Learn why it’s important to save seeds, what type of seeds to save and where to source them.

7 Sustainable Garden Design Tips

Want a productive, edible and sustainable garden? One that nourishes you with healing delicious foods? Growing your own organic food garden is one easy way to live more sustainably and tread lighter on the planet.

When you ‘shop’ for fresh ingredients from your garden, you save time and energy. Home gardeners don’t need to use huge amounts of precious water, toxic petrochemical fertilisers, expensive fuel, transport, tonnes of material and lots of land. Designed cleverly, a small sustainable garden avoids wasting resources and minimises environmental impact.

I believe being ‘sustainable’ is a lifestyle that helps sustain you physically and provides you with short and long-term benefits. Being a sustainable gardener is about making conscious choices about the actions you take and the resources you use. Giving back to the earth and not just taking from it.

Recycling food waste back into the garden is a sustainable practice

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Anne Gibson2023-01-14T18:02:07+10:00Categories: Clever Design Ideas, Garden Maintenance, Planning & Design|Tags: clever, Clever design ideas; Tips & Tricks, seeds & seed saving, Soil, Sustainable gardening, tips & tricks, watering|6 Comments

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Raising Seeds

Have you tried raising seeds but they failed to germinate successfully? It may be due to one of these five common causes.

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Raising Seeds

Raising Seeds: 5 Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Choosing Unsafe Food Seeds

Did you know the majority of seeds (non-certified organic and some heirloom and open-pollinated brands) are sprayed with fungicides? This chemical process is used to stop rodents and insects from eating the seeds during storage. GMO (genetically modified) seeds are also creeping into our food system. Read the packets carefully when buying your seeds. Look for wording like “Certified Organic” and “Non-GMO”.

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Anne Gibson2021-06-19T17:21:10+10:00Categories: Garden Maintenance, Planning & Design, How to Grow, Problem Solving, Tips & Tricks|Tags: Moon gardening, Potting Mix, Problem Solving, Safe seeds, Seed raising mix, seeds & seed saving|9 Comments

Seed Starting Guide: Quick Tips for Starting Seeds Successfully

Do you struggle to raise seeds successfully? Are you a beginner gardener? Then follow this tutorial on how to be a successful plant ‘parent’. Avoid the most common mistakes when starting seeds.

As a parent, there’s no greater joy than sharing the journey of nurturing a baby from infancy into a healthy young adult. But I confess – I’ve been a bad ‘parent’ many times … Before I learned how to raise my plant ‘babies’ successfully, they starved, drowned, died of thirst or neglect, too much love – or too little! If this sounds like you, then read on for my best tips.

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Anne Gibson2022-06-14T12:06:15+10:00Categories: Grow Your Own Food, How to Grow|Tags: Container gardening, Getting started, grow your own food, how to grow, Safe seeds, Seed germination, Seed raising mix, seedlings, seeds & seed saving|12 Comments

7 Easy DIY Garden Gift Ideas

Need inspiration for low-cost, personal DIY garden gift ideas? With a little creative thinking, you can easily make your own affordable presents.

DIY Garden Gift Ideas to Inspire You

1. Tin Can Herb Planters

Mini window sill herb gardens are a favourite with just about everyone. To make these low cost gifts, save tin cans from your kitchen and reuse as cute container gardens.

Tin can herb container gardens make easy, economical gifts | The Micro Gardener

Make one or a collection. This is a gift you can keep adding to throughout the year with new herbs!

Tutorial: Simply Healthy Fam

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Anne Gibson2019-11-28T16:57:13+10:00Categories: Container Ideas, How To DIY Projects & Recipes, Repurposed Planters|Tags: Cachepot, DIY, Gifts, Pots & containers, seeds & seed saving|6 Comments

Easy Guide to Growing Perfect Peas

With pretty flowers, crisp green pods, climbing tendrils and delicate leaves, peas are an attractive and delicious addition to any kitchen garden.

Best of all, every part of a pea plant is edible!

Peas are little powerhouses! They may be low in calories, but peas are packed with a surprising number of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. Peas are also high in micro-nutrients, vitamins, fibre, protein and minerals that provide us with a wide range of health benefits.

Peas are annual vegetables. Best eaten raw and straight off the plant before their natural sugars turn to starch and lose their sweet flavour.

