She’s the high priestess of homegrown, a DIY demon and clear front runner of the craft-ernoon. In short, my Mumma – Nadia- is a green genius.
Mumma has taught me so much about reusing, reinventing and reducing my footprint and her sustainable smarts definitely snuck in by osmosis. Throughout my childhood she was always making or mending something.
Nadia’s organic garden is a sight to behold and she did it all from scratch with her turquoise adorned hands and heart.
She does everything with love and the plants are living proof, absolutely thriving pesticide free.
Nothing is more magical than to take a tour with Mumma and ingest not only the delicious produce straight from the soil but her incredible tips and tricks. Its a happy place for our whole family, even my sisters frenchie Frankie can’t get enough. It’s victory lap and grass rolling central.
So I thought I’d share Mumma’s top tips to start your own edible eco friendly haven.
1. Start with organic or great quality seeds and soil. Hit the farmers markets, small local nurseries, swap with friends or even save the seeds from the fruit and veg you eat. Mumma gets her soil from landscapers or recommends a good garden centre, talk to the staff and get their advice.
2. Make your own compost. Mumma uses veggie and fruit scraps, leaf litter, grass clippings anything that was once alive in the plant world! Don’t use meat, bones or dairy as this will attract rates and mice
3. Look for things you can recycle to support your garden. Mumma kept on old bath from one of her houses and now its a flourishing veggie bed. After a few bubbles, she carried home a couple of old painters ladders which are now a fantastic hanging plant feature, she even recycled the poles from the hills hoist to support it. Broken pots can be used to create chic little signs for naming your plants so you know whats what and an old terracotta tray married with some rope makes the perfect bird feeder.
4. Don’t use pesticides. Pinterest is Mumma’s spirit animal and she says there are so many great recipes for making your own enviromentally friendly sprays. The same goes with fertilizer, try eggs shells and coffee grounds or apparently tomatoes lose their red little minds for epsom salts! Who knew, come to think of it though I feel pretty great after an epsom salts bath myself.
5. Connect with your garden, it will tell you when it’s feeling great or make it very clear when it’s tired and thirsty, think dry soil and limp leaves for a start. Spending time in your garden is so therapeutic for the soul too.
Mumma says there really is no need for chemicals and unnatural nasties, if your garden is really healthy it tends to look after itself
Just like us really!
PS if you are like me and live in an apartment, Mumma says its all about that terracotta pot life. try little window sill herbs, small lettuces, tomatoes if you have good full sun and succulents are the biz!
Love you Mumma xx
