Permi8 at Shae's

The October permi8 gathering was held on a gorgeous spring day at Shae's place. It's been about a year since my last visit, and the food garden has come on in leaps and bounds in that time. (Yes, the recent rain has something to do with it too, I'm sure). We admired her mixed vegetable beds and shade trees that stretch from the back door to the food forest Shae is creating at the back of the block. Notice her pretty and practical garden border, made by weaving tree prunings between wood uprights.

We had a good chat as we looked at the new plantings she's done in the food forest, noted the way the older fruit trees had been pruned, and watched the chooks busily scratch around. Shae is improving the soil by depositing all her green waste (clippings, prunings and veg peelings) on the ground here and letting the chooks dig it over as it breaks down. It's continually adding organic matter to the soil, yet Shae describes it as 'lazy gardening' because once she dumps the materials the chooks do all the work. She's already reaping the benefits as the plants respond to the improved conditions by thriving instead of struggling. All the plants are heavily mulched and she has installed an irrigation system from her water tank.

 

We also went to work, to help place exclusion bags on the fruit trees to thwart the dreaded fruit flies.

We headed inside where Shae shared some you-tube clips and discussed her recent experience at a Change the Dream symposium. She spoke very passionately about it and clearly it has had a really positive impact on her. You can read more about it, in Shae's own words, here. Several permi8 people were excited to hear that the symposium is coming to Albury in November (details at that same link), so they too can participate.

Finally, we finished up with some swapping of seeds, cuttings and other 'show and tell', all while enjoying the always-impressive array of homemade goodies people had brought along and a cuppa!

Open garden events, Spring '10

Ah yes, it's Australian Open Garden Scheme season from September right through to May, and boy, are there some great opportunities out there. The biggest decision is working out which ones we can get to.

Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the Hall Garden open in Yarrawonga last weekend. We decided that there’s one thing better than taking in inspirational gardens, and that’s putting in some quality time in our own!  

We’re also going to miss the two gardens opening in Lockhart this weekend (9 & 10^th of October). I went along last year (different gardens), as they open in conjunction with the town’s Spirit of the Land festival which includes an awesome sculpture competition, art exhibition, market on Saturday, dunny tour and lots more! It’s a fantastic day trip from Albury/Wodonga, so keep it in mind if you’re at a loose end for the weekend.

We will be doing some travelling this weekend. We’ll be attending Louise Costa’s open garden in Rushworth. Louise’s garden was featured on Gardening Australia earlier this year (see here) and her blog details her use of recycled and reclaimed materials to create and decorate her garden. And it turns out Louise is friends with several friends of ours ... how could we resist the chance to check it out? 

As luck would have it, having decided to head to Rushworth on the weekend, I discovered a beekeeping field day near Bendigo on Sunday ... so we’re heading there too. I gave the organisers a call and there’ll be hands on opportunities to learn from other beekeepers, check out the wares of beekeeping suppliers and even watch some honey extraction. Very cool! Will keep you posted on how it goes.

And save the dates – later this month there are two more Open Garden opportunities locally.

Thurley Garden in Norris Park will be open the weekend of October 23^rd & 24^th. It’s a relatively new, water wise native garden. Entry is $6 for adults, no charge for children.

On the 30^th & 31^st of October the National Environment Centre will also be open, with a workshop on the Saturday, guided tours of the organic farm all weekend, and the opportunity to check out their Permaculture gardens and enjoy Devonshire tea with proceeds going to the Sanctuary refugee group. Entry is $6 for adults, kids are free.

More info on upcoming open gardens with the AOGS is available on their website - http://www.opengarden.org.au/visityourstate.html or see the Pulse section of the Border Mail on Saturdays.

A sculpture in Lockhart at last year's Spirit of the Land festival

Spring has sprung

And what a wonder it is! This time of year always seems magical as everything seems to wake up after winter. But even more so this year with moist soil. As the days warm up you can almost watch things grow before your eyes.

Apple blossom

We've been out 'harvesting' our weeds in the past week. I'm not overly concerned about the aesthetics (although it does look neater with a few less about), but I can't pass up the opportunity for a near-effortless nitrogen source to add into the compost. With friends' lawns also getting out of hand after those wet weeks that ruled out mowing, we're gratefully accepting clipping imports as well and the compost is powering. A new compost thrown together just three days ago is already at 64.9 degrees. Ripper! It has also got chook poo, chipped prunings and chook shed litter in the mix.

Meanwhile, left to Mother Nature's care, the strawberries have produced some very healthy looking runners that I've transplanted to a new bed. I'm trying to be patient and not rush to put the warm-loving veg (tomatoes, pumpkins, etc) in too early, but have to admit my resolve is being tested.

Peas, cauliflower and silverbeet continue to crop well, while the broad beans are flowering but don't have pods and the brussel sprouts bolted. Our measly carrot patch is struggling on, but is far from inspiring.

The fruit trees are mostly in bloom, or have already done so, and the first signs of some fruit are visible to the keen eye (which means it's time to get the fruit fly exclusion bags on the job).

As expected, due to the rain, our spraying for peach leaf curl wasn't entirely successful.

Peach leaf curl

Apricots to-be (fingers crossed)While about half of the crazy passionfruits that appeared in late autumn have succumbed to the cold (presumably) and dropped off, others have hung in and are now gaining color!

And the silvanberries and raspberries have loads of new growth and are forming lots of flowerbuds.