Robin’s Final Post

Well, the time has finally come for me to wave goodbye to Imago Forest. I’ll be leaving shortly to continue my world tour (next stop Auckland) so, sadly, this will be my final post on the farm blog.

So how has it been living off the grid out in the bush, eeking out a living as a WWOOFer for the last three months? The highlight has to be seeing nature at work in all its beauty and ruthlessness. I’ve witnessed a few things that many Aussies never get to see, let alone Pommy backpackers: I’ve seen a snake devour a mouse; a huge swarm of bees descend on the farm in search of a new home; countless wallabies foraging for food (and trying to sneakily steal our crops); lizards sunning themselves here there and everywhere; and spiders the size of small dogs on the hunt for their dinner. I’ve also been rudely awakened in the middle of the night by a frog jumping up and down on my head, and been attacked by leeches and ticks countless times, but the less said about that the better.



Animals aside, Mother Nature has served up some spectacular weather for our delectation on this hilly outcrop. Being able to peer out over the mountains from the comfort of the yurt and witness some magnificent electrical storms has been a joy. Possibly the most impressive of nature’s feats to this city slicker however has simply been the rate at which our veggies have grown. I had no notion whatsoever of what went into cultivating those juicy veggies that are on offer in abundance at the supermarket, so seeing our crops go from seed to plate in a matter of weeks – powered by nothing but sunlight, rainwater, well-prepared soil and bit of good old fashioned hard work – has been fascinating.

Living the sustainable lifestyle out here in the bush has also been an experience and a half. In all honesty, I’m looking forward to getting back to the creature comforts of city living (such as not having to bury your own sewage every few months), but I’m going to make a renewed effort to cut down on wastefulness and keep an eye on the old carbon footprint. One things for sure, I’ll have a whole new appreciation of being able to take a hot plumbed-in shower, pick up supplies from a shop within walking distance and amble down to the local pub for a cool beer. Cheers! I’m off to sleep for a week.

No Vampires Here

The garlic harvesting and plaiting was a great success! Earlier in the month Robin and I pulled the garlic from the ground. It was very satisfying to see 18kg of garlic come from only 3kg planted.

To develop the flavours fully and ensure the garlic keeps well, the bulbs with stems were laid out in the sun on the ground. Of course with all the rain we've been having up here, this meant moving them in and out of shelter between showers.

As the stems dry out, they turn into a raffia which will use to braid them together.

But before we can do this, we cleaned the garlic up by cutting the roots off and peeling off the outermost layers of dirty skin, revealing the beautiful clean stems and lovely variegated purple heads.

Finally, we sized them up, took eleven each and plaited them up. After much trial and error, we got them into neat double rows. And with 18kg of garlic, we won't be seeing the vampires around here for a while!

Back on the farm : )

Coming back to the farm was a very pleasant experience, with the tremendous job Robin had done in looking after it.
Compared to a mere three weeks ago, the farm looked like a tropical jungle! The warmth and rain has certainly made a difference.
It was a great pleasure to be able to pick Strawberries, Bok Choy, Tatsoi, and Imago Mixed Salad as well as our regular eggs to have for you at the shop last week. And right now the zucchini and cabbage are working hard on their development too!
And of course we've just pulled up all the garlic in readiness for the field day next weekend.
Hope to see you there,

Julian.

Slow Food

Terra Madre (Earth Mother) is an event run by Slow Food. An international organisation devoted to promoting good, clean and fair food. Terra Madre brings together producers, chefs, students, and academics from around the world to discuss these issues. It aims to provide a counter-point to the Fast Food culture.
Overall the event was amazing. There were representatives (7000 in total) from 153 different countries (there were only a handful that weren't here) and the event was run UN style with everybody wearing headsets and speakers being translated into 8 different languages. It was held in a huge venue and there were many representatives that had set up stalls in the central room to sell products from their country and many people were wearing traditional costume. We wondered what we as Australians should be wearing... Perhaps Drizabone coats and hats?
In attending workshops we quickly realised that all the challenges we face in Australia are mirrored in every part of the world. There may be individual nuances, but it was a real eye opener to see how much similarity there was. A sense of global solidarity grew in me. Similarly it was interesting to hear that there wasn't too much new under the sun and that all around the world we are working on similar solutions. I guess the main difference being that in Australia we have easy access to information and so these ideas are readily available to us. Perhaps people from other countries may have been hearing of the solutions/interventions being tried out in various countries for the first time.
For many of us the workshops were quite disappointing. The topics were very interesting, however in reality the speakers rarely stayed on topic and the moderators did nothing to address this, and in fact waded in by providing long winded personal opinions... there were many people moving between workshops to try and find one that they was going to be productive as a result.
Some cultural observations: ministers, officials, NGO leaders, almost anyone that would be considered 'important and expert' had very little of practical interest to say. Preferring to talk to fluff their feathers.
Italian speakers are incredibly waffly and never stick to the topic being discussed.
Producers/farmers from around the world talk about the practical side of things, although some are more to the point and articulate than others.
People from African countries quite understandably use the forum as a way to vocalise the very difficult situation many of them are in. Unfortunately as this was rarely on topic, their comments were rarely addressed by the next speaker and I was left feeling a bit sad and miffed with the event for not being able to address real issues and to utilise the collective expertise.
The most inspiring talk and workshop i attended was by the US youth. Youth is a new category at Terra Madre this year and is aimed at including the next generation into the conversation. At the opening ceremony, Sam a 14 year old, told us of how he and his mates established a great school food garden that is incorporated into the curriculum and the canteen and is now being asked to help in setting them up far afield. later on a workshop that covered practical ways in addressing the difficulty for new farmers to access land and to get internships on farms was very interesting and practical. Great counterpoint to the waffly older 'important and knowledgable' speakers previously mentioned!
The best thing about the event however was the opportunity to network with other people and make personal connections. In particular for me i will get in touch with the young americans that are doing some great things in the States.
There are projects all over the place there that connect people together in innovative ways and act against the things we dislike about the current depersonalised, commodified culture.
Australia looks set to really mushroom on similar projects, so it's great to see how they have done it before so the wheel isn't being reinvented. I think a trip to the States is the next step. hee hee.
Presidia
The event was incredibly colourful with many people connecting with many others. In particular Slow Food helps artisanal producers maintain their traditional products. in one hall was about 200 tradtional producers with the most amazing foods. And of course we got to sample many of the delights. You'll have to come to experience it, but i'll just leave you with a high light which was a sausage made from a pig that is covered by curly wool and really looks like a sheep-pigù1
Salone del Gusto
This was even bigger and was open to the public. Imagine an olympic sized hall with literally one thousand stalls selling and displaying their produce from all over the world, but particularly Italy. You can imagine the popular stalls with people hovering around the ones giving out samples. We felt like pigeons picking up morsels here and there.

