dilly dalley doolittle gardening

Shelling peas - Summer 2011

I don't know why I keep forgetting to take my camera down to the garden. But I do. It looks quite different to when I last photographed it, so I'll try and remember to take it down tomorrow morning - in the new year. 2012.

I started at the Charnwood Community Garden in April 2004. At some stage, we kept chickens and I needed to develop a really complex 8-year bed rotation plan to accommodate the usual 4-year rotation plus moving the chook house. Anyway, I typed in dates into my excel spreadsheet that had unfathomable numbers - 2012. I don't seem to quite get the passage of time. In 2004, I had a 2-year-old and a child in the second year of school. I had just returned back to my part-time job after 14 months maternity leave. I cried all the way down Southern Cross Drive, wiped my tears, walked in through the front door and began for the second time, that awkward balancing act that is the privilege of working mothers. A few months after returning to work, I answered an advert on the social club database for plots at a local community garden. A small act of escape. Now, in December 2011, I sit listening to Jazz renditions of Christmas Carols, while my 14-year-old first born writes out his novel by hand. We have no conversation because he's busy imagining and writing and I'm busy shelling, listening and reflecting on a year past and a new year to begin.

Hopes and dreams. Responsibilities and escapes. Small acts of courage. Small acts of rebellion. The unknown. A year just gone, grieving for lives that are over, for my father, for my mentor, Geraldine. Trying to accept myself. Doing and being for my children, for my partner. Sometimes well, sometimes not well enough. Far enough through this life to get a sense of time but still, time doesn't make much sense. I heard Professor Stanley, a renowned medical scientist whose field is brain development, particularly in early childhood, say that you could think of a person as a boat, and over the course of a lifetime the boat is rebuilt many times, but that person always remains recognisable as a distinct boat. Our brain cells, our skin cells, our hair and nails, our thoughts, feelings, memories live and die year-by-year but somehow we remain constant. And yet, I often think the boat could look quite different by the end of its life. Maybe it started as a light water craft and ended as a tug boat. Maybe it started as river barge and ended as tall ship. Hopes and dreams.

A New Year Tomorrow. 2012.

Stats  : 445g of shelled peas. Sugar Snaps and some rather fat snow peas left unpodded. I love sugar snaps. I ate quite a few while shelling - just to test that they were actually sugar snaps and so the pods could be left on. Yup. That one's definitely a sugar snap, so I don't need to shell it. Yup - so's that one. Yup - n'other one. You can tell from the outside because the pod is sort of waxy and fleshy looking. But just to be sure, better pop it into your mouth. It would be dull to throw a normal pea pod into a stir fry. No one would thank me for that. Better test this one too. Yup. The whole pod is crunchy and sweet and juicy. Sugar Snap.

I am such an unruly planter and picker - all the different peas all jumbled up together.

But this is why I garden - fresh peas. You have to grow them. Woolies doesn't sell pods of peas in big metal bowls. And it was time to sit quietly and reflect. I needed a bowl of peas to pod. Perfect end of the year activity, to sit quietly with my hopes and dreams alongside my son with his hopes and dreams. Peace be with you all.

Ducklings - two months old

I caught sight of this from my kitchen window and rushed outside with camera to make a documentary record of this vandalism. Can you see him/her? This cockatoo is eating my apples. He's nearly the size of my duck! He flew off after I started recording his mug shot. He was doing what all native bird vandals do to unripe fruit. They pull the fruit off, take a couple of bites, drop most of it on the ground and then grab another piece of fruit and repeat the routine. After attracting all the two-month old ducklings up to eat the broken bits of apple he was dropping, he casually flew off clutching a half-finished apple. This is the first year we've contemplated putting bird netting on the trees. Sooner rather than later, I think. Better act.

 Look at the size of these ducklings. Almost fully fledged with feathers.

Little brown ducks and little white ducks. I ended up with quite a mixed breed. None of the mums are pure white with yellow bills but I have a number of them in the duckling flock. Genetics is interesting.

 

These guys below follow me around so when they saw me rush out with camera they took up position on the deck to watch my antics (and the feathered antics).

 

Anyone local want a duck or two? I was so pressed for time at work I didn't get around to putting up an ad on our social club database to say we are happy to give these surplus ducklings away to good homes. If you're interested, post a comment and I'll get back to you.

 

Previous posts

Ducklings - one month old (Nov 2011)

Ducklings - one week old (Nov 2011)

Ducklings (Nov 2011)

 Two ducks sitting on the nest (October 2011)

Drakes - a short history since 2006 (October 2011)

Nesting ducks (October 2011)

I was wrong - not once, but twice (December 2007)

Duckling arrived (November 2007)

Sitting ducks (November 2007)

Ducklings - one month old

I thought you might like a catch-up post on the ducklings. All alive and well in duckling town. These photos are from when they are one month old.

