What's all the excitement at the NZ Ecochick household?

Hi there, so I know it's been AGES since I've written a  post; thanks heaps everyone for sticking with me. So what's been going on? A few weekends ago I had an amazing childfree weekend away with some wonderful ecomums. We went up to Napier and got to meet the very inspirational Janet Luke from green urban living. Janet took us around her amazing garden. These few hours I spent in her garden COMPLETELY changed the way I think about my own garden and green lifestyle. Janet's garden is entirely built around feeding her family and living off the land in an urban setting (she has just realised her new book Backyard bounty about her family's journey to living off the land I can't wait to read it!!).

So what did I learn and why have all my views changed? Janet's garden was beautiful but also super practical and all about reusing items gathered for free or very cheaply. This is not a new concept to me as this is what I'm all about but I have been trying to make my garden far too home and garden and so this has definitely tainted the way I've viewed items coming into my garden but now no more! Now I'm even more determined to reuse even more items rather than just reuse pretty things.

So what have I learnt and what new and exciting things are going to happen in the next few months?

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Most exciting news is we're really, really, REALLY getting chooks. I've been trying to decide for the last year if we should get chooks or not and now that my girlfriend who writes every sensory has loads of baby chooks I'm going to take the plunge. We're starting with 4 girls who are still little babies at the moment and wont lay till next year but still what fun. I got to hold a day old chook which was super exciting! 

I can't wait to eat our own truly free range eggs! So how have my views changed with regards to the chooks? I was going to buy one of those fancy runs that look super pretty and had convinced myself I needed one of these fancy hutches because it would look good and would be easy to clean.    

So what am I going to do now? I have access to some dog runs and kennels so we are now going to use these and turn them into my chook run. Total cost free and recycled!!! This will require a bit of work to add nesting boxes and transform the dog kennels but oh how exciting!!! 

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Next bit of exciting news is we're getting quails as well as chooks. Why quails? Their eggs are so tiny; about 3/4 quail eggs equals one chook egg but our huge bunny is finally getting a new much needed bigger home (we were going to build her a new cage but today I scored one off freecycle!) so we will have a spare hutch and what did I see at Janet's house but quails in an old rabbit cage so of course I thought why not!?! We're getting 6 female Japanese quails to begin with. They only live for about 2 years so we'll see how we go who knows I might get some males at some stage?  

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What's the next project? A rain collection system. Ages ago I bought a cheap wine barrel off trade me that we're going to use. Wine barrels look fantastic but are now CRAZY expensive. Again I was convince I need two pretty wine barrels in my garden (I want two; one at each end of the garden). So I've given up on the pretty and expensive wine barrel and got a big blue plastic drum to collect rain off the garage. Plastic but practical. It's only for watering the garden!

So yes I am getting off my high horse and rethinking what I am doing around my garden. Practical and reusing rather than reusing and always pretty.         

   

Teach your children how to be eco-friendly with these simple steps

‘Monkey see, monkey do’ – what we do our children will do too? I vote yes. So how do you teach your children how to be eco-friendly? Here are my top tips, from one eco-parent to another.
If you throw recyclable items in the bin chances are that your children will do the same. Children have a tendency to copy everything we do and say which gives you a great opportunity to teach them them about living eco-friendly early. There are some simple and easy ways in which every parent can do this.
Create a recycling station with bins clearly labelled glass, plastic, cans and paper. Ask your children to help sort the recycling, and if they’re a little bit older you could try giving them the task of taking out the recycling. What’s great about recycling is that children of any age can get involved. A good tip is to instead of throwing items straight in the bin why not show your child how to re-purpose them by, for example, creating toys out of them.
Bring your children shopping and explain why you buy some products instead of others. You might for example buy items in glass jars rather than plastic or buying in bulk. Explaining to your children why it’s important to buy natural products over chemical products, and the impact that chemicals have on the environment, will teach them from an early age that going green is the better option.
Buy second hand and give away items you no longer need. A great way to get your children involved in eco-living is to show them that buying new isn’t always the best option. Next time you go shopping in second hand shops, or to garage sales, why not bring them with you? This way you can explain straight away why buying second hand is better for the environment and show them all the great items available. You can also get your children to choose which of their toys or clothes they want to donate to second hand shops to show the full circle of recycling.
Show them the value of homegrown. A great way to harvest the planet and a have a fun day outdoors is to get your children involved with gardening. Growing your own vegetables is not only eco-friendly but also a fun way to teach your little ones about green living. If they’re old enough let them have their own little patch where they can grow a vegetable or two and help them with harvesting. Teaching children where our food comes from, and growing food without pesticides, are invaluable life lessons.
What are your tips on how to teach your children about the world of green?

