My name is Jess and my husband and I are on a journey to make our home, and our lifestyles, more sustainable.
This journey started around five years ago.
It is hard to pinpoint exactly how it all began but it seems that Troy and I naturally, and thankfully, just started to become more interested in nature, sustainability, animals and health as we got a little older.
Sometime in 2013 Troy decided to start a veggie patch in a our backyard. I was initially reluctant, being nervous about the cost and time commitment and so on. As Troy’s interest grew, I realised that a veggie patch in our backyard was a fabulous idea that we really needed to make a go of - to save money and better our own health!
Part of the productive garden
Back when things first started. Troy created most of the veggie garden with leftover building materials - with some good results.
Learning about growing your own food seems to naturally lead you into other topics of sustainability. I became genuinely interested in how we could make better choices about the way we live and how that makes a positive impact on ourselves, others, animals and our earth.
We started with simple and easy things like recycling, composting, reducing waste, reducing plastic, recycled toilet paper, eco conscience cleaning products and so on.
8 panels on each side of our house to maximise the sun throughout the day
Our first big home spend was installing solar, 16 panels back in 2015.
The next was an overhaul on the garden, with the aim to produce as much of our food as possible and to make it a more liveable space.
This was a wonderful experience as we were lucky enough to have the help of Jamie Durie and the team at The Living Room. This month marks two years since that happened, which is hard to believe. Over those two years we’ve few setbacks in the garden - several chicken invasions (they are better fed than us), our first child arriving as well as learning to garden in our new set up.
With results not being what we hoped, Troy has been spending some time improving the soil that was brought in, as well as us both dedicating more time to the garden in general. We’re starting to see better results and hopefully I can keep everyone posted on this and report back with an idea of what backyard gardening is saving in our food bills.
Introducing our son to the chooks and the garden
Cluck!
The garden overhaul was terrific and is practical TV.
Garden fact sheet: S6_Ep39_Jamie%20Durie%20Family%20Food%20Garden%20Factsheet.pdf
Watch it here.
As well as ramping up the focus on the veggie gardens, we have also decided we want to make some changes to our house in an effort to become more sustainable. Unsure where to begin we set up a call with Michael Mobbs who has been a wonderful help.
Success in the gardens - figs, tomatoes, pumpkin, leafy greens and passionfruit
Our plan is to make some of these changes to our home and land every year, allowing us to save money for 12 months and then put it towards the cost associated.
Some of the things on the list we are considering include:
Upgrading solar, after installing Solar Analytics to monitor current use
Rain water tanks (mainly to water the patches but also connected to the washing machine and toilet)
Native bees
Leaky Drain system
Upgrading roof insulation
Sky lights (insulated)
Trading our car in for an electric car
Insulated blinds
Upgrading to a solar hot water system
Sharing solar between neighbours
Starting a vegetable garden a the front of our house to involve others
Adding a heat reflective paint to our roof
Since speaking with Michael at the end of last year we have changed our shower water head (link), set up a power meter to monitor the energy consumption of our current fridge and have installed a very interesting exhaust system to help cool and heat our home (link). We’ve only had the exhaust system installed for a few days but we are impressed with the immediate change it has made to our home, making it cooler and noticeably more ventilated.
Our costs so far and anticipated future works and costs are listed below.
Feel free to comment with any questions or advice.
We are learning as we go and much of this is new to us.
Tackling our goal of sustainability in bite size pieces has been key to making this a truly enjoyable, achievable and natural process.
Costs
Previous investment:
Solar - approx $5000 installed 2015
Shower head - E-co shower head and arm $165 installed Dec 2018
Endmond’s Odyssey Exhaust System - Estimated at $2000-2500 installed, installed February 2019
Garden makeover - See fact sheet for some of the costings S6_Ep39_Jamie%20Durie%20Family%20Food%20Garden%20Factsheet.pdf
Possible future upgrades:
Solar analytics $700
Upgrading solar, after installing Solar Analytics to monitor current use - Costs to be provided when known
Rain water tanks (mainly to water the patches but also connected to the washing machine and toilet)
Native bees - $450
Leaky Drain system (see link) - Estimated $200+
Upgrading roof insulation - Costs to be provided when known
Sky lights (insulated) - $700+
Trading our car in for an electric car - Costs to be provided when known
Insulated blinds - Costs to be provided when known
Upgrading to a solar hot water system -$4000+
Sharing solar between neighbours -Costs to be provided when known
Starting a vegetable garden a the front of our house to involve others -$50+
Adding a heat reflective paint to our roof - Costs to be provided when known
Our next upgrade is likely to be installing water tanks - hopefully by April 2019.
• Life goes on in our step by step off-grid journey
Thank you for reading!
Jessica Gallaty