Well February seemed to come and go in what felt like a matter of days. The most exciting event was purchasing our new “kit” – a 1984 Nissan Patrol diesel 4WD (work horse) and a 22ft caravan to accommodate Wwoofers, all for $5,500. The caravan is fully decked out with gas oven and hotplates, dining room, two separate bedrooms, and even has dimmer lights! The cheapest van we found of this size and condition on the mainland was $8,000 on its own, so we got a real bargain. It seemed too good to be true, but the mechanic has checked both vehicles over and it seems we really have scored big time :o)
The next door neighbour came over in his little excavator and has levelled the caravan site for us, and placed blue metal around the site so it doesn’t get boggy after rain.
On the land this month we planted some ground covers and a few dozen potatoes in Zone 2, along with millions of pigface cuttings (edible cactus) that we cultivated from a nearby permaculture property.
The seedlings we planted in January have also germinated nicely, and many should be ready to plant out in autumn.
They actually germinated so well that I was able to thin them out in the pots, and have already planted some seedlings directly into Zone 2.
We’ve cut the first proper walking track down to the creek. The photos below show the start of the track, an area we stumbled across that might become our wedding ceremony circle, and the scenery half way along the track.
During Feb we also placed rocks around the new driveway culvert to avoid erosion and make sure the water runs exactly where we want it to go – toward the future dam!
I started volunteering this month at an animal sanctuary only 20 minutes from our land, called Brightside Farm. They’ve rescued all kinds of birds, chooks, geese, cats, dogs, pigs, ponies, horses, donkies, cows, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and even rats and ferrets!
I’ve been spending time with a greyhound dog called Minnie that couldn't race anymore because she broke her toe, so the trainers were going to put her down. Unfortunately greyhound trainers use live animals such as chickens and piglets to teach them how to race (let's not even go there), so before a greyhound can be re-homed they need to be un-taught otherwise they'll chase and kill any small animal they see. So I put a muzzle and leash on her and walk her around the farm trying to get her used to all the other animals. She’s doing pretty well, though still can’t control herself around the rabbits. Poor thing must be so confused getting told off for doing what she's always been trained to do.
It’s really amazing how all the different animals get along, you can see in this photo there are pigs, chooks, ducks and even cats all interacting.
Wonderful news is that Brightside Farm found a new home for Hedge, the kitten we’ve been fostering. We had to keep looking after him until he reached 1kg (which he did two days ago woo hoo), so he’s off to his new home this week :o)
This is a great time of year in Tassie Mania, you can buy apples, pears, peaches, nectarines and plums straight off the tree (which have ripened on the tree), and we’ve never before had the privelage of eating fruit that tastes this good. There is also wild blackberry and cherries growing everywhere, so if we feel a bit peckish we just have to harvest the nearest bush! I made a delicious tart with blackberries growing on our land (not cooked of course, the raw food diet is still going strong).
We’ve written a list of other things we love about Tassie Mania:
· People hitch everywhere
· Politicians have gmail email accounts
· The RTA tells you to ignore their reminder notices
· There’s no such thing as a green slip
· Once registered in Tassie, vehicles never need a pink slip
· You don’t have to stand up for the elderly or pregnant women on the train, because there is no train
· You don’t have to stand up for the elderly or pregnant women on the bus, because the bus is never full
· Hairy legs :o)
In summary, we’re having loads of fun!
