I wasn't going to be posting again today but, sadly, feel a little need to vent. This came about as I decided to get back to my occasional visit to a Permaculture lecture series delivered by Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton at Melbourne Uni from a few years ago. It was really cool, having discovered this, as it allowed me virtual access to the permaculture design course, at least for a 'taste'. The videos had been up for several years on youtube. They'd only garnered 2-3000 views, so I was pleased to have found them.
Imagine my surprise when I went back to learn a bit more about 'housing' from Bill Mollison to find that the videos had been taken down and the account deleted, apparently after a copyright claim by Tagari Publishing (the publication company founded by Bill Mollison and David Homgren (has sold his part, taken up by Lawton I believe) years and years ago).
Something in me had always seen 'permaculture' as a fantastic means by which hippies were changing the world. I have become a little more cynical seeing all the people piling on the bandwagon, more cynical seeing the prices they charge, sceptical at the value of much of what is offered when you look at the almost 'pyramid sales' structure that lies behind it. I'd thought Tagari and friends stood for something other than that, that the rather iconoclastic spirit of Bill would still be wafting around.
Seeing that Tagari has joined up with the lawyers has disappointed me. They might, I suppose, have their reasons. I've written them to find out. I hope they send me back a response to which I'll go 'Aha, of course!'. I really hope so...
Or maybe I'd be better putting my faith in the frog (see below)?
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Amphibian friend, bringer of hope.
I am currently in the middle of a three day project of using a sprinkler for a couple hours at night to soak the backdoor garden beds, building a 'bank' of subsurface moisture for them to draw on in the approaching heat wave. Sadly, I'm using tap water for this, but needs must at present. I think this approach will lead to less watering in the coming weeks and better plant health.
Be that as it may (more on the subject of water and watering to come), I went outside just now to check progress (for my two hour session I'll check it at least twice as it can be a bummer if an old hose connection gives away or there's a significant change in water pressure and you only find out at the end). While down on my haunches watching the pattern of spray distribution I noticed something near my feet. Upon examination it turns out to be a frog!
I don't see frogs around here, there's nowhere for them to live and just about everything that eats meat has them at the top of the menu. I occasionally here some at a reed bed in a watercourse soakage point about 500m away, but that's it. And we don't have toads either (that I've seen or heard of, anyways).
So it was a real pleasant surprise to have a frog hop past me on the back veranda. I gave him a little pat while he made like a leaf and wished him well. Hopefully he'll find a home amongst the shaded, cooler pot plants nearby and eat lots of mosquitoes.
I'm real excited, a frog means I must be doing something right in our yard in respect of water and evaporation strategy. We are expecting four days of 40C and above coming our way this week, with high thirties for a couple days beforehand, starting tomorrow. With wind. Will be torrid.
I hope the frog gets through it.
Note: I had a look on the living atlas and found it to be a 'common eastern froglet'. Apparently it's common through its wide distribution, residing in bodies of standing water or flowing creeks. Only open standing water around here is the turtle pond, and I'm sure Molly (our Long neck turtle, rescued after road injury by someone else a year ago) would enjoy sharing her abode with a frog - for about as long as it took her to hunt and devour said frog. Very glad that I saw it!
Be that as it may (more on the subject of water and watering to come), I went outside just now to check progress (for my two hour session I'll check it at least twice as it can be a bummer if an old hose connection gives away or there's a significant change in water pressure and you only find out at the end). While down on my haunches watching the pattern of spray distribution I noticed something near my feet. Upon examination it turns out to be a frog!
I don't see frogs around here, there's nowhere for them to live and just about everything that eats meat has them at the top of the menu. I occasionally here some at a reed bed in a watercourse soakage point about 500m away, but that's it. And we don't have toads either (that I've seen or heard of, anyways).
So it was a real pleasant surprise to have a frog hop past me on the back veranda. I gave him a little pat while he made like a leaf and wished him well. Hopefully he'll find a home amongst the shaded, cooler pot plants nearby and eat lots of mosquitoes.
I'm real excited, a frog means I must be doing something right in our yard in respect of water and evaporation strategy. We are expecting four days of 40C and above coming our way this week, with high thirties for a couple days beforehand, starting tomorrow. With wind. Will be torrid.
I hope the frog gets through it.
Note: I had a look on the living atlas and found it to be a 'common eastern froglet'. Apparently it's common through its wide distribution, residing in bodies of standing water or flowing creeks. Only open standing water around here is the turtle pond, and I'm sure Molly (our Long neck turtle, rescued after road injury by someone else a year ago) would enjoy sharing her abode with a frog - for about as long as it took her to hunt and devour said frog. Very glad that I saw it!
Compost update
Day 13 Turned warm
Day 15 Turned mild
Day 17 (today) Still 'mild' so added a dozen handfulls of chook poo and a few light water sprays through the layering while I turned it in the morning. By evening it was warming up again nicely - though I don't expect it to reach 'hot' as I'm hoping the straw will break down before then (still clearly identifiable, I think it was more a case of moisture than of nitrogen, though both relevant). Recently learned that fresh chook poo is less nitrogenous than dried material. Interesting.
I'll let the heap go through at least one, if not two more turnings before deciding whether I get it out before xmas or not. Not ready at the moment.
Day 15 Turned mild
Day 17 (today) Still 'mild' so added a dozen handfulls of chook poo and a few light water sprays through the layering while I turned it in the morning. By evening it was warming up again nicely - though I don't expect it to reach 'hot' as I'm hoping the straw will break down before then (still clearly identifiable, I think it was more a case of moisture than of nitrogen, though both relevant). Recently learned that fresh chook poo is less nitrogenous than dried material. Interesting.
I'll let the heap go through at least one, if not two more turnings before deciding whether I get it out before xmas or not. Not ready at the moment.
Spring Weather Report
41mm rain total.
September 17.8mm falling on six days.
October 5.6mm over five days.
November 17.8mm over four days.
Wind: five days peaking over 50, two of which were over 60kmh.
Minimum temperature: one day below 0C (-1.4C in September)
Maximum temperatures: 42.8C
September: eight days over 25C, two of which over 30C.
October: ten days over 30C, five of which over 35C.
November: nine days over 30C, three over 35C, one over 40C.
Relative Humditity:
September average 60 (min 8.2, one below 10%)
October average 47 (min 5, five below 10%)
November average 51 (min, seven below 10%)
I've shifted my source of rain information to farmonline.com because it matches my personal experience much closer than the 'official' one.
I've added relative humidity to my reportable stats as it is one of the keys to evaporation.
It was a hotter, drier spring than the past three that I've lived here.
September 17.8mm falling on six days.
October 5.6mm over five days.
November 17.8mm over four days.
Wind: five days peaking over 50, two of which were over 60kmh.
Minimum temperature: one day below 0C (-1.4C in September)
Maximum temperatures: 42.8C
September: eight days over 25C, two of which over 30C.
October: ten days over 30C, five of which over 35C.
November: nine days over 30C, three over 35C, one over 40C.
Relative Humditity:
September average 60 (min 8.2, one below 10%)
October average 47 (min 5, five below 10%)
November average 51 (min, seven below 10%)
I've shifted my source of rain information to farmonline.com because it matches my personal experience much closer than the 'official' one.
I've added relative humidity to my reportable stats as it is one of the keys to evaporation.
It was a hotter, drier spring than the past three that I've lived here.
Monday, December 9, 2019
Evolutions
So, what else have I been doing besides obsessing about my hot compost experience? Lots of things! As with all things gardening, words can't really do it all justice (it's a fractal kind of experience I find) but I'll try and at least make a record.
This blog - trying to diversify. Haven't got around to any pictures (it will no doubt make much more sense with a picture or two). Haven't got around to index catagories ('labels'), which would make it possible to follow themed time patterns. If I have the inclination, will get around to both of these things because they are very much value-adding to what I'm doing here.
Weather - I'll put up a 'Spring Summary' some time soon (it's calendrical summer here now). But, in short, we had some rain this week, maybe 10 or so mil's (a bit less than half an inch) which is the most we've had since early august. Had a few hot days during the past month, topping 40C on two or three days, and twice that above 35C. Nights still cool, dropping to around 6-7C consistently. Humidity generally very low, winds generally moderate and generally blowing.
Water - I'll use a separate section to describe where my watering experiments have led me to, here I'm more interested in capture and storage. On the back shed I've linked both sides to our 2Kl (500gal) tank, using the overflow outlet to lead in the second side. I'm doing this because funds are tight and we're not likely to get anywhere near filling the tank. If we do, I'll unplug it and try and get a temporary capture point somehow. If I'm not here when a downpour arrives I'm banking on my non-fixed pipes 'popping' under the pressure and letting the water out of the system that way (albeit uncontrolled). I've acquired a 1Kl 'tote' which used to hold herbacide off of a farmer friend, well rinsed and hopefully pretty safe for my purposes. It's got a metal base and cage around it, along with a tap system, so it should be pretty useful when I decide where to put it. When it's connected we'll have nearly six kilolitres of tank water storage, which is starting to approach a useful capacity (though every little bit counts).
Wildlife - besides the run of lizards and birds and insects the most noticeable visitors have been three brown snakes spotted near the southern fence. The biggest was about 3', the others about half that. If I'd blinked at the wrong moment I wouldn't have seen them, so I suppose there's others that have been as well. The good thing is that there's still plenty of little lizards everywhere so I don't think any of the brownies have settled in. If you don't know, the brown snake is the world's second most venemous snake (inland taipan is tops of this ladder) so needs to be respected. I definitely enjoyed watching them though, especially before they became aware of me. I could do without it though...
Seedlings - I've got a few seed trays going, along with quite a variety of scrounged materials making do as seedling 'potlets'. Probably a couple hundred 'pods', many with several seeds in them. For once, most appear to be sprouting.
Cuttings - I'm winding this operation down for summer, have about a dozen still in the cutting area waiting to grow big enough for a pot of their own.
