tree of life

One of the reasons we bought the farm was so I could plant trees. I had quickly run out of space on our suburban block. My husband wanted to keep bees. When we go to the farm I plant trees. And we put our first two hives out there this Spring. Bees and trees look […]

little lost sheep

We haven’t been to the farm all month. Bee club, soccer presentations, cricket matches, on-campus days, and a martial arts conference, have dominated our weekends. Our neighbour sent us a photo last week … Those white dots up on the hill, they are not ours.  Our nearest neighbours do not have sheep. We are hoping they will […]

the first half of 2017

Summer We survived Summer. Summer was HOT. One day we left the farm at midday and it was 47 degrees Celsius. We got back to the suburbs four hours later to 49 degrees. At the farm we face West. We have no cooling in the cottage. The iron roof heats up and radiates heat all night long. […]

the past few months

this is a long post… tractor The tractor arrived early November. And the art of driving a tractor is now a verb at our place ‘tractoring’. The second day of owning the tractor, my husband wiped out a section of the fence for the house yard. And we almost wiped out our family vehicle trying to get the […]

waiting

patience not one of my strengths I’m waiting … for my head to heal for the flood waters to subside, so I can go back to the farm for the tractor to arrive, so I can get started on the swales for the end of October, so we can purchase some queen bees and their […]

concussion

We were on the farm on Fathers Day (September 4). I was attacking the blackberry with gusto. It’s my new favourite weed, having taken first place from something we call ‘wandering jew’. And I’ve discovered the joy of using a hoe. On this day, I pulled on a long tendril which had taken root, stepped back […]

blackberry and other weeds

Blackberry ! When we saw the property in May there were some sizeable areas of blackberry. When we settled the property in August the blackberry had doubled, at least. There has been so much rain the landscape is an iridescent green, which is unusual in Australia. Blackberry loves wet. It’s a shame that it’s been […]

exploring

We settled the bush property in early August. I took the boys out of school for a few days to go and do the pre-settlement inspection, and stay on the property once we got the keys. It was a big adventure. Two of the boys hadn’t seen the property. When we arrived there was an […]

how to grow a forest in your backyard

This is a lovely TED talk. The speaker changed his career from being an industrial engineer to a tiny jungle party organiser. . Mr Sharma is also speaking at the following link … http://www.ted.com/talks/shubhendu_sharma_how_to_grow_a_tiny_forest_anywhere . And following on from the above talks was a piece by Richard Preston about the redwood trees in the USA. […]

swales

My husband has been researching permaculture gardens for the property. He is being very thoughtful. He can see the problem with erosion and weeds, and managing different aspects of the land. For him, this project is all about stewardship. Me? I just want to go there and watch everything. I don’t want to do much work. […]