FOR SMALL GROWING AREAS – Incorporates Back To Eden & Square Foot Growing Methods
This garden planner has been designed by Denise, who lives in Wellington, New Zealand with the aim of helping others maximize the amount of food that can be grown in a small space.
Denise started growing her own vegetables and fruit in 2015 after discovering the Back to Eden growing method. The addition of the square foot technique came later. Now Denise uses both techniques to grow as much food as possible in the small space she has available.
The layout of the balcony garden is based on her own garden in which she utilizes as many free, low cost and recycled resources as possible.
The design and tools within this package has been made deliberately simple for beginners and those on a tight budget. It comes with tips on how to access free or low cost resources, along with companion planting options and the number of plants per square foot required for different varieties of edibles.
As this is a generic planner, please check your seed and seedling packaging or ask at a local gardening store for the best time of year to plant different varieties. “If you don’t get it right the first time, don’t worry, I didn’t, but each time I failed with one or two varieties, I learnt something for the next time. Most of all have fun with your gardening. Starting my own garden is one of the most satisfying things I have ever done”.
“Please don’t hesitate to message me after purchasing if you require help or have questions”.
Please Note: Further study online for both gardening methods is recommended.
Denise
Download the below instruction file and link through to the editable online planner. NOTE: You will need to sign up for a free Canva Account to access. https://www.canva.com
Achieving financial independence is a goal that many people strive for. It means being able to support yourself financially without having to rely on a job or other sources of income. While it may seem like a daunting task, there are steps you can take to achieve financial independence.
First, make a plan. Start by assessing your current financial situation. How much debt do you have? What are your monthly expenses? What are your income sources? This will help you understand where you are and where you want to be.
Next, set financial goals. What does financial independence mean to you? Do you want to retire early? Do you want to be able to travel the world? Whatever your goals, make sure they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
Third, create a budget. A budget is a plan that outlines how you will spend and save your money. It will help you track your expenses and ensure that you are spending and saving wisely.
Fourth, increase your income. One of the best ways to achieve financial independence is to increase your income. This could mean taking on a higher paying job, starting a side hustle, or investing in assets that generate passive income.
Finally, be disciplined and consistent. Achieving financial independence takes time and effort. It’s important to stay committed to your plan and make smart financial decisions every day.
Achieving financial independence is possible. By making a plan, setting goals, creating a budget, increasing your income, and being disciplined, you can take control of your finances and achieve the financial independence you desire.
If you’re struggling with debt, it can feel overwhelming and daunting to think about how to get out of it. But there are steps you can take to get out of debt quickly and effectively.
First, make a plan. Sit down and assess your situation. How much debt do you have? What are your monthly expenses? What are your income sources? This will help you understand your financial situation and determine a plan of action.
Next, prioritize your debts. Start by paying off your high-interest debts first, as these will cost you the most in the long run. This might mean making minimum payments on your other debts while putting as much as you can toward the high-interest ones.
Third, cut back on your expenses. Look for areas where you can save money, such as reducing your grocery bill, cutting out unnecessary expenses, or finding ways to reduce your monthly bills. Every little bit helps, and the money you save can be put toward paying off your debt.
Fourth, increase your income. Consider taking on a part-time job, selling items you no longer need, or finding other ways to bring in additional income. This can help you pay off your debts faster.
Finally, stay motivated and on track. It can be easy to lose steam when you’re trying to get out of debt, but it’s important to stay focused and committed to your plan. Consider enlisting the help of a financial advisor or debt counselor who can help you stay on track and provide support and guidance.
Getting out of debt isn’t easy, but it’s possible. By making a plan, prioritizing your debts, cutting back on expenses, increasing your income, and staying motivated, you can get out of debt fast and take control of your finances.
If you have a tin roof that is in need of repair, there are a few steps you can take to fix it yourself. Before you start, make sure you have all the necessary tools and materials on hand, including a ladder, a hammer and nails, a tin snip, a soldering iron, and some roofing cement. You may also need to purchase some replacement tin panels if the damage is extensive.
To start, use the ladder to carefully climb up to the roof and assess the damage. If there are any loose or missing panels, use the hammer and nails to secure them back in place. If the damage is more extensive, use the tin snip to cut out the damaged panel and measure a new piece of tin to fit in its place. Use the soldering iron to seal the edges of the new panel to the old roof, and then apply a layer of roofing cement to ensure a watertight seal.
Once you have repaired any damaged areas, take the time to inspect the rest of the roof for potential problems. Look for any areas where the tin panels may be coming loose, or where there are gaps or holes that could allow water to leak through. If you find any issues, repair them in the same way you did for the initial damage.
It’s important to remember that a tin roof can be a bit delicate, so be careful not to damage the panels while you are working on it. Also, make sure you wear protective gear, including gloves, a hard hat, and safety glasses, to avoid any injuries.