Potted plants - coming from various cuttings, seeds, offcuts, layerings, totalling close to a hundred herbs, bushes and shrubs (with a handful of trees) probably ready to go out into the garden at the moment, but most will wait till the end of summer so they don't just dry out and die in the heat (easier to manage climate when they're in pots at this stage of garden development).
Vegie beds - used almost all my first hot compost heap to build three back door beds and four others out the back section by the shed. Put about 4" of compost down on all these beds. Then mulched over with pea straw (except for one bed I've been using to experiment with water set up so I can see the soakage properties of my mix), thin if only seeds are put in the bed, progressively thicker for those beds with seedlings. Planted half of these out with vegetables, will plant the other half out with seelings of similar types. Plants include; climbing beans, dwarf beans, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, basil, carrots, lettuce, corn, rock melon, sunflowers, marigolds, basil, thyme, chamomile, borage, strawberries, snapdragons, dill. Also got more sprouts on the way, with silverbeet and rocket to come. Also chives and spring onions. There must be others but I can't recall them now.
Note on vegie beds - when it was 40C the other day I went out to check a few soil temperatures. By the back door the soil was over 50C where I'd done nothing with it. It was in the low twenties under straw and compost, under 30C where just compost. Out the back section it was all under 30C, with coolest spots under the silverbeet under the shade cloth. All my sprouting seeds survived.
Irrigation set up - will get a post of its own as it is work in progress. In short, syphon connected containers all leveled and working well. Test run of drip system using salvaged polypipe seems to be working. Will expand to cover several beds tomorrow. The milk carton watering system is working to specification, though will be replaced eventually with dripfed irrigation. I think it's a success.
This blog - trying to diversify. Haven't got around to any pictures (it will no doubt make much more sense with a picture or two). Haven't got around to index catagories ('labels'), which would make it possible to follow themed time patterns. If I have the inclination, will get around to both of these things because they are very much value-adding to what I'm doing here.
Weather - I'll put up a 'Spring Summary' some time soon (it's calendrical summer here now). But, in short, we had some rain this week, maybe 10 or so mil's (a bit less than half an inch) which is the most we've had since early august. Had a few hot days during the past month, topping 40C on two or three days, and twice that above 35C. Nights still cool, dropping to around 6-7C consistently. Humidity generally very low, winds generally moderate and generally blowing.
Water - I'll use a separate section to describe where my watering experiments have led me to, here I'm more interested in capture and storage. On the back shed I've linked both sides to our 2Kl (500gal) tank, using the overflow outlet to lead in the second side. I'm doing this because funds are tight and we're not likely to get anywhere near filling the tank. If we do, I'll unplug it and try and get a temporary capture point somehow. If I'm not here when a downpour arrives I'm banking on my non-fixed pipes 'popping' under the pressure and letting the water out of the system that way (albeit uncontrolled). I've acquired a 1Kl 'tote' which used to hold herbacide off of a farmer friend, well rinsed and hopefully pretty safe for my purposes. It's got a metal base and cage around it, along with a tap system, so it should be pretty useful when I decide where to put it. When it's connected we'll have nearly six kilolitres of tank water storage, which is starting to approach a useful capacity (though every little bit counts).
Wildlife - besides the run of lizards and birds and insects the most noticeable visitors have been three brown snakes spotted near the southern fence. The biggest was about 3', the others about half that. If I'd blinked at the wrong moment I wouldn't have seen them, so I suppose there's others that have been as well. The good thing is that there's still plenty of little lizards everywhere so I don't think any of the brownies have settled in. If you don't know, the brown snake is the world's second most venemous snake (inland taipan is tops of this ladder) so needs to be respected. I definitely enjoyed watching them though, especially before they became aware of me. I could do without it though...
Seedlings - I've got a few seed trays going, along with quite a variety of scrounged materials making do as seedling 'potlets'. Probably a couple hundred 'pods', many with several seeds in them. For once, most appear to be sprouting.
Cuttings - I'm winding this operation down for summer, have about a dozen still in the cutting area waiting to grow big enough for a pot of their own.
Potted plants - coming from various cuttings, seeds, offcuts, layerings, totalling close to a hundred herbs, bushes and shrubs (with a handful of trees) probably ready to go out into the garden at the moment, but most will wait till the end of summer so they don't just dry out and die in the heat (easier to manage climate when they're in pots at this stage of garden development).
Vegie beds - used almost all my first hot compost heap to build three back door beds and four others out the back section by the shed. Put about 4" of compost down on all these beds. Then mulched over with pea straw (except for one bed I've been using to experiment with water set up so I can see the soakage properties of my mix), thin if only seeds are put in the bed, progressively thicker for those beds with seedlings. Planted half of these out with vegetables, will plant the other half out with seelings of similar types. Plants include; climbing beans, dwarf beans, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, basil, carrots, lettuce, corn, rock melon, sunflowers, marigolds, basil, thyme, chamomile, borage, strawberries, snapdragons, dill. Also got more sprouts on the way, with silverbeet and rocket to come. Also chives and spring onions. There must be others but I can't recall them now.
Note on vegie beds - when it was 40C the other day I went out to check a few soil temperatures. By the back door the soil was over 50C where I'd done nothing with it. It was in the low twenties under straw and compost, under 30C where just compost. Out the back section it was all under 30C, with coolest spots under the silverbeet under the shade cloth. All my sprouting seeds survived.
Irrigation set up - will get a post of its own as it is work in progress. In short, syphon connected containers all leveled and working well. Test run of drip system using salvaged polypipe seems to be working. Will expand to cover several beds tomorrow. The milk carton watering system is working to specification, though will be replaced eventually with dripfed irrigation. I think it's a success.
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Compost Heap the Second
I'm half way through producing my second batch of hot composted mulch. Based on a couple fruit box of relatively fresh chook poo and three small bails of pea straw. Bulked up both nitrogen and carbon content to make up for mass by adding a barrow load of pigface (succulent ground cover) and a few newspapers worth of screwed up wettened paper balls in alternating layers with straw through the middle of the heap.
So far, going well. The first period was marked by very hot temperatures, up to just over 70C. Heap was steaming away in the morning and damp on top in the 'vents'. It got rained on late on Day 2, I covered with tarp on day 3, took the tarps off again for day 4, got dumped with more rain leading to day 5. That led it to cool down (I presume). So I restocked a bit of nitrogen into it and tried to get back onto schedule.
The combination of my increasing experience (and strength!) as well as the materials used (straw based as opposed to dried tangled ribbons of weeds and garden cuttings) mean it is simpler to turn, less tiresome and quicker.
Sun Dec 8 Day 11 Turn Hot
Fri Dec 6 Day 9 Turn Hot
Thu Dec 4 Day 8 Turn Warm to hot
Mon Dec 2 Day 5 Cooled down so turned with addition of chook poo
Sun Dec 1 Day 4 Hotto very hot
Wed Dec 27 Start
So far, going well. The first period was marked by very hot temperatures, up to just over 70C. Heap was steaming away in the morning and damp on top in the 'vents'. It got rained on late on Day 2, I covered with tarp on day 3, took the tarps off again for day 4, got dumped with more rain leading to day 5. That led it to cool down (I presume). So I restocked a bit of nitrogen into it and tried to get back onto schedule.
The combination of my increasing experience (and strength!) as well as the materials used (straw based as opposed to dried tangled ribbons of weeds and garden cuttings) mean it is simpler to turn, less tiresome and quicker.
Sun Dec 8 Day 11 Turn Hot
Fri Dec 6 Day 9 Turn Hot
Thu Dec 4 Day 8 Turn Warm to hot
Mon Dec 2 Day 5 Cooled down so turned with addition of chook poo
Sun Dec 1 Day 4 Hotto very hot
Wed Dec 27 Start
Friday, November 29, 2019
Post Script completion of first hot compost heap
From an unpublished post:
This is Day 23 for my compost heap. This morning I measured temperatures for first time since Day 18. They were around 40C all around, with outliers of 35C and 45C. The centre of the heap was 50C with one reading of 55C, some dry patches and not a great deal of recognisable anything. Horse poo almost all gone, some husks of long leaf prunings, woody twigs etc (which I remove when I find them) and occasional still-clumped chicken poo. I added three more shovels of chook poo to centre while turning it over and wet it down on the outside. Around sunset temperatures were a pretty even 30-32C all around at probe depth.
I used two shovels of my compost around seven iris bulbs/plants I put in around the trellis rose near the house. I didn't do much with the sandy soil, just enough to cover the top of the bulbs. I used the the compost to mulch between them, mainly as soil conditioner. Certainly noticed the difference when I put some water on it, the way it was soaked up and held by the mulch. The guy we got the bulbs from numbered all the plants he gave us, so we can identify any particular favourites in future.
On Day 24 I took some final temperatures. They'd dropped to 30-35C.
By Day 25 the heap's temperature was down into the mid twenties, so I thought it was time to start putting it out into the garden.
This is Day 23 for my compost heap. This morning I measured temperatures for first time since Day 18. They were around 40C all around, with outliers of 35C and 45C. The centre of the heap was 50C with one reading of 55C, some dry patches and not a great deal of recognisable anything. Horse poo almost all gone, some husks of long leaf prunings, woody twigs etc (which I remove when I find them) and occasional still-clumped chicken poo. I added three more shovels of chook poo to centre while turning it over and wet it down on the outside. Around sunset temperatures were a pretty even 30-32C all around at probe depth.
I used two shovels of my compost around seven iris bulbs/plants I put in around the trellis rose near the house. I didn't do much with the sandy soil, just enough to cover the top of the bulbs. I used the the compost to mulch between them, mainly as soil conditioner. Certainly noticed the difference when I put some water on it, the way it was soaked up and held by the mulch. The guy we got the bulbs from numbered all the plants he gave us, so we can identify any particular favourites in future.
On Day 24 I took some final temperatures. They'd dropped to 30-35C.
By Day 25 the heap's temperature was down into the mid twenties, so I thought it was time to start putting it out into the garden.
