What it means to have a small Holding

Here's the theory for July: It's cold or at least cool, it could be misty in the morning and even drizzly rain, the fireplace is ticking over with hot coals or a fresh piece of wood flaring, a bit of a wind gusting outside and the sky is grey. Time to spreadeagle on the lounge with a one of the many books backlogged in the pile and relax.

Now here is the reality: The sun is shining, the wind has gone for the moment, the grapes need pruning and weeding, tomato varieties need selection and potting under heat to be ready for a September planting, there is a pile of other fresh pruning's that need a run through the mulcher and there will be a need for lots of compost in spring so make use of all the green material you have.
 

The book goes back on the pile and work begins. All the grapes get pruned, a little layering or transplanting of last year's cuttings to fill a spare spot. Tying up any rogue shoots, a quick weed around the trunk and on goes a huge pile of cow rejected silage which stinks but the wind is blowing that scent across to the neighbours and away from us. Oh well, the smell will only last a few weeks. It is just part of nature in the country. Probably means moving a bottle or two of last vintage from our side of the cellar to the neighbours side of the cellar.

Table grapes pruned

Ready for chipping and mulching

A lot of work and tons of silage but will pay dividends

Using the freshly made compost to start seedlings

 

July can really be one of the busiest months of the year. At least in August it will only be the last week when the Tomato bed needs building that life will become a little hectic. Then of course with September becomes the planting out of the warm month vegetables. Always too many for two but there are always many happy recipients elsewhere in the village. There is the anticipation of the first fresh tomato and first young cucumber. Yes it is possible to use a hothouse and grow the most delicious produce all year round but then the mouth watering wait and abstinence is missing and life lacks those peaks and troughs that provide contrast and highs of long awaited pleasure.

As the weather warms up and if the rains come the following 6 months become a blur of weeding, watering, planting and harvesting until the blessed cool arrives with a sigh of relief tools go down and relation comes in the form of wine and cheese in the mildly warm garden.

The steady rhythm of seasonal demands and rewards. With each bringing the expectation and desire of the next stage. Maybe some find this repetitiveness boring. But there is a pleasure which can't be felt from any other form of activity. Contact with the soil, plants and animals seems to be a desire that comes from deep inside.

For some it's the travel, the sport, the toys for us it's being at home on our own plot, digging and weeding, having successes and having failures, plopping down in the evening with fresh home made produce and resting for tomorrow.

Silage: More Uses

It's no surprise that we have started to accumulate waste silage in quantities that beg for alternate uses.

Another Compost in Progress with Bill watching

Rather than leave piles of the waste silage around the farm across the river it is loaded on the ute and brought home. One compost bin has been compiled and another two are empty which will be filled gradually over the next few weeks.

This pile looks small but it is close to a ton of rejected silage collected last night

But there is still more than can be used in the current compost bins. Then an idea struck. Why not use some of it to mulch around the grape vines and then when this is done ditto for the fruit trees. And so a few ute loads have now been dumped in the vineyard.

One row of 12 done

There are now multiple parallel projects in progress. A NZ compost has been started using silage and fresh cow manure already collected. The green matter is coming from the vineyard. By mowing up and down the rows with a catcher green matter is collected and the ground prepared for mulching. Just before piling on the silage mulch there will be a bit of weeding and weed trimming around the vines.

This mornings collection

Life is a bit hectic keeping up with the tasks but it seems a real waste not to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

Silage - Handling Waste, Spoilage and Rejects

One of the problems with feeding out silage is the waste that results. If the quality is fantastic the girls will almost lick the feeder and the ground around the feeder as clean as a whistle. But generally they manage to drop bits around the feeder as they pull out their mouthful. Then they trample on the dropped product and if the ground is a bit wet it becomes a mess.

If it is poor quality they tend to be even more wasteful. So this is a good indicator of how well the silage was made.

In the past if the ground was a bit muddy the waste would be spread out in a light mulch to cover the bare dirt and some grass seed added helping the ground recover.

At the moment things are a bit dry and there is little ground damage. In addition this batch of silage is of variable quality and the waste in one particular case 90%. Rather than just leave it to rot down in a big pile it has been loaded on the ute and brought to HHF.

What you see in the photograph is just a portion of the waste from this past week. It is all that could fit on the ute in one load. Yet more to come.

Wasted Silage

So what to do with it all? I'm sure you can guess. More compost! The challenge will be to come up with innovative concoctions for the various layers needed to make a hot compost. This could mean a lot of hand mowing to get a balance of material.

If all the compost bins are filled, the backup plan is building a temporary compost bin using mulch hay bales. This could be a busy period at HHF. That is the problem when you don't wish to see all this wonderful plant food wasted.