Plain Old Farm Hand

Today marks the end of almost three weeks of flying solo here at Imago Forest, while Julian's been away at the Slow Food Conference in Italy. What I've learnt is that trying to keep the garden under control while running the shop once a week is absolutely exhausting. The satisfaction that comes with looking back on the garden as the shadows lengthen and reflecting on a good day's work is quickly tempered by the realisation that there's still a big list of jobs still to do. I guess that's just the way it works: You can spend all day mowing the lawn, but there'll still be plenty of weeding and pruning waiting for you tomorrow, and then there's the fertilising to be done and a few more beds to be planted... But on the plus side, the reason that the garden's been a bit overwhelming is that there's plenty of growth going on. We've got bok choy coming out of our ears, the silverbeet and lettuce are coming along, the potatoes, pumpkins and zucchini's are steadily improving and we've even got some small fruit developing on the trees. I'm off for a well-deserved weekend break to Sydney, but am looking forward to hanging up my farm sitter hat when I get back, and getting stuck into work as a plain old farm hand again.

Post rain

How things can change in a week. This week my prayers were answered when the cold, wet and miserable weather was finally replaced by glorious sunshine (apart from on shop day, when it always rains). The garden seems to have got a bit confused with all this meteorological changeability, with some beds bearing big juicy greens, while others house vegetables that are insisting on going to seed. So this week I've been doing battle on two fronts; trimming down the seeding crops to try to persuade them to grow into something edible, and pulling up those stubborn weeds who have been gatecrashing our veggie beds in ever-increasing numbers. Yesterday, In a break from the trimming and weeding, I began turning over the soil in one of the beds in preparation for planting, and disrupted a whole network of field mice burrows - including a nest of tiny baby mice. I'm not sure if they're good for the garden or not but, feeling a bit guilty about unearthing their home and scaring their parents away, I'm going to try to keep the babies alive while working on the other beds. I've got no idea what to feed them, but I hear mice are keen on peanut butter, so might give that a try - provided our resident red-bellied black snake doesn't get to them first...

Wild weather

Today I write to you from a cold, wet and windy Imago Forest, where it seems that somebody has forgotten to tell Mother Nature that Spring has sprung. It almost reminds me of home. Needless to say, my grand plans for a couple of weeks of pottering around in a garden bathed in glorious sunshine while Julian's away on assignment in Italy have been well and truly scuppered. Instead, my gardening stints have been punctuated by numerous trips back to the yurt for a cuppa and to warm my hands by the fire. I'm beginning to gain an appreciation for how much the unpredictable wild weather can play havoc with the Aussie farmer's plans. On a lighter note, it was nice to meet you all at this week's shop. It was my first solo effort, so I hope the service was up to scratch. The bok choy was fresh from the garden this week, so I hope that it goes down well with those of you who took a bunch home. There's plenty more where that came from, as well as a few other leafy greens that are just a few weeks away from hitting the shop table. Other veggies that have been showing good progress this week include zucchini, potato and pumpkin. Now it's my job for the next two weeks to make sure that they continue to thrive in Julian's absence, as well as planting a few more beds to keep the garden ticking over. I just hope that the Sun decides to make an appearance sometime soon.

Slow Food

Well, I’m almost half way through my three-month stint at Imago Forest, and I feel that my contributions over the last six weeks are beginning to pay off, most notably at this week’s shop where the lettuce and bok choy on offer were fresh from the garden. Granted, I wasn’t involved in planting those particular crops, but there’s plenty more where they came from, so hopefully it won’t be too long before I’ll be seeing a few veggies on the table that I’ve helped to nurture all the way from seed to shop.
On the subject of the shop, Julian’s off to the Slow Food Conference in Italy next week, leaving me in charge of the farm and shop for the next two and a half weeks. My main priorities during this period will be not to kill anything on the farm (animal, mineral or vegetable), and successfully negotiate the next three shop days single-handedly.
In other news we now have 150 tiny new silver perch in the dam. Sadly I’ll be long gone by the time they reach maturity, but Julian’s promised me a fish barbecue next summer if I come back to visit. I’ll be sure to bring my fishing rod.

Abundance

This week we returned from a long weekend in the city to find a farm that had been pelted with 42mm of rain in the space of a few days. The good news was that the blooming garden clearly loved having a good drink. The bad news was that my now collapsed tent resembled a small swimming pool. But back to the good news, as we now have plenty of new shoots making their way out of the soil, with our salad mix of rocket, mizuna, mustard and other tasty leaves making an appearance. In the more mature beds it’s silverbeet galore, with bok choy, cos lettuce and coriander also thriving. These gorgeous locally grown greens will be coming to the extras table at the weekly shop, so keep an eye out for them. There’s plenty more planting to be done while we’re waiting for those crops to reach a sellable size, and of course there’s also the weed battle to keep us busy in the meantime.

