Harvest a yield

Some of this year's garlic crop


A HUUUUUUUUUGE loganberry.


So far this year on the berry front we have harvested

• 19kg (!!!!) brambleberries
• 4.5 kg redcurrants
• 1kg blackcurrants
• 1.9kg raspberries
• 1.6kg loganberries
• 200g (!!) cherries - the tree is only a baby :*)
  

Mini-permablitz garden progress

The beans, pumpkins and squash have almost all come up, and are growing well, and both the tomatillos are flowering.

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!!

So where to now?

OK, I have my PDC and a head stuffed full of information and ideas - what do I do now? I think the principles that most apply here are observe and interact, and small and slow solutions. To sum it up I need to take a "hurry up and wait" approach!

There are so many things I want to do on our property, but I really need to cultivate (no pun intended!) patience and just watch the sun, wind and weather, and really plan the best use of all our space. It's not going to be easy though - I WANT IT ALL NOW :*) .

In the meantime there are some small things that I am doing:

• valuing a renewable resource by putting buckets in the sink and shower to collect 'waste' water and recycling it onto the garden
• I've turned off the house pump and we now gravity feed all water into the house. It's a small thing but it makes me feel better. It also helps to reduce water consumption as there is less pressure. An added bonus of this is I have learned about tap architecture as I had to take the flow regulator our of our kitchen tap to get any water out!
• Mulch, mulch and more mulch - I've raked up the grass clippings and put them on the garden beds
• Harvesting a yield - growing even more of my own food

Days 12 and 13 - Design project

After nearly 2 weeks of information overload it was time to put some of the information into our first design. We were split up into groups of 5, and had all of day 12 to work on the plans for our sites. Our group had a good mix of people, and we seemed to get into the 'zone' fairly quickly and came up with a phased plan for our urban site in Seymour. As well as the presentation we put together a folio of drawings (done by the drawers in the group - I can't draw a straight line even with a ruler!!) for our client.

Group work has never been one of my favourite things, but the process seemed to go reasonably smoothly - and it was a really good exercise to bounce ideas off other people, and to try and incorporate everything we've learned about the principle in a practical way.

Day 13 was presentation day, where each group presented their designs to our 'clients' and the rest of the class. It was fascinating to see the different directions each group took - even though two groups had the same client. Some really creative ideas, and even a mini practical water demonstration using green cordial (nice one Dan!).

By the end of the day it was time to relax and chill out - everyone was glad it was over! Time for pre-dinner drinks in the sunshine, another fab dinner, and then the end of course quiz night. Highlight of the quiz night was the various caption competitions using photos taken on the course. Some very creative responses!!