A WINTER WEEK

Vivian and Giles have now left me to continue their Australian travels in the sunny north of Queensland, but before leaving here Giles experienced our coldest morning since 2007 when we measured -8°C here at Glen Aplin on Tuesday 12th July. The Granite Belt of southern Queensland is the coldest district in the State which ensures that we truly experience all four seasons of the year. It is also the busiest tourism season of the year when weekend visitors from Brisbane arrive – not to feel the cold, but to experience the ambience of wood fires and hot Christmas in July dinners.

Wood smoke

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AN IMPORTANT WEEK

My readers may well ask, “Why is this week so important?”

My reply, “This is the week the Remembrance Field must be cultivated to enable the Flanders poppy seed to germinate thus ensuring the field will be ablaze with red poppies in full bloom for eleventh November.”

Following on from the slashing of the wheat and poppies at the end of 2010 we have this year cultivated the field three times with our little rotary tiller. I rely on wwoofers - Willing Workers on Organic Farms – to undertake this work every year.

The first turning over of the soil is the hardest work and this year that was done by Charlie from Austria.

Charlie had the muscles needed to turn the soil and incorporate the straw. I then allowed the field to grow a crop as green manure. Read the rest of this entry »

A WEEKEND AWAY

Following on from my three days at Farmfest, I had the pleasure of taking a drive with one of my sons down to Newcastle through scenic country . In this post I will share with you some of the photographs taken during this drive. We left Queensland on Friday 10th June and returned on Monday13th June.

To Newcastle map

June is the first month of winter here in Australia and one of the things I always look forward to on a trip down through the New England Tableland, which stretches from the Queensland border to Tamworth is the sight of all the cottoneaster and pyracantha (Fire Thorn) hedges with their red and orange berries.

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FARMFEST 2011

When it comes to taking a stall at a huge market such as Farmfest, I can only say I am an amateur. Nonetheless the usual market camaraderie was quickly apparent as others who regularly travel to attend markets and field days all over Australia welcomed me into their fold.

It appeared that I had been alloted a good site, a corner position in the Lifestyle Shopping Arcade.

31 - A corner site

This meant I needed to erect two  display tables and cover two walls. Well quite honestly, I had no great background material like this family with their Alpine Berry Farm products.

Alpine Berry Farm

Their jams are their business and their products were professionally displayed. Read the rest of this entry »

AN ABUNDANCE OF SAP 3

A number of times friends have said to me, “I don’t know how you do it all!”

My response had frequently been, “With difficulty.”

In April I realized that I had to take some time off for respite and flew to Hong Kong where I spent the next four weeks enjoying this view.

Refreshed, I returned, with added zest and am now preparing to spend three days at FARMFEST near Toowoomba. See www.farmfest.com.au

Sunrise over Kowloon Harbour

Initially I booked a stall site at Farmfest to promote my book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine because a couple of years ago I had observed Jame McClean promoting his book When Bloods Enough at Farmfest.   Jame writes blood, guts and sex thrillers and he promotes himself as a Queensland outback author under the slogan ‘The Bush Fights Back’. Although the Granite Belt is hardly in the outback, we are in the bush and I believe my style of writing will also appeal to a country readership.

Jame McLean - The bush fights back

I then decided to take my SAP products along to test the market for them within this rural community. While I have had great sales selling packets of SAP crystals at market stands for use by home gardeners, there is the possibility of a much larger market for these water solubable crystals in agricultural use.

Boxed crystals

They are now widely used in agriculture in China. Farmers are incorporating the dry crystals into their soil before planting crops, like these tobacco crops I photographed in China. The couple of workers in the distance were watering individual plants, giving each one a cup of water. The gel absorbed this water and helped the plants get off to a thriving start. Then, the seasonal rains came and soaked the field. Any dry crystals absorbed the water ensuring continued moisture for the tobacco plants.

Tobacco crops in China

One of the questions I have frequently been asked at the local markets is, “What happens when the ground is waterlogged by too much rain?” I answer, “The gel absorbs water and expands, floating in the soil and preventing compaction of the soil, thus allowing the roots of plants  to breathe.”

This year I decided that I would create my own example of using the SAP in an agricultural situation, by incorporating it into the soil of The Remembrance Field. Prior to leaving for Hong Kong in April I had sprayed the immerging weeds on this field, but due to our wonderful, regular autumn rain and cool nights, the Flanders poppies germinated by the thousands. Too early! I saw this greening of the field as an opportunity. With the arrival of a Wwoofer – Willing Workers on Organic Farms -  I decided that he would plough in this crop of early poppies as a green manure crop. His name is Brad Ariss and he comes from Parry Sound in Canada. Firstly, Brad broadcast dolomite and water soluable gel across the swath of green poppy plants.