Dirty Work...

This week’s been largely dominated by digging. We’ve done so much of it that I’m a little disappointed not to have unearthed a few fossils. Thankfully, with the help of our now exhausted Italian WWOOFer Jacopo, we’ve come on leaps and bounds in the space of a few days. Sadly he could only stay with us for a week before heading back to the real world in search of paid employment (and a few days’ rest), but with four more beds sown, two more well on the way, a batch of pumpkins and potatoes planted, two chook domes moved and the wallaby defences shored up, he should be more than satisfied with his contribution. Grazie infinite!

Hold your breath

This week we welcome Jacopo to our team. He’s a first time WWOOFer from Italy, which makes me feel like something of an old hand. I do have three whole weeks of farm work under my belt after all. My grand discovery this week is that herbicide-free organic farming means there’s a lot of weeding to be done. A lot. The garlic beds have been looking pretty crowded, so Jacopo and I have been hard at work pulling up all of that unwelcome greenery to give our garlic crops a little breathing space. Several hours later and, while my hands feel like they’ve seen a lifetime’s worth of weed-pulling, the garlic’s looking happy, healthy and all set to be dug up by your good selves at the Imago Forest field day at the end of November.

Bag of Bones

By Robin:
It’s hard work this farming business. I’ve been here for two weeks and every muscle, bone and sinew in my body aches, a lot. But enough of my whingeing, the good news is that all the hard work we’ve been putting in preparing those beds with pitchfork, mattock, rake and trowel is already starting to bear fruit (well, vegetable to be precise). The Bok Choy’s already sprouting, the Silverbeet’s thriving, and it won’t be long before the rest of the crops start to show signs of life. In fact, the garden’s looking so tasty that the chooks have staged not one, but two, jailbreaks this week. Fortunately, with a little gentle persuasion, we convinced them that they’re better off with the chicken feed back in the chook domes than they are with the garden’s sprouting greens. All we need to do now is persuade those pesky wallabies that the veg in our garden isn’t for them either - with a little help from a new electric fence.

Robin's first week

Hi, Robin here. I’m a Pom (sorry), and I’m Julian’s latest Wwoofer. For those of you who don’t know what that means, Wwoof stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms. It’s a scheme that allows travellers to volunteer at organic farms across Australia in return for bed, board and a few new experiences.
I’ll be here for the next three months, and will be sharing some of my experiences with you through this blog. I’m new to life on the farm, so you’ll be getting my insights as a complete newcomer.
As an urbanite, this week has been something of a baptism of fire for me. Imago Forest is pretty remote, we live in a solar powered yurt, sleep in tents and shower under a hose (we’re hoping to get the new solar hot water system up and running shortly).
My first week here has been a real lesson in sustainable living. Virtually nothing is wasted. Food waste is fed to the chickens, weeds are pulled up and used as mulch for the trees and egg shells are crunched up and fed back to the chooks to improve egg quality. Meanwhile, us humans live off the grid on solar power and rain water.
The week’s been pretty hectic, what with having to deal with rain damage, trespassing cows and a huge delivery of gravel, but yesterday I managed to spend my first full day in the garden. We dug up a few of the vegetable beds, which are looking really healthy, and have planted zucchini, squash, silverbeet, broccoli cabbage carrots and plenty of flowers. Now the hard bit is waiting to see how they grow…

Putting famine behind us

With the weather warming up and the spring flowers coming out, it's hard to believe that this was the time of year when famine would often strike home.
With modern expectations and busy lives, we often don't get to experience the seasonal cycles... and in many ways this is a good thing!
For those growing food, however, they'll know that early spring is probably one of the most difficult times of year. Vegetables that were planted in late autumn for winter harvesting have been collected. And the spring plantings are only just going in and will be a while yet before they can be harvested. Historically people relied on stored food to tide them through this gap.
Today, we can ship in food from other parts of the country or world. This can be a doubled-edged sword, but at least we won't be starving!

Bigger Better Pantry

The soil test results are back and the good news is that the soil acidity is decreasing and the organic matter in the soil remains at a very healthy level. Unfortunately the available nutrients has not increased which I was surprised about as the CEC has increased.
The CEC is a measure of the soil's ability to store and exchange nutrients with plants. What this suggests to me is that the biodynamic practices are improving the soil such that it has become a larger potential store and more freely accessible store of nutrients, but that the nutrients are not there.
Or to put it another way, I've been making a bigger and better pantry, but now I've got to stock it up!
This is a relatively good position to be in, so I was inspired this morning to go out and transplant many of the small silverbeets and cabbages into newer beds and give them a good feeding. Previously I haven't been keen to do this as I thought the chook manure would be sufficient, but the soil tests indicate that a bit of extra feeding wouldn't go astray.
As the weather warms up, I'm expecting to bring to town some Spring greens.
Of course I'll have to keep the wallabies out! It only took a week for the wallabies to realise that the pup was no longer in the garden.

Soil Goodies

This week we spent a bit of time focusing on the soil. We put out some of the special biodynamic preparations (horn manure and horn silica) which are stirred by hand for an hour and then put out over the whole paddock with a hand-made rye grass brush. It's a very pleasant job with plenty of time for contemplation, appreciating the progress so far and envisioning the changes to come.
At the other end of the scale, I took soil samples from the centre of each bed (that hasn't had the chooks on it within the last two months) and sent off an averaged sample to the laboratory for testing. I'll let you know of the results when they come back.

