The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 22
Time and Money. Money and Time. 09.06.2023
Thank you for being here, I am never not extremely grateful that you are.
This week will be a little different as I have had life take off with me on what seems like every front lately and I have also been travelling, so I am behind on writing the May Newsletter. As of the end of last and beginning of this week, my writing time has been eaten into by said travel, so I am opening up this weeks journal entry to all (which I said I would do from time to time) to hopefully make up for the tardiness of “The Month at Moorfield: May Edition” which I intend to get done before the June one is due 😏
So, grab a cuppa, find a comfy spot and with any luck, enjoy getting away into my world of words. xo
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I grew up with no money, Hugo and I both grew up with no money and we are only where we are now (with a much bigger house but still no money 😂) because we took risks and worked ridiculously hard over a good chunk of time and made smart choices, even when they were painfully hard to.
“Luck” had little to do with it, though we’ve always accepted a certain amount of privilege in where we grew up in the world, for me the colour of my skin and for Hugo, a very loving and supportive family. Those things are a good place to start from but the rest, you just gotta work with what you’ve got……..in terms of money, there was none of that for either of us in our upbringings, so it became a big driver for us.
Not the accumulation of material things but rather, a certain level of security so we could go through life not white knuckled at the wheel all of the time, so our daughter would not know what we had, not to that extreme. It is important to say however, that even without money, we always made life fun, it always mattered to us to enjoy the ride…….and while it might feel like it, that’s not all about money, not for us anyway, we could compartmentalise the two when we needed to and simple pleasures were sometimes the only pleasures we could enjoy and that can be a wonderful thing to realise and incredibly liberating.
So, when you grow up with no money and you watch parents, lose everything, as was my situation and not be able to afford groceries and have friends of your parents suck up your school fees or in Hugo’s case, live on the precipice of losing it all, all the time, being new migrants in a country where the low paid menial career options are your only options, you can develop a few triggers, and not good ones but you can use them to your advantage and get them to work for you and not against you.
Getting into the property market will definitely bring money issues to the fore, overhauling rundown properties yourself which are all you can afford, on the smell of an oily rag, will make you live and breath every penny in and out. It will keep you awake at night, it will make you good at growing food and it can easily become overwhelming and did at times for us but we knew that what we were investing in was a slog worthy of our lives. And the truth is, if we’d stayed in Sydney our expenses would’ve been greater and we’d be just as stressed but we got to be stressed picking tomatoes that we grew and drinking cheap wine late into the night, milling them down into passata to good music in a rundown kitchen full of all we’d harvested from our garden and life felt rich and full, regardless.
So, you soon learn how to make big changes in a garden/property so you feel you’re getting somewhere, without spending a lot of money. When it comes to plants…..grow from seed, learn to propagate, visit the “half dead” sale section of your nursery and become a plant doctor, make your own fertilisers, join a seed swap group, seed save, make lasagne beds from pea straw, raked leaves and composted manure, make DIY pest and disease treatments and plant for beneficial insects to manage it for you, use sticks, branches, garden stakes and twine and Reo mesh and bars for garden structures and finally, become a horticulturist like I did and work in nurseries and get discounts (ok that’s a bit extreme 😂………but you could?).
In garden spaces you can make composting paths with woodchip, which is also relatively cheap and if you want to create a nice big space for entertaining, one big dump of blonde gravel just seems to make everything look more finished. In fact do what we did and let the composting paths work their magic for a few years and then put gravel on top, you’ll need a thinner layer, so you need to buy less and while it finishes off the look, the garden beneath has already benefitted and will continue to from the composting paths beneath. Build the pizza oven yourself from recycled besser blocks and bricks with help from friends, as we did, use secondhand wood and discarded tin to build garden beds and benchtops.
80% of the infrastructure you see at Little Oak was done with leftover materials from pulling down old structures at Little Oak or finding deals on Facebook Market Place. We then added the big ticket items to our mostly salvaged and repurposed garden, like the 50m long stone wall with three sets of steps that ate the last of our savings but is undoubtedly the piece de resistance of that whole garden and we knew it would be. The edging we bought for a fortune, we now would not buy as we’ve now found fabricators on Facebook marketplace who do it by hand for only a dollar or two more per metre more for a better, longer wearing product andyou’re supporting a local job. This is what we are doing at Moorfield.
Moorfield was made possible by Little Oak and will never be quite as arduous as Little Oak was at times, though it has it’s moments too but more important than money in this next project of ours, is experience. We do it ourselves and prefer to where we know we can but we also know when to bring in the experts. That is not to say, if you’ve got the money but not the time, go for it, hire the help in, you’d be silly not to.