Saturday, November 16, 2019
First time final turn
Today was Day 18 on the compost and I turned it this morning. Temperatures were steady at 35C-40C at probe depth around the heap, outliers of 30C and 45C. Centre of heap was about 50C, with a pocket at 55C. One small pocket of dry, one sizeable thatch of straw. Added one shovel of chicken poo over the straw in the new centre. Recast the enclosure to using only two stakes and chicken wire. Gave it an external spray after turning it. In the evening, heap read a steady 35C at probe depth all around, so I guess it's still digesting.
On day 17 it had been reading 35C to 40C all around at probe depth, one reading of 45C.
I'll test it tomorrow, but won't likely use it until mid-late next week. I think this is an almost success. Will need to increase size of heap and use a higher proportion of nitrogen in the initial stage next time. Combining this with my evolved enclosure should speed it up a bit, and if I don't soak it part way through (which brought temps down to 20C throughout) I reckon I'll have a good chance of getting a great heap out of it. All in all, a successful experiment.
Regarding the siphon system: I put four of my container tanks around the rear yard, connected them all up with polypipe. Unfortunately they vary in height a bit so I will have to do a bit of raising and leveling to maximise my storage. Apart from that, I'm pretty happy with it as it simplifies and speeds up the watering (especially when combined with my plastic milk bottle and PVC pipe water dispersers).
A point of note regarding the containers - they hold 120L, not 72L like I previously thought. So I've just added half a kilolitre to my water storage!
Tomorrow, I will try and sort out the siphon system depths and heights and then leave it for a week or two before anchoring the polypipe into safer, non trip hazard, formation. Apart from that, my goal will be to sort out the garden as much as I can to cope with three hot days following when I'm not here.
On day 17 it had been reading 35C to 40C all around at probe depth, one reading of 45C.
I'll test it tomorrow, but won't likely use it until mid-late next week. I think this is an almost success. Will need to increase size of heap and use a higher proportion of nitrogen in the initial stage next time. Combining this with my evolved enclosure should speed it up a bit, and if I don't soak it part way through (which brought temps down to 20C throughout) I reckon I'll have a good chance of getting a great heap out of it. All in all, a successful experiment.
Regarding the siphon system: I put four of my container tanks around the rear yard, connected them all up with polypipe. Unfortunately they vary in height a bit so I will have to do a bit of raising and leveling to maximise my storage. Apart from that, I'm pretty happy with it as it simplifies and speeds up the watering (especially when combined with my plastic milk bottle and PVC pipe water dispersers).
A point of note regarding the containers - they hold 120L, not 72L like I previously thought. So I've just added half a kilolitre to my water storage!
Tomorrow, I will try and sort out the siphon system depths and heights and then leave it for a week or two before anchoring the polypipe into safer, non trip hazard, formation. Apart from that, my goal will be to sort out the garden as much as I can to cope with three hot days following when I'm not here.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Busy Day
Compost Day 16 - turned the heap outside in this evening, sprayed it down externally afterwards. The frame is now rationalising to two star droppers permanently hammered in, one moveable dropper, one six foot length of stick and chicken wire. Much quicker, cleaner and more efficient than previous iterations. Used a shovel to scrape the exterior of 'old' heap and piled into centre of where new heap would be within the frame. Then used a fork to build up the heap around this centre with the centre portion of the 'old' heap. Some identifiable pigweed remains, a fair bit of pea straw and the odd bit of chicken poo. I tried to spread them evenly as described. There were also some dry patches. I didn't add any internal water as the rest of the heap looked about right in terms of moisture content, just tried to spread the dry around to allow capilliary action to do its thing. Temps were 40C - 45C during various probes during the day. The core was 50C - 55C when I turned it in the evening.
Watering with milk cartons and 3" PVC pipe - test results. Six inches away from the milk carton soaker the ground was damp to a depth of over six inches. Six inches away from the pipe the ground was dry to about that depth and somewhat moist beneath that. The pipe creates a presumably deep plume of subsoil water, the soaker works at the topsoil level.
Watering with cartons - first iteration. Widening the entry hole for water by cutting with scissors. Lose probably less than 100mL capacity due the design of the milk bottle. Would be nice to develop a funnel for it so that when permanently in place one doesn't have to lean at all to pour water in from bucket device. Place the bottles approximately 50cm apart along a row, fill with water, wait up to ten minutes to drain entirely. Move on or repeat.
The vision is to have all beds adequately covered with 'permanently' located cartons anchored in the mulch (perhaps with a few stones in them to further weight them down when empty) amongst garden beds so as to provide adequate coverage for the surface layers, rows, whatever. In addition, have at least one PVC pipe per garden bed to 'pump' water into a subsoil plume (the principle being to store as much water in the ground as possible).
Besides being a more rational, efficient and routinised form of watering, this is also better from an Occ Health and Safety perspective.
A further improvement will be to develop water points through the garden to enable filling of buckets etc as close to their end point of use as possible. This will reduce the time and effort involved in getting water from tank to watering cartons and, through them, the soil. This to be done with minimal shifting of hoses, monitoring multiple water point levels etc. Hence...
Siphon system improvements. I used longest length of dripper hosepipe that I had to hand (about 5m) to siphon from one of my 72L containers to another that was located about 4m away. After repairing holes with duct tape I loaded it up by submersing coil of the pipe until entirely submerged and all bubbles have left system. Then place thumb over apature and uncoil the pipe as required to move the stoppered end into the new receptacle. Manually suck the air that has crept in around the thumb and release water into the new receptacle. It is now part of the system (regulates with the others to maintain a constant water level across them all).
There are lengths of dripper hosepipe around the yard from the previous owner. Much of it is burried under mulch, some under 'hard surfaces' (eg driveway) in irrigation conduit. I have started salvaging this, removing the drippers and taping up the holes. I'll probably get close to 30m of pipe by the time I'm done. With up to six 72L fibreglass plant containers to hand I should be able to work out a good system, with a 'master cylinder' near the hose/tank area and others located at logical points through the garden connected by properly laid syphon hose (not a trip hazard, easy to pick up and recharge if and when required). Then, a few plants and maybe some fish in the 72L containers and I'll be ready to start filling up my carton based watering system with relative ease. Yay.
Repotted Gross Lesse tomato seedlings into toilet roll seedling containers, put ten of these into wind protecting plastic pot, soaked and put out to tend on the stone bench beneath pine tree.
Test potted two of my lettuce seedlings into milk carton planter pots (using 2L cartons for this). The wind shield works well enough. Will see how they go before going to scale.
Watering with milk cartons and 3" PVC pipe - test results. Six inches away from the milk carton soaker the ground was damp to a depth of over six inches. Six inches away from the pipe the ground was dry to about that depth and somewhat moist beneath that. The pipe creates a presumably deep plume of subsoil water, the soaker works at the topsoil level.
Watering with cartons - first iteration. Widening the entry hole for water by cutting with scissors. Lose probably less than 100mL capacity due the design of the milk bottle. Would be nice to develop a funnel for it so that when permanently in place one doesn't have to lean at all to pour water in from bucket device. Place the bottles approximately 50cm apart along a row, fill with water, wait up to ten minutes to drain entirely. Move on or repeat.
The vision is to have all beds adequately covered with 'permanently' located cartons anchored in the mulch (perhaps with a few stones in them to further weight them down when empty) amongst garden beds so as to provide adequate coverage for the surface layers, rows, whatever. In addition, have at least one PVC pipe per garden bed to 'pump' water into a subsoil plume (the principle being to store as much water in the ground as possible).
Besides being a more rational, efficient and routinised form of watering, this is also better from an Occ Health and Safety perspective.
A further improvement will be to develop water points through the garden to enable filling of buckets etc as close to their end point of use as possible. This will reduce the time and effort involved in getting water from tank to watering cartons and, through them, the soil. This to be done with minimal shifting of hoses, monitoring multiple water point levels etc. Hence...
Siphon system improvements. I used longest length of dripper hosepipe that I had to hand (about 5m) to siphon from one of my 72L containers to another that was located about 4m away. After repairing holes with duct tape I loaded it up by submersing coil of the pipe until entirely submerged and all bubbles have left system. Then place thumb over apature and uncoil the pipe as required to move the stoppered end into the new receptacle. Manually suck the air that has crept in around the thumb and release water into the new receptacle. It is now part of the system (regulates with the others to maintain a constant water level across them all).
There are lengths of dripper hosepipe around the yard from the previous owner. Much of it is burried under mulch, some under 'hard surfaces' (eg driveway) in irrigation conduit. I have started salvaging this, removing the drippers and taping up the holes. I'll probably get close to 30m of pipe by the time I'm done. With up to six 72L fibreglass plant containers to hand I should be able to work out a good system, with a 'master cylinder' near the hose/tank area and others located at logical points through the garden connected by properly laid syphon hose (not a trip hazard, easy to pick up and recharge if and when required). Then, a few plants and maybe some fish in the 72L containers and I'll be ready to start filling up my carton based watering system with relative ease. Yay.
Repotted Gross Lesse tomato seedlings into toilet roll seedling containers, put ten of these into wind protecting plastic pot, soaked and put out to tend on the stone bench beneath pine tree.
Test potted two of my lettuce seedlings into milk carton planter pots (using 2L cartons for this). The wind shield works well enough. Will see how they go before going to scale.
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Experiments
Yesterday was Compost Day 14. Heat had increased to 40C inside, but still not sufficient. So when I turned it in the evening I added a bucket load of chook poo and about twice that of pea straw. Heap is retaining moisture well, but the pigweed isn't disappearing so far. Will be interesting to see what the chook poo nitrous boost achieves when I turn it on Thursday.
I also got a bunch of other experiments going on a windy cooler day. Tried a pipe into ground, taking 3L, to see how it disperses as a means of subsurface irrigation. Compared against 3L milk cartons with holes in the bottom (different configurations of holes). Tipped in 12L each on the day.
Checked some black rubber soaker hose I'd retrieved from garden to see if of any use. Short answer is no. Tried using the rubber tubing to wick out of my planter box water containers. Fail.
An interesting day.
