dear diary: 17th January - rain clouds have come and have blocked out the sun

The title is from a song I learned at school back in 1988. I recall it being some kind of indigenous song, presumably about the rainy season.

We probably will not have that kind of a rainy season this year, but the next two weeks are supposed to be cool(ish) and cloudy and rainy, and so it seemed appropriate...

OBSERVATIONS:

We have a week or two of rain – quite a bit of it today – and then some light showers for the rest of the week and into the next week.

The spout over the water tank is too far over the collection hole for the water to go smoothly into the tank when there's a heavy rain. It needs to be cut back. I basically need to cut it back, maybe later today.

I'm concerned about the Illawarra flame tree still; it doesn't seem to be releafing up the top. Is it the drought conditions, or something else? And who do I call to look at it?

The possums are going over the roof at night to get to the persimmon tree now. I think they've managed to get inside the net and eat some of the fruit. I need to better seal that up – possibly with a piece of metal netting so they can't easily get out.

I scattered some B&B over the spaces and didn't hear anything from the possums for a while – so maybe that's a way to keep them out.

ESPALIER APPLES are flowering late – at least, the Golden Delicious did. Not sure it will fruit, though – and if it fruits, no idea if it will manage to produce.

HOUSE:

We had a local guy come by to talk to us about installing solar batteries for our house. The price he quoted (roughly) was less than half of what the last lot tried to sell us a battery system for! But I need to follow up with him this week.

We're looking at 20-30kW, although B1 wants max battery options – entirely off-grid. I want longer-lasting. I've explained my reasoning for battery-ness to her:
1. We need something in place now. The sooner the better. If we have spare capacity, we can fill it and trade it right now.
2. Longer-term – in the 10-20 year bracket, I expect the battery to fail, as many electronics will in the coming decades. They'll be expensive to replace. What I want is the very old-school nickel-iron batteries – the one that Nikolai Tesla came up with and which can still be working 100 years later. They're higher maintenance, but they're really robust, and they last. And no, I don't expect to be existing 100 years later, but I'd like something that is built for the long-term. We lucked into the house being solidly built (in spite of all the asbestos and the tendency to mold) and there's a few things we didn't do as wisely when we should have, but them's the breaks.

ACTIONS:

Cleared out the collection hole for the water tank – it was full of jacaranda bits left over from when the jacaranda shed earlier this summer.

I repotted the APRICOTS – I bought a new APRICOT from Flower Power Glenhaven – and potted it out into the large plastic terra-coloured pots...

And then I discovered a sale on some big metal pots that have a watering bit in the middle and are on wheels. And bought four of them. I think. They were pricey, but four metal pots with a water reservoir, on wheels! You try and resist it.

Anyway, I will need to repot the apricots again – I might leave it until winter, though.

And the other two pots can go for the ICE CREAM BEAN and the SOUR CHERRY.

Mixed up a bag of compost a bag of garden soil (both cheap version), and some blood and bone – brunnings, I think, possibly Yates? - to make some soil for planting out leafy greens, spring onions, and finishing planting out the APRICOTS.

CHOOKS:

Sad news. Carambar was taken from us, and in a very violent way.

A neighbour's dog got out and started harassing our chickens while we weren't home. We have fences up that generally keep the chickens in and most attackers out, but we think that Carambar got so panicked by the barking that she launched herself up over the fence and then had to run away from the dog. The dog pursued Carambar under the house where the neighbour (both the dog-owner and another, helpful neighbour who called me when he first heard the barking and squawking) couldn't follow them and then had her at his mercy for about ten minutes.

When I got home – I'd been called by the helpful neighbour as soon as he heard the kerfuffle, he had to ask for the dog-owner neighbour - they'd gotten the dog out, but Carambah was still under the house. I went under and got her out - she was all the way tucked into the far corner of the underhouse. She was bitten all over her head, and when we took her to the vet her wing was broken. We had her put down, because there was no guarantee she would survive and she was in terrible pain.

