Today in the Garden (and Raised Bed Construction)

I had a very productive 1 1/2 hours in the garden today - or at least it felt that way as I got a couple of little jobs done that have been nagging me for a while.

First I ran wire from the berry canes to the fence that is to be their support.

Raspberry - this one has 5 runners.

Thornless Blackberry

I then fertilised them with weed tea.  I did the other fruit plants last week.

I make my weed tea by fermenting all the invasive weeds and those with seeds in an old Esky that has lost its insulating ability (not surprising given that it is over 40 years old, genuine vintage!).  This is a great container for this purpose as it seals well and has a drain hole to make it easier to empty.  Look out for one  (even a more modern plastic one) at your local tip shop!

The Esky Fermenter - I grew up with this being our fridge every holidays.

The fermenting contents - newly started.  I am putting my 'suspect' fruit fly infected passionfruit in as well.

A real fermenter - for home brew!  

I use a home-brew barrel to store the fermentation liquid after the solids are inert enough to go into the compost.   I then just decant as much as I need into the watering can using the tap at the base, dilute it (10 parts water to 1 part weed tea) and pour it over the plants.

The next job I did was to set up the second compost bin ready for use again.
To reduce potential pest problems (primarily rats) it is a good idea to dig the base of your compost bin into the ground about 10cm.  This reduces the attractive (to the rats) odours escaping, and makes it harder to dig into.

Hole for the bin

Check that the base of the bin fits all the way into the hole & dig more as necessary.

 Back fill, give it a good soaking & stomp down to get rid of the air pockets and make it a little harder for the raiders to enter.

 I then put a layer of loose carboniferous material in to trap oxygen at the base of the heap.  Now we can leave the other bin to compost down & start filling this one up.

One other job I did last week is already yielding results.
I chopped down a very tall stalk of cassava.

Then I cut the main stalk into approximately 30cm long pieces and shoved them into the ground (and I do mean shoved, no finesse here).  The stump, and the partially buried pieces are all already showing new shoots just a week later.

I also stripped the leaves and deposited them inside the first of my new garden beds.  Yes, I have (partially) constructed one, with the help of the usual suspects Mr & Mrs Skivvy.

It's not finished - partly because that was the day that I came down with the 'flu, and partly because SMD thinks it looks unfinished.  For some reason he had got it into his head that it would be rounded like the commercial ones.  Don't know what made him think that.
But anyway - he didn't like the corners, so I've come up with a way to dress them up (and make them safer in the process).  I'll show you when it gets done.

But this way you can see how simple the construction is.  I just drilled three holes half the width of the supporting wood block in from the end of the corro, and set in the base of the troughs.  Then drove self tapping roofing screws in.  Each end of the long sides first, then attached the short sides.

I also have to finish putting the irrigation pipe on the top edge to make it safe.  I needed a stanley knife and hooked blades for this, which I now have, so there shouldn't be any more excuses.


I hope your gardens are all blooming & fruiting.

Housekeeping

I've just been doing a little housekeeping since starting my second blog, Ravs Creations.

One of the things I have done is move the creativity & sewing focussed blog links across, just to make things a little tidier.  So If you are looking for one - please visit.

I'll be trying to move the photo albums across soon too.

All the best

Ravs

Shredding

I had a little more time than expected on Thursday afternoon due to not being needed to help at school,  so I decided to start a job that I have been putting off for ages. I tell myself it is out of consideration for the neighbours as it is extremely noisy.

I started shredding the pile of tree trimmings that have been sitting under our nature strip tree for months (and months and .....).

Shredder, chippings and the pile of trimmings under our poinsiana.  The larger leaves you can see are sweet potato, the rest is weeds.

I bought the shredder on ebay for $60 (or was it $80?) anyway, a pretty decent price.  And the blade had just been sharpened too.  The idea is that I chip a fair proportion of our garden trimmings, up to the size it can handle, and therefore save money on purchasing mulch, tip fees and the petrol used to do either of these.  Plus reducing my carbon footprint (the petrol again) and the amount of nutrients lost to landfill (though much of the green waste does actually get composted).

It is going to take a fair amount of time to save on the mulch though - the occupied volume of the trimmings is at least 4 times that of the chips.  But never mind, it's the thought that counts.

I did shred some of the trimmings when they were first cut, and still green.  It took ages to get through - the shredder kept overheating.  Which is part of the reason I put it off so long.

And now I am glad I did.  The branches have lost so much of their strength with having dried out (and in some case started to rot), so it was much quicker and the shredder took longer to overheat & trip out.

I have a bit more to go on this pile.  And then I have to tackle the one inside the fence.

Pretty much over my lurgy now, so should start to get more done in the garden (the soccer pitch desperately needs weeding), including finishing off the first of the new garden beds.  The cooler weather should help too.

Cradle to Cradle

I have just finished another really thought provoking book, "Cradle to Cradle; Remaking the way we make things" but Michael Braungart and William McDonough.

OK - not anything to do with the book - but it is a 'Cradle' in a (almost) pristine environment - and a really nice picture.

I came across it when ordering my copy of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan.  It looked interesting so I put it on hold through the library.

It's only a relatively slim volume, 186 pages plus notes, but the ideas are wide ranging.

I started reading it to learn more about what we can do to reduce our impact on the environment - but this book isn't about that.

It's premise is that we should be moving towards redesigning all we do so that our ecology, economy and culture (equity) is enhanced by our actions.  That biological and technological 'nutrients' (such as metals) need not be squandered, but that the systems and objects in which they are used should be designed such that they are returned to the nutrient pool at the end of one 'life', ready to begin another, at a similar level of quality.

It is far more than a book about saving the environment - it is a whole different way of looking at economics, design, resources, and society.  About effectiveness, rather than just efficiency.  Professor Braungart has a great summary of their vision here.

It is a long road to travel, and I felt a bit overwhelmed & depressed in the middle - everything looked so complex and so bleak.  But there are some inspiring stories of major companies starting to look at their business in new ways, and the final chapter points to the value of each step on the journey to a world enriched by our presence, not damaged by it.

Now we just have to get it onto the reading lists of all engineering, economic, business, legal, architecture, chemistry, design......schools on the planet, and build a generation of thinkers to take us there.

Highly recommended reading.