Clare and I are now the proud owners of a 20 acre property with 2 dams, 1 house (with solar) a shed and a tipee near Castlemaine.
Australia to Double Population
Politicians (both labour and opposition) have been talking about immigration policies that would see the Australian population to almost double from 22 to 36million by 2050. Australia currently has the fastest growing population in the world.
The Australian citizens have never been asked about this.
Yesterday I watched a video from Dick Smith that basically debunked most of the widely used reasons for a “Large Australia”. He is campaigning to have the politicians actually consult the the people about the population strategy and come up with a sensible plan.
Intro Video
Long Video
“Dick Smith is one of Australia’s most recognised individuals. After a successful business career in retailing and publishing, Dick has become well known as a restless adventurer, making many pioneering and record breaking flights by helicopter, aeroplane and balloon.” More info and complete text on Dick Smiths full website here.
World Growth
Dick also broaches the subject of world population growth and the predicted increase in population from 6.7 to just over 9 billion by 2050. World food production over the last 9 years has remained flat and is looking likely to decrease as more soil becomes infertile. Concern about food availability in the future is one of the drivers that got me interested in permaculture. To see more about me and permaculture go to my permaculture page.
Earthworm 3 meters x 2 cms
Just listening to the podcast by the North Carolina University and they are talking about huge earthworms that live in East Gippsland (SE of Melbourne!). Wow ! I could do with a few of them in the garden!
Learning with my ipod (itunesU)
I am currently working my way through Bill Mollesons book “Introduction to permaculture”.
I am currently listening to a free podcast on that I got on itunesU where they video’d all their lectures from North State University Introduction to Permaculture. I am onto lecture 13 out of 36 1 hour lecture series. Amazing what you can get for free nowadays.
Studying on my ipod (itunesU)
I am currently listening to a free podcast on that I got on itunesU where they video’d all their lectures from North State University Introduction to Permaculture
Sex Starved Pumpkins
Although the pumpkin plants in my garden are huge they keep producing little baby pumpkins that just fall when about the size of a tennis ball.
A friend of mine has suggested it is casued by the fact that they have not germinated. The cure?
Get a flower (that has no bulge under it)
Wipe the stamen over the flowers on top of the little pumpkins
I have now tried this – wait and see I guess!
Which vegetables contain the most pesticides
I came accross this article that rates vegetables by the most pesticides to the least. Its pretty useful – seemingly apples are the worst along with celery, peppers and nectarines. The best include onions peas and mango. Interesting see full article.
Using the Washing machine water on the garden
I have been wanting to start using the washing machine water on the garden. Our washing machine uses about 180 litres of water with one load. Our house uses the washing machine about 3 times a week- that’s alot of water! I am going to use this water on the beds in the side of the house.
I have mulched these beds in preparation for planting.
It turns out that using the washing machine water on the garden in this way is a bad idea because you should not let washing machine water sit as its full of bacteria. I then modified the method so I now have the outflow flow straight onto the garden. This works quite well