Overall, fixing a tin roof can be a fairly straightforward DIY project, but it does require some care and attention to detail. By following these steps, you can help ensure that your tin roof remains in good condition and continues to protect your home from the elements.
There’s nothing quite like the taste of fresh herbs, even dried herbs when you have grown them yourself somehow add more flavour to food. Most herbs like rosemary, thyme and parsley are very easy to grow.
It dosen’t matter wither you have a large garden or just your balcony, you can grow your own herbs at home and save money.
Once you start to grow your own herbs, you will be hooked. You will become a collector over time, always looking out for those herbs that are hard to find in the supermarket to add to your garden.
We started with only a few, but over time we have added more to our collection which include:
Rosemary, Vietnamese Mint, Tarragon, Lemon Thyme, Thyme, Italian Parsley, Catnip, Mint, Lemon Balm and Lavender – these were grown from cuttings or given to us by other gardeners in our area.
We purchased the Parsley, Sweet Marjoram, Basil, Stevia, Chervil and Coriander as seedlings. The Mustard and Fennel where grown from seed. The only herb that hasn’t survived at this stage is our Sage plant.
This year we added Dill to our collection.
Another money saving tip is to look out for recycled containers to grow your herbs in and also look our for unusual jars to store your herbs in once they are dried.
Drying and storing your herbs.
One of the best pieces of equipment I have ever purchased was our dehydrator.
We use it regularly to dry herbs including single herbs, mixed herbs, celery, onions for cooking stews, soups and we have also made home made gifts with some of the herbs we have grown.
You can use your oven, but this method takes quite a bit longer. Quite often you can find dehydrators second hand for a fraction of the price of a new one and very often they have hardly been used.
Please comment if growing herbs is something you would like to try for yourself, or maybe you already are a grower of herbs. Let us know what herbs you are growing at the moment !
If you haven’t already, you may like to connect with us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
Embracing the Back to Eden Gardening Method has helped us transform our overgrown back yard into a colourful, productive urban homestead.
We began our journey towards being more self-sufficient back in 2015 and over the years have established a garden that produces an abundance of vegetables, we planted fruit trees, which we are now starting to get a harvest from and we even have a few chickens that have become much loved pets.
Back to Eden Gardening Method embraces nature by forming a insulation layer over the existing soil in your garden. This helps to both expel excess moisture, keep moisture in, thus reducing the need to water regularly in the summer months. The wood chips also assist with keeping the soil loose and airy so no turning the soil over is needed. Additional layers as time goes on such as manure, compost or fresh wood chips are instead just added on top as needed. This all assists with keeping weeds and pests minimal.
How to create your own Back to Eden Garden
The first thing you need to do is to order a large load of wood chips with a good mix of bark, twigs, and green waste mixed in from a local road side clearing or garden business. It pays to phone a few different businesses as some contractors will supply this for free. Our first load of 7 metres cost us $150 but I have subsequently found another business that will supply at no charge. The 7 metres of freshly chipped mulch was enough to do all the garden areas and pathways on our 673 metre square section. Any left over chips can just be left to compost down more for future use.
Wither you are starting a garden from scratch or just converting existing gardens, what comes next is layering cardboard or newspaper (6 sheets). Place the sheets down on top of the ground or existing soil making sure you mow any grass or pull out any large weeds.
Once you have finished laying the sheets of cardboard or paper down, throw on top any green waste, grass clippings, leaves and compost. Also layer any soil you may have. If you are using existing garden beds do not dig out the soil as the wood chips layers on top will help in bringing much needed nutrients back into your existing gardens.
On top of the compost layer, place a good amount of manure. This is normally available free or for low cost from a farmer or someone who has horses.
Finally place about 16cm of wood chips. Water regularly for approximately eight weeks and then plant seedlings into the soil. You won’t need to dig down very far and you will be surprised how moist and broken down everything is. This will also turn your clay or soil base into good soil for planting. I found initially it is a good idea to move the too move the wood chips aside until the plants have grown a little.
Water your new seedlings and leave your plants to grow. I found that the soil hadn’t quite broken down enough for seeds other than bigger ones like beans. By the time you are ready to harvest your first vegetables – direct sowing should be fine. Please note: When planting new seedlings into your Back To Eden Garden, it pays to move any surface wood chips away from the stems until your plants are more established.
Remember you don’t need to water too often. Check the moisture content with a garden gauge before watering because the surface of a Back To Eden Garden can look dry but have perfect moisture levels under the surface. I usually find that in the summer months, my garden needs to be watered at most once a week.
Future Coverings
Keep layering more compost, grass clippings, manure and wood chips on top. I like to give my garden a fresh layer at the end of winter so it is ready for summer planting. Weed as necessary – they should pull out easily as the soil is light, airy and not compacted.
