tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-365736752009-10-13T22:33:13.777+11:00Thoughts on downshifting, simplicity, sustainability, ecological footprints, organic foods, grow-your-own veges and anything else related.garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-6726708487248329952008-11-17T21:28:00.005+11:002008-11-17T22:05:44.811+11:00

Our adventures in suburbia are almost at an end. We leave Sydney at the end of the week for the New England area. For the first six-or-so months we'll be in something like suburbia whilst we rent in town, and we'll commence looking for a suitable property out of town just as soon as we've unpacked.My job has finished, tomorrow is the last day of school for a while.I'm not sure what shape, form or

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-80120715539749414572008-10-15T10:11:00.000+11:002008-10-15T10:12:50.235+11:00

It's been a strange position to be in - having a couple of modest vegetables patches that were crying out to be filled, but also being aware that they'll be under new onwership from towards the end of next month.Coming out of winter and leading into spring, I hadn't wanted to plant anything that wouldn't be able to provide us with something useful or edible by the middle of November.The broad

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-33797969712746816392008-09-30T10:42:00.000+10:002008-09-30T10:43:45.109+10:00

Many years ago my father brewed his own beer. It was a hobby that lasted a number of years and many batches. It was something that was strangely fascinating. In those days before premixed tins of extract he'd buy the hops and malt and sugar and yeast then boil up this concoction before it departed to the garage to bubble away for a week or two. The gurgling of the airlock was captivating. We'd

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-71024310235272771022008-09-26T10:13:00.002+10:002008-09-26T10:18:11.020+10:00

I've been crunching the numbers on our electricity usage and the likely configuration and cost for solar power and solar hot water for our new place wherever it is.Currently we have electric-everything - hot water, heating/cooling, hotplates and oven. Our average daily usage over the past two years has been 31kWh/day of which 17 has been standard tariff and 14 has been off-peak hot water. If we

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-72017394086605247912008-09-19T16:36:00.003+10:002008-09-19T16:44:42.539+10:00

Our house is sold and we settle in a bit over two month's time - an extended settlement.There's lots to be done - more culling, sorting, packing and tossing. Most areas are under control, but the garage needs some attention! There's a council cleanup this weekend so I may get into the accumulated garage stuff and sort it out. It shouldn't take too long, but there'll be a fair bit of stuff to take

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-58849287680294000452008-08-27T08:26:00.001+10:002008-08-27T08:28:23.550+10:00

There's nothing like putting a house on the market to muster the energy to get things cleaned up and sorted out. Our path to simplicity over the past few years has meant we've gradually being sorting, throwing, recycling, reusing and generally ridding ourselves of 'stuff', but there is always more to do (particularly with my stuff); and just he fact that we need to 'live' in a house means it will

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-43829077879307666282008-08-08T16:07:00.003+10:002008-08-08T16:09:44.410+10:00

I've spent a fair bit of time recently trying to get my head around the principles and foibles of crop rotation to formulate a workable, understandable yet relatively simple rotation plan for our yet-to-be-created organic vegetable gardens.I've consulted a few experts in the process - Peter Cundall, Lyn Bagnall and Jeff Hodges in their books or from websites quoting their approach; and the

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-15358403638204892492008-08-04T20:25:00.003+10:002008-08-04T20:36:29.234+10:00

No pigs being procured here. Instead, today we've signed up with a Real Estate Agent to put our house on the market.In a sense it is the first concrete step to leaving suburbia to begin to shape a new, simpler, more sustainable existence in the country. We've obviously taken steps to this point - a lot of reading and research, a couple of trips to our prospective country area, a lot of pondering

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-71010354480943614122008-06-30T11:04:00.006+10:002008-08-04T20:36:50.062+10:00

I'm a big fan of open-pollinated, non-GMO, organically grown heirloom seeds. The only seeds I buy need to be non-GMO and open-pollinated, and I prefer if they're heirloom/heritage seeds and they were grown organically. But if they're not organic then they will be once I get them and save some of the seed. Not only does their heirloom status (generally classed as being pre-WWII) indicate some

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-53179050716512950322008-06-22T18:40:00.002+10:002008-06-22T18:43:39.565+10:00

Our garage contains an assortment of gardening/digging/weeding/cultivating tools from spades to rakes, and hoes to forks. Some are long-handled and some are short. We've got a couple of long-handled rakes - presumably what would be called a leaf rake and a garden rake; a spade, a garden fork, a hoe and a three-pronged cultivator. For closer combat we have a small cultivator, a hand trowel, a