Skin Cream for Trees

This week I got inspired to put out some Biodynamic Tree Paste. It's made of cow manure, clay and crusher dust, and it is smeared onto the trunks and stems of the trees. Ideally I would have put it on before the trees had started sprouting again, but better late than never.
Practically speaking the paste is good because it fills in cracks that insects and fungus can hide in. It provides some nutrition to the plants. And gets you to pay some up-close attention to each plant which is easy to let slip! In particular I noticed that one of the trees had been damaged by the high winds a while ago and so i taped it up and smeared some paste over to let it heal.

Economics of Farming

I recently attended a Biodynamic Forum on the economics of farming. Christopher Houghton Budd was the guest speaker and he presented some great information on how (farm) economics could be structured to provide a social, environmental and financial win.
Some of the key concepts were:

• Land has no monetary value
• Separate accounts for farm and non-farm activities
• True Pricing
  
• Life's Work
• Price Takers
• Corporate structure as a reflection of human activity
  
• Trim Tabs
• Trusts vs Companies
  

Land has not monetary value
The concept here is that because land cannot be created, it is much like the sun, water, air and should have no monetary value. We can of course buy and sell the things we create from our own work, including things that result from working the land, just not the land itself.
This has an interesting consequence for farming, which is that farmers would not have to buy or rent land to grow their crops and so the cost of producing food would drop.
Following on from this was the idea that if land no longer changes ownership just because you are related to the previous owner or because you have more money that somebody else, then how should it change hands or more accurately custodianship.
One suggestion was that those best in the know ie knowledgable peers, are in the best position to allocate resources so that they are made best use of. In this case, farmers would choose who next to allocate a newly vacated piece of farm land. And that this farm land could never be sold off for the money value and then developed into something else.
This may sound idealistic, however I can imagine farmers, without a child willing to take on the farm, who might be willing to donate their land to a "trust" which would allocate the land to an up and coming farmer. Particularly if they have spent their life developing their farm, building the fertility of the soil, getting their herd just right. I'm sure they would rather see their farm continue to be worked and loved than have it sold off for the dollar value and developed.
And this can be started one farm at a time... I know that I will be!

Separate accounts for farm and non-farm activities
Typical farming activities were scrutinised for whether or not they truly were farming activities.

1. Anything that occurs off-farm is not farming eg. selling produce
2. Anything that is value adding is also not farming eg. making yoghurt from milk
3. Only the work involved in creating the primary product is farming eg. dairying for milk

It was recommended that farming and non-farming activities be accounted for separately in order to fully understand the economies of each. And in better understanding these activities, to be in a better position to make good decisions. Often by combining the accounts, it is not obvious that the non-farming activities are subsidising the farming activities.

True Price
The true price for something is the price required to stay in business until the item can be sold again. Therefore the true price for food is the amount that allows the farmer to stay in business until they are able to grow more food (without harming the environment).
It is also more likely that if people knew that the true price was being charged that the practice of shopping around and price cutting might be eliminated as that would mean that the customer were not paying enough to cover the costs of the food. Over charging would also be eliminated as this would be unnecessarily taking from somebody else. This obviously depends on mutual trust and respect and a recognition that each person is doing their Life's Work.

Life's Work
Imagine if you were given the money you need to live upfront each year and then allowed to decide whatever it is you wanted to do for that year.... no pressure. After spending a few weeks on the beach (!) what would you do... you can do anything you want. Now imagine if everyone were doing exactly what it is they wanted to do -- their Life's Work. What would the world be like? Also, would you want to undercut somebody if you knew that what they were offering was part of their Life's Work? Would you overcharge somebody for something when you know that what you are offering is really an expression of what you wanted to do anyway?

Price Takers
At the NSW Farmers Association meeting, it was very evident that most farmers are bowed under the pressure of being "price takers". This means that they cannot set their own prices but must accept what the market will offer them, usually far too low. Farmers often receive less than 10% of the price that we pay in the shops, but they have borne all the risk in producing it. This is a long way from the concept of the True Price.
Unfortunately because most farmers sell through central markets or through the major supermarket chains they are locked into being price takers. It is only when they can connect directly with the people who will eat their food that they have a chance of setting a true price, which mean they are neither a price taker or giver.

Company Structure
The company structure is just a mirror for our own development. As such the excesses of the capitalist system are not inherent in the system but a reflection of where we are at as a society. In some ways these excesses are necessary to go through, just as a teenager needs to rebel before coming back to a sustainable position. However this unsustainable period does need to end and it is time for us and as a reflection of us, the capitalist system, to grow up!
The company structure has come under a lot of scrutiny and criticism by many that are unhappy with the obvious harm that arises because Directors and shareholders are able to dodge responsibility behind the limited liability.
Companies however are a very effective way of linking people with initiative or ideas and little or no capital to people with capital or the means to put the ideas into reality, but no initiative.
In the talks over the weekend it was discussed how the company structure could be modified with Trim Tabs to make it function equitably while still retaining all the positives that come with it.

Trim Tabs
Two main trim tabs were discussed. The first was to disassociate fully the ability for shareholders to vote. Therefore full responsibility for ensuring the development of the idea into reality is down to the Directors.
Another way of achieving this is that an associate organisation that is certified under the Associative Economic Guarantee Mark is created that has majority votes. It is there simply to ratify agreements between directors and shareholders, but not to set direction itself. This changes the typically competitive relationship between the directors and shareholders into a collaborative one.
A third trim tab discussed in Chris' book "The Right On Corporation" was that while shareholders are limited in their liability (hence limited liability company) they are not currently limited in the profits they receive.

