Last year we were very disappointed to loose the few dragon fruit flowers that had grown for the first time, but are really hopeful for this year! After annual setbacks due to frost, we had to move them again from the raised beds and planted them in large pots just on the edge of the verandah, and they are thriving! They have grown so much, and several now have multiple buds…watch this space!
Even if some of them fruit, we will be thrilled! Especially as we have lost a few things towards the end of this hot Perth summer…..
The hot weather has continued, with several days above 40- the hottest so far being 44.5! We have a few allocated ‘sanctuaries’ where the wildlife can have some respite from the heat- one being the ‘billabong’ which we established not long after we moved in.
With that level of heat, we have lost a few plants and others are struggling, but there are a remarkable amount that are coping well, including veggies that keep on producing- zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkin, chilli, scalloped squash and beans- we have had heaps of these!
We have made a few batches of sweet chilli sauce and kasundi- both family favourites!
tomatoes and chilli prepped for kasundiyummy tomatoes, chillies and spices bubbling away– we have had plenty of home grown veggies for dinner! Some of the squash get overlooked and are then big enough to stuff and bake
The hot weather has brought out some rarely seen animals – like a Boxer Bark Mantid, one we have never seen before, and a very large trapdoor spider which unfortunately drowned in the pool on its evening explore.
Well, we have had a few hot days at our place in December, with today topping at 44.3 degrees Celcius!
With the hot weather comes a much increased risk of bushfire, something we are very aware of and plan for accordingly. Previously, we used an old McCormick tractor and towed a water tank and pump on a trailer. The problem with this was that it was difficult to start, and difficult to manoeuvre on McCarthy Park 2 with it being so long and heavy.
So, we have a new fire fighting unit! We bought a 1970 FJ45, which now has the water tank (an IBC), pump and generator on the tray, so it is much easier to start and drive around on our property.
This has given us a much safer and more manageable way of fighting small spot fires that may occur on our property.
It has been a busy, though strange, spring. Perth has seem hot days, windy days, cold days, rainy days…. and sometimes all four in one day! The gardens and the bees have sometimes struggled with the changing conditions, but overall are going well.
We had lost a queen in one hive a while ago, and the newly purchased queen did not survive or stay for some reason. This is where it is very useful having two hives, as we were able to transfer a frame or two of brood from the strong one to the weak one. We had to do this a couple of times, but eventually they did produce a queen, who is now laying prolifically!
We haven’t had a honey harvest so far this season, but it won’t be long before we do!
The orchard has gone well generally, with some good harvests of nectarines, peaches, loquats and plums, though unfortunately one of the nectarines we transferred from McCarthy Park 1 (see There is never nothing to do!) suddenly split and was rotten inside.
This, plus a plum and an apricot going the same way, are disappointing nearly four years after transplanting! The rest are going well though….
a few avocados, hopefully will develop beyond pea size!Hopefully a few develop into fruit!
The dragon fruit are loving their new home too, after some trials and tribulations- fingers crossed we finally get some fruit develop this year. Moving them to the verandah certainly helped to protect them from the frost, so this spring they have taken off!
Despite the variable weather, there has been plenty to harvest from the pumpkin palace as well as the aquaponics.
Pumpkin Palace early November…. now harvesting heaps!plenty of things to eat and preserve!
We harvested some of our turmeric this week, which grows really well in the aquaponics grow beds. We chopped up some for the freezer, and the rest was dehydrated and ground into powder. It smells divine!!!
just a little bit of turmeric!sliced and spread ready for the dehydratorwow, what a wonderful aroma and colour!ready for easy use!
We have really been enjoying it in a hot cacao (with soy milk) drink, as well as our cooking.
It is tempting to just share the good bits of our lifestyle (after all, it is mostly good!), but it is important to be realistic too. Over the years we have certainly had ups and downs related to rural living, some we can even look back on and laugh. A few of those stories are in our ‘setbacks’ page as well as the odd post.
After living this lifestyle for over 30 years, we have experienced most setbacks, but some never feel easier. Recently our lovely doe rabbit, Kep, died while heavily pregnant. She was fine one day and not the next. Even though we breed rabbits for food, our breeders are pets. They are loved and cuddled like any pet, so there is a sense of loss when one dies.
She was a very skittish bunny when we first got her as a kit, but with time and patience she eventually enjoyed a pat, and tolerated (!!) being picked up.
We have a new girl now, and she is pretty friendly but not quite as big and impressive as Kep.
After a long, dry summer in Perth (8 months with no rain), winter has finally arrived. The gardens are looking refreshed (as are the weeds unfortunately!), and the rainwater tanks are looking much healthier.
The ‘pumpkin palace’ had provided plenty of zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, rockmelon, green beans and of course pumpkin over the summer, and once we had harvested the last pumpkin, it was opened up to the chooks for the coming few months.
This rotation system is working well- the previous season’s pumpkin palace has been eaten down, fertilised and received lots of scraps, buried fish, carcasses etc so after a clean up it will be ready for the next round of planting.
the grass really encroached into this bed, but the chooks will soon sort that out!
We used to use a three way rotation, but find the two way pumpkin palace rotation we currently use works well. We manage to grow so many greens in the two aquaponics systems, we tend to use these two large beds for things like pumpkin and zucchini that take up lots of space!
It was so exciting, as we have never had flowers before. Just the one plant, had six gorgeous buds…….
……. with one opening one night and the other five a couple of nights later. Out we went with the head torch and paintbrush to assist with the pollination.
We were so excited, and so were the bees- they loved the flowers!
We were very hopeful that the pollination was successful, but unfortunately it wasn’t! The flowers fell off, and then the bit that should have been the fruit!
While that was so disappointing, we are looking forward to a winter that doesn’t mean we start from scratch yet again, followed by more flowering next summer!
