Winter Work_outside

It has been busy here the last month. The BIL visited for 3 weeks and helped PC move, clear and repair.

The before photos of the garden were taken on a visit I made mid June 2016 but the start of the clearing and reorganising didn't begin till about December 2016. Moving the rocks is an ongoing project and is time and energy consuming.

The Peach Tree Garden just needs some stepping stones, of which we have plenty, and then it can be planted with more herbs and veges.

Before

At present

The South-East Garden is finally rock, carpet and weed free and I'm planning beans along the south fence, where the cherry tomatoes were last Summer, and the tomatoes will go along the East fence. I'm about to decide which seeds I will germinate now to plant in front of the beans and tomatoes. With just the two of us, and some things that PC doesn't eat, it will be an interesting procedure.

A bit wild and wandering!

Rocking the rock to roll it out of the garden.

Ripping out old nylon carpet that previous owners placed in ALL the gardens for weed prevention.

Ready for composting, mulching and then planting in Spring

The Central garden area is still a work in progress because the rocks, and old carpet, need to be moved across the path and we don't wish to damage the path. At the moment all we have to move them is the diesel forklift and, at a weight of 3 tons, it will make the path rubble. We'll keep chipping at the rocks till we have another solution.

 

In the meantime Maddy is the main supervisor (as usual!) and Kevin and Co have full run of the front yard.....as that is on the future list.

Cheers,

Robyn Louise XO

Dribs and drabs

Hi all, I don't like posting only text in my blog posts but at the moment there are so many varied things and jobs happening that none are actually at completion stage. They are all being done in dribs and drabs. I feel like I'd be offering an unfinished book that has half a dozen side stories going, that intertwine and are necessary to the main one, and no completion date if I published the photos of the projects so far.

However, there's always time to enjoy a sunrise and an afternoon smoko break 😊.

Cheers,

RobynLouise XO

First Day (Night?) of Winter

It was officially Winter here on the 1st of June, however I think it was Winter, thanks to Mother Nature, last night as it was absolutely freezing at -5C! The dog's and the chicken's water containers had an inch of ice on the top that needed to be broken and the containers placed in the sun. What really surprised me though was this:

See the ice in the top right corner of the container?

I have been sprouting wheat in large flat trays to give to the hens and I keep it on the bench in the laundry. The laundry is outside and is usually fairly warm, due to the insulation in the roof/walls, in Winter. I was stunned to discover this, especially as it was 10am, when I found it!

Strangely enough it was a lovely warm day and I could garden in just a t-shirt and jeans.

Cheers,
Robyn Louise XO

Freedom!

We often let the hens out in the front yard, particularly on a weekend. They love it.

Weeding and fertilising

Watch dog so adventurous hens don't trespass in back yard where the veges are growing.

 Mumma hen also had a residential relocation.....and we supplied a bodyguard for her and her offspring. She keeps him a wingspan away at the moment but I think he'll be more than a bodyguard soon. After playing second in charge to Figjam since he was a "teenager" he's very pleased to be allowed to flap his wings and crow without receiving a physical chastisement! I'm considering which breed of hens to add to his flock as I'd like some meat producers without purchasing commercial meat hens.
He also needs renaming as "Junior" doesn't sound dignified enough now he has a missus and kids!

The perfect end to a lovely Winter's day.

Cheers,

Robyn Louise XO

Wet Worms

I checked the worm farm a few days ago and discovered that very cold nights make for morning condensation and strange things grew in my worm bed.

On the other side though the worms seemed fine and there was no offensive smell. 

The top tray and the middle tray were quite soggy, though the inhabitants weren't affected. 

I added oat straw troughs in the bedding to soak up moisture. Also, spreading the bedding more evenly through the 3 layers, as well, will assist in evening out the moisture.

After I emptied out the worm fluid, into a container, the bottom tray was layered with dry straw/grass and then the worm farm remained open in the sun for a couple of hours for the moisture to reduce.

 

As I won't require worm castings until Spring I'm trying to breed my little workers over Winter and I'm thinking that the longer, shallower bathtub (the one underneath) will make a nice new home for some of my worms in the near future.

Any advice on increasing worm populations and creating a worm habitat in a bathtub, from those who have done this before, would be most appreciated 😊.

Cheers,

Robyn Louise XO