Making Compost - With Silage and Cow Manure

It can't be helped.  The cows across the river pull out mouthfuls from the silage feeder and always drop a bit on the ground. By the time the feeder is empty there is a solid ring of spoilt silage around the feeder. What a waste, but no it came home on the ute. Some years ago at a farm clearing sale a handful of tools were acquired which include three pitchforks in need of repair which was completed. It is now in use and it really makes loading easier.

An empty compost bin is an evil temptation and coupled with a ute load of spoilt silage and many bags of fresh manure it was all too much. It had to be built.

Two ute loads later it was all done in a few hours. The fastest compost in the east. Only one iffy bit is the uncertainty if fermented grass will heat up again. But if not at least the compost worms will digest the manure and grass. Can't lose.

Sawdust or Shavings for Chicken Run Mulch Part 2 Getting it Done

Yesterday there was the talk and today there was the action. Using a Gundaroo Tiller the compacted base of each run was loosened exposing worms and grubs and making the scratching a tad easier for the girls.

Loosening the compacted base

Close up

The next step was to spread the scoop of shavings about the run. As part of the process the chicken housing was cleaned and fresh shavings put into nests.

A few scoops of Dolomite were thrown around to sweeten the mix and finally a few bags of fresh cow manure added. This cow manure is impregnated with sprouted Oats which have not been digested by the cows. We started feeding sprouted Oats a few days ago and find the leftover seeds in the manure a real magnet for feathered creatures.

Sawdust and fresh cow manure

The girls wasted no time in getting to work

Finally, at feeding time that evening a few handfuls of chicken lollies were thrown about the run. Chicken lollies are whole Corn seeds.

Hopefully by the end of August the ingredients will be well mixed and broken down.

Sawdust or Shavings for Chicken Run Mulch

Last year after harvesting the chicken litter from the chicken run for use in growing Tomatoes we were in a quandary. What to use as bedding, having used the last of the sawdust. For a number of years sawdust had been used from a 15 cubic metre delivery. It kept the run dry in wet weather and over time became rich in nitrogen from the droppings but very slow to break down. It was time to try some alternatives.

The first ingredient was dried cow pats. Being a bit dry and hard it took months for these Pumpkin sized wads to break up and after some rain things got a bit mucky underfoot.

The next addition was dried out silage. Fine for a while but eventually it broke down and became mushy.

Jean reminded me the other day that it was a bit smelly in the run after the last lot of rain. Discussion resulted in a new plan. Rather than sawdust it would be wood shavings to see if the breaking down process would be any faster.

20 cubic metres of shaving fluffiness requires covering against the wind

The shavings have arrived and are very fluffy and being so means 20 cubic metres of them is much less after compacting than sawdust. So be it. The other difference is the smell. These shavings have come from a joinery and are not the usual Eucalypt based material. It smells and feels like there are various timber sources which will make it interesting.

The proceeds of the chicken run are required at the end of August for the Tomato bed. This means that there can't be a lot of shavings incorporated into the run because there just isn't enough time for a bulk lot to break down.

What all this tells you is that despite having a proven set of techniques and standard routines which have worked over decades it is never too late to ignore common sense and experiment with the unknown.

NZ Compost Update, Mushrooms, Chicken Food

Got very close to finishing building the massive 4'6" cubed compost but things kept getting in the way of putting down the last few layers. The lawn is completely mown and the Elderflower, Buddleia and Mulberry are all pruned with pruning's mulched in the compost. Finally this morning the last layers were added.

Steam has been emanating from the central hole for days and too wispy to catch in a photograph but a probe dropped down the hole measured the temperature at 66.8 C. Now that should sterilize any wanton seed.

A few of the Mushroom containers appeared to produce spore and some time was spent sterilising batches of Lucerne to use as a bed. Before adding them to the hothouse.

Oyster Mushroom Spore - I think/hope

Lucerne Hay

And the day is not finished without unloading the ute which carried the 160 KG of mixed grain for the chickens and another 100 KG of Oat grain which will be sprouted for the cattle. Grass is getting scarce and they need to keep up their strength even after gorging themselves on Pumpkin.

Of the last 100 KG of Oats they only got through about half before the rains came and the Autumn grasses took off. The remaining grain went to the chickens.

We don't expect any luxurious growth now until well into September or later. Their diet will be a little sprouted Oats and a small biscuit of Lucerne in addition to what can be picked out of the paddocks.

Compost Making

Started first by collecting a few ingredients. Fresh cow pats from the nearby paddock and some mulch hay from the Hayshed.

