I had a brilliant week, not in the least because I had the week off as sick leave. Doctor's orders were to make the most of this week and spend time in the garden, which I followed to the letter - after all who am I to question such sensible words of advice.
So, I worked in the orchard on the first row of pear trees (this alone took me already 3 days), to sort out the sections in between them. Each pear tree has its own comfrey next to it, and then I planted a heap of different things, including chamomile, fennel, chives, rhubarb... I also made up two sets of seed mixes and then sprinkled them in between some of the trees, following the 5-7 different seeds principle where (hopefully) beneficials are going to be attracted, and roots are going to bring up nutrients to the pear trees. It looks great, and I'll take some photos when PJ comes back with the camera! These are all edible or medicinal seeds.
I also chopped a heap of wood, wippersnippered and mowed the grass around the house and driveway (to make sure that if there are any wriggly sticks we can at least see them - then scream and run away). I accidentally mowed through the water pipe - that was a bit of excitement (NOT!) seeing all the precious tank water flow away - I gaffa-taped the break, then closed the valve, and needed to get a new pipe. Those are the times that I notice very clearly where PJ and I differ. I had to phone Jamahl to figure out what to do - I don't think my brain is wired for certain things. Jamahl came to give me a hand and it looked like we sorted it all, but then the big tank suddenly filled the small tank and started overflowing, it was all happening. Suffice to say I'm getting very good at running around yelling shit shit shit! turning off valves here and there.
Ian and Ursula came over one day, Ian brought the tractor so we could put our organic fertiliser and grass seeds on the hay paddock. Hopefully we get some hay this year, the weather has been so strange we'll have to wait and see. This was another thing that is more PJ's realm than mine - we weren't sure how much to put on the field, Ian and I, so we figured something out but when I talked with PJ afterwards it appears we put way too little fertiliser on the field. It's all a learning curve I suppose, and we can always do it again next year.
Ursula wanted to make a cheese because her mum is coming over from Switzerland - we made a Havarti which is starting to look very nice.
I also made some camembert, which will be ready when PJ gets back. I added extra cream to see if this changes the texture. The last few camemberts have been lovely but they are not very soft and runny. I thought it might have been the cream content, so this lot is an experiment. There certainly was a lot more yield than with just full cream milk.
Another cheese I made is a Caerphilly - this is the first time I'm trying this one. Hopefully it will be nice - it's another young cheese that should be eaten after 2 weeks, so at least there is not long to wait.
My cheeseroom is starting to look like a cheeseroom with the number of cheeses (and they are starting to be nice size cheeses!!) filling the shelves. I think this year we might be a lot closer to having our own homemade cheese supply than we've been to date, and it would be great if we can cross that off the list. I must try a mozzarella though - because it's a nice cheese and the plastic wrapped shop bought thing just isn't quite the same.
Satchmo is changing! He seems to have gone through a bit of a growing up (but not quite) phase. Over the past few weeks he has become increasingly protective of me - he seems to take his role quite seriously. I've had a few workmen standing by the gate who don't dare entering without me there. It's in a way a bit sobering that my pup has that effect on people, but at the same time it's also comforting to know that he keeps me safe when I'm by myself. I don't know if he is like that because PJ is away - I suppose we'll see what happens when he gets back. My bet is that his bum will fall off from the wagging he'll do.
One day he was in a silly mood and ran around me in circles, while I was trying to clip him on the lead to take him in. Cookie was watching him for a while, and obviously at one stage she'd had enough of him. Out of nowhere she threw herself at him (all 4kg of her - for comparison, Satch is around 65kg now), hissing and spitting. He is still scared shitless of her so immediately sat down and calmly walked in with me. Now, of our animals, who is wearing the pants in our household, I wonder...
This week I'm back at work and it's so dull. Ian said he could get me a job fruit picking, and Steve & Marjorie said they could easily get me a number of violin students. The grass is always greener.... I know that every job brings with it a certain amount of dullness but this job beats everything I've ever done in my life in the dullness stakes. Would it really be so much worse to do seasonal fruit picking, and working in our own garden and making foods? I enjoy working with my hands (and I don't mean the computer keyboard), and feel that I can be a lot more creative that way (and with a much more useful result too).
I don't think it even matters anymore if a job is 'blue collar' or 'white collar'. IBM certainly doesn't seem interested in using me for my brain - I feel like a robot in a car factory doing the same tiny thing over and over, and over again. It doesn't help knowing that the reason why they make you 'specialise' down to this extent is because it becomes so much easier to get rid of you or replace you. There is no training, there is no way to make this job more mentally rewarding and stimulating. Would it be so much worse picking fruit? At least you'd be out in the open and who knows, perhaps learn more about the running of an orchard (although of course we're not running our orchard in the orthodox way).
Anyway, those are just some ponderings.
One of our chookies is sitting again. Let's hope she sits until the end, something she hasn't managed to do last year. It would be nice to see a few little ones - she is sitting on six eggs. Although some people think it's best not to let chooks sit (as you obviously lose out on eggs) we've had so many eggs, a few won't go amiss.
To deal with the egg glut, I have made my first batch of pickling eggs, and also am trying a preserving method which supposedly makes the eggs last for 6-8 months. Very fascinating... You need absolutely fresh eggs, and first you dunk them in very hot water for 5 seconds (this makes the membrane inside expand and stops bacteria from getting into the egg). Then you seal the egg using vaseline, salt butter, or wax - I used vaseline (kinky, I know). Put them pointy end down in a container filled with bran, flour or salt, and voila. So I have 8 eggs stored in a box full of flour underneath the floor, and will see what has happened to them come April. I think I might open them outside though - just in case they explode.
Toodles!
Monday, 2 November 2009
Thursday, 22 October 2009
On a showerless future, but with piglets
When we were still in Perth, we once talked about showers with friends of ours. It came to light that I love my showers, and can spend rather a bit too long in them. Adri said that Sue also loved showers, and that he had read some research that said artistic people love taking long showers. So in our sample of two people, that was a 100% true.
