Radio Interview - Sustainable House Day 2010

It has been a long time since my last podcast, so hopefully, today I will make up for it.  As I mentioned the other day, I was interviewed on Sunday to promote Sustainable House Day 2010.  I received the audio of the interview today, so put together this rather funky podcast with music and everything!

I hope you enjoy the show!

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Beer Tasting

I wrote a while back that I had been making beer and cider and even posted some YouTube video's of a Home Brewing workshop I held for the Melton Sustainable Living Group.

That was back in June.  Time flys when you are living a full life.  Yesterday, after the hard days work, I cracked open the cider I made during the workshop.

It reminded me of the cider that I was served in the King Arthur's Tavern in Tintagel, Cornwall, UK when I was engaged to Kim.  Yes friends, it was that good, and has a great cider flavour.  Four bottles (shared with Kim and the kids) later and it tasted even better.  That really capped off my fathers day celebrations!

I have also been drinking the Dark ale and the Cerveza.  Both brews have lived up to expectations and are extremely palatable.  The Dark Ale is best drunk at about 10C, and has a rich malty flavour and holds a great head.  The Cerveza is light, and fantastic with a wedge of organic lime straight from my tree.

Here is a picture, and don't be fooled by the containers.  It is my own beer.

Front view.

Back view.

If you zoom in on either picture you will notice a little sediment in the bottle.  This is the yeast that settles to the bottom during secondary fermentation and is quite natural.  Kim now informs me that I must brew some more Cerveza before and have it ready before the end of the month, as it is her favourite beer.  I better get a move on and put a batch down tomorrow night.

So all in all, my brewing method has been validated and the electric blanket to keep the barrels warm in winter works a charm.  One tip of advice for would be brewers.  If you are going to make cider from a kit extract, once bottled, let it sit inside in a warm place for at least two months.  I have been testing a bottle every two weeks since the initial 21 days secondary fermentation was completed, and have found that it is only now optimal.   Nice!

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Fathers Day and an Interview

What a great Fathers day!

Up at 0730 to go to the gym, then a full english breakfast sans black pudding cooked by Kim.  Then it was present time.  Megan sewed me a gardening belt.  Kinda like a tool belt but with pockets for seeds and things to hang trowels off of.  I will have to model it for you tomorrow.  Ben bought me a book about organic gardening, and Amy bought me two pairs of flannelette PJ bottoms, and a book about the up coming food crisis (I can feel a book review coming on).

Then it was off to the local radio station for the promo for Sustainable House day.  Here are a few shots of the interview, and hopefully I should have the audio tomorrow or Tuesday.  Bob gave Megan (taking the photos) and I a tour of the station, which was quite impressive for a community radio station.  Have a look www.979FM.net for further details about the station.

I would like to thank Bob Turner (DJ in yellow shirt) for the air time to promote the event.  He even offered me a slot during the week to do my own radio show about Sustainable Living!  I am going to have a think about it long and hard, as it is a big commitment with all the other things I am up to, and especially with a full time job as well.  Time will tell.

Kim and I then spent the reset of the day planting out the wicking bed, potting flowers, herbs, and a few olive trees to spruce up the bare side of the the garden.  I put two bales of sugar cane mulch into the chicken run due to the heavy rainfall over the last few days. The chooks had been digging up the litter and making it smell!  All fixed up now though.

We then cleaned up my incredibly messy pot storage area and sorted out the last of the kitchen renovation left overs.  I have enough red gum to make a 1 x 1 metre square bed, but will do that after next weekend.  The house looks very respectible.  I liken Sustainable House Day to a spring clean, but on the outside.  We have done so many jobs that we have been meaning to do over the winter, but due to miserable weather thought better of it.  With a big goal like SHD, you really have to pull out your finger to get things done.

With only a week to go until the big day, I just hope it is worth it, and heaps of people turn up.  If not, it is not all for nought.  We have a very tidy yard, ready for the busyness of spring and long summer days!

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Wicking Garden Beds 2

Just finished off the next part of the wicking garden bed.  See how I finished it off in the slide show below.

I had to buy 1 metre of ag-pipe (has lots of holes in it), 10 bags of washed sand, and 5 bags of organic soil.  All the rest was reused.  I had a spare 1 metre of ag-pipe, PVC pipe, gaffa tape, plastic tarpaulin lining, staple gun and staples, and the contents of two compost bins, all for free!  Total cost of materials today $60.

Just one tip.  Cap off the end of the ag-pipe so that the water doesn't just flow straight through.  You want it to distribute evenly throughout the bed.  I just hope the gaffa tape holds it all in place when it gets wet.

I will be planting it out tomorrow after my radio interview.  More photos tomorrow night friends with lots of salad veggie seedlings and mulch to stop evaporation. 

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