Our mums have to walk through the gate...pah..not for us...we fit through the fence.

 

Previous posts

Ducklings - one week old (Nov 2011)

Ducklings (Nov 2011)

 Two ducks sitting on the nest (October 2011)

Drakes - a short history since 2006 (October 2011)

Nesting ducks (October 2011)

I was wrong - not once, but twice (December 2007)

Duckling arrived (November 2007)

Sitting ducks (November 2007)

Green Thumb sunday # 23 - Light to light walk - Day 3

So we have had an introduction to this walk, then on day 1 we walked Boyd's tower to Saltwater Creek, day 2 we walked Saltwater Creek to Hegarty's Bay, and now we are doing Day 3 : Hegarty's Bay to Mowarry Point - start 11:50am arrived at campsite at 5:15pm (elapsed 5hrs 25mins) - 9.5k

 

As mentioned in the previous post, we had gone to sleep thinking that on Day 3 we would continue on towards Green Cape Lighthouse and sleep at Bittangabee Bay. However, the soaking of the youngest child's last set of dry clothes, while collecting water for the day, was a final straw moment.  Instead, we decided to cut short the walk and turned around and walked back towards the car. My 14 year-old-son, probably at the request of my husband, carried my pack across this rocky start to our walk.

The bay at Hegarty's Bay is rocky and involves a bit of climbing up and down. I was actually in much better shape than the day before and could have made it across this terrain easily enough but the transaction all took place very quickly and it seemed churlish to insist. Particularly as I had been in such poor shape the day before.

The rock formations were interesting with the layers and folds and rambling colours. There was only a very small beach in this bay and the path back towards the car heads up from the back of the beach.

The water would have been quite cold but it was crystal clear and looked enticing.

While the boys escorted me across the rocky bay, Tess had gone on ahead. When she asked could she go on ahead, we said that was fine because we hadn't experienced her as someone who would bolt away out of our sight. After walking for about twenty minutes we bumped into the only people we ever saw out on the 4-day bushwalk. How different from the Prom the year before when we bumped into dozens and dozens of people and in fact, an entire year group of high school students from Doncaster College was out walking around the Prom (probably hundreds of teenagers and dozens of teachers). We checked with this couple whether they had seen our daughter and they confirmed a sighting as she had walked past them. They were keen to ask us how old our children were, and how much they carried, and how long had we walked. After our replies, they said their daughter was only 4 & a half and they weren't sure when they could start overnight bushwalking with her. They had left her with relatives and were out enjoying a day walk. When we got home, I checked and it seems Tess was 5 years old and 3 months when we took her on her first overnight bushwalk.

After leaving this couple, and walking on quite a way, we started to get anxious about not catching up with Tess. In the end, Tim thought it best to drop his pack at our lunch stop and then rush on ahead to see if he could find her. He eventually caught up with her just before Saltwater Creek beach. If you recall, it is 4km from Saltwater to Hegarty's - so she'd walked the entire thing on her own without company. After finding her, he had to tell her to wait, he then walked back to find us, put his pack on and walked back to where Tess was waiting. It had rained a few times on the walk from Hegarty's back to Saltwater, so we all felt confident that we had made the right choice. Heading home was looking and feeling just right.

We walked back into the campsite at Saltwater creek at 1:50pm and unlike our previous experience when it had been full, there was now only one lone campsite in use and one car in the day walkers parking spot. Tim wandered over to the campsite and asked about tweezers for some of the ticks we were still carrying. Thankfully the family had some to lend us and we put it to good use. After this first aid stop, some snacks, some topping up of water, at 2:30pm we then walked back out of the campsite and into the bright sunlight. This had been typical of the whole trip - rain, drizzle, grey skies, then clearing, blue skies and warmth, then back again.

Tess and Tim walked on ahead and Nick kept me company, chatting away about his computer games which he clearly was missing. I've spent a bit of time watching him play his latest game and it is quite complex and involves a lot of strategy. He plays online in a what is referred to as a military, science fiction, real-time strategy video game. I don't have much wisdom to offer in this pursuit of his, but I'm more than happy to listen and ask questions and make the occasional (probably very lame) suggestion. He usually rapidly corrects me and explains why that wouldn't work.

Sometimes, I couldn't help myself and had to stop and look, and then photograph the flowers. Through the drought years, we did a lot of walking and I swear I never saw fields of wildflowers like this. As soon as I'd finished my moment with nature,  I'd catch back up to Nick, and then we'd be back on the topic of computer games.

