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Water

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Water is the essence of life. We wanted to be self sufficient - harvesting rainfall, and using storm water on site. About 50,000 litres of water storage is needed to run the house; an extra 65,000 litres is prudent - allocated for the garden and in case of drought. The resultant 115,000 litre tank fills every year with average rainfall. The tank is 3.5m high and 7.5m across: a large footprint in a residential area, taking valuable land… … so we buried it. This had been long considered an ideal which became a possibility when - after the fire - we lived in a house with a tank under the driveway. What a great idea. Needs planning and allowing for the expense. view from Acacia Street after the fire Unimpeded access was needed. Before we started construction t he foundation from the old house was removed and the four metre deep hole dug. Site access was easy at this stage, and facilitated truck access to cart away the 300 tonnes of excess soil. removing the old foundation The cleared site...
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Home Garden

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Since 1995 I have dreamed of a sustainable north facing home with deciduous shade in summer and a water efficient regenerative garden. I moved to my current address in 2004, with its existing mid 1980’s brick veneer house. Our children walked to school from here. We worked on the garden with evergreen shade on the west, and deciduous plantings on north and east, with rainwater tanks collecting what we could. In 2017 the disaster of a house fire enabled a reset and new direction (our silver lining).  We engaged an energy efficient architect from a firm serious about sustainable design. Our instructions included to make it feel that the home and garden merge with consideration of vistas and connection. We also built for aging in place with no intention to move. In autumn the sun creeps in to warm the floors and house naturally. Deciduous plants cool in summer and allow sun penetration in winter the boundary between inside and garden is blurred We moved back Christmas 2021/22 We secur...
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Open Gardens South Australia 2025

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February 1 & 2 2025 Goodhouse 57 gardens will be open to the public for the first time. We are delighted to open our climate resilient urban garden in the height of summer. Deep knowledge of the site and environment has enabled development of microclimates to meet the needs of inhabitants including humans but also the plants and critters. Proceeds to support Fruit Share Adelaide http://fruitshareadelaide.com.au/ plant sales part proceeds to Inkpot Theatre morning and afternoon tea by Zonta Mt Barker https://opengardensa.org.au/current-season/goodhouse-57
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