What I have learnt however, when my childhood lead me to believe that everything could be fixed with money, having not ever had the opportunity to test that theory but rather the idea that it made life easier because that’s how it appeared, this is only true of some things. Of course, if you have money you can buy your family food and keep a roof over their heads, that’s not what I am talking about though, I am talking about having only just enough to do that and still wanting to create the life you want. For us, that is gardens and a certain kind of lifestyle, what we achieved at Little Oak on the smell of an oily rag. It took a lot of time but for the size of the job over such a loong period, not a lot of money, not really because we did most of it ourselves (except for the final throws of pre-sale renovations where we threw all of our savings, hoping we’d make it back and have enough to buy property back on the mainland).
These days, we don’t work through exhaustion, we rest. We don’t sacrifice when fun and family time is needed to get “the work done”. We don’t try to do it all, all at once, we accept, good things and remaining financially solvent and happily married with patience leftover for toddler life, means taking time and finding enjoyment in what you have achieved already and really planning what you’ll do next. Day dreaming and scribbling costs nothing and brings me so much pleasure. Giving eachother time to do the things we love that aren’t the work, for Hugo it is music and fishing and for me it is the garden (whoops) and travel. And that leads me to a little something I did for myself recently with encouragement from Hugo to get behind myself, that took me back to Tassie….
I diverge but take a little trip with me now to the Apple Isle, it’ll swing back around…..
I have often felt that to reconnect with “me” and my own life, when its many tests can untether you and leave you out at sea with your thoughts, one should leave it all behind for a while and look back at it, from a distance, where the details of daily life disappear and the bigger picture of ones life, less the stuff and fluff, is spread across the horizon, clear and punctuated end to end. It is here you can ask yourself, what changes do I need to make? What things do I need to shed and what things do I need to seize?
Whether that’s jumping in your car and camping by a beach or a river for a night or two, or heading into the city from the country, or the country from the city, jumping on a plane to a far flung land where all about you is entirely new. Anchor yourself there, to some place nothing like yours, to someone else’s world for a while and see how it brings forth your own, for reflection in the kind of headspace that makes it approachable once again.
This past weekend, I did just that, except I’d intended none of the growth I talk about above, only to learn how to better use my camera and eat the delicious food I knew my friend would prepare. Rather I anchored myself to my old life again for a few days, the one I left behind 18 months ago, when we left Little Oak in Tassie for Moorfield in Vic and it felt so very strange because it felt so very familiar, as if it were still my life and I’d simply been away for a while.
When I touched down and took to the roads I could’ve driven with my eyes closed and ascended the Southern Outlet to climb my way up and over it and back down into the valley we called home for the last decade, my brain leapfrogged the last year and a half of my life and this place we’d left, had seemed as if it were never absent, or me, from it.
I returned home a few days ago, lifted, floating above the world only to be sent hurtling back down to earth by toddler illness and refinancing for a better interest rate (cos lordy knows, they are something else right now) but for a tiny window in time my days were crammed full of endless enjoyment, of people, of place, of food, of learning and one might think it would be enough to have me wishing I’d stayed put, in Tassie but in fact, quite the opposite. This is how strong my pull to Moorfield and Central Victoria is, for it still beamed brighter than all the beauty you could possibly imagine to envelope me in that time spent in my old life and rather than make me want to stay, it made me want to go home……..and bring a little of the magic I experienced in Tassie, back home with me.
Our friend, Michelle and her family have the most wonderful home that they are painstakingly restoring and most generously open up and share with others, for stays, for workshops, for events. It is a magical pocket of the globe that they’ve created on the banks of the Huon River, on the opposite side to where we once lived. Few people can host you like Michelle can and will if you ever have the privilege, attending her gatherings are transportive and you will soon forget your world and any worries in it and that is a special gift to give others. A gift I want to be able to give too, here.
I had not expected, however, for a much a broader vision to crystallise in this time away and that is one of welcoming others into Moorfield as the garden grows and we can share its spaces and how we built them and how we use them. Yes, I had always had an idea of doing this but this weekend turned into something entirely more meaningful. Spent in what I can only call a coma, so inpenetrable it seemed to be by the outside world, of creativity and connection, dripping with charm and whole buckets of pixie dust thrown out over each day until it felt like our feet may just start to lift off the ground, was exactly what I didn’t know I needed.
I mean, I knew I was feeling tired, a little strung out, hampered still by the instalment of infrastructure again, still, to be able to exorcise out the lethargy with my hands in the dirt. We’ve had a busy decade and the last 18 months have only gained pace and the jobs, more weight and consequence but you push forward because the sun rises and the sun sets and the march is in momentum so you just do what you did yesterday and the day before that until you are so set in the cycle you don’t know just how worn out you are by it until you stop for a moment to do something entirely different. Something entirely needed. Something entirely just for me (don’t worry Hugo, the fly fishing weekend away is coming).
