The Goals for the Homestead for 2013

 Here is a list of goals that I have for our homestead this year. They are all things that I am totally excited about and think will be rad. If I had all these things on the go I would surely be a busy guy but I reckon that day to day life would be so exciting and our ecological footprint would be much, much smaller. However, 2013 is nearly halfway through and I still haven’t made much progress on any of these. I have just finished my first semester at university though and my new parent sleeplessness has begun to fade so I intend to make lots of headway over the winter.

·         Setup and operate humanure compost system- A few speed bumps with this one. Firstly finding a material to construct the bays out of that isn’t wood. I’ve heard horror stories about termites from the landlords. I’m going just use wood anyway and have an epic bonfire with it when we leave. Post on this one in the next few weeks!
see- http://humanurehandbook.com/

·         Setup aquaponics system- This is a pretty technical subject as far as gardening goes but we have done a bit of research and have decided to go with Murray Hallam’s CHOP mark II system. It’s made re-using IBC’s (international bulk containers) and the productivity looks amazing.
see- http://www.aquaponics.net.au/

·         Grow edible mushrooms- I love mushrooms. I have neglected this goal altogether but recently inspirado has struck and I am on the lookout for spores, and specimens. Meanwhile a mushroom grow kit box thing will have to do.

·         Get a car and run it on veggie oil- Dabbled in research on this one, there is lots of information online. I am on the lookout for an old Mercedes now, everyone seems to be in agreement that they are great for veg oil conversion.
see- http://veggieoilconversions.com/

·         Plant herbs, fruit trees and other interesting perennials to improve soil- The time of year is ripe for planting in W.A. and we have several areas being prepped. Also running through a design with the landlords to cover half the lawn in the front yard with natives and a few fruit and nut trees. I just watched Geoff Lawton’s Food Forest dvd and that really jump started everything. Post on this in the next few weeks too!
see-

·         Get chooks, build sexy chook house and plant a little chicken forest for them to hang out in- We got chooks! Well we are babysitting chooks for three weeks while the landlords are on holiday. A rudimentary pen has been put together to keep them safe and there is a second hand chook house for them to sleep in. A few chook essential plants have been planted (tansy, wormwood) and some ferns, with more plants on the way (comfrey, lavender). The bulk of the plants are going to be put in later though after the chooks have scratched around and shat everywhere.

·         Catch and store rainwater- An essential for any Australian I haven’t put any serious thought into this for a while but it is definitely a goal!

Some old projects...

At risk of these blog becoming all about my eating habits here are some early shots of things I was doing in Melbourne a few years ago. These were my first forays into the homestead scene, deeply inspired by Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne who run \http://rootsimple.com/ (an awesome blog and resource) and wrote "The urban homestead" and "Making it" two of my most favourite books ever.
Indeed around this time my housemates would rarely see me without a well dog-eared, ragged copy of "the urban homestead" by my side!

A worm farm, this worked pretty sweet. Rats broke into the other one though, they just chewed throught the polystyrene and ate everything in there, including my poor worms. As simple as chucking a handful of worms in with some scraps. Pay extra attention to not over-feeding the worms

 Toilet roll seedling trays. In a climate like Melbourne's you can get away with stuff you can't do in dryer areas like W.A. This setup dryed out so fast in W.A. but worked awesome in Melbs. They make planting so much easier just plant the hole thing and the cardboard quickly decomposes

Blueberry in a self-watering container. This is still alive with my old housemates years later! Must have done something right...

Little salad garden we experimented with, right outside my "shed-room" door. I was sleeping in a swag in a dinky shed to cut down in rent expenses. I planted nasturtiums to keep the bugs from coming in the windows.

Super simple compost pile. We just kept throwing stuff in and forgetting about it, everything breaks down eventually. We got really good compost in the tyre wells...

Another haybox cooker, featuring sexy bracelet

First rocket stove attempt, I balls-ed up the insulating material so it became really frustrating to use. Expect a detailed post on rocket stoves in the future.

My rock n roll patch. I loved this. Quirky things like this really breathe life into a garden and give it a personal touch.

Weed Foraging!

Here is some more kitchen action. I made a frittata the other day, a recipe from ‘the weed foragers handbook’. The key ingredient as you might have guessed was weeds.

