Terras Patch

Discussion in 'Members' Systems' started by Terra, Aug 23, 2012.

  1. Bryant RedHawk

    Bryant RedHawk Junior Member

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    Good to hear that the move is in progress Terra. I know all to well the hassles of moving stuff to storage then to new homestead. In my case, I'll be very happy when I don't have anything stored elsewhere at last. Here's hoping things go as smoothly as possible for you.

    Cheers.
     
  2. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    Been there, done that. I used to think when the place got too cluttered it was time to move. Just about every ten years we'd load up a big u-Haul truck and settle in the new house. We usually had made a lot of friends and ended up giving away several good items and going to the dumps with several more. Actually there were entertainment offers I couldn't refuse and commuting wasn't an option. Perhaps it was also something I'd become used to as a child, Dad being on the run for all those years. I've rented, leased to purchase, bought and built several homes through the years. I have to admit it must have been a little difficult for the family, but, as I was an entertainer, new friends were easily made, and the young'ns learned a lot about the good ol' USofA.

    And that's enough about me. I hope your new place doesn't need too much "reclaiming",. I can picture you rerouting stuff, setting up your fish tanks, cleaning out cisterns and designing a whole new atmosphere to the place. You have to take before-and-after pics. Having worked out most of the wrinkles on the former site, you've probably got a lot of it all up and running in your mind.

    There goes the timer. Got to put the loaves in the oven for a lunch treat, so, Lots of love and good luck, mate.
     
  3. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    Hey Terra,
    Can't wait to compare notes regarding dry climates and see what you put into place:
     
  4. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Thanks everyone its only taken 10 min to get from the forum through the replies and onto the reply page we should knock 90% of $$$ of our internet bill as we are only getting 10% service , the "Grapevine" is telling us a new tower is going up sometime so im guessing the old one wont get fixed anytime soon .

    Yes brain is spinning with ideas we have a decent solar system at the new place however the rebates only have 18mths left , so learning to use power during the daylight hours will be a big one , eg I want to move the rainwater tanks up onto the highest point where they will be out of the way and gravity to bring back the water , a catchment tank and pumping up the water to the main tanks during daylight hours on free power getting our heads around water saving will be another big one as we havnt had to worry about that . At the moment we have enough roof catchment X annual rainfall to fill 5 x 22500L tanks .

    Need to live there for awhile as you would expect trees have been bunged in without a lot of thought .

    OFF Topic for a moment Here is a new one for me , wrote above yesterday computer signal disappeared couldn't continue gave up ect ect thought I had lost the post.

    Opened the reply page up this morning to have another go at , tried the auto save button and it was still there wasn't expecting that .
     
  5. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Been busy shifting gear nearly there , get our money in 4 days , pay for our new place in 13 days time , met the current owners of our new place 2 days ago and they showed me around very helpful .

    First job will be lots of photos of zone 1 / 2 .

    Need to set up a temporary Aquaponic system to keep the "Live" gravel going it takes ages to cycle a system from scratch through the cold months , "seeding" it with some I already have is very important .

    Keen to do the PDC at Geoffs in july this whole move will be life changing for me .

    Be back on track soon .
     
  6. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Terras Back

    Moved into the new place on the 9th april been here 6 days and just got the computer up and running much better service here .

    Will get a few photos up soon .

    One challenge will be keeping the Kangaroos out of the food garden .

    Ordered a couple more rainwater tanks .

    Cant wait to get my tractor here and start preparing the food garden area .

    Lots of large pots I can use to get a start .

    Yield so far is 4 tomatoes , 2 apples and 2 strawberries .

    We have a terrific farmers market every Saturday 10kms away .
     
  7. Bryant RedHawk

    Bryant RedHawk Junior Member

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    Woot! Terra I know you are happy to be done with that move. Roos are tasty aren't they? I do know they make good leather :)

    We are getting close to being ready to make our permanent move to Buzzards Roost, if the rains would give me full weekends, we could be moving up there in two months.
    This is, unfortunately, our monsoon season, rains at least 2-3 days every week for two months. But the heat isn't here yet, so that's a good thing.
    I am looking forward to your photos.

    Cheers
     
  8. andrew curr

    andrew curr Moderator

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    How exiting!
    what is the nearest town ?
    Must get to SA one day!
    Red or grey roos?
     
  9. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Grey Roos

    Nearest town is Monash (Sth Australia) small town where we get our mail , great butcher , general store , closest main shopping / services is Berri (10kms) on quiet bitumen roads , big change from the 40kms at the old place some of which was dreadfull rough dirt roads . Similar town the other way is Barmera (12kms) , Other towns nearby are Loxton and Renmark so lots of choices .

    35mm of rain so that's a great start , water tanks are full have 2 more ordered when they turn up will transfer the water into them and clean out the existing tanks so we can catch and store some more .
     
