With the NSW school holidays coming to an end, I find myself reflecting back on what I actually did with my kids this winter break. And then I felt exhausted. Quite a bit! And yet there are always things that you plan on doing but never actually get time to complete, isn’t there? Aren’t all holidays like that, or in fact even weekends? The best laid plans of Mice and Men, hey?

And I often do get calls either very late on Friday night or on Saturday morning asking if we can deliver turf over the weekend. The answer is YES. Saturday morning deliveries are a norm here at Coastal Turf. I believe that if you can get your turf early Saturday morning then you do have the rest of the weekend to install it or even better enjoy your weekend! But our grass stays in the ground until you guys order it, so its fresh and in top condition for when it becomes your lawn. So we do need a little more than an hour notice to get the turf to you.

For Saturday morning deliveries, let us know at the latest on the Thursday afternoon before the weekend. This 2 days notice allows us to ensure your new lawn arrives in top condition looking great and on the day and time that best suits. I understand that Life is not always that planned and simple, and we do our best to accommodate everyone’s needs and desires.

So this weekend for turf at your place that will become your pride and joy lawn for everyone to enjoy and awe at, give us a call and we will bring it to your door. (more likely your dirt patch). And for those with Utes and trailers (and also I have seen people with VERY big Boots) feel free to arrange a pick up at the farm on the weekend as well. We would love to see you. Please remember though that 40sqm is 1 tonne. Very heavy. And NSW laws require you to have all loads secured now.

 

Chat Soon

Sare

It is really easy for us turf farmers to talk grass all day. But sometimes its really hard for everyone else to understand what we are going on about. Sure its great for us to tell you about a type of grass, but it is so much better to be able to see the grass close up as well as in a REAL situation. And also I think in a practical situation. Most grass is not ornamental. It is practical and functional. Grass is used daily, whether it has kids running about on it, cars parking on it, dogs inspecting it, people walking on it or all of the above. So when you ring and ask what is the best grass for your situation, I will tell you about  the grass, and now I can send you a photo of the grass up close and also the variety used in a practical situation.

 

And then if you are really interested in touch and smell of the grass (I really don’t recommend the taste sense for grass.Really. No) I am happy to bring you out some grass samples for you to run your hands through and walk you bare feet over.

Chat to you soon

Sare

Does anyone else have a wonderful daughter who just idealizes both their Father and Grandfather? My daughter is wonderful. She helps all the time, is sweet and understanding, and wants to be a turf farmer and a postie when she grows up. She wants to be a postie because then she can ride a motor bike slowly. And a turf farmer because her family is. Many years ago when my kids were quite small my Dad, their Grandfather bought them a mini tractor just like his big tractor. It is very cute, and now my daughter rides it around just like her Grandfather and Father. So now we have the Big tractors looking after the turf, as well as the little tractor inspecting the turf.

 

As you can see, she is a fair way off actually mowing or anything on the farm, but the inspection process is very important. Its great to pass the passion for grass down the generations. And I guess from the mens point of view, the lawn of Tractors.

Chat soon
Sare

This week has been School holidays in NSW. I do enjoy school holidays because I can spend time with the kids. But yesterday the kids got “bored”. You know how they walk along and say this like “what can I do?” “its sooo boring here”. So I found them a job. When I was a kid I learned never to say I was bored on the farm, as the tractor cleaning or truck cleaning always become my job. And now I have passed it down to my kids.

Ohhh. So sweet when you can pass down knowledge. I Wonder how many times they will say they are bored again?

I can’t wait for the day when I can send them out mowing instead of cleaning.

So if your holidays are wet and your kids are “Bored”, get them cleaning a tractor, or better yet, get them to install your new lawn. I was speaking with a lovely man in Casuarina this week with the flu. And being school holidays he had his teenage boys at home and thought rather than have them sit around and annoy him while he was sick, he ordered 80sqm of Empire Zoysia for them to install around his house. And they did a bang up job in his words. Good on them. And they slept well that night. Especially after they rolled it as well.

 

Chat soon, hope your holidays with kids are interesting and exciting

Sare

 

This is where I would like to be at the moment. On the soft blue grass enjoying a sausage sandwich cooked on the BBQ. The air filled with the sweet smell of onions, sausages and freshly cut grass. Instead I am inside hiding from the rain. But I like to dream about what our summer will be like. And by putting in your grass over winter, by spring your yard will be ready and raring to go for BBQ’s, backyard sport, and lazy sunny days on the lawn. Ahh I can’t wait. Only 3 more months to go until I can feel the sun upon my legs again. Until then they will be firmly encased in warm jeans and the odd tracksuit.

I don’t know about your family and friends, but we are all now watching our money a little bit closer. And I know with my friends we are now doing more social activities at homes rather than going out to dinner with all the kids. We are spending our money sensibly. And I know that by putting down the grass at our place and limiting the mud that comes into the house when all the family friends are over, turf is very sensible! It means I don’t have to spend time and money to clean up muddy foot prints. By summer the outdoors will be firmly rooted and ready to send the kids out to play and my friends and I to enjoy a quiet time together kicking abck and watching them.

Chat Soon,
Sare

This week, the kids and I were lucky enough to have a free afternoon and we headed down to the beach. Not to swim though. Oh my goodness no. The water was freezing, the wind had a chill to it, but we still went and had a lovely walk along Cabarita Beach headland. It never ceases to amaze me the Blue couch that grows around the headland, on rocks and in the sandy salty soils. But it really is coastal turf when it grows like this.

