The wind has picked up here a bit and it almost sounds like Autunm, the sound of wind going through dry leaves on trees. There are a number of heat stressed plants here – you can tell by the dead or papery feeling leaves. When it gets too hot and the air around them is [...]
I wanted to look at green plants, so I went searching through my photos I took in Nov last year at Hepburn, way before the Summer heat set in. There are three plants I liked – comfrey, scarlet runner beans & New Zealand flax. Comfrey (symphytum officinale) has a number of uses. One is as [...]
Everyone has been retreating inside during the heat of the day – over 40 degrees for 4 days running. The main focus has been making sure the animals are ok – we’ve just been giving watermelon to the chickens. Also trying to keep the plants alive, mostly by shading them with sheets and old curtains. [...]
There are two varieties of strawberries growing here at the house at Research – one is an old heritage variety, which is a type of woodland strawberry – Fragaria Vesca. This has small strawberries, which are white, so get left by the birds. The other variety is a cultivar, bred to have bigger berries and [...]
I got to visit two permaculture properties today – one at Healsville and one at Bunyip. Both make extensive use of swales, however both are on very different topography. Helasville is on quite a steep hillside, whereas Bunyip is on a very gentle, almost flat, block. Swales are used in the veggie gardens at Healsville. [...]