Woodworking update

The evening college woodworking course is now half way over. Progress has been slow, but I'm getting to see and use power tools that I haven't seen before. The item being constructed is a small display cabinet - perhaps 40cm high, 20cm wide and 10cm deep. Mine has one centre shelf and a single-pane door. Others in the class have opted for two shelves and either a one-piece or two-piece door. The item-proper has been assembled, and the door made. We still need to affix the door and the back and finish the item off. I don't know if we'll finish in time to make a second object.

On a related note, the hand tool woodwork kit is starting to be assembled. Chisels, a marking gauge, square, sliding bevel and a couple of clamps have been purchased. I'm trying to source a decent brace and will then look for some augers. A couple of saws (crosscut and rip) are next, and some files. I'm yet to settle on a couple of planes. Once that's done I'll need to figure out how to sharpen these items. I've got a sharpening stone, but a honing guide and some saw files are probably in order.

Into the Woodwork

I've never been particularly 'handy'. At school a few decades ago I undertook the mandatory woodwork and metalwork in year 7. My wooden things never quite fitted together - a bit if a gap here, a bit uneven there. Usually some sanding and filling would make it presentable. My metalwork was less impressive. I was in awe of the fact that some students made adjustable wrenches.

Around the home I've never had to do too many repairs - occasionally hanging a door, or moving hinges, or putting in some new skirting board. These things work, but they're rarely attractive (though the skirting board looks fine!) But with our move out of Sydney approaching, I will need to be more handy and useful with practical tasks like fixing doors, building a chicken run, building a greenhouse, etc.

But I realise that succeeding at these ventures requires several things: some skills about how to do them properly; the right, good quality tools; and patience and care. 'Measure twice, cut once' is a standard woodworking motto but historically mine has been 'measure once, cut once, then sand or fill or find more wood and cut again'. Skills can be learned; the right tools of good quality can be obtained; and patience, well, I think it flows from having the right skills and tools.

Regarding skills, I'm starting an evening college woodwork course next week. It will be basic - planing, joints, nails, screws, finishing off, etc. We'll make some items over the next couple of months, and it will give me some skills for working in wood. I'll also find a good reference book or two. Regarding tools, until the last year or two I always thought I was being wise by buying cheap and saving money; but I've now changed my views and buy good quality items. I'll soon start to put together a basic but good quality woodworking kit - a couple of good quality planes, good saws, well made chisels, name-brand clamps (not that name-brands always signify quality, but a brand in conjunction with a well-regarded country of manufacture is a good start for a lot of items).

And I have no doubt that with improved skills and quality tools, the 'measure twice, cut once' approach will finally kick in.

Luffa Harvest

Back in June last year Rhonda Jean at down---to---earth offered to send some luffa seeds to anyone who wanted some. I took her up on her kind offer and planted some seeds last spring. Two plants/vines made it to adulthood and have been adorning one of our side fences for the last six months. They are growing on trellises made of garden string or sisal strung between two star pickets.

These first three photos were taken four weeks ago.




It's been fascinating watching them develop and grow over the time. They seem to take a long time to flower, but then there is this explosion of both male and female flowers and then there are luffas setting all over the place. At a rough count there are twenty good-sized luffas and more on the way. We're entering mid-autumn and the vines are just starting to die back. Some of the fruit that is around 10cm long may just make it to maturity, but we have enough to try out as dishwashing scourers, and to put homemade soap in, and some spare to cut up to add to potting mix. One or two may even make it into the shower to frighten children.

I harvested eight of them yesterday. They've just started to brown off so I wanted to start to dry them out. There are still at least a dozen to go so we can see if early harvesting is better or worse than later harvesting. The largest are around 45-50cm long and weigh a little over 1.6kg. The small ones are around half that.


They've made a dull fence attractive and have given us something to watch. We'll certainly grow them again.


Thank you again Rhonda Jean for the seeds. I should have a few hundred seeds in a couple of months so if anyone would like some, let me know.

Rural Living Wishlist # 2

Not quite 12 months ago I started putting together a wishlist of rural living.

On reviewing that list, there is nothing that I'd remove from it, but plenty I'd add - particularly in light of the introductory permaculture course I've just finished. So what would I add?

• ponds
• dams
• swales (water-collecting ditches on contour)
• a wider range of fruit trees
• a stack more nut trees
• heaps of leguminous trees, shrubs and groundcovers
• more herbs
• diversity
• strawbale housing would be great for its thermal properties
• comfrey, comfrey and then some comfrey
• fenugreek and more fenugreek

On the animal front, we'd like alpacas. They look 'friendly' (not sure if they are), would keep the grass and weeds under control in our zone 3 area and would provide wool.

During the week we bought Isabell Shipard's How can I use Herbs in my daily life. I think our list of herbs and other useful plants will grow considerably.

Worm Farm

Our worms arrived safely and well and appear to be happy in their new surroundings.

We collected them at Easter and let them settle in with the coir peat bed and shredded paper they came with. After the first week we began feeding them some vegetable scraps and have done so weekly for the past few weeks. The farm we opted for was the Can-O-Worms and it was obtained from S & J Worms along with 2,000 mixed compost worms. Good service, good price.

I'm not sure if we're doing the best for them, but I check them every couple of days and there are always a number of them in the top level amongst the vege scraps. The Can-O-Worms comes with 3 levels apart from the base and we're running two of them - one nearly full with the castings and peat that we got originally, and a level above that where we put the vege scraps. A towel cut in half provides some protection and moisture in the top storey.

I think it will take a little time to get used to them and their needs. I guess the proof is in whether their numbers increase and we can harvest the castings. I think it can take months for their numbers to increase and to fill one of the storeys with castings. If they remain alive we must be doing something right. We pour water through the farm every week and harvest the worm tea that runs out. It's being diluted and poured on various veges.

Comfrey

One of the (paraphrased) principles of permaculture is to ensure that each plant or element in a design is fulfilling multiple aims. In that regard Comfrey is regarded as the darling of the permaculture plant world. It reputedly contains more nitrogen than horse manure; has deep roots that break up clay soil and mine minerals; it's edible in small doses; is a good edge or border plant because grasses like cooch and kikuyu can't penetrate it; chickens eat it; it's excellent for hacking down for mulch, to add to the compost or in a compost tea brew; and it helps broken bones to knit. With functionality like that, no wonder it's so highly regarded. Given comfrey's deep roots, it is apparently impossible to dig out because each root section will grow. To get rid of it, you slash it, place newspaper or cardboard on it and then mulch over that.

And the good news? We have some. Elizabeth from ALS sent me some root sections during the week and they are now in and planted. I've got two sections planted out the front, and a couple out the back. I wasn't sure where to put the rest so it's in a pot for the time being.

I'm looking forward to it growing and being put to use around the yard for both mulching and composting.

Introduction to Permaculture - Week 5

Week 5 saw a discussion of design methods including zone and sector analysis; map overlays; random placement and assessment to detailed observation and analysis.

We then moved on to discussing patterns and spent a fair bit of time looking at mandala gardens and herb spirals.

We finished up with a look at a video from the early 90's by Robyn Francis as she creates a small mandala garden replete with tyre pond and keyhole garden beds. It was somewhat dated, but informative none-the-less. During the video as Robyn was planting out the garden, she talked a bit about companion planting and highlighted some useful pairings and guilds.