OBSERVATIONS:
It's been a few weeks of crazy hot. Some things have survived (and thrived)
others...have not.
Things that have thrived: the CORN in the vegepod, likewise the TOMATOES and
ZUCCHINI. The MELON (moon and stars) is still growing (which is a miracle in
and of itself) and while the SWEET PEAS aren't exactly flowering, they're
still growing, too.
Interestingly, the CORN in the clover did okay, but not great. I wonder if it
didn't get enough water, and that's why it didn't grow very much? The TOMATOES
that I planted out under the DUAL STONE also didn't grow very much before
fruiting – a decent crop but not the huge plants I was expecting.
The MANGO lost all its fruit – I don't know for sure, but I strongly suspect
that the local birds picked it all off. Next year, as soon as it sets fruit,
the netting goes on! But beneath it, the DAHLIAS are blooming quite nicely!
And I have BANANAS! This is new, never had a bunch before! Need to cover them
over before too long or the bird might destroy them!
CHOOKS:
One of our chooks has left us – unexpectedly, it was not Haamyu the
black one who was sick the last time I wrote in here, but Daofu, her white
counterpart, who got a cancerous growth in her belly and had to be put down.
She is now safely composting for the next year in a compost bin that's well
away from any of the usual spaces where anything is likely to dig her up.
(Except the rats. And they can take their chances!)
Otherwise, the two little girls are laying (Kerry and Gladys) like clockwork –
we probably won't have them for more than another year or two before their
bodies give up. Goong was broody through most of November, then came off it,
laid for about two weeks and is about to go broody again. Instead, Siyao went
broody through the early half of December – she's never gone broody before, so
that was very unexpected!
I need to move the chooks to the TRIANGLE ORCHARD and the driveway space so
they dig around there and peck everything down. Even scratch a few things up
where possible. Also, get at the fruit flies that are more or less decimating
my tomatoes and which will probably also get to the PERSIMMONS. So many things
to do, so little time.

a slightly bedraggled Kerry - she's the bottom of the pecking order!
COMPOST:
The compost I had my garden helper assist me in building got to 50C and stuck
there for at least a week. It was fully active until I went away at the start
of December and when I came back it had cooled some.
I should probably rebuild it, turning it over and incorporating a whole heap
of shredded comfrey leaves. Right now, I'm digging it out, but I can still
make out some of the components which isn't the best. But the main issue with
rebuilding it is that it takes time, energy, and a strong back, and mine is
rapidly going.
PREPARING:
The chook tractor is still on the CREPE-LYCHEE (I don't know what to call this
bed), and I need to take it off and move it elsewhere for the girls to use for
a while.
I need to set up the APRICOT/LYCHEE bed for receipt of the next tree
(attempt).
Trees I have to plant:
APRICOT
BLACK SAPOTE
WHITE SAPOTE
ICE CREAM BEAN
KUMQUAT
SOUR CHERRY
CAMELLIA SINENSIS
(bush)
UNKNOWN (sincerely, I can't remember, I'm terrible with
labelling)
SEEDING:
I need to sow more mixes – leafies and roots, mostly. I haven't been terribly
assiduous about it, and with the uneven hot days, it's been difficult to get
things growing before a heatwave comes along and burns it to the ground.
Maybe put down some soil, plant the seeds and water in, cover with about an
inch of pea mulch. Would that be enough to give it the insulation it needs
against the crazy heat? Maybe...
PLANTING OUT:
GINGER in the small VEGEPOD, behind the tomatoes. Maybe I should plant another
of the MELONS? I don't know which go where and I've never been very lucky with
melons, but if I went with one of the warpaints, maybe? Do I still have melon
seeds?
HARVEST:
TOMATOES in great numbers. The first round of CORN was eaten. Some BEANS – I
think they're a butter bean. I also have some dragon's tongue BEANS that are
doing nicely. Hopefully at some point, we'll get EGGPLANTS, but the single one
I've gotten to fruiting stage is not looking very good with the recent
heatwaves.
RASPBERRIES and STRAWBERRIES and ALPINE STRAWBERRIES are all regularly
fruiting. Not much, but it doesn't have to be much – just one or two a day and
we're good.
At some point there'll be a PUMPKIN – the Galeaux D'Eysines it definitely is:
that pink and warty look that's so typical of the type!
FEEDING:
CORN again, maybe TOMATOES. Do the POTATOES need any?
Maybe if I fed the back beds, they might do better? But also, they need more
regular watering, I think... I don't know how to do that more regularly,
unless it's mulching them pretty heavily so they have a chance to properly set
roots before a heatwave comes along...
PRUNING:
Both the DUAL PLUM and the FOUR-STONE and the CHERRY and the DONUT PEACH need
some serious trimming down in January or February, and then shredding the
rest.
Next year, I need to trim down the PERSIMMON significantly – it's shading out
the rest of the bed. If I can do it after the harvest at the end of summer,
that would probably be best.
THOUGHTS:
With everything looking the way it is in the world right now, I sincerely
don't think we're going to conquer climate change. It takes too much will, too
much effort, and too many people are caught in the money trap. Most of those
with the capacity to believe that we're changing the way the planet works
aren't willing to change anything so long as they don't.
Basically, I believe we're screwed.
So my job on this property is both to pay off the mortgage so it's ours in
title and deed, free of the bank – which I can do in the next two years if my
current job holds.
Extensions are never going to happen. I've settled with that. I wish we could
afford some house improvements - get rid of the asbestos, insulate, and
replace the fake weatherboard with real wood weatherboard. But that'll take
way more money than we have, although if I could hold this job for another
five years, then we might have the money – but who knows where the market will
be by then?
Energy wise, we need to get on a solar battery ASAP. Preferably two. I should
check in with a friend who I think does something related to solar
community... I mailed him about it maybe five, six years ago when I first
heard what he did. Need to go back and re-read those; I wasn't in the space to
parse it all then, I kind of am now.
The other job I have is to maximise food production, which is going to be a
lot more difficult. Limestone Permaculture manage it, and they have a
knowledgeable and committed couple and their daughter on an acre of land, with
a community both locally and more broadly. We have some starches – the taro is
an excellent starch through the winter, and I can kind of do potatoes and
pumpkins – more starches. The eggs provide protein, although we're dependent
on getting more chickens as they die off, and we're not slaughtering them.
(They probably wouldn't be very big anyway. Meat birds are a very different
proposition to layers.)
I have the knowledge, actually using it and refining it to make a regular
harvest is another matter. That said, I'm pretty sure that we could produce
enough basic calories to survive on this site; whether they would be useful
and suitable and of sufficient variety? That's another matter.
Deep and depressing thoughts, I guess. I'm not giving up, and neither should
anyone reading this, but realistically, we don't have the social/political
will nor the awareness to see what's coming, let alone meet it on a social
scale. Individual and small community will have to be it.