Fastforward to now.... And I've had a rather horrible shower year. With the incessant rain we found that the solar tubes on the roof do on the whole not heat the water enough in winter to be able to have a warm shower. So I've had lots of washes at the sink in the kitchen, or a shower at the local sports centre. Not quite the same. Now that it is heating up a bit, I have found that although the water is now finally hot, it's so hot that it's unbearable. No problem you say, just add some cold. Well... because we're on rainwater, we have no pressure and so we have a pump in the roof that adds a bit of pressure to the hot water. 'A bit' being the operative part of the sentence here. Now the water appears so hot that the pump keeps stalling and restarting. So, when I add cold water, the hot water goes ice cold, then hot, then ice cold, then hot.... You get the drift.
Rather than a lovely soothing experience, having a shower adds to the general malaise of my stressful working life, and has been less than satisfactory. Very much less.
Orlov says in his book Reinventing Collapse that a shower is a luxury - a COLD shower that is. So I shouldn't complain - but I can't help it: While things are still the way they are, a lovely hot shower (with pressure) would be nice. Perhaps some time in the future I will have fond memories of this episode, but for now, the joy of having a shower has well and truly been removed from my life. The reality of a showerless future might as well be here already <grumble>.
PJ has been away nearly a week now - he is visiting his family in the UK. I tried to take some time off work, but the bastards won't let me - we're in deadline zone. Needless to say this apparently does not apply to my teamlead who has kids and takes every holiday under the sun (when the kids are off), deadlines or not. I had a rather heated exchange with my manager about discrimination against women who choose NOT to have kids and who always get second choice on holidays, but to no avail - my holidays were not approved. Of course I have no bitter feelings towards either my teamlead or my manager at all - especially not as I've got my millionth cold and have to keep on working.
Still, I'm managing to keep everything going, and after 5 days Satchmo has finally settled and is not pining at the gate for PJ so much anymore. He makes all the difference to me being by myself - even though he's still a pup, there is something comforting to having him shadow me everywhere I go. Last night I was watching a comedy and he lay down next to me with his head on my lap, and fell asleep. The kitties were all around me, cuddled up into me as well. Then, I have a peaceful moment and think life doesn't get much better than that.
We've been watching the River Cottage Series and they are great. I'm again considering getting a few pigs. When we first started I thought it'd be nice to have some, especially as they can plow a field for you, no tractor required. Then I thought the fencing is too hard, and so forgot about it for a while.
However, over the past few months now we have been trying to get our hay field plowed and sown with grass seeds, but it's been too wet and the tractor can't get in the field. As a result, I've been thinking a lot about pigs again. Not only is it an option when we can't run machinery anymore, but also, pigs can still get into a field even if the weather is bad. On top of that, seeing them running around in the River Cottage series, I think they'd make a great addition to the farm. PJ is slowly warming to the idea as well.
The pigs that I'm interested in are called Wessex Saddlebacks, which, I was surprised to find out, are nearly extinct. Apparently they don't grow as fast and fat as the big pink porkers, so no one in the industry wants to use them (typical or what!!). However, for a smallholding like we have, they would be perfect as they are quiet, great foragers, and are also yummy to eat. I have sourced a place in Tasmania where I can purchase some, once we are ready and have our fencing and shelters in place.
Anyway, that's it for me today, here is an interesting article: Wind powered factories: history (and future) of industrial windmills.
oink oink!
Fastforward to now.... And I've had a rather horrible shower year. With the incessant rain we found that the solar tubes on the roof do on the whole not heat the water enough in winter to be able to have a warm shower. So I've had lots of washes at the sink in the kitchen, or a shower at the local sports centre. Not quite the same. Now that it is heating up a bit, I have found that although the water is now finally hot, it's so hot that it's unbearable. No problem you say, just add some cold. Well... because we're on rainwater, we have no pressure and so we have a pump in the roof that adds a bit of pressure to the hot water. 'A bit' being the operative part of the sentence here. Now the water appears so hot that the pump keeps stalling and restarting. So, when I add cold water, the hot water goes ice cold, then hot, then ice cold, then hot.... You get the drift.
Rather than a lovely soothing experience, having a shower adds to the general malaise of my stressful working life, and has been less than satisfactory. Very much less.
Orlov says in his book Reinventing Collapse that a shower is a luxury - a COLD shower that is. So I shouldn't complain - but I can't help it: While things are still the way they are, a lovely hot shower (with pressure) would be nice. Perhaps some time in the future I will have fond memories of this episode, but for now, the joy of having a shower has well and truly been removed from my life. The reality of a showerless future might as well be here already <grumble>.
PJ has been away nearly a week now - he is visiting his family in the UK. I tried to take some time off work, but the bastards won't let me - we're in deadline zone. Needless to say this apparently does not apply to my teamlead who has kids and takes every holiday under the sun (when the kids are off), deadlines or not. I had a rather heated exchange with my manager about discrimination against women who choose NOT to have kids and who always get second choice on holidays, but to no avail - my holidays were not approved. Of course I have no bitter feelings towards either my teamlead or my manager at all - especially not as I've got my millionth cold and have to keep on working.
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
Still, I'm managing to keep everything going, and after 5 days Satchmo has finally settled and is not pining at the gate for PJ so much anymore. He makes all the difference to me being by myself - even though he's still a pup, there is something comforting to having him shadow me everywhere I go. Last night I was watching a comedy and he lay down next to me with his head on my lap, and fell asleep. The kitties were all around me, cuddled up into me as well. Then, I have a peaceful moment and think life doesn't get much better than that.
We've been watching the River Cottage Series and they are great. I'm again considering getting a few pigs. When we first started I thought it'd be nice to have some, especially as they can plow a field for you, no tractor required. Then I thought the fencing is too hard, and so forgot about it for a while.