I also got a bunch of other experiments going on a windy cooler day. Tried a pipe into ground, taking 3L, to see how it disperses as a means of subsurface irrigation. Compared against 3L milk cartons with holes in the bottom (different configurations of holes). Tipped in 12L each on the day.
Checked some black rubber soaker hose I'd retrieved from garden to see if of any use. Short answer is no. Tried using the rubber tubing to wick out of my planter box water containers. Fail.
An interesting day.
Monday, November 11, 2019
Busy Weekend
Compost - turned on Day 12 (Sunday).
On Saturday, windy, mild and sunny I was pretty busy so limited myself to watering as much as possible. Added nitrogen to all the back plants (nettle juice). Compost was pretty cool, was only getting to 25C, seemed 'wet'.
On Sunday I spent much of the day collecting up carboniferous material in the yard, mixed up about 50/50 by volume with pigface I trimmed back off the gravel path. Cut everything small. Used four droppers and some chicken wire to put up a frame to contain the spread of the heap as I think that was a problem. Used 3L of nitrous to boost temp when I turned it into the frame, layering the above materials. On top I loaded it up with my compost heap from April (120L) and about 20L of an old weed compost that's been collecting for a year. Still undersize but we'll see if that boosts temperature a bit.
In the yard I transferred 3 more plants from 4" to 6" pots, freeing up more of the smaller pots to take cuttings and seedlings as they become ready.
Experiments, besides the compost, included setting up a 'proof of concept' with three large (72L) planter boxes with siphons as a step to using hydrolics to move water around the garden rather than muscles. Pleased with results so far, I could imagine water points around the yard and even moving grey water from the bathroom with siphon systems.
Another trial was to use a plastic milk carton to construct a handled, shielded planting pot. Idea seems to work. Which is nice, as plastic milk cartons are probably the most bulky part of our recycled materials and this might extend their use a year or two before putting them in the yellow bin.
This morning I went to a neighbor's to pick up a couple boxes of chicken manure (fairly fresh) to fire up my compost heap on its next turning, can use sawdust/newspaper/etc to add carbon if it gets too hot.
Also put up another (lower) wind 'baffle' on west face of central vegie bed as some of the herbs are suffering from wind effect. Will have to get a more long term solution in place as the wall is not the most stable and would crush a foot or an animal if they tipped it.
On Saturday, windy, mild and sunny I was pretty busy so limited myself to watering as much as possible. Added nitrogen to all the back plants (nettle juice). Compost was pretty cool, was only getting to 25C, seemed 'wet'.
On Sunday I spent much of the day collecting up carboniferous material in the yard, mixed up about 50/50 by volume with pigface I trimmed back off the gravel path. Cut everything small. Used four droppers and some chicken wire to put up a frame to contain the spread of the heap as I think that was a problem. Used 3L of nitrous to boost temp when I turned it into the frame, layering the above materials. On top I loaded it up with my compost heap from April (120L) and about 20L of an old weed compost that's been collecting for a year. Still undersize but we'll see if that boosts temperature a bit.
In the yard I transferred 3 more plants from 4" to 6" pots, freeing up more of the smaller pots to take cuttings and seedlings as they become ready.
Experiments, besides the compost, included setting up a 'proof of concept' with three large (72L) planter boxes with siphons as a step to using hydrolics to move water around the garden rather than muscles. Pleased with results so far, I could imagine water points around the yard and even moving grey water from the bathroom with siphon systems.
Another trial was to use a plastic milk carton to construct a handled, shielded planting pot. Idea seems to work. Which is nice, as plastic milk cartons are probably the most bulky part of our recycled materials and this might extend their use a year or two before putting them in the yellow bin.
This morning I went to a neighbor's to pick up a couple boxes of chicken manure (fairly fresh) to fire up my compost heap on its next turning, can use sawdust/newspaper/etc to add carbon if it gets too hot.
Also put up another (lower) wind 'baffle' on west face of central vegie bed as some of the herbs are suffering from wind effect. Will have to get a more long term solution in place as the wall is not the most stable and would crush a foot or an animal if they tipped it.
Friday, November 8, 2019
Compost Day 9
Yesterday I was busy with the compost in the morning, that was about all I did in the garden. Temperature was generally about 45C though I did find a spot where it hit 50C. Turned it all outside in again. Added 3L of nettle nitrous, a small tub of old yogurt, some old potatoes, kitchen scraps. Picked out and removed woody material as I heaped it. Replaced the tarps on the outside (still expecting more wind) after damping it down on the outside only. Whole process took a bit less than an hour.
Moisture had been pretty even throughout, no dry patches. Little bits of white mold on some of the carboniferous material. Water retention gone up again. Nice composty smell. I'm now half way through the projected eighteen days.
In the evening:
Temperature generally 35C-45C, though I also found points where it was 30C and 50C. The heap was still mildly damp throughout, having been tarped up against an otherwise cold and windy day. I turned it outside-in in the evening. Compost was almost uniform in colour (brownish red). I took out woody bits as I went to reduce the nitrogen draw down. Added a bit of rice and beans and some old coconut milk, also some pond plant husks. Wetted it down on the outside, left it untarped as the wind seems to have gone. I am now back on schedule and will aim at turning it every two days until day 18 completes the process. Then we'll evaluate.
Planted corn, bean and sunflower seeds. Also snapdragons, marigolds and mixed tanunda flowers. Using various items of found 'rubbish' as my containers. Quite a few experiments.
Onwards ho.
Moisture had been pretty even throughout, no dry patches. Little bits of white mold on some of the carboniferous material. Water retention gone up again. Nice composty smell. I'm now half way through the projected eighteen days.
In the evening:
Temperature generally 35C-45C, though I also found points where it was 30C and 50C. The heap was still mildly damp throughout, having been tarped up against an otherwise cold and windy day. I turned it outside-in in the evening. Compost was almost uniform in colour (brownish red). I took out woody bits as I went to reduce the nitrogen draw down. Added a bit of rice and beans and some old coconut milk, also some pond plant husks. Wetted it down on the outside, left it untarped as the wind seems to have gone. I am now back on schedule and will aim at turning it every two days until day 18 completes the process. Then we'll evaluate.
Planted corn, bean and sunflower seeds. Also snapdragons, marigolds and mixed tanunda flowers. Using various items of found 'rubbish' as my containers. Quite a few experiments.
Onwards ho.
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Transplant Grandson's plants
Compost heap at 50C at the limit of the thermometer I use (about 30cm in). Should be hot enough in the centre (aim at 55-65C).
Transplanted three yellow daisies and some catnip from 4" pots to 6". Used the 4" pots to pot up some Bok Choi, Tomato, Violas, Coriander plants my grandson has going in some *proprietary grocery brand* promotional pots he got going 4-6 weeks ago. Hopefully they survive, most of the others haven't.
Transplanted three yellow daisies and some catnip from 4" pots to 6". Used the 4" pots to pot up some Bok Choi, Tomato, Violas, Coriander plants my grandson has going in some *proprietary grocery brand* promotional pots he got going 4-6 weeks ago. Hopefully they survive, most of the others haven't.
Monday, November 4, 2019
Hot Compost Day 6 and seedling work
Turned the compost heap outside-in for the second time. Temperature in the centre varied from 50-55C. Added a litre of nitrous nettle juice in two doses to boost the temp. Hydrophobic dirt (dust, initially) now holding some water. Patches of whitish mould in a couple areas where fibrous material clumped up, also a couple patches of dry material. Added water to the bottom few layers as I built it up (formerly 'outside' material). Soaked the outside of heap with a spray when it was built. No bad smells, starting to break down all materials. Covered the heap with tarps on the windward side. So far, going better than I'd expected.
Planted seeds into toilet roll seedling containers - lettuce, strawberry, leek and dill.
Planted corn and beans into gaps into previously dug rows.
Moved orange daisy and hollyhocks seedlings into small cutting pots.
Moved five native shrub cuttings from cool frame into small pots.
Planted seeds into toilet roll seedling containers - lettuce, strawberry, leek and dill.
Planted corn and beans into gaps into previously dug rows.
Moved orange daisy and hollyhocks seedlings into small cutting pots.
Moved five native shrub cuttings from cool frame into small pots.
Thursday, October 31, 2019
All Hallows
Quote of the week, from a ten year old who didn't go on the halloween walk in our town: "Well, I don't know why this stuff is still up," indicating halloween decorations, "we shouldn't be celebrating it anymore. And anyways, it's really all-hallows we should be celebrating anyways."
Planting and preparing: Have put in another trellis on the 'back' beds, then sown with beans and corn in one of the beds. In the other I've put beans, corn and cucumber, and corn and spring onions. In the first bed, didn't mulch along the bean row. In the second, mulched the whole lot. Of interest, something has come along and scratched holes in the soil where the beans are/were. Suspect it was a bird.
Cucumbers planted in the water 'basins' around the Yacka's on the northern house bed. Mulched with old pine needles.
Seedlings finally arrived in egg cartons - Tanunda orange daisies and stocks.
Transplanted one pot's worth of tomato seedlings of each variety (gross lesse and cherry) into planting tubes. About 12 tubes of each type.
Sunflowers transplanted into 4" pots. Appear to wilt and die after about a week. Suspect pots too big/exposed (put out under sunlight). More sunflower seeds put in both soil (with bird wire over this time) and pots.
Transplanted parsley and a mint into herb patch in sun (central bed, near rosemary). Mulched.
Soaked (in tubs of water) all pots I could manage to lift etc. Totaled about 120. Mulched a lot of the exposed larger ones. Started populating under the central shade cloth with pot plants between the herbs and silverbeet.
Mulched silverbeet, sprouts, leek in beds, strawberries in pots.
Tall sloping shade structures built over the two path beds. Did it with scrap timber, metal, fence droppers and poles for a frame, bound with baling twine, with shade cloth over the top. Made it so that one has to duck only a little to use the central path, and can stand up inside the structure. Catches morning sun, deflects the west wind.
Flatter shade stucture over centre of central bed. Droppers, old prunings and shade cloth. Need to duck to get under it. Most of central beds remain uncovered (plants not wilting so presumably okay at present).
