Raised Garden Beds

Back in early Sept 11, Michael built 5 raised garden beds for our veggie patch. The beds were constructed from slabs of Australian Cypress, which is rot and termite resistant and so should stand the test of time. Michael then labouriously filled all five beds with top soil saved from our site excavations. He planned to grow green manure during spring to restore some of the soil structure and microbial activity as the soil was ‘dead’ from being dug and turned by heavy machinery. But no, Peggy just couldn’t wait to grow stuff and got her way! Mostly So, over spring/summer we grew various vegetables with mixed results. The spuds were successful and we produced approx 3 buckets worth; our climbing beans also were also productive. The tomatoes however didn’t thrive, and I am embarrassed to inform that we only produced one solitary zucchini!

Spring Planting

Garden Bed

Veggies of our labour

Let the sun shine

Insolation Frustration

Finally we have a 1.5kW grid interactive solar system up and running (well it has been up and running for about 7 months now!). We just managed to have it installed before the government stopped the rebate, which made it financially viable. We had a nervous time when the installers (fly-by-nighters from Sydney) installed it on the second story roof without wearing any safety harnesses whilst smoking and flicking butts into the gutter (a neighbour actually reported them to work cover!). A few days after they left, the inverter packed it in! Fortunately this was replaced under warranty without too much drama. The good news is that we are now generating electricity from the sun and although it has been a mostly overcast summer, we generated more power than we consumed over the last billing cycle. So let the sun shine, and if it doesn’t, then some rain would be nice about now…

Insolation Celebration