However, over the past few months now we have been trying to get our hay field plowed and sown with grass seeds, but it's been too wet and the tractor can't get in the field. As a result, I've been thinking a lot about pigs again. Not only is it an option when we can't run machinery anymore, but also, pigs can still get into a field even if the weather is bad. On top of that, seeing them running around in the River Cottage series, I think they'd make a great addition to the farm. PJ is slowly warming to the idea as well.
The pigs that I'm interested in are called Wessex Saddlebacks, which, I was surprised to find out, are nearly extinct. Apparently they don't grow as fast and fat as the big pink porkers, so no one in the industry wants to use them (typical or what!!). However, for a smallholding like we have, they would be perfect as they are quiet, great foragers, and are also yummy to eat. I have sourced a place in Tasmania where I can purchase some, once we are ready and have our fencing and shelters in place.
Anyway, that's it for me today, here is an interesting article: Wind powered factories: history (and future) of industrial windmills.
oink oink!
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Satchmo is 1!
First off, Happy Birthday Satchmo! My little boy is 1 today. I couldn't imagine living here without him. Of course I love my cats to bits - but Satchmo is always with me. Whereas my kitties run around outside most of the day, Satch will sleep on my feet. We go out for walks. We sit down and watch over the cows together. When I'm in the garden, he's with me. In short, he is one special dog.
The other good news is, that Hattie had her calf. Both mum and bub are doing well. She's very protective and I haven't seen what it is yet. It's a big one, so maybe we'll have our first boy out of Rufus?!?
It's a lovely day today - time to work in the garden! Tonight Tanya & Jamahl will come over for a dinner of nibblies to celebrate Satchmo's birthday.
A good day all round!
ttfn
The other good news is, that Hattie had her calf. Both mum and bub are doing well. She's very protective and I haven't seen what it is yet. It's a big one, so maybe we'll have our first boy out of Rufus?!?
It's a lovely day today - time to work in the garden! Tonight Tanya & Jamahl will come over for a dinner of nibblies to celebrate Satchmo's birthday.
A good day all round!
ttfn
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Musical Mo-mo and other musings
Satchmo loves music. Whenever I play, he needs to join me (or us, when Marjorie and Steve come over). Tuesday night was such an occasion. I wanted to practise a bit of jazz, and started off with some lovely old swing numbers. Sure enough, in came Satch, he walked around a bit and then plonked himself on my foot. What a babe.
It doesn't matter whether it is the violin or the piano - he loves all (see all pics).
Last weekend I took PJ to Melbourne for his birthday. We flew out at the ungodly hour of 6am on Friday (meaning we had to get up at 3.45am!!). Chris and Lisa had come the previous night to stay and look after the animals.
We picked up a car at the airport, and then went off to Heronswood, to have a look at the Diggers gardens and have some lunch as well. It was pissing it down - we thought we must have had worse weather than Geeveston, but as we are by now well accustomed to the rain we didn't let that dampen our spirits. We had a lovely walk around and picked up quite a few ideas and modifications for our own gardens. I was particularly interested in seeing how they combined veg and flowers in the same garden beds. We had lunch there - with produce fresh from the gardens. PJ had a piece of organic free-range pork. I'm reading the River Cottage Meat book, and the author says that nothing benefits more from being raised free-range than pigs. I had a taste too, and I must admit that I've not tasted pork that was so succulent. It had a beautiful texture too, so there you go.
After Heronswood, we made our way back to Melbourne city, via a homestead called The Briars. This was an old place that has been kept for heritage reasons. Now it's mostly for the pleasure of people wanting to go for hikes across the wetlands and visit the homestead. The original owners were friends of Napoleon (!) and there were still a number of items in the house given to them by Napoleon. The guide who took us around was - we think - definitely peak aware. He was quite outspoken about the problems we'll be facing. He was in his sixties I'd think, and one of things he said was that overpopulation was the biggest issue we're facing.
Although I fully agree with him, I find that people of that generation just pay lipservice to this kind of statement - when talking a bit more with him it became clear that him and his wife had had kids - so saying overpopulation is the problem is all well and good, but where do you draw the line? Where do you start? Is it your own generation, this generation, or the next generation? And if you think it's your own generation where this should start, then how do you justify putting more beings on this world yourself? Anyway it's the biggest elephant in the room and we'll never get to the bottom of it, so I'm not going to waste any more time on it now.
We got to our hotel in Melbourne, I was very impressed with PJ's driving in peak traffic right into the centre, and that is with trams that seem to have right of way at all times. We had an early meal, and then relaxed in our room.
The next day we were going to take it easy, and see what would take our fancy. We both were suffering from consensus-trance syndrome -- life looked so 'normal' and people were so busy going about their normal things (mainly shopping, eating out) that it was hard to imagine why again we are preparing for such large life-changing events. We saw a man going around in a cart with horses - and the irony of it just struck me as he was navigating his way around mad traffic and trams. Which bit of transport will we be using in the future?
The final footy match of the season was on - and it seemed that half of Melbourne was out to watch that game. It meant we had Melbourne to ourselves in the afternoon, and in the evening when all the drunken idiots came out we found a nice Japanese restaurant and spent the evening there.
On Sunday morning we went to the botanical gardens, and tried to see a Dali exhibition. Unfortunately the queue was too long and we had to make our way back to the airport, but in any case, we saw a beautiful exhibition when we were last in Barcelona so we'll have to remember that one instead.
On our way home from Hobart airport we realised the weather in Tassie had beaten the hail and rain in Melbourne - the Huon River looked like it was about to overflow and the road to Cygnet was closed off. I saw powerlines that had fallen, and we had another uprooted tree in the paddock.
Satchmo was happy to see us and licked us to death - the experience of us being away didn't seem to have affected him in any particular way.
And so we're back here... Aurora was supposed to shut down the electricity on Tuesday but since half of Tasmania was without power that didn't happen. Perth had a bank holiday on Monday so I took that one on Tuesday instead, and was lucky enough to have a lovely sunny day. It was so relaxing, I spread ashes around the roots of the stonefruit trees, took Satch for a big walk and chopped a load of wood. I could get used to doing that for a living instead of IBM dribble. I read this blog the other day: Ten reasons you should never get a job. Point 3 cracked me up and definitely rang a bell although I'm pleased to say that beige is definitely not my favourite colour!!