  10. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    Congratulations, Terra on your move. Willie and I had a laugh (I know it's not funny to you) We couldn't help ourselves man. when you mentioned the Roos in your garden. I had a picture of them in my mind (in my garden) Get the camera!! Call the newspaper!! NO!! the TV station.
    Be quiet, Ben, I have the butcher on the phone LOL.
     
  11. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Im back been away working for a month to earn a few dollars , my new tanks have arrived so that's the first job setting them up . Then get my tractor here and start clearing out the ornamental rubbish trees that are where my food garden will go lots to do .
     
  12. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    Hey Terra!
    What material tanks did you get? Most tanks here are poly but I know you can get fiberglass and even stainless in Aus.
     
  13. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    hey! good to see you back again Terra! :)

    good luck with the clearing work...

    it's spring here for us so we're just starting the planting and the strawberries are blooming up a storm.
     
  14. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    The new tanks are Poly 5000 gallons , the existing ones are fibreglass and one steel that's on its last legs that one will become three raised beds for strawberries ect . Its the cold time of year here no doubt a few frosts are not far away.

    I started a Aquaponic system and had it running fishless ( dosed it to .5 ammonia ) so it could do the bacteria cycle while I was away working just a simple one growbed and sump to get it going , there is 4 more growbeds and a 2000Litre fishtank to add to that one .

    Then the main system starts , big hoop house 2 x 5000L fish tanks and ten big growbeds is the plan plus a full length raft and wick bed down the middle . Plan is to build as funds allow and sell chemical free berries at the local farmers market , hope its something I can do as I age gracefully , plus grow a few fish to eat / trade .
     
  15. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Ive been busy rebuilding the water system here dealing with poor design weeping joints ect , found the main supply line and started from there luckily its easy digging . The place looks like Wombats have moved in , found the underground power feed line and am marking that with permanent posts so I don't put a ripper or post hole digger through it , that has been bothering me since I bought the place the map supplied was basic.

    Have photos in the camera , I have to find a way to get them onto this new computer , I used to just plug the memory card in to the old one , I hate change soon as i get used to something im back in the dark again . We must have 10 cameras I don't want to buy another , I cant set up my tanks until I fill in the wombat site as I need to roll them through this area to get them around the back of the shed .

    Back to work.
     
  16. BelindaKate

    BelindaKate Junior Member

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  17. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Thanks Belinda looks like it will work for me .
     
  18. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Interesting day at our new place made a start on the east side , finding treasures and unknown taps and pipes pulled out some prickle bushes even found a Boxthorn (declared weeds here) . Previous owners were getting long in the tooth and there is lots of dense overgrown areas , found a nice lot of rocks to build a succulent area that's Mrs Terras next job designing a rock garden with companion plants , plenty of plants here already in pots scattered around .

    I am SO glad I kept my tractor and found a way to get it here there is lots to do with it.

    Good to get away from the Wombat area for awhile , found the main power feed line so that forces a few changes in my design for the food garden area as it cuts right through the middle , need to watch where I plant trees , there is a horrid ornamental pine 20ft high right alongside the underground cable so a bit of care required to deal with that one .

    Its a pain not having chooks its amazing how much kitchen waste there is , ive got to set up a serious worm / compost area as well , so much to do when you take on a new place just to get the basics that we take for granted .
     
  19. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Might have to change my name to Wombat ive dug some serious holes and trenches in the last couple of weeks , dug back to the main supply pipe and fixed all the dodgy underground connections . This pic shows the last dig site I suspected 25mm drip line connected to the main PVC pressure line with pathetic plastic clips and that's what I found complete with invasive tree root complicating the change I was planning , I had to dig each way until the root moved away from the pipe enough to safely cut it off . The pipe was seriously crushed so I cut 4 metres out and replaced it , brought the water supply to the surface so I can build on it from there .
     

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  20. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Started my food garden area Small basic Aquaponic system , ive cleaned up all the old trellis wire , unwanted ornamental pines ect , dug with the tractor and rotary hoed a circle area (so I can level out the mounds and break up the tree root mass) so the chook dome / mandala area begins , pond , fruit trees and support plants to follow .

    Dug down found and marked the main electrical power feed in a few places this line will become a pathway so I always know where the danger is and don't put a post through it .

    Sometimes it feels like I am making a mess but its all coming together now second pic is slightly left of the tractor pic ive put plenty of hours into this area already.

    Did a bit more on the Aquaponic system today ive had a couple of grow beds going for awhile now cycling with goldfish from Mrs Terras pond once the weather warms up a bit I will stock it with Perch , some mornings the water temperature has been only 8 Celsius . There will be two more similar systems running alongside this one with a shade house frame over the lot with roll back curtains to manage summer / winter light and heat issues .

    Still havnt done my new water tanks , every tank on the place is sagged at an angle so I figure I will need to prepare the site well to avoid this , thinking roll it well with the tractor to compact the site as much as possible and cap it with some thing , big job 5 x 5000 gallon tanks in a row behind the shed .
     

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