About an hour into the walk from Saltwater Creek to Mowarry Point, up on the headland, just off the path, we caught up to Tim and Tess. They had stopped by the side of the path to watch this echidna desperately try and ignore us.

He was snuffling around, pushing the logs about, looking for ants and insects to eat. When he became aware of our presence, he attempted to roll himself up into a discrete and spiky bundle. We really enjoyed just standing and watching him. I don't suspect he had reciprocal feelings. Eventually, we left him in peace to go about his business and we wandered back along the path and started thinking about where we would spend the night.

Tim and I both had vague memories of potential campsites that we had passed on that first day of walking to Saltwater Creek campsite. One of those sites looked really pleasant to Tessy but was not so appealing to the others. We pressed on. The next site was just too exposed and the wind was getting fierce in the late afternoon. So we pressed on. Then we came to a fantastic little spot. It was flat, with shelter from the wind, and a lovely view out into a small bay. Perfect. It was 5:15pm so we set up tents, got dinner organised and then built a campfire. The funniest moment of the whole trip happened later that night.

It was a full moon on the 11th October, which was the night we spent at Mowarry Point. There had been a small boat moored in the bay and I had vaguely absorbed its presence and wondered what it would be like to just park a boat and sit for hours. Then at about dusk, it took off and pulled out from the sheltered spot where it had been, and headed out to sea. At the time I thought, ah the fisherman is heading home. He probably needs to be home before dark and I imagined someone at home, waiting for him, possibly anxiously, possibly without much focus or thoughts about the absent fisherman.

A little bit of time passed and it grew completely dark. We were still sitting up by the campfire chatting and enjoying the full moon on the ocean, the open skies and the stillness of the evening. Then all of a sudden I noticed that the boat had lights on and that they were in fact fishing. They hadn't gone home. I'm not sure why I got really excited but I leapt up, smoke got in my eyes because as I stood up the wind blew a bit of smoke my way, so I darted around trying to avoid the smoke and shouted 'Prawning. That boat is prawning'. My family were at first alarmed by my behaviour and also leapt up and moved away. Then when they realised what I'd said...that I'd made some reference to fishing...not to being on fire...they started teasing me.

It is still a mystery to me why I got so excited. And after I got home and did a bit of research, I'm now not sure that in fact the fishermen were prawning. It seems that ....

It is worth having a look for prawn activity, particularly after a flush of rain, about 5 days after a full moon. Prawn numbers and activity tend to peak around the 8th or 9th day after the full moon. If this period coincides with warm weather and northeast winds, all the better.

Various legal recreational methods are used to harvest prawns throughout Australia, all far less detrimental to our fishery than most of the less target specific and often destructive commercial practices.

In some areas dragnets are also allowed and again are a highly effective method of recreational harvesting. But around the Sydney region and most of the NSW coastline, the only legal method of prawning is with the use of a single hand, dab or scoop net. It might sound a little restrictive but it can be a very viable way of prawning. Submersible lights are significantly better than above-water lighting when scoop-netting prawns. Balmy summer nights spent chasing pairs of brightly glowing eyes around a still estuary can offer very therapeutic benefits – and those sweet pink morsels of flesh are the grand finale.

And according to this site...

Prawns are active mainly at night, remaining buried in the sea-bed during the day.

Prawns, like other crustaceans, moult their shells during growth. This usually occurs around full moon. Feeding varies during the various stages of the moult cycle, with prawns ceasing to feed around the time of the moult. This results in prawns being less catchable at times of full moon. Also, because prawns have soft shells after the moult, catching soon after the full moon can lead to a high proportion of soft and broken prawns in the catch. When fisheries managers determine opening dates of prawning seasons, these factors are taken into account.

So, if the recreational fishermen on that boat were excitedly or calmly 'prawning' on the night of the full moon, maybe they should have waited a few more days. Or maybe in fact, it was some other type of night fishing with lights. Anyway, the next day, my family were still teasing me about the excited campfire prawning dance.

It was certainly a more lighthearted evening than the glum and gloomy campfire the night before. And I was glad to offer my entertainment services for the sake of family wellbeing.

Previous posts

Green Thumb Sunday # 22 - Light to light walk - day 2

Green Thumb Sunday # 21 - Light to light walk - day 1

Green Thumb Sunday # 20 - Light to light walk - Introduction

Rock dust

What is Rock dust?

