Make, Create and Grow

Let me begin by introducing myself. Hi, I’m Kat, a wife and mother to a beautiful little girl, and an enthusiastic maker and creator. We have just built a house outside of Brisbane, Queensland on an acre on the Brisbane River. Our goal is to be as self-reliant as possible, working towards a homemade and homegrown lifestyle.

I love to make, create, and grow things. There’s a great sense of achievement and fulfillment in creating something yourself, admiring the finished project (flaws and all), eating home grown produce and homemade food.

I grew up on a farm in a household of makers and doers. It wasn’t uncommon to hear “I could make that”, whether it be food, clothing or bigger projects. I didn’t always appreciate this growing up but am now very grateful for this way of thinking, and way of life. I love being able to look at something and reverse engineer or deconstruct it to figure out how to construct it myself within my limitations (resources, skills, equipment, finances, and time!). Or to be able to think outside the box to creatively problem solve. Having come from a family like this usually means they are inundated with numerous phone calls when I am considering a new project! I often underestimate how difficult a project might be and need a lot of assistance or some reality checks, which is all part of the learning process.

My biggest and longest “project” will be the garden. I have grand plans, that will be broken into numerous projects. I don’t think a garden is ever finished though. It will change and evolve over the years with us as our family grows, and skills and knowledge change. I’ve done a lot of research into Permaculture and plan to apply a lot of the principles to the garden, as well as aspects of our life.

I’m disappointed I didn’t start this site earlier to share some of my past projects. I loved making modern cloth nappies but my daughter is out of nappies now, and I have made some pretty cool desserts and cakes. I also enjoyed beginning to draft patterns for myself on a dress form and made a few outfits before I was pregnant. I might have to do a post about some of my favourite projects from the past at some point!

My posts will probably be as free and flexible as our life is. Posting updates on the garden, and sharing any new projects, big and small, indoors or outdoors, as they come to light. I hope to keep it as real as possible. Sharing the lesson I’ve learnt, and mistakes I’ve made in hope someone may learn or gain something from it. At the very least, it’s a great record keeping space for me. If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and I look forward to sharing some content with you. Feel free to reach out if you have any comments of questions.