Why on earth have a self sufficient lifestyle anyway?

I have had a lot of people ask me why on earth we are wanting to do this? Why are we working toward a self sufficient lifestyle? A lot of people associate Permaculture and ecologically sustainable practices with the hippie movement. People seem to expect that I will end up wearing a tie-dyed shirt and walking around bare foot smoking a joint. Why? Why is ecological development considered to be so alternative? If you consider the origin of man, and of the world, living in an ecologically sensitive way is infact the norm. We were placed on the earth to look after it and to grow and prosper. Why wouldn't we use the natural, God given processes that the world has to our benefit? Is that really that weird? It is us as humans who have departed from the normal natural processes.

Now would be a good time for me to note that I am a Christian, and that a lot of my thoughts and reasoning behind this mind shift for us are somewhat affected by my belief structure. That is just how I think.

We aren't doing this to "save the planet" We aren't doing it to stop green house gas emissions or to shorten our carbon footprint. We are doing this because it is something we want to do. I am doing this because it is something I am interested in (I am not so sure Bron is AS taken by the concept as me, but we are both definitely in agreeance). I am very science minded and am fascinated by the way that all things in nature work together. I guess one day I woke up and noticed how the current trends in farming and agriculture and completely cutting across the way that God created everything to work together. These chains and processes are being broken and interrupted and replaced by factories, processing plants, fertilizers and GM seeds. Why fix something that ain't broke?

I recently saw the below video (shared by the lovely Milkwooders) and thought it really described well the situation as I see it.



Everyone just seems to be chasing that extra $.

My religious reasons aside, I think that this is something that Bron and I can do, to regenerate the land in the plot we have been given, to support ourselves financially in the long run (it has to be cheaper and healthier to grow your own in the long run right?), and to thoroughly enjoy the process. Gardening, and seeing the benefit of your labor is a thoroughly rewarding process. You should try it!  And while you are at it, try a little sheet mulching! It does WONDERS for your soil fertility!

Just my thoughts

Mark

The Apricot / Peach / Lemon / Apple Blossoms are out!

Wow, what a week we had last week! Spent the majority of Saturday planting out our Heirloom Seeds and part of Sunday collecting the free mulch offered by our local council. It takes a VERY long time to collect enough free mulch to cover nearly 400m2 when all you have is a 6x4 box trailer and one Sunday afternoon a month in which to collect it. We should be done in another 6 months.

The highlight of last week for me though has been that the bare root fruit trees we planted over winter have all come out flowering already this spring. We were told by Justin at Thistlebrook (the place we bought them - you should have a look at his site, he really knows his stuff, and the articles he writes are well worth the read!) that it could be a few years before we see any flowers or fruit off them, but oddly, they are all flowering in this first season. Of course, they may not fruit yet, but I am suitably impressed with the flourish of flowers!

Our Peach tree (and the dying weeds I pulled out around it)

We have also been very pleased to see that our Lemon Tree is also covered in flowers and buds.  I stopped counting buds at 100 over the weekend. I'm in hope we might get some lemons also.

And lastly, the chicken pen has progressed somewhat also. Though I don't have any photos to show, it is now framed up, the access door is in and the roosting coop is for the most part sheeted. Now all that remains is to treat the timber, put in a few nesting boxes and perches, and cover the thing from head to toe in chicken wire - and of course fill it with chickens.

We would be very interested if you have any thoughts on breeds of chickens. Really, our goal is egg production and weed eating. We are not interested in the meat.  Have you had any experience with hens?  Would you have any suggestions on breeds to consider?

Our Heirloom Seeds Arrived

Our roughly 4600 seeds arrived today from Eden Seeds. I was thoroughly impressed by the turn around. We ordered them online late Thursday night and they arrived on Monday. THAT is fast delivery! So anyway, no doubt we will be planting our 34 different species frantically in the coming weeks.

We are pretty excited about some of the seeds we have bought, all of which are heirloom varieties, being the original, God created versions, completely un-modified and un-altered. There are no hybrids, and no GM varieties. I am looking forward to the gnarly colours and rich flavours. They won't be perfect in appearance, and they may come in a variety of sizes and shapes....sounding rather like us humans really aren't they...but they will be ours, and they will be fresh.

The 34 varieties we bought were somewhat strategically chosen, and somewhat chosen just because we liked them. We have aimed to choose many varieties based on how well they play with others. Companion planting recognises the natural features of plants and locates them near other plants that can benefit from these features. The idea being that successful companion planting will negate the need for artificial insecticides and pesticides. For example, we will be planting marigolds, garlic and garlic chives around the perimeter of each of our vegetable gardens. the odours put off by marigolds, garlic and garlic chives tend to repel many of the critters who would otherwise love to feast on our tomatoes (etc). Another benefit, the bright colours of the marigolds attract bees and butterflies and other flying insects, which will saunter over and pollinate our flowers for us. All things will work together - or at least that is our intention, but I am sure there will be teething problems.

