Oh, for ranting out loud!

Lately, I feel like the longer I'm away from society, the crazier it seems to be getting. I don't often get swept up in news on the telly or on the radio, or outraged by the latest issues. There's no areal for the TV, and I don't listen to the radio. It's pretty hard to get a good signal, so I gave up a couple of years ago. When I do step out into the "real world", it's a bit shocking.

Marty and I visited my Mum the other day (it's been a long while since we have been there, but she's moving interstate, and I needed to say goodbye). We saw multiple small trucks spraying chemicals, blanket spraying anything within a metre or two on the side of the road. That's a lot of chemicals, not to mention the money, and of course, those weeds will be back and they can do it all over again. No design, no plan, just keep doing the same thing over and over.. what's that the definition of again? Insanity? No, these days it's the definition of keeping the system going, people get paid, everyone's happy.

There are (big expensive) signs on the side of the road warning people to prune and clean up their fruit trees to prevent fruit fly. I have been asked lately if we get fruit fly by people I talk to when shopping in town. It seems to be on people's minds, so I imagine there's quite a campaign, although I don't see it. So, here's my answer.

NO! I don't have a fruit fly problem.

At first, I thought it was because of the frosts, but I think I'm not giving my local bird population enough credit.

Our fruit trees have been here longer than Marty and I have. They're pretty healthy despite neglect over the years, and produce great fruit and don't suffer disease. The ground under them is wild, with herbs, grasses, and mess. Some of the fruit decays on the ground and on the tree, year after year I suppose, for much longer than we've been here. Yet, still no fruit fly.

Yes, people around us have fruit fly problems, so I've heard. They've also got kids, dogs, cats and lawns. I imagine that doesn't leave much for the choughs to pick through, if they're not scared away by the pets. The choughs perform the functions of chickens in a permaculture design, except they feed themselves, breed successfully every year, and are well adapted to living in this environment. This year, the choughs have two babies, and they're spending a lot of time handing around the garden, turning over every leaf and stick. Straw flies through the air and holes are dug, it's a "mess", just the way they like it. You'd have to be a lucky fruit fly larvae to survive all those beaks searching for you!

The mummified fruit on the trees is taken one at a time throughout winter by the butcher birds. Horrible name they have been given.. I absolutely love them! Their song is something else, and they're so intelligent! They take a mummified fruit on the wing, grabbing it with their foot and transferring it to their beaks mid flight! I adored watching it from the loungeroom window. They then take that fruit and find a fork in a log or other such thing we've got lying around, and wedge it in there and peck it apart. I imagine it's quite sweet tasting! It's just dried fruit, after all.

I'm hearing about people getting into trouble and being threatened with fines, if they don't clean up their trees.. prune, pick up fruit, make it clean and neat. There's no way I'll be able to explain to someone "in authority" that no, there aren't any fruit fly issues here, that the wild birds keep the balance, and it's the simplification of our environment that's causing the pest problems in the first place. I can't express myself well when under pressure, so I feel like I have to express it now, before anything like that happens. I know it won't make a difference to the outcome, but I need to get this out there!

Spraying, pruning, netting the trees, mowing and cleaning right up to the trunk of the fruit tree. Those are the problems, not the solutions. Simplifying the environment, trying to control every single thing, and with our human brains already trying to do so many other things, what makes us think we could possibly imagine all the outcomes of everything we do? It's taken me over 3 years to see what's actually happening with just this one system here. This land is my teacher. Mother nature knows what she's doing. We just gotta stop trying to control everything, stop interfering, and get out of the way.

Sure, we don't get every peach that each tree produces. We don't get a perfect crop from every tree every year. There are at least 7 peach trees, so there is plenty enough for us to enjoy sweet juicy fruit in the summertime, the birds and other animals get more than enough, too. It's more akin to foraging than it is to an orchard. Sure, it's not a commercial venture, but it's not suppose to be. It's worked for probably over a decade, and continues to work today, and unless some "authority" trespasses onto our land and tries to tell me to clean it up, I imagine it'll continue to work for many seasons to come.

