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!