Started a hot compost heap on S side of driveway. Picked up a uteload of scraped up horsedroppings (with hydrophic soil to about equal volume) from a friend. Used this as base nitrogen content (along with prunings from garden, fridge clean out 'product', and five litres of nettle juice) to which I added the various piles of weed from around the yard to equal volume for the carbon. Layered this, soaking every two layers. Size of heap is a bit over a metre square at base and a close to four foot high. It was 55'C in centre in morning and over 60'C at dusk. Today was the third day, I turned it over. Covered heap with tarps due wind/heat etc while I'm gone. Will be at least three days before I get to it again.
Planting and preparing: Have put in another trellis on the 'back' beds, then sown with beans and corn in one of the beds. In the other I've put beans, corn and cucumber, and corn and spring onions. In the first bed, didn't mulch along the bean row. In the second, mulched the whole lot. Of interest, something has come along and scratched holes in the soil where the beans are/were. Suspect it was a bird.
Cucumbers planted in the water 'basins' around the Yacka's on the northern house bed. Mulched with old pine needles.
Seedlings finally arrived in egg cartons - Tanunda orange daisies and stocks.
Transplanted one pot's worth of tomato seedlings of each variety (gross lesse and cherry) into planting tubes. About 12 tubes of each type.
Sunflowers transplanted into 4" pots. Appear to wilt and die after about a week. Suspect pots too big/exposed (put out under sunlight). More sunflower seeds put in both soil (with bird wire over this time) and pots.
Transplanted parsley and a mint into herb patch in sun (central bed, near rosemary). Mulched.
Soaked (in tubs of water) all pots I could manage to lift etc. Totaled about 120. Mulched a lot of the exposed larger ones. Started populating under the central shade cloth with pot plants between the herbs and silverbeet.
Mulched silverbeet, sprouts, leek in beds, strawberries in pots.
Tall sloping shade structures built over the two path beds. Did it with scrap timber, metal, fence droppers and poles for a frame, bound with baling twine, with shade cloth over the top. Made it so that one has to duck only a little to use the central path, and can stand up inside the structure. Catches morning sun, deflects the west wind.
Flatter shade stucture over centre of central bed. Droppers, old prunings and shade cloth. Need to duck to get under it. Most of central beds remain uncovered (plants not wilting so presumably okay at present).
Started a hot compost heap on S side of driveway. Picked up a uteload of scraped up horsedroppings (with hydrophic soil to about equal volume) from a friend. Used this as base nitrogen content (along with prunings from garden, fridge clean out 'product', and five litres of nettle juice) to which I added the various piles of weed from around the yard to equal volume for the carbon. Layered this, soaking every two layers. Size of heap is a bit over a metre square at base and a close to four foot high. It was 55'C in centre in morning and over 60'C at dusk. Today was the third day, I turned it over. Covered heap with tarps due wind/heat etc while I'm gone. Will be at least three days before I get to it again.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Spring half sprung
Today marks the halfway point of calendrical spring so it's time for a catch up here.
In September I put most of my energy into bringing some new garden beds into operation, soil conditioning, and a bit of potting and repotting.
New Garden Beds include the most barren bed between front of house and the street, the hot wind tunnel on the North side of house, 'grass' between back door and turtle tank, and an expansion in the vegie garden towards the wood piles.
The beds to front and rear of house were previously cardboard covered for weed suppression. I removed the cardboard, lightly (hands, no feet) dug them over with a mix of cow manure (aged) and gypsum, covered the whole lot with a few inches of pea straw. Paving done with bricks and pavers. Nothing planted in these beds yet, waiting for soils to warm up.
Between the new bed at rear of house and the turtle tank I've put in a rockery, quite pleased with the effect. Cut down most of an old tree, leaving the stump and a few branches as bird perches for use above a bird bath I brought back into use after a couple years of activity. I put a packet of 'rockery flowers' seed into the soils filling the gaps and cracks in the heap. I put in a 'tiger lilly' type spiky plant at the rear of the rockery, it had been subsisting in a non draining pot for several years so I hope it recalls what soils it actually likes!
The bed on the North side is really just a few deepish holes dug, with some manure and gypsum mixed into the infill, and three yacka trees stuck in. One had been rootbound and struggling in a smallish pot, the other two had lived almost two years in a bucket with occasional water.
The vegie garden extension involved moving a fence line into alignment with the old rear gate (used a spare 3m sheet of roofing iron and some star droppers) and relocation of wood pile to beneath the lemon scented gum. Over about six weeks I collected 2-3 tonnes of council lopped eucalypt, sawed it into rounds and then split it all up for drying and use. So it was a lot of wood. I've only got one bed in the new extension, using the section to also store bins, potted trees, etc.
I erected trellises alongside the new bed (old reinforcement mesh running N-S) and by the third of the rear beds in the brick section (permapine lattice running E-W). All meshes supported by star droppers.
I then picked my broad beans (.7kg), dug my spuds (2kg) and manured, composted and mulched all these rear beds.
Potting and repotting in September was mainly those in small pots ready to go into larger ones. Total of 25 more plants now growing happily in small /mid sized pots and a growing accumlation of small pots to take the next lot of cuttings from the cutting trays. I consolidated my cutting trays so I only need worry about the one now, letting the other rest in anticipation of the next series of cuttings. Almost all of the current cuttings awaiting potting are from our own yard.
In October I've been busy with seed (mainly). Have put tomatoes (two types), corn, basil, rhubarb and some 'Tanunda' daisies and sunflower seeds into small pots, put those pots into larger pots and sealed them so I don't need to water them till they pop up. I've put experimental sunflowers on a waste mound out the back. Stocks, Jerusalem Sage and coriander have gone into experimental egg box seed beds. Carrots went into the soil in the newest bed. A second row of spring onions have joined the first (planted at start of September to mark the start of spring) in a rectangular 'pot'. Have just started up some Sturt Desert Pea seeds.
Have commenced a number of types of suculent cuttings in variations of pots, soil and water containers.
Have a geranium bed establishing from 'cuttings' (broken off branches) out front alonside driveway, and a different type taken from Tanunda stuck into pots with my other potted cuttings.
Jade cuttings in soil in garden path under canopy of peppertree, and one in main vegie garden..
Dill is pushing six feet tall, brussel sprouts are starting to shoot up, leeks are putting on mass, silver beet still deep green in the shadier corners, herbs all looking very vibrant.
So now it's wait for the soil to warm up and the seeds to spring up, and then it will be getting busy again
In September I put most of my energy into bringing some new garden beds into operation, soil conditioning, and a bit of potting and repotting.
New Garden Beds include the most barren bed between front of house and the street, the hot wind tunnel on the North side of house, 'grass' between back door and turtle tank, and an expansion in the vegie garden towards the wood piles.
The beds to front and rear of house were previously cardboard covered for weed suppression. I removed the cardboard, lightly (hands, no feet) dug them over with a mix of cow manure (aged) and gypsum, covered the whole lot with a few inches of pea straw. Paving done with bricks and pavers. Nothing planted in these beds yet, waiting for soils to warm up.
Between the new bed at rear of house and the turtle tank I've put in a rockery, quite pleased with the effect. Cut down most of an old tree, leaving the stump and a few branches as bird perches for use above a bird bath I brought back into use after a couple years of activity. I put a packet of 'rockery flowers' seed into the soils filling the gaps and cracks in the heap. I put in a 'tiger lilly' type spiky plant at the rear of the rockery, it had been subsisting in a non draining pot for several years so I hope it recalls what soils it actually likes!
The bed on the North side is really just a few deepish holes dug, with some manure and gypsum mixed into the infill, and three yacka trees stuck in. One had been rootbound and struggling in a smallish pot, the other two had lived almost two years in a bucket with occasional water.
The vegie garden extension involved moving a fence line into alignment with the old rear gate (used a spare 3m sheet of roofing iron and some star droppers) and relocation of wood pile to beneath the lemon scented gum. Over about six weeks I collected 2-3 tonnes of council lopped eucalypt, sawed it into rounds and then split it all up for drying and use. So it was a lot of wood. I've only got one bed in the new extension, using the section to also store bins, potted trees, etc.
I erected trellises alongside the new bed (old reinforcement mesh running N-S) and by the third of the rear beds in the brick section (permapine lattice running E-W). All meshes supported by star droppers.
I then picked my broad beans (.7kg), dug my spuds (2kg) and manured, composted and mulched all these rear beds.
Potting and repotting in September was mainly those in small pots ready to go into larger ones. Total of 25 more plants now growing happily in small /mid sized pots and a growing accumlation of small pots to take the next lot of cuttings from the cutting trays. I consolidated my cutting trays so I only need worry about the one now, letting the other rest in anticipation of the next series of cuttings. Almost all of the current cuttings awaiting potting are from our own yard.
In October I've been busy with seed (mainly). Have put tomatoes (two types), corn, basil, rhubarb and some 'Tanunda' daisies and sunflower seeds into small pots, put those pots into larger pots and sealed them so I don't need to water them till they pop up. I've put experimental sunflowers on a waste mound out the back. Stocks, Jerusalem Sage and coriander have gone into experimental egg box seed beds. Carrots went into the soil in the newest bed. A second row of spring onions have joined the first (planted at start of September to mark the start of spring) in a rectangular 'pot'. Have just started up some Sturt Desert Pea seeds.
Have commenced a number of types of suculent cuttings in variations of pots, soil and water containers.
Have a geranium bed establishing from 'cuttings' (broken off branches) out front alonside driveway, and a different type taken from Tanunda stuck into pots with my other potted cuttings.
Jade cuttings in soil in garden path under canopy of peppertree, and one in main vegie garden..
Dill is pushing six feet tall, brussel sprouts are starting to shoot up, leeks are putting on mass, silver beet still deep green in the shadier corners, herbs all looking very vibrant.
So now it's wait for the soil to warm up and the seeds to spring up, and then it will be getting busy again
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Weather Report - Winter 2019
114mm rain total (106mm last year). Fields around got a slightly late start but are reasonable at season's end.