Trusts vs Companies
There was talk about the role of Trusts in holding land for common good and the like. My understanding of Christopher's view point is that although Trusts are often set up in perpetuity, there are many precedents for the charter being overridden. Further people can easily become complacent in Trusts and so the management and running of Trusts can become ineffective.
A company on the other hand is explicit in saying that nothing can be taken for granted and that the values and goals will only be achieved by constant reappraisal and action towards them. Also, because a company has at least some profit motive, the impetus to keep the management and running effective is much greater. Finally, if the Trim Tabs described above are used, this makes the company a very effective tool for collaboration rather than competition.

Some of the discussions were quite challenging, and the summary I've given probably doesn't do it justice, but if you'd like to ask me about it, I'd be happy to go into more detail with you. You can also try their website: http://www.ae-institute.com/

NSW Farmers AGM

This week has been an exciting week off the farm! Firstly however, apologies for the change in date this week, we really appreciate your understanding here.
I’ve been down in Sydney to attend the NSW Farmers Association AGM. I’ve written previously about the Association and so it was with some trepidation that I came.
It has been a very interesting experience seeing how such a large and influential state-wide organisation runs, especially when it has to run through a book’s worth of motions in only three days and with several hundred passionate people there to debate the issues!
There was a lot of debate on climate change and it was great to hear the involved discussion on it, with farmers arguing all sides, which was different to my previous expectations. On the issues of representation, the Association is still lagging, with even the horticulture members complaining that the broadacre members are over represented!
On the Tuesday night there was a Food Fair with fresh produce made up into delicious treats for everybody to sample. Of particular interest was a stall that had orange and fig curd with biscotti… which was from a member that is organic! Yippee.
I spent the day networking with various members, the CEO and General Manager and gained expressions of interest for establishing a committee within the Association to discuss the issue of organic farming. At this stage it looks possible, so my trip to Sydney feels very worthwhile.
Thank you again for supporting Imago Forest, together we’ll make a difference!

Sowing oats

To start preparing for spring, we're now busy planting oats into the vegetable beds. The aim is to grow them as a green manure for the chooks to eat and convert into manure or to be dug straight back into the ground.
The idea behind a green manure is to provide green matter to build the organic levels in the soil. It can also help to clean the soil and is a less intensive crop to give the soil a rest.
Green manuring is an important element of organic farming.

The Horror!

Unbelievable, I woke up to howling winds and three chicken domes at the bottom of the paddock. After the double take, I saw that they really had leapt out of the mandala garden, dodged the fruit trees and ended up in the forest at the bottom. So just as i'm feeling pleased about keeping the wallabies out, I'm having troubles keeping the chicken domes in! Not only that, but the chooks had a good few hours of pecking and scratching up the garden.
After several hours of repairing them and maneuvering them back into place, then finally chasing the chooks to put them back in I got to have breakfast... Ahh.... who'd be a farmer?!

Irish Enthusiasm!

Rhoda and Fiona came last week and were fantastic help! While they were here we got 10 beds prepared ready for a winter planting. The backlog arose because of the weeks of rain where we couldn't plant. When it's too wet, digging the ground just ruins the structure. Thankfully there'd been a week of no rain before they came so that while they were here we could get stuck into it!
(left: planting spring bulbs)

Perra the saviour

Well this is looking very positive for you and me, but not for Perra. Having the "fearsome" dog sleeping in the garden has made all the difference. Vegetable are getting taller than 10cm tall without being eaten. And last week we had the first evidence of this with bunches of fresh Coriander and Baby Bok Choy available on the extras table. I'm looking forward to bringing down Butter Chard in a few weeks time. : )
I was thinking that maybe I should move the tipi into the centre of the mandala. Not only would it be a beautiful place to wake up when the trees get established, but it would certainly put the wallabies on guard!

Bated Breath

This week i'm waiting with bated breath (not baited traps mind you) to see if last weeks anti-wallaby methods are effective. If so, this might finally be the end of the wallaby saga and the beginning of a Wallaby Factsheet!

Wallabies revisited again!

Previous wallaby measures have met with limited success, and of course, just as I'm about to harvest some vegies, they get munched.

The latest round of defense includes, a possum live trap (just in case, it's not wallabies), Perra in the garden over night for the next week, blood and bone sprinkled around the perimeter as well as hair. All of which are meant to be a bit pongy for the wallabies.

It's been suggested that I grow mint outside the garden as they love that, but I'm a bit worried the mint might go feral! So I'll just be slashing away from the garden to promote fresh grass for them.

Left: fierce wallaby guard on duty.

Things to consider when buying food

I came across an interesting article about things to consider when buying food which I've extracted from and added to for this week's blog:
Is it local?
According to studies, if all food was consumed within 20km of where it was produced, costs associated with congestion and transport would be cut by 90%. If it hasn't travelled, as far it hasn't created as much greenhouse gases and is more likely to be fresh and nutritious. And of course you are supporting local business.
Is it in-season?
Food that is in-season, does not need to be packaged and refrigerated to the same degree to be appealing and tasty. As many of you have noticed, fresh and in-season produce lasts longer and so you are throwing out a lot less. It also uses less resources to consume produce that is in-season.
Is it highly packaged?
Because today's packaging is tomorrow's landfill, buying produce without all the layers is good for future generations and reduces the need for ugly tips.
Is it highly processed?
Highly processed or refined foods tend to use more energy and water in their production. Fresh, tasty produce retains more of the nutrition and doesn't require as much processing to be delicious!
Is it organic?
Organic farming focuses on the health of the soil and uses natural production methods rather than relying on synthetic chemicals. The upshot is that organic farms tend to be gentle on our native wildlife and produce less greenhouse pollution.
Food labelled "Certified Australian Organic" also means it is free of genetically modified organisms, and farm animals have been treated according to the strictest welfare standards.

