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Hello everyone!
We have changed to a new blog/website, since we have morphed into the Permaculture Research Institute Sunshine Coast. Please find us at permaculturesunshinecoast.org. You can select to follow us there, on the left hand menu bar. We aim to update our new website more regularly than we have this blog...
Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Catching and directing water with a swale

I am sometimes unsure why the Sunshine Coast is called that, when we can get such massive rains. Last week we had around 350mm in 30 hours. This came following a heavy rain in the week before and continuing rain during that week, so the ground was absolutely saturated! The reason I am only posting this article now, is because our phone line was washed away and we were without phone or internet for about a week...

On Monday morning, after a night of heavy rain, we went and checked the swale and the dam. Tom made our big swale an overflow of our dam, to ensure excess water was directed away from our house, animal pens, driveway and access roads.

Our dam is to the right, this is the overflow going over an access road

We followed our swale and noticed the water was moving too quickly in the swale. It is supposed to move no quicker than walking pace, and it was definitely moving quicker!

The swale mound starting to flood

Water pouring into the swale from the bank

 

Puddles forming on swale mound, held back by the lip

The swale mound was starting to flood, water was pouring into the swale from the bank and puddles were forming on the swale mound.
 Tom was very happy he had spent some time creating a lip on the mound, which was doing its job and keeping the water in.


The swale did a good job at redirecting the water, at the end of the swale it flowed down a grassy hill, causing minimal erosion and was directed to join the creek.

Swale spillway

Overflow rapid over grass

The swale overflow water running
down the hill over the paddock

Our access road; the creek had swollen
so much, the road itself was a river...

To date (16 March 2012) we have had 1382.4mm of rain this year. It is the most we have had in a short period of time, and it has made Tom realise that the large swale (see article http://permaculture.org.au/2011/08/03/farm-tour-of-kin-kin-souls-permaculture-demonstration-site-plus-one-tip-you-must-know-before-for-setting-up-your-first-swale/ ) needs help, and that another swale needs to be dug on the other side of  the dam and go the other way, to moderate the water flow. It will also have a spillway, with sandbags we can then regulate the flow either way. We live and learn, and sometimes we need events like this to realise what is needed on a property. Eventually we would like to incorporate more dams in our swale system. But everything is done bit by bit, and we will get there in the end!

18 day hot compost

As part of the Permaculture Design Course taught at Kin Kin Souls by Tom, he shows students how to make an 18 day hot compost. This is a fungal based compost, which is great for trees; they thrive in a fungal based environment. First we have to get the material together, which consists of:

Freshly cut vetiver grass and weeds/grass

Cow manure

Compost and a dead bird for activation

Diameter established, fresh grass and manure,
ready to be covered with hay

We cut vetiver grass and weeds/other grasses and had cow manure "harvested" from our cows, both high in Nitrogen. We alternately layered fresh cut grass, cow manure and hay (dried, old cut grass, high in Carbon), with the bulk made up from the grasses. The ideal ratio is 25 Carbon to 1 Nitrogen. To get that ratio right is the art of composting.

We had a dig through our compost bin for some citrus and other bits and pieces. A small chicken unfortunately died not long ago, so we used it with the food scraps to "activate" the compost: heat it up from the inside. When we were about halfway up, we added the activator, then buried it under more layers. We needed at least 1 cubic metre of volume for the compost pile, otherwise there would not be enough bulk to be able to heat it up adequately.

We watered the pile after every several layers and then again at the end, after which we covered the pile with a tarp for 4 days.

James watering the compost

Covered for 4 days

After 4 days we turned the compost for the first time, and stuck a thermometer in at various stages to measure the temperature. The temperature was between 52 and 74 degrees Celsius. 74 degrees was too hot, all the beneficial bacteria start dying at temperatures over 65 degrees. But we were pretty happy with the average temperature of the pile, which was around 63.

