Yvonne's Page

As some of you know, this year I've been trying one bed using the "Back to Eden", no-dig, wood chip method, and one using a blend of organic gathered material from around the property, mixed with  conventional compost. I added the standard amounts of organic fertilizer and Epsom Salts to both beds to give the seeds a kickstart.

To be honest, although I had read about "Back to Eden" and seen many photos, a part of me believed that the leaf mould and gathered material would win…

I received a message by way of my father, via the local grocery store, from the resident bee-keeper and honey man.  The message was that news had reached him, via a neighbour, that there was a nest of wild honey bees in an old tree on my property - which of course I already knew.  The bees have never bothered me and I have never bothered the bees, though I often wondered what the honey might taste like after they have fed abundantly on the flowering basil, rosemary and thyme that grow in my…

Finally, a break in the huge system that has hung over our tiny island home these last two weeks (though I believe it is only a temporary respite).

A combination of dry weather, and the appearance of Handy Andy - something akin to the alignment of the planets, we finally managed to make some progress on what had become a fenced off quagmire, and new home for the local frog population, safe from dog-kind.

With the wood for the two raised beds duly installed,…

I apologise in advance to all those experienced homesteaders and country folk out there for whom ticks are just an annoying inconvenience that happens every summer and who will think me an ex-city-dwelling, drama queen.  For me, first-time dog owner and new tropical gardener, they were something of an unseen, and unknown, Nemesis lurking in the long grass.

Having finally gotten around to clearing a new patch of grass that had stood as tall as me (possibly taller), for many months, I…