Now that, hopefully, the torrent of crap is subsiding can think about pleasanter things.

Gardening—I used to do this a lot, even pulling up most of the front lawn for flowers and veges. Flowers—couple nice old fashioned roses. Dunno if I will have roses in Tassie, climate is OK for them but too much work. Still, when I look out my bedroom window and see a massed display of roses it is nice. They smell nice too which is what I wanted. (Got them from Diggers, forgot what varieties.)

But my main gardening interest has been veges. One year I made 4L of passata (tomato sauce aka pasta sauce) just from tomatoes from my garden. In winter always sowed broadbeans, love them and when you grow your own you can pick the pods when they are 10–15cm with tender beans in them. Steam with a bit of speck or bacon rind and fat and some tarragon—delicious!

Used to get enough fruit to preserve some, preserved peaches, picked at perfect ripeness, poached in light sugar syrup with a cinnamon stick, a couple of cloves and a bit of lemon zest, yummy in the midst of grey dreary winter, the sun in my bowl!

Now, some weed trees have shaded my fruit trees and I don’t know what to do. Could get a mob with chain saw to cut them up but I don’t want to spend the money. The trees are in a tricky spot, close to the side fence. Just leave it, when I sell the house will likely be bulldozed anyway to put up more units.

In Tassie I will grow fruit trees. Cherries OMG! Cider apples so I can make cider! Yeah! Cyser too, yeah! I will see what needs to be done to have a bit of shade on the north side of the house in summer, not having verandahs. Will have a “covered atrium” on the south side with the wall right on the south side made of cement blocks, soak up the sun, radiate the stored heat at night, be able to keep more frost–tender plants there.

So my house and garden will be designed together, function together, related to sun and local conditions, not fighting them.


I have had a huge interruption to my gardening: first arthritis in the right hip, now in my shoulders. Still, have worked out a way to cope, almost anyway, and have started gardening again. Have a patch of broadbeans going and now have a couple of egg cartons filled with seed raising mix. Tomato seeds will go in there and the cartons will be placed on my homebrew heating pad (hardly ever used it for beer, didn’t push them on my customers: make high–malt content beers, aerate properly and pitch 11 grams good yeast—fermenter just needs a blanket or something around it) to keep it all warm at night.

The advantages of growing at least some veges yourself: some satisfaction and pride at a good harvest but more importantly you know no nasty chemicals went in there. keep chooks and they will turn your scraps (and bugs from your garden) into tasty fresh fresh fresh eggs. You can have a real ecology in your garden.

I have a 1800L fishpond in the garden, stocked with water lilies etc and small native fish, Murray River Rainbows etc. Need to turn the water over—turn it over plants not doing too well and boy do they respond well to pond water with deelish fish poo in it  ;D

The REAL benefit of growing some veges yourself: grow heritage plants instead of bland hybrids. My sauce tomatoes will be Amish Paste with a few costoluto genovese. You would never pick the last as an eating tomato but mixed in with sauce tomatoes they really boost the flavor of the sauce. I will plant later, as bought seedlings then save the seeds, the BEST slicing tomatoes I have ever eaten: Cherokee Purple.

Soon I will get some rock melon seeds started: the luscious, sweet, aromatic and delicious French Charentai melons and some musk melons. Probably all I can manage to get planted this spring but will ensure I have some beds ready in Feb to plant stuff like kale, broccoli, cauliflower, chard of 2-3 kinds etc. Root crops such as carrots, garlic, onion, swede and parsnip etc to go in when the summer crops are over.   

Can spend your time in much worse, less productive ways!

Can backyard trees make up for deforestation? Not really and for some gardening is not possible as we move to more and more multiple dwelling units to live.

But we can do our bit and spread the word. Fruit trees can give us fruit, eh?  :)

Some blokes I suppose don’t want to say they might plant a tree for the flowers it will bear. Well, there is one tree or shrub you should bloody plant for the beauty of its flowers: crepe myrtle.

This bears masses of flowers and in the fall the leaves turn a really nice color. The flowers do OK as cut flowers:

http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/ii636/maxine124/Antiques%20and%20Collectibles/Jan%202016/Crepe_Myrtle_flowers_Jan16_zpsigvljrwv.jpg

Because the crepe myrtle is rather blah in winter you wouldn’t plant a hedge of them but in a copse, like Sprint’s butterfly forest, they will certainly add beauty and variety to your garden and your house. Also attract bees something chronic.

In the above picture I added lemon verbena leaves/flowers for a bit of a contrast. Lemon verbena leaves have a strong, pleasant lemony scent when crushed, make a nice lemon tea.

The crepe myrtle in my garden:
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/ii636/maxine124/Garden/crepe_myrtle_1_zpsd5703c8e.jpg

Can’t wait to plant a heap of tulips in Tassie!

(The vase in the photo is an example of “fat lava” if not a particularly distinguished example  :) :) :) :)  )

I get paid 'A LOT' to Garden.
Just today, I removed two bags worth of strangler and pecked out the new shoots of grass in a patch.
All the while, listening to the sound of the waves lapping onto shore just 15m away.

My name is Chauncey Gardiner  ;)

Remind me not to hire you in Tassie  ;D

Jovial Monk wrote on Jul 28^th, 2017 at 11:39am:

Will have a “covered atrium” on the south side with the wall right on the south side made of cement blocks, soak up the sun

I'm not sure how much sun the south side of your house will get in Tassie.

Well, I have looked all that up. Will be fine.

Jovial Monk wrote on Jul 28^th, 2017 at 7:09pm:

Well, I have looked all that up. Will be fine.

