Outside My Backdoor…

All week this bunny has been nibbling in my backyard…He is very big and looks like he could eat lots of garden vegetables!

Home

This is the time of year that my own back yard is the most fascinating, extraordinary place I can think of to be.
This is the time of year when home really IS where my heart is.

Home

Standing in the yard,

looking up at the blue skies through the fronds of this coconut palm.

This is the home where I grew up.

This is the home where I still live.

Welcome to my garden

In mid 2006 I moved into my new home. The lack of garden was just awful clay soil, large rocks and many broken and scattered bricks and roof tiles the builders had failed to clean up.

Almost 4 years on and most of my garden is now established. Every grain of soil, every piece of mulch, every plant and been added to this garden with my own hands. Although some plants have come from the nursery most have come from cuttings, I have grown or taken from my mum’s house.

Over time I have hauled in 7 cubic metres of soil and 9 cubic metres of mulch, my only tools an old wheel borrow, a garden shovel and a worn out pair of gardening gloves. It gives me great satisfaction to know that I have done this myself … far more satisfaction then if I had landscaper gardener to do the job for me.

My yard may not be the biggest or the most extravagant but more importantly it is a part of me and it is a garden of love and pride. It makes sitting on the deck sipping a cup of tea all the more sweeter.

At Home in My Garden

Home is where the heart lies and my heart is in my garden where I cultivate a love for growing.

I am most at home in my garden where it doesn’t matter if I wear make-up,

my clothes don’t match, or that my shoes are dirty. 

It's there the birds sing to me, the butterflies flutter by in their beauty, and a cool breeze flows by.  ~Swoon~

"One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth."

~ Dorothy Frances Gurney

My green home

Since this is Earth Day, I decided to show you some of the ways in my home in which I try to help our beloved Mother Earth. We only have one home and we have to do our best to keep her healthy.

(click to enlarge)

Starting at the top left, and going clockwise:

1. Our barn is made from recycled vintage barn wood.
2. I keep a roll of paper towels in my kitchen, but I rarely use them. I have stacks and stacks of these white cotton towels that I use instead.
3. We raise some of our own food in the late spring and summer. The older raised beds are made from a recycled wooden fence. We use horse and chicken manure and finished compost as fertilizer and we use organic methods to control pests.
4. I try to dry as much of my laundry as I can on the clothesline.
5. A few of my many reusable shopping bags, and I really do use them.
6. Cardboard that I'm getting ready to take to the recycling center, along with anything else that can be recycled. We don't have curbside recycling out here in the country, so it's up to each individual.
7. The rain barrel at the corner of the barn catches water to be used on the veggie garden. I hope soon to install one at the corner of the house for my flowers.
8. My chickens recycle lots of vegetable and fruit scraps, even stale bread and spaghetti noodles. This watermelon was forgotten in the back of the fridge and got a little too soft.
9. The items that my chickens can't eat go into the compost heap in the corner of the vegetable garden. I include coffee grounds with the unbleached filters and tea bags, too. This little bucket sits right beside my sink.
10. We only use cloth napkins. I made a lot of these and I also buy them at thrift stores when I can find them.

These are but a few of the many things that I do in my home and outside to help preserve our precious gift. Do you love Mother Earth as I do?

There's No Place Like Home

There are so many wonderful places to go and things to do. But what’s outside your back door? Take a good look at your own space and find the extraordinary in the ordinary.

By: Sandy Koch