Stating from Scratch

Wedgetail

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Hi everyone thought I would give a brief outline of what has happened in the garden side of our new block. The area I have for the veggy garden and orchard were so dense with Lantana and grader grass you couldn't push your way through so I hired a bobcat and pushed it all up into piles which we will burn when the weather's right . All the Lantana stumps that where left I chopped out with the axe to give a reasonable work area .Have enclosed the veggy garden in temporary fencing until we put up the permenent rabbit proof fence. The fruit trees are still in pots in their enclosure to stop walibie's and next doors cows and covered with bird netting to stop the Green fig bird getting all the mulberry fruit. Will try to put up some photos Thanks for reading Dave
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ClissAT

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That all looks very good and well planned.
Gosh you have the full gammet of bludging critters!
Much like I have!
I like your fruit tree enclosure.
 

Wedgetail

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I guess with it been so dry for so long every critter is hungry that may change after today as we had a thunder storm 55 Mil in a hour very wet at the moment. Once We plant out the fruit trees we will be making a dome over them with 100mm poly which was on the block when we bought it and cover it with bird netting. Regards Dave
 

DTK

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Hi everyone thought I would give a brief outline of what has happened in the garden side of our new block. The area I have for the veggy garden and orchard were so dense with Lantana and grader grass you couldn't push your way through so I hired a bobcat and pushed it all up into piles which we will burn when the weather's right . All the Lantana stumps that where left I chopped out with the axe to give a reasonable work area .Have enclosed the veggy garden in temporary fencing until we put up the permenent rabbit proof fence. The fruit trees are still in pots in their enclosure to stop walibie's and next doors cows and covered with bird netting to stop the Green fig bird getting all the mulberry fruit. Will try to put up some photos Thanks for reading Dave View attachment 3683
 

DTK

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Looks like good progress Dave. Thanks for sharing.
 

Wedgetail

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Thanks DTK it's a work in progress hopefully by this time next year we will have caught up on alot of other jobs and the gardens will be a lot bigger and fully fenced. Dave
 
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Raymondo

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Aah lantana , a blessing in disguise , lantana has such a heavy leaf drop , I believe up to 4 times a year the soil underneath should be very rich in humus , sometimes the worst weeds have some surprising benefits , keep mulching and you are on a winner , cheers Ray
 
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Wedgetail

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Hi Ray it's been so dry I don't think there is one leaf on any Lantana plants but that will soon change as last week had a total of 64mm. All our land is quiet steep so most of the natural mulch gets washe'd in to the creek leaving hard clay and rock which is a bit of a challenge but as you say perseverance will pay off. Cheers Dave
 
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Raymondo

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Sounds like some Swales could be the go preventing washouts while retaining moisture, soil may take a while to build up but it will happen , if your mulch and humus gets washed into the creek , is it possible to retrieve some of this , it should be nicely broken down and would be good for your regeneration project . The longest journey starts with just one step as long as we are moving in the right direction that's all that matters cheers Ray
 

Wedgetail

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Hi Ray thanks for your helpful comments made a start today on a very sloping piece of ground using some bales of pasture hay to help slow any runoff and catch the soil and hopefully this will all compost down and be the start of the beds for next season . Regards Dave
 
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Wedgetail

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The spuds weren't looking to flash so I opted to pull them out add some fresh soil and replant with some zucchini but what a surprise out of a area of 1200x1200 a bucket of spuds yummy love fresh dug spuds in their jackets plenty of butter.
 

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Raymondo

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Inspiring Wedgetail , it can be easy to say " but they are so cheap , why would I grow them ?" Your comment about leaving the skins and served with butter, couldn't describe growing your own food better. Takes me back, thank you , to the days when as kids we lit bonfires and baked spuds in the coals , can't beat that taste either , cheers guys and keep the inspiration going . Raymondo
 

Wedgetail

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Hi Ray thanks for the comments even though some veggies are cheap to buy for me its that feeling I get when I pick the produce and take it up to the house for tea or take a bag full to the neighbors and think I grew this from a seed and now food on the table how lucky I am. Cheers for now Dave
 

DTK

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Hi Ray thanks for the comments even though some veggies are cheap to buy for me its that feeling I get when I pick the produce and take it up to the house for tea or take a bag full to the neighbors and think I grew this from a seed and now food on the table how lucky I am. Cheers for now Dave

I could not agree more Wedgetail. I often ponder the pure "cost effectiveness" of my veg garden. When possums wiped out approx 150 of my tomato seedlings recently, confirming my need for enclosure gardening, I felt like relocating. Family and my own stubbornness prevents that. So I will prevail, but it will be a long time before I can say, it is cheaper to eat from my garden. Good on you mate for your 'stickability'.
 