The far wall, made of cement blocks, with a planter also made of cement blocks, will be far enough away from the house, even in Tassie, to get sun during the day. You can look things up and do calculations and stuff you know  :)

Be enough to have more frost tender plants there. Might alternate planter with big pots of water with water plants, some fish etc, all to soak up the sun.

Jovial Monk wrote on Jul 30^th, 2017 at 9:48am:

The far wall, made of cement blocks, with a planter also made of cement blocks, will be far enough away from the house, even in Tassie, to get sun during the day. You can look things up and do calculations and stuff you know

Jovial Monk wrote on Jul 28^th, 2017 at 11:39am:

Will have a “covered atrium” on the south side with the wall right on the south side

Ah, so you have made a revision to your plans. Well done.

No.

Well, yes I did, earlier, discussing the issue elsewhere, changed the atrium from parallel to normal to the house. But that was decided and facts ascertained and calculations made before I posted what you had to react to.

Some of the sauce tomatoes I am going to peel (hot water bath 1 minute, into cold water, remove the skin) and fill into clean jars. Press down a bit until juice fills the jar, seal the jar, pop into a hot water bath and boil for 60 minutes.

Why?

Why—salsa, of course.

Will grow some habaneros and jalapenos. With onion, some spice, lime or lemon—make some great salsa. Tomato and chili with a bit of this and that makes great salsa! Lime or lemon juice gives the acidity to protect the salsa from the dreaded and dreadful botulism.

LOVE salsa, eat with corn chips. Sour cream, if you like, not my thing I will say. I prefer plain corn chips, home made salsa and (preferably) home made beer. I will try to add some monterey jack cheese to the chips in a hot oven.

Anyway, that is getting away from gardening. Home gardening is “feast or famine” but with some knowledge of preserving and food hygiene you can use all your produce. (stuff like broadbean, spinach etc has to be parboiled and frozen, some other veg can be dehydrated but you will need (chortle) to look in Food for info ahahahahahahahahaha!

Nothing but rain in the Adelaide forecast  >:( but can do some work this afternoon.

Need to dig and weed and lime the patch where the tomatoes are to go, then the patch where the potatoes can go. In Adelaide you can plant potatoes pretty much every month.

Bloody weeds are thick and high because I have been neglecting the garden rather. Damn arthritis.

Anybody else here a gardener?

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 12:17pm:

Anybody else here a gardener?

Yes. I grow flowers, not vegetables.

Good to hear.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 5:32pm:

Good to hear.

I have a "green thumb" ... I can break a bit off a plant, plonk it in the ground and it grows.

My Mother, who was a Horticulturalist, spent much time carrying on about Ph and so forth ...

Just about every plant can be grown from a "cutting".

I love flowers, butterflies and bees.

I don't feel the need to grow vegetables to give away to the neighbours because it makes me feel like I have produced "something?

No, Naffy, just keep on with your unproductive life.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 12:17pm:

Need to dig and weed and lime the patch where the tomatoes are to go, then the patch where the potatoes can go.

I thought you were moving to Tassie.

lee wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 5:58pm:

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 12:17pm: Need to dig and weed and lime the patch where the tomatoes are to go, then the patch where the potatoes can go. I thought you were moving to Tassie.

All that digging and planting and building with his ARTHRITIS? Nah .... still sitting at the computer going on about AGW.  ;D

Neferti wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 5:46pm:

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 5:32pm: Good to hear. I have a "green thumb" ... I can break a bit off a plant, plonk it in the ground and it grows. My Mother, who was a Horticulturalist, spent much time carrying on about Ph and so forth ... Just about every plant can be grown from a "cutting". I love flowers, butterflies and bees. I don't feel the need to grow vegetables to give away to the neighbours because it makes me feel like I have produced "something?

I am the deadset opposite  I kill more than anyone I know..... except weeds  I have a dab hand with them...... I am now going in for more succulents  in the hope they will look out for themselves....and also keep weeds down .. I wish....I cant do much in the garden anymore   so when I go to the letterbox I pull weeds out as I go...the rest its fend for themselves.. my garden enjoyed that bit of rain on Sunday   if my sheets on the line didnt..lolol

Neferti wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 6:09pm:

lee wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 5:58pm: Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 12:17pm: Need to dig and weed and lime the patch where the tomatoes are to go, then the patch where the potatoes can go. I thought you were moving to Tassie. All that digging and planting and building with his ARTHRITIS? Nah .... still sitting at the computer going on about AGW.  ;D

Tassy is his big dream and I for one hope it comes true......he wont let a few aches and pains get in the way of it either....me on the other hand I give in and surrender...no digging for me I am afraid...I love the thought of home grown veggies  and fresh eggs...but that only memories now...none of my family are into do it yourself.... :(

If you live along Coastal NSW.
It's always wise to 'clean' the Garden from weed and anything else that has over-grown before Spring & Summer when the warm to hot days come.
Otherwise you will have deadly FUNNEL-WEB SPIDERS attacking you everywhere.

---

cods wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 6:20pm:

Neferti wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 6:09pm: lee wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 5:58pm: Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 12:17pm: Need to dig and weed and lime the patch where the tomatoes are to go, then the patch where the potatoes can go. I thought you were moving to Tassie. All that digging and planting and building with his ARTHRITIS? Nah .... still sitting at the computer going on about AGW.  ;D Tassy is his big dream and I for one hope it comes true......he wont let a few aches and pains get in the way of it either....me on the other hand I give in and surrender...no digging for me I am afraid...I love the thought of home grown veggies  and fresh eggs...but that only memories now...none of my family are into do it yourself.... :(

Tassie will come true codsy! I look forward to entertaining you in my strawbale house!

