I am the Eggman or The Dirty Dozen!

Well, it has been just over a week since the chooks arrived, and what a difference they have made to the place.

Big bum Bunty is the boss and owns the big perch in the run. Edwina is the most curious and just loves it when Butch the wonder dog puts his nose through the wire. Ginger is usually the first to lay each day and is the only one eating the pellets in the grain mix. Polly is cute and shy, is the smallest, and has not yet laid, but I reckon she is a few weeks younger than the rest. We love them all, and can't believe that only a week has passed by. They have really made themselves at home. Butch has settled down around them and only gets flustered if Edwina gives him a peck.

Today was our first 3 egg day, so that takes the grand total since Tuesday (when they came on the lay) to 14 eggs, with most about 45g in weight. Not bad for the girls first week living it large at TGOG's house. I mucked out their house and run on Saturday morning, and it took me a good hour to finish it. I took it real easy because I haven't had much shovel action over the last year so didn't want to upset the back too much. I did the run first before I let them out of their house for the day, and once clean and with the bedding refreshed, I took a 10 minute breather and then cleaned out their house. I put the straw and chook poo on the garden beds as mulch to stop the beds from drying out. The manure will certainly help the vegies grow! The house had too much fresh manure, so I put that lot in the compost bin to rot for a while. If I have to do this every week, like I do, then I am going to have to think of very inventive ways of using the soiled bedding. Maybe I can bag it and sell it as naturally fertilised mulch? What do you think, is there a market for that sort of thing?

Anyway, here is a picture of "The Dirty Dozen", because Ben ate the first two in an omelette. Ben thinks that the eggs taste fantastic. I think I will have a few soft boiled eggs with soldiers for breakfast tomorrow! Yummy. Click on the photo to enlarge and you will see that we have written the laying date in pencil on each egg. That way we can keep track of them and eat the oldest first. The spotty egg was Bunty's first effort. The eggs have all come out very clean, and I give them a quick rub with an old tea towel before popping it in the carton.


As Kate from Hills & Plains Seedsavers has often told me, 'Get there quick, then take it slow!'. Right as ever Kate and sound advice for anyone on a sustainable journey.

Green Satire & Greenwash

I stumbled across this site via the feedback page of Greenfoot. The site is called "COyou2 - saving the planet, one breath at a time". In my humble opinion, it has to be a very big piss take, and there is no such product! Here is a sample of the marketing blurb;

“The COyou2 patented technology works by filtering the air you breathe out, capturing the carbon in a convenient lightweight backpack.

As you breathe out into the tube, the carbon dioxide passes through a solution of ammonium nitrate and the reaction allows the carbon to be isolated. The carbon is then stored in exchangeable inner bags that can then be sequestered in any nearby location including your own backyard.”

It is very clever satire, and although I did not sign up for the supposed catalogue because I am wary of this kind of rubbish, it is obviously meant to suck people in. It must be used to either gain their email address for some ulterior motive (spam, direct marketing of some other product), or some time down the track, your name will appear on a list of very stupid people.

What clinched it for me was the little ad on the FAQs page for COyou2 Petz. What a crack up! I did a google search, and only found similar posts, similar to that one I found on Greenfoot. All targeted sites were sustainable living or green blogs and companies, via their comment pages.

I reckon the Romans had it right with the phrase, "Caveat emptor!" or in English, "Let the buyer beware!"

So, avoid greenwash where you can, but sometimes it is just not that obvious unless you dig a little deeper.

Gav

Bottled Water Is Unnecessary

I know, I know. Just about every man and their chook has done a post on bottled water, but the one thing remains and that is that I have not.

Here are a few eye opening facts. In 2006, according to the Department of Environment and Climate Change, Australians drank 250 million litres of bottled water, which took a massive 456,131 barrels of oil to package and created 60,000 tonnes of GHG through its production and transportation. That is a big waste of energy, non-renewable resources, and with the average bottle of water costing about A$2.50 per 600ml, that is approx 416 million bottles at a cost of A$1.04 billion.

Here is the kicker. I figured out that if all that bottled water was replaced with tap water instead (@ 88.335 cents for a thousand litres), which is perfectly drinkable in all Australian cities, then it would only have cost $220,837. Compared to $1.04 billion, that is quite a saving. So that means that 600ml of tap water would cost you $0.00053 plus the glass to drink it from. Now that is a deal and a half.

So next time when you are out at a restaurant, and ask for water, ask for tap instead. It probably won't cost you a cent and you will be saving resources to boot. Instead of lining the pockets of a massive corporation, who are ripping you off to the max, you can help keep your city's water infrastructure intact for the future.

Now for some cool movies: The first video quotes global figures and make you think.




This video just shows how rediculous drinking bottled water can be, and how some peoples perception of it is. It is titled "Tears of a Cloud" and made by dothegreenthing.com



Enjoy!

