"Autumn" 2016

Past the half way point through March already, and although temperatures are in the lower 30's (86-93-ish in °F) I think Marty and I have a small bug which is making us both feel under the weather as well.

Admitedly, we havn't been eating the best lately, because you guessed it, it's just too darn hot. The other morning, before dawn, we fired up the Webber and started a (beautiful, local, organic, free range and extremely scrumptious) pork roast. We ate it cold for days, which helped a great deal.

Although this looks very simple, I'd like to assure you all that, in-fact, it is.

Worm bath Mk2, Pearl Cottage style is a $10 gumtree bath find sitting on 4 blocks of concrete with pine lining lid. A coat of lime wash is experimental - if it comes off in the rain, I'll just have to paint it instead. I intend to build up some cob around the base to provide a bit of extra stability and temperature control, but for now it's a go, with a few handfuls of worms from our friend's farm, a little coir and a start of kitchen scraps.

And otherwise, we are, once again, both looking forward to some cooler weather and getting some more stuff done.

The looong slooow summer continues

The hot weather continues, the garden is looking stressed, and we haven't had rain for a long while now. It can be a bit depressing, but things will change. Eventually.

The site chosen, roughly leveled and the stirrups are in place for the new shed. Nothing much happens quickly in the summer.

Well, except for the peaches, which were quick to ripen, and be eaten by parrots, but we got a few and they were delicious. :)

But slow is generally the name of the game right now. That goes for food and medicine too. These are some sauerkraut and pickles I made, and behind them are tinctures brewing. It took 6 weeks to make the tinctures and 1 week for the fermented foods. (The sauerkraut and pickles are eaten already though, that was quick!)

It's been warm here lately, and we're expecting more of the same 37°C (98.6°F) for another week at least, the unofficial temperature easily climbs over 40°C (104°F) under our veranda. Getting up before dawn and hiding inside after 9am is about the only way to get anything done. We're thankful for the fan, the insulation in the roof and the thick mudbrick walls. Although the walls have a habit of staying a tad too warm after a few days of heat, things will be much nicer once they're rendered, painted and the trees grow up.