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| New turkey bed with Sugar Melons |
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| Corn patch (8 weeks of growth from seed) with bamboo wind support |
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| The large garden in backyard, planted in guild style |
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| Purple King beans, producing prolific numbers of flowers |
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| Yellow Pear tomatoes, the first fruits on the bush |
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| Big Red Tomatoes, first fruits on the bush |
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| Californian Capsicum, first one on the bush |
Well just to finish the year, I thought I would do a run down of the happenings of 2011 and bring you an update on the garden's growth and progress. So let's begin. The start of 2011 both my sons were still at home with me and we were plugging away at the yard and paddock to get new garden beds established, the woodshed built and to get the chooks sorted with a more permanent enclosure. It saw my son, Luke, working at the local grain mill until work dried up and at that time both lads decided to move back to our hometown in the North/East of Victoria. For the next few weeks, I rattled around the house adjusting to the quiet nights and sole company of Snake the cat. In the early half of the year I managed to hold a WWOOF host gathering and to manage the WWOOF stand at the Back2Basics Expo in Kyabram. Hosting remained in limbo until the second half of the year as winter presented bleak and dreary weather. I completed my Cert3 in permaculture and took on the Cert4TAE which I completed in early December. Hosting WWOOFers began again in late September when Michael arrived from France, all up Michael stayed for 5 weeks. During the first week of October I managed the WWOOF stand at the Elmore Field Days with the help of another WWOOFer, Leanne. The day after that had finished I received sad news that my last remaining/closest Uncle Wilf had succumbed to the cancers that had ravedged his body for years. I partly feel he had pined away as his dear wife Nancy had passed away 5 years prior and they had a very close and strong bond. During the comings and goings of the second half of the year, I was diagnosed with malignant cells in the Intramedullary tumours on my spinal cords. They are inoperable and were actually found in 2006, but the malignancy only broke out in July. I have completed an 8 week course of chemo tablets and now going through the barrage of tests to see how successful that was. Still I remain totally positive about things and strive to continue with the plans I have in place. In early December, I enrolled in diploma of Business and Diploma of Management. A 1 year course of study that will hopefully set me in good stead to set up and run an RTO that will specialise in Permaculture Design Course ( hoping for a kick off in 2013). The last week leading up to Christmas is in full swing here and I am busily sourcing organic fruits and vegetables to make up boxes for my various family members as gifts. A trip to Echuca is on the cards for Thursday to complete the gift buying and then the last 2 days will be filled with cleaning and making sure all the gardens and animals will be sorted out for the time I am to be away for Christmas. In conclusion, I wish all those in the world of Blog a safe and happy time during the festive season.
