Winter Vegetables + Homemade

This winter I am attempting to grow a selection of vegetables, for the first time ever. It's probably true that Winter may not be the best season of choice for a novice, especially considering that where we live there tends to be a lot of frost during the cooler parts of the year. This has meant having to choose my selection of vegies very carefully!

Back in April I decided to try my hand at raising seeds, and did reasonably well (in my humble opinion). I ended up with Spinach, Cauliflower, Red Onion, Baby Carrot, Basil and Parsley seedlings, which went into the ground about a fortnight ago. Then last weekend I purchased some more seedlings from a local supplier and added Cabbage and Brown Onion to the plot. I am now contemplating trying to get my hands on some Broccoli and Snow-Pea seedlings, with the hope of getting them into the ground before the dreaded Winter Frosts arrive.

So far the garden is thriving! All plants are standing and growing well. We can only hope that the good luck will continue and in approximately 12 weeks we will have produce!

We have been very lucky with the weather so far as well. The days have been relatively mild, and we've had a bit of rain. My main concern is bugs and moths: We have so many! They seem particularly fond of the Cauliflower and Spinach so far. I'd like to try and avoid using pesticides on the plants, but this may well be an unreasonable expectation. Will have to wait and see!

Any experienced gardeners out there with tips to share? I'd greatly appreciate it!

I also found the time this weekend to finally get around to making some homemade laundry liquid. It had been on my to-do list for around two months! It did not take as long as I thought it would, which was relieving, and I ended up with 10 litres of liquid that cost me less than AU$1! That's less than 10c per litre, and this stuff actually works! It cleans beautifully, and is great for people who have french-drains, use grey-water for their gardens, or for those who have sensitive skin and allergies, as it has no harsh chemicals.

The recipe I used came from Down to Earth, one of my favourite blogs. In fact, Rhonda Jean over at Down to Earth has some fantastic ideas for simple, sustainable living, so if you havent checked out her blog yet, do so! You wont regret it. This laundry liquid recipe can be found here, but please note that for my mixture I left out the Borax.