Unfortunately I think he is too simplistic in his analysis. We still need money to do what we need/want to do, and exactly what is it that everybody would be able to do to get by? Apart from of course growing your own food, or becoming a specialist in some item or skill that you could use to barter for things you need. At one stage he states how much he makes with his website - I'd like to know if that was still the same in the current economic environment. Anyway, it was good for a little chuckle.
Ursula dropped by, and so did Tania with some duck eggs which she swapped for chook eggs. I tried them on Wednesday, and although fairly rich I thought they were quite nice. I found an interesting comparison between the two here: Nutritional Comparison of Duck and Chicken Eggs. The vitamin difference was quite a surprise - as was the fact that the cholesterol seems so much worse in duck eggs. I'm not sure if these were organic eggs that they did this comparison on. I know that chook eggs are 'bad', but take the poor chicken out of the cage and let her free range, and the eggs become very healthy all of a sudden.
I'll leave you with some pics from Melbourne (see all pics).....
One of the vegetable patches at Diggers.
Which type of transport will we be using in the future....
I thought this would be a nice summer outfit for me on the farm.
PJ enjoying a cup of hot Belgian chocolate in Koko Black.
It doesn't matter whether it is the violin or the piano - he loves all (see all pics).
Last weekend I took PJ to Melbourne for his birthday. We flew out at the ungodly hour of 6am on Friday (meaning we had to get up at 3.45am!!). Chris and Lisa had come the previous night to stay and look after the animals.
We picked up a car at the airport, and then went off to Heronswood, to have a look at the Diggers gardens and have some lunch as well. It was pissing it down - we thought we must have had worse weather than Geeveston, but as we are by now well accustomed to the rain we didn't let that dampen our spirits. We had a lovely walk around and picked up quite a few ideas and modifications for our own gardens. I was particularly interested in seeing how they combined veg and flowers in the same garden beds. We had lunch there - with produce fresh from the gardens. PJ had a piece of organic free-range pork. I'm reading the River Cottage Meat book, and the author says that nothing benefits more from being raised free-range than pigs. I had a taste too, and I must admit that I've not tasted pork that was so succulent. It had a beautiful texture too, so there you go.
After Heronswood, we made our way back to Melbourne city, via a homestead called The Briars. This was an old place that has been kept for heritage reasons. Now it's mostly for the pleasure of people wanting to go for hikes across the wetlands and visit the homestead. The original owners were friends of Napoleon (!) and there were still a number of items in the house given to them by Napoleon. The guide who took us around was - we think - definitely peak aware. He was quite outspoken about the problems we'll be facing. He was in his sixties I'd think, and one of things he said was that overpopulation was the biggest issue we're facing.
Although I fully agree with him, I find that people of that generation just pay lipservice to this kind of statement - when talking a bit more with him it became clear that him and his wife had had kids - so saying overpopulation is the problem is all well and good, but where do you draw the line? Where do you start? Is it your own generation, this generation, or the next generation? And if you think it's your own generation where this should start, then how do you justify putting more beings on this world yourself? Anyway it's the biggest elephant in the room and we'll never get to the bottom of it, so I'm not going to waste any more time on it now.
We got to our hotel in Melbourne, I was very impressed with PJ's driving in peak traffic right into the centre, and that is with trams that seem to have right of way at all times. We had an early meal, and then relaxed in our room.
The next day we were going to take it easy, and see what would take our fancy. We both were suffering from consensus-trance syndrome -- life looked so 'normal' and people were so busy going about their normal things (mainly shopping, eating out) that it was hard to imagine why again we are preparing for such large life-changing events. We saw a man going around in a cart with horses - and the irony of it just struck me as he was navigating his way around mad traffic and trams. Which bit of transport will we be using in the future?
The final footy match of the season was on - and it seemed that half of Melbourne was out to watch that game. It meant we had Melbourne to ourselves in the afternoon, and in the evening when all the drunken idiots came out we found a nice Japanese restaurant and spent the evening there.
On Sunday morning we went to the botanical gardens, and tried to see a Dali exhibition. Unfortunately the queue was too long and we had to make our way back to the airport, but in any case, we saw a beautiful exhibition when we were last in Barcelona so we'll have to remember that one instead.
On our way home from Hobart airport we realised the weather in Tassie had beaten the hail and rain in Melbourne - the Huon River looked like it was about to overflow and the road to Cygnet was closed off. I saw powerlines that had fallen, and we had another uprooted tree in the paddock.
Satchmo was happy to see us and licked us to death - the experience of us being away didn't seem to have affected him in any particular way.
And so we're back here... Aurora was supposed to shut down the electricity on Tuesday but since half of Tasmania was without power that didn't happen. Perth had a bank holiday on Monday so I took that one on Tuesday instead, and was lucky enough to have a lovely sunny day. It was so relaxing, I spread ashes around the roots of the stonefruit trees, took Satch for a big walk and chopped a load of wood. I could get used to doing that for a living instead of IBM dribble. I read this blog the other day: Ten reasons you should never get a job. Point 3 cracked me up and definitely rang a bell although I'm pleased to say that beige is definitely not my favourite colour!!
Unfortunately I think he is too simplistic in his analysis. We still need money to do what we need/want to do, and exactly what is it that everybody would be able to do to get by? Apart from of course growing your own food, or becoming a specialist in some item or skill that you could use to barter for things you need. At one stage he states how much he makes with his website - I'd like to know if that was still the same in the current economic environment. Anyway, it was good for a little chuckle.