If that is in summer you and I can eat ourselves sick on fresh, ripe cherries! 4 cherry trees OMG!

Chooks are easy, really, and the eggs! OMG, fresh backyard eggs are to die for! Tasty!!!

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 7:00pm:

Tassie will come true codsy! I look forward to entertaining you in my strawbale house! If that is in summer you and I can eat ourselves sick on fresh, ripe cherries! 4 cherry trees OMG! Chooks are easy, really, and the eggs! OMG, fresh backyard eggs are to die for! Tasty!!!

DREAMER!

How long do you think it will take for your strawbale house to be built?

Then you need to dig the soil and plant the cherry trees ... how long do they take to produce cherries?

First you have to start building that strawbale house ....

I can just see you, almost crippled with arthritis, aged 85 and still bearing that weird looking "goatee".  ;D

I chucked my StrawBale House job in after just four days.
The guy was still a pain to work for. Total over-achiever!

You have seen me? No, not that. So you have gotten a photo of me?

You are not supposed to post personal information about other members, Naffy. So I hope you will get a loooong suspension.

Neferti wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 7:19pm:

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 7:00pm: Tassie will come true codsy! I look forward to entertaining you in my strawbale house! If that is in summer you and I can eat ourselves sick on fresh, ripe cherries! 4 cherry trees OMG! Chooks are easy, really, and the eggs! OMG, fresh backyard eggs are to die for! Tasty!!! DREAMER! How long do you think it will take for your strawbale house to be built? Then you need to dig the soil and plant the cherry trees ... how long do they take to produce cherries? First you have to start building that strawbale house .... I can just see you, almost crippled with arthritis, aged 85 and still bearing that weird looking "goatee".  ;D

Just saving this.

Next stop—report your post.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 7:24pm:

Neferti wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 7:19pm: Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 7:00pm: Tassie will come true codsy! I look forward to entertaining you in my strawbale house! If that is in summer you and I can eat ourselves sick on fresh, ripe cherries! 4 cherry trees OMG! Chooks are easy, really, and the eggs! OMG, fresh backyard eggs are to die for! Tasty!!! DREAMER! How long do you think it will take for your strawbale house to be built? Then you need to dig the soil and plant the cherry trees ... how long do they take to produce cherries? First you have to start building that strawbale house .... I can just see you, almost crippled with arthritis, aged 85 and still bearing that weird looking "goatee".  ;D Just saving this. Next stop—report your post.

What the hell are you on about?

Neferti wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 7:43pm:

What the hell are you on about?

Your guess about the old goats goatee may have been to close to the mark.

He has admitted arthritis so it can't be that.

Anyone know what I can do to revive a black boy? It lives in a pot and all the leaves have gone brown over the last few months. It's one of my favourite plants and I don't want to see it die.

John Smith wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 8:38pm:

Anyone know what I can do to revive a black boy?

Be a bit PC and call it a grass tree. It probably feels marginalised.

or try here -

http://www.replants.com/planting-and-care/grass-tree-heath-care

It takes up to 5 to 7 years for a cherry tree to produce fruit!  :P

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/long-cherry-trees-produce-55503.html

I have a fungus in my lawn of St.Augustine (as Americans call it) or Buffalo grass (as Aussie's call it - strangely enuf)  and I don't want to have to resort to chemicals again. Have tried "natural" solutions but to no avail ...

AiA wrote on Aug 2^nd, 2017 at 9:54am:

I have a fungus in my lawn of St.Augustine (as Americans call it) or Buffalo grass (as Aussie's call it - strangely enuf)  and I don't want to have to resort to chemicals again. Have tried "natural" solutions but to no avail ...

Is it definitely a fungus or a guess?

Neferti wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 7:43pm:

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 7:24pm: Neferti wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 7:19pm: Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 7:00pm: Tassie will come true codsy! I look forward to entertaining you in my strawbale house! If that is in summer you and I can eat ourselves sick on fresh, ripe cherries! 4 cherry trees OMG! Chooks are easy, really, and the eggs! OMG, fresh backyard eggs are to die for! Tasty!!! DREAMER! How long do you think it will take for your strawbale house to be built? Then you need to dig the soil and plant the cherry trees ... how long do they take to produce cherries? First you have to start building that strawbale house .... I can just see you, almost crippled with arthritis, aged 85 and still bearing that weird looking "goatee".  ;D Just saving this. Next stop—report your post. What the hell are you on about?

monk does that, abuses anyone, reports anyone, argues endlessly.

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 2^nd, 2017 at 12:16pm:

Neferti wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 7:43pm: Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 7:24pm: Neferti wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 7:19pm: Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 7:00pm: Tassie will come true codsy! I look forward to entertaining you in my strawbale house! If that is in summer you and I can eat ourselves sick on fresh, ripe cherries! 4 cherry trees OMG! Chooks are easy, really, and the eggs! OMG, fresh backyard eggs are to die for! Tasty!!! DREAMER! How long do you think it will take for your strawbale house to be built? Then you need to dig the soil and plant the cherry trees ... how long do they take to produce cherries? First you have to start building that strawbale house .... I can just see you, almost crippled with arthritis, aged 85 and still bearing that weird looking "goatee".  ;D Just saving this. Next stop—report your post. What the hell are you on about? monk does that, abuses anyone, reports anyone, argues endlessly.

That is exactly why he should never be a Mod of this Sub-Forum.  ;)

AiA wrote on Aug 2^nd, 2017 at 9:54am:

I have a fungus in my lawn of St.Augustine (as Americans call it) or Buffalo grass (as Aussie's call it - strangely enuf)  and I don't want to have to resort to chemicals again. Have tried "natural" solutions but to no avail ...

