AUTUMN QUINCES

Readers of my book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine will be familiar with my good friend Claudia from Thunderbolt Farm. Claudia knew it was my plan to fly to Hong Kong, leaving tomorrow Sunday, for a two week break. Claudia had said, “I’ll drop down before you leave and bring you quinces.” She was as good as her word, but came late on Friday evening, yesterday. When confronted with all these quinces I knew I would have to act today or they would probably spoil before I arrived home again.

Ripe Quinces

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

HONG KONG 7

The Nan Lian Garden is situated at Diamond Hill in Kowloon. This garden was created in the style of the Tang dynasty (618AD to 906AD) and features unique timber structures, water ponds, various odd shaped rocks and lots of old and valuable trees. Carol and I followed its one way circular route watching its splendor unfold with every step. In this garden we encountered other tourists from around the world, but again it was a garden that didn’t appear to be used by the local Hong Kong population.

Odd shaped rocks

This was a garden that lacked shady areas and I quickly began to sunburn in a new blue top I had bought – it had no collar. This was our hottest day in Hong Kong and we quickly felt parched. The garden was kept moist by irrigation systems spraying a constant mist into the foliage of the trees and shrubs.

A hot day

The Nan Lian Garden is situated in a bowl surrounded by high rise buildings. Many Asian gardens are developed within a depression thus allowing for the construction of ponds in the lower portion. This garden possessed two large ponds – The Lotus Pond surrounding the golden pagoda and the The Blue Pond.

Bougainvillea

These shaped trees were a labeled as Bougainvillea Glabra Variegata. Obviously they had been cultivated and pruned for the decorative foliage, not flowers. At the time that we visited the garden there were no flowers to be seen, other than water lilies in The Lotus Pond.

Golden structure

There were red arched bridges across The Lotus Pond to this golden pagoda but they were closed to tourists. The team of gardeners wore yellow jackets and straw hats, but did not appear to be doing any serious work on the day that we were there other than keeping the shrubbery moist.

Garden workers

The Blue Pond was stocked with fish and would have been a beautiful sight in the early spring when weeping wisteria and cherry trees, green in this view, were flowering.

The Blue Pond

On the opposite side of The Blue Pond was The Pine Tree teahouse overlooking this lovely green oasis. It would have been a perfect spot to relax in the cool shade of the deck fronting the water, but cameras were not allowed and entry onto the deck overlooking the pond was denied unless one was willing to partake in a tea drinking ceremony within the teahouse. We wandered on.

Blue Pond rocks

Cascading water and waterfalls are frequently a feature of Asian gardens and the site of so much water splashing down this wall on a hot day drew our attention to the Long Men Lou restaurant hidden behind the glass window over which the water washed.

The Long Men Lou restaurant

Once more cameras were forbidden but Carol and I were given a table on the other side of this screen of water, which provides privacy for the large dining room discreetly hidden in this section of the garden. Once more only vegetarian cuisine was offered and we again chose a set menu. We are both adventurous eaters with few food dislikes so being presented with an assortment of new dishes is an opportunity we relish.

Rather reluctantly we left the cool interior of the restaurant to proceed towards The Nunnery.

Bright sunlight

This parapet, as we climbed steps towards The Nunnery provided a great overview of the garden and Carol took the opportunity to video the scene.

Carol

We discovered a series of formal water lily ponds situated immediately in front of The Nunnery.

Water lilies

The Nunnery

We walked across this courtyard admiring the topiary and the water lily ponds to the shade of the overhanging roofs, from which we could look down over the ponds.

Water lily ponds

Our day ended on a comical note when we arrived back at our hotel to find a film crew in the driveway. They were filming men in a Chinese lion suit leaping about on tall poles.

The Chinese lion

Prancing lion

Das Helwig Haus B&B owned by Eberhard and Fay Helwig is situated at Glen Aplin, near Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt of southern Queensland, Australia.

This is a region noted for summer stone-fruit, autumn apples, winter  Christmas in July dinners and a spring Remembrance Field of red Flanders poppies.

Fay has published a book called Wildflowers, wilderness and wine.

It is available on the Amazon.com website.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ACXQ0M/sr=8-1/qid=1244294755/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1244294755&sr=8-1&seller=

http://stores.lulu.com/strictlyliterary

http://books.google.co.uk/

HONG KONG 6

It will be no surprise to you that I spent a day in Hong Kong walking through two gardens. I’m going to write two separate posts to describe these gardens to allow me to use sufficient photographs to adequately illustrate their differences.

The first garden we walked through was the Kowloon Walled City Park. This was once a lawless, high-rise slum which was transformed into an award winning park in 1995. It features a Qing dynasty almshouse, the Old South Gate, pavilions, sculptures, flower gardens and a playground for children.