Ursula dropped by, and so did Tania with some duck eggs which she swapped for chook eggs. I tried them on Wednesday, and although fairly rich I thought they were quite nice. I found an interesting comparison between the two here: Nutritional Comparison of Duck and Chicken Eggs. The vitamin difference was quite a surprise - as was the fact that the cholesterol seems so much worse in duck eggs. I'm not sure if these were organic eggs that they did this comparison on. I know that chook eggs are 'bad', but take the poor chicken out of the cage and let her free range, and the eggs become very healthy all of a sudden.
I'll leave you with some pics from Melbourne (see all pics).....
One of the vegetable patches at Diggers.
Which type of transport will we be using in the future....
I thought this would be a nice summer outfit for me on the farm.
PJ enjoying a cup of hot Belgian chocolate in Koko Black.
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Last calf coming....
Much to my surprise I saw some heavy kicking going on in Hattie's belly, and her udder has started filling up. Who would have known... we thought she missed the boat or was perhaps too old, but she must have gotten lucky the second time around. She'll be the last one to calve, after which Lucille, Chippie and Ma Rainey are already getting ready for their new offspring, and then Rufus will have fathered all the calves in the paddock.
Hattie looks like she's going to drop it any day now. I'm taking PJ to Melbourne for his birthday the coming weekend, and I wouldn't be surprised if she'd drop it then, just because -- Chris and Lisa are looking after our place, so they might get a bit more than they bargained for in the animal department!
I stopped by Marjorie & Steve to drop off some more milk and eggs. They said they visited some friends of theirs and took a piece of Porter along. These people run a B&B and are very big on organic produce. They grow all their vegies themselves, but don't have enough land for cows. They loved the taste of Porter so much they wanted to know if we would sell them half a beast the next time someone is ready to go.
It seems that this could become quite a nice little outlet for us - a few people at PJ's work have already expressed interest as well - both in vegies and meat. For me, I think it'd be great. If we could sell all our calves this way, it means they don't have to go off to market, they don't have to get stressed by long trips and be sent off to big commercial slaughterhouses. It would also mean that in our own tiny way we are actually providing organic, chemical free meat as an affordable alternative to supermarket meat, thereby reducing the number of people who buy meat from animals who've had a shit life and whose meat is as a result of vast inferior quality - and therefore worse for us to eat. If this would mean that even one animal would escape the atrocious animal production line our current society allows, it would be one step in the right direction. It's only on a tiny scale, but it's a start.
We went to a snake handling course a few weekends back - see the snake pics! I was pretty calm on the day and even managed to handle a snake (you didn't have to, but in the end I thought I've got to try). I thought I might have overcome my phobia a bit, but alas, a few days after the nightmares began again and I've been seeing tiger snakes on top of the bedroom wardrobes nearly every night. Even PJ started dreaming of snakes - but that might be my vivid dreams and me jumping up on the bed at some ungodly hour shouting Snake! Snake! pointing at the wardrobe, then passing out while PJ spent the next hour searching for them.
The teacher suggested an advanced course for people who live in the country and have to deal with a lot of wild snakes - the snakes are 'warmed up' (unlike the relatively cold, mild mannered snake we handled on this course) and much more agile - this would be more like what you would find in your own paddock. Catching them would be a bit more of a challenge no doubt. Although it would be good and probably more appropriate to what we see in our fields here, I probably wouldn't sleep for the next 3 months so I might leave that for a while.
Still, the course was good, and it was also good to learn first-aid with relation to snakebite, especially since I'm alone most of the day and the prospect of waiting 12 hrs for PJ to return home from his job isn't quite appealing to me when they only need 1 drop of venom to put you out of action. We found out we have both the tiger and the copperhead where we live, and what's more, as we are letting our forest regenerate the natural way and creating forest gardens elsewhere, it's a haven for them! Add to that the gazillions of frogs we've been hearing...
And then they say that a forest garden should create a center of peace and quiet, a place where you can contemplate and wander around feeling good about the birds and the bees (but keep on wearing those high wellies, stamp a lot and carry your two bandages in case you meet a happy snappy tiger snake).
I bought a piano!!! As a kid I used to tinker around a bit on my sister's piano, and I've been wanting to pick it up again - especially now that I've got a bit more time. We saw this beautiful second-hand piano for a more than reasonable price, and decided to get it. I'm pleased to say that although I'm rusty of course, it's all coming back to me and I managed to belt out a boogiewoogie last night (courtesy of some easy sheet music Marjorie lent me), much to the appreciation of my ever musical Satchmo, who tries to lie on my feet every time I play.
My new piano
I thought this was only going to be a short update - mainly because of this website:
http://peopleofwalmart.com/
Watch and
.......
Laugh? Cry?
Honestly I don't want to ever hear again that we are the 'clever' species!! There are too many examples around us that we aren't!!
ttfn
Hattie looks like she's going to drop it any day now. I'm taking PJ to Melbourne for his birthday the coming weekend, and I wouldn't be surprised if she'd drop it then, just because -- Chris and Lisa are looking after our place, so they might get a bit more than they bargained for in the animal department!
I stopped by Marjorie & Steve to drop off some more milk and eggs. They said they visited some friends of theirs and took a piece of Porter along. These people run a B&B and are very big on organic produce. They grow all their vegies themselves, but don't have enough land for cows. They loved the taste of Porter so much they wanted to know if we would sell them half a beast the next time someone is ready to go.
It seems that this could become quite a nice little outlet for us - a few people at PJ's work have already expressed interest as well - both in vegies and meat. For me, I think it'd be great. If we could sell all our calves this way, it means they don't have to go off to market, they don't have to get stressed by long trips and be sent off to big commercial slaughterhouses. It would also mean that in our own tiny way we are actually providing organic, chemical free meat as an affordable alternative to supermarket meat, thereby reducing the number of people who buy meat from animals who've had a shit life and whose meat is as a result of vast inferior quality - and therefore worse for us to eat. If this would mean that even one animal would escape the atrocious animal production line our current society allows, it would be one step in the right direction. It's only on a tiny scale, but it's a start.
