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!