Its been a while since my last post, but there has been a lot going on at the house. I will do a separate post with updates on the progress at the house, but this post is about the launch of my new online store, called Old & Made, which i have finally managed to […]
Who doesn’t love a refreshing swim? I certainly do. And although i enjoy a swim in an unheated pool in the middle of summer, the rest of the year its a little too cold to enjoy. And then there is night time swimming. Swimming in a cold pool in the evening, although refreshing, is not […]
So finally it Spring again, and time to get the garden cleaned up and ready for Summer. First up was the hydroponics system, which after months of producing an almost endless supply of tomatoes, herbs and lettuce, was in desperate need of a good cleaning. The water was starting to get really dirty, with algae […]
A new camera lens, and a chance to get some pictures of some of the booming succulent and aloes and other colourful garden goodies đ
Its been a busy few months getting the back garden ready for summer, which will soon be upon us. The back garden has been filled with water wise and indigenous aloes, succulents, and other plants and ground covers. Some of the original granite rocks dug up during renovations have been kept and placed around the […]
The newest addition to my home compost family is a Bokashi Home composting kit. What is Bokashi? Bokashi is a Japanese term meaning âfermented organic matterâ. It is often mistaken for composting but actually its an anaerobic process through fermentation. This process results in a different end product than usually produced by traditional composting. This […]
Its been a while since my last post.. i blame the day job đ but besides the day job i have been hard at work finishing up parts of the house, and most importantly for this post getting the urban farming garden up and running and planting various vegetables and herbs. Its been a fun […]
Over the past few months i have been working on a custom built home and automation and monitoring system, using the concept of the Internet of Things (Iot). What is the Internet of Things? In a nutshell,  the Internet of Things in the internetworking of physical devices (sensors etc) that allow these objects to send and exchange […]
For my my first Urban Farming post, we are going to be looking at some basic concepts of Urban Hydroponics Farming, and the advantages and disadvantages of using hydroponics over traditional soil based methods for growing herbs and vegetables at home. Definition of Hydroponics from Wikipedia Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture, the method of growing […]
So it’s been pretty much a year since renovations began. Its been a busy year, with most of the major construction items completed, the solar electricity and rain water collection systems installed and functioning, municipal gas installed, and the back garden mostly completed. Most of the focus over the past few months has been on getting […]
Early next year i will begin planting and growing some vegetables and herbs. In preparation for this, i am getting some home compost ready. Creating your own compost at home not only saves money, reduces your waste and puts it to good use, and also reduces your carbon footprint. To start the process i have a small eco bin […]
In Part 2 we looked at setting up the main water tank, the water collection from the roofs, as well as building the main water features for the water filtration. In this post we will cover the sealing and finishing the water features, collecting the rain water from the first summer rains to fill up the pool, […]
In Part I we covered the small rain water tank near the front of the house that will be used for basic garden water, washing the car, and other general water usage. In this post we will cover the main water tank in the back of the garden that will be used for gardening, filling […]
In Part 1 we covered the solar panel installation. In this post we will cover the rest of the installation and components of a general home solar setup. Below is a overall picture of all the solar components, excluding the solar panels which are on the roof and which were covered in Part 1. The primary components […]
The back garden of the house has undergone a major transformation. When i got transfer of the house, the back garden was overgrown, full of weeds and drain were blocked. The first step was to cut down the grass and remove all vegetation as there was nothing really worth keeping and with the building and […]
We finally got the first of the 2 rain water tanks up and running, which is awesome.. Except that it’s the end of summer, and therefore the end of the rainy season. Boo. Luckily, however, we got an end of summer full weekend of rain last weekend, and the tank filled up in no time. […]
The last few weeks have seen some good and steady progress. The main house lounge and kitchen area is starting to take shape. There has been major rewiring and re-installation of the entire electrical system, as well as completion of the solar installation. The outside pool and deck area is slowly coming together, and we […]
After a long wait and having the solar equipment in storage for about the last 4 months, we finally got to installing the solar panels. Before installing the panels, we needed to get the roof painted with a fresh coat of roof paint, and fix any loose corrugated iron section and fix holes etc. First […]
With the cottage complete, the main focus has shifted to the main house. Breaking down walls, new doors and windows, brand new electrical wiring and solar installation being the main focus areas. Building rubble (argh!) is everywhere đŚ Firstly new industrial windows being installed in the lounge and kitchen area. New windows from the outside. Existing […]
Existing bathroom in a small sublet section of the cottage which how now been integrated into the main cottage, so the bathroom is no longer required. The space is to be converted into a dressing room for the cottage bedroom. All the bathroom stuff moved, plumbing removed, drainage closed up, and leaking room repaired. Below is a […]
Melville Green 