Wedgetail

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Thanks DTK sometimes the critters can get you down but I guess they get hungry to as so much of their natural habitat has been cleared but at the end of the day we have to outthink the little buggers so they go to the neighbors instead. I dont think to hard about the cost that gives me a headache just enjoy great quality produce. Hope you have a good day and just keep chugging along Cheers Dave
 

Raymondo

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Whackey or not I would like to relate a story I witnessed some 40 yrs ago I had planted a bunch of pawpaw on our herb farm for a bit of a booster cash crop , everything went well until the pawpaws started to ripen , trying to leave them on the tree as long as possible , the fruit bats moved in always the night before picking and ate the bottom out of many many pawpaws. To say the least this pissed me off , not fair I shouted out loud , I planted them ,so why ruin all of them. I had been reading a bit about a community in Scotland called Findhorn where they were communicating with nature and getting amazing results , so here goes . One day I was sitting in amongst the pawpaws and came up with an idea. Previous to planting the main pawpaws I had six or so trees off to the side of the main planting area and these were now a few years old and getting a bit high, a bit awkward to pick so I suggested out loud that I would not pick any from these trees so that the fruit bats could have them all. This agreement I kept to religiously and lo and behold the fruit bats came to the party. I did not have one more pawpaw touched by them apart from these "sacrificial " pawpaws , a win -win situation if ever I saw one .Believe it or not , I am a true believer we can share with nature and still get produce . Now all I have to do is find what is cleaning up my strawberry patch, always another challenge on the horizon , good luck anyway , hope this post may help someone on their journey it's all enjoyable , cheers Ray
 
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ClissAT

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My gosh Ray, your bats are far better trained than those around here!
No matter what I plant first for my critters, they always help themselves to everything anyway.
Right now they are even living in my Morten Bay fig tree so as to be 'on-site'!
Nothing is getting to produce fruit here right now.
But they can't stay because they are from the Mary River colony up at Gympie that carries Hendra virus which kills horses so they have to go pronto.
And unfortunately for the bats I draw the line at freeloading critters killing my horses!
I only have so much patience.
 
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Wedgetail

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Hi Ray strange things happen in this funny old world of ours I'm glad the bats saw your point of view. We tried strawberries when we lived up the gemfields when they would get to about half red the Bower bird would sneak in and remove the red piece and leave the rest to rot.
 
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Wedgetail

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Hi ClissAT shame about the bats carrying the virus I know they can be little ****s around the fruit trees but I still carry a old towel in the car as I hate seeing them caught up in the barbwire fences and I have released a few over the years. Dave
 

ClissAT

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Cheaky little bu**ers Wedgetail, thieving just the red part of the berry!
At least they could save you the work and take the whole berry.
Interesting that yours sees the red colouration.

I have my own story to relate about Satin Bower Birds
About 48yrs ago working as a jillaroo on one central qld property, I remember the bower birds would steal the blue pegs right off the clothes freshly hung on the clothesline.
If we left the pegs out after removing our washing, all the blue pegs disappeared.:rolleyes:

So you'd do your washing by hand and get someone to help you wring out the riding jeans and hang them.
Then an hour later they'd be dragging in the red dirt under the clothes line having had their pegs removed!:mad:

So then it was a case of re-rinsing the jeans and hopefully finding someone with enough energy(being Sunday morning) to help wring the bl**dy things out again!
In the end I asked the managers wife to buy us those big old wooden dolly pegs.

And of course, that's if we were lucky enough to have spare water. At one point which I can't pinpoint a time frame for now, the only water for washing work clothes was yesterday's shower water and we all had to share.
It was the mid 70's and there'd been a sustained drought period in Qld and northern NSW. Much like now but without the help of folks to supply drought feed so there were dead animals everywhere. Farmers grew their own hay and when that ran out they sold the stock that hadn't died or if they were rich enough, the stock were sent to the gulf on agistment.
In the end the land got the rest and recooperation it needed. The land isn't so lucky these days with farmers able to flog it right through the worst of droughts.
 
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