There is a lot more wildlife around at the moment, searching for food during the colder months, so it’s not surprising. The wallabies are out earlier in the morning and afternoon, and don’t seem to be phased by us. Two ducks have visited the dam a few times, eagles have been circling quite low, and a flock of black cockatoos flew around Karim, Anna and I, and led us into the forest on a bush walk. A possum has hung out with me in the carport three times now, becoming more and more curious each time. Anna and I were fortunate enough to not only see, but actually watch a platypus in the creek for over five minutes. It rolled on its back a few times, had a scratch, and we even saw its tongue licking its bill! It was so special. There’s also a gorgeous Bettong that sits in front of the garden gate at night, looking in at all the tasty delights, no doubt wishing he could gain access.
The house plans are on track and are with the engineer now. The exciting news is that we received our planning permit, so the property is now an official training facility and we can use the shed as a classroom once the house is built. Our designer left on a five week holiday yesterday, which gives me a break from working on the house and allows me to spend most of my time in the garden getting ready for spring, which is perfect as I can keep a close eye on the chickens.
We’re having several early signs of spring; bees, daffodils, blossoming acacia’s… it’s such a lovely time of the year. I’ve completed the spring garden plan, taking into consideration crop rotation and companion planting. Most of last season’s crops in the mandala have been harvested, the beds prepared for the next crop, and one bed already planted, with the seedlings protected from the frost and slugs by milk containers.
Two blueberry bushes, two grape vines, six raspberry, more strawberries and three kiwi fruit vines have been planted. We buried Bokashi in all the holes several months ago, which will hopefully give these fruits a magnificent start to life.
We made a really cute trellis, which I think we’ll cover with blue and purple podded peas for a splash of colour.
We’ve been hot composting like crazy, and are pretty happy with how much compost we have ready to feed the garden and fruit trees before spring.
The garlic is progressing nicely
The female flowers and male catkins have appeared on the hazelnut bushes
And the broad beans should be ready soon, which is great as we only have one more serve in the freezer from last year’s crop
On the permaculture front, we ran our third Tasmanian Introduction to Permaculture course in July, for Adult Education, and met some more wonderful people. We also attended the Permaculture Tasmania annual general meeting, and I was nominated as Secretary, so look forward to sharing the work load with Celia, who has pretty much carried the Association on her own for the past few years.
Before we sign off, here’s wishing Mumsie a speedy recovery after having her appendix removed last week.
We hope you all have an awesome August :o)