Springtime 2018

In my own garden-version of no-kill cropping, I have experimented with all kinds of ways to keep from ripping weeds out of the soil, while attempting to keep my preferred plants sunlit. I find my old hand sickle far too large to use between plants. I have tried my garden knife (called a Hori hori) but it isn't sharp enough to cut grass and weeds cleanly without ripping. I then tried taking flowering seed heads off the grass with my hands. That doesn't work well when the grass lets go of the soil instead of the flower. So, I found some old grass shears that were probably in a bunch of old gardening tools, won for a few dollars at a clearing sale years ago. They're old, but in good condition, although my hand is definitely getting stronger using these shears! There's a pinch spot you have to be careful of, and a glove is useful. The cut is much nicer though, clean, and accurate. If I accidentally cut off some garlic leaves, at least I know the garlic isn't completely done for!

However, I did leave it a little late to find the best tool for the job. The grasses are flowering and dropping pollen with every snip, which makes for a sneezing, eye-watering experience. Still, everything that is cut stays where it falls, and it's fast and much easier than pulling and ripping. It's quiet, clean (no dirt flying anywhere, no dirt under my fingernails!) and I feel better not killing.
On the other hand, I understand there's a satisfaction in taking out the frustrations of life by pulling weeds, and yes, the grass are annuals and are going to die once they've flowered anyway, but this way, a living root stays in the soil as long as possible. That's the main thing. I'm going to keep going with this and see what happens.

I've been keeping the mono garlic neat and trimmed using the shears for longer than the kitchen garden beds. I simply trim back the grass around the garlic, let the grass lay where it fall, and rake the leaves and mulch back over the bed. I rake the leaves and mulch back about once a week at the moment, because the choughs are extremely diligent (but not neat) about their bug control duties.

Did I mention that I added a couple of extra hoops to the shade-house? They're a bit bigger than the original hoops, which might need to be fixed before the shadecloth goes on, but it doesn't bother me if it looks a little funny. What is funny is when birds like kookaburras or ravens or choughs try and land on the slippery hoops, wings and tail waving all around trying to keep from falling off. Well, it's either funny or I'm starting to loose it out here on my own. :)

Speaking of loosing it, I am really glad that snakes can't hear. I think they'd be offended at the scream that I let out when I see one! Honestly, I can't help myself! They're so beautiful, and after I've screamed, I usually try and get a little look at their shimmering golden brown colour. Being an Eastern Brown, I don't get closer, and every time I see one, it gets away from me as quickly as possible, which is really quick!
Almost everyone I've met around here kill snakes on sight. It's not legal, it's not ethical, it's not necessary. Well, maybe if I sprout a tail and get really small and fuzzy all of a sudden. They eat mice, not people. :p

The water tanks are about half way full. The house tank is 22,500L (5,000 gal) so, maybe 10,000L (2000 gal) full, and the structure tank (pictured above) is 10,000L, so another 5,000L (1000 gal) worth in there. The structure tank fills up faster than the house tank when it rains, and I wanted to access that water for use in the food gardens before it had a chance to overflow. I started digging the ground with a mattock to bury the water line (important as the tractors and cars drive over this spot occasionally). I found the mattock to be .. well, I'm sure you can imagine, even after a rain, the mattock makes that dull thud on the ground and little old me didn't bother doing that for too long. I found the broadfork to be an excellent tool to use instead! It went in to the soil much deeper and kept the soil in big chunks. I lay the blueline in and rolled the chunks back over the top of the pipe. Easy, even for me!