Seems it is well documented.

http://problemsolvedpest.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/brown-patch-fungus.png

Any Black Bears around there, peeing on your lawn.  ;D

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1^st, 2017 at 7:00pm:

cods wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 6:20pm: Neferti wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 6:09pm: lee wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 5:58pm: Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 1st, 2017 at 12:17pm: Need to dig and weed and lime the patch where the tomatoes are to go, then the patch where the potatoes can go. I thought you were moving to Tassie. All that digging and planting and building with his ARTHRITIS? Nah .... still sitting at the computer going on about AGW.  ;D Tassy is his big dream and I for one hope it comes true......he wont let a few aches and pains get in the way of it either....me on the other hand I give in and surrender...no digging for me I am afraid...I love the thought of home grown veggies  and fresh eggs...but that only memories now...none of my family are into do it yourself.... :( Tassie will come true codsy! I look forward to entertaining you in my strawbale house! If that is in summer you and I can eat ourselves sick on fresh, ripe cherries! 4 cherry trees OMG! Chooks are easy, really, and the eggs! OMG, fresh backyard eggs are to die for! Tasty!!!

Here you go, codsy!

Just picked up “Strawbale Homebuilding” from the library.

Not to learn how to do it, just looking for pitfalls, tips and ideas of what is possible. Strawbale walls and double glazed windows, be toasty warm in winter!

I have talked with the local council, what I want is fine, the strawbale, the two storeys and even the cellar. The covered atrium will be fine, the first 12 fruit trees are on the way.

SITUPS, straw stuffed into plywood frames are the way to go: the panels can be made over winter when strawbale building isn’t possible then walls can go up in 2-3 days, add top plates etc, very quick.

As a building material strawbale probably lets me do things not possible with other materials, or do the same things cheaper than other materials but cause problems elsewhere. So, will see how the plans I have drawn up can be changed to do more for less money etc.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2017 at 5:17pm:

Just picked up “Strawbale Homebuilding” from the library.

Wow, your planning is that far advanced. ;D ;D ;D ;D

Lots of information about strawbale houses online ...

https://vivahomes.com.au/

http://www.yourhome.gov.au/materials/straw-bale

http://strawtec.com.au/

http://glassford.com.au/main/

http://ausbale.org/

http://www.strawbale.com.au/

Just Google "strawbale houses"  ... lots more than what I have posted.

Gee, why didn’t I think of that?  ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2017 at 8:15pm:

Gee, why didn’t I think of that?  ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

Coz you're thick? ;)

lee wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2017 at 8:18pm:

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 3rd, 2017 at 8:15pm: Gee, why didn’t I think of that?  ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) Coz you're thick? ;)

;D ;D ;D

Chicken coop made of strawbales, warmed by a greenhouse.

Will want a couple solar panels for the chook house, power a light to artificially lengthen the days the chooks experience else egg production will slow down and even stop in winter.

The nesting boxes will have a slope so as the eggs are laid they roll out the nesting box, out of reach of the chooks: once chooks realise how delicious eggs are it is almost impossible to stop them eating the eggs. An artificial egg, even a golfball—chooks are not smart—does help discourage egg pecking and eating. But easier to just have the eggs roll out of reach.

Chickens will help reduce codling moth in my cider apples: they eat the emerging larva. Will also help fertilise the fruit tree area  8-) Do need to lock them out the cider apple area two months before harvest to ensure a clean ground for the apples to fall into.

Hmmm if you drink cider be aware bird pecked fruit, bruised/brown apples etc all get picked and pressed ;D  As long as there is no mould anything goes.

I have an idea for the house, to maximise daylight.

The first floor could be a bit smaller than the ground floor and/or offset to the south or west. Then some of the ground floor on the northern side goes all the way up to the ceiling of the first floor, the roof/ceiling here could be mainly windows so lots of daylight coming in.

This could be reduced to a “tower” which would allow cooling and ventilation by convection in summer.

Once the architect and engineer have drawn the final plans and council has agreed I would want footings to be poured so the concrete can cure.

I would use double or triple glazing, depending on where you are. Minimise heat loss.

Said I am using double glazing.

If more needs to be done the environmental engineer can advise and so can the council.

I intend to have a house that is cheap to run. Maximum use of passive cooling and heating, shade trees, orientation of the house, breezeway, ventilation etc. Cheap and easy to run while being cosy and allowing me to pursue my interests.

Cellar if possible would be great, let my beer/mead/cider cold condition under constant temperatures and mature wines bought young. Also act as root cellar to keep root veges like potatoes, carrots, parsnips good. If I can’t get a real cellar—too expensive to dig, soil not suitable etc then there are some ways to make small cellars or just the space under the floor would do, will have close to a meter of space. :-/

Strawbale walls are not just cheap they are excellent insulation—and lock up lots of carbon!

Double glazing should be enough. Not going to have curtains but may have vertical blinds in some windows.

Working on a design to maximise natural daylight, a few problems with geometry to be worked out probably by simplifying the design. Covered atrium which will act a little bit like a greenhouse, will likely need a greenhouse there as well.

Want the house as much as possible in the Art Nouveau style, same with the furniture. For my arthritic joints a nice deep bathtub, ahhh. Be nice if I can find a turn of the last century bathtub.

Want a wood fired brick oven for pizza and bread, a hot smoker and a cold smoker. Hot smoker flavors and cooks food, cold smoker flavors and preserves food. Need a firepit located very safely (fire danger, keep out of reach of kids etc) located far enough away from the cold smoker to cool the smoke.

