Mulch is spread

Beautiful mulch, organic material to enhance the productivity and biodiversity of our soil. I just noticed that I never wrote about the adventure of spreading the mulch and yesterday was the International Day for Biological Diversity.

2011 is the Year of Forest Biodiversity, but nevertheless, improving the soil of any environment is right up the aisle.

Mulch saves water and keeps the moisture in the ground. Now it finally has commenced raining and the first showers strong enough to penetrate the mulch. We want the water to stay in the ground as long as possible and nourish a healthy plant and animal live. (Only the breeding of the slaters should be exempt from that process.) The impact of mulch on biodiversity is well documented.

It took a while to spread the pile of mulch. We did not count the total number of wheel barrows that were needed to shift the 25m3 of shredded trees. We set an easy task and focused on lots of around 15 wheel narrows at a time. We used early mornings or evenings to work, as the days in March were still very hot and the work turned out to be quite intense and sweaty.

All of the front garden was covered. We also filled up two raised garden beds and spread lots of mulch in the backyard under the trees and shrubs. Not long and it will be time to order the next lot!

Rain, lettuce and termites attacking trees

La Nina has been bringing higher temperatures than usual to Western Australia with the result that the North of WA and the Estern States got a lot of water while we were waiting for the rejuvenating downpour. Now the dryspell seems to be broken. It is bucketing down this morning. This is a most welcoming change as so far we only had trickles.

My water tank has been empty for a few months now and I did not want to plant anything before I had the water to look after the plants. Early this week I got some gourmet lettuce seedlings and put them into into pots to prepare for a later planting in the grounds, the lettuce within the pots. I learnt about this method from a Serbian gardening friend. This way the lettuce gets good nutrients to start off and when the pot gets too small the roots can venture into the ground to find further plant food.

So far the pots are still waiting to be set into the earth, they are just sucking up the moisture from the rain as I am writing this.

On Tuesday we had to get the plumber out, as the toilet was blocked. This followed up from two other blocked drains two weeks ago. It demonstrates that the plants were really suffering in the dry weather and were looking for any moisture they could find to get them going. Our old drains are just the right things for this. Tuesday was the third time in the seven years we have been living in this house that the drains got blocked. An expensive affair, but understandable. One of the drains was attacked by a peppermint tree we planted as seedling to shadow the view into our kitchen window. The roots got into the kitchen drain and did a lot of damage, probably two years ago. That drain was replaced with plastic pipes. The other drains were just cleared, so it is only a matter of time when this happens again.



Pin Cushion Hakea



The other implication of the past dry weather was an increased attack on the trees from white ants. Two weeks ago the local council offered a green verge collection and using a chain saw we removed two wattles, a pin cushion hakea, the peppermint tree outside the kitchen window and an oleander bush that was pushing over the fence to the neighbour. 

Trunk of pin cushion hakea,
eaten up by white ants

All these trees were affected by white ants or termites that hollowed the trunks and were in the process of killing the trees.

The garden looks a lot neater now, especially out the front. My daughter thought that there was enough space now for a community garden. The mulch is looking good and will keep the moisture in the ground once we get enough rain to reach the earth in the first place. The sprinkles until today only wet the top of the mulch but did not make any impression on the soil below. That is to change now. Hurray!

Still no rain

Looks like the climate of the world is changing, the rain has not come in Perth, March went without much of a drop and April is still dry.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2011	30.2	0.4	0	4.2									34.8
2010	0	0.2	40.4	25	88.6	51.4	142	63	43.6	20.6	11.6	17.4	503.8
Average	9.5	12.7	19.5	44.1	117.5	175.7	169.7	133.6	80.6	52.2	22.1	12.8	850

Nothing much to report. We put some seeds into the ground, lettuces and broad beans, also rocket. Still needs water from the mains, therefore we have not put that many plants into the ground. Our focus is more on preparing the soil, that is making compost, mulching and tidying up to prepare for planting when the rain finally arrives.

