Growing despite the heat!

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Well, it has certainly been a hot summer here in Perth, but despite this we have had an abundance of some vegetables! The aquaponics system is amazing…a couple of shade sails over the top to protect from the overhead sun, and there has been incredible growth in comparison to the dirt garden.

Aquaponics system in February

Aquaponics system in February

Although some of the veggies exposed to the sun, like the rainbow chard, wilt by the end of the day, they perk up beautifully and keep us well supplied! Warrigal (Botany Bay Greens or New Zealand Spinach) has been a prolific grower all through summer. The barramundi in the aquaponics system fish tank are growing well, though we haven’t caught any yet. We have had a few silver perch from the swimming pool though!

Perch from the pool

Perch from the pool

This is the pickings from just one day….rainbow chard, silver beet, perpetual spinach, warrigal, basil, kang kong, malabar spinach, and spring onions are all from the aquaponics system. Zucchini, cucumber, and spaghetti squash are from our ‘Pumpkin Palace’, and the mushrooms were growing in the paddock and were too good to overlook! There are also figs, chilli, tomato and capsicum in amongst the green!

One day's pickings

One day’s pickings

Pumpkin Palace is covered in butternut and delicata pumpkin, cucumber, spaghetti squash and the beginnings of luffa!

Pumpkin hanging from the roof of the 'Palace'

Pumpkin hanging from the roof of the ‘Palace’

 

 

 

Busy as bees….

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Just 4 weeks after adding the super, the bees are making lots of honey! Seven of the ten frames in the box have honey and are feeling quite heavy, though there is no capping yet, which the bees do when the honey is ‘just right’. When the majority of a frame is capped, this is an indication that the honey is mature enough to harvest.

Honey production well underway!

Honey production well underway!

We also took the opportunity to check the brood box, and found a lot of activity there too.

Frame covered in brood

A healthy looking frame from the brood box

 

Bee developments…….

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The bees seem to be thriving- we have lots of jarrah and some redgum in flower at the moment, and these are a good source of nectar for the bees. We added the super, with the queen excluder between it and the brood box below, on Christmas eve, and the bees moved up into it straight away. During some very hot (40C plus) weather over between Christmas and New Year, we noticed a lot of ‘bearding’ (when the bees cover the front of the box). This is often something they do to keep cool and to keep the hive cool.

Checking the frames in the super

Checking the frames in the super- the bees are very active only 2 weeks after adding the super

Pumpkin Palace!

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How to grow LOTS of pumpkin in one remaining vegetable garden bed??? Construct ‘Pumpkin Palace’ to grow them UP instead of on the ground! So far, it is looking great, with pumpkin, okra, vegetable spaghetti, cucumber…..and probably more…..growing up the structure, with sweetcorn and beans growing underneath.

Pumpkin Palace

Not all according to plan……

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Life on a farm, no matter how small it is, does still have its setbacks.

We have recently had a ewe die. We are not sure why- it may have been a snake bite (they had just been moved into a different paddock that had been unused for a while). She was one of the 1 year old ewes that had surprisingly had lambs (usually they are two year olds), so perhaps it was related to the fact that she was too young. Now we have a 5 week old lamb orphan lamb…..fortunately the Wiltshires are a strong breed and graze very early in life, so it should be ok.

Our apricot and orange trees are far too big to cover with nets, so have been ravaged by fruit fly. They both produced an abundant crop, and we were able to use a lot before they were badly stung, but such a lot was wasted!

We have had good success with our turkey and poultry breeding….but not the ducks. Despite several different ducks sitting on eggs over the last few months, not one egg has hatched! There is one duck currently sitting, so fingers crossed………..

To bee or not to bee…..

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Yes…..we now have a bee hive! We decided to go for a new hive and bees, rather than second hand as we really wanted to avoid introducing any disease onto the property. We bought the hive components from Guilfoyle’s and put it all together ourselves. This was a great way of learning the parts and how it all worked. Introducing the ‘nuc’ (nucleus) of new bees was a very simple process- we put the small box they came in on the base we had made for our hive, and let the bees out for the day.

The nucleus of bees in place where the hive will be

Then, suited up, we gave it a couple of puffs of smoke from the new smoker, moved it to the side, and set up our hive on the stand.

Preparing for the transfer of frames

Then the four frames (covered in bees) were transferred from the nucleus box into our hive, and voila! we now have our own bee hive!

Transferring the frames

Transfer complete

Late lamb/s!!

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Well, what a surprise we had yesterday….a new lamb! We weren’t expecting any more as the ewes who hadn’t given birth already are only 1 year old, plus Wiltshires supposedly have a once a year breeding period in February/March. Wiltshire lambs born in October is not usual!! Fortunately, the very young mum and her little boy lamb are doing fine….and the other 1 year old ewe is obviously pregnant too!

Late lamb

Spring update…..

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Spring is such a lovely time of the year! Not too hot, enough rain not to need to water the garden, births, and overall growth…….

The aquaponics system is going very well, and we have eaten our first trout from it.

Smoked trout

With the warmer weather coming, we have been monitoring the water temperature as the trout are not happy if it is over 20C. to help extend the season, and reduce the algae that was growing in the fish tank, we put up a gazebo to shade the fish tank. This also provided a structure to attach a support for the tomatoes that are growing like crazy!

Aquaponics October 2012

The orchard is also going very well in this gorgeous weather, with the peaches, nectarines, mulberry and citrus all fruiting. We have high hopes for the olive trees too, after only two olives last year!

Olive tree flowering

We have even preserved some of the lemons, and made jam with mulberries for later….

Preserved lemons

In fact, we have been able to spend a bit more time preserving some produce, and decided to convert a room to store it in! We will be able to use this room for butchering as well, instead of outside where we usually have done it.

Produce room

We also have our very first bee hive, and have ordered our bees….so this room will also be where we can extract the honey safely (away from the bees!).

Naturally, being spring, there have been numerous births (and unfortunately some deaths). Two bantams successfully hatched chicks, though four were killed/taken by something, perhaps a crow. We also lost a duck, we think to an eagle, as there was nothing left but feathers and a beak. Two ducks are sitting on eggs, and three turkeys….so hopefully more births will follow!