Here is a nice tidbit of history: if you have read any of the books by Dickens or Trollope or other Victorian writers you will read that when arriving at an inn they would go to the smoking room. This was not so they could smoke, Victorians smoked constantly and everywhere, the smoking room had a smoky fire always lit and hams etc hanging near the ceiling being smoked. It therefor was the warmest room at the inn.

At the moment I am trying to germinate some cherry seeds.

No luck yet after more than a week on wet blotting paper.

Don’t tell me you want to plant cherry trees?

As to veges I can grow, some brassicas will do well, thinking kale and brussels sprouts in particular but broadbeans too I reckon: if they grow in Europe they should grow in Tassie. Not having a huge patch, a few raised beds is all.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 10:14am:

Don’t tell me you want to plant cherry trees?

Yes I do - many of them.

But the roots will go under the foundations of your house and destroy them!  :D :D :D :D

Have you worked out what varieties you want, the cross pollination needed, the ripening times?

I have three eating cherry trees on the way, picked to ripen from late December to January with a tree that will provide the cross pollination two of them need—these two trees will ensure a bigger crop of the pollinator. Then I have a sour cherry tree for making jam, cherries pickled in brandy etc. The eating cherries are Early Burlat, Napoleon (an old fashioned variety and Stella, the sour cherry is Kentish, Morello is another variety of sour cherry.

Woodbridge fruit trees in Tasmania can supply you trees on the rootstock of your choice: dwarf or semi dwarf will be best. All my fruit trees will be dwarf trees, don’t want to climb ladders to prune and pick and net my trees! The. still have some cherry varieties available,

https://www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au/8-cherries

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 10:37am:

But the roots will go under the foundations of your house and destroy them!  :D :D :D :D Have you worked out what varieties you want, the cross pollination needed, the ripening times? I have three eating cherry trees on the way, picked to ripen from late December to January with a tree that will provide the cross pollination two of them need—these two trees will ensure a bigger crop of the pollinator. Then I have a sour cherry tree for making jam, cherries pickled in brandy etc. Woodbridge fruit trees in Tasmania can supply you trees on the rootstock of your choice: dwarf or semi dwarf will be best. All my fruit trees will be dwarf trees, don’t want to climb ladders to prune and pick and net my trees! https://www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au/8-cherries

My idea was to plant them on the grass verge all down the street
without telling the council.
I'll put a tiny fence around the base of each seedling so that they won't get mowed.
People will think that it's an official council job.  ;D

Nothing will happen is my guess.

already trying to turn environment into just another of your pet projects predictable - just get your brew thread underway already and your thread on stollen  ::) ::)

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 10:43am:

Nothing will happen is my guess.

Hope I get away with it.

It's normal to have rows of cherry trees in other countries:


http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/1b563ac639404f51b70070661d971f09/oriental-cherry-prunus-serrulata-row-of-trees-at-a-street-ada5g2.jpg

Bobby. wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 10:54am:

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6th, 2017 at 10:43am: Nothing will happen is my guess. Hope I get away with it. It's normal to have rows of cherry trees in other countries: http://l7.alamy.om/zooms/1b563ac639404f51b70070661d971f09/oriental-cherry-prunus-serrulata-row-of-trees-at-a-street-ada5g2.jpg

a row of trees is good booby. Gives you somewhere to hang the cats
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/cat-abuse-01.jpg

Smith is ruining another thread.

this is the environment thread booby ... feral cats are an environmental hazard. The only one ruining anything is you by encouraging the keeping of cats

Bobby. wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 10:54am:

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6th, 2017 at 10:43am: Nothing will happen is my guess. Hope I get away with it. It's normal to have rows of cherry trees in other countries: http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/1b563ac639404f51b70070661d971f09/oriental-cherry-prunus-serrulata-row-of-trees-at-a-street-ada5g2.jpg

Cherry trees are beautiful Bobby- good luck with it

Bobby. wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 10:41am:

My idea was to plant them on the grass verge all down the street without telling the council. I'll put a tiny fence around the base of each seedling so that they won't get mowed. People will think that it's an official council job.  ;D

That will look nice at this time of year. I have a flowering plum on my nature-strip which flowers in august and is always a reminder to me that winter is coming to an end.

Make sure you water your trees during the summer or they will become expensive sticks in the ground.

John Smith wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 10:57am:

Bobby. wrote on Aug 6th, 2017 at 10:54am: Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6th, 2017 at 10:43am: Nothing will happen is my guess. Hope I get away with it. It's normal to have rows of cherry trees in other countries: http://l7.alamy.om/zooms/1b563ac639404f51b70070661d971f09/oriental-cherry-prunus-serrulata-row-of-trees-at-a-street-ada5g2.jpg a row of trees is good booby. Gives you somewhere to hang the cats

http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/cat-abuse-01.jpg

A lovely picture indeed, John! Bloody cats have no place in Australia, no matter what irresponsible softheads say which is mainly “Awwwwwwwwww!!!!!”  >:(

Once we have gotten rid of cats we can go after the bloody foxes!

I think I have solved the problem of having a passage with diffused light and lots of daylight in lounge and kitchen. Whether it proves feasible or not time will tell.

Agnes wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 11:44am:

Bobby. wrote on Aug 6th, 2017 at 10:54am: Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6th, 2017 at 10:43am: Nothing will happen is my guess. Hope I get away with it. It's normal to have rows of cherry trees in other countries: http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/1b563ac639404f51b70070661d971f09/oriental-cherry-prunus-serrulata-row-of-trees-at-a-street-ada5g2.jpg Cherry trees are beautiful Bobby- good luck with it

Thanks Agnes.
They have to germinate first.