Peak Everything

In the past I have written about Peak Oil, Climate Change (Peak Carbon), and Peak Water, but there have been a two more 'peak moments' that I have left out. There are more historical peaks not far away, but I will focus on two for this post.

Our civilisation will soon be suffering from Peak Finance, with the US leading the way. You may or may not have read in the media about how the financial crisis (caused by the sub-prime mortgage fiasco in the US) is unfolding, with the collapse of major investment banks around the world, and most stock markets around the globe are in free-fall, with no end in sight. Sounds like a train wreak to me!

So how is this related to the other peak moments that I have mentioned? Well quite simply, without large sums of capital to invest in solving the other three peaks of oil, water, and climate, we are up shit creek without a paddle. It takes money to fix these problems, and from what I can tell, there is not a whole lot of cash to spare at the moment. Credit Card debt is up, and savings (in general) are down. Like I said, not much spare cash. Another blow to the average citizen is that housing prices will soon follow the stock market, and superannuation funds (pensions/401k) are already being stripped of their value by the tumble in the stock market. So who in their right mind would now start to think about saving the planet, or better still, their own sorry arses from catastrophic climate change and peak oil, when their mortgage or rent payments are nearly 50% of their income. Not many I think! Only those who have prepared for the worst, but expect the best, will have a better chance during the pending global financial crisis.

That brings me to another peak, which is Overpopulation. The human race has a current population of just over 6,725,000,000 (Sep 08), with the two most populous countries being India and China. That is a lot of people. It is estimated that by the year 2050 the global pop will be at 9.5 billion. Now if the planet is struggling now to support the 6.7b people, where the hell are the extra 2.8b going to live. The last time I looked we were clearing wilderness at an alarming rate, polluting any place left to live, and growing as much food with petro-based chemicals as we could. Population growth has gone from 1b in 1800 to our current level of 6.725b in just over 200 years. Why, you ask? Because of an abundant source of cheap energy in the form of fossil fuels. Manufacturing and Food production is powered by oil or things made from oil, and this has enabled us to feed, clothe, and shelter the hungry, and in the Western world, the consumerist masses. Stop or reduce the flow of oil and the world population shrinks considerably because we just can't feed everyone without oil.

Isn't it strange how all of these 'peaks' influence each other. Fossil fuels beget Climate Change. Fossil fuels beget Overpopulation which beget Peak Water. Overpopulation beget greed and fear which caused Peak Finance. Peak Finance will now hinder our ability to combat all the other peaks. The stock market always recovers, doesn't it? I don't think the 'market' has never before faced peak everything, so only time will tell.

A sorry tale, but unfortunately a true one. And what are we blinkered by this week around Australia, in the footsteps of the fall of the Roman Empire? More bread and circuses in the form of AFL and NRL football finals. Keep the distractions coming, we wouldn't want to wake up from the Matrix, now would we?

For further information on Peak Everything have a look here and here. We have never seen anything like it before, maybe it is the "Perfect Storm"! However, don't get discouraged. I believe that if enough of us begin to think globally, but act locally, we will manage just that little bit longer. According to Richard Heinberg here are a few things that are not at their historical peak;

• Community
• Personal autonomy
• Satisfaction from honest work well done
• Intergenerational solidarity
• Cooperation
• Free time
• Happiness
• Ingenuity
• Artistry
• Beauty of the built environment

All of these things can help with the transition to a simpler world, but first we must build a sense of community. The other great things will follow. Happiness is simplicity itself!

Two Egg Wednesday and other stuff

It is all fun and games at TGOG's suburban farm. One egg each from Ginger and Edwina, with Bunty and Polly yet to begin laying.

A lazy day, up at 0630 to let the girls out, and start the day with a long read of G Magazine and a cup of organic chai. Did a little bit of gardening in the afternoon and cleared up half of the root vegetable bed ready to plant part of the spring vegetables. I pulled radishes and daikons that had gone to seed, and left last seasons capsicums that are sprouting leaves again, and parsnips and beetroot that are still growing. I will add some compost to the bed tomorrow and turn it over by hand, then add a thick layer of mulch. All of the beds are drying out so quickly at the moment with all this warm weather, and with a lack of spring rain, the tank is getting a workout. I hope it rains soon, or anything I plant in the next few weeks will get off to a slow start.

I had my first session of exercise rehab at our local gym, and am very sore right now. I have had to resort to the heat pack and a little bit of bed rest. I have a hydro session tomorrow at 0830, so will need all the recovery time I can get. I have been feeling great over the last few weeks and the hypnotherapy has been working well. I must have just taken it a little too far during the assessment today, so will take it easy tomorrow.

After I returned home from the gym, I picked the first harvest of Broad Beans and Purple podded peas to go with dinner. I made Bangers and Mash with peas, beans and carrots, drizzled with a rich brown onion gravy. Very nice and the beans and peas were very tasty. It will take another few weeks before I have enough for another meal. I had preserved peaches and icecream for afters, which complimented the main meal. Simple food is always the best.