Bee nesting box winner. . .

 Kiyel Boland

Congratulations.

A huge thanks to the wonderful folks at

Garden diary Spring 2012

So EVERYONE tells me that I need to keep a garden diary so I thought I'd put it on here. so bear with me it's going to be a long list! I'm very proud and it gets better everyday. 

In my hanging baskets I have aloe vera, trailing rosemary, tumbling toms, violas, Pepino Incredible Blush and Pepino Incredible Ruby.
In my laundry tubs I have lemon balm, lemon grass and cayenne pepper, chives, dill and bolted coriander, in my mint planter I have garden mint, mint basil, chocolate mint, spearmint, apple mint, Vietnamese mint and soon pineapple mint. I also have thyme and lemon thyme. Plus an oregano planter.

In my pots I have a fig tree with parsley, Italian parsley and oregano under it. Black cherry tomatoes, rocoto chillis, stevia, sweet basil, rainbow carrots, coriander, sechuan buttons, and Pepino El Camino.

In my side garden I have a Bearss lime tree, sage, purple cherokee tomatoes, non trailing nasturtiums, zucchini and squash, olive tree, apple cucumber, quinoa, scarlet runners from last year, perpetual and traditional spinach, cavolo nero, rainbow silverbeet, beetroot, snow peas, an old apple tree, capucijner beans, Valena Italian beans, lavender, borage, magenta yarrow, calendula, swan plants, asparagus peas. I still want to add some Inca rainbow corn.

My grape garden has a Billington plum, an old purple grape, hyacinths, globe artichokes, German camomile, pyrethrum, echinacea, cosmos and hyssop.

My pineapple sage will go here too.

 

My bee/ butterfly/ ladybird garden has bee banquet flowers, cosmos, swan plants, feverfew and an Omega plum. 

My rubbish bins have asparagus plants, and my washing machine planters hold broadbeans and cherry tomatoes. 

In the grass there is a honey babe dwarf peach, a snow queen nectarine and a loquat.

In my raised beds I have broadbeans, red onions and brussel sprouts from last year, calendula, cosmos, tomatoes; black cherry, Ponsonby red and beefsteak (which I grew from seed). American pea bean, rainbow and green silverbeet, popeye and traditional spinach, garlic, cavolo nero, alpine strawberries and baby carrots. 

In my washing machine planters I have Heather and purple potatoes and horseradish. In my metal rubbish bins I have Jerusalem artichokes. My strawberry planter has 3 or 4 different varieties not sure what they are.  

There is also a dwarf Stella cherry.

These planters will all have to be moved as this is where my chooks are going to go. Woop woop.

My blueberry garden has bluecrop and blue dawn blueberries, meadowsweet, cornflower, nasturtiums and a zucchini.

I moved my passionfruit here as well.

I still want to add a double grafted pear tree and a hop plant.  

My new driveway has Peruvian ground apple, soapwort, aloe vera, eau de cologne, balm of gilead, New Zealand spinach, st john's wort, angelica, evening primrose, ladys mantle, hollyhock, echinacea, Johnny jump ups, marshmallow, valerian, bergamot, lavender, comfrey. Trees: tamarillo, elderberry, daphne, hydrangea, magnolia, plus heaps of natives.

Under the baby's room I have a red cherry guava, popeye spinach, dill, coriander, calendula and soon white borage. 

My berry garden has blackberries, black and red currants and boysenberries.

Soon I'll add some rockmelons and yellow watermelons. 

Under our window there is a cape gooseberry (I want to add another one), edible chrysanthemums, an invicta gooseberry, sansto coriander, slowbolt coriander, and Mexican coriander.

 

My raspberry patch has raspberries, rue, tansy, yarrow, carrots, shallots and a Meyer lemon.

I'm thinking of adding strawberry popping corn here too.  

The other trees I have are yellow cherry guava, bay tree, unique feijoa (I want to add a few more to make a hedge), golden queen peach, blackboy peach, pomegranate and a lemonade tree.
I forgot to mention I have mushrooms growing in my hall cupboard.

WOW what a list! No doubt I'll made more things before the session is out.