So even if you think you have an area that couldn’t possibly grow grass, think about the beach and how grass grows everywhere.

Well the Sun is out and the Wind is up. So although it looks warm outside its still pretty chilly. And I know that this chill through the air is stopping a  lot of us going outside. But that doesn’t mean that you need to have dirt and mud around for all  of winter either. I have had a lot of people tell me (at parties mostly and at social events – yes like the pub) that Winter is a terrible time to install turf. It always amazes me that even though you are wearing a Coastal Turf shirt, have told them that you have been on the farm and installing turf for at least 20 years now, People still want to give you advice on how to do your job.

I always smile politely at these people and say that this has not been my experience. Yes it is cold and sometimes finger numbing to install a lawn in the winter, but it does the grass no harm. And in my experience the grass establishes really well in winter. I think that is because in winter people are more likely to stay off the grass. When in summer you put down or have us install your new lawn, it looks great and the feeling under your bare feet is amazing so as soon as its down you want to run and wrestle and play all over it consistently. This unfortunately means that the tiny little hair like roots that are coming out of the turf slab into the soil can become broken and then the turf cannot establish properly. And can even take a lot longer to establish. And then there is always the temptation to mow the newly installed grass too soon, again braking those tiny fragile roots. This can lead to dead patches.

In winter however, we are not outside for as long. We are definitely less likely to be running around bare foot, and who really wants to mow in winter? This means that the turf can send out its little roots and establish hassle free. And yes the leaf wont grow as fast but this does not mean that underground has stopped. Its still going great guns. Especially if you a have a nutrient rich soil  or  have placed a little Rooster Booster food for the roots under the turf.

So Winter is a great time to install you new lawn. It means you have less to do. So enjoy your new lawn and if you want clean hands and the peace of mind that your lawn is installed to perfection, then have us install your new lawn for you.

Chat Soon

Sare

PS A;though my fingers are numb typing in the cold. Do feel sorry for my husband installing the grass this morning in Tweed. His fingers must be very very cold by now.

 

Well we are back to wet weather again for a couple of days. And that means that I am back to my lovely Mud Baths as my kids call it. That means that after I have harvested I come out looking like Shrek. Just the mud covered kind. I don’t think I have weird ears, although sometimes in the really wet times, the chlorophyll from the grass does stain some of me a little green. But as I keep telling myself that women spend thousands of dollars getting mud baths to rejuvenate their skin, and I get it for free. I wonder then why my skin is not as soft as a small baby? oh well…

But our great mud and soil does not just do good things to my skin but it does great wonderful fantastic things for our grass that can be your lawn. Our Black nutrient rich soil gives the turf a wonderful food source that means it can grow healthy and strong. And the great advantage with turf is that you take some of the soil from our farm to your lawn. So its food source goes with it. You aren’t starting from scratch. You go from nothing to green lush lawn. Awesome!

So I will think of those people out there installing their lawns this weekend in the rain, knowing that their skin is enriched, and their lawn will look fantastic. My husband is installing a lovely mans lawn in Blackrocks Pottsville today in the rain. He said this morning at least he doesn’t have to get his trainee to remember to move the hose around today.

Have a lovely wet weekend

Chat Soon

Sare

PS check out the Facebook page for pictures of the wet installers and me after a wet weather cut.

Well I have had a very eventful week. Its been a bit of an exciting adventure. On Wednesday I went down to Goonellabah (near Lismore) to Visit the lovely Jodie from the mummymusingsandmayhem.blogspot.com/‎

What an amazing play space she has created for her kids, and hopefully soon to  be Family Day care area. I know when my kids were at Family Day Care age they would have loved the space that Jodie is creating. I went down as part of Turf Australia’s Greenin Australia project to give her some helpful tips on the grass that she already has and recommend grass that would suit the area around her Rock Quarry area. I made the call of Palmetto Buffalo for this area because it requires a third of the mowing of other buffalo’s, is really hard wearing, and spongy under kids feet. Her daughters, like my 3 crazy kids, didn’t look like they liked shoes very much. And that is what grass is for . The tactile sensation, easy goingness, very USED space. Perfect for Palmetto. And as Jodie says, her husband is not a keen mower (I don’t don’t know many who are, mine mows for a living, and mine definitely NEVER wants to mow at home) so Palmetto is great.

I showed her some samples,

And had a chat about Grass, Kids, and events happening around the Lismore region, while Dad measured up the area. I also gave her some ideas for her existing Buffalo in regards to maintenance. We ended with another Mum to Mum chat around the Ute as we got ready to leave. Thanks to Jodie for a lovely morning, and her adorable daughters for showing me their boots. And yes I would have to agree that Dora the Explorer boots are way cooler than my work boots. But mine do tend to stay on a little better.

Chat soon

Sare

How is your long weekend looking? Mine is looking a little wet. And I am very very happy to have grass around our place. This time last year it was all mud, and granted there are still many patches of mud, it is still lovely to have grass around the doors to take most of the mud away.

Winter is a long time to stay inside and really, in this beautiful place that we live in why should we stay inside all day when we could be outside enjoying the sun (when we have it). I have always found that my kids are much nicer when they have been outside, even if its just for a little while. And it is so much nicer to have them inside again when they aren’t all covered in mud.

Today I have taken pictures of four of the farms grasses to show you what your yard could look like. And how the different colours grasses could look like at your place. Especially around the door ways to take off mud from boots and feet before they venture inside!

Chat soon
Hopefully over a drier week
Sare