treetopsdreaming - one family's slow journey...

Discussion in 'Members' Systems' started by treetopsdreaming, Mar 25, 2013.

  1. treetopsdreaming

    treetopsdreaming Junior Member

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    Hello, we're Ben, Elaine and Madison :) treetopsdreaming is the name of our property. In total, the property is about 2.1 hectares (or ~7.5 acres) and is located in south east Queensland, Australia. Most of the land is steeply sloped and is very challenging to manage (at least in a conventional sense). We have owned the land since 2003.

    We recently completed an inventory of the plant varieties located in our zone 1 (permaculture) garden area. Over the years, we have planted approximately 160 plants that each have a different function in the garden. Of these, 111 plants are edible...

    Our property is located in cold zone 9b-10 and heat zone 5-7. In other words, we are in a subtropical climate. The following list details the plant varieties that we have planted in our garden so far. Please click on the link to view the list in detail (and to get ideas about what to plant in your garden if you live in a similar climate): garden plant list: zone 1. We hope to complete similar lists for our zone 2 and zone 3 (permaculture) garden areas in the near future. (These zones have less edibles, but contain a similar number and diversity of plants).

    The following graph shows the number of garden plants by function (ie. chop and drop, ground cover, etc.) and edibility.

    [​IMG]

    The following graph shows the number of garden plants by crop time.

    [​IMG]

    For anyone interested, the list was created using Excel (a spreadsheet software package). Once the data is entered into a worksheet, the program makes it easy to generate dynamic pivot charts and graphs (that can then be used to examine various relationships). The possibilities are endless :)

    Our website has photos of the various garden areas (although, they need to be updated). Hopefully, these will be up to date by our next post in this thread!
     
  2. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Where about in SEQ are you? From a fellow SEQ-er.
     
  3. treetopsdreaming

    treetopsdreaming Junior Member

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    Hi eco4560. We're located in the D'Aguilar range...
     
  4. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Lovely! I'm in boring old Nambour.
     
  5. brad_kl

    brad_kl Junior Member

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    These charts appeal to the scientist inside me.

    Well done!
     
  6. treetopsdreaming

    treetopsdreaming Junior Member

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    Hi eco4560. Hmmm, I don't find Nambour boring :)

    Hi brad_kl. I have to admit I was worried my graphs might be too "dry" (especially for my first post in this thread)... However, I'm glad to know that someone else understands :D
     
  7. treetopsdreaming

    treetopsdreaming Junior Member

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    The following photos show how our zone 1 garden areas have progressed over the past 10 years. Although we purchased our property in 2003 (and finished building in 2006), we didn't really start working on planting out the zones until 2008/09. So, our garden areas are probably about 4 years old on average (some are older and some are newer). At this point, we still have a long way to go (but, we now have a decent foundation to work with).

    In 2005, when we were preparing to build our house, we made the decision to remove close to 1m of top soil from the immediate area (to give us more useable space). Needless to say, the compacted clay pan that remained was not going to let us grow anything! So, our main priority has been to slowly build up the organic matter in our soil. To date, we have brought in more than 35 tons of manure (cow, sheep, horse), mulch (barley, sugarcane, lucerne, weeds), and other improvers (lime, gypsum, seasol, natramin, etc.)! And, after many years of slow and hard work, we are finally being rewarded with some progress!

    Zone 1 - Front All (please click on photos for larger image)

    View attachment 1574 View attachment 1573

    Zone 1 - Vegetable Garden (please click on photos for larger image)

    View attachment 1577 View attachment 1575 View attachment 1576

    Our vegetable garden beds have recently been converted from in-ground beds to raised bins. The change was driven by our need to manage the extensive damage being caused by bandicoots. (Sadly, we tried several rounds of fencing - but, this solution didn't work). Now, hopefully both the bandicoots and the humans on this property can share its bounty and live at peace. :)

    If anyone would like to see more photos of our zone 1 areas (including various orchards, our chickens, etc.), please visit this link: https://treetopsdreaming.com.au/property/photos-property/photos-zone1. Enjoy!
     

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  8. annette

    annette Junior Member

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    Your place looks fabulous! Well done.
     
  9. Curramore1

    Curramore1 Junior Member

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    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Primary Producer
    Location:
    Curramore, Blackall Range, S E Queensland, Aust.
    Climate:
    Sub-tropical to temperate 2000mm rain, elevated 350-475m
    Wow! Lots of blood, sweat and cheers there!

