trying to love capeweed

Capeweed colonises poor and disturbed ground, so it hardly needs saying, it flourishes here. Unfortunately, efforts to improve soil and watering only seem to speed it along! I may even have inadvertently encouraged it in the orchard by using sheep manure as part of compost to build up beds, as it likes soil rich in nitrates, as often found round sheep pens. 

dynamic accumulators

Homework for September permaculture class: present info on 'dynamic accumulators'.

Permaculture class at my place

Lay awake listening to a night of heavy rain and mulling over a big day ahead, and woke to a drizzly morning and an early start to the day. There was the vegan cake recipe found online to try (with my own lemons and rosemary), the weekend’s pumpkin seeds and dried olives to prepare for snacks, and a ‘leftovers soup’ to make while clearing the fridge and tidying the kitchen.

when is a weed not a weed?

Been busy looking into weeds as part of a Cert III competency 'Using Weedy Plants in a Permaculture System'. A bit disappointing to discover, reading the details of this competency, that it seems far more focussed on eradication than use!

neglect, forgetfulness and pleasant surprise

Despite best efforts to record and document garden developments this year, I’m rather glad some things have escaped me. Let's call them uncontrolled experiments and pleasant surprises ... Daffodils have appeared between feijoas in the first orchard bed, and broad beans in one of the beds further back.