Supporting and promoting the well-being of mental health carers and their families.
Mental Health Carers Austalia.
Looking after ourselves
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11-10-2020 03:03 PM
11-10-2020 03:03 PM
Re: Self care by growing a garden
Thank you @Former-Member I didn't know that. I've learnt something new 🦎🦋🌷 xx
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11-10-2020 05:22 PM
11-10-2020 05:22 PM
Re: Self care by growing a garden
Hi Peoples.
I've been out getting my hands dirty planting pea seedlings. I have a whole lot of out of date seeds, so I've been going through and having a try at seeing if they'll grow anyway... with reasonable success. 🙂 Low germination rates for some of them, but I'm getting at least a few up from each planting.
The peas were started off in cardboard rolls (from loo paper) so that I could keep them in a lidded mesh basket, away from rodents. They're big enough now that they should be safe, but I've put rocks at the bases of the plants so that they don't get scratched out by blackbirds instead!
My baby tomato plants are home from my sister's place. None of the winged pea or zuchinni seeds I planted have come up, but they're the only outright "failures" so far. And I have more seeds of each, so I can try again.
Potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes have sprouted. Lots of flowers are coming out. Heaps of Aquilegias, the first Dutch Irises I've had for years, and assorted poppies. A few old fashioned white bearded irises have flowered, the fancier coloured ones are getting close. Love this time of year. 🙂
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12-10-2020 01:01 PM
12-10-2020 01:01 PM
Re: Self care by growing a garden
not self-care - but a year ago I brought home 2 tomato seedlings for my bipolar/aspy/ptsd partner in the hope of giving him a reason to get out of bed some mornings.
Now the entire back yard is under cultivation and some of the front!
Currently we have:
Current harvesting: cherry tomatoes, malabar spinach, dutch corn salad (like butter lettuce), corn, garlic, green beans, snake beans, strawberries, carrots, onions
The pumpkin has been fruiting continuously since just before last Christmas
Herbs: parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme (obviously), mint, dill, oregano, basil, chives, thai basil (corriander just won't take).
Just finished: Broccolini, peas, beetroot & carrots, grosse lisse tomatoes, english spinach, tatsoi, watercress (cress, tatsoi & broccolini we let go to seed deliberately) and beetroot.
In the making: chillis (plants now pruned and ready for next flowering), garlic, capsicum, cucumbers, more beetroot, carrots & onions, zucchini, pak choy - and a few other leafy's.
be careful what you wish for..... 🙂
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12-10-2020 01:15 PM
12-10-2020 01:15 PM
Re: Self care by growing a garden
Self care for your partner from the sounds of things @SJT63 😁. I must admit I do smile when I see someone growing veg in their front yard.
Hope it is saving you $$ in groceries. Do you dry/ freeze/ preserve in some way the excess?
I love it when I grow enough to share with others.
Coriander does better in cooler weather (less inclined to bolt to seed).
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12-10-2020 02:33 PM
12-10-2020 02:33 PM
Re: Self care by growing a garden
@Former-Member I dry, freeze and bottle
I've had a pressure canner on order for months now because I can't can do veg in the fowlers vacola.
Yes I bring produce into work for my colleages from time to time - particulary when the leafy greans are on.
At my place almost everything is made from scratch (not just food) except at the moment I'm buying the hard cheese and pasta because I also work full time and there's only so many hours in the day. I don't have room for livestock so protein is bought direct from the farm gate, not the supermarket.
All our grey water is used on the garden and we harvest rain from the patio and shed roof - when it rains - and that water goes through the washing machine before it hits the garden. I have a large solar array so I only use the power hungry equipment on the weekends when I'm home during the day.
One thing that himself and I always agree on is trying to minimise our footprint.
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12-10-2020 10:15 PM
12-10-2020 10:15 PM
Re: Self care by growing a garden
@SJT63. love the sound of your garden! 🙂
Mine has been similarly full in the past, has been let go for a few years due to carer committments and plain exhaustion. (Plus a dose of depression..) I'm working on getting it back up to speed... reclaiming beds that had gone to weeds.
I've grown corn salad previously, still have some seeds left to try again. My "weird lettuce" the last couple of years has been Miners Lettuce. It looks like something that landed from another planet, and happily self seeds. It's a winter/early spring thing, doesn't like warmer weather.
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12-10-2020 10:16 PM - edited 12-10-2020 10:17 PM
12-10-2020 10:16 PM - edited 12-10-2020 10:17 PM
Re: Self care by growing a garden
@Former-Member, my front yard would have you smiling too. Front yard, back yard, side yard... who cares, it's all soil.
On the odd occasion, it's also been naturestrip...
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13-10-2020 08:18 AM
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13-10-2020 08:20 AM
13-10-2020 08:20 AM
Re: Self care by growing a garden
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13-10-2020 08:50 AM
13-10-2020 08:50 AM
Re: Self care by growing a garden
While my veg patch has not extended to the front yard I am so pleased with our kitchen garden beds. None of the veggies we planted in them are ready for harvesting yet.
Whilst not in the same league as you SJT, since moving into our new place we have put in solar and built the veg beds/ planted fruit trees. Ongoing, at least 3/4 of our furniture is 2nd hand, we make our own bread and we try and minimise vehicle use.