12.2023
I have retreated into the house because it is too hot for gardening. This year the grass is still green and the weeds are still growing so the garden round the ruins is rather out of control. The vegetables are OK and every morning I notice the beans and pumpkins have grown overnight. The sweet corn is shooting up too. The lettuces are all bolting and starting to taste bitter if I pick them too late. At least we have zucchinis and snow peas.
The elephant garlic flowered and I pulled them all up and put them in our entrance hall to dry. This means there is a strong smell of garlic as you walk into the house. I usually dry them outside in the old ruins but Josh has taken over the space to store all his salvaged solar and electrical bits! I forgive him because he has fixed all the leaking taps in the house that were driving me round the bend.
The new solar system is working well. We used power from the grid one day when it was cooler and very overcast. I decided to make cheese and put the urn on to pasteurise the milk without checking if the battery had charged up. I realise that to use the least grid power I have to be aware of the amount of light as well as the temperature and other considerations. I like the idea that we have acquired another way to consciously work with nature.
Today it is hot and cloudy with hot winds and the threat of storms. We think that our hay in Healesville has been cut so we are just hoping that the rain will stay away for a few more days. Edd is trying to get a team of hay carters lined up. We usually have Ollie and his mates but he is on holiday in Thailand. He was posting pictures on Facebook but has now had his mobile phone stolen.
When one way or another we have sorted hay, we will need to get the sheep shorn and moved to fresh ground. They are in two groups at present with the lambs and their mothers separate from the ram and the older sheep. The idea is to stop the ram breeding with his daughter and the old black ewe. I think another pregnancy would kill her. We have so much grass that we need every sheep possible alive and eating. The wether hoggets ( young neutered blokes), are valued as grass eaters this year rather than as food!
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