June 63.0mm falling on eight days (43.8mm on one day).
July 26.6mm over thirteen days.
August 25.4mm over eleven days.
Winds not extreme, though strong on a couple days (south easterly wind was the worst, unusually).
Maybe a handful of minor mild frosts at end of season, didn't freeze up on actual garden beds though.
June three days with minimums below 0'C.
July 0 days with minimums below 0'C.
August five days with minimums below 0'C.
Weeding program kicked into gear through August, would finish early September. Began the whole thing late July with harvesting of nettles for nettle 'tea' and then moved along, either concentrating on particular areas, or on particular species of weed as they started threatening to throw deep roots / drop bulbs / seed.
Cardboard covered front and back 'cottage garden' sites for weed suppression from the middle of winter (will probably have practically sterilised the soil), to be populated with plants in spring or after summer.
Propogation has been main activity, with around 100 plants in small to small-medium pots at present and 35 cuttings in the trays (will expand this with large number in near future). Beans grew well, potatoes died off around turn of season (still to dig up spuds to see if was worth it), dill grew well in sun and shelter but not so elsewhere, silverbeet preferred sun but dealt with shade, coriander wanted sun, brussel sprouts grow best in sun and shelter but tolerate shade.
A lot of thought into how to develop yard and plantings through spring into summer.
June 63.0mm falling on eight days (43.8mm on one day).
July 26.6mm over thirteen days.
August 25.4mm over eleven days.
Winds not extreme, though strong on a couple days (south easterly wind was the worst, unusually).
Maybe a handful of minor mild frosts at end of season, didn't freeze up on actual garden beds though.
June three days with minimums below 0'C.
July 0 days with minimums below 0'C.
August five days with minimums below 0'C.
Weeding program kicked into gear through August, would finish early September. Began the whole thing late July with harvesting of nettles for nettle 'tea' and then moved along, either concentrating on particular areas, or on particular species of weed as they started threatening to throw deep roots / drop bulbs / seed.
Cardboard covered front and back 'cottage garden' sites for weed suppression from the middle of winter (will probably have practically sterilised the soil), to be populated with plants in spring or after summer.
Propogation has been main activity, with around 100 plants in small to small-medium pots at present and 35 cuttings in the trays (will expand this with large number in near future). Beans grew well, potatoes died off around turn of season (still to dig up spuds to see if was worth it), dill grew well in sun and shelter but not so elsewhere, silverbeet preferred sun but dealt with shade, coriander wanted sun, brussel sprouts grow best in sun and shelter but tolerate shade.
A lot of thought into how to develop yard and plantings through spring into summer.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Racing against the rains
At time of writing it's still raining, has been all night. We've had over 40mm, so all the tanks are full and I get to see that my gutter repairs are working (90% are) and that the stormwater outlets from the tanks are functioning (they are). The ground is now filling up with water so there'll be no more digging for a while.
I'd known for about a week this weather was coming so I've been pretty busy, getting as much done as I could before it arrived.
Planted some bamboo cuttings direct into the soil in the 'hard' backmost garden bed, filled in the gaps with leftovers from other plantings I've done in the past week (tanunda mixed flower seedlings, leeks, dill and corriander).
I transferred eight cuttings into small pots and then went around the yard and gathered about twenty cuttings (mainly from shrubs) to go into the seedling boxes. That makes a total of about sixty in the boxes, with about thirty small potted plants. All an experiment, but might have about half to go out in spring (which will give me something to work with) and the other half to do a year in small pots before any final decision.
I've now planted out all my leek seedlings, another nineteen went into three main beds, with a handful into the 'hard' bed.
Lots of weeding out of soursobs (oxalis) and marshmallows from various garden beds. I've left it where it isn't in the way and concentrated on where I want to make an impact on it.
Planted some lawn seeds in the bed I've dug over near the turtle pond. Just raked it in to the soft soil. Dog has done one exploratory trip and the sparrows appear to have been feasting when I'm not around so will be interesting to see how much comes up. I look at this as a 'test bed' for grass.
Have started cardboarding over a section in the front yard as an experiment in weed suppression. Will take out the dead shrubs there and extend the carboard, aiming at digging it all over in spring and planting out with some new shrubs (hopefully better able to cope with heat without too much water once established).
Finally, I got some concrete bessa bricks from a nearby demolition site (after getting permission) and built myself a waist high potting table in the garden so I can do my potting without breaking my back. Used more of them to build a burning pit (the bricks control the radiant heat on two sides, as I only have a couple metres to the shed / fence and don't want to cause any big issues) and burnt about two thirds of the mountain of small prunings etc I've accumulated over the past couple years. It was a fire hazard. The rest will have to wait a while now.
So, it's been quite busy. Now it's probably time to transfer much of this energy into 'inside' tasks while the soil drains and I plot my next moves in the yard.
I'd known for about a week this weather was coming so I've been pretty busy, getting as much done as I could before it arrived.
Planted some bamboo cuttings direct into the soil in the 'hard' backmost garden bed, filled in the gaps with leftovers from other plantings I've done in the past week (tanunda mixed flower seedlings, leeks, dill and corriander).
I transferred eight cuttings into small pots and then went around the yard and gathered about twenty cuttings (mainly from shrubs) to go into the seedling boxes. That makes a total of about sixty in the boxes, with about thirty small potted plants. All an experiment, but might have about half to go out in spring (which will give me something to work with) and the other half to do a year in small pots before any final decision.
I've now planted out all my leek seedlings, another nineteen went into three main beds, with a handful into the 'hard' bed.
Lots of weeding out of soursobs (oxalis) and marshmallows from various garden beds. I've left it where it isn't in the way and concentrated on where I want to make an impact on it.
Planted some lawn seeds in the bed I've dug over near the turtle pond. Just raked it in to the soft soil. Dog has done one exploratory trip and the sparrows appear to have been feasting when I'm not around so will be interesting to see how much comes up. I look at this as a 'test bed' for grass.
Have started cardboarding over a section in the front yard as an experiment in weed suppression. Will take out the dead shrubs there and extend the carboard, aiming at digging it all over in spring and planting out with some new shrubs (hopefully better able to cope with heat without too much water once established).
Finally, I got some concrete bessa bricks from a nearby demolition site (after getting permission) and built myself a waist high potting table in the garden so I can do my potting without breaking my back. Used more of them to build a burning pit (the bricks control the radiant heat on two sides, as I only have a couple metres to the shed / fence and don't want to cause any big issues) and burnt about two thirds of the mountain of small prunings etc I've accumulated over the past couple years. It was a fire hazard. The rest will have to wait a while now.
So, it's been quite busy. Now it's probably time to transfer much of this energy into 'inside' tasks while the soil drains and I plot my next moves in the yard.
Monday, June 3, 2019
Weather Report - Autumn 2019
This Report covers the calendar months for Autumn. As such, it cross cuts my first weather report (here), in that they both include data for March 2019. So be it.
Dry through March and April. May rains equaled last year's (to two tenths of a millimetre!).
March 1.6mm falling on three days.
April 6.8mm over three days.
May 48.2mm over 15 days.
Classic 'shoulder'season for autumn. No frosts. A couple days of strong winds (mid 60km gusts).
March 40.7'C 15 days 30'C or higher, 3 over 35'C.
April 34.0'C max, 8 days 30'C or higher.
May 26.1'C max, 3.6' min
Garden labour has seamlessly shifted from watering to weeding.
The May rainfall total is exactly the same as last year, but the total rainfall is down about 10mm for the year. The bureau is predicting another dry winter. We'll see.
Dry through March and April. May rains equaled last year's (to two tenths of a millimetre!).
March 1.6mm falling on three days.
April 6.8mm over three days.
May 48.2mm over 15 days.
Classic 'shoulder'season for autumn. No frosts. A couple days of strong winds (mid 60km gusts).
March 40.7'C 15 days 30'C or higher, 3 over 35'C.
April 34.0'C max, 8 days 30'C or higher.
May 26.1'C max, 3.6' min
Garden labour has seamlessly shifted from watering to weeding.
The May rainfall total is exactly the same as last year, but the total rainfall is down about 10mm for the year. The bureau is predicting another dry winter. We'll see.
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Preparing for winter
I redug the two unplanted new beds yesterday, following recent rains. The back (hard) bed was still dry a few inches down, am hoping to be able to excavate a bit deeper with each rain shower/dig over. I will of course have to be careful that I don't just compact the wet soil by digging it.
I have moved the fennel seedlings, planted in a punnet last month, into small pots. I'll decide over the next month or two whether they'll go in the soil or into big pots before spring.
Much of my energy is now shifting towards staying on top of the weeds (oxalis primarily). Am hoping to get another batch of cuttings of lavender, rosemary and other assorted plants in the coming days.
We are up to 44mm of rain so far this month. Getting close to the May total for last year.
I have moved the fennel seedlings, planted in a punnet last month, into small pots. I'll decide over the next month or two whether they'll go in the soil or into big pots before spring.
Much of my energy is now shifting towards staying on top of the weeds (oxalis primarily). Am hoping to get another batch of cuttings of lavender, rosemary and other assorted plants in the coming days.
We are up to 44mm of rain so far this month. Getting close to the May total for last year.
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Late Autumn Plantings etc
So far we've had over 30mm of rain in May. This has been a pleasure and taken away the need to do the bulk of the watering I had previously been doing. Still have to water potplants though...
Have dug up three more plots, one in the future 'cottage garden', the other two out the back beyond the vegies. The cottage garden will soon have a bunch of flower seedlings put in it, and I planted one of the two rear plots with potatoes, beans and peas. I will have to work on the final bed out the back as the ground was still too hard to dig more than five inches down.
I have taken a swag of cuttings out of their shelter box to 'harden' up outside. Have put in a few more cuttings of lavender from around town to fill out the space created by their removal (and that of those who have not survived).
Yesterday I put in a bunch of seedlings, sprouts interspersed with mainly dill.
Am holding off with the fennel until I get some potting soil worth the name.
Everything seems to be going along okay.