Pests should be minimal – if you have them it will be because the plants are not hydrated enough, too hydrated or do not have enough sun. Pests are natures police force … they are designed to clean up unhealthy plants.
Most of all enjoy your new Back To Eden Gardening experience. I have added our Project Frugal You Tube links below so you can watch us putting in a new garden from scratch, and also using the wood chips as a pathway. Please ask any questions you may have below or comment on our YouTube links.
We invest $1000 every 2 weeks into Denise’s stock market portfolio via Sharesies which is based in New Zealand. We can invest into NZ, Australian or US stocks, index funds or ETF’s but we choose to use this strictly for New Zealand shares.
We started doing this 31 fortnights ago (just over a year) so in theory it should have had a balance of at least $31k however due to market conditions this dropped substantially and we down $4k !
Thankfully all is not lost, and the market is rebounding and after a bit of time the portfolio is sitting at approximately $29800 – so a total loss of only $1.2K !
Given the way this year has gone it “should” be back to break even by the end of the year and we’ll be back to square one however the bonus will then be that the portfolio can actually earn real dividend income on the total balance. We will continue to invest into this portfolio at a rate of $1000 per fortnight ($500 per week) until it reaches $100k total balance.
Check out our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/ProjectFrugal) for the “Road To 100k” series to see how it continues to perform (or not perform as the case may be!) …
Patience is required. Investing is a marathon and not a sprint! 🙂
So Denise was up in Whangarei and had been staying for a week and a half and was about to load up the car on last Wednesday morning to come back home and disaster! The car was not there and had simply vanished!
Not ideal in any circumstance. There were no rental cars available from Whangarei and flights were expensive and not convenient so a phone call to the police was still the first option.
The good news was the Police called within a couple of hours and had located the car which was stuck in mud next to a lake in a small town called Hikurangi which was 17 kms north of Whangarei. It appears the thieves had broken one of the small back windows, got into the car, smashed the ignition and nicked off with it.
The good news is there wasn’t too much damage and the car was still in a drive-able condition albeit with the assistance of a common kitchen knife to turn the car off and on. Other damage was mud left inside the vehicle, a dent and various scratches on the boot and obviously damage to the key ignition system.
We only had 3rd party insurance on the car, so it might cost $200-$300 for repairs to get it back up to scratch. Still an inconvenience either way …
Clearly the criminals involved had no sense of style as this was not the sort of car anyone would want to be seen in! Thank goodness for mud eh?
New Zealand is supposed to be the 2nd safest country in the world – this doesn’t say much for the rest of the countries on the planet 🙁
So as the market continues to move in a downwards direction I felt it was high time to get in a few extra supplies “just in case”. This is what I purchased from our usual shopping haunts (Prices are in NZD):
9 * 1.5L Sugar Free (Ninety Nine Brand) Lemonade @ $1 each
8 * 5 Packs Choice Beef Or Oriental Noodles @ $2 each (Used to be $1.60 not so long back)
36 * Tinned Countdown/Woolworths Brand Baked Beans @ 0.90c each (Used to be 0.80c not so long back)
Pack N Save
24 * Tinned chopped tomatoes (Value brand) @ 0.69c each
3 * Penne Pasta (500g) @ 0.99c each (We also have another 20 or packets in rotating storage)
Summary: These are things we normally buy and are at a great price. Apart from the frozen chips, the rest of the food will last 2+ years. I also purchased some other bargains and filled up the petrol tank as well. If everything shut down tomorrow this would feed a family of four for about a month. Admittedly it’s not the greatest food in the world, but we normally combine these ingredients with other items to produce tasty meals that have a reasonable nutritional content and is not hard on the wallet.
Meatless no-frills tomato pasta or baked beans with noodles anyone? 🙂
As this blog is fairly new, new content is required in order to keep it going so it was time to write a new article. At the point of logging in I wasn’t sure what to write about and then it was staring me right in the face … 261 items of spam attempted as comments onto the site … Grrrr!
Although the internet is a fantastic tool, junk mail is not and dodgy marketers have literally a free reign at attempting to market anything and everything simply by the press of a button to unsuspecting sites. Gone are the good old days of junk mail filling up your letterbox …
Fortunately I can’t read Russian or Chinese – I’m not in the need of a “sexy” time, the latest 100x your money through Crypto scheme or assistance with expressing myself through the English language – so at this stage I’ll pass on all the wonderful offers available.
Thanks to the way the open source community have evolved and improved wordpress – 100% of these comments were stopped from going through automatically and were easily removed with the simple press of a button … Poof! Gone!
The goal of this site is to assist people with saving money, getting more for less and learning how to improve peoples lives through better money management. We will achieve that goal no matter how small the impact we make!
Goodbye spam. We briefly enjoyed your comments but our relationship has come to a quick end 😉