I also accertained that the chooks do not like broad bean or pea pods, and turned their beaks up at them. They do however like carrot peelings, and wolfed them back before going to bed. Kim has put the girls to bed two nights in a row, and gets a big kick out of it. All of the family have fallen in love with the chooks and their crazy antics. Who would have believed that each chook has a unique personallity that you can get very attached to! It was something I wasn't expecting thats for sure.

To finish off the evening, we all watch a very topical movie, Chicken Run (again), and Kim has decided to paint a large number 17 on the chicken house tomorrow. Very comical.

Now, I realise that the little movie I made yesterday was very deep, and may have seemed a bit out there to some people. I came across the track at 0230 in the morning when I was listening to a relaxation CD to get back to sleep after dreaming of chickens! With a title of "Wilderness Lost" as the last track, it was a bit of a sleeper, because I had never got that far into the album before falling into a blissful sleep. When I awoke in the morning, the words stuck in my head, and I kept seeing the future as the narrator described. I felt like I had to share it with the world, but the track itself just did not do the message justice. I had to beef up the message, which I though would go down well in an audio/visual format. After I put it all together yesterday afternoon, while I watch it as a completed project I became very emotional again. Kim thought it was a bit too gloom and doom, but I believe that the ending promoted a better response as a call to action than any of the crappy government climate change ads you see on TV. It had a punch that hit me straight in between the eyes.

I hope it had the same impact for anyone who took the time to watch it.

Wilderness Lost

A future scenario. Music by Dan Gibson, and edited by Gavin.

I believe that it puts a possible, and horrible future into perspective, and that if we act sooner, rather than later, we can avoid the consequences of inaction and avert catastrophic climate change.

It's Very Eggsciting!

Our chooks have fallen into a very good routine, and so have I for that matter. I am on holidays this week, and get up at 0630 as normal. I go outside, check the chooks feed and water to make sure that they have enough and that it is clean. Then I open up the flap on their house and let them out. Out they come one by one, in pecking order. Bunty first, then Ginger, Edwina and Polly. Kim calls it the morning parade, and I liken it to early mornings in the Navy!

Then the girls go about their daily routine, feeding, drinking, scratching, dust bathing, re-establishing the pecking order when necessary, and just generally having a good time. Then in the late afternoon, I give them some nasturtiums and a daikon radish and they devour those in two seconds flat, then throw in a handful of feed on the floor. They scratch and peck that all up and just after sunset, I pop outside and check to make sure they have all retired to their house and shut and lock the flap. Pretty simple really, and all without any fuss whatsoever. I believe that I should be able to handle this even when I go back to work full time.

This morning there was a surprise waiting for us at about 0930. Amy had notice that Ginger was acting very strange, and kept going into the house for about 3-4 minutes and then coming out again for a while, then going back inside again. She did this about 5 times, so Amy believes. About an hour later I went out to check on them (again) and this is what I found.

I was so excited that I yelled out to everyone to come and have a look. They were also excited, and we let Ben take the egg out of the nest. I checked it on our kitchen scales, and it weighed in at a huge 36 grams. The average commercial egg is usually 59g, so not a bad effort for a first timer. I wrote the date on the egg in pencil so that we can keep track of which ones to use first. The best thing was, that it was a clean as a whistle with no poo. Here is the proud owner of his first egg!

Happy days indeed!

Chicken Day - The Movie

Bigger than Ben Hur, more special effects than Star Wars, more unsinkable than the Titanic.....

I present to you, Chicken Day - The Movie!

Enjoy.

Chicken Day

I have been awake since 5am this morning, because today was the big day the I collected my chickens. I couldn't go back to sleep because I was so excited and have been all day.

I started working alone on the coop at about 0630, just doing the finishing touches, all easy and not too taxing stuff. I had to make sure that everything was secure, I put on a little door with a catch to secure them in the house at night, boarded up some gaps, and spread the straw around their house and run. I managed to get all of that done by 0830, which is when Adam was supposed to turn up to help finish off the wire on the last 3 panels. By 0850, I started getting worried and gave him a ring. He had slept in, and was suffering from a big night on the town. But like a trooper, he jumped on his bike and rode here, arriving at about 0930. We got stuck into the wire for the roof, which we put on the outside of the frame, in case any predator tried to jump through it.

Kim then called us in for a full English breakfast, which as great, and I hoed it down. After a nice cup of Earl Grey, it was back to work. We had two panels to go, which we finished in about an hour, so by about 1100, the chicken coop was finally finished. Thank goodness for that. Talk about finishing just in time! Here is the final result and the proud workers (plus the dog).

A chook cam shot of in the house. Note the two nesting boxes at the back. The ladder is their roost, if they so choose to use it.

The run and house with feeder.

A view from the front.

And the proud workers! Yes, I have had a beard trim, and Adam is trying to grow a goatee.

