Dear Diary (with pics!): 3rd-4th March

CHOOKS

Chooks are SUUUUUUPER sodden thx to the rain, but they should be somewhat less-eaten by mites, thx to me entirely removing the 'base' of the roosting zone:

It's a bit chillier for their underskirts, maybe, but their feathers are made to keep them pretty well through very cold climates, so long as they're not sodden. And the space is still security-enclosed against foxes and other predators, which is the main protective thing.

But I did also get Coopex, which is permethrin, which is not ideal but somewhat necessary. A couple of the chooks are really reluctant to go into the coop at night, most likely on account of the mites, and it's going to need some long-term management.

I need to decide whether to spray it down with water, let it dry, then spray it down with coopex. I've dusted the inside with diatomaceous earth, and I'm wondering if the coopex will work through the DE.

PRUNING & PREPARING

Everything needs pruning. Especially the comfrey and the fruit trees:

*sigh* But everything's utterly sodden right now.

HARVEST

Last of the apples gone:

And the parentals have a bucketload of bunya pine cones:

I'm still trying to get rid of the bunya nuts; got a lot of interest, but nobody wants to come out while it's raining.

NOTES

We've had a couple of weeks of on-and-off rain, and then the last four days it's been steady and significant. Flooding all up and down the east coast, from Sydney up to the Sunshine Coast. There's flooding in low-lying areas of Sydney, particularly the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain (now full of houses) Even friends whose water-management systems are considerably better than mine are reporting runoff from their properties.

One of the plans for this year is to put a water management system in place: greywater management, at the very least. If I'd arranged to run the rainwater tank to the toilet, then at least we'd be using the collected water in the tank. It's presently ridiculously high, and gets topped up with every slighty-greater-than-a-sprinkle-of-rain. It's a bit stressful.

The entire property is sodden at this point: the water's seeped into the soil and everything squishes under your feet. It's going to need a few days of no rain to solidify things up - but that's not predicted for another two weeks. Actually, the low pressure system has been forecast for 'two weeks ahead' for the last week. It never seems to end, it's always predicted to run for another two weeks.

Let's hope not...