And finally, in keeping in the spirit of being nicer to the soil, I bring you seed balls version 2.0. The no-clay version.
I planted some bean seeds last month. It was a bit too cold to plant, but about 4 or 5 plants are still alive today. I re-seeded the spots that didn't make it, but this time I encased about 3 or 4 bean seeds into a ball of worm castings, and planted the whole thing. Our worm farm has been doing really well and we have enough castings to put them to good use in the garden at last. I almost can't wait to see if it works! The castings should help give them a good start, and I'm also adding dolomite to the soil around any other seedlings that I transplant. If things keep going well, and we get some more rain, we should have a really interesting growing season ahead. With all the researching, reading and educational and inspirational podcasts I've been listening to, I've been looking forward to putting it all into practice. Still, it's only spring, and when the dry, windy 40°C plus (104°F plus) weather hits, this positive attitude could very well wither and die like the grass in the paddock. Speaking of the paddock, I had read that one of the best ways to mulch (we do it with the mulching mower on the back of the tractor), is to cut it before the pollen falls from the grasses. That way, green premium hay is dropped onto the ground before the summer heat. I really enjoy "mowing", and because I cut high, and the grass isn't thick due to the lack of rain over winter, it was quite easy to do. I cut less than half the grasses, and will cut a little more soon, although I maintain quite a lot of long, wild areas to keep insects and other critters happy.

Until next time!

Blooming beautiful August

It's starting to become green around here, as well as yellow, and white and red from the flowers that are blooming. It's beautiful, uplifting and gives me hope. It's the kindest time of year for the garden, despite the cold mornings, there is moisture around. I'm deliberately not pulling weeds this year. I'm partnering with them instead. Lets see how it goes!

Broccoli seedlings in a mass of "weeds"

Giving the plants I want an advantage, of course, but leaving the living roots in the soil - that's what it's all about. I've been reading "Call of the Reed Warbler" by Charles Massy, which talks about regenerative agriculture in Australia. Inspirational. There are farmers in worse conditions than ours, using no or minimal inputs, not killing plants, and supporting the soil life to make a living. True managers and caretakers of our land. He talks about plenty of farmers, but Bruce Maynard and his "no-kill cropping" is my favourite. :)

The wattles we planted along the fence-line are flowering

The almond flowers look lovely, but I planted the jonquils for their smell

I've been watching everything I can on YouTube with Gabe Brown in the USA who's keeping a living root in the soil at all times. I heard him talking in an interview about Colin Seis as being an the next big innovation, which got me reading about him in the book above, and realising Joel Salatin was talking about this stuff too when he was in Australia not too long ago. It's a revolution! :)

A local native fern growing at the top of the hill

So, given that I'm absorbing so many inspirational ideas lately, and that the grass is finally getting green and the local birds are singing their hearts out, it's hard not to get caught up in it all. The new bird for this year is the Noisy Friarbird that I can't seem to get a photo of.. but click on the "Calls" play button on the right side of that linked page, and you'll hear what I've been hearing lately. Along with the usual bird sounds of the Choughs squawking and arguing by the dam, the soft "alarm" of the Grey-Crowned Babblers, the squeaking of the parrots looking for nest sites (sometimes sounding like they're tearing holes in our roof to make nesting sites), the crowing of our rooster and the faint sounds of the Guinea Fowl from the neighbours. Sometimes it's so noisy, it's hard to tell the different birds apart, and other times it's so quiet, except for the hum of the bees on the almond tree flowers. The insects are starting to build in number, although they're all quite slow in the cold. Easy to take photos of, at least!

I feel a little bit like a kid, full of hope and optimism. I know summer is just around the corner, though, and I'm expecting a tougher year than last. The water tanks are not full, and it'll be many years before the shade trees help cool things down in the garden. Still, it's not all as bad as the news makes it out to be. We don't have livestock to feed and water, and for good reason for the time being. I really do believe that well managed farms will bounce back from this "drought" fairly quickly. After all, it's a natural part of the weather cycles in this country, always has been, always will be.

Welsh bunching onions x3 - finally looking happy

So, in my optimism, I'm continuing to plant trees in the hopes that they will live, grow, provide shade, insect and bird habitat, living roots and fungal networks and all the benefits that photosynthesis provides.

Until next time!

