Backyard - ready for a blitz.

An idea of what the block looks like - although after all this rain it's a lot more overgrown.

All our water is collected, stored and used for all household and garden requirements. About once or twice a year we will have to buy a tank full but in these wet years we can usually get through 12 months just on rainwater.

At the other end, we process all our waste on the block as well.  The septic system we have has finally died (and it smells like it) so a new system is on it's way ... more on that soon.

Four Lovely Chooks

The chooks were given to us by a friend who was moving away - they had just started moulting which means they stop laying but in the confusion of moving, they forgot to stop, so we've had 4 eggs a day until this week.

They also are in detention as they are quite voracious in their scratching - it's only good for the garden if the plants actually stay in the ground!

I keep their shed smelling sweet by using an organic cane sugar mulch. It comes from Queensland and I get it at the local stock feed agents. About once a week I rake it all out and use the mix of mulch and chook poo on the garden.  Eggs, soil aeration AND fertiliser! They definitley earn their food scraps.

There is a large Lantana in the run which has to be dug out - they love it, it's like an adventure playground - but weeds are weeds and out they must go.

6 weeks later : We are down to Three Lovely Chooks as Hen Pecked disappeared without so much as leaving a feather! We are have also strained our generally great relationship with our neighbours because one of the chooks has been going into their house, eating their cats food and pooing everywhere ... The run has been updated and hopefully things will return to normal. At least they are still laying!

The Saga of The Sage.

For some inexplicable reason it's taken 2 packets of seeds to get just one little sage plant. She's now about 20cm high and I spend a lot of time protecting her from the Voracious Scratchers and other random predators - visiting dogs looking for a nice place to sleep, cats doing the same ...

I get all my seeds from Eden Seeds in Queensland - which is not exactly local but Australian, and they have an organic seed selection as well as traditional and heirloom varieties. I order online but if I need to ask advice, I call - they are very friendly and helpful.

Often I will end up with too many seedlings - for example I planted far too much Lemon Basil and rubarb so was able to give away lots of little pots of loveliness to neighbours.

The other characters in the herb plot are:

Oregano that was given to my by a friend does very well with little attention, as does Rosemary.
Thyme is in short suppy but I have faith that eventually there will be more thyme...
Tarragon - I'm not exactly sure what to use it for but it's growing very happily.

Septic systems, a can of worms ...

As we live in an off-shore community, we are all responsible for our own waste water disposal. When we moved here, our septic system was (seemingly) happily working away as it should, however, below the surface, something didn't smell right ...

For the uninitiated, a septic system works like this. Being a country girl, I know how delicate septics can be ... being a girl, I was happy just to leave ours alone and hope it just kept doing what it was supposed to ... which, in case you're not keeping up, was a BIG mistake.

So we began the search for a new and better system.  We agreed that any system that required chemicals was out. Using a dry composting toilet and tuning everything else into grey water for the garden wasn't possible with the layout of the house. And just replacing the old one was out - simply on the basis that someone MUST have come up with a better idea.

And so they had - a system that requires NO chemicals, produces a clear odourless liquid that can be dispersed by a sub soil irrigation system and employs a completely natural process - Biolytix. It has the added bonus of being an Australian company and a Australian invention that is now winning awards internationally.

So, I get a new septic system - it's not exactly a pair of shoes but, I get an irrigation system for a large section of my block and we get to reduce even further the chemicals we use in the house. Being responsible for a tank full of industrious worms really makes you think before you put any old thing down the sink.

Today is Tuesday and stage one of the new system happened. The old tanks have been pumped out by two lovely chaps called Tony and Bernie.  They arrived with their truck, on the back of a barge. Tomorrow is the official 'decommissioning' of the old tanks and the arrival of the new system. Thursday the new tank and resident worms are installed and over the next few weeks I will finish weeding the block and digging the trench for the irrigation pipes to go in. We will then be one big step closer to self sustainability!

Friend or Foe?

As I was clearing weeds from the irrigation area (see Septic Systems above) I realised that apart from a couple of obvious outlaws (Lantana and Asparagas Fern), I really don't know who's a native and who is an interloper? The lovely lantern plant in the photo above, after some investigation, turned out to be a weed and had to be removed. Now I'm looking for two things; some suitable natives to populate the area and some rain!