the path to non-fridge living

learn about your food to find creative ways to store it

Google Sketchup

I heard about this free software in the Owner Builder magazine... and it looks pretty cool. No download left to get it at home, so will download it tomorrow at school and check it out.
Apparently it allows you to see how the sun moves through the day and gives you a good idea of how far out eaves need to be to allow the best passive solar design.
Here's a basic design I just found:

Gutter Gardening!

so so so so awesome!! and relatively easy :)
Great way to use water efficiently to get every drop to use, too.

Sowing leafy annuals! Today was the day!

It's a new thing for me to follow the moon for planting. I wanted to make sure i got the right days for it, without having to resort to checking the chart each day or week, so last week i filled the 'fertile' dates til June, in my diary.
With the new moon, and a few days following, it's the best time for leafy annuals to be sown.
So today after getting back from school.. rushing to make the most of the last bit of daylight.. i took off up the hill with my seeds, a bunch of toilet rolls, some scissors, my big container of Seasol and a Hafiz book :)
I chopped the bottom of each toilet roll about an inch deep four times (think north south east west) and then folded two of the flaps in and two of the flaps out to help the toilet paper roll be upright.

I then took them to the compost pile and filled them up pretty close to the top, and positioned them in 2 rows together.

I tapped down the compost a little.. and then i arranged all my seeds in alphabetical order and positioned the rolls on a cardboard box in the same formation so i'd know which seedling was which (without labelling them).

Then i topped them up with compost and watered them in with a bit of seasol in creek water.
I'm not completely sure the compost was 'ready'. It was a bit warm to touch, and i'm not sure if that was from the heat of tghe sun from a nice warm day, or if it is still 'cooking'. If it's still cooking, i'm guessing the nitrogen might be too high, i'm not too sure.. so time will reveal more.
I feel glad to finally have got something planted, even though it wasn't a whole lot.
I know i overloaded the tp punnets but the great thing about the tp rolls is that they can go straight into the ground and they'll decompose without me needing to pull the seedlings out.
I was considering broadcasting seeds over compost, and may still take that avenue for some seeds..
Right now there's a heap of black plastic covering part of the area where i want to set up the beds.
I like the idea that it's killing off weeds for me while i'm at school! It's been there a few weeks already. I adjusted its position a little today and will keep an eye on it when i go up to water my seedlings each day.

Kids visiting Djanbung and building a Bangalow Palm Boat

The kids were here over the weekend and I took them to Djanbung to check out my school. On the way we stopped at Blue Knob markets where they spent a couple of hours climbing the tree and swinging from ropes with a bunch of other kiddies.

Pretty much as soon as we got to school, Julian found a bit of bamboo, and he promptly took off exploring while I took the girls on a tour to meet the animals and see the gardens.

We visited the orchard and Merata found an orange on the ground, and TA found a tiny mandarin which I peeled and they ate. They also tried a couple of Brazillian cherries which were ripe.

Their favourite part of being at my school was checking out the piggies. We checked with Jose if the pigs could have a couple of bananas that were by their pen and after getting the ok, the girls ran back to the enclosure to give Polly and Pudge a treat.

When we got home I grabbed a Bangalow palm branch that had just fallen in our driveway and told the kids we could make a basket out of it, and i'd show them how.
The guinea pig sat in Merata's lap while we laid out the branch and folded and cut to make it into a waterproof basket. They wanted to put the guinea pig in the basket with some food, thinking they could keep it in there, but notso lol.. then the idea of using it as a boat instead of a basket, with the guinea pig in it was tossed around... hehe

The next day was sunny and warm, and the first like that in a while.. and the kids wanted to get to the creek for a swim, so we took the boat, and set off for our local swimming hole, Cedar Creek.
The boat was buoyant and waterproof.. so a great success :)

What's needed for the chook pen

flyscreens
fabric
sawdust on paths
wool insulation measure up
recycled tin for wood pile
rocks from creek
lighting - solar from Rainbow power company
stakes
trellis
fix fences
bamboo tripod
mulch
garden beds
chickenwire around garden beds, bamboo fencing
compost
camp shower out door
gas bottle, regulator, cooker
cast iron bathtub with fireplace beneath
drying rack
pine mulch
worm farm
compost pile (covered)
water bottle cistern
chicken food storage space

taro around shower and in wet zones
perennials at ends of beds
rainbow hand art
garden seat sandbags on tyres
desk
seats
compost loo
shoe area for outside door
bamboo flags

reo - 6 x 2.4m $70 each $90 delivery

chicken wire at front (1070 off the ground)
1050 high
3560 wide

back at top
370 high
3560 wide

back at bottom
650 high
3560 wide

Landscaping symbology for permaculture design - drawing trees

The permaculture designs i have seen plans for are, in my opinion, pieces of art.
We aren't being taught how to use any software to create our designs..instead we're learning how to draw the symbols by hand, with the help of a circle template. I was excited to learn a bunch of symbols, and some tips on how to draw them, for use in my own plan drawing and designing.