Warm Winter

We finished the plumbing last weekend, and as you can see, blue skies and lovely sunny weather prevailed. No matter, it means the joins have had plenty of time to cure and harden as much as they could before the beautiful sound of rain hit the roof this weekend. We were both very happy that it worked so well, considering the SafeRain is from the previous system, and is at least 4 years old now. It was full of silt (not surprising, since that's our soil type locally), and after a good clean up, it's back up and being used on a "wet system" this time. Did I mention it worked? I'm still surprised! There is water in the olive barrel again. We have a drainage line set up that empties the underground water onto the hugelbed area, so we can empty the system if it's been a while since the last rain, or (oh boy, I hope not!) need to repair anything. We have a couple of silt traps with easy access, so the water should stay clean in the tank.

I'm hoping this Winter still has some opportunity for a bit of rain, since it's been quite dry this year. No gumboots required! There's a petition going around for drought assistance for farmers. Our neighbours have been feeding their sheep since Summer. It's yet another reason why we don't feel confident enough to bring any livestock onto our farm yet.

The mono-garlic is growing well. It's an extremely tough plant. I dug these up and transplanted them from a spot in the garden that has had them growing forever - well, long before we came. It was planted in a row near the peach trees, grows and flowers every year, then dies down again. We weren't sure what it was at first, only that it smelled so good to walk past in Winter / Spring. Scared that we might die if we tried eating it, since it doesn't have cloves, looks more like an onion, but has no rings and smells like garlic.. we thought maybe it was ornamental, but the flowers look like garlic too. Researching garlic varieties, it looks just like mono-garlic, and tastes nice too. We're still alive, and didn't experience any adverse reactions afterwards, so I'm declaring it. :) So this year, I planted it in a long row in a newly made garden bed. The soil is quite terrible. No humus, just compacted silt and a very light covering of subclover, salvation jane and some onion weed. Aside from soil compaction and a couple of quartz rocks, it wasn't too difficult to use the broadfork. I didn't turn the soil, just lifted it a little to give it some air. The dolomite lime and mulch from under the peppercorn trees mostly sit on top, and leaves from the poplar trees has kept the beds moist. The white-winged choughs have made a mess of the neat rows, as did the apostle birds (although they're not as messy), and the grey-crowned babblers are enjoying themselves out there today. It's ok, gives me a reason to get the rake out afterwards, and it's probably a good sign that insects and soil life has moved in.

One good thing about having a dry warm winter is not needing to have the fire going all day. It's been so warm that we've been able to continue to brew tea outside in the sun. This is for Jun, a green tea version of Kombucha. Jun doesn't mind the cooler weather, either, so it's happily brewing in the cold kitchen. The Kombucha has been moved into the loungeroom with us to keep it going over winter. It's funny that they're so different, since I used the Kombucha scoby to make the Jun scoby. It took a little time for the scoby to become accustomed to the green tea and honey, but now it's a whole new colony and flavour which we're really enjoying. My tip for brewing tea outside is; don't add honey or sugar to the tea until after you've brought it back inside again, unless trying to coax ants out of your kitchen.

I'm off to start some microgreens growing again. Marty misses taking salads to work, and they're so good for you, it's almost a crime to not grow them!

Green n frosty

It's that time of year again, the frost that takes out the tomatoes comes around and I have to run around with a camera taking shots of the ice covering everything. The photo below is of the stump I use to peen (sharpen) the scythe on, and the strawbales behind it.

I'm not sure the mandarin tree enjoys the frost, but it doesn't complain.

Alpine strawberries. I really hadn't considered their name until just now. I guess it makes sense that they're absolutely fine with frost! It's still flowering and looking well.

Nothing escaped the first big frost this year, not even in the shadehouse, although the effect was less in there, the plants that are not cold tolerant just keeled over. It's almost a relief when it comes to tomatoes, since I don't have the heart to pull out green plants, even if their fruit hasn't been ripening, but now that they're black, I have a good excuse. Perennials that died are just going to have to be a lesson in what I can't have here. That included a lovely little pawpaw tree, a couple of ornamental plants, and succulents. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll live again in Spring.