: About Me

My name is Carrie and I'm from a small town near Canberra, Australia. For most of my life I've lived in a rural town, which I really enjoyed, and is the reason why I avoid the big city.

I graduated from university in 2001, with a Bachelor Degree in Management and Accounting. Although it was not my intention to work in finance or accounting, my first professional job was with a small accounting firm. I then realised, that numbers is what I really enjoyed in business, so continued on this career path.

I continued working in public practise firms, providing tax advice, and business service advice to small and medium business. The aspects I enjoyed in public practise was the client interaction, training graduates, and driving change to assist with improving the productivity of the practise. In 2005, I completed my Diploma of Chartered Accountants, where I was able to join the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

After about 10 years in public practise, it was time for a change, and I moved into an accounting and taxation role in the commercial environment. I've now moved to a Finance Managers role in a non-profit organisation, where I'm expanding my knowledge in management accounting.

There is another side of my life then work, although sometimes I do wonder. Since I was a child, I've felt a connection with nature. A lifetime dream, was to move onto a property where I could enjoy my horses and become more in touch with nature. Two years ago, the move was made, and we purchased a 50 acres (16 hectares). The aim is to live a life that is sustainable in all aspects, such as food production and energy consumption.

These last two years have been a great learning experience. We have an extensive vegetable garden, an orchard is just about to be planted, and we are now looking at other means of becoming more sustainable, such as planting lucerne to use as mulch for the garden rather the purchasing it. In addition to the garden, we have a small flock of sheep, three horses, one dog and one cat, oh and four chickens we just bought a few months ago.

I've been a member of Helium since 2006, and have a range of articles across the business, and finance area as well as a new found fondness of the gardening section of Helium. I've not been writing on Helium for the entire time, and have only just recently in February 2010 become an active member.

Successes with Helium include, selling three marketplace articles prior to the badge system, and recently being placed second in the veggie garden contest.

Finally, I hope you enjoy my articles, and if you have any thoughts or suggestions I would love to hear from you.

My passion is ...

the farm, and the way of life it provides me

I know too much about ...

nothing, I'm always learning.

My parents always told me ...

do the best you can

My childhood ambition ...

to work with animals

My favorite memory ...

meeting my partner for the first time

Why I write ...

to share knowledge

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Sanctury, River Cottage, Jamie Oliver, Dollhouse, Startgate SGU, Katherine Kerr, Anne McCathery

My first job ...

Sales clerk at Best n Less (clothing store)

My best moment ...

Just going for it, and buying the farm even though it wasn't certain we could afford it.

My inspiration ...

Nature, and that maybe mankind might come to there senses and live with nature rather then against it

Home & Garden > Weeds & Pests How to stop bugs from ruining the vegetable garden

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There is nothing more disappointing to look out onto a newly planted veggie garden, the next morning to find that bugs have eaten everything in sight before the plants have even had a good chance of having a full days worth of sun. There are means and ways of ensuring that bugs do not destroy your garden, none which require spraying nasty chemicals to control their numbers. * Good vs Bad Let's begin by getting one thing straight, not all bugs are bad. A large proportion of the bug life in the veggie garden is beneficial, and it's not recommended to kill them off.  Beneficial bugs...

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Writing:

• Marketplace Approved Writer
• Helium Charter Member