    Lovely spot! Thanks for posting so many photos of your progress. Nice to see such new and exciting gardens. I've never seen so much mulch hay in one place before, best wishes on your continueing venture.
     
  10. treetopsdreaming

    treetopsdreaming Junior Member

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    Hi Annette and Curramore1. Thank you for the encouraging words :)

    We certainly did use a ridiculous amount of mulch hay for the first few years (while we were building the soil). Fortunately, our ground covers finally have something to grow in and are taking off. I can only imagine what early visitors thought about our garden (and probably still think). :D
     
  11. treetopsdreaming

    treetopsdreaming Junior Member

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    After far too many years of using practical (but completely uninspired) names for our various (permaculture) garden areas, we are finally in the process of using our imagination to develop more creative names. A shared family challenge and quick walk around the garden is all that it took to start this exciting change! Here is what we have come up with so far...

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    We'll be working on these ideas for the next few weeks. In addition to the names and the stories, Maddy is also creating artwork for each of the garden areas. All in all, a fun family activity :)
     
  12. annette

    annette Junior Member

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    What a great idea! I meant to ask you, where did you get your raised beds from? I have a big bandicoot problem as well and want to have a lot more raised beds but they are soooooo expensive.
     
  13. treetopsdreaming

    treetopsdreaming Junior Member

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    Hi again, Annette :)

    We sourced our bins from a supplier in Woodford called KISS Products. (If you google the name, you should be able to find their site). We first saw their bins in a council park (I can't remember the name at the moment) and were impressed with the quality. So, we started saving. As you mentioned, bins are an expensive investment (but, then again, so are other solutions to large numbers of marauding bandicoots and scrub turkeys)...

    We've had the bins for 6 months now and have no regrets so far. (I'll keep you posted as more time passes). I really like having wildlife in our zone 1 areas, so this solution has worked well in that regard...
     
  14. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    I need a thinking rock at my place!
     
  15. treetopsdreaming

    treetopsdreaming Junior Member

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    Hi eco :)

    A thinking rock is good... But, a "meditation dome" sounds even more inspiring :)
     
  16. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Perhaps a thinking rock would work at the entrance to the meditation dome - one spot for thinking and one for NOT thinking!
     
  17. annette

    annette Junior Member

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    I like it!! lol I was gonna say good thinking 99 but that might not be appropriate in this instance!
     
  18. treetopsdreaming

    treetopsdreaming Junior Member

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    Hi again, annette and eco. I like the idea of having garden areas for both "thinking" and for "not thinking". My favourite area (for either activity) is "serene billabong". Now, I just need to remind myself to "think" less and to "do" more (or is it to "be" more)? Hopefully, I'll figure it out one day...
     
  19. treetopsdreaming

    treetopsdreaming Junior Member

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    Our "garden's story"...

    Our "garden's story" is slowing starting to take shape (after our most recent activity of coming up with more creative names for the various areas). Here are a few examples of progress so far (please click for larger image):

    View attachment 1662
    View attachment 1663
    View attachment 1664
    View attachment 1665

    Actually, this activity has turned into alot of fun and has really helped us to connect with our garden in a completely new way. Has anyone else been similarly inspired by their garden to create a story or art of some kind? If so, please feel free to share your experience...
     

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  20. treetopsdreaming

    treetopsdreaming Junior Member

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    list of our property's attributes

    Here is an initial attempt to make a list of our property's attributes:

    • climate: subtropical (located in USDA plant hardiness cold zone 9b-10 and heat zone 5-7)
    • annual rainfall: approximately 1200mm (rainfall has been significantly higher for the past 3 years)
    • aspect: south west facing
    • vegetation: approximately 30 year old regrowth forest species with areas of wet schlerophyll and dry eucalypt (original forest species were subtropical rainforest)
    • terrain: approximately 1/3 is terraced (and is relatively flat and easy to access) while the remaining 2/3 is steeply sloped (and is very challenging to manage - at least in a conventional sense)
    • soil type: mainly heavy clay
    • prevailing winds: summer - north easterlies (refreshing); winter - westerlies (cold and bracing)
    • sun exposure: summer - full sun (zones 1 and 2); winter - 1/2 shaded (zones 1 and 2)

    This was a useful exercise and I'm looking forward to refining (and improving) the list over time :)
     

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