The last week or so has been quite productive. Must be the approaching deadline hehe. This post will cover: forcing rhubarb, rain tank completion, saving your valuable nitrogen fertiliser (aka pee), tragedy, making your waste management system more user friendly, keeping your food cold without a fridge.
Tragedy strikes
Last week we returned to my Uncles farm and collected three new hens, one or two of which are sisters of Dini so they get on well. There's also a small young one and she is becoming the bottom of the pecking order and tries to hide under the ramp into the coop. Odd.
Here I fashioned a gate lock out of old pipes and ropes. This is to keep dogs out in future so our hens maintain their current lively state. It is easy to use from both sides and does a very good job for a free contraption made from junk.
Here you can see how I reused some old CDs to deter the sparrows from eating the chicken feed. It seems to be working. See http://www.gardeningtipsnideas.com/2006/11/8_practical_ideas_to_rid_birds_from_your_fruit_trees.html for more.
Saving your nitrogen
A while back I heard that pee and wood ash makes a great fertiliser for veges, especially fruiting ones such as tomatoes. Using my creative genius, I made a urinal for the bathroom with a water-tight bucket inside a nice pot. I asked the neighbour what she did with her ashes. Turns out she was putting them in the red council bin. "Enough of this nonsense!" I cried. I gave her a bin to put them in and collected them the following week to fill my urinal. Here's me hoeing the mixture into a soon-to-be garden bed. Down with inedible grass lawns!
"According to a study from a group of environmental scientists at the University of Kuopio in Finland, human urine and wood ash make a reasonably potent tomato fertilizer, boosting plant growth and fruit yield dramatically over untreated plants and nearly keeping pace with conventional fertilizer." - http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=p-is-for-plants-human-urine-plus-as-2009-09-04
While I was out at the farm my Aunty was asking what we do with the chicken poo when cleaning out the coop. Currently we put in straight onto the garden. She suggested making a nitrogen rich liquid fertilizer by soaking it in a barrel of water. We already have a manure and seaweed tea brewing for the new season so I agreed this was a great idea. Once again utilizing my creative genius I stood at the backdoor and surveyed the (scrap)yard until my eyes fell upon a suitable vessel. A failed mushroom growing experiment has left me with a hinged barrel fitted with a handle. I figured this would be ideal as it would keep the rain out so it won't overflow.
So I put the next lot of coop mess into it along with the straw which covers the floor. This breaks down very slowly so will be good for mulch (keeping weeds out and moisture in).
So now, instead of the poo making high-concentration spots of nitrogen in the garden and being washed away by the rain between now and spring, it makes a nice liquid fertiliser which will mean even distribution of the nitrogen.
Then I thought hey, the nitrogen from the ash bucket is probably seeping away too. So the barrel became the urinal. This means no mess in the bathroom and a more pleasant experience when nature calls.
And we'll keep collecting the ash from Mrs Lim so when spring comes we can mix it with some "Nitrowine" and fertilise our awesome tomatoes! I might need to pick up another barrel for storing this. Maybe the chicken poo mix should go in an upright barrel and the ash in the urinal barrel. We'll see.
The no-fridge project
This has been going really well. Our fridge is almost empty and just acts as an insulated storage area for margarine and a few other bits. Of course, it's starting to get a bit smelly as it's no longer at 4 degrees. So we will clean it out then leave it open a bit to allow some airflow. It usually sits at around 7 degrees. This is because our kitchen is pretty cold - usually below 10 unless we're cooking with the oven. I was reading a great article the other day (I think it was in this mag - http://www.mags4gifts.co.nz/nz-lifestyle-block) about fridges - the guy was saying that the kitchen is not the best place for your fridge. And it's true! This is because kitchens are usually 20 degrees or so. Since the fridge is at 4 deg., you're asking it to maintain a difference of 16 deg. However, right outside the door it's about 7-12 most of the time during the day - much less work to maintain 4 deg. And at night it won't even have to turn on! The author made a fridge which was outside, but accessible from inside. He used a freezer so the cold air doesn't fall out when you open the door. I really wanted to do this and have a freezer but don't think the landlord would let me do the 'cut a hole in the wall' bit. So we just turned the fridge off and learned to cope without it.
Above is our root cellar. This is damp river sand which maintains the freshness of root veges like carrots and yams as if they were still in the ground. The broccoli didn't benefit at all. It was more for the zen-garden look.
I heard about pot-in-pot coolers a while back. Here's a good resource: http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Pot-in-pot_cooler
I visited Pottery World at 567 Wairakei road and located some nice pots with cracks in the seconds area. The manager kindly donated these to the cause and said I could fix the cracks with super glue. I used shoe glue which worked well, and also reinforced the outer pot with a rope around the top. A bit of tape to cover the drainage holes, some sand and water and viola! Free cooling.
The pot plant tray on top is also full of wet sand. This arrangement maintains a cool, humid environment which is great for keeping fruit and veges fresh. The thermometer says -0.7 after a cold night which is chilly but ideal. Thanks Pottery World!
Improving the usability of your waste system for visitors
I was studying at a friends house (sharing electricity) :) and she had this system:
It matches the council bin system - genius, right?! So our visitors now know where their rubbish/recycling/green waste goes without any confusion. We still separate the things worms don't like out and these go into the compost. This system is easy to keep clean and the buckets are the right height so you can put things into them without pulling them out. I'm very happy!
Forcing Rhubarb
I read some time ago that you can force rhubarb, which means making it grow out of season. This is useful in winter when the garden isn't producing a whole lot of fruit. Read http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/rhubarb-force/ for more. Basically you cover the crown with a large light-proof bucket/dust bin etc. I need to cover the drainage holes in the planting pots I used.
BULK shopping
I'm talking BULK not just bulk. I started feeling like Bin Inn was pretty expensive and like I was paying for the privilege of having no packaging when I compared BI prices with those at the supermarket and other shops. So I bought bulk porridge oats and split red lentils from the Asian Food Warehouse (now operating out of their warehouse in Woolston) and flour from Sun Tai on Middleton road.
If you're keen, us and the Truman Tribe are quite happy to sell from our bulk supplies at cost.
From Tauawhi on Hooker Ave you can buy:
- porridge oats for $2.25/k
- split red lentils for $3.60/kg.
From Truman Tribe on Truman Rd you can buy:
- Fairtrade sugar - $2.90/kg
- Fairtrade drinking chocolate - $0.90/100g
- Brown rice - $2.70/kg
- Wholemeal flour - $1.40/kg
Rain water tank
This was an unfinished project from last years EMF. I made a muckup when installing the taps which resulted in leaks so put it on hold until a solution was devised. Today was the day for the tank to rise to its true potential. Note the stand made from the ends of a wire roll and scrap wood. This is me standing in the tank after fixing the taps - the tank holds about 700-800 litres I think. This will provide us with dish washing, people-washing and toilet flushing water in the event of another natural disaster which cuts the water supply. We could sterilize it for drinking if necessary but we have a good stash of drinking water in the garage for that purpose.
So I'm very happy this project is finally finished and we are now more prepared for disasters.
Combine this with our bulk supplies and cooking facilities - gas barbeque and camping stoves in the garage and I think we'll be very comfortable if another disaster occurs - let's hope not!
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