I’m loving these DIY centrepieces using fruit and veg. They are definitely recyclable as they can be eaten on boxing day!
from Craftzine
We talk a lot at Green Renters about the benefits of growing your own veggies. I’m lucky to have Melbourne Cup Day off work as it’s a public holiday in Melbourne so I’m planning spending at least some of the day in the garden.
Before the festivities begin, you might like to pop down to a local nursery (or bigger places like Bunnings which are always open) to pick yourself up some seedlings.
Great things to plant right now:
Lettuces 
(they needn’t take up much space, you can see these ones are planted in a bowl then placed in a sunny spot. Just pick the leaves as needed)
Here’s a great resource explaining the differences in asian greens.
These tumbler tomatoes are a great example of ‘planting up’
Spring gardening is great fun and before you know it you’ll be adding herbs to your own risottos and pastas, fresh mint in your beverages, freshly picked salad….great stuff!
I found these cheap gardening tips in the Simple Savings Newsletter for September. It provides lots of tips on living cheaply and sustainably rather than consumer driven.
I enjoyed follow the series on the Ready Made blog about going a week without various environmental harms (they’ve done plastic previously and this week attention was turned to processed foods.
The writer, Amy Palanjian plans a week without “anything that is made in a factory/comes in packaging” with some interesting results. Her account provides lovely photographs of each meal served, recipes and a interesting commentary on the experience. I was particularly interested in the issue of time as Palanjian spends a lot of time making initial meals (lessened with the use of leftovers on later days), with a considered response to a right wing newspaper article equating the lack of ‘women in the kitchen’ to women at work.
Palanjian also does quite a bit of detective work, even managing to find several sources of unprocessed chocolate! She also reveals several health benefits she has experienced as a consequence of the new way of eating. She also comments it also turned out to be a week of me deciding to recommit to supporting my local sustainable growers and saving money by cooking everything myself. Inspiration for anyone’s kitchen…
I’m sure we’re not the only renters with quite a lot of concrete and ugly brown fencing. I was excited to find this tutorial on Instructables. Good for smaller plants that don’t require a really deep root system. As they comment, it’s also a great way to keep the cat poo of the neighbours off your garden!
A lovely example from Tashian
