I reckon the Robertstown Lagoon will have a bunch of water in it. (A mate of mine, when I told her I'd bought a paddock in the Robertstown Valley, asked if it was in the lagoon, having grown up in the area. Fortunately I was able to reassure her.)
So. I have a new tractor battery, purchased at a discount price (it had some scratches, or something), but it's too fucking wet to go up there. I reckon I'd bog the ute on the way over the creek. I was planning on going up this weekend, but I don't see the point. I've missed the opportunity to slash at the right time for weed control, and I reckon it'll be too fucking wet to burn until about March (which is all the Council cares about).
Update: Still too wet to go up (12th Dec). Maybe next weekend.
07 December 2010
16 November 2010
The week in review, and other matters
Well. It's been raining a bit up on the paddock, according to the BoM's radar maps and rainfall observations, and I need to slash it in preparation for the bushfire season.
When I was last up there, the fucking tractor battery was too flat to start the engine. That probably had a bit to do with it having just sat there, connected to the tractor, since I last used it a year ago. I've had it on a battery charger for several days, so hopefully it'll kick it over this time. I'm going up for the weekend (if things go well), so I should be able to slash the paddock, and run around the perimeter with the brush cutter. (Or come back Saturday night, cursing the cost of new tractor batteries.)
Update: I need a new tractor battery, dammit.
When I was last up there, the fucking tractor battery was too flat to start the engine. That probably had a bit to do with it having just sat there, connected to the tractor, since I last used it a year ago. I've had it on a battery charger for several days, so hopefully it'll kick it over this time. I'm going up for the weekend (if things go well), so I should be able to slash the paddock, and run around the perimeter with the brush cutter. (Or come back Saturday night, cursing the cost of new tractor batteries.)
Update: I need a new tractor battery, dammit.
09 November 2010
Starting well into the process
A while ago, I thought it would be a grand idea to document the process of setting up my doomstead. Of course, being as I'm master of procrastination, it hasn't happened yet. (The process of setting it up's been a bit slow too, if I'm honest.)
Still. Time to start. This is what it looked like the last time the Lands Department flew aerial photography of the area. (To get some sense of scale, it's a bit over 20 acres.) That's some time before I bought it, and it looks much nicer now, at least to my eyes. I reckon my neighbours hate me, though, because it'd be a source of weed seeds.
By "weeds", I mean Ruby Saltbush, Fragrant Saltbush, Cutleaf Mignonette (they actually may have a point there, but sheep like it, and it's great bee fodder), thistles, Salvation Jane, tagasaste, a dryland lucerne cultivar I broadcast, and numerous other native and introduced grasses, shrubs and trees, well, really anything that isn't wheat or sheep. There's even feral wheat, barley and peas coming up from when it was last cropped. Oh, and some sheep remains.
I'll share what it looks like when I get to grips with embedding photos. But it's really fucking green. Last time I was up there, a couple of weeks ago, the stuff growing on it was waist deep.
I've got 5 acres direct drilled to random native plants by Trees for Life in the south-west corner, and I've planted a few olive trees along the creek line. The next step is to put in about 100 grape vines, once I work out which variety will be drought-tolerant and give me more-or-less drinkable red wine.
Posts will be very occasional, btw, as I'm probably the laziest man alive.
Still. Time to start. This is what it looked like the last time the Lands Department flew aerial photography of the area. (To get some sense of scale, it's a bit over 20 acres.) That's some time before I bought it, and it looks much nicer now, at least to my eyes. I reckon my neighbours hate me, though, because it'd be a source of weed seeds.
By "weeds", I mean Ruby Saltbush, Fragrant Saltbush, Cutleaf Mignonette (they actually may have a point there, but sheep like it, and it's great bee fodder), thistles, Salvation Jane, tagasaste, a dryland lucerne cultivar I broadcast, and numerous other native and introduced grasses, shrubs and trees, well, really anything that isn't wheat or sheep. There's even feral wheat, barley and peas coming up from when it was last cropped. Oh, and some sheep remains.
I'll share what it looks like when I get to grips with embedding photos. But it's really fucking green. Last time I was up there, a couple of weeks ago, the stuff growing on it was waist deep.
I've got 5 acres direct drilled to random native plants by Trees for Life in the south-west corner, and I've planted a few olive trees along the creek line. The next step is to put in about 100 grape vines, once I work out which variety will be drought-tolerant and give me more-or-less drinkable red wine.
Posts will be very occasional, btw, as I'm probably the laziest man alive.
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