permaculture

Update on the bird scarer

Sara posted a comment asking about the hawk bird scarer.  It scared off the smaller birds, but wasn't so effective with the parrots, which were the main things eating our fruit, so we ended up netting most of the trees. It did make some difference, because we didn't have so many problems with birds getting caught inside the nets as in previous years. The other factor against ithe hawk is that you can't put the hawk near the chooks, because it scares them. We could only use it because our orchard is some way from the mandalas.

Our chook breeding system has started early this year, with two chicks hatched over the weekend by our Orpington, who is the best mother among our chooks.

Scaring off birds

A few weeks ago we had a couple of white cockatoos wreaking havoc in the garden. They would come in early in the morning and go through mandala 2, leaving a trail of destruction as they broke the stalks of cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower and even freesias. We aren't sure why they focused on that area and left the other mandala alone - perhaps the young plants in mandala 2 were just the right size for them.

Then Bruce noticed an advert in a farming magazine for the hawk bird scarer, which is apparently guarenteed to scare most birds, including cockatoos. Since we also have a major bird problem in the orchard, I immediately sent off for 2 hawks. When they arrived, I read the instructions and found they are not suitable for use near chooks because the birds get frightened. So, they're no use for protecting mandala 2, but Bruce has installed one on a large pole between the fruit trees and the wooded area from which most birds fly into the orchard. Our cherry trees have got fruit on, so we'll soon see if the system works. In the meantime, Bruce's efforts at scaring the cockatoos off the garden (he rushes out of the back door shouting and waving his arms) seem to have taken effect, and there's been no further damage in mandala 2.

Here is the hawk ...

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... mandala 2, where we have a forest of rocket (self sown) and mustard (for the chooks) - amazingly, things are growing really well, particularly round the pond, in spite of the total absence of rain  ...

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... and the natives between the two mandalas, which are coming into flower ...

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New compost bin!

For about three years now I've been meaning to create a compost bin from old wooden pallets, but somehow I never got round to it. I wanted the bin as somewhere to put stuff that is unsuitable for either the chooks or the worms (previously we've put this kind of material into the huge hole made when the house water tank was installed, but in there it simply disappears forever).

In recent weeks I've generated plenty of suitable material for a compost bin. I ripped up the half-disintegrated newspaper and straw from the edge strip around the second mandala to harvest the potatoes before planting it out with the asparagus, some blueberry plants and a few herbs. Since then we've had some high winds; consequently, there are large sheets of newspaper and lumps of straw all around the back yard. Also, I pulled up all the remaining tomato plants, which are of no interest to the chooks, and too bulky for the small worm farm.

When Bruce realised that creating a compost bin would mean that I'd clear up the paper, straw and tomato plants, he was galvanised into action. First he found me three pallets (it's amazing the things you can find on a farm), then he cut down a dead tree to make room for the bin in a sheltered spot near the fence, and finally he helped me put the three pallets in place and wired them to the fence. So now we have a beautiful new compost bin:

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We've had lots of rain recently, and the native plants that I've put in as a bit of a windbreak between the berry fences that surround the two mandalas are looking good:

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Shredding

We've had some heavy frosts in recent weeks (down to minus 5), so the frost-prone plants have all keeled over and the whole garden has slowed down, including the weeds. Today we borrowed a friend's wonderful mulching machine and shredded all the amaranth and corn stalks. It was a great way to deal with them because the shreddings could all go back into the mandala (previously we've just thrown the whole stalks into a big compost heap, but they take forever to break down).

Less successful was my attempt to move some asparagus. I grew it from seed a few years ago and planted it in two places in the strip around the edge of the first mandala. I put most of the plants in one area, on their own, and they've been doing well, but the few plants I had left looked a bit pathetic, so I (foolishly) planted a guava and some lavender very close to them, with the result that they've now been overwhelmed. Today I thought I'd move those plants to an empty spot in the 1-metre edge strip around the second mandala, not realising how hard that would be; asparagus has deep roots that are pretty firmly embedded in the soil. I was also worried about damaging the roots in digging them up, so I dug really deeply around them to free them. After a great deal of sweat and toil I got them out, but next time I'll put a bit more thought into where I plant things!

Mower deficiencies

The push mower (an Xmas present from Bruce) has some drawbacks and yesterday I resorted to using the petrol mower to cut the weeds and grass that had grown up between mandala 1 and the berry fence. Last week I did try to cut this with the push mower, but it made no impression whatsoever!

I did manage to use the push mower for the area between a couple of the circles in mandala 2, but had to take off the catcher to do so (because it kept falling off due to the uneven ground), so that rather defeated the purpose, given that I wanted to be able to gather grass cuttings for the chook dome without using petrol. Of course, I can go and rake up the cut grass, but that will take additional time and effort. The other reason for getting the mower was to keep me fit now I've given up on the gym, and it certainly met that aim, as it took all my muscle power to push it back and forth over the small area that I used it on. It's better on our back 'lawn', which is not so overgrown, and on the spot of lush growth near the septic outlet.

Some of the circles in the second mandala are really thriving now, in contrast to the parched paddock around them. Here is a shot of the first and second circles - they are pretty overgrown with weeds and chook fodder, but there are zucchinis, peppers, corn, silver beet, pak choy and lettuce in there somewhere!

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Push mower

A drawback of the chook dome system is that it requires great quantities of compostable matter (leaves, grass clippings, straw, etc) to be thrown into the dome during the two weeks that it sits on a particular spot. The chooks then turn this matter over and (in theory at least) remove the seeds from it, so that it's ready to be planted into when the dome moves on. I've been running our old petrol mower around the backyard specifically to get clippings to throw into the dome. However, I feel guilty every time I do this, because the mower makes a great deal of noise, pollutes the air and, most importantly (given that our household is attempting to be carbon neutral), emits lots of greenhouse gases.

We've now come up with the perfect solution for this problem - my Xmas present will be a McCulloch push mower, complete with grass catcher and self-sharpening blades. I'd previously thought push mowers a waste of time, after a friend bought one for $5 at a garage sale, then found she needed to spend $20 getting the blades sharpened every time she used it, but I'm hoping that this one won't suffer from that problem. The push mower will reduce our fossil fuel use and will have the added advantage of helping me to get fit - an important consideration given that I recently gave up my gym membership as part of the carbon neutral exercise, and have already gained 2 kilos!

Hay box

Here's the latest aerial view. The garden continues to look beautiful but not produce very much that is edible, apart from lots of small tomatoes, and 2 varieties of zucchini that we don't particularly like! However, we will soon be inundated with pumpkins, all of which were self-sown.

This year I asked Bruce for a haybox for Xmas, in which to slow-cook stews, porridge etc. I found the idea in a gardening magazine and remembered one from camping many years ago, when I was a Girl Guide. A haybox does pretty much the same job as a slow cooker, but uses much less power (you just get the stuff boiling, stick it in the hay, put the lid on and leave it for 6-8 hours, then heat it up for a few minutes before eating it). When I got back from my trip to the UK, Bruce had made this 'deluxe' version (which is huge, holds about a bale of hay).