Swine Flu

Lots of people wearing masks over here, but the most noticeable thing in relation to swine flu is that the buttons in the lift have a plastic cover taped over them and a sign above them saying they are cleaned regularly.

Errant Trousers

The apartment that Aunt Esther and Uncle Michael live in have a swimming pool. Now I imagined that being HK, that this would be a small little indoor pool. But as it turns out it is quite a large one with an egyptian theme, outdoors up against the hillside covered in jungle. The Egyptian theme means that there are water spouts and some misters giving atmosphere.

Each day Esther and I go down and have a swim. There are regulation hours and of course two life guards in case anybody gets in trouble in the pool which is 1.2m at it's deepest.

This morning at the pool side, Aunty Esther came to me and said she had something very serious to talk to me about and that she felt very upset. My mind was whirling, but then I thought being HK that it was probably not that bad...

Esther came to me to admit that my trousers had blown off the line on the verandah and were caught halfway down the building. Much relieved we had a laugh as we looked up at them flapping in the breeze.

Funnily enough they were trousers that i'd got last time i was in HK, so they'll be very easy to replace.

Hong Kong

Well, it's been a little while since i've posted, but i thought that seeing as i'm in Hong Kong on a holiday, it might be a good opportunity to start blogging again. Not farm related i know, but hopefully interesting!

The trip over was a breeze, but without air conditioning, it can be pretty hot here... it's probably just that i've gone from winter in Sydney to summer over here. Love it!

But the daily reality is that even after a swim in the pool i come out sweating as the water is 33'C would you believe.

Today, I made the terribly strenuous decision to start at beginners level 3 instead of intermediate 1 and certainly wasn't going to go with the assessors suggestion of beginner level 1... bah!

Eating like mad over here, non-stop eat-a-holics it would seem, however i think that will settle down as the new visitor status wears off.

Fencing!

Wow, exciting news! A fence is being put up around the mandala garden to help keep the wallabies out. This will be a wooden post and wire mesh fence. Combined with the electric fence that we'll put at "jumping" distance should hopefully deter the wallabies that don't mind the electric fence.
The plan will be to grow some pretty (and maybe edible) vines through the fence so that it serves a few functions.

Quiet Garlic

A quiet week on the farm... we've finished planting garlic and are seeing the shoots emerge.

Ecovillage

Some good thought has gone into the establishment of an ecovillage in the Hunter this week. The dream is to create an association of people that work together to reclaim our basic abilities to feed and house ourselves and to connect deeply with each other.

Imago Forest is one potential location, but we are not being rigid about this.

Imago Forest is on 173 acres, most of which is forested with beautiful tall Eucalypts. There are several cleared spots between 1-5 acres in size. The plan is to have hamlets in each of the clearings. The hamlets would be made up of 3-10 separately owned cottages placed around the outer edge of the clearing. Each cottage would be private and have it's own garden. In the centre of each clearing would be common land eg. Mandala Garden, Pastures etc.

Each hamlet would have its own individual characteristics determined by the people living in the hamlet.

The eco-village is intended to be flexible so that you can own/lease and live there full/part-time. Within the context of the guidelines, being able to fit into everyone's lifestyle is important to us.

If you'd like to know more get in touch: ecovillage@imagoforest.com.au

Bokashi re-visited

Bokashi is an amazing way to speed up the "composting" of food. Two weeks ago I buried a bucket of bokashi into a shallow hole in the ground. The next bokashi bucket was due to be buried and so I had a look at the previously buried bokashi... completely converted into nutritious soil!
So if you have two buckets it looks very likely that you will be able to fill the bucket over a period of about two weeks, rest it for two weeks then bury it. In the meantime you will be filling the second bucket. By the time you need another bucket the first will have been emptied and be ready for use. And the soil will be converted already so that you can bury the next bucket in the same spot. You won't need to find an ever expanding area of land to bury your bokashi.
Brilliant!
(This is an update on a piece I wrote on Bokashi at the end of March.)