Getting warmer..

The hugel bed is growing nicely with all the rain. The asparagus plants are poking their heads up asking "Is it Spring yet?"

The almond trees certainly know it's warming up. They're blooming like crazy and look really happy after the permie group pruned them. The bees are humming away up there happily, and the old flowering broccoli is yesterdays news.

And one more sign of spring - a broody hen is fighting the massive urge to scratch around in the lush green grass and is trying to sit on some eggs. :) We've set up a special area just for her. Here's hoping for good news in roughly 3 weeks..

Don't forget, you can click on the pictures to get a bigger view. :)

Tree planting at home

The other day, we went to a clearing sale that was a bit of a bust, then the next day we went to a poultry auction, which was also a bust. I think something is telling us we should just stay home! So, on the way back we stopped in to the nursery and brought home 12 tubestock trees. Today we got stuck into planting them all.

These trees are the start of a woodlot, a windbreak and a screening of the neighbouring properties. First we mowed the area, then we marked contour with the A frame, dug the holes, planted the trees, put a guard around each one, and came back with the wheelbarrow full of water containers for them all. Initially we were going to use the contour line to rip a small trench using the tractor, but decided against it.. It was a bit more curvy than we expected.. but the little trees look great anyhow!

It's much more productive staying at home. :)

Running out of winter

So, a friendly electrician took pity on us and took a look at our setup, and we're hoping he's able to help us out. In the meantime, when the weather allows, we've continued to practice welding by putting up the shed. It's been fun, frustrating and exciting, all in the same day sometimes. We're both getting better at welding, and I'm pretty sure it won't fall down.. Mostly pretty sure. After all, when it's done, we're going to park the tractor and the cars under it! Yikes.

We've had some lovely rain, the wattle trees are blooming, and so are the almonds. The chooks have been amazing, too. They're laying enough to keep us with 2 dozen eggs at a time in the cupboard, and a few more to give away occasionally. They're out scratching around in the cold, from just before dawn to a little before dusk. The naked-neck breed is the work-horse of the chook world, I think, followed closely by the langshan. The dorkings are a bit more laid back, but it'll be interesting to see how the next generation fare, given their role models! I can't wait until we get a broody hen!!

It's nearly the end of winter, and we're scaling back our heater usage now. For a while there the Nectre 15 was running 24 hours a day. Now it's only really in the evenings, except for the odd 10°C (50°F) rainy day, when going outside just isn't going to happen. The wood we stored is getting a little low, but we'll make it through with spare.

Spring is just around the corner, and with it comes plenty of ideas and plans. Lots of seeds to plant, a few earthworks, bamboo planting, food production, renovations.. the list seems endless! It's like I say to Marty all the time though, there's no rush or time limit. Just us two, doing what we can. :)

DIY Extra Low Voltage solar power

We've been working on getting electricity happening here for a long time now. Lots of research, lots of learning, determining exactly how much we need and finding the components. It's been a learning experience, for sure, coming from not knowing what amps, volts or watts were, knowing nothing about electricity at all, really!

Building the battery box feels like nearing the end of the journey, rather than just the start.

Inspiration for the box and "wall" for the charge controller etc, came from a strange place. We had this wood frame that was attached to the 3-point-linkage carry-all we got at an auction. It wasn't much use to us on the carry-all, but it inspired us - in a rustic kinda way - to use it to build the holder for the power components. Just add a form-ply box for the batteries and.. you see it, don't you?

Fortunately, Marty sees my crazy plans, and runs with them. :)

It's sturdy. I weigh about the same as only one of the batteries though!

The top opens, the front comes off completely, making moving the batteries in and out (hopefully not often) a little bit easier. It takes both of us to lift a battery, and it took a few days of rest and a visit to the chiropractor after doing it. I'm not even joking!

The batteries are 12V 190AH each. All four of them will be hooked-up to give us 24V and 380AH all up. It should be enough to run the freezer, and I doubt they'll notice our little 3 watt light globes in the kitchen. Most everything else we re-charge (laptop, power tools, vacuum cleaner and mobile phones) are done during sunny days.

So, next up, we've attached a board at the back of the unit, and "Blue" (the Victron 150/70 MPPT charge controller) will be attached - once we've got a door to keep it safe from crazy weather.. After that.. well.. lots of maths, cable sizes, fuses and such. Maths isn't our strong point, so we're taking it slow and making triple-y sure we have it right before doing anything drastic.

Meanwhile, our old ute battery is still going strong - goodness knows how - with the old charge controller keeping it charged despite the weather. We have light, internet and gadgets.. but we're both looking forward to the day we can have a freezer too.

White stuff!

The most amazing hail storm hovered over us on Saturday. It could have been snow, but it would have hurt to stand under it for sure - given the noise on the tin roof.

The hail went in to the gutters, down the pipes and clogged-up the inlet for the water tank. It gushed out all down the side, and this pile of ice even hung around through the next day as well.

The hugel bed was drenched, but it held the water from running down the hill. Perfect!

The rest of the property didn't get as much soaking-in as that one spot did - it's the first time I've seen rain running down the side of the hill like that. Too much to soak-in. It flowed down the driveway, into the old diversion drain (that was here long before we were), and into the dam - sounding like a creek, bringing silt and dirt with it.

After the storm, we walked the property, looking at where the water came from, where it went and learning as much as we could. The sun came out for a short time, and it looked eerie with the dark sky from the storm beyond the trees.

It's been raining on and off for the last two days now. The water tank is full, the garden swales are full, and all the plants in the shade house is un-damaged. I'd say we were pretty lucky. The cottage didn't drip once, the fire kept us warm, and the lights and power remained steady. Speaking of power.. we're still working on that..