I love that title! Something for mother! As many older women have told me, we younger women are so very fortunate today as we have help in raising and training children in so many ways. Particularly in the area of good literature on the subject. I truly enjoy to learn more about my job. This is where my heart is - God, husband, family, home, church. I never tire to soak up more on these topics. Open Arms Magazine, edited by American Mark and Kym Wright has been a great encouragement on homeschooling, homemaking, Godly womanhood, practical ideas etc. Kym has also written a book - Living Life on Purpose with worksheets and, more recently, a sequel to this - Living Life on Purpose 2, about living life on purpose, not by default. New Beginnings, compiled by the Mortensen Family of Bundaberg and Keepers at Home edited by Delwyn McAlister are Australian publications, both geared towards Christian women, homeschooling, hometraining, homebirthing and homebusiness.
Books I�ve found delightful, inspiring and encouraging are Welcome Home and Friends of the Heart by Emilie Barnes (which I could read and read again), The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer, all written on home making. Then 10 Things Parents Must Teach Their Children by Schaeffer, To Train Up a Child by Michael and Debi Pearl, What the Bible Says About Child Training by Richard Fugate and Schoolproofing by Mary Pride on child training and the Christian home school. Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss, The Other Side of the Garden by Virginia Fugate, A Mother�s Heart by Jean Flemming, The Way Home and All The Way Home by Mary Pride are written with emphasis on Godly womanhood and family relationships.
For humour, I love Erma Bombeck on the family and books by the British sweetheart, James Herriot - everyone�s favourite vet! First We Have Coffee was the first book I�ve read by Margaret Jensen, about Mama Tweeten, wife of a Norwegian pastor and her trials and tribulations. I have another three books by the same author on order!
I sincerely hope that you may be able to glean something from this newsletter. I�ve enjoyed writing it, and it has put a lot of goals into perspective for me and my family. If you have any questions, please don�t hesitate to contact us -
[email protected]. If any of you have children who would love to have a pen-pal, my children love to write letters! We wish you �Happy Homeschooling� and all the very best for this new year.
With love from the De Bruin Family - Andre, Helen, Emma-Lee, Sarah-Mechelle and Samuel Thomas.
Raised Vegetable Beds
by Helen De Bruin
November 3, 2000
Our garden soil is mainly clay. Pure unadulterated clay. There isn't much one can do with clay soil - especially if a vegetable garden is on the cards. Clay soil becomes water logged. Very quickly. A brief spring shower can cause the clay soil to become like a mud-wrestler's performance ring. For years we tried to correct the clay soil, by adding gypsum. The soil improved, but the wet areas still returned - year after year. Until we learned about raised vegetable beds.
It is necessary to ensure that the wood used for contained, raised garden beds is not what is termed 'treated' wood. Reason being, the chemicals used to treat the wood can and do seep out of the wood and contaminate the soil which the vegetables grow in. This ultimately affects the plants. We used hardwood planks, to erect the 'frames' for our raised vegetable beds. Hardwood lasts a long time, before splitting or rotting. Many people call the hardwood planks 'sleepers' - a name given to the planks supporting the railway tracks, but the ones we used were nothing like the authentic railway sleepers.
Our planks measure 2 metre x 1 metre per frame. We used galvanised brackets and nails to secure the frame together. Galvanised material will not rust. No rust, no rotting wood.
When the frames were completed, we carried them to their allocated site; a semi-gravelled driveway that we no longer wished to use as such. The gravel was part pebble and part road base. Weeds had already started to grow through the gravel, so these were first cut down before we laid the frames. It really doesn't matter where you start your raised vegetable garden, as long as it receives full sun for at least eight hours of the day.
On one side of the (former) driveway are the septic tanks, water tank and house, on the other side is our back garden. To make the whole area uniform, we covered the in-ground septic tanks with a colourbond sheeting, and built a raised, framed vegetable bed around them, forming a 'U' shape. Four frames running north/south and two frames running east/west were laid in position, making a total of 7 beds in this full-sun area. We placed thick newspapers within the frames to cover the ground and prevent further weed growth. Then began the task of filling the beds with soil.
The soil we chose was part pig manure/ part top soil. Over the years, we have added a variety of manures to this original soil, including turkey manure, which is by far the best. Chicken manure does the job as well, but the manure has to be at least a week old before you use it, otherwise it will burn your plants. Due to our clay problem, we decided to buy the soil in for these beds, but if you have excess garden soil you can improve it by the addition of manures and other organic matter. Once the beds were filled, we let them rest for 10 days before we planted our seedlings.