No-effort transplants

A visit to a friend's wonderful garden in Singleton resulted in another improvement in the no-effort farming method.

As you know, we let the vegetables go completely to seed, which results in very thick beds of seedlings the next cycle. We've been harvesting these small plants as greens for salad, and to make room for the remainder to grow to a large size.

However this visit made me realise that they could equally be an ample source of healthy seedlings for other beds. 

So what we do now is, when a bed comes up thick with seedlings, we get a trowel and remove sections of them. These are teased apart and planted into bare spaces in other beds. This gives the seedlings more space to grow in the old beds and in the new beds. Best of all, it requires no work from us to create an abundant supply of happy and healthy seedlings.

Once again, the idea is to interfere less and let natural processes work to assist us.

No-effort Farming - a few weeks on

I've had two very excellent people up here - Jim and Rob - and we've been powering through the bed planting. These are some of the first of many beds being planted out under the "new" no-effort method.
The beds at Imago Forest are all circular, so we've planted silverbeet, peas and spinach around the outside, broccoli inside that, and carrots and shallots in the very centre. Throughout the entire bed we've also lightly sown oats and spring flowers.
The reasons for this are to have a thick and varied bed to reduce weed and pest problems, to put often picked items around the outside, close to the path and to put infrequently and larger plants in the centre.
It's possible that the wallaby has been kept out so that all this hard work doesn't go to naught!

In the spirit of things

Have you ever wondered what to do with a particular vegetable in your box? Well, send us an email and we'll produce a fact sheet with a simple and tasty recipe, including notes on how to grow it.

If you have a favourite recipe that you'd like to share with us, to be included in the fact sheets, then please send them along.

When we get enough fact sheets together, we'll put together a little booklet... A cook's guide to cooking or A grower's guide to cooking... especially for Friends of Imago Forest.

Let me know what you think, what vegies need to be in there and anything you'd like to contribute!

cheers,

Julian.

Chook Revelations

Aha! was the thought that came to mind following a visit from the vet... It turns out that chickens aren't terribly adaptable when making new friends.
My chickens have good looking combs and wattles, which usually indicates a healthy chook. But they've been pecking each other's feathers out, which i've been told indicates everything from malnutrition to lice to boredom!
I've been conscientiously working away at all these possibilities -- I know it's not malnutrition as they get a premium certified organic feed, it's not lice as there aren't any on them and it's not boredom as they do all the normal things chooks are meant to do and every two weeks get a brand new paddock to play in.
So when the vet said that chooks can't re-establish a new hierarchy after they've established one pecking order, it all made sense.
So, chooks can establish one pecking order in their lifetime. But if they are mixed up after that, they can't establish another one and will constantly peck everybody else in their confusion. Unfortunately, short of killing them, there is nothing that can be done. However I thought it would be worth letting you know as I don't think this is a widely known fact.

Wallabies revisited

With the ongoing devastation caused by the wallabies, I've put some serious thinking towards the problem... and realised the obvious, which is I need to make inside less attractive, getting in harder and outside more attractive.
So we pulled up the electric mesh fence and mowed the grass under it very short to reduce the amount of grass touching the wires and then put it back up straighter and taller. Just to make sure, I also set up a highly visible two-strand electric fence just in front of the other.
Then to provide more fresh young grass shoots outside the garden I slashed the paddock around the garden.
And finally, on days when i'm in town I leave Perra inside too.

A few days on, the number of wallaby droppings inside appears to have dropped and outside increased. And even better, the silverbeet seems to be growing whole, untouched leaves. Fingers crossed!

Shop Coordinator

A big thank you to each of you during this transition period. Change can be a bit disconcerting, however it will allow us to continue to provide fresh and tasty, seasonal organic produce to you.

It has also allowed me to get help, and so it's confirmed, Chris Searle is the new Shop Coordinator. He can be contacted at imagoforest.singleton.orders at gmail.com. I trust you will enjoy his smiling face each week.

This in turn will mean that I can start to concentrate on the farm and increasing the amount of produce grown here and therefore appearing in your boxes.

This is just in the nick of time, as I was wrong in thinking that i'd managed to keep the wallaby out of the garden. In fact there's now two of them. So in addtion to doing some nightly patrols of the garden with Perra, I'm leaving Perra in the garden on days i'm away to guard it.

Although i'm resigned to the loss of the beans, tomatoes and silverbeet, I'm concerned about the future of the Apple trees as I think there can't be too many leaf buds left to keep the tree alive.

Better go patrol the garden...!

NSW Farmers Association

I went to a NSW Farmers Association convention on Thursday and heard the President and various people speak about all sorts of things related to farmers and farming. The Association is very good at political representations and there is a lot to learn there. However it is on what the Association doesn't represent that I've been finding interesting over the last few years.
It is very clear that the Association does not represent or have part of its culture organic farming or non-Caucasian farmers. I find this "surprising" for a few reasons:
Organic Farming is the fastest growing agricultural sector all around the world. Not using chemicals makes sense environmentally and for farmer and consumer. I have yet to meet a farmer that enjoys either using or paying for chemicals. It makes sense to me then for the Association to have organic farming on it's agenda and to start including it in it's discussions.
There are over 2000 farms in the Sydney Basin and most of the farmers there are from a Non-English Speaking Background (NESB). It is reported that they contribute over $1billion/year to the economy! This is a huge missed opportunity for the Association in terms of membership and in terms of truly representing Australian farming. Be great to see a forward thinking and inclusive Association include in their corporate image pictures of non-caucasians
It's possible that I may be going to their Annual Conference, so we'll see what happens there!