 Lovely, glorious, nutritious weeds. I used the recipe in Grubb and Fraser-Rowlands book ‘weed forager’s handbook. Just fry up some onions and garlic, turn the heat down and add eggs. Then, stir in some steamed weeds cook for a little while on a low heat. Top with cheese and place under a grill to finish cooking. Enjoy!

                                                          Sow thistles hiding among the grass

A view of the side of the house, unruly looking to some, Appetising to others

                       A close up of the area. It consisted of a health patch of sow thistle and amaranth.

  A couple of slice tomatoes always hads some steez to a dish like this

NOTE: Al-foil protecting plastic handle form grill

                                                                        With a side of mash, sorted.

What is most striking to me about foraging weeds is the metaphor of discovery it hides. Some photos below show the side of my house and a few out of the way and un-maintained areas of the garden and they are chockers with weeds. Everyone, predictably, was letting me know that I had to get some weed killer on them weeds, stat! To this I would cooly reply “what for? I am letting them grow”. 

People don’t like it when you're being clever, but it is fun to do sometimes. I would just leave the comment hanging there until finally, “Right lets have it, why are you letting them grow?”   I would then explain that some weeds, most weeds, are very good for you and that having a wild patch here and there was like having little salad gardens scattered around your house. Salad gardens that NEVER NEED WATERING, NEVER NEED PLANTING, NEVER NEED SOIL PREP, NEVER NEED PEST CONTROL AND NEVER NEED ANYTHING EXCEPT POPULATION CONTROL THROUGH EATING!

Back to the metaphor...

Before I knew I could eat them, that patch of weeds down the side of my house was dreadful. It meant work and lots of it. Weeds were looked at with disdain, annoyance and frustration. However, upon learning about the nature and uses of weeds my perception was shifted. I learnt weeds are critical parts of the biosphere, holding down soils and mining nutrients, and some are very good to eat as well as being good for the soil and having many other uses.

Through learning and experience our world view shifts and with new perceptions doors open up to new possibilities........... Like frittatas with weeds in....instead of....... spinach?*

*For fans only- It has been said that the concept of ‘weeds’ is more like a human psychological phenomena, rather than any actual plant. Humans seem to dislike the disorder the presence of weeds suggests. Weeds are seen to invite chaos as they spring up in strange places, outside of edges and borders. With this concept of ‘weeds’ in mind it is interesting to think that any old perception could be altered with learning and experience. A problem turned into a solution  If there is a problem area in your life, If there are weeds in the garden of your mind, find out as much as you can about said problem and see what happens, I’ll do the same!



Haybox cooking...

In case you need to take your food out of a solar cooker before it is ready for whatever reason, (maybe its cloudy or the food is cooked but you’re not hungry) it is handy to have something like this; a haybox cooker, to keep the food hot. It’s basically a box with a tight fitting lid that’s stuffed with insulating material with a space left to put a pot, it’s called a haybox cooker because back in the day, hay was used as the insulating material.  On the day I took these photos, I was cooking rice in the solar oven and some clouds blew over. The rice was nearly done but it was still at least another two hours until dinner, so I hastily whipped up this newspaper-box cooker and it worked a treat.

On this occasion I used the box as mainly a way to keep the food hotter for longer, but you can use it to cook food. Simply heat the food right through then place in a haybox cooker, the food then cooks in its own stored heat, thereby reducing the amount of fuel needed to cook. For most effectiveness it is better to use a pot that is full than one that is half full.

I am going to build a more permanent haybox cooker and do some more experiments with it very soon, at least in time for winter soups!

                                                                      Rice in the solar cooker...

An old veggie box, very versatile. For a while I tried to get as much use out of one as possible before they went to landfill, now I avoid them like the plague

Stick the still hot pot in a cosy bed of insulating material

Stuff that sucker with crinkled newspaper, this traps lots of air in little pockets an essential component of good insulation

Cap that sucker

A nice, snug, tight fitting lid is a crucial component. This ensures maximum heat retention 

Bobs your uncle. Haybox cooking is a very old, yet very effective technology. Any honest homesteader seeking to reduce energy usage and time spent pot watching would do well to own one. While you are on the internet, have a quick look around at some designs, they are  super effective and simple.

Have fun!