posted 1 month ago
Hi All,
Thanks for your prompt responses! It's helpful to get feedback finally!
*Pearl - Thanks for your note on the position of the Chickens. My husband had made that comment as well, and my solution for keeping them cool is to have the rainwater tank that will be in that corner on stilts and adjacent to their run to help with heat regulation and also for them to shelter under on hot days. My herb garden to the north of the chicken run will need some shade cloth behind it, with a section of some kind of decorative panel to shade the chickens even in winter.
*Christopher - Thanks for that note about the vermicomposting. We have had a few disasters with our vermicomposting over the years, due to Adelaide's hot, dry summers, and to be honest, my neglect! However, our empty 'broccoli box' worm bins ended up housing some wild bees, so less compost, more pollination, I guess! To address your concern, I think again some shade cloth, perhaps also rotating my bins so that they are north of the vermicompost section instead of on the east, would help to shade the northern sun more, and would actually help with access to the bins, as there is a footpath there anyway.
*Jay - Sorry about the lack of imperial measurements. That's just typical ignorance, and me forgetting there is a whole set of people in the world who don't go by metric! For reference, my entire block is about 4,500square feet, and the house takes up 1700 of that, and the Pool takes up about 200 square feet. I have a very busy plan, but this was supposed to be for my PDC, so I was keen to work on all the things! We definitely won't be going ahead with the aquaculture shed, as the algal bloom has subsided, and we hardly ever eat fish, so it wouldn't be worth the cost for us. It is definitely an advantage to be able to have gardens in proximity, and I had thought of creating a 'shortcut' through the mandala beds, which may still happen; however, I know myself, and if I'm not forced to walk past a section, it may well get neglected! As to updates on our progress, we have an opportunity to purchase a 10 acre farm, however, the vendor is a severe hoarder, so it would be a lot of work and money to fix, so we are now in a bit of limbo as to whether we go ahead with my permaculture plan for our property, as in our neighbourhood, sadly, it would lower our buyer pool as everyone here wants, lawn, box hedge and standard roses! On the upside, I get to draw up another plan for our prospective property while we wait for our friends 'hoarder friend' to set their affairs in order, which, with our friends' help, is likely to take most of this year. Also, love bantam chooks (chickens), have had many over the years, but due to my naivety at this property before learning permaculture principles, I brought them an inappropriate coop, so the smell became an issue. I have since done loads of research into more appropriate ways to keep chickens, so this should be prevented next time around!
*Mark - The aquaculture shed that I was suggesting we could change our pool shed into would facilitate fish tanks with various growing mediums on top to keep the water clear. We don't have any freezing in this part of Australia, but this part of the plan was definitely only an option, and the slight need for it has passed, and if I'm being honest with myself, even though growing my own protein in the form of fish in my backyards seems awesome to the 'prepper' in me, it is not practical as none of my children touch fish, and my husband and I are very occasional eaters.
*Rachel - Thanks for your observations about the path and heat from the North. I'm definitely thinking the plan could have the possibility of creating a shortcut through the mandala beds, but, as above, we will be postponing work on it until I find out more about our option to purchase a 10-acre farm. Your observation about heat in summer is absolutely right, and I would mitigate sun and heat with shade cloth blinds that could be rolled up independently from the cafe blinds, to help with shade and ventilation. Our Cul-de-sac community is lovely, and it would be a small source of income, I'm sure, as a number of my neighbours would definitely like eggs and are very much into gardens!
*Richard - Thanks for your input. Our zone 5 is council land, so I have no official control over it, but as I know our neighbours well, no one will complain if we plant it out; in fact, they may help me do so! Great point about the rainwater excess, and I would use it to overflow into the gardens; however, we only get about 450mm (17.7 inches) of rain per year, so I'm not too worried about overflow! Having a profitable nursery is a great idea, and I do have some provisions in the plan for vertical growing. Our existing space around the pool and lawn is needed for our 2 dogs, as they wouldn't have anywhere to go, and they are Miniature poodles, so not necessarily lap dogs. As far as zone 0, in our area, operating a wood stove comes with an abundance of red tape (Australia is definitely turning into a nanny state!), and we don't have a massive need, due to our mild climate, I like the idea of grey water though, I had forgotten about this, my mum used to have a hose come out of the washing machine to water her orange trees, and I could certainly add that for our grape vine! I have read Retrosuburbia, although it was a long time ago, so I've probably forgotten more than I can remember about it (time for a re-read)!
Sorry for the mammoth post, but I'm so thankful for everyone's feedback and wanted to address all your comments!
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