Doris

The sweet peas are the star of the show.

International Permaculture Festival of WILD Ideas 2025 - Permaculture Education Institute Register now for the International Permaculture Festival of Wild Ideas from May 3-11 with Morag Gamble and friends.

Fantastic lineup of speakers. Book your ticket now! permacultureeducationinstitute.org/permaculture...

Werde ich ausprobieren! 🐝💛

Insect hotels of the day. Finished these three with reused metal for the roof, reused screws. 5 different hole sizes and two different log sizes. And they’re all
gone to a good home already! 🙌🏾💛🐝

Insect hotels of the day.

World needs more insect hotels. 🫶🏾🐝🌿

Made my first basil pesto ever, with fresh basil from our lovely neighbour who brought some over. 🌿🫶🏾

Found these tiny little yellow butterfly eggs of the Dainty Swallowtail on the lime tree 💛🍋.

Tomato harvest. Three different colours cherries plus some bigger and medium sized ones (Roma). 💜🧡💛

Gorgeous!

These seedlings all emerged together from an everlasting daisy flower head that'd been laying on the ground in the garden bed. I think it's fascinating. When I first saw it I couldn't get my head around it but upon closer inspection it became clear what it was. Pretty amazing.

Growing on Country

I'm only into the first module of the "Growing on Country" course and it's amazing! ❤️💛🖤 yuruwan.teachable.com/p/growing-on...

The insect hotel in the open workshop area is a hit with grass-carrying wasps and mud wasps. So much so that I just placed a couple more pieces of timber with a vacancy sign next to the log. Veg garden at the height of summer, I love the tall fennel over towering the garden.

Saw the first blue-banded bees of the summer season in my veggie patch today! There were two, zipping about - they're soo fast! The sound they make when buzz pollinating is extraordinary too!T hey mostly visited the zinnias but I noticed them also at the sunflower and bean flowers. #nativebees

Sorted my seed collection and made my own DIY packets for collected seeds. Saved lettuce, fennel, calendula, sweet pea seeds (sweet peas already in December). Harvest of the day: Three colours of tomatoes, celery stalk, silverbeet, purslane, herbs (and calendula seeds).

We're currently harvesting zucchini, eggplant, chili, rocket, spring onion and sorrel. Did some soil tests for my permaculture site analysis. The jar test helps to figure out the percentage of clay, silt and sand in the soil.

I put the powder in smoothies, or use it in cooking. Next time, I'd put it in a shaded part of the car as by looking at it I think some discolouring happened due to the direct impact of the sun.

Homemade homegrown beetroot powder 💕. I grated the beet with a grinder and placed it on parchment paper in the sun - in our car! After a couple of days of sweltering temperatures it was crisp and dry and ready to be ground one last time and filled in a glass jar; the volume loss (water) astonishing.

I put the powder in smoothies, or use it in cooking. Next time, I'd put it in a shaded part of the car as I think some discolouring happened due to the direct sun.

One of the newly made insect hotels had been sitting in the work area as I still wanted to put a roof on it. That didn't stop a little native wasp from starting building nests. (Probably a Pison wasp.)

Hot summer day; 40 degrees today (Celsius).
But not every outdoor space is equal.
❌ Open area with no vegetation: 69 degrees.
On the contrary:
🌳 Shaded spot with lots of tree canopy and under storey: 28 degrees.
Tree shade is crucial when it comes to managing heat effects on people and wildlife.

4 Ways To Show Your Support This Jan 26 January 26 is a day of reflection, not celebration. As the date approaches, it’s important to acknowledge the ongoing pain it represents for many First Nations people. This year, let’s come together t...

January 26 is not the day to celebrate. ❤️💛🖤
#notadatetocelebrate #changethedate #invasionday #alwayswasalwayswillbe

www.clothingthegaps.com.au/blogs/blogs/...

Today, I re-planted two garden beds with flowering plants for pollinators and for colour and beauty; part natives, part exotics like salvia, lavender. Happy growing! 💚🩷💜

PS: Made this insect hotel at the weekend and it’s already getting attention, wasps and bees busy building nests.

A round piece of red gum timber with lots of holes of different sizes drilled into to function as an insect hotel. It’s sitting on a metal chair and has a tin roof. Background shows a large tree stump and a garden setting with lawn and shrubs and a tree in the distance.

Hi! I’m Doris. I love anything that has to do with regeneration, the restoration of ecosystems, human wellbeing through nature & each other, biodiversity, habitat creation, learning about species, stalking insects & birds, gardening, permaculture, personal & community resilience. I also love dogs!