We went to a snake handling course a few weekends back - see the snake pics! I was pretty calm on the day and even managed to handle a snake (you didn't have to, but in the end I thought I've got to try). I thought I might have overcome my phobia a bit, but alas, a few days after the nightmares began again and I've been seeing tiger snakes on top of the bedroom wardrobes nearly every night. Even PJ started dreaming of snakes - but that might be my vivid dreams and me jumping up on the bed at some ungodly hour shouting Snake! Snake! pointing at the wardrobe, then passing out while PJ spent the next hour searching for them.
The teacher suggested an advanced course for people who live in the country and have to deal with a lot of wild snakes - the snakes are 'warmed up' (unlike the relatively cold, mild mannered snake we handled on this course) and much more agile - this would be more like what you would find in your own paddock. Catching them would be a bit more of a challenge no doubt. Although it would be good and probably more appropriate to what we see in our fields here, I probably wouldn't sleep for the next 3 months so I might leave that for a while.
Still, the course was good, and it was also good to learn first-aid with relation to snakebite, especially since I'm alone most of the day and the prospect of waiting 12 hrs for PJ to return home from his job isn't quite appealing to me when they only need 1 drop of venom to put you out of action. We found out we have both the tiger and the copperhead where we live, and what's more, as we are letting our forest regenerate the natural way and creating forest gardens elsewhere, it's a haven for them! Add to that the gazillions of frogs we've been hearing...
And then they say that a forest garden should create a center of peace and quiet, a place where you can contemplate and wander around feeling good about the birds and the bees (but keep on wearing those high wellies, stamp a lot and carry your two bandages in case you meet a happy snappy tiger snake).
I bought a piano!!! As a kid I used to tinker around a bit on my sister's piano, and I've been wanting to pick it up again - especially now that I've got a bit more time. We saw this beautiful second-hand piano for a more than reasonable price, and decided to get it. I'm pleased to say that although I'm rusty of course, it's all coming back to me and I managed to belt out a boogiewoogie last night (courtesy of some easy sheet music Marjorie lent me), much to the appreciation of my ever musical Satchmo, who tries to lie on my feet every time I play.
My new piano
I thought this was only going to be a short update - mainly because of this website:
http://peopleofwalmart.com/
Watch and
.......
Laugh? Cry?
Honestly I don't want to ever hear again that we are the 'clever' species!! There are too many examples around us that we aren't!!
ttfn
Monday, 31 August 2009
On Sourdough and Growing Carrots
Today didn't start so well. It's day 1001 of continuing rain, and although I know it's better to have rain than not to have it at all, I've been struggling to keep a sunny disposition in the face of so much water and grey skies.
My day started off with milking Emma in the pouring rain, and after both Emma and myself were blown across the paddock to where poor Koko was mooing her little head off, I took Satch for a very wet and windy walk. PJ's rain pants are now breaking down at the seams too, so there are now two pairs of pants I have to fix so as not to get soaked on these daily trips.
I started my computer only to be faced with what has to be the biggest a**ewipe in the company once again making my life difficult by not forwarding files and information that I need to meet my deadlines. Working with this guy has been an ongoing challenge and today I just couldn't face it anymore. I sent a message to my manager to say that I don't care if the guy can't stand me, but could someone of higher authority at least stop him from hindering me in doing my job. After that I felt so drained I decided to take the day off sick and I'll have to deal with it tomorrow.
The internal conflict I have is that all of this 'stuff' shouldn't matter anymore - the job is just money that we need to finish off a few more tasks around the house. It's going nowhere, and in the longterm it's totally irrelevant to my life and to how the world is going to be. So why can people like that still get under my skin? Why can't I shrug it off and just laugh at so much taunting and disdain coming my way? As I work remote I don't have to see the guy face to face, I don't have to talk to him as such. Still, I'd just like to get my tasks done and not have to constantly follow up and be left with less time than I should have. The job is painful enough as it is.
In the end, I'm still a part time slave and I still need moneys to finish what we're working on. Ian asked me a few weeks ago what IBM would have to pay me to go away (or in other words, to be made redundant). I didn't have to think long and said, if they paid me out enough so I could pay for a shed and solar panels, I'd be out faster than lightning. Of course IBM is not exactly known for engaging in big payouts and if/when I'm made redundant, the chances are I wouldn't get anything at all. Ergo, I have to bite the bullet and put up with horrible co-workers for a little while longer.
After I closed down my computer, I checked on the cheeses. The camembert is finally doing well in the music room, the cheeseroom is, will you believe, too damp and cold so the mould wasn't growing. The gorgonzola on the other hand which PJ kindly put on the heat ring for the beer has been too warm and is drying out way too fast. I sprayed more brevi bacteria on it and we'll have to see how it goes.
Other things that went wrong today:
- one of the doorhandles fell off when I so much as looked at it
- the washing line broke in the severe winds we've been having (grrrrr meaning I have to rewash the stuff that hasn't dried over the last 2 days)
- the rhododendron below the washing line was uprooted
- more leaks in the music room
- a new leak we thought was fixed in the bedroom
- the door to the polytunnel was blown to pieces
- all the windbreaks I set up around my poor little windbreak plants on Friday were blown over
- my carrots that were finally coming up seem to have mysteriously disappeared
Carrots are an enigma to me. This is attempt #6 to grow them. The only ones that we have successfully grown were from a little punnet of seedlings (and even then only half came up) of tiny baby carrots. For the rest, it's just not been happening. I sowed some a few weeks ago, and finally, FINALLY, a few dared to raise their little heads. Only to find today that they have mysteriously disappeared apart from two. It's become personal now, and I will continue until the little buggers come up - we still have different patches to try in our garden.
The reason why I have to succeed in growing carrots is this. Over a year ago now, when I was still in Perth, I was in a meeting where everybody was stressing to the max. I already knew I was coming here and why, so when this one person kept on whinging that she 'worked all night to meet the deadlines' (btw apparently she was made redundant, so much for all that hard work!!) I rather smugly thought, that's all very nice and lofty, but can you grow a carrot?
Ha. Well that came back to bite me in the butt didn't it.