We were scheduled to pick up the chooks from New Gisborne at 1400, so we had another cuppa and relaxed a bit. I was so very proud of the work, I just couldn't stop staring at the coop. To see the completion of a long project is a very rewarding thing indeed.

We departed at 1320 and Adam, Pam and I grabbed two big cardboard boxes, we jumped in the Hybrid and took a lovely trip towards Mt Macedon. We arrived at Sue's place, which was a huge bush block, and Sue was waiting with her kids at the main gate. She took us down to the chicken houses, where there were about 50 chooks of different breads. They were all very friendly and inquisitive and we nearly had more chooks than we bargained for, because they surrounded the car! Sue showed us the ISA browns that we asked for, and I picked 4 hens that had very distinct and different markings. That way, we could tell them all apart, and give them names. I paid $17 each for them, and two of them started laying yesterday, so we are just at point of lay. We had a tour of the block, and then said our goodbyes, with the chooks safely in boxes tucked tightly into the boot of the car to stop them from moving. I took it easy on the way home, so as not to upset them, and we didn't hear a squawk out of them all the way home.

So allow me to introduce the girls to you. Here is a group shot of all four, scratching around in their new home.

This hen is Edwina. She is wearing a scarf of feathers!


This hen is Bunty (in front of shot). She is a wide girl.

Here is Polly. She was orignally called Pocahontas, but we shortened it to Polly because Pam wanted to call her Molly, and Megan wanted to name her Pocahontas!

And finally, allow me to introduce Ginger, who is a bit shy. I think it is her, as they all look the same to me.

They had their first dust bath after about 3 hours of scratching around, with Butch winding them up by trying to round them up. Here is Polly, Bunty, and Edwina having their dust bath.


Ginger was scared of Butch, and stayed in her house for quite a while. After a few hours, none of the chickens gave two hoots about the dog, and must have figured out that he couldn't get to them. Butch did try and get into the cage, and Adam had to reinforce the wire with some more fence staples. I wish I had put the wire on the outside of the frame! I thought the chickens were going to be noisy, but they were nothing in comparison to Butch and his excitement.

The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to get the dog to stop barking at the hens, and in the end Kim had to resort to squirting Butch with a spray bottle of water. He soon got the message and calmed down. The girls figured out where their feed and water was, and demolished the few weeds that were growing in their run. I threw in some nasturtium and they got stuck into that as well. Near sunset their moods began to change, and they started to get docile. Bunty decided to retire for the night, and climbed the ramp and sat in the doorway, so that the other hens couldn't get in. They started making some very loud noises, and obviously were distressed at Buntys choice of sleeping arrangements, so I had to step in and sort it all out, shoo Bunty out the way, and show the other girls how to get into the house. Then I locked the catch on their little door, and waited a few minutes before having a peek from the nesting box end. They were all snuggled together on the floor of the house, and very, very quiet. Asleep at last.

What a day, and one I shall remember fondly for a very long time. I have not laughed so hard and for so long in quite a while. Laughter certainly is the best medicine, and it felt just like Christmas as a child. Everyone else in the family were just as excited, and Kim told me so many times that she was very proud of me, and that she shouldn't have been so resistant against getting hens over a year ago. I forgive you honey, we made it after a long wait!

Their antics are to be seen to be believed, especially when Edwina pecked Butch on the nose. Payback is a bitch, Butch!

We also took some video that I will process in tomorrow morning and make a small movie out of the various clips. Stay tuned for Chook TV!

Power Stats in the Black

For the second week in a row, we have made more electricity than we used. We had an excess of 3.2 kWh for the week. For those chart fans, here it is. Stats are the daily average for each measured week. Click to enlarge.

I love it when the moving average trend line is below zero! It makes it all seem so worthwhile.

I am suprised by the results, because of the fact that we have an extra person in the house, with Pam still with us on holidays. Normally, when we have visitors, all readings across the board go up by about the average of a single person. It just goes to show, the Pam has a very small carbon footprint (besides the journey by plane from the UK of course) whilst she is here with us. Good on ya Pam!

Hypocritical but still an Anti-Consumerist

This may seem totally against my principles, which I think it is, but I received my first cheque from Google Ads on Tuesday for a small sum which was payment for Feb-July08. You will notice the Adsense ads on my sidebar, that I am not supposed to mention as per my agreement with them, however it is hard to remain silent in the light of me earning money from them. You see, they are pay per click, so anyone who clicks on an ad contributes a few cents to my writing efforts. Similar to the Amazon ads for books and DVDs that I also have on the side bar under a similar agreement.