The first turning after 4 days

Fungal activity already started;
at first turning

From then the compost was turned every 2 days (thanks to Scott, who did most of the turning!). The smell was not very pleasant at the first turning, but after that the smell seemed to have gone. Tom tested the moisture of the pile by grabbing some and squeezing it. It was moist enough if there was water dripping out, otherwise it needed some more water. If there is not enough moisture, the composting process is slower and we don't want it too wet either.
After every turning we covered the pile with the tarp again, to protect it from the elements (rain would have cooled it down, wind would have dried it out etc.)

STEAM!! Only permaculturists get joy from playing with a steaming pile of .......

Fungal activity was obvious at every turning. Below are some photos on the development of fungal activity in the compost:

Fungal activity day 6

Fungal activity day 8

Fungal activity day 10

Fungal activity day 12

The temperature stayed pretty consistent during the subsequent turns, between 55 and 65 degrees C. It started cooling down at about day 14 to around 50 to 55 degrees C. By day 18 the temperature was down to around 45 degrees C.
We regretted we were unable to make the vetiver grass smaller; there were still quite substantial chunks in the compost. Next time we will use an old chaff cutter we have been able to get, so our finished compost will have a finer consistency.

Day 18: turning the finished product

And up close... Ready for use by day 18

18 day hot compost

As part of the Permaculture Design Course taught at Kin Kin Souls by Tom, he shows students how to make an 18 day hot compost. This is a fungal based compost, which is great for trees; they thrive in a fungal based environment. First we have to get the material together, which consists of:

Freshly cut vetiver grass and weeds/grass

Cow manure

Compost and a dead bird for activation

Diameter established, fresh grass and manure,
ready to be covered with hay

We cut vetiver grass and weeds/other grasses and had cow manure "harvested" from our cows, both high in Nitrogen. We alternately layered fresh cut grass, cow manure and hay (dried, old cut grass, high in Carbon), with the bulk made up from the grasses. The ideal ratio is 25 Carbon to 1 Nitrogen. To get that ratio right is the art of composting.

We had a dig through our compost bin for some citrus and other bits and pieces. A small chicken unfortunately died not long ago, so we used it with the food scraps to "activate" it: heat it up from the inside. When we were about halfway up, we added the activator, then buried it under more layers. We needed at least 1 cubic metre of volume for the compost pile, otherwise there would not be enough bulk to be able to heat it up adequately.

We watered the pile after every several layers and then again at the end, after which we covered the pile with a tarp for 4 days.

James watering the compost

Covered for 4 days

After 4 days we turned the compost for the first time, and stuck a thermometer in at various stages to measure the temperature. The temperature was between 52 and 74 degrees Celsius. 74 degrees was too hot, all the beneficial bacteria start dying at temperatures over 65 degrees. But we were pretty happy with the average temperature of the pile, which was around 63.

The first turning after 4 days

Fungal activity already started;
at first turning

From then the compost was turned every 2 days (thanks to Scott, who did most of the turning!). The smell was not very pleasant at the first turning, but after that the smell seemed to have gone. Tom tested the moisture of the pile by grabbing some and squeezing it. It was moist enough if there was water dripping out, otherwise it needed some more water. If there is not enough moisture, the composting process is slower and we don't want it too wet either.
After every turning we covered the pile with the tarp again, to protect it from the elements (rain would have cooled it down, wind would have dried it out etc.)

STEAM!! Only permaculturists get joy from playing with a steaming pile of .......

Fungal activity was obvious at every turning. Below are some photos on the development of fungal activity in the compost:

Fungal activity day 6

Fungal activity day 8

Fungal activity day 10

Fungal activity day 12

The temperature stayed pretty consistent during the subsequent turns, between 55 and 65 degrees C. It started cooling down at about day 14 to around 50 to 55 degrees C. By day 18 the temperature was down to around 45 degrees C.
We regretted we were unable to make the vetiver grass smaller; there were still quite substantial chunks in the compost. Next time we will use an old chaff cutter we have been able to get, so our finished compost will have a finer consistency.

