No Bluetongues or Martys were harmed in the making of this post! ;)
Marty and the Bluetongue
Posted by | Friday, November 27, 2009 at 8:20 PM
No Bluetongues or Martys were harmed in the making of this post! ;)
Sweet potato
Posted by |
at 6:55 AM
Sweet potato seems to sprout pretty easily in our dark room. We use the dark room for bulk food storage - since we have no pantry! We've had these two sweet potato in the dark room for around 6 or more months now. We've pulled most of the shoots off these two, and they're starting to re-shoot again already.
We planted the shoots into the ground horizontally, then covered them with a juice container with the bottom cut out. Hopefully the earwigs stay away from these!
Last night, one of the sweet potato finally made an appearance! Hooray!
Sweet potato generally grows in tropical or sub-tropical areas, so being in a temperate area, we're not expecting to harvest much at all - if any. It's really an experiment at this stage. :)
I'll let you know how it goes, of course!
We planted the shoots into the ground horizontally, then covered them with a juice container with the bottom cut out. Hopefully the earwigs stay away from these!
Last night, one of the sweet potato finally made an appearance! Hooray!
Sweet potato generally grows in tropical or sub-tropical areas, so being in a temperate area, we're not expecting to harvest much at all - if any. It's really an experiment at this stage. :)
I'll let you know how it goes, of course!
Hooray for rain!
Posted by | Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 12:09 PM
I'm not complaining about the rain - even though it found its way in through the roof this morning and we had buckets in a few different locations in the kitchen. I'm happy because the garden was desperate for the drink, and the water tanks are once again full to overflowing. :)
We had 32.4mm (1.27") of rain overnight! Most of it fell this morning, thankfully for the stove and floor! :)
Yesterday Marty and I set up the greywater system for the bathroom. Last year we used the shower water by plugging the bath while we showered (we have a shower over bath arrangement), and bucketed the water out to the trees. It was hard work and the water splashed as we carted it through the kitchen.
This year should be a lot easier! Funny thing though, when we purchased the plumbing parts, the sales person said "You know we're on Stage 1, right?".. that means we can use town water for watering plants and so-on. Yes, we're lucky to have had the water restrictions eased, but I know it won't stay like that for long! Besides that, it just feels like a waste of perfectly good shower water going down the drain.
I think we're getting quite good at plumbing! We're getting a lot of experience, anyway! ;) The water comes from the bath on the right of the picture and heads down to the drain.. but there is a gate valve that can be closed so that the water is then forced into the purple tubes going towards the apple tree. We plumbed in the bathroom sink, too, which made the whole thing a lot neater than it use to be anyway. Bonus! :)
(The hole in the wall has been like that since we moved in - we'll fix that someday!)
The apple tree is getting the benefit of the excess water at the moment, but we still have to shorten the purple pipe - as it's taking the scenic route around the yard before it gets there! Since Marty and I aren't feeling 100% today, it'll be a job for another day.
We weren't expecting any apples this year because we only have one planted, but it turns out we have a neighbour with an apple tree! Being it's first year in the ground, we'll be happy if just this one becomes ripe.
I have been umm-ing and ahh-ing about when to plant out the tomatoes, and I decided that Thursday was the big day, since we were expecting some rain Friday and this weekend. They're looking happy this morning! They're planted in the front garden next to Spartagus the Asparagus.
I pulled out the old peas and snow peas and cleared the area of pea-straw. The earwigs ran in every direction! Yuck! I'll leave the mulch off for a while and see if I can discourage them from that area while the beans and sweet potato are trying to get a start. Wish them luck!!
The corn is looking healthy, and the two surviving bean plants are happy as well. There are 3 earwig traps by the beans and 2 by the corn. It's making a difference!
This is how the earwig traps are done! No, it's not an advert for Nuttelex, haha. The holes are cut all around like this, and oil is filled till the bottom of the holes. The earwigs go inside (they love used cooking oil!) and drown. They seem to drown faster in oil than in water.. although the one drowned on the top of the container there probably wouldn't agree!
The potatoes are doing really well. The Saphire potatoes are very healthy - we're hoping for a good crop this year! The Russet Burbank potatoes have finally stopped being eaten by earwigs long enough to recover. I think they'll be ok after all!
