We have finally had some warm, sunny weather, and the soggy ground has started to dry up at last. The birds are singing and nesting, the insects are buzzing…..and the weeds are growing!!
We have had a very vocal pair of Striated Pardalotes near the shed the last few days- their call is amazing, and carries all the way up to the house!
Apart from weeding, pruning the roses now the risk of frost has passed, and generally tidying up after the cold and wet, we also had a new project! When we moved into McCarthy Park 2, we vowed to reduce the amount of lawn, and therefore the need to water it. We replanting the ‘oval’, a lawned circle in the driveway, with native plants, and while we have had to do some replanting in areas, it is looking fabulous!
the ‘oval’ is looking great, and we are hoping for a similar though bushier effect on the fence line
So the latest area to plant is along 60 metres of the neighbour’s fence line. This will give us (and them) greater privacy, and in the process reduces another whole section of lawn! We need to keep a considerable amount as part of our bushfire protection zone, but look forward to this new section of 125 native plants taking off.
pots all placed ready for the holesthank goodness for the Ryobi post hole digger!all 125 plants are in, ready to take over the lawn
The plants we chose are deliberately bushy, screen type plants that should eventually completely hide the fence line. As they grow, we will gradually work on killing off the lawn around them, but decided to leave it for now……. hopefully that works!
Well, this winter has been very wet with both rainwater tanks overflowing- that’s 210,000 litres worth of rainwater storage! We are really pleased, as this sets us up well for summer, and this is our only source of water for the house (we have a bore for the grounds). The downside of all that rain is that the gardens are waterlogged! The amount of water, along with some extended frost (we got down to minus 3, followed by a few days of minus 1/minus 2) means several of our fruit trees and garden plants have really suffered.
We lost a heap of passionfruit, with the unripe fruit dropping off from the cold, and it looks like the vines are lost too! In addition to that, the quail pens have had a regular drenching. So, as in ‘there is never nothing to do’, we have rethought that area. We plan to move the quail pens so we can roof over the top, and have planted out a new passionfruit area alongside the tank. We are hoping the tank will help reduce the risk of frost, plus bought more frost resistant plants (Panama red and Panama yellow).
Fingers crossed these passionfruit benefit from the warmth of the tank on those frosty mornings!
Despite netting both mangoes and the sapodilla to help protect them from the frost, as they were very seriously set back a couple of winters ago, the leaves have not survived the extended frost we had this year. Fingers crossed they bounce back- we did enjoy some hope grown mango last year so we are keen to nurse them along!
The guava has also really suffered! It has never done quite as well at McCarthyPark 2 as it did in the old place, which is such a shame… but again we are hopeful!
Like in ‘setbacks’, at times it feels like one step forward and two steps back… and if the trees don’t bounce back in spring/summer we need to seriously consider ripping them out and replacing them with more frost hardy trees. We would be reluctant to do so though, given we brought them to McCarthyPark 2 as already mature trees…fingers crossed!
When we moved in to McCarthy Park 2, we had to add some fencing to ensure there were places the wildlife could be and the dogs could not…and it paid off! We get heaps of birds and quenda visit all around the property, but also get kangaroos in the back part of the property which we kept as natural bush.
This big fella was looking at us through the fence by the beehives!
Since being at McCarthy Park 2, our rabbits have been really impacted by Calicivirus, which is released by the council to eradicate the feral rabbit population. We are fully supportive of this program- feral rabbits and foxes do not belong in Australia, however it has taken its toll on our rabbits over the last two years despite our breeders being vaccinated last year.
So, this year we have decided to do as much as we possibly can to prevent the virus impacting our stock. In addition to vaccinating the breeders (at $120 per rabbit!), we have fully enclosed all mesh areas of the rabbit pen with fly/mosquito netting as this is the main mode of transmission. As the virus can also be spread by contact with contaminated objects and food, including faeces (of which there is a huge amount on our property), we also have a sanitation tray at the entry.
The entry now has a secure step-in area where we have a bleach tray (10% bleach recommended) to step into before we walk into the main area where the rabbits have a ‘day out’ and their pens. Given that we walk across the property to the rabbit pen and there is an abundance of feral rabbit faeces along the way, this was an easy and effective first step.
Enclosing the rabbit pen with fly/mosquito netting was quite a feat! We had originally designed the rabbit pen ourselves to allow for air flow, which was then perfect for letting in the mosquitoes! So, step one involved moving a 6meter by 2.4 metre pen away from the side of the shed so we could reach all around it.
We already had four of these furniture/large plant trolleys as we put our bins of food on them for ease of movement, and they were perfect. Using a lever, were managed to get the four trolleys (two on each length) in situ, enabling us to move the entire pen away from the shed wall.