Bags of manure

Very fresh

A few bales

Our kitchen compost was full of product from the recent weeding of the vegetable beds. The material was sorted and only the softer green material was selected for immediate use. The coarser woody material was set aside to be run through the Chipper/Mulcher to thoroughly bruise before using.

Another source of green material was some pruned branches run through the Chipper/Mulcher. Jean had just pruned the Elderflower which suppled a few barrow loads. About one barrow load constituted a layer.

Pruning time is the ideal moment to make a big compost or two. By combining the tasks fresh, moist green, material is readily available. When all this is used, grass clippings will be substituted. It was a good excuse not to mow the lawn for a few weeks.

The layers were as follows:

Layer 1 Mulch hay. About 3-4 biscuits gave a good covering i.e. about a quarter of the bale.
Layer 2 Green material. 50 or so MM felt about right.
Layer 3 Sprinkling of Bio Char. Just a 2-3 cups.
Layer 4 Sprinkling of Dolomite. 1-2 cups.
Layer 5 Watered in well.
Layer 6 Mulch hay
Layer 7 Green material
Layer 8 Sprinkling of Bio Char
Layer 9 Sprinkling of Dolomite
Layer 10 Some Cow manure or light sprinkling of Blood & Bone - a cup or two. After spreading manure use the Jet setting on the hose nozzle to break up and liquefy the manure.
Layer 11 A thin sprinkling of soil. Just a few millimetres. We always keep aside planter pots that are finished with and use the soil from them. Another source was a garden bed that needed removing. The task was left until the compost was being made and the tasks combined.

Now start all over again and keep going until the bin is full. We use a 90 mm plastic pipe in the centre to make an air hole. The pipe is held upright with a star picket and both are removed when the pile is finished giving a neat hole. The alternative is to ram a star picket or steel bar into the centre after the compost is finished and make a hole about 2/3 rds. of the way through.

Because it takes 2-3 days to fill, the pile compacts and settles overnight providing more space.

Mulch hay

Elderflower chipped and mulched

Bio Char

Dolomite

Fresh Manure well watered

Soil

Rather than spend all day working on this we just allow a couple of hours every afternoon to work on the compost bin assembly. That way the other farm chores can be done and material collected. It finishes the day with a positive feeling.

Bio Char

This week we had our first fire of Winter. A bit later than usual, but then the days have been warm and the nights mild. We benefitted from the excellent insulation of our house and made sure we closed up and drew curtains early in the afternoon to retain the warmth. Then finally some rain came and everything cooled just that extra few degrees.

The by-product of having a wood heater is that there is plenty of ash during the cold months. Which is handy spreading around the garden. Pure wood ash consists of calcium, potassium and magnesium. Because it contains calcium it will raise the pH of the soil, and can be used on acid soils instead of lime. Here and here is some further information.

But there is another by-product. Just before we go to bed we dampen the fire by turning down the air slide which slows the burning. The next morning there is always a reasonable amount of charcoal remaining on and in the white ash.

The morning after

Bio Char is charcoal that has been burnt in a low oxygen atmosphere. Therefore every morning the  firebox is cleaned out and the material stored in a metal container. Sometimes the charcoal is still smouldering hence the metal container. This process also causes whatever remaining charcoal to be buried in ash which limits its Oxygen.

After it has cooled it is emptied into a feed bag for storage. By the end of Winter there is usually half a dozen bags of this material. The charcoal pieces can be quite large and to break them down they would be sieved through some bird wire which has holes about 12mm diameter and then the larger bits placed in a metal drum and pulverise with the end of a large piece of wood (3 x 2).

This was time consuming and time was in shortfall. The solution was the Chipper/Mulcher. Extremely quick but messy as a dust cloud spreads for about 5 metres around the work area. Not something to do next to the laden clothesline. And a good face mask compulsory.

The end result was that with minimal effort there was 120-150 litres of Bio Char and wood ash.

Whenever compost is being made this mix of Bio Char and ash is sprinkled lightly every few layers.

Building Another NZ Compost Bin(s) Part Two Material Preparation

The first step was to assemble the raw materials close to the workshop entrance for easy access.

This is the tool of choice with a ripping blade. The gap is set to rip 15 mm boards

After removing nails and other metal fragments from the recycled hardwood they are run through the rip saw. I'm using an old blade in the saw because no matter how careful you are there are always a few nails buried in the timber.

I'm ripping all different sized timbers down to 15 mm thickness. I've chosen 15 mm thickness to minimise the waste from the ripping operation. 15 mm is the minimum thickness for structural integrity with hardwood. You could go thicker but the thicker the boards the heavier the final structure.

