.

A sculpture in Lockhart at last year's Spirit of the Land festival