Linked to your green resource,

Bees in your garden plus a giveaway

Today's post and give-away is written and sponsored by the wonderful Creative Woodcraft. Creative Woodcraft is a family run New Zealand business hand-crafting beautiful wildlife habitat, bird feeders and nesting boxes and other great garden products!

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Creative Woodcraft is passionate about the future of bees in New Zealand and has teamed up with NZ pollination expert Dr Barry Donovan, of Donovan Scientific Insect Research in Lincoln, who has more than 50 years’ experience in the industry.

There is currently a great deal of attention focused on the future protection of honey bees throughout New Zealand, and quite rightly so. However let us not forget about the many other equally important pollinators out there, such as bumble bee’s and the numerous species of native solitary bee’s, which provide a huge impact on the success of our fruit and vegetables gardens, increasing pollination and in turn providing us with much greater yields.

Creative Woodcraft offers a proven solution to help gardener’s encourage native bees and help them to pollinate in their own backyard.

Pollinator friendly gardening
Whether pollinator-friendly gardening sounds daunting or adventurous, it is in reality quite a simple and do-able task. By making an urban garden, regardless of its size, a welcoming place for insects and animals, you are helping to preserve essential pollinators, which in turn will help to make any garden thrive. The urban environment is not always best suited to pollinators, but by providing suitable nesting habitat and planting a garden focused on supplying their needs is one step in the right direction.
Why are pollinators essential to an urban garden?
You may not always be able to observe pollinators in a garden, yard, or green space, but they are constantly present, and are actually working to your advantage. Not only are pollinators, such as bees, wasps, flies, beetles, butterflies, moths, bats an important part of the natural environment, but they also benefit us by their services to plants. As a group they pollinate fruits, vegetables, and flowers, both wild and domesticated, making plants healthier and more likely to produce a better quality harvest. The presence of pollinators in the urban garden can only be positive. Some solitary bees, for example nest in the ground, other types nest in holes in wood or trees, in an urban environment where suitable nesting habitat is scarce or in decline the use of solitary bee houses will greatly assist our pollinators.

Worldwide evidence shows that pollinator populations are declining, especially that of the honeybee. Not all the particular reasons are known, because the decline could be due to many factors, including the destruction of habitat. By creating attractive environments for pollinators in an urban setting you can provide essential habitats for these insects and birds. Habitats may not be widely available in a setting such as a new subdivision, unless otherwise provided or helped to develop. Pollinators, such as bumble bees and butterflies, are also very interesting to observe, and when you foster a pleasant pollinator-friendly garden you can experience a piece of pure, wild nature in your own backyard.

At creative wood craft we offer a wide range of habitat and products to assist our native pollinators in an urban environment. 

I'm very happy to announce I have one bumble bee nesting box to give away to one lucky New Zealand reader. 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you'd like to buy your very own bird, butterfly or other great product from Creative Woodcraft you can also support NZ Ecochick by buying through this link.   

Relieving heartburn naturally

I get terribly painful heartburn when I'm pregnant. With John I ate truck loads of antacids; I took them everywhere with me and I had them all over the house!! I had totally forgotten about the natural dirt cheap alternative in my pantry!! Sometimes we're so silly.

So when my MIL was here a few weeks ago I had heartburn and complained I didn't have any antacids and she said drink some baking soda (aka sodium bicarbonate)! I mean come on!!! 

So add 1-2tsps baking soda to a glass add about 50ml water. Stir and drink. Stir between sips. Ok so it doesn't taste every nice at all and you get terrible burbs but boy it is instant relief!!

I've just been told that this helps with post exercise recovery and reduce muscle soreness. Not to mention the million other things you can do with baking soda; cook with it, clean your house with it or check out 55 things to do with baking soda.

Linked to wildcrafting Wednesday, living green Tuesdays, so I married a craft blogger,

Terracotta pot sealer

My love of terracotta pots is no secret but they can be a lot of work as they absorb the water away from the contents. So when a girlfriend came over the other day she told me you could buy a pot sealer (which is very expensive and doesn't go a long way) so what she does instead is a much cheaper option; is to smear the inside of your pots with vaseline! So simple.

Now I'm not a huge fan of vaseline so I though I'd whip up some of my bee balm to use instead. 

What you'll need:

30g grated beeswax

1/2 cup olive oil

What to do:

Melt the beeswax and olive oil over a low heat in a sauce pan (this happens very quickly so stay close by).

