Green as a thistle!

Recently I stumbled across Green as a Thistle a blog (and now book) by journalist Vanessa who documents her endeavours at living a greener life. Her challenge was to:

"Spend each day, for an entire calendar year, doing one thing that betters the environment. The idea was that everything I did, I kept doing (so if I switched brands, it was a permanent switch; if I turned down my thermostat, I kept it down), so that by day 365, I'd be living as green a lifestyle as it gets. It was a gruelling year, but in the end, it proved that being an environmentalist doesn't necessarily mean being a smug hippie, nor does it have to mean compromising aesthetic values or good wine.

You can read the list here of her lifestyle changes. I was interested to read that many of the things trialed are common practice in Australia like reusable shopping bags, recycling glass and paper, reducing water use and using recycled toilet paper.

How many of this list do you practice? I found we practice lots of the ideas (not all were relevant to us of course) like cloth napkins, rechargable batteries, using organic and recycled materials where often and the link. I also found a few ideas I haven't heard of and got reminded of my pledge to ban tissues in the home (not really an option at work as many of my clients are in tears). I'll make a list of challenges for myself I think.

Save water in your property : Grey Water

Here's the second installment 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...

This time, the best ways to utilise greywater.

• Greywater is waste water from showers, baths, spas, hand basins, washing machines, dishwashers and basically water used by another process that's left over, which is generally most of it!
• Buckets are the most basic and easiest method of collecting gray water :
• Either a bucket in the shower
• A bucket in the sink when washing vegetables
• Scooping out water from the hand basin
• Waste water from washing machines can also be collected into a bucket, or if you use a simple long pipe or diversion system it can be sent straight onto the lawn.

There are however, some considerations when using greywater...

• Don't use water from the kitchen sink, it can contain fats and left over cleaning agents, unless of course you are sure the water is fine.
• Apply grey water directly to the base of plants, it can help reduce the survival rate of microbes.
• Always wash your hands after watering with grey water
• Use grey water within 24 hours of collection
• Don't use grey water on sickly looking plants
• Unfortunately you can't really use grey water on vegetables
• Try using grey water friendly detergents and cleaning agents to get the most garden friendly water you possibly can
• Don't apply more grey water than needed, i.e. after rain.

We're aware that not every one in rented property has a garden and we've concocted a few ideas of other things to do with grey water, but we haven't had the chance to test them yet though, so watch this space...!

www.epa.vic.gov.au
www.ourwater.vic.gov.au

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.