Oh, that's the feijoa in the picture there, too. It's happy and growing. We hardly take any notice of it, because it just doesn't seem to need much attention. It seems a hardy and happy little tree so far - but I still try and keep it that way with a good layer of compost.
The lemon tree nearby is looking lush and healthy, thankful for the plumbing we did last year to get our sink rinse-water to it. No lemons as yet, although there was one flower, it fell off in the strong winds. :( Hopefully next year!
Down the back in our "pond", we lost two of the three plants back there, and I mentioned that I threw in some sunflower seeds as a desperate measure.. Well, the sunflowers have germinated! We don't really water them, either. It'll be interesting to see what happens, and especially if they all get to flower, it will be a show and a half!
Until next time!
We had 32.4mm (1.27") of rain overnight! Most of it fell this morning, thankfully for the stove and floor! :)
Yesterday Marty and I set up the greywater system for the bathroom. Last year we used the shower water by plugging the bath while we showered (we have a shower over bath arrangement), and bucketed the water out to the trees. It was hard work and the water splashed as we carted it through the kitchen.
This year should be a lot easier! Funny thing though, when we purchased the plumbing parts, the sales person said "You know we're on Stage 1, right?".. that means we can use town water for watering plants and so-on. Yes, we're lucky to have had the water restrictions eased, but I know it won't stay like that for long! Besides that, it just feels like a waste of perfectly good shower water going down the drain.
I think we're getting quite good at plumbing! We're getting a lot of experience, anyway! ;) The water comes from the bath on the right of the picture and heads down to the drain.. but there is a gate valve that can be closed so that the water is then forced into the purple tubes going towards the apple tree. We plumbed in the bathroom sink, too, which made the whole thing a lot neater than it use to be anyway. Bonus! :)
(The hole in the wall has been like that since we moved in - we'll fix that someday!)
The apple tree is getting the benefit of the excess water at the moment, but we still have to shorten the purple pipe - as it's taking the scenic route around the yard before it gets there! Since Marty and I aren't feeling 100% today, it'll be a job for another day.
We weren't expecting any apples this year because we only have one planted, but it turns out we have a neighbour with an apple tree! Being it's first year in the ground, we'll be happy if just this one becomes ripe.
I have been umm-ing and ahh-ing about when to plant out the tomatoes, and I decided that Thursday was the big day, since we were expecting some rain Friday and this weekend. They're looking happy this morning! They're planted in the front garden next to Spartagus the Asparagus.
I pulled out the old peas and snow peas and cleared the area of pea-straw. The earwigs ran in every direction! Yuck! I'll leave the mulch off for a while and see if I can discourage them from that area while the beans and sweet potato are trying to get a start. Wish them luck!!
The corn is looking healthy, and the two surviving bean plants are happy as well. There are 3 earwig traps by the beans and 2 by the corn. It's making a difference!
This is how the earwig traps are done! No, it's not an advert for Nuttelex, haha. The holes are cut all around like this, and oil is filled till the bottom of the holes. The earwigs go inside (they love used cooking oil!) and drown. They seem to drown faster in oil than in water.. although the one drowned on the top of the container there probably wouldn't agree!
The potatoes are doing really well. The Saphire potatoes are very healthy - we're hoping for a good crop this year! The Russet Burbank potatoes have finally stopped being eaten by earwigs long enough to recover. I think they'll be ok after all!
Oh, that's the feijoa in the picture there, too. It's happy and growing. We hardly take any notice of it, because it just doesn't seem to need much attention. It seems a hardy and happy little tree so far - but I still try and keep it that way with a good layer of compost.
The lemon tree nearby is looking lush and healthy, thankful for the plumbing we did last year to get our sink rinse-water to it. No lemons as yet, although there was one flower, it fell off in the strong winds. :( Hopefully next year!
Down the back in our "pond", we lost two of the three plants back there, and I mentioned that I threw in some sunflower seeds as a desperate measure.. Well, the sunflowers have germinated! We don't really water them, either. It'll be interesting to see what happens, and especially if they all get to flower, it will be a show and a half!
Until next time!
