More spoils from the garden....

We have had loads of chillies and zucchinis for a few weeks but the other day we proudly harvested these:


And here's some succulents we've been propogating to give to some friends:

Weekly Container Gardening Spotlight-Tutorial

I've been intending to do something about my pot plants for some time. I have quite a few cuttings(mostly succulents) that I potted a year or so ago and conveniently forgot about last summer as it was so hot everything in a pot except these died. We got a heap of new pots and pans for a wedding present so I decided to do something with the old ones. They don't look particularly pretty yet, but once they are thriving I'll post some decent pics.

The benefits of reusing the old pots are that you get to remove the crappy 'terracotta' plastic pots that so many plants are invariably housed in. These were cracked so they went in the recycle bin. Further, the pot handles make them easy to move and rotate when it's really hot (even putting them inside) so you don't kill them off.

You need:

• old saucepans/pots/big lids
• seedlings
• cuttings
• potting mix/succulent mix
• water (grey ish)
• power drill

Directions:
1.Get out power drill only to release the battery has died and it will require several hours of charging. Relax on the couch with the newspaper and a cup of tea.

2. Assembly motley crew of pots in the meantime to demonstrate productivity in between cups of tea.

3. Water all plants you will be repotting. I used water that had been used to rinse garden veggies for the veggie seedling and herbs and a little that had been for some mild cleaning for the rest. The succulents are pretty hardy and dont really know the difference.

Here we have thyme, cucumber, baby lettuce and baby spinach

Various succulents and some tired looking pelargoniums.

Do you like this watering can? Make Gardens Not War! Awesome wedding present!

3. Remove plants from their pots. If they are root bound like mine, chop em up as you wish.

4. Drill holes in pot and lid bottoms. Realise it is impossible to take an action shot by yourself. If you don't have a drill you could try a hammer and nails but that may only work on tin cans and olive oil containers.

5. Realise you forgot to take shots of soil filling and plants due to chatting with husband.

6. Fill pots with soil. If you are feeling really excited you could buy potting mix specifically for succulents which is a bit more sandy.

7. Cut and tidy succulents and replant in their improved glory along with the seedlings.

8. Arrange decoratively as you wish. These will be significantly more decorative once I get some more plants so I can make more pots.

I love the lid full of succulents here: The box is for our new bbq-the old bbq will be used as a herb planter once I buy more herbs.

You can see my pelargonium collection down the bottom. The pots were decorated by the wonderful Craftea Chat participants as a wedding present!


Close up of succulents. The jelly bean ones are cool.

Marvel at wedding present pots again. I still can't believe Rayna got asked for ID when she bought the spray paint for decorating the pots!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, give it a try and let us know how it goes.

Save water in your property : The Garden

Here's the first of a few tips on how to save water in your rental property, adapted from a Yarra

Water leaflet, but picking out the highlights relating to renters...

• If you have grass in your garden then run hosing from the water outlet pipe on your washing machine on to it to maintain a lovely slab of green turf. If you don't have grass, then collect some of the water into a bucket which can easily be used on non-edible plants.
• Collect rainwater in buckets or tanks for future use.
  
• Group plants on their watering needs to make the most efficient use of water.
• Check the soil before watering, if it's damp already then save that water!
• Most plants will not need watering as much as you think, try cutting back and keeping an eye on the plant.
  
• Pot plants and house plants need a lot of water, do you really need then?
• Remove weeds from beds, they'll only use up water plants you actually want need.
• Water plant roots, not onto foliage.
• Larger plants and long grass can shield smaller plants from the sun.
  
• Use water crystals and wetting agents to keep the soil from drying out.
• Consider laying compost or mulch to keep soil damper.
• Plant native or drought resistant plants instead of water greedy European varities.
  

www.savewater.com.au
www.ourwater.vic.gov.au

There is a $30 rebate from your water supplier for products with a value of $100 or more from hardware stores or garden centres.