Day 18: turning the finished product

And up close... Ready for use by day 18

Yacon syrup

"Yacon syrup is a sugar substitute native to the Andean region of South America. It is glucose-free, and does not increase blood sugar levels. Because of this, yacon syrup is often recommended as a sweetener to those suffering from diabetes or at risk of becoming diabetic.


The syrup is derived from the roots of the yacon plant, and according to some studies is a good source of antioxidants. The yacon plant tastes similar to jicama, but is biologically closer to the sunflower family. The component that gives the roots a sweet taste is Fructooligosaccharide, or FOS. The tuberous roots may be made of nearly 50% FOS, and are believed to be the greatest producers of the saccharide in the natural world.

Because the body cannot process FOS, it passes through the system without leaving behind absorbable sugar compounds. It also is relatively low in calories, compared to most other sweeteners. " - Source: www.wisegeek.com

We had an over-abundant supply of yacon that had to be harvested. Yacon (also known as ground apple) grows very easy in our (sub-tropical) climate, one plant produces many rizomes for division and re-planting. It needs very little attention when in the ground and Tom is of the opinion that it improves the soil where it has grown. 


One can only eat so much yacon and we do not like wasting resources, and after visiting a health shop and noticing the latest health craze is yacon syrup, I decided to try and make some. 


I researched a bit on the internet and found that yacon syrup is a healthy sweetener, just what the doctor ordered for us. So if I could get this yacon syrup to work, it would mean we would no longer need to buy any sweeteners, be one step closer to self reliance and receive health benefits.

So I started by digging up a patch of yacon and washing it. To wash it, I put it in a crate and set the hose on it with a fair bit of pressure. I ended up with about 2/3 of a crate of yacon.

I peeled 2 big bowls full of yacon with a potato peeler (about 2/3 of the amount I had). Then I juiced the peeled yacon and poured the juice into a big pot (around 4 1/2 Litres of juice). The pulp ended up with the chickens and the geese.

The pot is on the stove and as you can see some scum is already floating on the top. I kept skimming the scum off the top and once it started to reduce I skimmed it from the sides of the pot as well. 
I brought the pot to the boil and then let it simmer. I started in the afternoon and let it sit on our wood stove overnight. In the morning I brought it to the boil again and skimmed off more scum from the sides and top. By this time the juice had reduced to about 800ml. The juice had become very dark and the smell was a delicious molasses or treacle smell.

I took the pot off the stove and filtered the juice through a fine metal mesh. Any thicker material staying behind I put in a separate container (for use as well, just to experiment with it. It can be added to dishes that require cooking as a sweetener).

Finally I ended up with a jar with 750ml of yacon syrup. It has a beautiful, sweet treacle like flavour. I keep it in the fridge, but I don't think you need to. We add it to drinks, desserts and just use it as a general sweetener. This abundant resource in our garden is allowing us to enjoy healthy sweets and we no longer need to buy other sweeteners. As a comparison, the jar of yacon syrup in the health shop was around 200ml for $24... And it was most likely imported from South America.


Tom is now looking at possible other uses for this resource, eg adding it to animal fodder or making it into a fuel, if he can get to it before I do.

Finished jar of yacon syrup

Simple organic raw cultured butter making

Benefits of butter are many, and the bad image butter has had over the past decades is slowly starting to disappear. Butter is extremely good for you, it fights infections, is a great source of certain vitamins and has various other health benefits I will not go into here (just google "benefits of butter" for more information). Organic raw cultured butter is the best you can get, and it is extremely easy to make.

All you need is raw organic cream from your cow (if necessary save it up for a few days to get a decent amount). In this example I use 1.25 litres. Pour the cream into a 2 litre glass jar. You can add yoghurt or kefir cultures at this stage, but I just let it sit as it is on the counter for 1 day and 2 nights to culture.

This is how the cream can look after a day and 2 nights. I now add a heaped tablespoon of seasalt to the cream (you can skip this if you prefer unsalted butter). I ensure the lid is tightly sealed, then wrap the jar in a tea towel, so that if the lid is not entirely liquid proof, I do not get any cream on my clothes...