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-54952219819877695612008-06-06T16:06:00.002+10:002008-06-06T16:10:31.980+10:00

We've been watching the DVD 'The World According to Monsanto' over the last couple of nights. It's available for purchase from Arte Boutique. It had been put on YouTube and Google video and a raft of other sites but many have since been removed. Despite that, I've seen at least one site where the video is available to view streaming (as of yesterday, anyway), and there may be the odd bit torrent

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-30061444172214806072008-05-26T22:07:00.003+10:002008-05-26T22:20:03.564+10:00

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

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-15956421662507138282008-05-03T08:56:00.002+10:002008-05-03T09:00:11.610+10:00

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

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-35597658755303941542008-04-26T14:00:00.007+10:002008-04-26T15:20:59.191+10:00

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

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-3509613353869487752008-04-25T14:42:00.003+10:002008-04-25T14:47:02.049+10:00

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

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-23806382399759008102008-04-13T07:23:00.003+10:002008-04-13T07:52:55.374+10:00

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

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-15274121033645746102008-04-12T21:50:00.002+10:002008-04-12T22:03:16.831+10:00

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

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-81605122414912991662008-03-19T14:16:00.002+11:002008-03-19T14:28:37.265+11:00

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

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-36387642455401041202008-03-08T22:56:00.001+11:002008-03-08T22:59:19.569+11:00

Part of my permaculture course was an excursion to Kimbriki for a tour of the Eco garden and listening to some teaching from Peter Rutherford. Peter was both engaging and passionate about ecology; and the work that has been done at the tip is remarkable.We heard some theory about ecology, organics, soils, etc and saw some demonstrations about worm farming and composting.We need to get a worm farm

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-71587272333596280062008-03-06T15:37:00.003+11:002008-03-06T15:44:23.106+11:00

This week was primarily a get your hands dirty kind of week.We did a bit of theory at the beginning of the class, but soon moved on. One of the things we discussed was the use of peat as a seed-raising mix. The view was that cocopeat is a more sustainable product. It is also available from Green Harvest.But to the practical: There's a garden area at the college that is being developed along

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-37373594089411807712008-02-27T13:20:00.003+11:002008-02-27T13:35:53.457+11:00

This week we got stuck into the primary design processes of permaculture: of site analysis, microclimates, sectors and zones. This is the connecting point between the ethics and principles on the one hand and the growing, established property on the other.It also encompassed a discussion about keypoints and keylines and productive, fertile land.Next week we get down and dirty in a practical

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-37322308695958892522008-02-20T11:11:00.002+11:002008-02-20T11:16:10.008+11:00

Week 2 involved the ethics and design principles of permaculture.The ethics are essentially:Earth care (soil, water, resources, etc)People care (self, family, community)Fair share (responsible consumption, distribute surplus)The design principles essentially ensure that appropriate elements of the garden/broadacre design are in the right place and support and are supported by the other elements.

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-14155799364604177782008-02-13T11:07:00.000+11:002008-02-13T11:13:28.990+11:00

The intro course I'm attending on Saturday's got off to a flying start last week with 18 people in attendance. The age spread was probably from twenties to seventies (without trying to be disingenuous to anyone) and peoples primary reasons for being there are just as spread - from those seeking to assist their spouses in their employment, to those considering or planning to relocate to the

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-68909504983505859752008-02-04T08:53:00.000+11:002008-02-04T09:05:15.184+11:00

It's all well and good to plant vegetable seeds and/or seedlings somewhere in our backyard, but it's even more helpful to have some idea what to plant when, and how deep, and how far away from its neighbour, and approximately when we may expect to enjoy its delights. I've often consulted a number of planting guides I have.One is the Digger's Club 'Sow what when' wall poster which I received when

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573675.post-45208286037194959042008-01-08T13:46:00.000+11:002008-01-08T14:00:10.690+11:00

Most of our modest vege patch is coming along nicely at the moment. We've got pak choy recently germinated near our luffas; we've got 5-colour silverbeet that's a bit ratty but still edible; we've got some sweet mini capsicums that have started flowering and setting fruit; we've got some cos lettuce that is going quite well; and we've got 4 tomato plants that are medium size and starting to

garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724194046009036993noreply@blogger.com0