Yes, when you're up before dawn stirring some 501 to put out, the full moon setting and the sun lightening the sky in the east you certainly are working with the rhythms of the cosmos. And the stirring itself becomes almost a meditation. I'm glad you understand.
I was up before dawn today, Phillipa, rescuing chickens who's dome had been damaged by the strong winds that hit the Hunter with a change at 2.30am. It is freezing clod and the icy wind threatens to blow the geese across to the other side of Maitland. Preparations for the summer crop are going well with plenty of ground prepared for tomatoes and corn and pumpkins.I have run out of the cages for the tomatoes and will need to stake the rest or find money to purchase more wire to make the cages. We are trying a spring planting of chickpeas for our own use and also red kidney beans and if it goes well I will grow them for the customers in the future as we need to look for staples. The time for putting BD500 out has been in full swing - with damp evenings allowing for the best opportunities for penetration of the preps. I have been adding cow pat pit to the stirring for the last 20 minutes and yesterday I also added fish emulsion and chick weed tea as well for good measure. This I stirred with the flow form as the fish stirring would have meant me sleeping in the cow shed again and I am glad I was not out in the weather last night. Next week we have a group of school kids coming for a sleepover to experience the farm things. We get lots of schools coming through but this is the first group who will camp. I have made a camp kitchen in a corner of the shed (poor tractor has been in the weather for years now and has probably forgotten it eve had a home.) Opps gotta go - more later
Morning Purple. When you make your tea, do you dilute it before pouring it on the garden. I've got a bin with horse manure and in it i put weeds and grass. I am pretty unsystematic iwth it as yet. I just fill it up and when i get around to it, I get a bucket full and dilute it before adding to the garden. Do you know if i need ot dilute it, or is it alright staright on. The manure is pretty old now - about 2 months, so its probably not as strong as it was.
PP, what do you use the chickweed tea for, I've got heaps growing and have decided not to pull it out when it shows up.
i can vouch for purples gardening skills and simple organization i checked it out a couple of weeks ago) weeding done by chickens ,welorganized seed raising area he they have turned tight compacted gutless coastal clay into wonderfull dark friable organic food producing soil. it has to be seen /touched to be believed.( really loved the working CSA) thank you purple pear &co
I say three cheers for the Pear,it's a big set of balls and lots of self belief thats required to pull off what he is attempting.Although I have not been to the site I hear nothing but great things about the place.Well done Mr and Mrs Pear you two are inspirational. Best wishes Fernando
Geezz Fernando - you'l give a bloke a big head. Thanks for your kind words guys - Purple Pear is what can happens if you have dreams and follow them. We still have plenty to do though. The school kids will get a look at where their food comes from ( I hope). We will look at preparing a bed, planting, harvesting and eating potatoes and also "rob" a hive for honey and bake sourdough bread and have bread and honey. We will look at spinning wool and knitting and there will be a chance to build a fort with hay bales and much more - as long as I do not spend time here and get the stuff done before they arrive tomorrow afternoon. The wind damage has been minimal and I will look to spray with seaweed and molassas and cow pat pit this evening to help alleviate the shock to the plants, especially the grapes - they took a battering.
Don't tell you insurance company what you are up to. They are sure to put up your public liability cover with such DANGEROUS activities. I mean someone could die from a bee sting. Or a potato allergy, or choke on sour dough.... Wish I was a kid at your place.... Could we play in the cow pat pit after we finish the fort Mr Pear?
Photo's in the bag We made it through the ordeal without bothering the insurance company. The kids had a blast and have since sent us cards with drawing of the things they saw and experienced - great. I have posted some photos of early days in the mandala and hope to go through the establishment as much as I am able, in photos here Warming up in the Hunter Valley today so have knocked off early after the bees found where I was stripping frames for wax and kicked me out of the shed. Having harvested around thirty kilo's of honey last week and collecting two swarms from town we look set to expand Purple Pear Honey sale in the future. I will need to start improving bee forage soon to cope. Any ideas out there for trees or plants for bee forage welcome or recommended reading too.