Peas are easy to grow, so are an ideal first crop for children and beginner gardeners.

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Anne Gibson2020-04-27T10:44:14+10:00Categories: Grow Your Own Food, How to Grow, Vegetables & Herbs|Tags: grow your own food, how to grow, seeds & seed saving, Tepee, vegetable & herb gardens|26 Comments

How to Grow More Plants for Less

Are you serious about saving money in your garden? Want to grow more plants without it costing the earth? There are some clever ways you can grow your garden for free.

Frugal gardening is about ‘thinking outside the square.’ With some basic skills and knowledge, there’s no need to spend a cent at the nursery to grow your edible or ornamental garden!

Save money by learning some simple skills, developing neighbourly connections and working with nature for an abundant garden.

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Anne Gibson2022-06-13T17:47:40+10:00Categories: Frugal Gardening, How to Grow, Tips & Tricks|Tags: Frugal gardening, how to grow, Plants for free, Propagating, seeds & seed saving|2 Comments

Thrifty Ways to Buy, Sow and Plant

These are a few tips from my personal experiences to help you get the most out of plants you grow and cost you less.

1. Be Prepared

Prepare your garden bed or pot before choosing the seeds, seedlings or plants that suit your climate zone.

Check the amount of space you have available before planting. Some plants need more ‘personal space’ than others. So, avoid buying more than you need or have the space to grow. There’s nothing worse than coming home with an armful of seedling punnets and watching them become ‘dried arrangements’ by the front door because you weren’t ready to plant them! I’ve learned my lesson by composting too many ‘mistakes’!

Shallots are the lead actor in this edible micro garden - I prepare my potting mix first before rotating the food crops I grow in this productive small space.

Consider the space you have to work with: I chose shallow-rooted edibles like tatsoi, parsley, baby spinach, marigolds and skinny chives and spring onions which could all share this pot comfortably!

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Anne Gibson2022-06-13T16:41:56+10:00Categories: Frugal Gardening, Tips & Tricks|Tags: Frugal gardening, planting, seedlings, seeds & seed saving, tips & tricks|1 Comment

Growing Your Own Food from Seed

Do you grow your garden by planting seedlings and potted mature plants or by sowing seeds? There are times when it makes sense to some of each. Seedlings and larger plants can save you time, but there are many advantages to sowing seeds too.

As a seed saver, I’d like to share some important reasons why we should all grow at least some of our homegrown food from seed.

5 Reasons Why You Should Grow Your Food From Seed

1. Save money!

Seeds represent great value for money so investing in even one seed packet will reap huge rewards if you choose the right kind of seeds. However, if you learn how to save your own seed you won’t need to continue to buy it.

On a tight budget? Most seed packets have more seeds than you need. If you swap seeds with others you can grow your garden for very low cost. (more…)

Anne Gibson2020-07-19T10:54:50+10:00Categories: Grow Your Own Food|Tags: grow your own food, Safe seeds, Save money, seeds & seed saving, vegetable & herb gardens|5 Comments

Saving and Sourcing Open-Pollinated Seeds

Are you sowing seeds in your garden? Want to know where to source certified organic, heirloom and open-pollinated seeds? Dig in to learn more about the different types of seeds and where to source them.

Where to source non-gmo, organic, heirloom and open-pollinated seeds.

Grow your food from safe seeds

These seeds will produce plants that are ‘true-to-type.’ This just means the plants grown from these seeds will have the same characteristics as the parent. More importantly, you will be able to save seed from the plants you grow.

Save edible seeds with important characteristics

Seed Saving Terminology – What does it all mean?

To get a better picture of the terminology and what type of seed to source, here’s a brief definition of some of these terms: (more…)

Anne Gibson2023-03-07T16:58:51+10:00Categories: Grow Your Own Food, Vegetables & Herbs|Tags: grow your own food, seeds & seed saving, vegetable & herb gardens|12 Comments

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Raising Seeds: 5 Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Choosing Unsafe Food Seeds

DIY Garden Gift Ideas to Inspire You

Thrifty Ways to Buy, Sow and Plant

1. Be Prepared

5 Reasons Why You Should Grow Your Food From Seed

1. Save money!

Seed Saving Terminology – What does it all mean?

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