So the trick is, if ever you are faced with a kilo of chestnuts to peel, do it whilst they are still warm. Warm nuts really do make all the difference! Several hours later they are now peeled and in the freezer waiting to be turned into a delicious thick soup... no other thickener required... yum yum..
ABC is the local telly and radio station here and Saturday heralded their annual Gardener's Market. Lots of local garden related businesses set up their stalls, heaving with beautiful, colourful and very good value plants, native and other goods. There were a couple of very interesting and enthusiastic beekeepers, selling delicious local honey and dishing out tons of advice. A lady making baskets out of scraps of material and garden leaves like cordylines. She made it look sooooooo easy. It was primarily a fund raiser for arthritis research. did you know there is a plant which can be used to treat arthritis? It's called (not surprisingly) the arthritis plant!
We did really well almost made it out of there without buying a plant and then we spotted some Loquat Trees and decided we really needed one for the block. Our first fruit tree which should start giving us fruit in a few years time.
As you can hopefully see it was very well attended and there were lots of plants on the move to new homes!
We visited the Parklands in the afternoon cycling through on our way to the CBD, but unfortunately I've not yet got the hang of turning the bike around whilst still on it. I ended up in an untidy heap on the deck... oh dear, luckily I bounce well. After I caught my breath and dusted off a little we continued into town but I was a lot more cautious after that.
Sunday arrived and we were up early to sort out a picnic and head off to a wonderful permaculture place called the Food Forest, it's based near a town called Gawler a little less than an hours drive from here. We had a four hour morning session talking about Strawbale houses, building and living in them.
It was a very interesting morning with so much information to absorb our heads were spinning a little at the end of the talk. It has given us some more ideas for our home and also confirmed that we were thinking along the right lines with some of our ideas. Time to eat....
Permaculture is about honouring nature and mother earth in as many ways as possible living sustainably. The afternoon session was all about the garden. It made perfect sense, you plant things you are going to use/visit every day closer to the house like herbs and veggies. A little further away are the fruit trees, after that the native plants then the bigger trees.
The Food Forest had done amazing things with their 15 hectare site. The fruit and nut trees had an electric fence around them and geese, chooks and bettongs lived happily together in a fox free environment eating bugs, many pests and worms whilst also kindly fertilising the crops. It looked idyllic and seemed to work very well. They had a piece of kit called a chicken arc which had been built by one of the visiting WWOOF'ers (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) its a great way to see the world, learn about organic farming methods with board and lodgings paid.
Anyway back to the chicken arc its very grand
When crops are finished the lucky chooks are taken to various patches in the garden, kept safe by an electric fence and left to forage for bugs, eat the plants which didn't make the grade and of course fertilise the garden. Every evening they are safely back in the arc for the night. And of course they also provide eggs... talk about willing workers....
More food for thought......
Very quickly another week has passed... where does the time go?
Ooroo!
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