According to the Bureau of Meteorology
the rain is on the way. We shall see.
The vineyard was in need of a splash of
water and we used the opportunity to feed the vines with some seaweed
and carp mix from Seasol. Although we drip watered for 2 hours it
would be good to get some real rain to soak into the ground and give
the vines a good drink.
As it is the pressure pump is playing
up. It won't come to pressure it can't get more than 50% of the way.
The suspicion is that the impeller may be loose or damaged. It will
be dismantled in the morning now that everything has had a water. If
it rains it will be even better if parts are needed to ordered. What do they say at The Survival Podcast - "two is one. one is none"
The morning was overcast but warm and
we took the time to go to the pool and get some real exercise as
opposed to just working hard. The water was beautifully refreshing.
Yesterday afternoon two hours were
spent bent over putting cow poo into bags. Almost every spare bag was
used as the cattle had been in that paddock for two weeks. This afternoon it took two trips in the tractor to bring it all to the top of the hill - over 27 bags.
Over coffee we read that it was a good
time to prune Mulberry and force it to lay on a second crop. And so
it was done. Conveniently the cattle were now on top of the hill and
became the beneficiaries of the green leaves. Apparently it is very
good for them. They must think so as they demolished the lot.
The sun finally came out making the
weather even more oppressive but you can't keep a bee keeper down.
The safety gear was donned and the smoker primed. Some more sugar and
water was put into the feeder and just as well they aren't getting
all that much nectar judging by the small amount of honey in the top
super. However the brood chamber looks good and the hive is very
active. The hive opening forced another batch of Small Hive Beetle
into the death trap. A satisfying sight.
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Before smoking |
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After smoking |
An inspection of the garlic stands
showed that two more varieties were ready for harvest. Allsun and
Purple Glamour. These two had excellent sized bulbs. We usually grow
six or seven varieties although sometimes up to a dozen. Each year is
different for the varieties and some do better than others depending
on the conditions. Our main variety is J&M named after the people
from whom we sourced the original stock. Well now its not a main
variety as it had a disastrous year. We will be lucky to get enough
for seed stock. Hopefully J&M didn’t have the same experience
and we can get some more.
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Allsun and Purple Glamour |
We have this little brick paved area in front of the cave which has a clear Perspex roof. It is used to process grapes, Apples and Pears during all the messy operations as it is easily hosed out. It is also perfect for drying Garlic and Onions. They'll stay here for a week or so before having the roots and stems trimmed and the dirty outer rubbed off.
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Purple Glamour
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