We then covered the mesh side (visible in the photo), roof and opposite side with one length of insect netting to ensure there were no gaps or joins. We used kick boards at the bottom of reach side to hold the netting taut and to help protect and neaten the edges. That was no mean feat, and required considerable gymnastics to reach all the areas!
Then we still had to cover the mesh areas on each end of the pen, above the tine. For this we bought security fly screens from a salvage yard, cut them to size, and secured in place.
It wasn’t easy on the fingers, but was very effective. Then the final stage was using corrugated foam to fill the open areas that are created when using corrugated sheeting such as this.
So, we have vaccinated rabbits living in a fully mosquito protected enclosure with a bleach solution to step in at the entry. Fingers crossed!
It has been great to get more fruit this year, which hopefully indicates the fruit trees are now well established after the big relocation from McCarthy Park 1. Earlier this year we had mango and dragon fruit, and this month we have pomegranate and pears, both have been amazingly delicious! There really is nothing like picking and eating fruit straight from the tree!
We have also been harvesting lots of limes, pears, guava and lilly pilly, the passionfruit vines are laden, and there are 3 remaining avocados on the tree for the very first time!
The aquaponics system and pumpkin palace have also both been producing well, with plenty of cucumber, basil, tomatoes, carrots, parsnip and chillies in particular!
Of course, and the food we produce is shared amongst family and friends, as well as preserved for future enjoyment. There are jars of dairy free pesto in the freezer; green relish, sweet chilli sauce, lime chutney and kasundi in the produce room; and yet more pickled eggs in the fridge!
Wow! Success! We harvested 14 dragon fruit, and they were delicious! It was a bit of a waiting game to work out when to pick the first one, as we were unsure of the variety.
We eventually picked it on 12 April, 43 days from pollination, and although it was probably slightly over ripe it was amazing!
After that first one, we were more confident judging ripeness by colour, how ‘loose’ it was on the stem, and firmness which seemed to be around day 41 to 42. We enjoyed every single one!
We also enjoyed home grown mango! Unfortunately only 2 fruit made it to maturity, but they were amazing to eat! Protecting them from the frost over winter really helped the tree grow and produce fruit, so we shall certainly be doing that again this winter.
We successfully incubated more quail earlier this month, and with 14 in the brooder box it was getting quite disgusting! We found a great guinea pig/rabbit cage in a roadside collection, strengthened it up and converted it to a great little brooder for the quail. Rather than keeping it inside (a brooder sure does get smelly with 14 quail in it) this one is kept outside in a protected area.
They were so excited to be able to run around, have a big stretch and especially have a dust bath!
So far so good with a lot of the dragon fruit! We had one flower the first night, 8 the second night, 9 the third night, and one on the fourth and final night of flowering. A total of 19 flowers!
Here you can see one flower bud that will not be viable, the the others look good!
We hand pollinated each night, using a soft paintbrush by brushing the pollen off the stamens and the petals where it had dropped to, and then brushing it into the stigma. In our enthusiasm, we went out too early the second night and the pollen hadn’t yet been released, but when we went out a couple of hours later there was plenty of pollen on the lower petals we could brush up into a container.
From early in the mornings after flowering, the flowers were covered in bees! this must have helped the pollination process too!
Now, nearly two weeks later, three unviable fruit have fallen off, but the remainder are swelling very nicely!
Last year we were very disappointed to loose the few dragon fruit flowers that had grown for the first time, but are really hopeful for this year! After annual setbacks due to frost, we had to move them again from the raised beds and planted them in large pots just on the edge of the verandah, and they are thriving! They have grown so much, and several now have multiple buds…watch this space!
Even if some of them fruit, we will be thrilled! Especially as we have lost a few things towards the end of this hot Perth summer…..
The hot weather has continued, with several days above 40- the hottest so far being 44.5! We have a few allocated ‘sanctuaries’ where the wildlife can have some respite from the heat- one being the ‘billabong’ which we established not long after we moved in.
With that level of heat, we have lost a few plants and others are struggling, but there are a remarkable amount that are coping well, including veggies that keep on producing- zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkin, chilli, scalloped squash and beans- we have had heaps of these!
We have made a few batches of sweet chilli sauce and kasundi- both family favourites!
tomatoes and chilli prepped for kasundiyummy tomatoes, chillies and spices bubbling away– we have had plenty of home grown veggies for dinner! Some of the squash get overlooked and are then big enough to stuff and bake
The hot weather has brought out some rarely seen animals – like a Boxer Bark Mantid, one we have never seen before, and a very large trapdoor spider which unfortunately drowned in the pool on its evening explore.
