Kingscliff Community Gardens : update: New slab & rain, glorious rain.

Rain, glorious rain. Except for the abundance of weeds that are also thriving in this weather, the gardens have never looked better. After a very long, extremely hot summer, autumn is finally delivering. Granted, things haven't cooled much, but the heat does help things really grow, especially after repeated soakings.

Confessions, I've barely lifted a finger to help out at the gardens this week. Or much of last week either. Mega fatigue, a medication change on top of a toddler not sleeping= can't go there. 

I do have some bulbs awaiting planting. I have researched the best time/ way to plant them in both a warm climate and sandy soil. So, they aren't going in until mid April, or the heat may kill them.

It looks like hubby and I will have to revisit the carpet store in order to cope with the volume of weeds erupting after all these rains. It can almost seem overwhelming. In reality, it's a few hours of dedicated work, or half a day at best. I'm also not apposed to weed spraying. When no rain is due of course. That may take a while. Think I prayed too hard!

Now, to the new slab, which wasn't without its challenges. The heavens delivered too much of a good thing...directly after the slab had been smoothed to glass like perfection. Despite the weather saying otherwise, it absolutely bucketed down without mercy. Wish I was exaggerating.

At one point, I had to leave to buy the guys some well earned lunch. It was disheartening to say the least, driving down the street and watching concrete flowing like a river a few hundred metres along the road. 

Take a look at these pics...

The concrete truck arrived to deliver load after load. Yes, the skies are grey. They were this grey the day before, but barely a drop fell from the sky.

Josh and Pete getting into it, boots and all :)

Here are all the guys hard at work: Josh doing the leveling. Hubby, Luke and Pete doing the shoveling.

....and, after all that amazing work had been done, this happened.

Hubby and Josh made a quick dash to Bunnings to get some tarp. Once it was on, the rain got so much heavier.

Yes, that is a river in the car park, and yes, so much concrete did wash down the road :(

Josh came back when the rain cleared, and used this to help flatten and reset the surface.

HUGE shout out to this incredible man, who is from another church and used his professional skills for free. Just to help out.

One of my favourite scriptures talks of doing good to others, especially those in the family of believers.

This guy obviously lives out of that, 

which is totally awesome to see in action.

What a servant heart.

And now, we are onto this weeks happenings.

Once again, darling Poppa Ian is back to help install his picket fence.

Honestly, love this man's wisdom, heart for God and His house, and continued dedication to both spiritual and practical concerns.

He's an inspiration to both myself and hubby.

Despite a little bit of vandalism-a few pickets kicked out- the fence is continuing along. 

This place WILL be transformed, 

and will be a blessing for generations to come!

Awesome Paul, doing it tough in the sun, leveling out the dirt that was removed to create the slab. This guy's work ethic is an inspiration also, and no task is too big for him to tackle.

Much respect.

Shane also did a brilliant job trimming the grass this morning too.

I'm happy the slab looks as good as it does. Despite many obstacles, it's firmly in place now, and looks great.

The creek has water. It's awesome to have a bridge to take this photo from now, instead of being knee deep in icky creek water.

We have been given a lot more tyres. Kind of unsure if we should bother making a bike track, or continue to let the local kids rearrange them for us. 

I figure, if they are doing this, at least they're getting exercise and using creativity!

At last, one of my bougainvilleas is flowering. This is a dwarf variety.

These aren't dwarf at all! Their growth is crazy, which is great! The one in the distance has been pruned twice in the last month alone. 

The bonus of this is, the weeds soon won't have a chance :)

And there you have it, a pretty impressive amount of progress yet again. Stayed tuned, plenty more to come!

Kingscliff Community Gardens : Update-It's Autumn!

A new season has arrived. Sigh. Autumn, you are by far my favourite time of year, and I for one welcome you. Cooler breezes, winds that blow summer away. What's not to like?

Gardening just a whole lot more pleasant. Especially considering summer ended with a lovely amount of rain. My prayers have been answered.

The only challenge to gardening has been this; hubby and I have one car. Between us. As he is in Brisbane several long days for uni, and at the gardens on Fridays, I really have very limited access to the car. Also, I don't garden on his main day as I've got a cute little human to play with. We do a short day together earlier in the week. 

This has slowed progress down. And I do have to remember to water plants under trees that miss light rains. However, as we discussed today, compared to this time last year, the gardens look AMAZING!

I really wish this was a community garden picture. In all fairness, we do have a mini version of a picket fence and some hydrangeas planted. Given time...

Thanks Pinterest, forever inspirational.

I have to admit, I'm extremely comfortable in my pink socks and work boots. 

Country gal at heart.

This eye sore is set to become a gorgeous urban veggie plot. Watch this space.

My cute little garden helper. 

Sometimes a simple phone call is all it takes to get what you need, like this carpet. It makes a cheap weed mat, and thankfully, is in an abundance behind a local carpet store in Tweed. 

And it's free.

Hubby has a great idea, to simply clear, weed mat and mulch over areas to open them up and make the garden look 'loved'.

My bulbs arrived! I ordered two types of jonquils and some freesias. Hopefully, by late winter, heavenly scented blooms will cheer up the gardens.

Shane hard at it, neatly covering the newly cleared area with the carpet hubby and I collected and roughly dumped last week.

Paul doing an awesome job cutting the carpet to fit.

Hubby and my sweet Belle in the distance. This side garden is growing incredibly well. However, the run off is killing the grass. Hopefully, garden edging will be the next step here to prevent some of this overflow.

Thanks to darling Poppa Ian yet again, we have post holes dug to put his picket fence in.

So excited to see this area taking shape.