So time to confess I suppose. I promised myself at the time I started writing, that I would put any proceeds from advertising towards a green cause. However, when I received my first cheque, I had a blood rush, and ordered my chickens with the gains. I did not donate the proceedings as I promised myself. I do feel ashamed, however, I hope that my readers will understand as times have been tough at TGOG's house because of my injury and reduction of income. I supposed I could have done worse, like go and buy some worthless piece of electrical equipment, but in the end I did spend it on a green cause which just happened to be my own families self sufficiency. I feel like a hypocrite, because there have been many times that I have slagged off the media and advertising in general, and here I am profiting from the very demons that I am trying to purge. At least the ads feature information about the subjects I write about, and promote the green cause, but once again I am trying to justify my actions.

After much thought, I have decided to keep the ads on the sidebar, however, from now on I will donate the proceeds to a real green cause other than my own family. I will be donating all proceeds to the Tree Project which I have given up personal time to support in the past, and which helps sequester carbon on everyone's behalf. I might as well use the demon for a very good cause, and it will calm my troubled conscious.

I apologise for hypocrisy on my behalf, and hope that I have not offended anyone of my readers in the process. I do tend to be a bit harsh on myself, so if you think I am being a bit extreme, take it with the grain of salt it deserves!

Progress on the Chickens

Amy and I worked on the gate last night after work. It is a very simple frame that is supported by fence paling, made with materials that were off-cuts that were either given to me or scrounged. I fitted it tonight just after work. It was a bit of a pain, because the gate was square, however the frame was not. The right hand post was on a little bit of a lean, so I had to improvise and pack up the top right and bottom left a little. It opens fine and the catch is not too tight.


After Amy and I finished hanging it, the entire family sat and stared at it for a while. I sat and appreciated the hard work for just a little bit longer than everyone else, and Kim then came out with a glass of wine to celebrate the occasion! What a lovely soul mate I have in Kim.

It was about this time we discovered something that I might have overlooked. As chickens are not that tall (funny about that), and there are slats on the bottom of the door, we are going to be hard pressed to see them from where we like to sit on the garden bed wall. In my haste of following Kim's design, I didn't think about this very much. I looks like we will have to watch them from the other side, under the veranda. Oh well, when they get used to free ranging around the garden, there won't be much of an issue!

Also today at lunchtime, Amy and I ducked off to Melton Produce, which is next to the railway station. I had never been in the big shed, but I was pleasantly surprised when I did. They had so many different types of chicken feed, from hormone and antibiotic laden laying pellets, to organic feed. Well, naturally I bought the organic feed, and at $31 for a 30kg bag of Lauke Red Hen feed mix, I think is a great buy. Being the same company that makes the bread mix we bake, we can't go too wrong. I also bought a water bowl and feeder that hang down from the roof struts. I paid a total of $43 for them both, which I thought was a bargain. Kim found some similar on eBay for over $60 which included delivery. Kim suggested using some light chain to hang them with. That way we can have a hook at the top and bottom for easy removal and will withstand a bit of wind. I thought that a light wire may be strong enough, but with about 5kg in each, it may be best to get a couple of lengths of chain from the hardware shop.

Buying local has cut down in delivery costs and keeps these nice gents in business. May I just state for the record that the bloke that served me was so friendly and helped answer all my questions without any bad vibes. He even gave me the details of the Secretary of the Bacchus Marsh & Melton Poultry Club Inc.

I gave Joan (the Secretary) a call and left a message. Around dinner time she replied and gave me some good advice regarding backyard breeds. She confirmed my research about ISA Brown hens, and I have decided to go for this breed first off. I can get them locally and don't have to wait another 3 months for delivery. I gave the contact that Joan gave me a call after my dinner, and organised four 16 week old hens that had been organically raised from Sue, a breeder in Gisborne, which is about 20km away. Pending the completion of the chook house over the next few nights, and with Adams help on Saturday morning, I should be ready by Saturday afternoon to pick up the girls. This will give them about 6 weeks to acclimatise before they reach point of lay. It will be a learning experience for us all including the chooks.

We are all so excited. If it all goes to plan, I better give Deb a call at Book a Chook and cancel my order. A shame that Book a Chook is not local, because those Pekin Bantams look so cute!

Chook House Weekend

This weekend was a busy one. As mentioned in the previous post, Adam gave up some of his time, and helped me with the continuing construction of the chicken house. He has been working out at the gym, so is going to put all of those hard earned muscles to good use. It has been a long journey, making this chook house, with the decision made in late April and construction starting in late May. All of these delays have been due to my slow recovery from a very persistent bulging disc.

If you would like to get up to date on what we have accomplished so far, have a read of "Chateau le Poulet" , "The Chook House", "Paint The Town Green", and "Coop de Ville" in order of chronological events.

On Saturday, at about 10am, I got all of the tools out of the shed that I thought that we would need over the course of the weekend. Adam turned up on his new bike at about noon, and we got stuck into it. First he had to dig another hole, as Kim thought it would be a good idea if the floor area was a bit bigger. We agreed on an L shape, which extends the cage up to the plum tree. That way, any fallen fruit that drops in the cage will be a welcome delight for the girls and it gives them another square metre to scratch around in. We went firstly to Bunnings to pick up a few things. A bag of quickset concrete, gate hinges, bolts, a latch to secure the gate, and some shade cloth fasteners. Here is a photo of Adam digging the hole for the extra post. Click on any of the images to enlarge.

