I thought it was high time I updated you on where the garden is at. The truth is, we now are deep into winter here in New Zealand, so I haven’t been out there lately (well, occasionally to drop stuff in the compost bin!). I did, however, put in a few retainers and plant a few vegetables to see how they fared over winter.

The side of the section is quite sloping and was very overgrown when we moved in. I ripped up the grass and plotted out where I wanted my vegetable retainers to sit, using some twine tied to sticks. I opted for a slight angle to them both, but they can sit in any direction you choose.

Under the house were some strips of rounded, treated timber, which were perfect for the job. I cut some of the smaller lengths up into stakes, using a mitre saw to spike or point up the ends. I then used a club hammer to insert them into the ground, ensuring they were evenly distributed. Be careful not to knock the stakes out of alignment when hammering them in (this is quite easy to do!). If you do knock it out of line, gently use the club hammer to straighten the stake up before continuing its downward journey.

Once the stakes were in place, I used the saw to cut the longer lengths of wood to the required length. These were then simply nailed on, leaving me with some empty vegetable patch containers.

I spent a few long hours sieving out the soil in the garden, because I wanted to re-use it. Another option is to just buy the soil and give it a good mix with some compost. I have heard of soil being available to buy for as little as $40 (NZD) a square metre.

I started some carrots, lettuce and cauliflower from seed in the house and moved them out after a few weeks. A great tip for seeding is to grow them in those large cardboard egg trays, with a little compost in. When the time comes to move them outside, you simply have to cut the cups out and plant them as they are. The roots soon push through the damp cardboard and set themselves in the ground.

I have to say, the best thing about making these retainers is the cost. The wood was left behind by the previous owners, but even if it hadn’t, the wood would have been obtained from a builder’s yard for a reasonable price. There are loads of retaining wall styles and designs, a lot of which can be found on the internet. They are also very easy to build.

I know things don’t yet look superb in the pictures, but it is a start. When the weather picks up a bit, I think I will do some more work outside. In the meantime, let’s paint upstairs…

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One thing I have always been a fan of is composting. Packing your food scraps up in bits of plastic and sending them to landfill really makes no sense, especially if you have a garden. Even an apple core still has useful nutrients locked up in it, so why pay for a bag of compost, or ten, when you can make your own?

I have already discussed our plans for the stretch of land down the side of the house in a previous post. This stretch of land also represented the perfect spot for a compost bin. I once lived in Surrey, England, and the local council sent us a free compost bin, but being a student household, we weren’t there long enough to benefit from it. Unfortunately, upon arrival at this house, Waitakere City Council did not furnish us with a free compost bin. A trip to the local shops also revealed them to cost around $50 NZD, which isn’t a massive cost for what it provides, but I wanted to do better. That’s when I spotted the plastic drum tucked down the side of the house. This plastic drum became our compost bin, which was a darn sight better than throwing the drum away and buying a new compost bin!

The first thing I did was cut both ends off the drum. Using an old saw, I scored a straight line, parallel with the top edge of the drum and then began to cut along it, removing the top. I then did the same with the bottom, leaving just the body of the drum, open at both ends.

A short length of leftover framing timber was cut into three cubes, roughly 10cm in length. I then used some old screws that I’d found elsewhere in the house to screw them to the body, roughly 2cm from the top, on the inside of the bin. These are to hold the lid of the bin.

I screwed a longer piece of framing timber into the bottom of the bin, to act as a handle. This made up the lid.

The final job was selecting a position for the compost bin. Due to the lid’s design, a sheltered place was preferable, as I didn’t want it collecting too much rain. It is also important, for the creation of compost, that the bin isn’t too cold.

Having selected a location, I drove the body of the bin into the ground slightly, by rotating it and pushing down at the same time. This helps with keeping it in position. I placed the lid on top and there it was! My own, home made, compost bin, made entirely from re-used materials.

The only thing I am not entirely happy with is the blue colour. Whilst this has been partly covered by the vine growth on the side, it has not completely solved this problem. Any ideas will be greatly accepted…

Tags: compost bin
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We have something of four gardens here. That is, if you count decks as gardens. Which I do.

Leading up from the drive on the left, there is a front deck. Which spans half the width of the house and sits in front of the patio sliders. Down the right hand side of this deck and the house is a strip of land, running the depth of the house, at about 5 metres in width. It is scrappy, messy land that I am tempted to describe as wasteland. What the heck! I will.

Out the rear of the house is a large rear deck, which extends round to the front left, by the drive. the fourth ‘garden’ is truly that. A large amount of native bushland. Very green.

Of the four, it is the messy wasteland that I want to sort out first. Not only is it a complete waste of land, but also it looks messy and depressing. Nothing helps add value to a home more than the first impression on offer, and being at the front of the section, this plays a very big part in the first impressions of the house.

A brief dig under the surface of the grass has revealed a load of stones, which have presumably been there since the house was built, put down to support vehicles and machinery used during the building.

I want to tidy up this area and cultivate it with plants and vegetables. It is sloping down a hill, so I will have to section off parts and fill and level with soil and compost. Luckily there is plenty of wood under the house that will do for sections. The pebbles will have to go, but the topsoil looks in a good state. The shed is ok for now, but will definitely be replaced with something that can stand up straight when the budget allows.

To allow enough sunlight in to this area, the development options are sadly limited to little more than a driveway on this side. There is a half-hearted attempt at a driveway already there, but we are thinking two rough looking brick lines may look nice. Or perhaps that could be the use for all this leftover gravel?

The improvements have got to allow access under the house, which, as you can see here, won’t be too much of an issue. It also has to allow access to the septic tank, located under the plywood cover halfway up. I have asked a number of people about the septic tank and the dangers associated with its proximity to the vegetable garden, but nobody has expressed concern. Apparently they are located too deep in the ground for any hygiene issues.

One last thing, you may have spotted in the rear of two of the pictures a large blue barrel. That’s our compost bin, which I must confess, I produced within 48 hours of living in the house. It’s doing a grand job and I will show you how to make your own very soon.

Tags: gravel, introduction, planning, septic tank, topsoil
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