No-effort Farming

Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer coined the phrase, "No-Effort Farming". He noticed that rice seeds that germinated on their own and with little/no interference from people tended to grow best. By copying the conditions that these healthy rice plants required he developed a rice ball that he just threw around the paddock which then grew with no-effort.
I've noticed a similar effect in the mandala garden. Because the beds are cultivated by the chickens at most once every six months, the plants have plenty of time to set seed. What I've also noticed is that if I'm a bit late in cultivating then planting my own seeds, an incredible profusion of plants comes up from these dropped seeds already in the ground.
So putting two and two together, I'm going to see what happens if I consciously allow all the beds to go fully to seed, then let the chickens onto them, then not dig for a few weeks and see what comes up. The first couple of beds have produced some magnificent Bok Choy. And I'm excited about a bed of silverbeet on its way.
If it works well consistently, I'm going to have to identify exactly what non-intervention results in the best seed set and germination!

Frosty reception

Only a few weeks ago I noticed that it was cooler and now we've had our first frost! I'd better get out there and pick the tomatoes that are left after the wallaby had it's feast!
I put Perra (my dog) to work for the first time in her life last week. While I was in town on Tuesday, she patrolled the inside of the mandala garden, or at least that was what she was meant to be doing. Either way, it seemed her presence helped to keep the wallaby out as it has obviously decided that the electric fence is worth braving for the goodies on the inside.
Today I got out the lawn mower to get the garden in some semblance of order in preparation for the field day in three weekends time. Unfortunately it won't be a scene of abundance following the wallaby, but at least it will be neat.
I hope you've been enjoying the flowers in your box, the picture is of a stunning flower that blossomed in time for me to see it when I got back from my travels.

Organics in Hong Kong pt.2

A few days after my visit to Apple and Jo's farm, I headed out to Produce Green which is an NGO that runs an organic farm, education centre and allotment system. Doris (left), who I met at the Hong Kong Flower Show, kindly took me out to her allotment and showed me around.
People in Hong Kong lease a patch of ground (Doris' two square metres costs $300/year) in which they can grow organic vegetables. Produce green provides them with tools, fertilisers, mentors, and watering for when you are not there. Seeds and seedlings are also for sale.
The really nice thing I noticed was how people knew each other - socialising and giving each other a hand. The "weekend" farmers would often bring their family and friends around and it would be a fun and educational day for all.
The picture (right) shows about 60 allotments!
Speaking with Doris and the resident farmer at Produce Green, I was impressed by the similarities between Australia and Hong Kong (air quality aside!).
People have the same concerns about food, health and the environment - there was talk of carbon footprinting, certification and stress... Farmers also work hard on crop rotation, getting good materials for organic composting, green manures and educating conventional customers into the world of organic produce.

For some reason I thought that things might be different, and although there may only be 70 organic farms in Hong Kong, the level of awareness is high and growing.

Organics in Hong Kong

An important family event in Hong Kong has given me the chance to have a bit of time out and investigate organics in another setting.

In a place as polluted as Hong Kong (I haven't seen a blue sky once in the time i've been here, let alone the sun!), organics is gaining popularity quite quickly, and not just amongst the expatriate community.

There are around 70 organic farms in Hong Kong (mostly in the New Territories) and several organic farmers markets.

I was very pleased to be able to visit Apple Tsang, Jo and Allison (pic to come) at their farm Organic Soil. They showed us around and we were very impressed by the quality and quantity of the produce.

Interesting things we learnt were that:

• Organic farming is well supported by the government through an NGO that provides education, training and subsidies for infrastructure and seedlings.
• Organic food from mainland China is treated with caution.
• Animals are not encouraged on organic farms.
• The main inputs are vegetable scrap compost, blood and bone, lime, and crushed peanut shell.
• The soil is low in organics, but neutral pH, so grows lots of food.
• Winter is the main tomato growing season!
  
• Farmers in HK face the same financial difficulties that Australian farmers do.

Tomorrow I'm off to another property which is run on an allotment system. People from inner Hong Kong travel out to their rented path and tend their vegies.

On a side note: apparently the chinese are taking steps to reduce pollution because it has gotten so bad that it is affecting business... in that it is getting harder to recruit staff from OS because of the abysmal air quality.

Passing of seasons

Here I am looking proudly at all my tomato seedlings, thrilled that i've managed to get so many to grow at last, and now the season is over!
I've put as many in as possible, but I know from last year that up here February is the last chance to get them in the ground and have a hope of getting fruit from them before the cold stops them from growing.
Similarly I'll stop putting zucchinis in the ground.
So onto thinking about the winter vegetables... broccoli, onions, garlic, cabbage, turnips and leeks. hmmm, not all my most favourite things to eat, but good sturdy food none the less. And that much tastier than the shop bought ones!
Thankfully, I'll be able to continue with salads, greens and spinach for quite some time. And of course I look forward to pulling beautiful bunches of dutch carrots.
Enjoy the warmth while it's here!

A little bit scary

OUCH! I've been out in the garden pruning back the fruit trees. It still seems very harsh to prune back the trees as much as recommended, however I realise it has to be done.

With the mandala garden, I'm pruning the fruit trees to a vase shape rather than a pyramid as this is said to maximise the fruit per tree. Whereas a pyramid maximises the fruit per hectare if the trees are close together.

It does mean though that in the early years I have to cut a lot of growth off to get the initial vase shape and that seems tough. But in I go hack, hack hack. And look back at the garden much like it's had a severed hair cut.

Looking forward to the fruit though!

(I've included a picture of the sunsetting on Mt Royal)

Animals everywhere!

