Heaps of ginger and chilli and garlic and other veggies if you like oh and fish sauce. whats happening at Kin Kin I have been out of touch lately .I am going to Bazmans Sunday on the way back from Brizzy.
Hmm. The cabbages tasted fine but were a tiny bit past their prime ... and NOT because I was procrastinating! OK it was. Just shut up. The instructions for sauerkraut make it look complicated OK? :blush: I dunno what the go is with my veggie garden. I've reckoned it wasn't quite right since I got here but I have no clue about how to get the soil tested. The chances of me doing all the steps necessary to find a company, get the samples, in the right jars, scrape up the coin to pay for it & get them in the post are slim to none anyway. So I've just soldiered on in the hope that all that cow poop, a bit of chook poop, raw milk, Kefir leftovers, compost teas & waste hay would eventually get it humming. I even let the pigs run in it for a while - I thought that was a very PC thing to do (I quickly found out that even baby pigs are stronger than old chicken wire!) I don't know what I'm doing wrong but this year the beetroot isn't as sweet as last year, & last year it was the tomatoes that weren't sweet. And now everything is just bolting to seed. sigh. Who knows? One year we're deluged, the next I've got the pump on the bore going just to keep things alive. Summer hasn't been as hot & winter hasn't been as cold & everything & everyone is confused. Eveything is right out of whack, including me. I have swarms of cabbage moths eco but find if I have a lot of cabbages just the outside leaves are eaten. They look awful - I wouldn't want to give them to anyone! but they're fine inside. And as they say ... if the bugs won't eat it, why are YOU eating it? So I figure mine have natures tick of approval - multiple ticks! I don't actually do much pest control - I find the effort required doesn't match the results gained, & unless you're looking for Woolworths looking veggies it doesn't really matter if they have the odd munch mark. I love Kimchi. The person who gave me the sauerkraut also gave me a few jars of Kimchi & it was divine I was amazed at how I absolutely craved all the fermented stuff. I was eating it right out of the bottle. I've tried to ignore the whole gut/brain/psychology thing for years but I have to admit I feel a LOT better when my gut microbes are healthy. And it has taken away all my doubts about whether bread & chocolate are that bad for me. They are, & when I'm healthy it's impossible to deny the effects I get when I eat them. That's a bit of a bummer. Maybe the answer might be to simply go back to being generally unhealthy so I can deny what's going on
IMO.The soil Biota needs to be in balance same as your gut, do a home ph soil test as nothing will thrive if that is out of whack then after correcting that you have two options (soil test makes 3. and is much faster and usually cheaper in the long run than point 2.) 1. use Biota Booster then feed your soil and the microbes with organic matter. 2. keep applying organic matter and amendments including compost as varied as you can get this way takes years to achieve a balanced biota conducive to growing produce which is fine if you have time but still may not have as good biota as option1.
3pm Sunday Tom's place for Kin Kin Permaculture meeting - I don't think it's anything formal just a wander around the property. I haven't been out for a while and want to see the biodigester and anything else that is new. Say hi to Baz for me. Helen I'm with you on just chucking stuff on. The only fancy 'amendments' I have used are garden lime (pH tests are dead cheap and you can do them yourself) and have just started sulfate of potash as I have noticed lots of leaf growth but very late to flower and fruit and I'm told that'll fix it. I'm hearing you with the food. Going dairy and gluten free has altered my brain chemistry dramatically and at the same time made me even more sensitive. Ate at a friends place on Sunday night and being far too polite for my own good ate everything offered without scrutinising the ingredients. I'm sure there was cheese in the dip and flour on the chicken and by Monday afternoon I had a cracking headache (never get them normally), a vague sensation that everything I was doing was completely wrong, and hardly slept a wink that night between nightmares and foot cramps (despite a double dose of Mg before bed). It's starting to pass now that its Wed but I really do lose a few days of productivity each time I have one tiny little bit of gluten and or dairy. When I ate the stuff all the time and felt crap all the time I just got used to it and waded through the quagmire daily without complaint! BTW if anyone else out there in cyberland wants to see a GREAT permaculture property in Kin Kin on Sunday - PM me and I'll send you the details.
This is scary stuff. I agree that the cleaner you get the more you are affected by "indiscretions" (do ya like that word? ), or perhaps it's just, as you say, you notice them more when you no longer live in 24/7/365 fog. I hate not being able to eat what I want. I have always been a big eater & I love my food, & I love all the "normal" stuff I was raised on including bread & pastry & cakes, as well as the protein & fat component. I'm petrified that I may discover I'm also sensitive to dairy. I'm hoping beyond hope that Joann Grohman is correct in saying that what most people are sensitive to is the dairy you buy in the shop, & that most people who can't tolerate commercial dairy are fine with raw milk & its products. Because if you can't eat gluten or dairy, life would be pretty miserable - & that's an understatement. Oh how I would love to be in Kin Kin on Sunday wandering round a GREAT PC property. Boo hoo. Take lots of pics for me will you ?
Yeah I think you're right - I'm going to have to bite the bullet & get it tested. Why do I need a Biota Booster is I make my own compost & manure teas? I incorporate mulch I get up the bush in the compost teas - a tip I learned from maybe Peter Hardwick I think ... or was it the Soil Technology Centre? Anyway, the idea is to bring home a bag of mulch from different places that are as far away from anything that has ever been cleared & cultivated as possible, & to brew that up & apply it to the soil. That way you get the benefit of all the different bacteria & fungi What extra benefits would Biota Booster give me?
Not to mention soil is healthiest & most active in the spots between the fungal woods, and bacteria dominated plains areas... ..given that, I want to keep my shroom spores.
IMO Biota booster will ensure you have the desired beneficial microbes in the quantity required rather than taking pot luck, and it will supply them strait away with one application for the duration of the crop* (*annuals)+(*you still need to mulch to feed the microbes). BB basically saves the work of fetching all those inputs and ensures you have the desired beneficial biota it also is already activated so does not need brewing (just mix with enough water to cover desired area and spray out (before9am or after4pm) You are likely to be also multiplying bad microbes whereas BB ensures the good guys are dominant.BB is also excellent as a foliar spray and a seed soak to defeat diseases. so in short it saves you work and ensures results.It is almost cheating but actually it is cutting edge science, this is the good side of biotech! Great questions thank you Helen, keep them coming folks!
I'm so glad I did that course at the ... what on earth is it called ... the place in Lismore that is attached to Southern Cross? Anway, they were simply brilliant & I was gob smacked about the big ol' world under the microscope And if I hadn't done that course I wouldn't have a clue what you're talking about. I'm so glad I do
We are yet to price it for large scale application But I will sell the 10 ml blue bottles for $35 as an introductory price to see how it goes. Having said that, if you supply me with usable data, photos or testimonials I will give you a sample .As far as colour is concerned you can have blue ,blue or at a stretch blue (for now).Pm me your address if you are interested.
I was just being silly ... I don't know how old you are or if you remember "The Inventors" a 70's TV series where inventors would explain their invention to a panel of science/engineering/design oriented blokes, who would then ask them questions. There was a woman named Diana Fischer on the panel, & she always asked what colour it came in But blue is good anyway. I love blue bottles
Oh god I LOVE bower birds! And I love blue I only have 2 bowers on the property that I know of now (doubtless there are many others in the bush.) I was absolutely traumatised when one of the idiots with a dozer in my life cleared a little dell by the creek & destroyed THE most gorgeous bower I have ever seen. I collected every single piece of blue from out of the dirt & I have them all in a jewellery box by my bed. One of the ones I have here now has made extensive use of baling twine. I haven't seen that before. Very original