We've had an issue with this neighbour before – she's in her sixties and has two very young, very energetic and bouncy spaniel-types who are too strong for her – a couple of times she actually lost control of them while walking them, resulting the dogs bounding into our yard and barking at the chickens.

She paid for the vet bill, but we're just angry and sad, because the chickens are at least a little bit pets as well as producers, and as the helpful neighbour said the next day, “it shouldn't have happened and was entirely preventable”.

Anyway, we're contemplating getting a few more chickens – perhaps the next time our broody girl is broody. And also a fence along the back.

Otherwise, Siyao and Gladys are still laying, Goong is broody. We're going to bury Carambar this weekend, and cordon off the lower front yard for the chickens. B1 really doesn't like leaving them without green areas to peck at.

Have set up the lower grassy area for the chickens to run about in. The problem: they're going to eat the carrot seeds and then poop it out everywhere and it will spread. We're already having so much trouble with the lower lawn and the grass – it doesn't grow there anymore. And B1 doesn't like clover. (I like clover. I love clover. In fact, if I had my druthers, I'd be using now to grow clover instead of letting the chooks eat all the grass. But B1 really wants them to get to eat green stuff... UGH.

COMPOST:

The compost built back in November has cooled down. We're going to rebuild it with the contents of the compost next to it, and with Carambar. It already has Kerry further down. At some point, I'm probably going to have to dig out the one with Haami and Daofu in it, and either remake it, or distribute it out.

ETA: Just came inside from rebuilding it – although really, it was more 'layering on top': paper shreddings, comfrey, Carambar, more comfrey, more shreddings, coffee chaff, sawdust, stonefruit prunings, cardboard, and a wet sack on top.

PREPARING:

I've set up a watering system (connected to the carport collection barrels) for the triangle garden. The aim is to plant some of the BRASSICAS there in the coming winter.

Just took the chook tractor off PLUM-STONE and laid down some B&B. Will cover with sugar cane mulch this evening and leave for a few days before planting out in it.

SEEDING:

LETTUCE(Mignonette, from Segolene and Sebastian) – in BATHTUB and APRICOT beds
SPINACH – bunnings packet type – in CREPE-APRICOT

Added a dollop of seaweed solution to most of the seedling water trays.

Of the brassicas planted, most are exceedingly productive...but the heirloom types are not...

BROCCOLI:
Aurora (F1)
diCicco
CAULIFLOWER:
di bassano (F1)
snowball early – only one sprouting
CABBAGE
Matilda chinese cabbage (F1)
golden acre – none
verona purple – a few sprouting

I think the heirloom types are going to need careful herding along, possibly in a separate tray, and with more immediate notice

PLANTING OUT:

ONION – spring – in CREPE-APRICOT – purchased spring onions, I think.

HARVEST:

POTATOES. I got at least a couple of kgs of potatoes from one of the front pathway vegepods. Mostly small and medium sized – no really large ones. That's okay – they're easier to eat in smaller numbers, even if they're more tricksy to wash and cook. Now I need to work out how to store them...

FEEDING:

Honestly, I'm just running around feeding everything B&B right now. Need to do more of the biological activator stuff from Lee, also seaweed solution.

Tossed a light layer of B&B on the PLUM-STONE, letting today's rain seep in, then will cover with mulch tonight.

PRUNING:

Pruned down the PLUM in the backyard, also the APRICOTS in the front. Need to get a ladder/structure and do the DUAL STONE in the TRIANGLE garden. The chipper worked pretty nicely with the smaller branches I have, but I stlll have some larger ones that my home chipper won't manage. Going to try taking them to the local mulching day, where you can get branches and stuff chipped, but also collect some materials.

THOUGHTS:

January is in fact a very busy time in the garden. So many things to do, and such a lot of stuff to plan for.

In particular, the Sydney Edible Garden Trail requires entering.