Once the post was in and quickset concrete used to fix it in the ground, we began to put the bottom part of the fencing together. We used the scavenged plastic electrical conduit covers and nailed them into space. Then we put most of the frame together from the wood that I had also found. That took a while, as we made sure everything was level, and fixed it all together with cup bolts, nuts and washers. At the end of day one, we still needed 5 lengths of wood to finish off the frame. Looks like I had to go for another scrounge in the morning. We tidyed up the area, and backfilled the bottom boards with stone so that we were ready to go the next day. Here is the proud father with his workers.

After the photo shoot, as it was a hot day, I shouted Adam one of my thirst quenching Canadian Blonde beers that we made in February. That beer was oh so good. Kim, Butch and Pam decided to join us and we all relaxed for a while before Adam headed off to a 21st birthday party. We agreed on a noon start the next day, just in case he had a big night! Here is a snap of Butch and Pam relaxing.

It's a good life for some! I was knackered and had been badgered all day by Kim and Pam telling me not to over do it. It was the first real work I had performed since my second relapse. I didn't hurt very much, because I took their advice and didn't blow and 'O' ring. Early to bed with an early start planned for Sunday.

---

Up at 7am on Sunday, and went hunting for some more wood from the scrap heaps on the building sites just up the road. I found what I was after within an hour, and it back home to have some breakfast and set up for the day. Kim and I popped back to Bunnings and bought two lavender bushes to plant in or around the hen house. Apparently it stops leg mites. I also bought some hormone powder to propagate some rosemary cuttings that we will also plant in the cage. It is reported to keep the chooks healthy. Adam turned up at about 12.30 pm and didn't look too worse for wear from the previous night, so we got stuck into it straight away. We finished off the frame in about an hour and a half. Here is the end result including the support for the roof.


The next job was to put up the shade cloth over the long section. You may recall that I found a nice length of shade cloth on one of my scavenging runs. Having never put shade cloth up before, we just followed the instructions on the back of the packet that the fasteners came in. It was pretty simple once we got started. Amy was home from work, so she came out and gave us a hand. It was nice and tight upon completion and cuts down a lot of heat and glare. It will keep it just a little bit cooler for the girls in the hot summer days we get here in Melton.

Now it was onto putting on the chicken wire. We figure that the trellis that is already in place will stay, and should be good enough to keep the hens secure. We only had to do the remaining panels and the gate, which was yet to be built. Adam was very eager to begin with the wire! Note the gloves. We both wore them at this stage of the construction. It must have been our sensitive I.T. hands!

We began fixing the wire on to the inside of the frame with fencing pins. They are buggers to hammer in, and many were dropped by the time we finished for the day. I did the worked on the top and Adam did the bottom. It took us until about 4.30pm when we called it a day. Here is where we got to.

I hope the pallet blokes don't come looking for their pallet!

We still have one side to do, and have to construct the gate. I plan on putting the gate frame together after work, over the next few days. It should be ready by the weekend so that Adam can return and help me hang it. This is where the gate will go.

Now if I was a chook, this is the view I would have from the inside looking out. Consider it a 'chooks eye view'. Nice digs, I reckon.

And a view toward the new passionfruit vines we planted a couple of weeks ago.


They are just going to love living here.

Of course, what would a day like this be without a road test. Here is Butch in the cage, looking very perplexed! He thought he was stuck until I went in through the whopping great hole where the gate will be, and then he figured it out.



After the escape, he looked very relieved! No Butch, the cage is not for you.


I plan to have the remainder finished whilst I am on leave next week, and we are going to paint the exposed framework Heritage Green. It should protect the wood for a few years at least. I enquired about getting some Pekin Bantams from Book A Chook today, and I was told that there is a 10-12 week waiting list for 6 week old chooks. I put my name down on the list, but will have a look around to see if we can source some girls a little earlier. I would love to have them before Pam leaves in the first week of October. Time will tell. If anyone knows of any chicken breeders in the western part of the greater Melbourne area, or around Melton/Bacchus Marsh/Ballarat area, drop me a comment please. It would be great to get them settled in sooner than later.

A great weekends work, with just one more weekend to go until we are finished. It must be the longest chook house build in history!

Adam's Day to Shine

I am very proud of all my kids. Two are adults and the other two are still at school, and only one has a full time job and is independent. That is Adam, who I have described a few times as the muscles of the family. That is not to say that he is all brawn and no brains, far from it. He is a well rounded individual, with various interests that kind of mimic mine i.e. Sci-Fi, gardening, building stuff, trying to be energy efficient, beer etc.

Anyway, yesterday Adam was coming over to get a free lunch and help with some more construction of the chook house. Have a look at what he arrived on! A new bike.