Old stone walls

Drs. Jean Stone Willans and Rick Willans brought the message of Charismatic renewal to Hong Kong in 1968 and started the Society of Stephen. This movement of the Holy Spirit united many – Chinese and Westerners, Catholics and Protestants, from all walks of life – in the fullness of the New Testament faith. In 1973, Miss Pullinger brought a heroin-addicted Triad leader to the Willianses; he withdrew in their home without sickness or pain (with no medication) through repenting from his crimes, believing in Jesus and praying in tongues given by the Holy Spirit. The news spread – even to the Walled City drug dens – and soon the Willanses were pastoring several “House of Stephen”, where scores of addicts likewise began new lives with the help of volunteer workers.

This paved the way for the law to enter into this once dangerous area and by 1995 the slum was cleared and the area established as an inner city park. Read the rest of this entry »

HONG KONG 4

It seems that I have struck a chord on Facebook with my tales of a week spent in Hong Kong. Although many of you have signed up to be able to leave comments on this site, other people are reading it when I share each posting on Facebook, and leaving their comments on that page.

Instead of using public transport – subway, bus and ferry to reach our destinations, my son Paul who is resident in Hong Kong, arranged to hire a car and for the next two days of the weekend became our chauffeur.

Paul drove us to Aberdeen to take us to lunch on the largest floating restaurant in the world.

The Aberdeen marina.

I took this photo of the marina from the high rise parking facility of the Aberdeen Yacht Club. Read the rest of this entry »

HONG KONG 3

I had chosen to take this holiday to Hong Kong to have a rest and Carol told me it was only on the third day that I started to pick up pace. I wondered if perhaps she had started to slow down to match my steps. We were staying in central Kowloon near the Mong Kok subway which made travel for us convenient to many destinations. Our hotel had provided us with a booklet about the attractions of this region.

Hong Kong map and attractions.

We had remained at Mong Kok at Kowloon on Wednesday, visited the Stanley Market and Murray House on Hong Kong Island on Thursday. On Friday we decided to visit Lantau Island to view the Giant Buddha. Read the rest of this entry »

CHRISTMAS AT DAS HELWIG HAUS B&B

I have been blessed by the arrival of a useful young Korean man called Jerry, who majored at a Korean University in tourism. When he returns to Korea he plans to work for an Uncle who has a resort on the hills overlooking the eastern sea towards Japan. Jerry told me that I was the ‘busiest’ grandmother he had ever seen. I think he was referring to the amount of work I do. I have found him helpful at cleaning bathrooms, hanging out washing and pressing sheets. He is excellent with meal service too, cleaning up the kitchen and packing the dishwasher after meals. He is a Wwoofer - a Willing Worker on Organic Farms and came to me expecting to undertake garden work. www.wwoof.com.au There will be plenty of that! Now he says he is delighted to be here as he has found himself gaining experience in a tourism business. The photo below shows Jerry emptying compost onto a garden patch where I’ll plant potatoes and sweet-corn next spring.

Korean Jerry

I’ve had an exhausting time since my brief days of rest and recreation in Hong Kong as I’ve been preparing for our winter season when every Saturday night I serve a German style, roast goose Christmas dinner to our in-house guests. This is our 17th year of providing Bed and Breakfast, plus a Saturday night dinner for our guests at Das Helwig Haus B&B who come to visit the sixty wineries of the Granite Belt. Read the rest of this entry »

HONG KONG 1

This is the first of a series about my days in Hong Kong in May 2009. The business part of this trip was quickly finalized when I signed the contract with a Chinese firm to have copies of my book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine printed and shipped to Brisbane for Australian distribution. It now appears that these books will be available for me to autograph by July. During my absence  our business Das Helwig Haus B&B was closed. My eldest daughter, Carol, accompanied me. Both of us had been to Hong Kong on previous trips and knew how to travel around the islands of Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories using the efficient underground trains, ferries and buses, all of which are inexpensive forms of transport. Our hotel was centrally located in Kowloon near the Mong Kok entrance to the subway station and from our window on the 36th floor we were able to look across the buildings to the island of Hong Kong. Our window gave us a view towards the west with the morning light shining bright on the tall buildings over which we looked towards the island. Although the whole region is commonly known as Hong Kong and there are several islands within the area, this one hilly section ringed by sea is called either Hong Kong Island, or The Island.

Western view across to Hong Kong Island.

It was interesting on my first early morning start -  I was still functioning on Australian time which is two hours ahead of this region, to look out this window and see almost no movement in the streets below, but people practicing exercises in the park. Like all Asian countries Hong Kong is slow to swing into action in the mornings, but residents party or shop well into the night. Read the rest of this entry »