But as every cloud has a silver lining as they say and sing, a few things have been good today. Because of having this unexpected time free, I did a big clean of the house, and it feels good to not be in a house covered in dust and mud. It smells better too. Don't know what to do with Satch tonight (Mr Muckiavelli) but I'll have to clean him up as well as I can I suppose, before letting him back in.
The other thing I'm really happy about is that my second attempt at making a sourdough starter is finally paying off.
Chris and Lisa gave me a sourdough starter that was made in January 2001. Unfortunately I managed to kill it (I think it was the metal spoon I used, not knowing that this affects sourdough). So, although the flat breads I made were lovely, they were flat breads and basically I couldn't get the starter to work again. So I thought I'd try and make my own. The first starter I put on on the rack above the woodstove, and it obviously got too hot and all the starting yeast was killed. So I started another one and, five days on, I finally saw this morning that there are lots of bubbles and it smells like sourdough. Yay!
Thankfully I didn't give up on this starter, even though it seems a long time for it to develop. I found this website (http://www.io.com/~sjohn/sour.htm) that gives excellent tips on how to make sourdough. The next step is to make some bread and hopefully it will rise to the occasion :D
Now I had better brave the weather again and go out to feed my grrrls some more hay. I'm getting stronger - it's not that much of an effort throwing a bale over my shoulder these days and trundle up to where the cows are eagerly awaiting some food.
Tata!
Monday, 24 August 2009
Food, food, food
We just spent another busy weekend in amongst the trees, and our Edible Forest Garden is very slowly starting to take shape.
PJ had brought home more black plastic and on Friday we covered two more rows with it, so now we have the first 3 rows done. Now it's a waiting game, I read that it may take 3 weeks for the grass to die - the sun on the black plastic will fry the grass and kill it. Although seeing the weather we're having I think it might take a fair while longer for us - needless to say we were heavily rained upon as we were putting it down, it's still wet weather! Ursula drove by beeping her horn, and on Saturday night said with a greatly puzzled look on her face, 'what ARE you doing in the orchard?' Ian is still of the opinion that we should use Roundup to kill off the grass, he doesn't understand I don't want to use chemicals. 'It's a herbicide', he says, 'so it doesn't kill any living organisms in the soil'. Still I don't want any chemicals to leach into the soil and stay there for decades - I am aiming to make our soil as healthy as it can be naturally. Even if it takes a bit longer!
In any case, it doesn't matter that people are puzzled, I'm having fun trying this out and even if it didn't work, I think we're creating a beautiful haven that is still edible and looks pretty so really we can't lose.
As we planted the trees before knowing about the EFG idea, they are planted too closely together and it will be difficult to create a proper understory. But as some of the trees were ringbarked by the rabbits I think not all will survive so open patches will naturally be created in the garden. As these appear, we can start planting them with whatever will be appropriate in that spot.
On the shade side of the orchard we put in a row of raspberries, and put weedmat underneath them with mulch on top. We're trying multiple ways of getting rid of the grass, time will tell what the easiest way is!
We're waiting for the comfrey to come up and have also planted a load of useful herbs in seedtrays - another thing to learn, as it would be practically unaffordable to underplant the orchard with plants you buy at the nurseries.
It's hard to explain why I'm so excited about this. I think it's something to do with going about gardening the natural way, rather than nuking the living daylights out of it. Because I am a novice gardener a lot of these things seem quite overwhelming - especially as the conventional way of dealing with problems is to eradicate it with one chemical or another. The EFG books are so full of information I feel that with every page I read, I have more thoughts and ideas tumbling around in my head. My hands are itching but I want to take it slowly, so that I feel I'm doing the best that I could possibly do. Most of all it all makes sense, and of course I'd like to see the result of the ideas presented in the books. It makes sense to have plants with different root systems working together. It makes sense to plant a lot of nitrogen fixers and accumulators to help the fruit trees. It makes sense to underplant with nectar flowers so that you give bees some good reasons to stay in your orchard. I also need to consider access, access to the orchard, the trees, the bushes and the herbs. So paths are another plan to think about, and I would prefer them to be meandering through the orchard. Of course they also still have to be functional.
The challenges are of course, putting it all together. I noticed that the wombok is flowering, as is the Tuscan kale. When we were working in the vegie garden yesterday, I saw that there already were a few brave bees seeking out these flowers so I made a note to plant some of them around the orchard. I like the things I'm learning simply even by observing. One of the things to bear in mind is to keep 'feed' around for the various insects - hopefully I can find something that flowers for every month (or at least most of the months) of the year. I also noticed that although we weren't lucky enough to eat a lot of wombok (the snails got most of it) our other vegies have been left in peace so I might just keep on planting this as a sacrificial crop.
Next to the spot where PJ is going to try out his semi submerged greenhouse, we planted some more nut trees, and we're also trying two avocados. I planted these a lot further apart, and we transplanted a few blueberries and a black currant as they were not doing well where they were (uhm, in Satchmo's pen). This is going to be a circular grove, a bit like a mandala (?) garden perhaps - this wasn't even intentional but that's the shape it is taking. Because it's a much smaller area, I'm going to attempt to dig up the grass as I'm planting things, perhaps a tad ambitious but it's worth a try.
Anyway apart from that we harvested our radishes and pickled them, we planted some more radishes, sugar snaps, and kohlrabi. We also planted some nasturtium and snow peas around the vegie garden. We planted a huge amount of tomatoes in seed trays, as well as a number of herbs as a start for the orchard. Hopefully this year I'm not going to kill the tomato seedlings if they get more aphids on them like I did last year (with my superduper organic aphid killer spray) - PJ said if this happens it's his turn to try and get rid of them. This is fine by me, if he kills them he will have the blood of many many tomatoes on his hands as opposed to me.
On Saturday I made my first gorgonzola, and also tried my hand at a sourdough bread. This sadly failed as it didn't rise, but I made a load of flatbreads out of the dough which still was just delicious. Now I've also started my own sourdough starter, let's see if it works with the shopbought flour.