Brad broadcasting dolomite and SAP

Brad cultivating The Remembrance Field

Next he used our little Honda tiller to turn over the soil. When he had turned over the soil from east to west, he worked the field from south to north, thus incorporating the broadcast dolomite and SAP. Next time it rains the SAP will absorb moisture and retain moisture in our friable decomposed granite soil. Dolomite is not a fertilizer – it is a soil conditioner, which will ensure the rapid breakdown of the green manure crop.

When I advised my son, who had supplied me with a tonne of SAP from China of my intention to display and sell this product at Farmfest, he spoke to the salesman at the Chinese company from which he had sourced the product. He sent me this email today.

Hi Mum,

The factory is pretty excited you are going to Farmfest!

He attached this  correspondence

Subject: Re: Water Absorbing Crystal Polymer
Hi,

Thanks a lot for your email and info, message well noted, we wish you a fruitful show at Farmfest, and we await for your further instruction.   Let’s keep in touch. We will work closely and support you fully.We look forward to a successful partnership.

Should you have any further questions, pls. feel free to contact me.
Have a nice day
Kind Regards
Colin Yung
Manager

Now what did I say at the beginning of this post?  Yes, I had had to leave home for a month of respite.  No, at 71 years of age I don’t want to become an entrepreneurial saleswoman. So what is the solution. While selling SAP at Farmfest I am going to ask for distributors who will share my dream. With assistance from my son based in China I will continue to purchase SAP in its various forms by the tonne and then offer this in smaller quatities to distributors. I’ve had flyers printed to hand out at Farmfest saying:-

WATER BEADS OR WATER CRYSTALS
These beads and crystals are created from water-absorbing polyacrylamide.
They have a proven lifespan of 2 years in direct sunlight or 4-5 years when mixed with soil.
They have the capacity to absorb up to 400 times their weight in water.
Polyacrylamide is 100% non-toxic and biodegradable.
HOUSE AND GARDEN
Mix crystals into garden soil, water the soil and then plant out seedlings.
Mix crystals into potting mix before filling pots.
Use to start and grow indoor Wheatgrass or Herb Gardens.
These crystals can reduce watering frequency by up to 75%.
They promote faster seed germination by keeping the root zone moist.
DECORATIVE
Water beads work great with candles and fresh flower arrangements.
Freeze water beads for chilling wines or champagne.
Water beads can be used without soil in pots holding water-loving plants like Bamboo, Arrowhead, Chinese Evergreen, Dracaena, Peace Lily, Red Prayer Plant, Philodendron, Dieffenbachia, Spider Plant and Ivy cuttings.
FARM
Crystals may be lightly spread on cultivated soil. When mixed into the soil they hold nitrates, phosphates, potassium, iron, zinc, boron and other elements next to the roots of plants, thus reducing the leaching of these elements into ground water. Research has shown that the beads attract the bacteria and microorganisms essential to plant growth.
Crystals in dry weather extend the time that moisture is stored in the soil.
Crystals in wet weather absorb additional water and float within the soil, thus preventing compaction.
RETAIL DISTRIBUTORS WANTED
e.mail: helwig@halenet.com.au Mobile: 0439 390 863

So if you are amongst the thousands who will visit Farmfest this year- Tuesday 7th, Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th June – do drop in to chat with me in the Lifestyle Shopping Arcade.

I will close this post by including a gallery of photographs of how I have used the water soluable crystals and decorative beads in my home.

Selected glass containers.

Flowers stand upright in SAP gel

With no smelly water to change, flowers last longer.

Homemade candles sitting in red beads, green beads and clear crystals.

Wildflowers, wilderness and wine

I will be there at Farmfest next week to autograph copies of Wildflowers, wilderness and wine for my readers. For a quick preview of what this book reveals see http://www.australia-book.com.au

AN ABUNDANCE OF SAP 2

In my last post I told my readers how I had discovered SAP – Super Absorbent Polymer, or as it is more commonly known Water Absorbent Crystals which, when water is added, form a gel to retain moisture in the soil in dry periods or to prevent compaction of soil in boggy conditions.  It is true to my nature that when I discover something useful I like to share my good fortune. Thus I obtained a tonne of this product, packaged it into 100g boxes and now take it to markets each weekend where I also promote my book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine.

The purpose of these An Abundance of SAP posts is to tell my readers, especially gardeners and farmers, how I have used SAP in my garden. In my first post I included a photo showing how I had planted out Iris roots in the spring.