And here is the man himself- Poppa Ian showing us how advanced years can't kill passion.

Another erosion issue-sand piling up on the chess board. Hubby realised today a retaining wall is needed. 

Sadly, we also discovered local kids have not only smashed some loose bricks, but have been scratching at the chess board, damaging it. 

Among other things.

As frustrating as this is, we know that the majority of people will use this area for the right reasons.

The picket fence looks so good! I can't wait for the plants to mature and fill in the 'gaps', creating a lush, shady oasis.

There you have it, a bit of progress, a new season and some exciting future plans. Rest assured, there will be much more to come, even if at a reduced pace :)

As always, thanks for reading!

Kingscliff Community Gardens: Long, hot summer

It's still summer. A dry one at that too. I'm not sure how many rain storms we've had because they've barely hit Kingscliff, with the exception of a brief shower or two. We desperately need real rain. Days of it.

The poor gardens! Survival of the fittest it is then. I've had a few causalities- plants under trees mainly. Reality is, with things heating up on top of our already long, hot summers, the plants I choose have to be ones that thrive on a few drops of rain and occasional watering from me.

These beauties are one such plant that thrives on neglect: the good ol' frangipani. Their summer blooms on this seasons cuttings are a cheery reminder that the garden can and will flourish.

We have had more tyres delivered, including several truck tyres.

Hubby and I disagreed on this, but here it is. I wanted to plant out a couple of individual tyres so the plants would grow under the trees without root competition. Hubby got his way and covered the new fenced in area with so many!

Whilst I enjoyed the gym workout carrying them, I'm still not sure I like the look. They will eventually be covered with straw mulch however.

This should soften the look. And when the plants grow, they wont be that noticeable anymore.

More tyres, many still needing to be filled with dirt.

The good side of this: I can plant out individual tyres with flowers until the shrubs take over and thicken up.

They also retain water beautifully.

Some more mulch added today. It will take a bit more to cover it completely. 

I'm now thinking some trailing plants may soften the overall look.

Time to research plants- something I really love to do :)

This bland looking container is actually home to several new dwarf, white agapanthus plants. There is another one mirroring it on the other side of the path. By keeping the design simple, and planting appropriate plants for the conditions, the garden will definitely flourish and look welcoming.

These will be a gorgeous floral entrance way to the gardens hopefully by next summer.

This cleared section is the approach left hand side of the bridge. Mick and hubby did a great job clearing it today, ready for planting out. 

Keeping it super simple and low water needs here for sure.

The garden is forever growing and expanding!

And there you have it, your lot for the week. Looking forward to bringing you more soon :)

Kingscliff Community Gardens: Machines and Muscles

Welcome to the machines and muscles post!

Other than sweltering through two of three summer heatwaves (number three due this weekend), where tempers were tried and endurance was at an all time low,  so much work has been smashed out these past several weeks.

Proud of absolutely everyone involved, myself included. We have lifted more, dug more and carried more that any of us thought was possible. Quite satisfying, really :)

I've also realised that I am willing to commit to one full day a week. That doesn't include watering, especially as it's been an unusually dry summer for us. The reasons for this decision are simple. I have something to look forward to each week and I don't burn myself out. And (women's libbers, don't read on!), someone's gotta clean the house and clothes.

Now, take a look below at the amazing work achieved in what can arguably be the hottest summer I can honestly remember...

Hubby with his new toy.

After realising that digging by hand the week before with Paul was just insanity, the church hired a digger to help prepare for a new slab.

Michael did an amazing job landscaping with rocks in our newest garden bed. I love how they add a new dimension to the garden.

Thanks to Dan and Pete for the donation...and Pete for helping hubby carry and load them.

After the work out front was done, hubby headed out back to landscape the bike track.

My bougainvilleas are growing out of sight, but this is the only flower I have seen for months.

Any bougainvillea growers out there with tips on how to encourage blooms?

My eldest daughter, Lizzy, even got into this digger thing. Here she is, helping clear the creek.

Gotta say, proud mum :)

Hopefully, should it ever rain properly again, the creek won't flood as quickly.

My geranium is loving its new slope position. I've also added agapanthus offshoots to not only help stabilise the slope, but pretty it up too.

Shout out to three amazing men: Pete Wal, Craig Chalmers, and my man, who all worked hard laying mesh ready for concreting. 

Hubby is thrilled to be learning new skills. 

Love his heart.

This man is a living legend!

Poppa Ian Wilkins, 

we love you, 

and are forever inspired by your heart, hard work and wisdom.

This octogenarian is not afraid to step up and volunteer to dig post holes for the fence he himself built!

 

Looking a little underwhelming now, but these hydrangeas will add so much charm to this area when they mature.

I love Gumtree! Hubby found an add for free tyres, and a day later, this wonderful man took time to deliver 2 loads, because we are a community garden.

Now, we have a bike track edging ready to go, and a few spare for planting in.

I am so excited to see this fence go in! Shady cottage garden, here I come :)

Thanks also to my Lizzy for sparing time across 2 days to help out with digging and tyre moving.

Here, hubby is adding rapid set cement to the post holes. 

In no time, this will be a stunning, welcoming entrance garden.

As requested, ten tyres stored up the top ready for me to paint and plant out. 

After much research and brain wracking, I decided tyres were the best option for planting out under trees where roots are an issue, and for some native regeneration planting out back where watering won't be easy.

I'm not sure I would plant edible produce in any, but for other plants, I think they are a perfect, recycled planting solution. 

And there you have it! An amazing amount of progress despite the hell on earth heat we've been experiencing. 

Looking forward to bringing you the next installment! 

Thanks for sharing the journey with us :)