A slow start to changing my garden
Every garden needs a destination and every destination a view. The destination is a place to go to. A braai area or comfortable place to sit and chat. Some even have an outside dining room.
Whatever your destination it will always be measured at how much anyone enjoys using it. The more they like it, the more visitors you will have to your garden.
In my small garden I rearranged existing garden furniture, pushing a table to the south wall and hanging the chairs on the wall. I took the braai from its stand and put it on some paving bricks.
This reduce not only the space taken up when not in use but it looks mote open. When I have a planned braai or outside evening, I take the chairs off the hook. I leave one chair off the hook for the casual visitor wanting to go outside or for when I have the insane urge to sit outside reading. It does happen.
The view of the garden is what gets your attention immediately when you go out. It is a feature like a garden ornament, a water feature or a striking planted arrangement that just grabs your mind.
While your garden should be an overall pleasant experience, The feature is the thing that creates the first impression. If you take the time to create a feature you can regularly adjust or replace, your visitors will come back out of curiosity. I can say that from experience.
The braai area is on the north wall. The best place to put the feature and create would be on the south wall closer to the east end, drawing attention away from the building. I am a bit lost at the moment though trying to decide how to create a feature or the view.
After the cleanup not much are left. Most plants are new cuttings. I also have some seeds in. I planted climbing beans, parsley and onions against the South wall. There are a few tomato plants that showed themselves in the pots. Unfortunately the snails decimated the beans leaving me one bean plant. I had to plant more.
I also added some Vygie cuttings in red, purple and orange to the bottle tower I have in the corner. That can become part of a possible feature.
The bottle tower is a remnant from a not so distant past. I cut the bottoms of some soft drink bottles, leaving the caps on the tops. Then I filled the bottles with soil and built a tower putting the bottle tops into the open ends. I punched two holes in the top end about two inches from the cap. When I pour water into the top one, it runs through to the bottom. Because of the space between the cap and the holes it leaves a small reservoir in the head of the bottle. That saves on watering.
Planting the vygies in there will make a nice red, purple and orange tower in the corner. A good start for a view.
Right now I am sitting in front of the computer, looking out of the door, whishing the rain wood stop so I can go make a fire in my braai. My garden is an outside room.
For the moment, that is all about my garden. Thank you for your support. Your likes are truly appreciated.
This post was originally made on Peakd. You can join me there using this link, https://peakd.com/register?ref=diziette
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Regards, Diziette
Why my first prep is always money
I have my own opinion on prepping and money. Sure, I would like to influence you to my point of view but I would also like it if you point out where I am going wrong. I am not a financial advisor and the suggestions I make are not meant as financial advice. On the financial advice you have to do your own homework.
What I have realized is that you get a lot of advice on prepping. Everyone wants to tell you what to stock up and what skills you should have. Not many try to tell you how to preserve your wealth in times of disaster. Never forget, money represents most of the wealth you gathered throughout your life, even if it is only numbers in a ledger.
This is why knowing how to preserve your wealth in times of disaster is important. It represents your whole life's work. Or to some of us the lack thereof.
In times of disaster or war, changes take place. The things and places you know change or disappear and people you know move or die. Money and the things that hold value and accessibility to it also changes. Even if it is only for a while, it could really disrupt your life in a negative way.
That is why my first prep is money. With money you have to prep for the good and the bad times. If your Television, your fridge and your fridge ever broke down in the same month and you had to replace or repair you understand what I mean. Being prepared for the smallest disaster goes a long way towards better living.
Being prepared financially holds more value than any other type of prepping you have ever done.
In times of disaster or war life goes on. After every war there were survivors rebuilding their lives. Same with every other type of disaster.
The point is, no matter what happens, there will always be someone willing to trade and someone willing to take a bribe. Then when all is done you will always need resources to get back on your feet.
Life goes on. Never forget the golden rule. He who has the gold, makes the rules.
There are some very solid reasons for prepping money in good times. Everyone knows about sudden breakdowns of things you rely on. There other more unexpected things though.
A while ago, I don't remember if it were 2015 or16, on the first of January the banks went offline for the day. That was through the whole of South Africa.
No card transaction could be put through. Anything you wanted to buy that day had to be bought in cash. The banking machines were also off and the banks closed because it was a public holiday.