Its great to see your pictures purple. And i can't wait to see how it all looks now with the fruit trees and everything. But boy it looks like a lot of gardening work you have to do. I know this is meant to be the easy way to garden but you know, i do find sewing and all the steps up to planting the seedlings really hard work. I think i like perennials best. And actually, i know i would be happy if i could only grow tomatoes, zucchinis, capsciums, eggplant, onions and potatoes and garlic, basil and a few others herbs. Maybe hte odd cucumber and pumpkin but as much fruit as possible. I think i just wont' bother with broccoli, and lettuces and carrots and cabbages and such. Maybe i will do the asian greens as I do like those and rocket, but i'm going ot keep my annuals to a minimum i think.
I think that wise sunburn -it is a worry if the garden time becomes a chore and the fun is hard to find. I would do similar I think if I could get my customers to eat tree Kale but most still want vegetables just like in the old country. I love propagation and plant out and the chooks do most of the work now. It was some hard yaka in the beginning but runs more smoothly now. I guess it would be the same for perennial crops as well in the beginning, I know a fair amount of effort has gone into the grapes and olives and nuts but the food forest is fairly easy using the chook domes to make the way. It is slower but more productive in the end to allow the chickens to do the work.
I agree that it gets easier Purplepear, I was planting out a bed today after only the chickens second visit to that site. It was such a pleasure to just dig a hole with my hand for the seedlings, drop them in and push some soil back. I remember after the first pass, and in some of the heavier beds I actually dug holes with a small auger haha. Things really didn't grow well in those first beds and many quickly succumbed to weeds, so they basically sat there and waited for the chickens to come around again.
I'm looking for your photoblog post. I thought it would be here. however, i think i remember where it is now. I want to befriend you so i can find you easily over there. You know when you hit browse, you can see who amongst your friends has posted new pictures recently. It makes life easy. Anyway, now i will check out that that other thread. I think it must be in the growing nurturing section...
In "photos in the bag" the link is the "here" at the end I will work to make it more obvious. I have attempted to befriend you but have as yet been unsuccessful - I can befriend people who comment on your page but can not yet find the button fo you. I will do it this afternoon if it is hot or raining - it will be one or the other. The photo blog that accompanies this thread can be found by clicking on these words.
lol at The photo blog that accompanies.... YOu can befriend me by going up to my empty avatar and clicking on options. Then there is the option to befriend me. I will get hte message and accept your befriending.
As I continue to add photos from the early days I will post here to let you know. The first period was a difficult one as fertility was poor and keeping up seedling production became difficult to keep on top of. We did buy some seedling at first but found they did not work as well as those we raised ourselves and worked to avoid the disappointment by streamlining the process. More pictures can be seen here by clicking on these words which are many just to make it obvious exactly where the link is.
We are looking at the rhythm of the mandala with views of the beds that perhaps you have seen before but I will look to add more words here as I get time. For now you can view the latest pics by clicking on these words.
In the fifth instalment we look at the making of compost. Some of you will have seen these pics in mandala town or in my album but for the sake of continuity, I have put the photos into the photoblog. The content of the compost changes with the seasons and available ingredients. The quality varies also and is dependant to a large degree on the quality of the assistance we have in the building. Some classes we run in compost making do fall short of the result we like and the heaps are remade if the break down is not evident in four days. We feel it is important to ensure the heap does not get too hot as this tends to deplete the organic matter and produce carbon at the expense of humus. This is usually achieved at the time of construction by ensuring the heap gets as much water as it will take. Addition of water after this time is used if the mix gets too dry or if the heap gets too hot. We use the adage of ADAM & EVE when teaching and building the compost. Aeration - Slats let in air Diversity - As many different ingrediens as possible. Aliveness - Manures and compost as well as soil are added during the process Moisture - Water is constantly being added & Environment - we prefer a shady spot in the afternoon and sun in the mornings Vitality - The BD preps Equilibrium - We aim for a balance of 28 : 1 Carbon to Nitrogen The photo's can be found here
