27 November 2014

Then and now...

back garden

When we first saw our nest, we fell in love with three things; the location, the well-lit, quaint 50's interior and the flat backyard. Here in Hobart, so many of the blocks are steep, so a flat backyard is a rare find. We overlooked the lack of a climbing tree and the vast quantity of lawn and we moved right in…

Since then, our garden has seen much transformation. We've always had the odd raised bed veggie patch which has raised a neighbour's eyebrow or two. We've put chickens to work and planted a few trees (and placentas and beloved pets) up the back. We've added a trampoline. And we've generally lamented the whole day it took to mow the huge expanse.

We've deduced that the previous owners - as would have been the case for many families of their era - would have been happy to work five days a week, spend Saturdays mowing the lawn and Sundays at the local church and pottering... For us, life is just too full and our lifestyle couldn't be much more removed from that rhythm. We'd so much rather grow food to nourish our bodies than buy all of it in and spend all the energy made tending a flat expanse of lawn. So we trained ourselves up in permaculture and, in the last 12 months, we did this.

This is one corner of the garden. There's a food forest, a chook/orchard system and a spiral-shaped vegetable garden there. The soil is improving with each season and rather than water running down to a puddle in one corner, we keep most of it on-site to nurture the trees we've planted. There are lots of fruit trees. About 6 months of apples and then nectarine, pear, plum, quince, cherries and apricot. There are all sorts of berries and currants, rhubarb to feed the neighbourhood and more artichokes than we know what to do with. There's a pond with frogs in it! There are herbs for every meal and for medicine. And there's that calming, grounding space to wander through and tend at the end of the day.

It is FAR from perfect. Full of weeds we've come to find useful and twitch we'd rather live without. There are things planted too close together or not on time. There are mistakes. And there are wins. But most of all, there is life and slowing down. There is shade and abundance. And there's a garden to tend that nourishes and teaches us everyday.

Don't forget to sign up and join us for our Spiral Garden Seedlings Permaculture e-course, starting mid-January. We'll be sharing some knowledge and loads of activities we've had fun sharing with our owlets while we explain the ethics and principles of permaculture to them. There's even a minecraft component too! Hope you can join us! xx


2 comments:

  1. And so much more beautiful than lawn!! xx

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  2. You've turned the empty lawn into a very lively garden beautifully :) Hope you'll share information on the plants you grow there.


    With lots of love from the North Pole,
    Elfie, Leader of the Elves at Christmas World

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