The width of the board is not critical as the final product will have a rustic look using different width boards on the sides. The frame will be a mix of 50 x 50 and 75 x 50 timbers. These I've put aside already.

Ripped boards

The ripping process is a bit messy. I have an exhaust fan running and another fan to try and blow as much dust out of the workshop. But I also wear a dust mask.

After I've ripped a swag of boards I start loose assembly to see how much more ripping needs to be done. The ripped boards are cut to length.

I love the intense red and cream colours of the aged  hardwood. I wish I was making some furniture with it and was able to preserve the colour

Stacking the wall sections

The final compost bin will be two boxes with a common back wall. Just to confuse everyone I'll swing back to the old measurements. The common back wall will be 9 feet long while the sides will be 4 feet 6 inches.

The boards are screwed using Tek screws. You need at least two per board at each end to stop it rotating.

Each side is an independent panel bolded to its neighbour with two galvanised bolts. This provides for any future decision to move the compost bin. These hardwood bins are very heavy by being able to separate the sides they can be moved easily to a new location.

The front panel consists of loose boards so that as you fill the bin the front wall can be raised gradually. To make it easy there is a slot using the 50 x 50 timbers at the front end of the two side panels.

The boards used for the front panel have two screws on one edge to provide a 15-20 mm gap. These screws are all recycled old screws that were salvaged from various projects.

Because the boards forming the front panel are not fixed there could be a tendency for the U shaped bin to widen particularly at the top as the weight of the fill material increases. This simple sliding board with blocks screwed to the ends at the correct width provides support.

There will be one more post on this at a later stage when the final assembly takes place in situ. The entire double bin will also be painted with recycled sump oil for added protection at that time.

Building Another NZ Compost Bin(s) Part One Materials Sourcing

We have two wooden NZ Compost bins which have easily demountable front walls. Having two side by side allows us to make one compost and then 5 weeks later turn it easily and quickly into the second bin for the second heating process.

Because we make a lot of compost a third bin was made using concrete blocks. As it aged over the five weeks the compost material reduced in volume and the surplus blocks are used to assemble the second bin in advance of turning. There are some other projects in the pipeline where the concrete blocks are needed and in any spare time I've begun building a pair of bins out of hardwood.

The wood comes from two small chicken runs that we originally built nearly 20 years ago and have been gradually dismantling and wood stored. Over the last couple of days the dismantling has been finished and there is enough wood to complete the compost bins.

This is the third re-birthing for this hardwood as it all came from a Tennis Shed in Newcastle that was built back in the 1920s. In those days it wasn't unusual for large companies to build a Tennis Court and Shed for its management to use in the evenings and at weekends as a form of relaxation.

In the early 1990s the shed was dismantled to make way for a further car park expansion. The Tennis Court had disappeared a couple of years before to cater for the ever expanding car park. The Tennis shed had a few years reprieve as a document storage facility. I was working at the firm at that time and was lucky enough to have a chance to retrieve some of the timber before it was dumped. I remember bringing home several groaning trailer loads of this seasoned hardwood.

Our property has a number of completed projects which utilised the hardwood.

I'm always amazed when I see old buildings being demolished and the material being loaded into trucks by huge excavators to be taken to the dump and used as landfill. When I was growing up in Newcastle there were a number of recycling or demolition yards where all types of material was on offer. All these have closed. Just so disappointing.

Next: Building Another NZ Compost Bin(s) Part Two Material Preparation

Worm Farm and Compost

Jean needed some worm castings to add to a new bed she was preparing for some pretty shrubbery. She is building a sort of Hugelkulture bed for an Orange Blossom shrub which will provide protection from the Western Sun in our Provencal Garden where we have a table, chairs and umbrella. Just a pleasant spot to sit and enjoy a drink and look at the garden and the mountain behind us.

Well Protected from the Southern Winds

Soon to be Protected from The Western Sun

Looking North

She maintains the Worm Farm and tries to provide a healthy blend of material for them to consume. Lots of stuff from the kitchen and garden. The Farm has been in constant use for over 20 years.

The Worm Farm

There is a distinct difference between the output of the Worm Farm and that of a NZ Compost. The variation is not necessarily in the quality but almost entirely in the texture. The Worm Farm provides a thick putty like material which we mix with soil, potting mix and other compost when planting out new shrubs and trees.

The Worm's work

While the NZ compost is a coarser drier, crumbly compost.

NZ Composted material

I don't know if one is better than the other but it is handy to have more than one source of well broken down plant food.

Sometimes we forget we have the Worm Farm material which then provides us with a surprise backup of compost.