HI folks,
This blog is all about creating an urban garden in a previously grass and concrete lot in suburban Australia.
Basically i'm trying to do a post a week updating the progress. Sometimes a vlog and sometimes text, sometimes both. Basically we are really trying to document our progress.
The New format is to have the video embedded in the text let me know what you think of that.
Note to self... Put the correct thumbnail on the video... sorry folks. Several hours of work on a video and i use the wrong picture... lol... whoops...
- Review of the bunnings black raised patio garden beds
- Tour of the Garden
- Chicken Cam
- did i say Chicken cam loud enough...
So for those of you that know this... skip to the Update section.
We have been in this house for 6 years now and it is a concrete wastleland of concrete and grass with a pool. we decided that this needs to change and are creating a little urban farm in.
We had a very GREEN back garden but it was just yukka plants. AND they planted this big rooted trees right on top of retaining walls. They are huge and are pushing on the walls. They needed to come out. Roots and all down into the earth we had to go...
You can see here the view when we moved in.,... green... but not "pretty and productive.."
Certainly no biodiversity. Not good for bees. Just green yick.
WHAT ARE WE CREATING?
We are trying to create a little mini urban farm.
- Fruit and vegetables
- Chickens Worms and Mealworms
- flowers
- Bee haven and maybe bees
- biodiversity
- pesticide free where possible
- native plants as well. So not JUST food but also food for the insects that will live in the garden.
So i would love it if you would follow along
Review of the Raised Garden Beds
Well as we were a little way off planting out main garden bed areas, we needed a winter filler. The back is still a fright sight and terrible and the big garden beds and not fill with soil and are not ready to plant.
having a mostly concrete area left, we needed some portable raised garden beds to fill the gaps.
we went to our local big garden/homeware store which in Australia is Bunnings.
I purchases a few of each and have been back a couple of times for some more of them
There are two models: black on legs, and low black on wheels.
Higher garden bed Pros and cons
This container is sturdy on the top, the legs worry me a touch as they are a big wobbly... you would have to lift the whole thing to move it so you don't drag and snap the legs. but it seems to be holding well
There is a few cm of water that can collect in the bottom and it over flows down the inside of the legs and out. If you don't want wet feet then drill holes in the bottom. The plastic handled that well.
Overall solid and useful. Great for a balcony space for sure.
wheels garden bed
This is low set and perhaps less "balcony appeal" in looks. BUT it is very moveable even full with soil. So if you needed to roll it under a table or out of the way, this would be a good choice
The area to plant in is slightly larger as well as the surface area is a tad easier to work with,
however the box itself seems a bit more flimsy than the other.
Again there is a few cm where the water can collect in the bottom. Fine if this is what you want, not so fine if not. It was VERY easy to drill holes in the bottom, and again it did not split.
In conclusion, both are great, i prefer the looks of the tall one, but the maneuverability of the one on wheels is great. I like the mix i have of both in the garden.
I will continue to examine for wear and tear and water in the summer.
Price Point
both garden beds were $30.
I found they took about 45 - 50 L of soil to fill each one. (i didn't fill to the top) it says they take 60 l of soil.
So with a $30 bed, about $6-15 for soil and say $6 for plants or seeds, you could have one for about $40 depending on your choices of soil or plants. Cheaper if you have these at home already.
Links - please note: NO affiliate or anything, just my opinions and a link:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/fountain-products-700-x-375-x-655mm-charcoal-raised-garden-bed_p0169083
https://www.bunnings.com.au/fountain-products-610-x-510-x-240mm-charcoal-raised-garden-bed-with-wheels_p0117520
Garden Tour
Mostly this week has been planting flowers and new seedlings, and the chickens, but we will get to them soon.
This week was about planting flowers, getting potted colour and diversity and pretty bee friendly things into the garden. The Stock plants have been a big success and you can see these pretty pink and purple upright plants in the photos.
One of my main tips, which i talked about in the previous post as well, was potting out small plants from the garden store into bigger (but still little) pots. These can be sprinkled throught the garden until we know what to do with them. If i need the space for veges they can go somewhere else, but right now they are protecting the soil, bee have, and compainion planting delights.
As you can see over the last 12 weeks we have made enourmous progress as we didn't have ANY of these black garden beds till week 4 or so. So pretty big changes in 2 months.
Naturally in the back you can see the CHICKENS!!!
CHICKENS
we got 6 mixed breed chickens, which were about 16 weeks old. Its centre of winter here and we were told that they were 4 - 6 weeks off laying. Which since writing this WE HAVE OUR FIRST EGG... was not accurate. But i am very excited they are laying. Well one is.
Early Chicken care:
we were told to keep them in their coop for a week, then let them out into the run only when they were less scared. However... they seem to know exactly what to do. Natural instict was strong. 4:45pm on day one they jumped up on roosts and were asleep.
We decided to let them out into the run on day 3 as they were just so friendly and good. You can see in the video they first time we opened the door to come outside. It took them about 5 mins to be brave enough.
the little brown one "Poppy" was so happy she jumped into 
They went back into their coop on time and went to sleep. we were very happy they "knew their job"
OTHER ADVENTURES
we took a trip to Brisbane city for the day, considering it was "hosing it down" when we left so that driving was dangerous in the heavy rain... it scrubbed up ok.
CONCLUDING MESSAGES
Just another very busy week all in all. I will now sign off and start the next video.. lol... i need to figure out a posting flow a little better for next time, certainly about how to post the videos... its a bit tricky actually.
talk later
happy gardening
Sarah
Anyway thanks so much for stopping along and reading my posts I am just loving my HIVE experience so far. Such a fun platform for sure.
For those that don't know my i'm currently focusing on Daily painting and somewhat amusing my self and my family with Acrylic pouring.. lol.. i wish i had a separate studio for that as it is so messy.
My other HIVE interests are:
- cooking
sunset photography (i take photos of the sky every night)
Art
Graphic Design
Gardening (just a smidgion)
Ballet
Sewing - I make Tutus and ballet costumes too...
Here are a couple of snaps of some of the stuff i do outside what you see up in the posts above.