The Bowmont embraced me everyday and didn’t let go til the days end, nourished me with food and wine and the stories of others, and an intention realised to invest back into myself and learn from those who love to teach and love to share so much so that I remembered, I do too. After all that’s why I am here, isn’t it? Cos lordy knows I don’t need more in my day to do. This work, it comes from a love of it and a love of sharing it with those who love to learn about it and even more simply, just love gardens and gardening.
And what could be better than that?
Only getting to do this, face to face in the Moorfield garden itself. So that is where I turn my bow to and open up the sails…..I go in search of ways to make my own experience here special for others, a time in the not too distant future where you can come and you too can be surprised by how good it feels to share in the passion of others and share your own, over good food and good wine surrounded by a garden made to welcome you and those who don’t already know, to the idea that a garden can be a world within one and offer you a place of serenity, of connection and of peace be it in a backyard, a back lane, a house paddock, an apartment balcony or a lush oasis in your living room.
It will be so much more than just a “Garden Workshop” when the time comes to invite you here, just like this weekend gone, was so much more than just a “Photography Workshop”. And the thing is, this weekend away for me was a splurge I would never normally make but it was more than that, it was an investment back into me, into my tank, to fill my cup, so I can keep moving forward and with a pep in my step where my vision is always clearer and in-sync with who I am and what I want, focused and zen with my own decisions and not pulled every which way by all the noise out there that creeps in after a while. It was an investment back into my skill level, and my photography has vastly improved (check out our Instagram The Garden at Moorfield , so there was that but then there was something else and this is where we bring it back around and tie it with a bow….
You see, all the things I luxuriated in over the weekend just gone were not the things money can give us, the way I always thought as a young girl that money allowed for happiness and without it, one would struggle to know it.
The company came for free, the laughs too, the chats with other mums, fatigued and grateful for a moment to ones self, all of us a little heavy with the guilt it seems we are hardwired to feel but knowing we needed this, to entrepreneurial forces whose children were more grown and not, or never were, carving out the life they wanted while juggling it all, taking the hits and keeping on going, reminding you of the energy and power in a single person to push through the mud of life to get to the green field on the other side and collapse, covered in sh*t and exhausted but victorious and smiling like a loon. We’ve been those people many times.
The food was made with love, and you felt that empty out into your system by way of your stomach and lathered out across long tables in pots and plates from another time, collected over time, in a garden and in rooms not “finished” but done enough to hold you in their warmth and dripping with beauty, simple beauty, old branches in urns still hung with clinging apples like red baubles, herbs from the garden, artworks bought cheap at auctions and from markets, furniture sturdy, worn and warm amassed the very same way. It was beautiful because it was the heart of Michelle, that filled up those rooms and filled up our bellies.
And it made me realise, when I open Moorfield to you all, she will not be done, for I’ve not the money to do it all straight away, and where would the story in that be? She will not be finished before we open the gates, before you come, she will be a Work-In-Progress, just like me, like all of us but she will welcome you, we will, with open arms and open conversation, there will be joy in the little details of what we have managed to achieve so far and food, good food we have grown and reared and laboured over with love and excited to feed wyou with and beauty made from the simple things in life, tucked into wee corners not finished but done enough……and it will be our hearts you see, our happiness on display and there is not money in the world enough to buy that kind of perspective, that kind of understanding and the freedom that brings to just “be”.
Thank you for being here, I hope on some level this speaks to you and that you find yourself in a garden this weekend or tucked up somewhere warm at least reading about gardens which may just be me if this rain persists. Pip xo
IN GARDEN NEWS:
It is so very wet!!!!! And I mean torrential, record breaking kind of rain, so not much is happening outdoors unfortunately in way of planting but much is happening in way of planning and some propagating when the weather allows.
Our Pre-Xmas Plan:
Like everyone and everyone building a huge garden themselves, two things are always a factor……time and money. Both of which we have little of most of the way through the process so having an overarching plan of the garden is essential to know where we are headed and then breaking that down again into more focused plans is the only way we can work. We have a family gathering here at Xmas so we are using that as a deadline of soughts to work toward and get a number of jobs over the line.
I was an event and sponsorship manager for many years with an eyewatering number of projects at any one time (hence I now work with plants) and lists and planning became the only way I would not become paralysed with feeling overwhelmed. That’s how I approach the garden here. Break it down into more digestable pieces of work. As you get through those you’ll be buoyed and feel like you’re ready to tackle the next lot (after you let yourself rest, do this, I never used to do this).
Xmas is an expensive time of year as it is and we are travelling to meet family overseas that I’ve never met in the months leading up so that is hammering the bank balance but taking priority as family time should, as we learnt at Little Oak, so all consuming a huge project can become. You don’t want to end up resenting it. So, we are looking at projects we can do that don’t cost the earth (well a couple of them do, like the pool deck but most are more manageable) but will make a big difference to the usability of the garden.