Two camemberts are also going strong, I'm looking forward to a little tasting in a few weeks!
Here are some pics as well (or view all the pics):
Camembert (bottom left) and Gorgonzola ripening in my cheeseroom.
Satch powering past the Chilean Guava berries. These are small berries that have a very fragrant strawberry flavour. They grow up to 2 mtrs and are therefore part of the shrub layer in the EFG.
The windbreak in our EFG. Surprisingly it has new growth!
The first row of black plastic. Pear trees on the right.
My little nut grove. Avocado in the foreground, shielded from the wind with shadecloth. The little plants are the blueberries, almonds in the background.
Ok. So I only put this picture in for the blue sky!!! Yes we do get it sometimes!!!
TTFN
PJ had brought home more black plastic and on Friday we covered two more rows with it, so now we have the first 3 rows done. Now it's a waiting game, I read that it may take 3 weeks for the grass to die - the sun on the black plastic will fry the grass and kill it. Although seeing the weather we're having I think it might take a fair while longer for us - needless to say we were heavily rained upon as we were putting it down, it's still wet weather! Ursula drove by beeping her horn, and on Saturday night said with a greatly puzzled look on her face, 'what ARE you doing in the orchard?' Ian is still of the opinion that we should use Roundup to kill off the grass, he doesn't understand I don't want to use chemicals. 'It's a herbicide', he says, 'so it doesn't kill any living organisms in the soil'. Still I don't want any chemicals to leach into the soil and stay there for decades - I am aiming to make our soil as healthy as it can be naturally. Even if it takes a bit longer!
In any case, it doesn't matter that people are puzzled, I'm having fun trying this out and even if it didn't work, I think we're creating a beautiful haven that is still edible and looks pretty so really we can't lose.
As we planted the trees before knowing about the EFG idea, they are planted too closely together and it will be difficult to create a proper understory. But as some of the trees were ringbarked by the rabbits I think not all will survive so open patches will naturally be created in the garden. As these appear, we can start planting them with whatever will be appropriate in that spot.
On the shade side of the orchard we put in a row of raspberries, and put weedmat underneath them with mulch on top. We're trying multiple ways of getting rid of the grass, time will tell what the easiest way is!
We're waiting for the comfrey to come up and have also planted a load of useful herbs in seedtrays - another thing to learn, as it would be practically unaffordable to underplant the orchard with plants you buy at the nurseries.
It's hard to explain why I'm so excited about this. I think it's something to do with going about gardening the natural way, rather than nuking the living daylights out of it. Because I am a novice gardener a lot of these things seem quite overwhelming - especially as the conventional way of dealing with problems is to eradicate it with one chemical or another. The EFG books are so full of information I feel that with every page I read, I have more thoughts and ideas tumbling around in my head. My hands are itching but I want to take it slowly, so that I feel I'm doing the best that I could possibly do. Most of all it all makes sense, and of course I'd like to see the result of the ideas presented in the books. It makes sense to have plants with different root systems working together. It makes sense to plant a lot of nitrogen fixers and accumulators to help the fruit trees. It makes sense to underplant with nectar flowers so that you give bees some good reasons to stay in your orchard. I also need to consider access, access to the orchard, the trees, the bushes and the herbs. So paths are another plan to think about, and I would prefer them to be meandering through the orchard. Of course they also still have to be functional.
The challenges are of course, putting it all together. I noticed that the wombok is flowering, as is the Tuscan kale. When we were working in the vegie garden yesterday, I saw that there already were a few brave bees seeking out these flowers so I made a note to plant some of them around the orchard. I like the things I'm learning simply even by observing. One of the things to bear in mind is to keep 'feed' around for the various insects - hopefully I can find something that flowers for every month (or at least most of the months) of the year. I also noticed that although we weren't lucky enough to eat a lot of wombok (the snails got most of it) our other vegies have been left in peace so I might just keep on planting this as a sacrificial crop.
Next to the spot where PJ is going to try out his semi submerged greenhouse, we planted some more nut trees, and we're also trying two avocados. I planted these a lot further apart, and we transplanted a few blueberries and a black currant as they were not doing well where they were (uhm, in Satchmo's pen). This is going to be a circular grove, a bit like a mandala (?) garden perhaps - this wasn't even intentional but that's the shape it is taking. Because it's a much smaller area, I'm going to attempt to dig up the grass as I'm planting things, perhaps a tad ambitious but it's worth a try.
Anyway apart from that we harvested our radishes and pickled them, we planted some more radishes, sugar snaps, and kohlrabi. We also planted some nasturtium and snow peas around the vegie garden. We planted a huge amount of tomatoes in seed trays, as well as a number of herbs as a start for the orchard. Hopefully this year I'm not going to kill the tomato seedlings if they get more aphids on them like I did last year (with my superduper organic aphid killer spray) - PJ said if this happens it's his turn to try and get rid of them. This is fine by me, if he kills them he will have the blood of many many tomatoes on his hands as opposed to me.
On Saturday I made my first gorgonzola, and also tried my hand at a sourdough bread. This sadly failed as it didn't rise, but I made a load of flatbreads out of the dough which still was just delicious. Now I've also started my own sourdough starter, let's see if it works with the shopbought flour.
Two camemberts are also going strong, I'm looking forward to a little tasting in a few weeks!
Here are some pics as well (or view all the pics):
Camembert (bottom left) and Gorgonzola ripening in my cheeseroom.
Satch powering past the Chilean Guava berries. These are small berries that have a very fragrant strawberry flavour. They grow up to 2 mtrs and are therefore part of the shrub layer in the EFG.
The windbreak in our EFG. Surprisingly it has new growth!
The first row of black plastic. Pear trees on the right.
My little nut grove. Avocado in the foreground, shielded from the wind with shadecloth. The little plants are the blueberries, almonds in the background.
Ok. So I only put this picture in for the blue sky!!! Yes we do get it sometimes!!!
TTFN
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