MID SUMMER SOLSTICE

We have now passed the mid summer solstice which means that from this moment forward our summer days will offer less hours of sunlight, but here on the Granite Belt of southern Queensland we are only just entering the growing phase of our summer. In Australia December is officially the first month of summer, following the spring months of September, October and November. However, due to our altitude we can continue with winter frosts well into October, which means that I seldom plant any frost tender plants before that month.

Prior to leaving for a holiday in Hong Kong in October I planted the first vegetables and because we did not get a late frost we are now picking yellow butter beans, zucchini, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.

Strawberries

We have also been harvesting strawberries from this bed on the lower terrace of our rear garden since the beginning of November.

By the time I returned from holiday I was able to transplant other seedling plants.

This year we are growing a huge vegetable garden. Why do I now need a huge garden? Who will do all the work? Who will eat all the vegetables or undertake the processing and preserving?

My life is undergoing a change that I believe is an answer to prayer in that it will allow me to live a lifestyle that I enjoy in my own home for many more years.

So today I am sharing with my readers our solution to the problems associated with growing older. Read the rest of this entry »

A SEASON ENDS

Each year as the month of November comes to an end I am always amazed to discover some significant aspect has been added to our peaceful observance of the costs of war borne not only by those who leave their homeland, but their dependants who remain and wait.  As you saw in my previous post we were visited by Amanda McLeay of TVTen and that night our floral tribute to the fallen was shown wide and far across Queensland and northern New South Wales. The immediate result was that holiday makers travelling north, who had overnighted in towns like Uralla in NSW called in to photograph our Remembrance Field and to ask for a packet of Flanders poppy seed. Then I received a request from a soldier’s wife, who had seen the TV presentation, asking if her husband could be photgraphed with her and their children in the Remembrance Field prior to his departure for Afghanistan.  I was told that when our men and women of the Australian Defence Forces are about to be deployed overseas the Department arranges for them to receive a selection of family photographs taken in the venue of their choice. This young soldier has already served in East Timor and Iraq. Of course I agreed to this request.

A soldier's family

These photographs were taken on the 19th November by which time time we had experienced three weeks of hot weather and the poppies were running to seed. Read the rest of this entry »

A COLD WINTER ENDS

I will remember the winter of 2011 as being a cold and dry winter. It was the coldest winter on the Granite Belt for eleven years. Such cold winters are always good for the orchards as they ensure the apple trees get sufficient hours of winter chill, needed to produce blossom.  Despite a dry July in 2011 the Granite Belt farms and our garden continued to carry over moisture from the soaking the district received July 2010 through to the floods of January 2011. This will be the first year since we moved to the Granite Belt in 1992 that the gully flowing between our dams and down to the river has run continuously.

Patches amongst the daffodils

The first sign of spring is when the daffodils bloom in my garden. I grow a number of different varieties of daffodils which means that I will have a display of blooms for several weeks. Whenever I or my Wwoofers are working the garden my cat, Patches, keeps us company. the Wwoofers call her their supervisor. Following an August show of rain I decided that I must begin thinning the Flanders poppies in the Remembrance Field. Every year the poppies germinate thickly and it becomes necessary to thin the crop.

This year I am also conducting an experiment to see if it is possible to bring the Remembrance Field to flowering in November without watering the crop. Last year was an exceptionally wet spring when irrigation was not required, but normally in other years I have been obliged to irrigate the poppies a number of times. This winter in June I added water soluble gel crystals (polyacrylamide) to the soil prior to the final cultivation of the field. I kept my fingers crossed throughout July that the gel would act as a water reservoir and provide sufficient moisture in the soil to germinate the poppies.  See the post for 3rd July titled THE YEAR 2011 (12) Read the rest of this entry »

FIRE AS A TOOL

I grew up on a cattle property in the foothills of the Bunya Mountains north of Dalby in Queensland, where it was my father’s custom to burn off the old dry grass every spring prior to expected rain. Thus as children my sisters and I learned to light fires and, if necessary, to fight fires to keep them under control. We saw fire as a useful tool, but today many people fear fires due to the devastating bush-fires of recent years.

