Budget Gardening.

As much as I love my garden I can’t afford to buy as much or whatever I want for it, especially now as I’m not working. Although this means I can realize my dream and spent my time growing things ( hopefully!) it does mean money is tight. Luckily I love a bit of bargain shopping and recycling. Without sounding like a total country bumpkin, I do love the odd trip to the big city! Our nearest very large town/small city is about an hour away (depending on whose driving!) and boasts  a Wyevale garden centre. I prefer this one to our close independent centre as it’s loyalty card scheme and vouchers are so much more rewarding. For the last few years I’ve mainly asked for either garden gift vouchers or packets of seeds for Christmas and birthday gifts and my family have obliged. This means I have got a little stockpile of seeds as they do have quite a long shelf life. The garden centre usually has a 3 for 2 scheme on seeds which is great, especially if you group the same price ones together and make several trips to the till to get the best deals. I always make sure I use my loyalty vouchers and any other ones they send me that are sensible. The spend hundreds of pounds and get 50p off ones never see the light of  day but money off own brand compost is usually a good deal. I don’t stick to a certain brand of seed either. This year the poundshop are offering three packets of veg seeds for a pound. They are selling out quick, but I managed to get, spring onions, carrots and parsnips, so will be giving them a try. I find Wilkos quite good for garden stuff too. I have one in a nearby market town, about a 35 minute drive away. Their seed trays were only 75p for three and are pretty robust so should last a few seasons. I save all my clear plastic food trays as tops for the trays to make mini greenhouses, and I start my outside onions and garlic off in toilet roll tubes. I also save large pieces of clear plastic and bubble wrap as extra coverings to keep my seeds and plants cosy. My daughter loves ice lollies so I save the sticks to make plant labels – use a permanent marker, pencil washes off! Markets are a good place for a bargain too. I got a couple of large rhubarb plants there recently that are growing really well. Much cheaper and bigger than the ones in little bags at garden centres that always seem to die on me! I’m a great one for buying things in end of season sales and keeping them safe till needed, and my biggest motto in life has always been,” Sometimes you have to make do with what you’ve got!”   If you’d like to see some of my resent bargains check me out on youtube at, Rawfruitheaven.

Happy Gardening and Bargain Hunting! xxx

RAIN OF THE FROGS!

This time of year, I love to see all the little frogs hopping back to their birth ponds to lay their eggs. As I’ve never been a great fan of the dark, which is the best time to spot them, I enlisted my husband and daughter to go frog spotting with me the other night in the rain. Wet weather brings them out as they sometimes have to travel far and the rain keeps them moist. Years ago people used to think it was actually raining frogs! The sight was absolutely amazing, frogs everywhere, the noise they make is deafening, like chain saws! However real life being what it is, (or my life anyway) as soon as I got my camera out, its battery died! So the following night, we tried again, with a fully charged camera this time. Not quite as many about but still fun. The noise was still incredibly loud, frogs everywhere, lots of croaking, I was expecting to see Rupert and a Beatle in the hedge! (Really showing my age here! My daughter hadn’t even heard of Rupert! Gosh I thought everyone knew his name!) The next day the ponds were thick with frogspawn, can’t wait to watch the tadpoles grow. If you’d like to see my dodgy camera work in the dark, creating my own frogs chorus, hop over to Youtube and find me at Rawfruitheaven.

Happy Frog Spotting x

 

Free Workout

In the last few days I have been struggling with a totally overgrown area, trying to clear it in order to move my raspberries. It soon became clear that it was too much! A plan B was needed. This came in the shape of a large and old piece of carpet I had used to cover ground nearby. ( I’ve since learned not to use carpet as it can contain chemicals, but this was from years ago). Easy I thought, I’d just pull it up and move it across the rough area and use the soil underneath for the fruit. Who needs the gym! It wouldn’t budge. My arms were aching, my back, my core, everything! Luckily for me my superheros came in the shape of one of my daughters and her boyfriend, home from uni for a weekend visit. Not sure if gardening was on their agenda but it was now! Job done. Meanwhile my youngest daughter had a great time pretending she wasn’t nearly a teenager and could play with mud. She cleared out and revamped a small forgotten pond we unearthed in the clear up. I wish I had had a camera on me to capture the moment when our little dog ( who has cat-like tendencies when it comes to water) was stood knee deep in the water with a “who put that there” expression on her face. Priceless!

New Life Purpose

I’ve had a self-sufficiency dream for well over ten years now. I love being outside in nature, I love gardening and the satisfaction and taste of growing my own fruit and vegetables. As a vegan plants play a very important part in my life in general! Unfortunately as a busy mum of a large family for years this dream has been suppressed, but now as my children are growing up and leaving home  my life purpose is evolving.  Over the last few years I have been embracing many changes in my life, including, raw veganism, running and entering half marathons and more confidence in myself.

I attended an organic gardening course in 2004, and since then have tried to grow things, but with limited success as life really did keep getting in the way!

This year with all my life changes and a new attitude (the housework can wait, I’m going outside!) I really hope to start achieving my dream. It will not be easy as I’m still a mum! I still have to deal with unpredictable Welsh weather, my budget is not huge and I’m sure that sometimes life will still get in the way, but this time I have a new determination and a totally different attitude to life.

Welcome to my life as a self-sufficient vegan xxx