Produce no Waste

A local farmer had purchased a load of rice straw to feed his cattle, but the wouldn't eat it ... so he put the word out to local Landcare groups for BIG bales of mulch

and here one is! (our trailer is 6x4, so that will give you and idea of scale). It's a SERIOUS bale of straw, and should keep us mulching happily throughout summer.

Obtain a yield

I've just spend a happy hour in the kitchen weighing, bagging and dicing lamb. Today we took delivery of 1 1/2 lambs that were raised by local friends. They lived a happy life, with everything they needed, and at the end of their time they were "processed" (don't you love euphemisms?!) humanely on-site so did not have to experience the trauma of the abattoir system. A butcher did the hard work (chops, roasts etc) but left the dicing to me.

Although we didn't get the offal (the owners keep them) we got everything else, including all the bones and scrap pieces (some for the dogs, some for the dogs, some for the stew pot). For only $165 - delivered - that will see us in lamb for 3-4 months at least. It goes without saying that the flavour is superior to that we used to experience from the butcher. In addition to the cash I also gave a few tomatillo plants as well.

As I don't think I can ever become a vegetarian (just love meat too much...LOL) to me this seems the best possible way to buy meat, and I'm lucky that I live in a rural area that makes this easier.

mini-Permablitz!

Recently a few friends from the PDC course came up to do a mini-permablitz, and help us make a new extension to the vege patch. This new extension also means that we can access the vege patch from both sides of the house (very zone 1 now!), and it also means that in a few months we will be able to open the bedroom curtains in the morning and see beans and pumpkins everywhere (fingers crossed).

First there was some site prep to do - James got into the whippersnipper/strimming, while Ben tried to work out how the fence-ring pliers worked (NICE apron Ben!).

Then it was time to cut through the existing fence and make a gateway.

Then the real fun began - James demonstrated the proper way to use an auger (not bad for a city kid!!) and we made post holes and put in the two new gate posts.

Hang on - it's not time to stop working yet!!!!!!! (and frankly our local paper isn't THAT interesting!!!) Get on with that sheet mulching!! We used some colourbond salvaged from the tip to create a backing for the fence beds so that the dogs can't stick their paws through and dig out all the soil

Looking good - time to plant!

We recycled some old slate for stepping stones, and planted lots of bush beans, climbing beans and pumpkins

After all that work it was time for a drink - so we headed down to Pennyweight - our local organic winery - for a tasting!!