Harvesting flax seeds (linseed)
Posted by | Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 12:46 PM
With the very hot weather, we've only been able to work in short bursts, but we're getting through the harvesting of the flax / linseed.
Initially, I was cutting the tops off the plant, but found the extra work involved with taking the bolls off the stems afterwards was not worth it. So, we're stripping the bolls directly from the plant into a bin.
From there, the bolls are put into a food processor, which breaks them up into a powder - but doesn't seem to harm the seeds. Then we can either sift or blow off the light stuff and leave the heavier seeds behind.
Any suggestions that might improve the process are gratefully received, though! :)
Until next time.
Initially, I was cutting the tops off the plant, but found the extra work involved with taking the bolls off the stems afterwards was not worth it. So, we're stripping the bolls directly from the plant into a bin.
From there, the bolls are put into a food processor, which breaks them up into a powder - but doesn't seem to harm the seeds. Then we can either sift or blow off the light stuff and leave the heavier seeds behind.
Any suggestions that might improve the process are gratefully received, though! :)
Until next time.
Solar power installed
Posted by | Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 12:25 PM
It was a very warm day yesterday of 34.6°C (94°F). The temperature in the evacuated tubes (solar hot water) is in Celsius, yes! That's 275 degrees Fahrenheit!
It's useful to note here that the water in the tank is 70°C (158°F) and the pump will not run once the water has hit 70°C.. so there is no risk of getting 135° water through the taps inside. :)
That's when Cathy called to say she would come and finish the solar panels. Everyone worked so hard in the heat, they're all so tough!
The end result is quite minimal! I am surprised that they look so small sitting up there on our shed roof.
The system was tested to see if everything worked, but it is currently turned off until a safety inspection is completed.. and after that the electricity company needs to upgrade our meter. So we're almost ready to start making our own electricity! Hooray!
It's useful to note here that the water in the tank is 70°C (158°F) and the pump will not run once the water has hit 70°C.. so there is no risk of getting 135° water through the taps inside. :)
That's when Cathy called to say she would come and finish the solar panels. Everyone worked so hard in the heat, they're all so tough!
The end result is quite minimal! I am surprised that they look so small sitting up there on our shed roof.
The system was tested to see if everything worked, but it is currently turned off until a safety inspection is completed.. and after that the electricity company needs to upgrade our meter. So we're almost ready to start making our own electricity! Hooray!
Speaking of blue tongues!
Posted by | Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 7:49 PM
Marty and I made a new compost pile in the compost bays today, and we disturbed a lovely little blue tongue lizard. He scooted off and we continued to layer our compost with horse manure, garden clippings and cardboard. We both went into the house for a little rest because it's nice and cool inside the old brick part of the cottage. Sitting on the couch, we were shocked to look over and find a blue tongue lizard climbed partially up the flyscreen door! Thankfully no-one screamed. :)
We really would have liked to get a picture but the camera was out by the compost heap.. (Not very handy!) and I was much more interested in opening the door and getting him outside! The blue tongue was quite scared of us, and hid behind the couch. After a short time scooting him from behind the couch, under the television stand and hissing at Marty, we finally got him near the front door, but he decided he would rather run towards the bedroom! Ooooh no way. Marty grabbed him and took him outside, while trying not to get scratched by the little (but sharp!) claws.
It appears to have got in through the loungeroom that is still being dug-out! There are are few holes that lead under the kitchen part of the house, and not surprisingly, they have a few scratchy marks in the dirt nearby.
So, if that's not an indication that we need to get a move-on with the renovations, I don't know what is!
Until next time!
We really would have liked to get a picture but the camera was out by the compost heap.. (Not very handy!) and I was much more interested in opening the door and getting him outside! The blue tongue was quite scared of us, and hid behind the couch. After a short time scooting him from behind the couch, under the television stand and hissing at Marty, we finally got him near the front door, but he decided he would rather run towards the bedroom! Ooooh no way. Marty grabbed him and took him outside, while trying not to get scratched by the little (but sharp!) claws.
It appears to have got in through the loungeroom that is still being dug-out! There are are few holes that lead under the kitchen part of the house, and not surprisingly, they have a few scratchy marks in the dirt nearby.
So, if that's not an indication that we need to get a move-on with the renovations, I don't know what is!
Until next time!
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