He bought it yesterday morning from a local bike shop. He tells me that it is a Mongoose Hybrid and has road tyres and a mountain bike frame. Adams reason for buying it were;

• To save on petrol for his car,
• To use it to run errands to the shops,
• To ride to his mates place when he has a few beers,
• To be greener, and
• Build up his strength for when we escort Phil on the first leg of his ride.

It cost him about $400, which I thought was excessive, but he likes it, and paid for it, so fair enough. If he cares for it, it should last him a very long time.

Son, some words of advice. Watch out for the other loonies on the road. Treat each parked car as a potential hazard and get that bike route map I talked about. There are some nice bike tracks around town that are a lot safer than the roads. And when you do have a few beers, you will find that you may have a bit of trouble riding it home. Balance is the first thing that goes after a few bevies. I know, I am talking from experience here!

Other than that, enjoy, and thanks for making your Dad a very proud man. You should start a blog. The title "The Greening of Adam" comes to mind!

Carbon Positive Electricity

This week has been extra sunny, which is about normal for this time of the year, and we have been extra efficient with our power consumption. In fact, over the last three months we have managed to reduce our consumption nearly every week.

Here is the graph, (you know I love a good graph) that depicts our electricity consumption for the past quarter. Brown for Grid (100% Green power Wind), Green for clean Solar PV, and Blue for total kWh utilised. The Y-axis represents the daily average usage for the specific week. The black trend line is a 2 point moving average based on grid usage, with a noticeable downward trend. Click on the image to enlarge.

As you can see, this week the green solar bar is higher than the total, with the grid power in negative. That means that I exported more power to the grid than I used in the house. This is the first week this year that we have made more power than we have drawn from the grid, which was 2.4 kWh excess to be exact. I hope the neighbours enjoyed the extra clean power even though they probably didn't pay for it!

It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to watch the electricity meter spin backwards on a sunny day. It makes it all seem worthwhile even with a travesty of a feed-in tariff in this state. Greening in action!

The (Water) Main Event

I was attempting to bush my teeth on Monday night, just be before retiring for the evening, and I went to fill up my little cup for the thrilling event. The water began to rise in the cup, oh so slowly, and then stopped all by itself. Now, I don't have automatic taps, so my first instinct was to check another tap, this time in the kitchen. Alas, no water.

I then announced to those members of the family who were still awake, that we had lost mains water pressure. Kim and I, with dynamo torch in hand, proceeded to the front yard to check if some larikin had turned off our main water valve on the water meter. Upon testing, it was found to be open all the way, so that wasn't the cause of the problem.

It was just then we noticed that there was a truck with its lights on, just on the other side of the road, with a few blokes making murmuring noises and swearing a lot. I managed to attract one of the guys attention, and he yelled out in a slow country drawl, 'Is your water out?', to which I replied, 'Yes, we have just lost mains pressure'. 'The water main has burst, so we turned of the mains valves either side. We will have it fixed soon!', Mr Water Man replied.

Well, that solved the mystery, and also explained all of the water on the road. So, Western Water were on the job in a flash, which was great news, but how was I to get my cup of water to brush my fuzzy teeth?

I knew that we had a 2 litre jug of water in the fridge, but it was only half full, so that would not be enough for everyone. We still didn't know how long Mr Western Water would take to fix the mains, so I began to take stock of the situation. A life giving resource that we use about 300 litres of each day had just been denied us. Luckily, I had planned ahead in case of such an event!

Regular readers would know that I have a small rainwater tank between the vegie-patch and swimming pool, which has a holding capacity of 2300 litres. It is full at the moment due to a few decent down pours of late. Kim and I took two 10 litre cooking pots from the kitchen and proceeded to the very dark back yard, again with the torch in hand. Kim held the torch and I managed to get water all over my feet. Kim was more interested in where the dog was than she was about my pouring accuracy! After some brief, but effective psychological re-adjustment (I swore), we got back on track to filling up the pots. Five minutes later, we were back inside with the pots on the stovetop.

Just to be safe, I filled up the kettle and boiled some of the rainwater for 5 minutes to make sure that I killed off any bacteria. I usually drink straight from the tank with no ill effects, but then again, I have a cast iron constitution from 20 years of eating Navy food! With the water cooled down, we had about 2 litres of sanitised water that everyone could use before going to bed. There was still 18 litres available in the pots ready for the morning, if the water mains were still under repair. I am glad I only had to lug the water about 50 metres, unlike many people around the world who have to walk many hours to get their daily water, many only carrying 20 litres per trip. This 20 litres would have to last a family for the entire day. Hats off to those of you who have this daily task, but then, if push came to shove, we would all have to adapt to whatever circumstances were thrust upon us.

