Elmore Field Days, October 2011

Annette (left)  Leanne (right)

Early Monday 3rd October,2011 saw me on my way to Echuca to pick up Leanne in order for us to go to the Elmore Field Days site and set up the WWOOF stand.  Got there around 9.30, pulling the car right up in front of the marquise.  All up it only took us 2 and a half hours to unload the car and set up the interior of the stand.  After this we jumped in the car and headed back to Kyabram to stock up on supplies and relax for the night in readiness for the 3 very busy days to follow.  Tuesday morning we rose to light cloud and news that we were due for some rain while the field days were on.  Not amused at all, but as it happened the weather held for us and we avoided getting wet feet.  The crowds rolled in and we were kept busy, chatting and sharing information about the guidelines and methods of joining WWOOF, both as hosts and WWOOFers.  We had a great deal of interest shown over the next 3 days and found that we also had a number of folk drop by who had already heard of WWOOF but would love more information.  During each day we also had a number of other hosts from a variety of places pop in to say hello and ask a question or two.  So good to see them there and share what they do on their properties.  By the end of day 3, both Leanne and I were totally exhausted, had very sore legs and feet but came away with a sense of achievement in regard to getting the word out there.  I am hoping to set up another stand at the Kyabram show in just over a week. Will see how it pans out as I am still waiting on word back from the organisers if a site is available.  Watch this space for updates.

Never a dull moment

My friends and family are always saying, "You will never have a dull moment in life".  Perhaps they are right.  Although the next two weeks are holiday time from the course I am doing, I still won't have an idle moment to contemplate the next phase in life.  Firstly, I am going to utilise that time to get the rest of the paddock area in order and prepare for the planting season.  It was with the greatest joy that I opened an email today from a french lad who is wanting to come and WWOOF at my humble abode.  The help will be greatly appreciated. Then on the 3rd to the 6th of October I am going to be running a stand at the Elmore Field Days on behalf of the WWOOF Australia organisation, with the help of a lovely lady (Leanne Seignior) who is also a WWOOFer.  I have all the promotional posters, bookmarks, flyers and books at the ready and have  laminated the two large posters I used for the Back2Basics which have photos of my past WWOOFers on them.  The stands are at this time being altered to suit the occassion and also to allow me to fit them in the Ricebubble car I drive.  (Small cars are not practical and I am missing my big old ute at this point in time.)  I still have just a few things I am working on to make the stall look its best, but feel it is all falling into place very well. So, to coin a phrase,  No rest for the wicked.   Bring it on.

Week 2: Cert4TAE

Now at week 2 of my Cert4TAE I am throwing myself into my studies.  Week 1 was an introduction to what TAE involves and a few group exercises as well as an Icebreaker.  All intended to teach us various methods of teaching students and how to hold their attention. The end of class saw us with homework that at first I felt to be a great challenge.  We had to organise an icebreaker, select a demonstration, write up an assessment analysis and a session plan.  Although the week was rather busy, with a trip to Melbourne for medical reasons and then a lady running into my car,  I did manage to get all the work done.  So it was on the day of Week 2.  I arrived at class with all my work prepared and a good mindset to present my Icebreaker and do my demonstration.  I have chosen to teach how to correctly use a ph soil test kit and how to analyse the results.  Imagine my surprise when the trainer said our demonstrations will be done Week3, not that it is an issue, it simply means I am prepared ahead of time. After our classes came to an end yesterday, I came home to a lovely hot coffee and reflected on the days lessons.  I find that although I have past experience in teaching such things as craft and reading,  I am still learning a great deal from this course and am sure it will set me in good stead for the future.

Room to Move. Extending the ChookMahal

Mark and Snake watching the chickens as they forage in the new enclosure

The use of a recycled gate saved us a lot of money.

Clipping Little Dotty's wing.

Today I woke up determined to extend the area that the chooks had to forage in during the daylight hours.  So I scrounged around, gathering tomato stakes, some rolls of chicken wire and an old gate that was laying in the paddock.  My son and I then got to work driving in the stakes and stringing up the wire and gate.  After about an hour or so, we had set up an area about 10' x 20' with an external gate to allow ease of entry to feed and water the girls.  Once all the work had been done, we opened the gate to the chook shed and allowed Elvis and the girls out into their new yard.  At the same time I picked up Little Dotty and clipped her wing so she wouldn't fly the coop (pardon the pun).  They are all very content and have been head down, parson's nose up for a couple of hours. I so love the sight of my girls scratching and pecking happily in a big area.  Although this yard will allow the girls more forage space the netting is only a temporary solution until the electronet arrives to replace it..I plan to run that by solar power and a car battery.