An exception and a delight is the small papaya plant that has come up from the compost. I always wanted to grow some papaya, as I love eating it and have seen plants grow in Northbridge.

I also put some seeds into a pot but had no luck as no plants germinated. I wonder how long it will take for flowers to emerge. At the moment it is only about 20cm high, but has heaps of leaves and takes well to the additional compost that I placed at its foot.

There is rain predicted for tomorrow, but I doubt it, the weather map looks nothing like it. http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/4day_col.shtml. My water tank caught a bit of rain in the March storm, but not enough to be used really, as it takes ages to fill the watering can, I guess we only has 2mm anyway, nothing much at all.

Making yoghurt

I like to eat yoghurt and love the full cream varity with lots of healthy bacteria. Also I don't like the additives that comercial yogurt usually contains, such as pectin and gelantin. My German friend Karin inspired to make my own yogurt and my Bulgarian friend Boje does hers too.

The yogurt culture is already in the milk and the glasses are waiting to be filled.

You need milk, water, milk powder and a good food thermometer. I am using a milk jug thermometer that can be clipped on to the pot rim for easy checking of the milk temperature without picking up the heat from the pot. I bought the thermometer at a kitchen supply store for under $10 and it has served me well.

The other things I use are screw top glas jars to store the joghurt and an esky to keep the mixture warm for the joghurt to set, plus hot water for sterilisating the glass jars and for filling the esky.

The procedure is simple: I make about 3.5 litres in one lot. I heat up two litres of cold water, add 1 litre of milk and four cups of skim milk powder. I stir it well and heat it to 80degrees Celsius, then take it off the stove to let it cool. I try to get the temperatures pretty accurate.

I then choose my glass jars and sterilise them in boiling water. I use about 10 jars of various sizes and pre-heat them in handwarm water in the sink before I leave them for about 30 seconds each in a big pot with boiling water. I do the same with the lids, to ensure they are clean and germ free. I reheat the boiling water after about three jars to make sure it is close to boiling and does the job. I cover my kitchen bench with a fresh tea towel and let the water drain off the glasses.

When then milk is cooled down to just below 50 degrees I mix in the joghurt culture. I use a joghurt high in beneficial bacteria, if possible organic joghurt. So far I have never used a started culture but will explore that avenue. I put the filled jars into the esky which I already filled with the hot water left over from preheating and sterilising the jars. I ensure the jars are nearly submerged and I add boiling water until the  inside water temperature is about 48 degrees.

The jars will be left in there for at least 4 hours. After that I take one out and turn it over to see whether the yoghurt has set enough. I let it cool down and put it in the fridge when room temperature, usually over night. This method has done me well and the product is delicious. I can't wait to eat it.

Great websites with information about making your own yogurt :
Cuising.com.au
Pick me yard
How to make yogurt
Wiki - How to make yogurt

Water tank is empty

It has not rained for some time. Western Australia has not had any benefit of the increasing rainfall everywhere else in Australia. this is a typical La Nina, wetter all around, WA drier. The Lleuwin current is about three degrees warmer than usual and this affects out rainfall just as much.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2011	30.2	0.4	0										30.6
2010	0	0.2	40.4	25	88.6	51.4	142	63	43.6	20.6	11.6	17.4	503.8
Average	9.5	12.7	19.5	44.1	117.5	175.7	169.7	133.6	80.6	52.2	22.1	12.8	850

No rainfall this month and only 9mm in February. Our suburb got a bit more than the official metropolitan rain gauge. Dams are at a record low and so is my water tank.

It has been in place for only two years and I don't think it was time to clean it, that's a task for the end of the next summer. It does not empty as such because the tap is about 50cm above the base line. When we put it up we were so excited to finally get it in place that we forgot to insolate the tap's neck. And soon the rain started filling it so there was not opportunity to change the tap without spilling all the precious water.
Small amounts of water have been leaking from the tap all around the year and allowed a blanket of green algae to grow on the outside of the tank.