Have dug up three more plots, one in the future 'cottage garden', the other two out the back beyond the vegies. The cottage garden will soon have a bunch of flower seedlings put in it, and I planted one of the two rear plots with potatoes, beans and peas. I will have to work on the final bed out the back as the ground was still too hard to dig more than five inches down.
I have taken a swag of cuttings out of their shelter box to 'harden' up outside. Have put in a few more cuttings of lavender from around town to fill out the space created by their removal (and that of those who have not survived).
Yesterday I put in a bunch of seedlings, sprouts interspersed with mainly dill.
Am holding off with the fennel until I get some potting soil worth the name.
Everything seems to be going along okay.
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Autumn Rain
We've had a bit over half an inch over the last three days. Has made for a nice change, cool air, dampness on the wind and a bit of surface moisture in the soil.
Silverbeets, corriander and dill are taking off, peas and beans are a vigorous 5", potatoes are pushing aside the mulch. Basil in flower where I didn't tip the main stems.
Sunflower heads are heavy but I can't see any seeds.
In the cuttings department, I pulled over a dozen out to 'harden' up on the bench. The wysteria and roses don't look good, nor do some of the 'old' lavender cuttings. I gathered the still healthy looking ones into one cool box, the unhealthy (or dead) into another. I'll have to get more soon.
And the galahs continue to feast on pine nuts in the mega pine tree down the back corner, spreading wood chips and detrius all over the garden. Have to sweep this up roughly weekly at the moment.
Silverbeets, corriander and dill are taking off, peas and beans are a vigorous 5", potatoes are pushing aside the mulch. Basil in flower where I didn't tip the main stems.
Sunflower heads are heavy but I can't see any seeds.
In the cuttings department, I pulled over a dozen out to 'harden' up on the bench. The wysteria and roses don't look good, nor do some of the 'old' lavender cuttings. I gathered the still healthy looking ones into one cool box, the unhealthy (or dead) into another. I'll have to get more soon.
And the galahs continue to feast on pine nuts in the mega pine tree down the back corner, spreading wood chips and detrius all over the garden. Have to sweep this up roughly weekly at the moment.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Autumn arrives
Cooler weather over the last few days followed a couple hot ones with strong dry winds. In between we got a few drops of rain, probably no more than a couple millimetres (measured at 0.6mm officially). Temperatures now are dropping to around 5C at night and low to mid twenties during the day. Sun is dipping lower, shadows becoming more prominent over the vege and herb garden areas. Autumn.
My rocket is being hit by the same pest that's been munching on my sprouts' leaves. On closer observation it turns out it's tiny green grubs. I've resorted to going out with a torch and picking them off in the evening, and then again first thing in the morning. I don't like sprays as most bugs aren't harmful and I'd hate for my lizard friends to get contaminated.
Peas and beans have sprouted in the main beds, are poking above the straw mulch now.
I took some additional cuttings of lavender. About half of the other cuttings look like they're thriving, with the remainder looking like they've at least not died. At the end of this month I'll start potting some out.
I've transferred about half of my dill and corriander seedlings into pots. A couple days after the operation and they all look like they're still alive. In the next couple days I'll put the remainder out into the garden proper.
I've let half my basil run to flower. The remainder will soon be picked for a final mass drying. Should be able to fill a couple jars with it when dried, to match the smaller amounts of oregano and marjoram I've been picking.
Finally, my various flower seeds that I planted a week ago in my cold frame are sprouting. Will have to decide where I want them now!
My rocket is being hit by the same pest that's been munching on my sprouts' leaves. On closer observation it turns out it's tiny green grubs. I've resorted to going out with a torch and picking them off in the evening, and then again first thing in the morning. I don't like sprays as most bugs aren't harmful and I'd hate for my lizard friends to get contaminated.
Peas and beans have sprouted in the main beds, are poking above the straw mulch now.
I took some additional cuttings of lavender. About half of the other cuttings look like they're thriving, with the remainder looking like they've at least not died. At the end of this month I'll start potting some out.
I've transferred about half of my dill and corriander seedlings into pots. A couple days after the operation and they all look like they're still alive. In the next couple days I'll put the remainder out into the garden proper.
I've let half my basil run to flower. The remainder will soon be picked for a final mass drying. Should be able to fill a couple jars with it when dried, to match the smaller amounts of oregano and marjoram I've been picking.
Finally, my various flower seeds that I planted a week ago in my cold frame are sprouting. Will have to decide where I want them now!
Monday, April 15, 2019
'Hiatus'
After a couple months of busyness it feels like the yard is in a state of stasis as other tasks and commitments have meant that I haven't done anything more than keep up the water and monitor things. I've got a few potted plants awaiting repotting.
Of course, being a garden, it's not really like that. The seeds in the planter box and some in the garden are throwing up shoots. Those that aren't are putting down roots. Cuttings are mainly staying green, and some are even putting on new leaves. The sunflowers are pushing through their abbreviated cycle, with the first bloomer now dropping its petals as the last bloomer finally displays its first flower. And, of course, the battle against the earwigs continues.
Hundreds of galahs are using the giant pine and the TV tower to rest in the evening and the firetails have been spotted again scouring the peppertree canopy.
Later this week I'll be more active, but in the meantime we have another warm spell about to pass over (low to mid thirties) and, hopefully, a dash of rain.
Of course, being a garden, it's not really like that. The seeds in the planter box and some in the garden are throwing up shoots. Those that aren't are putting down roots. Cuttings are mainly staying green, and some are even putting on new leaves. The sunflowers are pushing through their abbreviated cycle, with the first bloomer now dropping its petals as the last bloomer finally displays its first flower. And, of course, the battle against the earwigs continues.
Hundreds of galahs are using the giant pine and the TV tower to rest in the evening and the firetails have been spotted again scouring the peppertree canopy.
Later this week I'll be more active, but in the meantime we have another warm spell about to pass over (low to mid thirties) and, hopefully, a dash of rain.
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
'Rain'
Overnight we had 0.4mm. I knew it as soon as I went outside, everything seemed fresher. The winds which followed, however, soon blew away all that moisture at an average speed of 25kph (max in mid 30s). So I had to water everything anyway...
Planted a few rows of broad beans and potatoes in some of my new beds. Garden is starting to look busy again!
Planted a few rows of broad beans and potatoes in some of my new beds. Garden is starting to look busy again!
Monday, April 8, 2019
Autumn planting
I planted out seedlings into the older garden beds. Four rows of silverbeet interspersed with dill and corriander, and a couple small plots with corriander/dill interspersed with silverbeet. Varied shadiness in the beds to see how things go. Around the beets I put old toilet roll cardboard cylinders, cut in half to get twice as many out of the few that I had.
In the afternoon I planted a bed of peas and potatoes, using an old garden ornament 'windmill' frame as a central climbing trellis for the peas.
In the afternoon I planted a bed of peas and potatoes, using an old garden ornament 'windmill' frame as a central climbing trellis for the peas.
Sunday, April 7, 2019
Weekly Update 1
In the past week my nursery has been quite busy. I've doubled the number of cuttings I've taken, including wysteria, a spiky hakkea, climbing and miniature roses, olives, lavender as well as a couple of creepers. I've uplifted a spearmint and some clover from Tanunda and transplanted them into pots. I uplifted an olive seedling (6") from the backyard and potted it. In the resultant hole I've put a couple native ground creepers from our own local 'Kangaroo Resting Spot' where hopefully they'll be happy amongst other indigenous ground covers I've started off between a sugar gum and a mellealuca. Finally for the nursery, I've tried some intense seeding of chives in a couple pots, one has gone into a cold frame with a bunch of cuttings and the other is with the other seed punnets in the elements (I did this for the chives because my initial seeding has produced almost nothing from over a month ago).
In the garden beds I've recultivated all the new ones and am now waiting to put in my winter crops and other autumn plantings. Today or tomorrow I intend putting out some dill, corriander and silverbeet seedlings and possibly some peas, beans and potatoes also. I put the seedlings I've chosen out in the general garden yesterday on a temporary shelf made up with some old spare planks - the idea is to let them get used to increased direct sun before they have to fend for themselves.
In the herb bed I continue to prune off basil, oregano and marjoram for drying. Made myself a simple drying rack out of some old centimetre gauge mesh to help the process.
For flowers, the second of my late planted sunflowers has blossomed with a beautiful flower. That makes two out of three so far. A small 'rescue' shrub that I transplanted around a rare deciduous tree has also come out with tiny electric blue flowers. The peppertrees are swarming with bees, so I'll wait till they're done before I give these trees a major prune (both to shape them, as well as to allow more light into the garden area through winter as the sun drops towards midwinter).
Had a repeat visit from a trio of fairy wrens, and a couple yellow breasted parrots seem to have made it a regular evening thing to sit on top of the old TV antenna tower (20m high).
There's was no rain during the week. Temperatures generally in mid twenties and blue skies. The exception was Friday, with mid thirties temperature and hot dry winds gusting up to 64km/h, carrying a load of dust with it (they closed nearby highways due road conditions, and turned off power to some regional towns due catastrophic fire risk). The following day was relatively cool and calm and the plants loved it!
Daylight savings ended last night, so I'll have less time this evening in my plot. Will make my mind up then about whether I plant out or not.
In the garden beds I've recultivated all the new ones and am now waiting to put in my winter crops and other autumn plantings. Today or tomorrow I intend putting out some dill, corriander and silverbeet seedlings and possibly some peas, beans and potatoes also. I put the seedlings I've chosen out in the general garden yesterday on a temporary shelf made up with some old spare planks - the idea is to let them get used to increased direct sun before they have to fend for themselves.
In the herb bed I continue to prune off basil, oregano and marjoram for drying. Made myself a simple drying rack out of some old centimetre gauge mesh to help the process.
For flowers, the second of my late planted sunflowers has blossomed with a beautiful flower. That makes two out of three so far. A small 'rescue' shrub that I transplanted around a rare deciduous tree has also come out with tiny electric blue flowers. The peppertrees are swarming with bees, so I'll wait till they're done before I give these trees a major prune (both to shape them, as well as to allow more light into the garden area through winter as the sun drops towards midwinter).