I place one hand on the lid end and the other hand on the bottom end of the jar. Then I shake it slowly from side to side by moving the jar up and down like so:










Ensure the cream goes from top of the jar to the bottom of the jar in a nice steady rhythm. No need to rush, otherwise you will get tired before the butter has formed! The cream will get very thick at some point and will barely move inside the jar. Just keep going until it starts moving again. It will start sloshing around now, because the buttermilk will separate from the butter. It takes about 5 minutes of steady movement to get to this point.

Keep going for a bit longer until there is a fair amount of buttermilk that has separated from the butter. Don't worry, you'll know when it is time to stop! The butter and buttermilk now looks like this (see left)











I now put a wooden spoon into the glass jar to hold back the butter while I pour off the buttermilk. I use the buttermilk to make pancakes on weekends. After pouring off as much of the buttermilk as possible, I spoon the butter out of the jar with the wooden spoon, squeezing it against the side of the jar to get rid of any excess buttermilk.










I put the butter into a container, push the butter down in the container and drain any excess buttermilk. Store the butter and the buttermilk in the fridge. They both should keep at least a few weeks in the fridge. Enjoy!

Native bees to help our garden

Photo from www.aussiebee.com.au

As many of you already know, the world's bees are in trouble. Colony collapse disorder, predator beetles and probably a range of other factors that have to do with our lack of care for the earth is slowly annihilating the world's bee population. We have definitely noticed a decrease in bee activity in our garden this year and are extremely concerned about this problem, since a lot of our plants depend on bees to produce fruit or vegetables. So we were very excited to discover a native beehive in a log on our property.

Most Australian native bees are solitary. That means they do not live in a hive but live alone in small holes in logs and other small crevices. Those we try to encourage into our garden by drilling small holes into timber in which they can nest. Solitary bees do not store honey.
Honey is stored in hives of social bees during the warmer times of the year so that the bees can survive in the colder times of the year. Due to the winters in Europe being long and cold, the European honey bees make a lot more honey (70 - 100kg per year per hive) than our Australian native bees (only about 1kg per year per hive). Our native bees are only found in the warmer areas of Australia. The hive we found was the Trigona Carbonaria variety (Australian Stingless bees).

Tom cut both sides of the log off so only the part with the hive in it was left. Then he screwed blocks of wood to each side to close it off, leaving their natural entrance open. We had to take the hive off the property for about 3 weeks, and then bring it back and put it in its permanent spot in our vegie garden upon return. This was to ensure they would not try and fly back to where they used to be on our property. Tom mounted a little roof over their entrance, to keep the weather out for them (pampered bees...) and found a beautiful spot for them in our vegie garden, under a mandarin tree.

Here you see our beautiful little beehive, blending in perfectly with its surroundings. The bees only get active at around 18 degrees Celsius, so we had to do a little bit of clearing in our garden to ensure they have enough winter sun.




Our hive of bees have been in this spot for a few months now. Tom is keen to split the hive in the next few months. Apparently the half without a queen create a new queen to ensure their survival. Tom has made up some boxes to make the splitting process easier in the future:

This is one half of the new hive. The idea is to add the split off part of the hive into this box and then add another box on top so the hive can grow:

There will be a floor on the bottom and a lid for the top, possibly with some perspex in between the lid and the top of the boxes, to catch the honey. There will also be an entrance added to the box for the bees to get in and out.

Here is the future hive with the honey "super" (no lid yet). As you can see the wood used is very thick, which will be ideal for insulation for the bees, since they are sensitive to temperature fluctuations.






We are looking forward to starting the splitting process in the next few months. Watch this space for updates on this process!!

This is our existing hive's entrance. The photo on the left was taken early in the morning when it was too cold for the bees to come out. The photo on the right was taken later in the day with the bees coming in and out. The bees are a lot smaller than the European honeybees. The little dark dots you see are their bodies reflecting the light.

If you would like more information on Australian Native Bees please go to Australian Native Bees website.