Planting Iris

This morning on a cool and rainy autumn day I have photographed these flourishing iris plants to show how well they have grown. We experienced a wonderful mild spring with regular rainfall and then floods in January. After the floods we suffered seven cruel weeks of hot dry days.  My petrol powered pump had been immersed in flood water and during the heatwave which followed the flood and I could not irrigate my garden.

Flooded farm dam

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AN ABUNDANCE OF SAP

My readers know that I am SAP – as Self-sufficient As Possible. I have also discovered a product, which I have now been using in my organic garden for three years, that is also called SAP – Super Absorbent Polymer. During March I am going to introduce my readers to this product.

The soil of the Granite Belt is decomposed granite. It is granular like sand and porous. The vegetable farmers are obliged to irrigate their fields every third day. I have struggled with this thirsty soil for over 18 years trying to change the texture by incorporating humus to retain moisture and covering with  mulches to prevent evaporation. While these methods work, they require constant maintenance as this decomposed granite is hungry soil which rapidly breaks down the added nutrients. They then form a powder like texture, which acting in the manner of talcum powder prevents water penetration. When we get steady sprinkling rain for a day before a down pour this light topping will gradually become wet and act as a sponge, but if we get storm rain on dry ground the water will only run off. The question in my mind became, “How can I keep my soil moist without watering it every day?”

I am a seeker of knowledge, so I researched the shelves of the hardware stores that stocked garden products. My first discovery was Searles Water Crystals.

Water crystals

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AN ABUNDANCE OF SUNLIGHT

Australia is a land of droughts and flooding rains – a land of extremes. A land that gives abundantly of sunlight or rain, but seldom is the weather moderate. It is a harsh land that refused to be tamed by European settlers. The indigenous people did alter it over many centuries from rain forest to open forest with their use of fire, but that evolution was probably accidental caused by burning off country for hunting purposes. They lived with the land never attempting any form agriculture. It has always been a matter of interest to me that every third year several different tribal groups came from all points of the compass to gather at the Bunya Mountains at this time of year to harvest the nuts of the Bunya Pine cones. The town of Jondaryan took its name from Aboriginal words meaning the last big waterhole on the trek to the mountains. I attended the Yamsion primary school which apparently was sited on a good place for digging yam roots and my parents built a home on Black’s Camp Hill. Because of a fear of spirits in the mountains the tribal people descended down as far as this hill to sleep each night.

The early settlers tried to transplant the ways of Europe onto this continent. It, of course, ignored them and continued to bring the floods and droughts as in previous time. They tried to tame the land with fences, roads, railways and placed dams on the river, all to no avail as they could not change the climate. The land is not separate from its climate. Rather the oceans that send currents swirling around our shores, causing condensation to form and precipitation to fall are all linked in a chaotic pattern that modern man and his computer models are dimly beginning to understand.

Therefore, I believe it is essential that Australians learn to live with their land because they can not change the vagaries of the climate. One way we can do this is to utilize our abundance of sunlight to generate solar power.

Flooded farm dam

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AN ABUNDANCE OF RAIN

Yes, from July 2010 until about three weeks ago we had an abundance of rain. Until the January floods the weather was almost perfect for gardening.  For six months I didn’t need to irrigate my garden, because every week we would get enough rain – nice steady soaking rain, not storms with damaging winds and heavy rain. I’ll probably never enjoy such a period again, but it was great while it lasted.

After the floods the sun has shone brightly, which was wonderful for the farmers of the Granite Belt. They had plenty of stored water for irrigation, but what their crops needed was hot, sunny days to ripen and sweeten their fruit. Even when Tropical Cyclone Yasi roared in across north Queensland the sun continued to pour its heat down upon our district. The grass had grown madly after all the rain and now it has gone to seed and is rapidly browning off.

Glen Aplin valley view

This photo shows a view  from our farm to the ridge on the other side of the Glen Aplin valley, but only two weeks previously the grass country beside the river had been under flood water. Read the rest of this entry »

AFTER THE FLOODS 3

It was with shock and dread that most north Queenslanders watched cyclone Yasi bear down on the State, but also for those well removed from the location there was a sense of awe at the magnitude of this particular cyclone. Everyone had days of warning to prepare and Government and volunteer organizations swung into action. It was not only that Yasi could be one of the strongest cyclone to hit Queensland since 1918, but it was a monstrous size. Cyclone Larry that struck Innisvail in 2006 was a strong cyclone, but not a wide one. Queenslanders are accustomed to cyclones but this cyclone had the potential to wreck havoc and take lives like never before seen. Read the rest of this entry »