The_Barnacle wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 11:47am:

Bobby. wrote on Aug 6th, 2017 at 10:41am: My idea was to plant them on the grass verge all down the street without telling the council. I'll put a tiny fence around the base of each seedling so that they won't get mowed. People will think that it's an official council job.  ;D That will look nice at this time of year. I have a flowering plum on my nature-strip which flowers in august and is always a reminder to me that winter is coming to an end. Make sure you water your trees during the summer or they will become expensive sticks in the ground.

I think they need a water pipe down the side so they can be watered in summer.
+40 degrees will kill them otherwise.

http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/cat-abuse-01.jpg


Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 7:46pm:

A lovely picture indeed, John! Bloody cats have no place in Australia, no matter what irresponsible softheads say which is mainly “Awwwwwwwwww!!!!!”  >:( Once we have gotten rid of cats we can go after the bloody foxes!

I'll be in that.  :D

Yeah, I would buy a hunting rifle and get a license etc and go shoot foxes and any damn cats I see!

John Smith wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 9:40pm:

http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/cat-abuse-01.jpg Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6th, 2017 at 7:46pm: A lovely picture indeed, John! Bloody cats have no place in Australia, no matter what irresponsible softheads say which is mainly “Awwwwwwwwww!!!!!”  >:( Once we have gotten rid of cats we can go after the bloody foxes! I'll be in that.  :D

When's Muslim season?

Gordon wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 9:43pm:

John Smith wrote on Aug 6th, 2017 at 9:40pm: http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/cat-abuse-01.jpg Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6th, 2017 at 7:46pm: A lovely picture indeed, John! Bloody cats have no place in Australia, no matter what irresponsible softheads say which is mainly “Awwwwwwwwww!!!!!”  >:( Once we have gotten rid of cats we can go after the bloody foxes! I'll be in that.  :D When's Muslim season?

you wouldn't be in that, they shoot back :D :D

Yeah, like the Germans got a surprise when trying to liquidate the Warsaw Ghetto—the Jews shot back! Not fair!

Just bought:

The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling by Daniel D. Chiras.

Passive solar gets a lot of lip service. I want to make it a reality in my Tassie house. I will have the excellent insulation of strawbale walls and double glazing plus passive solar.

Next year is when a heap of planting will take place.

8 cider apple trees and four cherry trees are on their way to someone who will pot them and look after them for the first year.

First need to peg out the back part of the block:

200mm around the outside reserved
200–700mm a hedgerow will go in, with bay trees, semi woody and woody herbs like rosemary and sage, berries—raspberries, seedless blackberries, blue berries, red and black currants, some native Tassie berries—black hawthorn, nice thorny barrier hedge, bears small plums, sloes, and so on.

Also need to dig drainage trenches and then mark out where mounds of bought soil will go in which the trees will be planted: soil is clay, when I walked on blocks looking for one to buy it was squelch squelch squelch everywhere I stepped. In between the mounds will be grass verges, soil from the drainage trenches will allow me to have these verges slightly domed to encourage run off.

In the mounds dig holes where the trees will go, fill with compost, straw, manure—humus rich soil to plant the trees in.

Oh my aching back  :)

Where the trees will go has been rotary hoed and 26 bags of claybreaker spread a couple months ago so by now topsoil should be workable but subsoil is still clay.

My house will have a 6000mm x 6000mm lounge with a 6000mm by 1200mm passage alongside it. So the second storey can be 6000mm x 7200mm. Instead I could make it 5000mm x 7200mm and cantilever it 1000mm over the front (western) wall.

That will leave a space of 2000mm by 6000mm where the roof can be mainly windows, sending light into the lounge. The stairwell will be in this space.

5000mm x 7200mm will allow a second bedroom adjacent to the master BR.

The kitchen can then have a roof sloping from 3500mm where it joins the main house to 3000mm at the other end, allowing sun to reach the far wall of the covered atrium.

The windows in the roof can be opened to allow heat to escape in summer. These windows will be on the northern side of the roof.

The roof could be made of panels of plywood filled with straw and covered with corrugated iron.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 9^th, 2017 at 12:35pm:

black hawthorn

http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/Coastal-Weed-of-Tasmania-booklet.pdf

"Distribution: Hawthorn was in the past planted as a cheap form of fencing. For this reason Hawthorn is found through out Tasmania adjacent to and on old homesteads sites.

Status: Hawthorn is a Declared Noxious Weed in Victoria and South Australia. Hawthorn is not a declared weed in Tasmania."

http://www.weeds.asn.au/tasmanian-weeds/view-by-common-name/hawthorn/

Wow, I didn’t know that  :D

Black hawthorn is sold in Tasmania to gardeners. Guess the colder climate in Tassie keeps them under control.

Have a look here, Lees:

/www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au

Sloe is under Plum trees.

Hmmmm there is a place does the underfloor heating and cooling using the constant deep ground temperature:


https://www.geoexchange.com.au/technology/faq/

Dunno if available in Tassie, costs and what is involved in some detail.

Hmmmm “Just 1.2 to 2.0 meters below the earth’s surface, temperatures remain relatively constant year-round. A geoexchange system, which typically consists of an indoor unit and a buried earth loop, capitalizes on these constant temperatures to provide “free” energy.”

A fair bit of digging involved! Don’t know how big an area yet—have sent an enquiry off.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6^th, 2017 at 9:42pm:

Yeah, I would buy a hunting rifle and get a license etc and go shoot foxes and any damn cats I see!

very very mean monk very mean....I was thinking of popping down when the cider was ready.. but not so sure now..my cats can smell a cat hater from 50 meters..... shame.

why would you wish to KILL something...a caty and a fox   have just as many feelings as a chook or a dog.. :'( :'(

Because cats go feral and kill native wildlife. The foxes and cats I would shoot are feral.