Australian soils are notoriously low in certain trace elements and minerals. Native plants have adapted to these soils but agriculture usually requires some form of supplementation to facilitate healthy and productive plant growth. Organic and Biodynamic gardeners/farmers are not interested in using chemicals to achieve this plant growth. So, what else is available?

In my garden, I apply biodynamic preparations 500 and 501. I also use blood and bone, and sulphate of potash and lime/dolomite. The animal manures that I apply about once a year are either sheep manure or chicken manure. And of course, I make compost and recycle as much of my organic matter as possible back through the soil. I have occasionally used seaweed preparations (sometimes biodynamic ones, sometimes just Maxicrop ones). And now, I'm experimenting with Rockdust. That's about it. And finally, hay, hay, hay. I layer mulch onto my spring and summer beds and onto my paths - every year. By the end of summer this hay has broken down into the soil.

I'd also like to try some of the products mentioned by Duck Herder in this post; XLR8 (accelerate ..get it - took me a minute - just trying to help..). From what I understand about them, these are organic products that also assist with the uptake of micronutrients.

According to Wikipedia, Rockdust it is is a non-synthetic organic fertilizer usually consisting of crushed limestone but which may also be crushed basalt (a volcanic rock) containing minerals and trace elements, used in organic farming.

This packet of Rockdust contains calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, manganese, carbon, phosphorous, sulphur, zinc, copper, boron, cobalt, and molybdenum. It is made from a mixture of granite and basalt.

I recently bought some from the Diggers Club and have applied the whole bag to my 144sq metres of vegetable garden beds. It says to apply a handful to a square metre. I wasn't very precise about it but did roughly follow these instructions.

This particular product is from Ballart, however, there's a report on Catalyst of a similar product used in Queensland. And in WA, here's an article from a permaculture site, published in 1997 about research into Rockdust - trialling different versions of rockdust.

Potato bed - early Summer

Potato plants have covered the whole of the bed now. About a third of the plants have flowers on them.

In the photograph below, I know it looks a bit of a jungle and may be hard to discern what is going on here. I am photographing over the top of the comfrey, looking back across the potato bed and the giant triffids of silverbeet going to seed are leaning over the bed under the weight of their seeds.

Previous posts

Potatoes are up (November 2011)

Planting seed potatoes (October 2011)

Buying seed potatoes (September 2011)

Leek and potato soup (May 2011)

More on the potato harvest (March 2011)

Potatoes and leeks (March 2011)

Potato bed - update late summer (February 2008)

Potato bed - early summer (December 2007)

Pea and Bean bed - early Summer 2011

 Purple podded peas are growing nicely.

The flowers are quite pretty as well.

The pea plants are about three-quarters up the climbing frame and plenty of pods are being formed, though not yet plumping up very much. At this rate, I should have some fresh peas by Christmas.

The beans have begun to grow but haven't yet begun to climb.

Some of the plants below are bush beans, and therefore wont be climbing. I planted three types of beans - bush beans, beans blue lake, and a New Gippsland Heavenly Gold Climbing bean.

Previous posts

Pea and bean bed - Spring 2011 (Nov 2011)

Spring vegetables and sowing peas (Oct 2011)

Planting peas - preparing the trench (September 2011)

Bean bed - update - end of summer (February 2008)

Bean bed - early summer (December 2007)

Seed saving - beans blue lake (May 2007)

Seed saving - beans (April 2007)

Rainy days: November & December in Canberra

We've been having weeks of rain and strangely cold nights as well. Yesterday was stormy - again. I grabbed a moment between the three heavy bursts of rain to rush down to the garden and get some more December planting done.

Our rain gauge was nearly full - can you see the level just below the black plastic holder? It has been wet.

According to the BOM (Bureau of Meterology) Canberra in November 2011: Wet end to Spring

Rainfall

Canberra Airport recorded 116.4 mm of rainfall during November, well above the historical average of 64.4 mm. This was the 8th wettest November on record for Canberra, but not as wet as November 2010 (121.4 mm). The rain fell on 11 days (average 10 days), with the largest daily fall of 45.0 mm on the 26th, associated with the passage of a broad low pressure trough. Tuggeranong recorded 91.6 mm on this day, which is the highest daily total recorded during the month, with the wettest conditions in the southwest of the ACT. Mount Ginini recorded a monthly total of 258.0 mm, which is the highest November total at this site since it commenced observations in 2004. It is also the second highest monthly total of any month in its record (behind October 2010, 275.2 mm).

Yesterday's storm saw hail and flash flooding in Canberra. I gather it has also done some damage to the cherry crops out west. Ginninderra Creek is overflowing its banks again. There are flood warnings in the rivers of NSW. I wonder how much rain is still to come? Last summer was very wet up North.