A cold water wash in the washing machine costs about 10% of the cost of a hot water wash. When buying a washing machine consider a suds saver. They wash many loads and reuse water and soap powder. Use washing water to kill aphids and garden bugs on roses and other outdoor plants.
Use a push mower instead of a petrol driven mower. They are cheaper to buy, cheaper to run, create no pollution, and will keep you fit.
After years of dirty nails and hands after gardening I recently discovered that if I put disposable vinyl gloves on then the knit type gloves on top – my hands remained wonderfully clean, and the disposable gloves lasted a considerable time.
I have a tip that may make people a little queezy. I collect dead possums and rabbits from the roadside and place them on a wire rack (a fair distance away from my house!). I put a large bucket underneath to collect the maggots as they drop off the carcass. I then feed them to […]
Coffee grounds are a good growing medium for mushrooms.
Raised gardens. I have two halved [long ways] plastic 250 litre drum, that I filled with manure and planted 30x silver beet and kale into. So calling it my square inch gardens. Ideal for anyone who has to uplift the garden if renting or moving. Very easy weeding and just put a few stones in […]
For raised gardens use old bricks. You can change the shape of your garden if bored, last year mine was a huge circle, am remaking it as two large rectangles now. They are just stacked two high and topped up with home made compost, from our bins made from pallets.
Denise from Auckland has sent us this great letter about growing a backyard garden. She shows what can be done to transform a tough back-yard section into a productive garden providing fresh vegetables at little or no cost. Here’s her letter. It’s easy to grow produce in NZ, but especially if you are in […]