Newbie from North East Victoria

BeeTee

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Hello everyone, Brian here from Wodonga in North East Victoria. I hope you are all having a ripper day. After a vegie growing hiatus (for numerous reasons that I won't bore you with) I came upon Self Sufficient Me on the TOOB and was infected with Mark's enthusiasm.

Anyway to make a short story longer, I have been inspired to grow my own vegies again. I live on a small suburban block and so raised beds are perfect and available at my local Bunnings. I also have a local supplier of food grade 204 litre barrels which I will make great use of.

I won't be completely self sufficient but at least I won't need to buy over priced super market vegies anymore. that's what it's all about right?

To say I am eagerly awaiting my next/first harvest is an understatement.

Anyway, have a great day.

All the very best,

Brian.
 

Wedgetail

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Welcome Brian only joined yesterday myself it's good to be back on the road to growing food that tastes like food should and not this rubbish that the shops supply hope you enjoy your time here. Dave
 

ClissAT

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Welcome Brian.
Love to see photos of your new raised beds once you get them organised.
Those 204lt barrels you mentioned, are they the blue drums?
I saw some once that had been cut in half horizontally rather than vertically.
When they're cut like that they have a tendency to collapse inwards.
The owner had made light steel rings from old shed frame parts which were bolted to the cut top of each drum half.
He also welded a handle onto each side, so two handles per drum half.
Really made a difference but he was a retired engineer so it was a doddle for him.

As an ex fitter myself, I reinterpreted his idea into something I could do with just hand tools and recycled light steel or aluminium bits.
Instead of welding the handles on, I thought about rivetting strapping to form a circle for the top edge of the drum half as well as making the handles.
 

BeeTee

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Hi ClissAT, yeah these are the blue plastic food grade barrels (they've had soft drinks syrup in them). I got them for a fiver each. I've cut 3 of them in half vertically and already planted them. They seem to work fine but I have noticed one of them is leaking (slowly). I think it may have a faulty bung hole. The basic set up is about 100mm of scoria in the bottom to form the water reservoir, make a well in the middle and then cover with weed mat. Place some sand in the well (on top of the weed. I then place a few cm of mulch over the top of that and then fill with compost. Before filling I attach some pvc pipe at the rear to act as a fill tube and I have an overflow at the front which is 100mm, give or take, from the bottom. They end up looking something like this.

20190925_155444.jpg 20190924_142459.jpg 20190930_070243.jpg
 

ClissAT

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That's the shape I was describing above when talking about the guy who made the steel bands to go round the top of his drums to make them stay circular shaped.

Blue drums tend to go oval after a while.

Re the leaking bung, if you can, unscrew it, smeers silicon on the thread and screw it back in.
 

BeeTee

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Thanks for your reply ClissAT. The leaky planter has a crop of onions sowed and sprouting. I think I'll leave as is until I've harvested the onions. Once they're done, I'll empty the planter and fix it up.

All the pots are holding their shape so far, let's see what happens in a few months.

Thanks again,

All the best,

Brian.
 

DanRicho

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G'day Brian,

Welcome to the forum (from another recent inductee). Re the raised garden beds, I found the Bunnings beds to be quite over-priced. Aldi recently had a line of raised garden beds (and may still have some surplus stock) for $18 (1200 x 900 x 300). I think we ended up getting 13 of them, i just have to find the space to put them in... I'd recommend dropping into your nearest store and seeing if they have any left. If not, i'm sure they'll bring them out again next season so keep an eye out.

Cheers,

Dan
 

Matthew Duke

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Always nice to save money on these things, so long as the quality is the same. I've recently adopted a mentality of "if it's better quality for more, consider it an investment".

RE the garden beds, I thought that they had to be open-bottomed to allow some drainage? Maybe the leak in yours is a blessing in disguise haha.
 

Mark

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I won't be completely self sufficient but at least I won't need to buy over priced super market vegies anymore. that's what it's all about right?
Welcome Brian! And you'll be eating chemical-free produce also whilst getting some exercise.

We lived in Wodonga from 2000-03 and that's where I started our first veggie garden and a few fruit trees!
 

BeeTee

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G'day Brian,

Welcome to the forum (from another recent inductee). Re the raised garden beds, I found the Bunnings beds to be quite over-priced. Aldi recently had a line of raised garden beds (and may still have some surplus stock) for $18 (1200 x 900 x 300). I think we ended up getting 13 of them, i just have to find the space to put them in... I'd recommend dropping into your nearest store and seeing if they have any left. If not, i'm sure they'll bring them out again next season so keep an eye out.

Cheers,

Dan

Thanks Dan, we have an Aldi close by. I do like Aldi's stuff and I'd be keen to know what the quality of build etc on the Aldi beds is like.

Thanks for your advise.

All the best,

Brian.
 

BeeTee

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Location
Wodonga, Victoria
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Always nice to save money on these things, so long as the quality is the same. I've recently adopted a mentality of "if it's better quality for more, consider it an investment".

RE the garden beds, I thought that they had to be open-bottomed to allow some drainage? Maybe the leak in yours is a blessing in disguise haha.


Hi Matthew, thanks for your reply. The blue drums have a drain/overflow in them so excess water can drain out. As far as expense goes, I like the Birdies raised beds but they aren't cheap but as you say it may be an investment, that said though there is almost always a quality v price decision to be made.

Thanks again,

All the best,

Brian.
 

BeeTee

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Location
Wodonga, Victoria
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Welcome Brian! And you'll be eating chemical-free produce also whilst getting some exercise.

We lived in Wodonga from 2000-03 and that's where I started our first veggie garden and a few fruit trees!


Hi Mark, this is the second time we've lived here. The first was when I was on the staff at Latchford Barracks, we lived in the married patch across the road from there at the time. All the married quarters were subsequently demolished due to termite infestation so I'm told

There are certainly worse places to live than North East Vic.

All the very best,

Brian.
 
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