Ever since moving to the Granite Belt in 1992 we have made it a practice to burn off our grass land towards the end of winter to prevent a possible spring bushfire. At this time of year the air is cold and the ground damp so fires are more easily controlled than later when warm weather arrives. An account of the worst bushfire I have seen in our district is given in my book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine. That year the fire occurred in October when a strong Westerly wind brought down a wooden power pole on private land and grass was ignited. With a strong wind behind it the fire roared through the dry grass, crowned into the leaves of the eucalyptus trees, jumped the highway and sped through the ravines and across the hills to the east of us, destroying homes and taking the life of one woman. That night the same fire came upriver towards us barely kept under control by the volunteer Bush Fire Brigade, commonly known as ‘Bushies’. It was these men who decided the next day that because we had kept the land near our home clear that they should burn back from there to meet the fire. They were using fire as a tool to fight fire.

Also recounted in Wildflowers, wilderness and wine is the history of our friendship with Nick and Mary Jane Hese who first came to Das Helwig Haus B&B as guests in 1994. They became firm friends who offered us their assistance and knowing that Nick’s occupation was as a professional firefighter I enlisted his help the following August to burn our firebreaks. That day he arrived on his motor bike with his leather jacket sprinkled with snow. As not enough snow fell to wet the ground we were able to burn the land the next afternoon.

You will also find in Wildflowers, wilderness and wine an account of how Nick and Mary Jane later purchased their own land here on the Granite Belt where they often spend weekends. Once more Nick came this weekend to assist me with our burn-back.

Nick has lit the first fire

Read the rest of this entry »

KING LUDWIG’S RESTAURANT & BAR

When Eberhard and I established Das Helwig Haus B&B on the Granite Belt in 1993 we chose to give our business a German name, decorate the interior of our Australian homestead house in a German style and to provide German meals. There is a saying in tourism, “If you can’t be the first, be different.” This proved remarkably effective marketing as it brought us guests who were German born like my husband, Australians with German forebears and others who had holidayed in Germany and wanted to relive the experience.

Later after King Ludwig’s German Restaurant was established at Maleny many of our guests shared with us their memories of dining there. Although we were obliged to close Das Helwig Haus B&B three years ago as Eberhard is now 85 years of age, I have always had a desire to visit this Maleny restaurant. Last Saturday the opportunity presented.

http://www.kingludwigs.com.au

The blackboard said that the restaurant was fully booked, but we had made our reservation two days previously. A rowdy birthday party was underway in the main restaurant, where we declined to sit beside a fire, much preferring tables on the veranda which offered a view down over the Glasshouse Mountains towards Brisbane. After ordering our lunch, I left Eberhard ensconsed at a corner table and went outside to enjoy the view from the garden. Read the rest of this entry »

A DAY IN THE SUNSHINE

Towards the end of July the winter days are starting to lengthen, but here on the Granite Belt of southern Queensland we know we have at least another six weeks of cold and frosty weather before the sun will have any warmth. Thus it was a with great pleasure that Eberhard and I accepted an offer of a day in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane the State capital. A return trip, within the day, entails about eight hours of driving which meant that we decided to leave home about an hour before sunrise. Our driver wanted to spend some time looking over  land behind Nambour with the view of purchasing a block as a future house site. He also has an excellent camera so in this post I’ll be including not only photographs I took during our outing, but some of his shots.

Dawn over Warwick

As we dropped down off the high country of the Granite Belt we could see the valley fogs in in all the hollows.

Sunrise over Warwick

The sun was gilding the clouds as he snapped this photo showing fog over Warwick and blanketing  the course of the Condamine River. I commented that I had never previously driven this highway during winter at such an early hour to be able to witness such a site.

Highway fog

Approaching the intersection of the New England Highway where it branches, the left lane continuing on to Toowoomba and the right veering towards Brisbane, it was clear to see why this junction recently resulted in a fatal accident, as visibility was greatly reduced by the morning fog. Read the rest of this entry »

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

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

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

Read the rest of this entry »

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 »