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
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