I'm Julie, and I live Australian suburbia. This blog is the online journal I kept to record my family's journey towards living more simply & sustainably.

This blog is on indefinite hiatus but feel free to look around my archives for some inspiration in your own journey to living more lightly and sustainably. Please note that Blogger has 'eaten' some of my older photos which I am unable to retrieve at the moment.

I am now blogging at Our Simple Days, if you would like to stop by.


Thursday, February 17, 2011

Guess which house is mine.

I've recently had a number of different guests remark that it's obvious which house is ours when they drive down our street because (sadly) hardly anyone else has a garden.  Out of curiosity, I looked up our place on NearMap.com, I have to say that the contrast between our house and most of our neighbours appears even more stark from the air!




Can you guess which is our house?  You'll have to click on it to get a bigger image ;-)

Hint: we're one of the few with solar panels.

Cheers,

24 comments:

Kelly said...

wow! there realy is a LOT OF LAWN around , isnt there???

Compostwoman said...

Well I can see one other house with solar panels, BUT they have a bare lawn and the other house has trees, plants and looks like a lot of stuff grows in the garden.

So I am guessing THAT IS YOUR HOUSE ;-)

its me, sam said...

I'm guessing it's on the left hand side, with the large solar panels, and your neighbour has the purple colored boarder? It looks like there is a white van in the yard?

belinda said...

wow, that really is a contrast. I guess at least they have plenty of scope for the future

Kind Regards
Belinda

Paola said...

Wow, the difference is stark but not surprising. I live on a road of 2-5 acre lots in a rural area, probably 16 properties in all. Plenty of scope for vegies, fruit growing etc right? Sadly,wrong. Apart from our place, only two other houses attempt to grow anything, keep chooks etc.

Anonymous said...

oh my goodness!!!

cheers Kate

Julie said...

Hi Kel,
Um yep! Was quite stunned by the aerial view.

Hi Compostwoman,
Correct ;-) Wasn't hard was it - it's so sad to see only one other lot of solar panels and practically no gardens around...

Hi Sam,
Oooh, close! The purple border is the bougainvillea on my front fence :-) I think what you see as solar panels next door is the sun reflecting off their awning.

Hi Belinda,
Hey that's putting a positive spin on it, lol. They won't be having to rip out ornamentals like I did!

Hi Paola,
Sad, isn't it? My in-laws live on 3 acres too, and I'm constantly amazed by the number of houses surrounded by nothing but lawn and perhaps a token hedge or two in their neighbourhood. Madness.

Hi Kate,
That's what I said, lol.

Cheers, Julie

Anne said...

wow, that is pretty sad, what about the leafy suburbs? did you see the articles about the landshare project? maybe your neighbours can all join that and have someone else grow food in theri backyards.

dixiebelle said...

Oh, goodness... I don't know what to say. PermaBlitz Newcastle?

Lian said...

That really is a contrast. What made you think of looking at it from the air? Here in Malaysia, most people cement up their tiny gardens to make bigger porches to park their cars.

cityhippyfarmgirl said...

What a difference!
Dixiebelle's suggestion sounds good.
Guerilla gardening Julie?

Cabbage Tree Farm said...

I think a lot of people have an obsession with lawns. On our rural street (mostly 10 acre blocks) there seems to be a competition to see who can have the most 'park-like' lawn/garden. Not us! We have planted lots of trees, shelter and orchard and have quite a bit of long meadow-like grass.
Shouldn't wonder that more folk will start growing their own food out of necessity when prices get too high.

Ivy Clark said...

WOW!!! Well done.

I love your garden! It's sad so few people take the time these days. The excuse is usually time/water - but honestly, for regular plants, we can recycle water from laundry too. And solar panels... why don't we see more of it here?

We're still renting at the moment, but our garden is pretty green too. I look forward to doing it properly when we get our own place.

biobabbler said...

Most excellent! I would think this photo makes you very proud of yourself. =) I had not pictured you in such suburbia! It's the real deal, eh? So, extra points for your quest. =)

Darren (Green Change) said...

And people say we can't feed the world without industrial agriculture, oil-based chemicals, genetic modification, etc.

Your suburb looks to be fairly dense, like most modern subdivisions (no rambling quarter-acre blocks there!), and yet look at all that potential food-growing area!

Compostwoman said...

AND all the roofs which could be generating hot water and electricity!

Jenny McH said...

Your place looks like an oasis, a place to be proud of. All your greenery besides providing food, provides a place of refuge & serenity.

Anonymous said...

Some have no trees at all!!
Very sad.
I am so lucky to live on 85 acres with trees and shade and garden.
Lea-Anne

Jellywares said...

WOW, that's amazing!!! I'm quessing you're the house up in the top left hand corner - hope I'm right..

Jodie :)

Transport Bulgaria said...

I am guessing that your house is the one on the right side, with the darkest rooftop? Even though I don’t really see the solar panels. And if it’s not that one, it could be the one Sam said, the one on the left side near the purple flowers? When will you give us the right answer?

Fay McKenzie said...

the one with the gorgeous garden I'm suspecting

(and I didnt' cheat and look at the other comments first!!)
Fay

BusyWoman said...

lol! Reminds me of 'path to freedom' - a little bit of country in the middle of the city.

Nadiah said...

surely the one with the concreted lawn? ;-)

Kirsty @ Bowerbird Blue said...

poor birds, what an interesting exercise, very lush around here. Hopefully that green bug is contagious.

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