Coming home yesterday, I was surprised to find a brand new animal in the house... a bat. It was one of the very small ones and it had taken up residence in the kitchen. A bit alarmed at my intrusion, it flew around and around the yurt. My first thought was how was I going to let it out (other than leaving the doors and windows open) and my second was about how i was going to clean up the mess.

Thankfully after a few circuits of my round house, it hung upside from the roof and worked out its exit strategy. And also thankfully, unlike birds, it hadn't made a big mess of the house.

Living up here brings you in contact with a lot more Nature than I'm used to in the city and certainly more than i'd expect in the house including - snakes, lizards, frogs, leeches (but only when we bring them in) and now a bat!

What and Why Biodynamics?

Biodynamics is not a simple thing to explain, but it is essentially a method of organic agriculture based on the work of Rudolph Steiner and has three key elements:

1. the farm is run as a sustainable ecosystem in itself
2. the use of biodynamic preparations which enhance the life forces on the farm
3. the importance of the soil, sun, moon, planets and constellations on living organisms

Some aspects of biodynamics may seem a bit far out, but I was convinced that I wanted to farm biodynamically when I visited some BD farms in the Hunter. You know when you visit some places and they have a special feel about them? Well the farms I visited had that special feel. And much like the inspiration I found in the mandala garden design, I thought to myself that if I were to farm, that I would like to create a farm that evoked a special feeling in those who visited. (And for those who work there!)

So that was that... I had the land, the opportunity and now I had the design concept and the agricultural practices. So in August 2006, I moved from Sydney to Imago Forest and started to mark out the beds and get the chooks into their domes!

We're very lucky in the Hunter to have one of the strongest BD groups in Australia (Hunter BD) and I would like to thank them for their support and help (especially Mark and Kate from Purple Pear Organics in Maitland).

For more information you can go to wikipedia or try the Biodynamic Association:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture
http://www.biodynamics.net.au/what_is_biodynamics.htm

Why Mandalas?

Having decided that I wanted to start a small organic farm, I had to work out how I was going to design it... no straight rows for me!

I'd toyed with ideas of having a large chook pen in the centre of concentric rows of beds. These would be divided into four so that the chickens could have access to each quarter, each season. This seemed interesting, but impractical.

Fortunately I remembered a book, "The Permaculture Home Garden" by Linda Woodrow in which she fully describes a mandala system. Re-reading it I was hooked.

I loved the way she integrated chickens, vegies, fruit, flowers and water into one very efficient and beautiful design.

I thought to myself, if I'm going to spend my days working on a farm, then this is the sort of farm I want to work in.

Besides being full of circles, and therefore interest and mystery, the main feature of the design is that it ensures that the wastes from one area of the garden becomes the food for another part. Not only that, but that they are right next to each other so there isn't much carting around of heavy items.

The other attraction to the design was that in full swing it should be able to feed at least 20 people, all their fruit, veg and eggs for the entire year!

Why I started Imago Forest

People sometimes ask me how I got into market gardening... Well, I started Imago Forest with the intention to demonstrate that even in today's climate, small-scale organic farming can be financially viable, environmentally friendly and socially rewarding .

This desire came about after working with the market gardeners on the urban fringe of Sydney and organic farmers in the Hunter region and seeing serious challenges for both groups.

The market gardeners in Sydney are often successful financially, however they do not use organic or sustainable agricultural practices. While many of the organic farmers are environmentally sustainable, they are often financially stressed. Both groups work extraordinarily long and hard hours.

My goal is to try and combine the best practices of each of these groups into a workable whole! Besides, who wouldn't want to live somewhere with views like in the photo. : )

Road to Imago Forest

Well Summer has certainly turned out different to Spring! It's been very wet -- 280mm in December and 200mm so far in january. So it's no wonder that the plants are growing like mad.
Even so plants like tomatoes and eggplant have only just started to produce fruit. I think the mountain climate means our warm season is about two months later than in the valley.
The biggest issue with all this rain however is that access to the farm has become problematic again. Mt Royal Rd to my gate is in good condition and until Christmas i'd fixed my road from the gate to the packing shed so that i can drive in and out with my road registered ute even if it was pouring. However all this rain has washed away a crucial section.
So, making the road 2WD access all the way to the mandala garden (and certainly to the packing shed!) has become number one priority.
Because of the amount of rain we've had, some parts of the drive are very sloshy and i'm going to fill them in with broken bricks, rubble etc. Then i'm going to order a large amount of gravel (semi-trailer probably!) and spread it out over the driveway. Then at last i should be able to relax... at least for a few months! I'm sure there'll be plenty of repair work needed to keep it maintained and keep the rain from gouging it out!
Ahhh, life on a property. Can't beat it!

Happy New Year!

After a few weeks away from the farm, it was a wonderful sight to be greeted by a garden full of happy chooks (thank you to the chook sitters!) and abundant vegetables. The rain over the christmas period has made an incredible difference to the garden and i'm now wading through the vegetation to get to the beds.

On reflection, this lush growth is a great bonus compared to having bare earth paths, because it now provides extra vegetation when creating compost heaps or mulching a bed. A quick run over with the mower provides a large pile of organic material.

One thing i've noticed with having the beds on six month rotations, is that the plants get a chance to go to seed fully and i'm starting to see plants come up all of their own accord. These plants are very often happy and full looking plants as they have sprouted at exactly the right time for them and haven't had to be transplanted. I've also noticed that some of them are crossing with each other... so if you notice a vegie in your box that looks like a cross between a Bok Choy and a Tatsoi... that'll be the Imago special plant ... a Tats Choy!

This year I got the first of the fruit including nectarines, plums and peaches. They were exquisite... but unfortunately not yet abundant enough to make it past my belly and into your boxes. Look out next year though, as i'm sure there will be enough to go around then!