So, over the coming months, we look forward to enjoying:

• Black Zucchini
• Watermelon
• Cherry Tomato's
• Tomato's
• Shallots
• Coriander (Another insect repellent species)
• Sweet Corn
• Rockmelon
• Rhubarb
• Sage (A good moth repellent)
• Rosemary
• Peppermint 
• Parsley
• A bunch of different chilli species
• Carrots (including a purple variety)
• Capsicum
• Cumin (used in curry)
• Pak Choi
• Garlic Chives
• Pumpkin
• Lettuce
• Beetroot
• Cucumber
• Bush Beens
• Basil
• Lemongrass
• And a bunch of fresh flowers

Look forward to bringing updates as we start seeing produce from our emerging food forest.

Chicken Tractor building tips - Progress!

Well yesterday didn't go quite like I had hoped! I spent nearly 3 hours inside my favourite place for a little R&R. That was the good bit! 3 hours inside Bunnings is a dream come true for any self respecting home handyman, me included. The only problem on this occasion was that I didn't spend it ogling the latest power saw from AEG, or the new mower from Rover, but rather I spent it crunching figures and figuring out which materials and options were the best for the sheeting of the coop part of our chicken tractor. I learned an interesting lesson though which I should have learned long ago - Ask the professionals! I had been trying to figure out what ply sheeting would work best and which would be easiest on the budget etc etc etc. But when I finally asked the guys there for some help, they had what I think was a great suggestion! They suggested trying Fibrous Cement Sheeting. It's water proof, light weight, and best of all, half the price of ply, and will last a lot longer! So anyway, I could have saved myself 2 hours had I asked them in the first place. That said, 2 hours in Bunnings is better than 2 hours nearly anywhere else!

Today I had a few hours spare after church and set about progressing on the chicken tractor. I managed today to finally finish the framing, put the floor of the internal section in, framed and hung the hinged roof and started framing the door for us to get inside when we need to. I am really happy with how it is turning out and will post an update video shortly to show the progress.

I must add one more thing. I have really been enjoying this project! I am getting a real kick out of building this chicken tractor and hope others will be spurred on to considering a similar project. I have sure learned a lot through it!

NEW VIDEO - Our Chicken Tractor Progress

We put together a real quick video of the progress on our home made chicken tractor building project.  We decided to build a fairly large chicken tractor to house about 8 birds, with the ability to move them around the yard. We are hoping to use them to mow our weeds, and prepare the soil so we can sheet mulch behind them as we move them.  Of course we get the added benefit of having fresh eggs daily, which I am REALLY looking forward to.

Chickens are one of the best animals you can have in your yard, particularly if you have them in a mobile coop. As the chickens scratch up the soil in a fresh place, they dig through and gobble up all the weed seeds and bugs and do a mighty fine job of aerating the top layer of soil for you. One of the biggest benefits is the free nitrogen rich fertilizer they leave behind for you.  As you can see, chickens are going to be our new best friend.

Well, below is our progress, with a few hints on ways to construct your chicken tractor on a very small budget.  We aren't finished yet, but I will keep you updated, assuming you can handle my terrible filming and narration...

We bought 4600 seeds...

...or thereabouts.

Bron and I just spent an hour and a half pouring over the scintilating Eden Seeds heirloom catalogue, and may have gone a little overboard on the purchasing front. We are in the process of setting up a whole new 20m x 12m section of the yard as a macro food forest.  We have already planted out the fruit trees around the Eastern, Southern and Western ends to form a sun trap (over time) and have now purchased the seeds to plant out the whole middle section with vegetables, fruit vines, legumes, pumpkins etc etc. The Southern end of the area bounds our property, and instead of a fence, we are thinking of making a Hugelkultur to make a seudo fence, and maximise our productive area.  We kind of figure we may as well do something like that, and then cover it in strawberries and the likes so passers-by can enjoy a little fruit if they are game.

We will be sure to add some photos shortly, as well as a review of the Eden Seeds products and service. I will also try  to do up a digitised plan we can put up here so you can see what we are doing with the space we have. The intention is to make the most of the area and fit as much food production as we can.

We will keep you updated with pictures and progress as it comes along.

If the Eden Seeds website claims are correct, we may well have our seeds by Friday - today is Wednesday. That would be incredible customer service if they get here that soon!  Imagine that, I could be planting all of Saturday at this rate...