Had a repeat visit from a trio of fairy wrens, and a couple yellow breasted parrots seem to have made it a regular evening thing to sit on top of the old TV antenna tower (20m high).
There's was no rain during the week. Temperatures generally in mid twenties and blue skies. The exception was Friday, with mid thirties temperature and hot dry winds gusting up to 64km/h, carrying a load of dust with it (they closed nearby highways due road conditions, and turned off power to some regional towns due catastrophic fire risk). The following day was relatively cool and calm and the plants loved it!
Daylight savings ended last night, so I'll have less time this evening in my plot. Will make my mind up then about whether I plant out or not.
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Weather Report - Jan to March 2019 summary
Dry. There has been so little rain it seems silly to even talk about it.
January 2mm falling on one day.
February 4.6mm falling on three days.
March 1.6mm falling on three days.
Hot. UV extreme almost throughout.
January 46.9'C 17 days 35C or higher, 10 at 40C or higher.
February 42.2'C 8 days 35C or higher, 1 at 40'C or above
March 40.7'C 15 days 30'C or higher, 3 over 35'C.
Tough conditions. I've been active in the garden since March. Before then, it was watering and shade management of existing plants, the aim being survival of as many as possible. Especially on the hottest day in January, which took more plants than any other single day.
Le sigh.
January 2mm falling on one day.
February 4.6mm falling on three days.
March 1.6mm falling on three days.
Hot. UV extreme almost throughout.
January 46.9'C 17 days 35C or higher, 10 at 40C or higher.
February 42.2'C 8 days 35C or higher, 1 at 40'C or above
March 40.7'C 15 days 30'C or higher, 3 over 35'C.
Tough conditions. I've been active in the garden since March. Before then, it was watering and shade management of existing plants, the aim being survival of as many as possible. Especially on the hottest day in January, which took more plants than any other single day.
Le sigh.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Garden Environs
The block is a quarter acre (20m x 50m) house block on the edge of a small town in South Australia's mid north region. Existing buildings include a two bedroom cottage, outhouse, garage with attached wood shed and a large six by ten metre shed at the rear of the block. There is a septic tank system along the southern fence, extending for the rearwards half of the block.
The block 'faces' east with the cottage and driveway entry taking up much of the street frontage behind a galvanised 'picket' fence. The driveway is white gravel and goes about half way down the southern side of the block, accessing cottage, garage and wood shed. The rear half of the yard has no simple vehicle access anymore (you'd have to take down 'temporary walls' and drive over garden beds and/or paths to get there).
The climate is 'temperate', with hot dry summers and most of the rain falling in the cooler winter months. We had 34 days over summer that had temperatures of 35'C or higher, half of which were over 40'C. The hottest day was 46.9'C. Winters are not extreme, a rare light frost and generally sunny days. The area is a 'high wind zone'. There is even the odd tornado, though not of the size generally associated with the term. The prevailing wind is from the west.
We are located within the surrounding landscape just on the flat side of the boundary between plains and a low rolling hillscape. Sheep and wheat dominate the local agriculture. No large native flora reserves nearby. No nearby permanent watercourses either. The original Goyder Line (a map feature marking the geographical extent of land with rainfall reliable enough to sustain economic crops) lies within thirty kms of here (there's a cairn to mark the spot alongside a highway).
Mean annual rainfall is 14-15 inches (350-380mm), the average is a bit more. We have 1kl rainwater tanks on both the north and south sides of the cottage, and a 2kl tank collecting from the rear shed. We have waterpoints for mains water (piped in from the River Murray at Morgan) in rear, mid and front parts of the yard.
The local flora landscape is one dominated by 'open mallee woodland' with frequent small to medium eucalyptus trees. The soil is a red brown loam topsoil with red heavy clay six inches to a foot below the surface. Sandstone was the local building material.
The site has existed since 1892, for almost the first hundred years was 20m from a rail line. Landuse has included as a rose garden and a genteelly cultivated 'return to nature' block. The back quarter of the block (now mainly beneath the back shed) has previously been used for domestic landfill.
Fauna in the yard is the occasional possum, resident blue tounges and sleepy lizards, with large numbers of at least two types of skink and ghekos, occasional snakes (mainly browns, but also whip snakes). Common birds include house sparrows, galahs, magpies and peewits, ringnecked honey eaters, new england honey eaters, dove and crested pigeons, willy wagtails. Seasonal rosellas and grassparrots, red throated warblers. Sightings of peregrine falcons, firetails, various parrots, wrens, robins, finches, silver eyes. Lots of types of spiders, beetles, ants. Termites are endemic (limit on use of wood). Centepedes potentially under every rock.
Prominent trees on site include a locally dominant Aleppo Pine in the north west corner, nearby peppertrees, a spotted gum, fuscia gum, a melalucca and a couple grevillias, a couple lemon scented gums, a couple calistomons and overhanging acacia in the north east and a row with a couple jackarandahs, a couple almonds and a 'socialis' eucalyptus in the south east. Finally, a largish spruce, a couple candlepines and some conifer shrubs out the front complete the collection.
Two small sad patches of stringy grass out the back door and several climging roses, scattered bulbs (iris, lilly, daffodil), sages, bush daisies, geraniums purple creepers, and a happy wanderer round it out.
There are several brick lined paths of white stones, and a few stepping stones in a couple of places.
This is what we started with.
The block 'faces' east with the cottage and driveway entry taking up much of the street frontage behind a galvanised 'picket' fence. The driveway is white gravel and goes about half way down the southern side of the block, accessing cottage, garage and wood shed. The rear half of the yard has no simple vehicle access anymore (you'd have to take down 'temporary walls' and drive over garden beds and/or paths to get there).
The climate is 'temperate', with hot dry summers and most of the rain falling in the cooler winter months. We had 34 days over summer that had temperatures of 35'C or higher, half of which were over 40'C. The hottest day was 46.9'C. Winters are not extreme, a rare light frost and generally sunny days. The area is a 'high wind zone'. There is even the odd tornado, though not of the size generally associated with the term. The prevailing wind is from the west.
We are located within the surrounding landscape just on the flat side of the boundary between plains and a low rolling hillscape. Sheep and wheat dominate the local agriculture. No large native flora reserves nearby. No nearby permanent watercourses either. The original Goyder Line (a map feature marking the geographical extent of land with rainfall reliable enough to sustain economic crops) lies within thirty kms of here (there's a cairn to mark the spot alongside a highway).
Mean annual rainfall is 14-15 inches (350-380mm), the average is a bit more. We have 1kl rainwater tanks on both the north and south sides of the cottage, and a 2kl tank collecting from the rear shed. We have waterpoints for mains water (piped in from the River Murray at Morgan) in rear, mid and front parts of the yard.
The local flora landscape is one dominated by 'open mallee woodland' with frequent small to medium eucalyptus trees. The soil is a red brown loam topsoil with red heavy clay six inches to a foot below the surface. Sandstone was the local building material.
The site has existed since 1892, for almost the first hundred years was 20m from a rail line. Landuse has included as a rose garden and a genteelly cultivated 'return to nature' block. The back quarter of the block (now mainly beneath the back shed) has previously been used for domestic landfill.
Fauna in the yard is the occasional possum, resident blue tounges and sleepy lizards, with large numbers of at least two types of skink and ghekos, occasional snakes (mainly browns, but also whip snakes). Common birds include house sparrows, galahs, magpies and peewits, ringnecked honey eaters, new england honey eaters, dove and crested pigeons, willy wagtails. Seasonal rosellas and grassparrots, red throated warblers. Sightings of peregrine falcons, firetails, various parrots, wrens, robins, finches, silver eyes. Lots of types of spiders, beetles, ants. Termites are endemic (limit on use of wood). Centepedes potentially under every rock.
Prominent trees on site include a locally dominant Aleppo Pine in the north west corner, nearby peppertrees, a spotted gum, fuscia gum, a melalucca and a couple grevillias, a couple lemon scented gums, a couple calistomons and overhanging acacia in the north east and a row with a couple jackarandahs, a couple almonds and a 'socialis' eucalyptus in the south east. Finally, a largish spruce, a couple candlepines and some conifer shrubs out the front complete the collection.
Two small sad patches of stringy grass out the back door and several climging roses, scattered bulbs (iris, lilly, daffodil), sages, bush daisies, geraniums purple creepers, and a happy wanderer round it out.
There are several brick lined paths of white stones, and a few stepping stones in a couple of places.
This is what we started with.
Monday, April 1, 2019
April Fool?
Am I a fool for starting another blog up? I don't think so, as I think each blog can act as a running record, thinking place, display cabinet for what is important in a person's life at any particular time. Hence my convoluted blogging history over the past fifteen years. So, a gardening blog it is!
I will keep updating as appropriate my other blogs as the need arises, but for the moment much of my creative energy is flowing into the soil of our small garden, so I'll probably be concentrating on this space for the coming period.
At this stage I can foresee this site as primarily being a glorified 'to do' and 'done' list. It may occasionally branch out, but the emphasis will be on the gardening, not the blogging. There'll be the odd picture, but not a lot. It's mainly for my own purposes (sort of an electronic gardener's day book).
We'll see how it goes for a couple months. In that time the layout etc will change as the spirit moves me, I'll try and keep up to date with the posting. If the exercise proves worth the effort I'll keep it going.
If not...
I will keep updating as appropriate my other blogs as the need arises, but for the moment much of my creative energy is flowing into the soil of our small garden, so I'll probably be concentrating on this space for the coming period.
At this stage I can foresee this site as primarily being a glorified 'to do' and 'done' list. It may occasionally branch out, but the emphasis will be on the gardening, not the blogging. There'll be the odd picture, but not a lot. It's mainly for my own purposes (sort of an electronic gardener's day book).
We'll see how it goes for a couple months. In that time the layout etc will change as the spirit moves me, I'll try and keep up to date with the posting. If the exercise proves worth the effort I'll keep it going.
If not...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)