Indigenous Plants

Planting indigenous plants came help improve your productive garden as well as invite a few friends to come for a feed and sleep.

When buying indigenous plants to grow in your yard you first need to find out what would have grown there. In Adelaide there were many different ecosystems from sand dunes, swamps, grassland and woodlands. Here is a good place to start finding out >> http://www.backyards4wildlife.com.au/<<

'The Reedbeds'
Copy of the c. 1890 watercolour by James Ashton, from the White collection. This view (towards the Mount Lofty Ranges at sunrise, from the vicinity of present-day Adelaide Airport) shows the extensive wetlands which once characterised the area.

Another very important tip to remember is to buy plants whose seeds have been locally sourced to help protect and increase the genetics of those local indigenous plants.

Planting native plants will encourage some help from wild life. Blue tongue lizards and sleepy lizards have a strong appetite for slugs and snail however you may have to protect your crop as they also enjoy strawberries, passion fruit and other fruits and vegetables. Planting native flowering plants attracts many predatory insects who and or their young feed on pest like aphids and white fly. We can’t forget the native birds that not only like feeding on native flowering bushes but will eat the slightly larger pests like caterpillars, grubs and other insects

Indigenous plants can also have a direct benefit to you. There are many native plants that produce edible leaves, roots and fruit with high amounts of vitamins just make sure you know which ones and what part you can eat, and there are books on the subject.  Many native trees grow to different highs and can benefit as shade trees to keep your home cooler during the hot summer weeks so your air conditioner doesn’t run as much. Many native trees can also fast to colonize open area which comes from surviving after fires so you can plant trees in your yard a year apart and later use them as fire wood or stakes. Indigenous plants if grown in the right area only need to be watered while they are establishing and self sown plants need no watering unless there is unusual harsh conditions.

If you do not have a yard or are rent and don’t have permission to plant in your yard you can grown most natives in pot with easy (I am growing a bonsai red gum) as they do well in harsher environments or find a local group that looks after native habitats close to you.

 

NATURAL HARVEST
Garden tools, Organic Seeds, Fruit Trees & Seedlings

Address: (Inside) 49 Henley Beach Road,

   Henley Beach South, 5022, SA

Phone/Fax:  08 8356 2316 
Email: naturalharvest@live.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Natural.Harvest.Seeds

Trying at buying LOCAL... and Inderpentent

Buying local is better for the environment using less energy to transport food and good from the shop to your house and if you choose locally grown and manufactured products from your local shop you are not only helping yourself use less energy but also the business and the people they buy from.

Buying from your local shops helps to strengthen the local economy. Every time you buy something from a shop your money gets divided, most of the money goes into paying for the replacement of the item you just bought and the rest pays for power, phone, water, gas, packaging, wages, maintenance, Ink, sometimes advertising and a little left over to invest back into the business.

If the local business you buy from also gets some of their stock from other local businesses then the support multiplies and local businesses have a soft spot of others of their kind (trust me, I know).

A local business becomes a big part of the community with your local butchers, bakers and green grocer’s feeding you. Hardware and nursery’s helping you to build and maintain your house and garden. Hairdressers keeping you looking your prettist and the list goes on…

Many sports clubs are sponsored by shops from the surrounding area allowing them to in turn support other shops for sausage sizzles, uniforms and more.

In this day and age with “The Big Boys” rubbing their ads of how they have the lowest prices it is easy to think that the “do” but in many cases it is only the items on special which are cheapest and everything else get a big mark up, after all they are the ones who have the million dollar rents, advertisements and transport costs.

Sadly local stores could be cheaper (not their fault) but with the monopoly in full swing it has led to price hikes behind the scenes. Take this example that I know for a fact, there was a type of item which is used to seal things it is called a tube of A. A was bought from three different companies 1, 2 and 3, these companies used to send their representatives to the hardware to get us to buy their tubes of A and we would let each of them know how much the other was selling them for and purchase the cheapest. But company 1 got greedy and wanted to get rid of company 2 and 3

So company 1 bought company 2 but left it called company 2 and made its prices higher so less people would buy their tube of A with the money they got from the loyal buyers or company 2 they then bought company 3 which allowed them to increase the prices of all the tubes of A including company 1’s and laying off representatives having no competition and I feel the government should have stepped in before this could happen.

On a final note if smaller businesses did have more customers they would have a higher turnover and would be able to lower their prices not having to fear if next month they might not get enough turnover to pay the bills.

NATURAL HARVEST
Garden tools, Organic Seeds, Fruit Trees & Seedlings

Address: (Inside) 49 Henley Beach Road,

   Henley Beach South, 5022, SA

Phone/Fax:  08 8356 2316 
Email: naturalharvest@live.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Natural.Harvest.Seeds

Son of a BIKE!

Mid last year my car broke down and it made traveling long distances very hard, having to borrow cars while others weren’t using them but on the other hand it made me remember how good it was to ride a bike with benefits for both you and the environment.

Firstly I’ll talk about you. After a few weeks from riding the bike and really pushing myself I found it took further for me to get tired and have to slow down making it fast to get to work (meaning I didn’t have to leave the house as early.

Riding strengthens your muscles while also building stamina, improves heart health, helps burn fat and increase your balance all while you’re just on your way to the local shop, school or work and you don’t have to wear an interesting outfit either.

You can often feel a bit more at peace while riding it may be the fresh air when not behind a car, the slight sensation of flying when going down a hill or the scenery when you’re on a bike path along a river or park which helps to lower your stress.

In most cases the community will thank you for using a quieter form of transport that is less likely to hurt children or curse pollution and allowing one less car on the road for those that may need a car.

Now to the environment, using a bicycle powered by legs or electric motor means no air pollution and one with a petrol motor makes pollution but not as much as a car and often the motor can be switched to manual when needed.

Bikes also use A LOT less metals, plastic and rubber than a car would while being constructed and maintaining putting the metal for other uses like… making more bikes?

• If you are thinking about getting into riding a bike as a form of transport here are some helpful tips.
• ·         Practice riding to where you plan on going to find out when you need to leave to get on time
• ·         Make sure your bike has lights and their working
• ·         It is a good idea to get a fluro vest to cars can see you
• ·         Mount a review mirror to your right handle
• ·         Be patient and give way to car, it’s safer (don’t pull out to go around car if a car is behind you)
• ·         Bring tools and spare parts so you don’t get stuck somewhere.

Keep these tips in mind and if you have any riding tips leave a comment

NATURAL HARVEST
Garden tools, Organic Seeds, Fruit Trees & Seedlings

Address: (Inside) 49 Henley Beach Road,

   Henley Beach South, 5022, SA

Phone/Fax:  08 8356 2316 
Email: naturalharvest@live.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Natural.Harvest.Seeds