A better way is the desex cats, ban the sale of cats, would see the constant addition to the feral cat population stop.

Cats just do not belong in Australia.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 9^th, 2017 at 2:16pm:

Wow, I didn’t know that  :D Black hawthorn is sold in Tasmania to gardeners. Guess the colder climate in Tassie keeps them under control. Have a look here, Lees: /www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au Sloe is under Plum trees.

You seem to be confusing Blackthorn (Fruit Sloe) and Hawthorn (fruit Haws).

http://www.wildlifeinsight.com/3563/whats-the-difference-between-blackthorn-and-hawthorn/

So I am.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 9^th, 2017 at 2:53pm:

Hmmmm “Just 1.2 to 2.0 meters below the earth’s surface, temperatures remain relatively constant year-round. A geoexchange system, which typically consists of an indoor unit and a buried earth loop, capitalizes on these constant temperatures to provide “free” energy.” A fair bit of digging involved! Don’t know how big an area yet—have sent an enquiry off.

monk nothing is FREE..

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 9^th, 2017 at 3:31pm:

Because cats go feral and kill native wildlife. The foxes and cats I would shoot are feral. A better way is the desex cats, ban the sale of cats, would see the constant addition to the feral cat population stop. Cats just do not belong in Australia.

oh rubbish.....what about rats   my cats has caught her fair share of them....do you want us over run b y vermin?...

No codsy, I know that. While the heating and cooling is free you need a pump to pump the water around the system.

My terrier has killed rats too, cods.

Wasn’t a subAntarctic island cleared of rats by introducing dogs to it? Or was that rabbits? Both are rodents anyway

Maybe only breeders can keep cats that can breed but any cat they sell, except to another breeder, must be neutered? That would work to control feral cat numbers as people abandon/try to drown cats when they have or are about to have a litter of kittens.

Booby is talking of planting cherry trees down his street. I have some gum trees, spindly useless bloody things that the council, brainless lardarses, think are “significant” so can’t be cut down. I will try to get rid of them regardless, have to be sneaky, hmmmm.

Want to plant decorative crab apple trees in front of my block. These have masses of flower, great fall colors and rarely if ever produce fruit. Apart from looking good they will help pollinate the cider trees. Maybe mix with a crepe myrtle or two.

In the yard, along the path to the front door various apple trees espaliered into flattish arches. Be nice—and productive.

Hmmm dinner gonna be tasty!

Swordfish

Baked potato with pancetta, shallot, ginger, smoked paprika filling. All smelling bewdifool!

Arches:

https://www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au/img/cms/espalier/archway1.jpg

Espaliered apples:

https://www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au/img/cms/espalier/espalier-photo.jpg

I reckon espaliered apples at 1500mm and 1800mm along the north wall of my house will look good. Especially as part of a trellis that has wisteria as well. Easy to net, pick and prune.

Hmm looks like berries and currants need espaliering too.

Maybe stepover McIntosh apples as well. Make the trellis 2m wide be a nice place to have lunch in spring & summer.

Grow my own granny smiths—pick in May/June not March, get the real flavor.

Cider apples v eating aka desert apples

While you can eat a cider apple you are unlikely to eat more than half a one: like grapes, cider apples contain tannins (bittersweets) and some are very acid (bittersharps) and most ciders are blends. I have bittersweets and bittersharps plus a sweet and a sharp. Note that “bitter” bit—these are not eating apples!

Be a fun day when tasting is needed to blend ciders. I think that any juice from the sharp and the sweet not needed to be fermented would make a nice juice when canned.

The ciders I taste here in SA are all pretty unmemorable and bland. That is because they are made from desert apples, no tannin, not enough acidity. That said, a small amount of eating apples can be added to cider apples when crushing: granny smiths add acidity and Jonathan (a cooking apple that does not store well, not sold by “the Fresh Food people”  ;D ) adds complexity. Crab apples have lots of acidity—another possible addition to a crush, lots of pectin too and pectin can cause hazes.

Oh yeah, we test the apples for ripeness by doing an iodine test. Anyone know what that tests for??

Be interested to taste that English cider made from real cider apples.

Been working on the plan of my house—now, the house will likely turn out rather different by the time a professional does the drawings, but it will have to achieve what I want the house to achieve.

I reckon for the cost of just a downstairs loo and loo + bathroom upstairs I can have BR with a dressing room and on the other side of that ensuite toilet & bathroom.

Windows in northern wall and maybe even in the roof will maximise natural daylight in lounge, BR and kitchen.

Doable I reckon.

Some nice ideas for an atrium:

https://au.pinterest.com/pin/309763280597702397/

Zero Energy Houses, a concept whose time has come?


Quote:

Toward a Zero Energy Home: A Complete Guide to Energy Self-Sufficiency at Home Paperback – April 27, 2010 by Scott Gibson (Author), David Johnston  (Author)

(Amazon)

Dunno.

Will read the passive solar house and investigate the buried pipes heating and cooling. Will have to dig the trenches for it in winter, in summer the clay would be rockhard  ;D

Got an email from the guy that will look after my young fruit trees for a year has received them. Good! I knew they had been sent but had not heard they had been received. But all is well.

They will be planted in my block next year.

Earlier I asked:

Quote:

Oh yeah, we test the apples for ripeness by doing an iodine test. Anyone know what that tests for??

Starch! Apples pressed before the starch has all turned to sugar will yield less alcohol—and the starch will create a permanent haze. So all cider apples are stored until the iodine test is negative.

