The Squash and the Grain

So we're in the midst of getting 5 tonnes of Pumpkin organised for next year. 5Tonnes!!! But we didn't panic... for too long... mathematics came to our rescue and did what mathematics does which is to move things around for a while until every thing had being looked at from so many angles that palatability had begun to arise. Well actually the palatability is targeted for May, June, July and so on next year but we won't work this line too hard.

5 Tonnes equals about 125 Queensland Blue pumpkin vines in the old 'ball park' parlance and having heaved a sigh of relief at arriving at this number (involved a bit of counting of yet to be existent small pigs that grew into larger pigs all the while changing their eating requirements) we got into the details of how we thought we might get 125 vines growing, growing, grown. Access for us, soil for them, a lot of hot dry weather in an Thurgoona summer, methods for harvest and storage, ground covers, oh the things to think about.

We concluded that in the paddock around the proposed vegetable plot for next year was the answer to where. Why? Because that was the best ground and that would be where we were focusing the rest of our energies cerebral and physical for a while as we attempted to shape a future and another future and another. Don't divide up your energies unless the reasons to divide begin to stack up a little.

When do we grow them? Now!! October/November planting would get them grown and fruited before the Thurgoona fog and frosts ended it all for another season. So get 'em in. get 'em up and give 'em a decent chance of running wild over the hillside as summer begins to fade into autumn and flowers lead to fruit.

This all lead to a lot of speculation about the north eastern facing hillside and hot northerly winds with evaporation markedly outstripping precipitation during the crucial early establishment months. And so we let things wander around our head balls as we got on with other things. And we took to reading a book or two on grain growing. After all there was the Spelt and Oat paddocks that we'd sown in May/June that would be heading shortly (these were giving us the dry matter part of the pig feeding equation that our erstwhile pumpkins were hoping to fill out as the wetter part). There was plenty to do. Generally there is.

Reading about grains and having the weather projections (La Nina had come to town and was offering early summer rains) drifting around my consciousness got me speculating that we could do more for the Pumpkins than get them started in paddock planted into semi composted mulch piles on a three metre grid. This vision had our beloved pumpkins offered the scalloped protection of the mulch getting established before running out over the dried earth of the hillside after summer had seen off the last of the winter Rye grasses. If its going to rain lets get a little carbon growing going on around them. Lets get a little wind break action up for the telling mid summer season, lets give these babies something heavily mulchy to run rampantly over once they were ready.

More grain books were read and Millet began to look to be a contender. Super rapid early growth in response to a bit of rain. Would need those rains to continue for a good three or four months if you wanted it to get through to heading up and giving you seed (This would be an accidental bonus around here), but if you want something that could get up to 40/50cms tall in a little over a month, enough to offer that little protective edge for our baby pumpkin then this was a contender. If it all stopped there then so be it. The pumpkin would have its edge and the pumpkins would then run over it happily having a heavily mulched ground that held whatever moisture there was around to be held.

I cooked a rolled shoulder of pig this weekend. The occasion was my mothers 70th birthday and the a 3 generation gathering came to Camberwell to spread the love.

Queen Victoria market on Friday was the hunting ground for most of the elements; blade, garlic, shallots, thyme and parsley, apples and Dutch Creams. Calvados, flowers and decorations were collected on Saturday as the great assembly took place.

Scrumalicious and one baked Cheese cake...

happy birthday to you

One day down on the NEC farm

We had a bit of a flurry of activity down on the NEC farm today.

A chest high compost pile was put together in paddock 4. We'd slashed about an acre, collected a wheel barrow full of Alpaca and pig poo, slurried it up and layered it into a couple of the higher layers as we went about stacking and watering the ever increasing mountain. It felt quite grand.

We also put together a worm farm down in the 7 mile site shade house. The worm juice will fertilize the seedlings that are destined for the paddock 4 hillside and that aforementioned compost range.

The finale for the day was sowing a whole lot of Zucchini(120), Tomato(160), Eggplant(120), Chilli(40), Basil(200), Capsicum(80) and Leek(80).

And thus the doing was begun...

Barkers Vale Mango Seed

the triangulated opera house

So for a number of days before christmas Ezekiel and I went north. Crossed the border we did and passing beyond Brisvegas and the big lights, we entered into the woofordian wonderland and there partook of the splendiferous boocrew creations in the children's playground. On the second night things got a little funky in the design department of my brain and the result was jamie parkin saying slowly, "well I like it. we'll have to consult with a higher authority on the structural side of things. But I reckon you can build it".

In the morning we got out the packet of skewers and confronted the higher authority with a model that looked a lot like an echidna. After briefly stroking a very long blonde goatee for dramatic effect the thumbs came up and the rising of the magnificent triangulated opera house over the children's sand pit was begun...

Plenty of water around here at the moment

It's been raining a lot lately. Since Wednesday whilst I was down at Cape Byron trying to get Aurea bamboo harvested for Jaye. The wind was blowing a gale, the rain cept coming down, and there was little old me trying to get things done before Thursday when I was scheduled to send Ezikiel in for an overdue service. Very dificult to move bamboo without Ezikiel.

So I was wet but I was doing okay, I'd eaten the hearty lunch that had come with me. I'd eaten it at about 9am. I was a little cold and hungry after all.

24 culms 5.5metres long had been strapped to Ezikiel's roof racks and I got them down to Starseed farm and got them nestled up in the branches of the big fig. Standing beautifully. I'm not sure that this was very sensible as the wind was blowing a gale and and the rain was coming down. Some of the culms slid and cracked one of Ezikiel's side mirrors. It was one of those days.

So I took myself to the Rails hotel for lunch and Ezikiel shut his doors with the keys inside. It was one of those days after all.

We did get home that night. The causeway was about as high as I'd stil be happy taking Ezikiel over and its been raining ever since. Lismore has been declared a disaster area and so Ezikiel hasn't gone in for his service yet.

The excavator came

Steve came and built a dam recently and now he populates the stories that we tell.

We found tracks when we came to the gate. Big tracks treading up the drive.

I followed them over the hill and found huge machines resting outside the Dojo in the fading light of day.

I climbed up onto the excavator. I felt very small standing on its treads. Down below in the tamarind paddock I could see where the machines had been scraping away at the dam they'd come to fix.

seven months since the breaching and finally they'd come to fix it.
big machine that.