If you had no cash, you were stuck.
This was my first money prepping lesson. My answer to that is to have enough cash stashed for three days' food.
I also keep cash for another 6 days of food in the bank where I can get to it quickly. If the banks are online but the till points are not, there is always a plan to be made.
That is also the only instance where I keep cash or money in a bank. The rest of what I have is in things that will keep its value even if we have hyperinflation.
Apart from this there is something else you have to consider when it comes to money. The two things that will have the biggest influence on your money is the growing debt situation and the thing that underwrites the value of your money.
Credit is highly dependent on the repayment cycle which causes inflation. It is also a hostage situation. When your income disappears your creditors will still want to be paid.
The scary part is what the value of money is actually connected to. Since money is not connected to the gold standard anymore, governments decide that the money of their country has value. You can say they underwrite the value of the money.
If you learn that you cannot trust a government, that they are liars who will just as soon kill you, how long will there be trust in the money they underwrite. This applies to any and every government.
Even if you diversify your money internationally to keep it safe from a local crash, how long will that be safe. It's rather like scattering your money on the sand in an hourglass. When it goes through the hole it is buried in the sand forever.
Now you know why my first prep is always money.
Thank you so much for reading my post I originally posted it on Peakd. Thank you for your upvotes and comments. I really appreciate your assistance. https://peakd.com/register?ref=diziette
Why I will always have Nasturtium in my garden
Some people see Nasturtium as a weed. If you saw what my garden looked like before the great cleanup you can understand why.
If left to its own devices, Nasturtium will take over. It climbs and grows along the ground. It just takes over.
So why would I plant Nasturtium in my garden?
Nasturtium is self seeding so I never actually planted any. I moved in ten years ago and when the weather started getting colder the Nasturtium simply popped up. I let them grow, just keeping a hand on it to make sure it does not overrun anything.
I mainly did it because I like flowers in the garden. I am not too good at taking care of flowering plants though.
Nasturtium needs very little care. It grows easily, loves water and in the last months of winter it starts putting out beautiful flowers. Then it gives beautiful colorful flowers throughout spring.
When the hot weather starts it starts to die off and dries quickly so it is easy to clean out.
For some reason snails also love hiding in the Nasturtium forest. Leaving a couple of Nasturtium patches makes snail catching easier. It is also home for a couple of insects that are beneficial for your garden.
There are some even better reasons to keep Nasturtium in your garden. You can eat it. The leaves have a mustardy taste and are used in salads. The flowers can also be used to color up salads and other dishes.
My favorite culinary use is to make Crystallized Edible Flower. It's easy to make and once done it preserves the flowers for up to a year.
When it comes to culinary delights, Nasturtium seeds preserved in brine can be served as a side dish with most dishes.
Nasturtium isn't simply another food. It is known as a natural antibiotic. Having it as part of your diet is a good idea.
Now you understand why Nasturtium will always be part of my garden. It is also a very good food forest plant that is self seeding, needs little tending and helps with pest control.
Thank you for reading my post. I really appreciate your likes and comments.
My game plan for the last three months of 2021
Three months until the end of 2021. Three months to cement in the foundation for 2022. That is what it's all about. Getting something solid in place to build on next year.
Have something to improve on when 2021 finally say goodbye.
What is needed is one or two simple practical goals that will influence everything. The small rudder that steers the big ship.
Since this is the last push for the year I chose two very simple things to do. Three things that will influence everything in my life and start off my new career.
My first goal then is to write one post every day or 90 posts before the first of next year. This will not only be a good start to my new career. It will also be good practice in writing.
Plus it may leave my finances a bit more healthy.
The second goal is to re-post each of these at least once on a different platform. While there is none exactly like Peakd there are enough that will allow a repost and have me earn some crypto. https://peakd.com/register?ref=diziette
The third is to leave at least three comments on posts I read that are worth commenting on. I tend to avoid communication so this may be the best way to start unlearning that habit. I have to start speaking to people.
This then is my goals for the last three months of 2021. A simple plan. Not easy to do but doable.
What are your plans for ending this year well?
Thank you for reading my post. Your likes and comments are really appreciated.
@Diziette