Budding mash brewers are urged to do an iodine test. The grains contain starch and if the mash is too cool the amylase enzymes (that convert starch to sugars and dextrines) won’t be activated or if the mash is too hot the amylase enzymes are denatured and stop working before all the starch is converted.

Just bought:


Quote:

The Year-Round Solar Greenhouse: How to Design and Build a Net-Zero Energy Greenhouse Paperback – November 15, 2016 by Lindsey Schiller (Author), Marc Plinke (Author)

Think a greenhouse might be needed in Tassie  :)

The covered atrium will have plants in it: dwarf lemon and lime trees, flowers etc but it will be a living space. The greenhouse will be much more just growing veges, sheltering some more frost–tender plants over winter etc.

As to plantings outside, tulips should do well. For the rest, have a wander around Hobart etc, see what people with the best gardens have planted, chat with any I see outside working on their garden. Maybe I can get some cuttings that way?

Plenty of native Tassie fruits:

http://www.leatherwoodonline.com/tastes/2006/wild/

http://www.potn.com.au/edible_plants.html

Received two books today:

Daniel Chiras “The Solar House” passive solar heating and cooling.

Jane Gitlin “Fire Places a practival guide to fireplaces and stoves indoors and out”

Should be good reading. I want a house cheap and easy to run plus have solar panels and a windmill to provide almost free power. Bet I can sell a lot of power—with strawbale walls, passive solar design and very efficient LED lights power consumption should be minimal.

If I have the money left over after building my house might even trade in my Mazda for an electric car—free motoring!

Interesting.

Solar house needs windows—but also a thermal mass wall behind glass on the northern side of the house. Called a Trombe wall.

Had a quick look at the fireplace book. intro re role of fire from prehistory to now interesting if a bit irrelevant.

Some photos of spectacular chimneys and fire places.

Reading “A Table in the Orchard my delicious life” about living on an acre in the Huon Valley, Tassie. Nice. Didn’t buy it, got it from the library.

Like this very practical recipe for sloe gin:

Pick and wash the sloes
Put into a freezer bag
Bung into the freezer
In a day or so, empty the completely ruptured sloes into a large jar, slosh gin in, put jar away for a few months
Strain the gin from the sloes, make some sugar syrup, sweeten the sloe gin to taste.
Drink it.

Better than adding a huge amount of sugar to the gin then spending hours pricking each of a large number of the little sloes with a fork!

Finished the book.

Will go through it again and copy out some of the recipes.

Think I will need to add a damson plum tree to my collection. Then again, A Table in the Orchard says damsons are plentiful. Will have to find out.

Will need to explore, see if there are hedgerows, abandoned orchards where I can forage. There is an orchard near my block—wonder if it is abandoned?  :)

A greenhouse—NOT made out of CO2  ;D —will be necessary. A cheaply made polytunnel will do, initially anyway. “Earth sheltered” greenhouses do well but I don’t really feel like digging down a metre! Maybe dig rather shallower trenches, pile the soil where it won’t really block the sun and have a fishpond dug into the floor. A fishpond, with fish and some plants, is a useful thing to have: lovely water rich in nitrogen and phosporous, rejuvenates an ailing plant like nothing I know!

Can grow more veges than I thought and rhubarb does really well there. Oh boy, 6 rhubarb plants. Strawberries do well there too, and asparagus. More lists to make. Tomatoes too, but plant in like October—sometimes the growing season is short enough that only green tomatoes can be harvested  ;D ;D ;D Better look for early maturing varieties.

Wow, got the “The Year–Round Solar Greenhouse” book already. Neat! Had a flick through—lots good info.

Quite an eye opener this book. Less glass, angled to suit winter sun etc. Insulation on south end, around the circumference, etc.

Does anyone know of a good fertiliser that will golf green up the lawn of a Qld backyard?

Have selected every single tree, have plotted them all on a plan of my block.

Took a looong time. Twelve cider apple trees:

Four Yarlington Mill, probably the best British cider apple, bittersweet

Two Dabinett, two more good British bittersweets

Two King David, cross of Jonathon and a winesap  or Black Arkansas, vinous flavor, spicy–sharp. Can some of the juice for drinking I reckon, delicious.

Another bittersweet and two bittersharps.

Eating, cooking and cider dwarf apples

10 dwarf perry pears

5 cherry trees.

Be good. Once settled in will have chooks, vege patch, some decorative trees including crab apple in the front yard.

I can imagine sitting in my conservatory, sipping some cider or perry, looking at a hue mass of blossoming fruit trees while pizza cooks in my brick woodfired oven.

Jovial Monk wrote on Jan 23^rd, 2018 at 5:03pm:

Have selected every single tree, have plotted them all on a plan of my block. Took a looong time. Twelve cider apple trees: Four Yarlington Mill, probably the best British cider apple, bittersweet Two Dabinett, two more good British bittersweets Two King David, cross of Jonathon and a winesap  or Black Arkansas, vinous flavor, spicy–sharp. Can some of the juice for drinking I reckon, delicious. Another bittersweet and two bittersharps. Eating, cooking and cider dwarf apples 10 dwarf perry pears 5 cherry trees. Be good. Once settled in will have chooks, vege patch, some decorative trees including crab apple in the front yard. I can imagine sitting in my conservatory, sipping some cider or perry, looking at a hue mass of blossoming fruit trees while pizza cooks in my brick woodfired oven.

What's holding you up from doing it NOW?

Doxxing again, harridan?

No need to, you advertised yourself and your failed business way back ... consistently ... Jovial Monk.  ;D

This is the environment board, not the “Malicious Gossip by Bored Old Beldams” board. Try the sewer.