Permaculture Project

Blue Mountain Gutter Mesh Install

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So after years of ignoring the buildup of leaves in my gutters I decided to do something about them. I figured I’d been wasting too much rainwater and planned on diverting it to the garden and to the rainwater tank I bought off a friend. Getting someone to do it would have been ludicrously costly as no professional would get onto my roof as it’s a 45º pitch. Then there would be the issue of how to set up scaffolding on such a steep slope.

It took me most of a day to clear the decade of built up composting material that had created it’s own ecosystem in the gutters. I hate heights and given the not so less than ideal ladder setups I was forced to configure the whole clean-out was essentially a sphincter clenching, lamaze breathing process of me holding on for dear life and teasing out the old growth forests that had taken over.

 

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Possum-Proof Raised Pallet Garden Bed With Easy Access

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I was pretty stoked to see some of the vegetable seeds I had planted come up. They were struggling a bit being winter and me not giving them as much water as they’d probably like. I’d also neglected to do any weeding and so the infestation of Wandering jew  had crept into my designated garden bed area as well as the usual scattering of cobblers pegs, the bane of socks and pants everywhere.  I had just restarted using my Bokashi bin and there was a heap of juice ready to be used so I diluted it and watered the few vegetables that were poking their heads up.


When I went to check the plants four days later, quite a few had grown three time their size! Bokashi magic! A few days later, almost all off them had pretty much been decimated by possums. Not happy.  The idea behind the netting below is that possums don’t like unstable surfaces and so won’t climb the netting. I had used tent pegs to keep it to the ground but I’m guessing they were probably jumping into the patch from nearby trees or getting under.

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Carazy Composting Method : No Turn, Turbo Charged, Self Aerated Hot Composting System

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If I never have to turn compost in my life again it will be a great thing.

(Help there’s too many words, take me to the video ! )

I put together my first ever small pile of compost a month ago, turned it once and realised I never want to waste time turning compost again, ever, if I could. Previously I’d only done Bokashi composting and had never really taken time to do a regular composting pile! At the same time I didn’t want to leave it for half a year to break down. After much research I mostly saw expensive ($300+ !) commercial bins or tumbler composting systems (which still require turning albeit much easier).

I hate inefficiency and there are enough mini projects to do in a garden without having to expend a huge amount of time and effort to move a pile of waste a few feet over just to ensure it gets air so it can decompose better. I spent countless hours investigating various methods and the no turn composting all involved letting the pile break down over 6-12 months. Sounds great but what if you want compost now? It basically came down to this

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