Blonde gravel down on paths and areas with high traffic and that will need to be more easily seen at night. Rose pergola, hopefully up in spring should mean by Xmas we have a little pocket in the rose garden to enjoy a little pot of tea and some shade with prolific growers like, “The Wedding Day” Rose mixed with an evergreen Clematis called, “Snowdrift”. Pool landscaping in and gravel down in outdoor kitchen with some elements of the outdoor kitchen complete to provide seating/lounging areas and cooking surfaces. The “Front Garden” or “Front Lawn” area terraced out more so, so I can get it established in late winter/spring when water is aplenty, so it survives summer and I don’t have to look at it anymore as the mess of piles of organic matter that it is. Important to remember when establishing lawns you want to use late winter and early spring to do this, we will be seeding the front lawn and using strips of turf around the pool.
Anyway, that’s a few things, refer to the map for the rest. And below a little Outdoor Kitchen inspo. This is the look and feel we are working towards, as we’re not made of money or have bucket loads of time up our sleeve this will not be the outcome by Xmas but we will establish what the foundation needs to be so we can get that ready in time for the festive season fun and then build upon the rest later.
HEDGE PROPAGATION:
Most semi-hardwood cuttings, that I’ve taken below, are best taken in late summer, early autumn, so early winter is not ideal but I noticed that I still had some “bendable wood” (see image in Diagram 2) and I know that this privet (the non-invasive kind) is a very strong grower, so I think if I put them in front of the glass door of my office facing into the northern sun for some of the day, where the room is also heated, I can still get them to take BUT if I had the time to do this back in late summer and autumn, I would ideally do it then and could pretty much guarantee 100% success rate. I have about 9 more of these trays shown below to do and these will be planted out in the growing beds once taken, that I’ve made near the herb garden in early spring and then to planted out where they will become the hedge that hugs the driveway circle nearest the homestead.
MAKING UP THE PROPAGATION MIX:
Diagram 1
The propagation mix recipe:
This is very simple….
Equal parts coir (soaked in water and let to soften)
Perlite (available in small or large bags at any hardware)
Compost (we have a giant pile here at all times so I just dug deep down into it).
Mix it through and it should look like the above consistency. Remember if it doesn’t, you can always add a little more of whatever you feel is missing if you’ve eyeballed it like I have. Pack it into your deep growing cells, tamp it in and then backfill and tamp again. You need the mix to be firm when you insert the stem of the cutting.
So, why make your own? It’s more economical over the long run if you are propagating a large number of cuttings which we are and I hae always had better success with a homemade mix, than a bought mix but if you can’t be bothered or don’t have the time get a “Seed and Cutting” mix from your hardware or garden centre.
TAKING AND PROPAGATING SEMI-HARDWOOD CUTTINGS:
Diagram 2
Step 1 - Take cleaned and sharpened secateurs and making a cutting just beneath the node, each cutting should be about 10cm long.
Step 2 - Take as many as you need and if it is a hot day, put them all in a plastic bag while you work, and best to work quickly.
Step 3 - With your secateurs or a sharpened knife (I use an opinel garden blade but a stanley knife also works) cut the bendy (softwood) tip out just above the node. Softwood cuttings can be taken in spring and early summer.
Step 4 - Remove all the lower leaves and cut any larger top leaves in half. This means the cutting can still photosynthesis without having to support too much green growth and can focus it’s energy on growing roots.
Step 5 - Create a neat wound with your sharp knife or blade of your sharp secateurs at the base of the cutting. Wounding the cutting in this way can stimulate root initiation in semi-hardwood and hardwood cuttings.
Step 6 - Dip the wounded end of your cutting into your rooting hormone or your honey (we use honey), this is because honey has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal qualities and can help cuttings to produce roots sooner.
Step 7 - Once dipped you are ready to plant. Take a knitting needle or a skewer and makde a hole in the centre of your frimed down growing cell full of your prop mix. Place the cutting, honey end down into the narrow hole and firm around.
Step 8 - Water with a light sprinkle, or soak using a mister or place in a tray which has a inch of water in it and allow the cells to soak up the water.
Step 9 - Get your glasshouse built sooner so you can have comfortable benches to work at and heating mats to use to increase your chances of late cuttings taking root……oh sorry that ones just for me. 😏 Leave your cuttings in a warm spot with indirect sunlight. Bathrooms and laundrys can work well due to the humidity. You can also place a plastic bag over top to keep the cuttings moist and humid and is a step I will most likely take once all the trays are done.
NOTE: Below is a picture of a node in case you weren’t sure what it was, it is the two knobbly bits on either side of the stem.
Time and the right time is so important to consider. Having the patience to wait til it’s the right time of year is the challenge when all you want to do is get going now!
Love your enhanced camera skills Pip.
Time and money have been the forefront of our minds too - I wonder if it is the time of year!