Once melted pour into clean glass jars.

I smeared a generous amount of bee balm on the inside of my pot and if how waterproof my hands were after smearing it on is anything to go by I think my pot will be rather watertight! 

Price comparison:

Resene terracotta sealer: $32.50 for 500ml

My bee balm: $1.53 for the amount above

I'll be doing this to all my pots from now on. I love that my bee balm is natural and super easy and cheap to make. Just another great use for my bee balm. 

Linked to nourishing treasures,

October round up

Wow it's been a super busy month here at Ecochick headquarters! I thought I'd start doing a monthly round up to share the best of the best. I also got not one, not two but three new gardens!!!! Plus I learnt how to make lots of yummies. Enjoy.

1. Baby wipes solution revisited

2. Growing mushrooms in my hall cupboard

3. Velvet custard

4. Super easy lemon yoghurt cake

5. Painting melteca

6. bamboo teepees 

7. Tips for growing tomatoes

8. Raspberry patch

9. John's monster wheel sandpit

10. Washer twine jars

11. Driveway garden

Wow what a month I'm rather proud when I see it all together like that.

Keep your new baby green and healthy

Since I'm 25 weeks pregnant and feeling rather pregnant I thought I'd share this article I original wrote for an amazing British website (which has sadly now closed down).

When it comes to your baby green and chemical free is always safer, especial in your child’s bedroom. Here are some simple tips to help you create a safer environment for your little one.
Furnishing and clothing. First thing’s first – Before your baby is born wash all furnishings and clothing with chemical free cleaners, such as white vinegar, in order to remove any grime, grease and chemical residue. Once cleaned, place these items in the sunshine to decrease the chemicals being released into your baby’s room. Also, when buying new curtains, and clothing, choose natural materials such as organic cotton, bamboo, wool, linen or hemp. Clothes, furnishings, curtains, and all upholstery should be free of fire retardants.
Eco-friendly mattress. Babies sleep 10 hours per day so a safe mattress is one of the most important purchases for your little one. There are many green mattress options out there – wool, bamboo, organic cotton, coconut fibre and latex (make sure it is natural latex and not the synthetic kind though).

John fast asleep on a natural latex and wool mattress

 Buy second hand. One good way to avoid these chemicals is to buy second hand. Second hand is always greener than the “greenest” products you can buy. Second hand clothes and furniture have reduced to no chemicals left in them and are better for the environment, as well as your pocket.
Clean old carpets. Old carpets can harbour dust mites or other allergens such as pet dander. If you have the money putting a new floor in would be a great idea. There are many recycled, or wool, carpets that are environmentally friendly and safe for your child. You can also replace the carpet with a wooden floor instead if you like, just try to avoid formaldehyde additives and glues if you do. A cheaper option is to steam clean the carpet.
Clean air. Use an air purifier and a dehumidifier in the baby’s room to help remove chemicals and dampness from the room. Before the baby is born open the windows in the room and allow the room to air for several hours a day to reduce the smells and chemicals being released into the atmosphere.

 

Fabric covered pots

I love glazed pots but they can be super pricie. I'm lucky I've been given heaps of pots in the past so I just keep reusing these. At the garden centre the other day they had some super cheap terracotta pots so I grabbed one. I then found this fantastic tutorial on Christine Chitnis to turn any old pot into a thing of beauty. 

 

All you'll need is 

a pot, 

some fabric

mod podge

a paint brush

scissors

pen

 

Method:

Wrap the fabric around the pot to make sure you have enough!

Lye your pot on it's side then draw around the top of the the pot.

When you cut the fabric leave about another 3cm top and bottom. 

"Paint" your fabric and pot with a thick layer of mod podge.

Wrap and smooth your fabric around your pot.

Remember to push the fabric under the rim of the pot too.

I just wrapped and smoothed the top and bottom of my pot (no fancy cutting for me).  

Then paint your fabric with another layer of mod podge. 

Let your pot dry in the sunshine.

 

Then plant away! I put in a coriander plant but I think  I'll take it out tomorrow and put in some trailing nasturtiums seeds. The nasturtiums will look so pretty wrapped around my post. Will be making more of these pots that's for sure!  

Linked to diy crafty projects, romance on a dime, home stories a to z, claiming our space, cherished bliss, sugar bee crafts, natural mothers network, our delightful home, an original belle, cherished handmade treasures, the Foley fam, a pinteresting link party,