Time to get rid of this stuff and making sure it does not affect the tank water. Who wants algae in their water tank? We really want to drink the water if possible and use it in the garden all through summer.

I got the tape out, wound it around the neck of the tap, got rid of the algae with a soft brush and screwed the tap back into place. It's looking good and now waiting for the rain! Last year we had the first storm on 22 March and it was a terrible hail storm that resulted in a lot of damage, loss of power and trees stripped of their leaves.

At the start of summer I was calculating how long the water would last. I think I though it would run out by the end of January, but with a ittle bit of December rainfall and tw showers in January is lasted until mid March. That makes me happy. Although I cheated and from December only watered half of the garden beds with the watering can and used mains water for the rest. I can't wait to see the water usage bill to calculate the total of water that I have been using in the garden.

The garden is quite barren at the moment, only the spring onions are looking good. I planted a few more zucchinis and tomatoes, as the plants were coming up from seeds. Also coriander is just coming up well and the basil is still doing fine. I grow two different varieties, one with straight leaves the other one with a more curly Italian variety. Some pumpkins have survived the mildew attack and are doing fine, capsicums and chillies are thrieving. Sweet potatoes love the weather. Still, if we only had rain soon!

Living the Good Life - Great Book by Linda Cockburn

ISBN / Catalogue Number: 9781740663120

Why does it always take years until good books get to me? The book Living the Good Life by Linda Cockburn was already released in 2006 but I only read it after my friend Gay passed it on to me with the words "You might like this book". And indeed I liked it.

ABC gives a good book review: Living the Good Life is the day-to-day account of an inspirational family experiment – to see whether it is possible to live by the principles of domestic sustainability to their utmost degree.
 

Already passionate about ways of minimising humanity's impact on the environment, author Linda Cockburn and her family decided to take a huge plunge. For a six-month period they grew, made or bartered for all their own food, generated all their power needs from the sun, collected their own rainwater, and aimed not to spend a single dollar. They put the car keys away and resorted to bikes, stopped eating all takeaway, and became utterly in tune with the seasons.


Living on just an average-sized house block in Queensland, the Cockburns have put true power in the saying that change begins in your own backyard. Along the way there were failings and successes, and together they learnt a tremendous amount about themselves. Linda's diary entries take you with her on the journey. Alongside are fascinating facts and anecdotes on the environment, recipes, tips for people interested in changing their own way of life, and information that you won't find anywhere else.

Phantastic experiment, but it would have been a lot more difficult in the sandy Perth soils. You need the right place of earth to do it. Still, I am inspired! I admire their inventiveness, determination and persistence. In the end, the book came to me and is another sign that the universe provides! This is possible and more and more people will follow the lead.

As Linda's website says: Their idea of living sustainably on a suburban block is simple and perfect. By drawing all their power from the sun, harvesting their water from the rain and growing enough produce to give them variety, they can do something positive for the environment and for themselvesYou can order it directly from Linda Cockburn and get a signed copy.

New compost tumbler - Osborne Metal Industries

Osborne Metal Industries, formerly from Osborne Park but now registered in NSW, have been producing compost tumblers for about 50 years. I am not sure whether they still make these barrels. Today Julian found one on the verge just around the corner, in perfect condition, a bit rusty, but with all components working well.

What a find! The universe provided again.This is the second composter that came our way and this time without any money involved. I checked e-bay and they are selling for about 80 dollars.

We did more work on the mulch pile and we have probably already shifted half of the pile and the block looks lovesly, especially the front yard. The earth will thank us, we are both sure about that.

I also picked up a Ryobi electric shredder for little bits and pieces to go into the compost. I found it on Gumtree and went to freo to pick it up for $50. The review of the machine were not great but I needed something to cut leaves and thin branches only and hope it will do the job.