The end result.

As a post script to my last blog about the permaculture cert 3 course.  I have received a message from the course assessor, advising me that I have made it through and achieved the cert3.  It was the one message that I have yearned for over a long and arduous time.  At this point, with all the elation I feel,  I wish to express my deepst thanks to every person who spoke encouraging words, who sat with me when I was crying in frustration, who gave me much appreciated advice, who had more faith in me than I did myself and above all rose to the moment and expressed their congratulations when the news came through.  You all hold a very special place in my life and in my heart. Know that in all you do, you too are loved.

A hiatus in life

A 3 year journey has come to an end.  The permaculture Design course I undertook in 2009 was a long and rewarding undertaking that I would not exchange for all the money in China.  Although I had followed the Permaculture lifestyle for over 20 years, doing the course has brought clarity, a greater understanding and a wider knowledge base to all that I have done during those 20 years.  On Thursday I made a trip to Gisborne in order to submit the last of my work units.  I met with Virginia at a wonderful luncheonette and during that time we went over the work being submitted and then clarified a few things.  As the drive had been a little hard on my back I decided to stay overnight in Gisborne with a dear friend (thankyou for that blessing my friend) and then drove home on the Friday.  The quiet drive home gave me a lot of time to reflect on all that the past 3 years has done for me and meant to me.  It also gave me time to contemplate the next phase in my life's journey.  I have enrolled to do my cert4 TAE, which will mean I am able to teach Permaculture once the course is done in October.  I am also hoping to do the Diploma unit in Whole Farm Planning.  After all this is completed,  the world is my oyster and the options open to me are endless.  So having said all this, why did I come away feeling like I had lost something.   Maybe this is the normal thing when you finally get complete closure on something you have worked hard to do.  Oh well, at least I have a few weeks to regroup and put a little work in on the system I am hoping will provide me with an abundance of beautiful organic food this coming summer. So out to the dairy with barrow and shovel to collect as much free fertiliser as I can for the about to be established gardens. Then to begin seed selection and decide on how I will propogate them this year.  Wasnt quite so keen on the little things I used last season, only had about 40% success rate with them. May need to go back to the old ways of using punnets and seed raising mix.

Last years propogation method using Jiffy pots, works well for smaller seeds, not so great for things like pumpkin, zucchini, melons, beans and peas.

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The good, the bad and the hard to do.

Living in front of an operational dairy has many ups and downs.  The good side,  plenty of free cow poo for the organic gardens, beautiful sunrises, sunsets and not much traffic( apart from the tractor, motorbike and cows lowing).  On the downside, there is the wiffy smell of cow poo, multitudes of flies and mozzies, dirt roads and the fact that my poor chooks are no longer allowed to freerange.  It is understandable when you know the legalities and health regulations involved in dairy farming.  However, since Elvis the rooster and his harem have now begun to escape the house yard by jumping fences, the time arrived where the landlord asked in stern tones for them to be kept under control.  What to do?  EBAY to the rescue, long searches and big decision made.  I found a great kit form chookpen. It comes with a big removeable backdoor, slide out dirt tray, nesting boxes and perches.  Then entire yard section is enclosed and eagle proof.  So, I waited with anticipation for it to arrive.  One week, two weeks, then finally at the end of the  third week two large boxes are dropped off on my front verandah.  It was like christmas morning tearing the packaging open to inspect the goodies within.   The three of us layed out the panels on the front lawn, correlating pieces that went together and trying to make sense of those irritating, inadequate instructions that always seem to accompany flat pack goods.  A few hours of shuffling pieces and cursing the person who typed said inadequate instructions, the housing section was complete and ready to move into place.  That done.  Luke and Mark began the next stage, putting up the pen sections, the little ladder for the hens to go to bed at night and then last but not least add the food tower and water bowl, so we could release the hens.  Now, moving chickens should be an easy task and usually it is.  Just wish someone had told my chooks, especially Elvis the now very agitated rooster.  He really hates us handling his harem.  Not to worry, we'll get  him last.  By the time the hens are ensconsed in the new chookmahal, Elvis has quite a paddy up..it actually took us almost an hour to catch the demon rooster.  Note my love for this creature is immense, my tolerance however is declining.  Job done, gate locked, we all looked at each other and declared stumps.  Time for a good wash and hot coffee. 

SCORE:  Me 1.....Chooks 0