First 2015 update - Vege patch, study room book case and Solar

It's been a while since I updated the blog. Been busy with school holidays and other things.

Thought I'd write a summary on what we've done.

Vege patch: 

I've always wanted to remove the pebbles and dirt between the garden retaining wall but has always been too busy..... well lazy is probably more accurate.
My parents came to visit during summer. So I shared the idea with my dad. Next thing I know he started removing the pebbles. feeling guilty I helped.

This is what we did:

1. Pebbles removal/relocation
2. A layer of thick plastic sheet between the pebbles and the dirt is then removed. I believe this plastic sheet is to prevent weed from growing.
3. Digging out the dirt. This is the hardest part. the whole thing is filled with compacted mud or clay like soil which is  unusable for planting
4. Sift the remaining soil to get rid of the rest of the pebbles that we did not manage to remove earlier
5. Refill the space with new soil and manure.
6. Plant!

Notice the pebbles along the 2 retaining wall

Lots of pebbles to remove

Right after work is done

Within days, we see plants growing

Weeks later, beans growing too.

The earlier vege patch gets new soil and plants too

2 months later, B and G harvested the first beet root

How it looks like today

Harvested and new seed has gone in

Curly kale. This is after harvesting

Beens has been growing slowly

Lots of tuscan kale. Some chillies, herbs, capsicum and etc 

Book case and table for the study room

This room has always been neglected. It has mismatch book case, oversized table/book case and furniture with odd color combination. So I decided to revamp the room during the holidays. eBay and gumtree is my friend. Got rid of the tables, and book cases. Some are given away.

Being a small room, this table is oversized

Too big a book case

I found Matthew Timber close by to home. Great service! Ordered a few strips if pine wood in the exact size I wanted and sanded down too. It's about 4cm thick which is great. I like the look of thick, beefy timber.

I had to do final sanding then apply light clearcoat

Let out to dry 

Bought some shelving bracket from Bunnings. With beam finder, I manage to mount 2 strips straight into the beam. The middle strip had to use wall socket

Bought a table from a guy in Ferntree Gully. Had to spray the base white to match the room furniture. 

The final product. Realise the table is a little too dark. Well, I'll leave that for now.

My little helper enjoy her fruit of labor

Now that the table is smaller, and the book case has more storage, we manage to free up more space for the kids to use the room too.

Solar panel installation

I've always wanted solar, mainly to lower our carbon footprint. It is very confusing that it took me a while before taking the plunge. There are companies who recommends the best of product but they cost triple of an average solar system. However it not 3 times more efficient. So I finally decide not to go for top tier and save the money for something else... maybe a deck. Ordered a 3kW system which should be sufficient to offset our consumption. We're fortunate to have good roof space which is not shaded and north facing. My only complain is it's in front of the house and may be a sore eye to some.

The electrician who install the system was great. He took time to explain and workmanship looks great. Very professional and friendly.

Installer came a few days after order confirmation. Now that is fast. I guess they must be free since it's low season (autumn)

3kW inverter with wireless monitor built in

3 hours in

And finally done. In half a day

It was nice to see the solar finally working

Come with home wireless monitor so that we can plan our consumption

This is the best part. I can look at the generation from my mobile.