We all went to bed at about Midnight, safe in the knowledge that we still had about 3 weeks of fresh water, only if we conserved it wisely. The following questions started going through my mind as I was drifting off to a restless slumber. What if Melbourne ran out of water? What would people start behaving like if the city and surrounding suburbs ran lower than 10% reserve? How would I protect the water I had? (crazy talk started going through my mind at this stage). What if the tank had been dry? How long would we be without mains water pressure? What is that Elephant doing in the middle of my bedroom?

Then I started to think of simple solutions for my current situation. I knew we had 20 litres of bottled water in the stockpile cupboard, just in case the rainwater was contaminated, but that would last a day or two at the most. Without a secure water supply, we were stuffed as a community, and I began to think that anarchy would break loose around here if the water supply ran dry for long. I then drifted into a very uncomfortable sleep.

About 2 hours, I awoke to the sound of the toilet cistern filling up. Yippee, the mains were back on and all fixed. Mr Western Water had worked very hard through the night and had fixed the water main in a record breaking time of 4 hours. Great work fellas, I thought as I drifted back into a more peaceful slumber, with all of my unanswered question fading away.

It has taken me two days of pondering to come up with some real solutions. After consulting with Kim, we decided that one of our next priorities was to purchase another rainwater tank of similar capacity to the one we had. As for the 50,000 litres of slightly salty water in the swimming pool, I would have to find a simple method of desalinating it so that it was fit for consumption. A Solar Still would be the easiest device to make. I have a piece of perspex in the shed ideal for this purpose. I will look for designs on the net over the next few days for something easy to bang together. I figure that on a sunny day, a still should give us about 8-10 litres of fresh water per day, and it would only be used if the tanks ran dry. Lets hope it rains often so that it never gets to that stage. Bathing would have to be reduced to a top and tail wash every few days for hygienic purposes, and our clothes would have to be hand washed. I would still boil water for drinking and cooking. I don't have a current solution for toilets, but maybe a composting loo should be the order of the day. Kim wants to renovate our en suite bathroom soon, so maybe I will list it as one of the building conditions! I believe there are models that you can purchase for a house built on a concrete slab.

All things being equal, we would be fine with a little further preparation. I suppose that if we all lost mains water in this area, we would just have to adjust to the new paradigm, but I reckon there would be a lot of thirsty people in a few days. Lets hope it never gets even close to that situation because visions of Mad Max 2 keep going through my head if it did come to that! BTW, did I mention that I love my rainwater tank?

Sustainable House Day

I would love to be writing that my house is open to the public this weekend, 13-14 September 2007, for Sustainable House Day, however, not only did I miss the deadline for nomination, I didn't even realise such an event existed!

Having checked out the map on the site, there are no houses within 30km of our town that are featured on the day, and none that I could see that have had a retrofit performed on them. From what I can tell by reading as many of the Victorian descriptions I can, is that the majority of homes are purpose built from scratch. So what happens when the majority of people like me want to retrofit an older house? We can't all build new houses, because that is not very sustainable, is it now!

Our house was built in 1972, and at the time this house was not very sustainable at all. The only sustainable feature is that the living areas have a northern aspect and we can heat the lounge room and study in winter by passive solar heating. The other feature is the massive 50,000 litre water storage facility in the back yard in the form of a swimming pool (call it what you like, I reckon!).

Having performed so much work retrofitting it so that it is as efficient as it can be with the budget we had, it was such a shame that we couldn't show it. It is a good example of what you can do to an existing home, with a bit of dogged determination and a lot of enthusiasm, and some minor changes in behaviour.

So here is the news flash! Kim and I have decided to enter our house for next years Sustainable House day. We don't know if we will pass the entry criteria, but are willing to give it a go. At least by delaying for a year, we should have the chook house complete, a second rainwater tank installed and plumbed to the toilets, a lot more land will be under cultivation for food crops, and just maybe my back will be completely healed.

So, if you are around my area, this time next September (2009), have a think about dropping in and saying gidday if my nomination is successful! However, if you are really busting to have a look at what a sustainable house looks like, then have a look at the Sustainable House Day website and have a look for something in your local area. There might just be a house to visit in your town that you didn't know about, and you might learn a thing or two that you can apply to your own home!

Store Wars and the ways of the Farm

For those who read regularly, you will already know, however for those readers new to the blog, I am a big supporter of Organic farming techniques. I support it so much, that I practice organic methods in my vegetable patch. Not one drop of petro-chemical based fertiliser, pesticide, or herbicide has touched my garden since I started growing in May 2007. Not only have my crops been bountiful, (except when caterpillars attacked my broccoli this year), my garden has been relatively pest free. I use organic methods of pest control which I have described in this post about organic pest control. My home produce is safe, and does not contain the normal cocktail of poisons that one may find on food grown by normal farming methods. I use organic fertilisers like Dynamic lifter, Powerfeed, Seasol and worm wee tea, and I use home-made compost to add fertility and water retention properties to the soil.

I am also against Genetic Modification of food plants or animals in any form. As most GM food used as feedstock for grain fed animals, and we in turn eat the animals, we end up ingesting the GM food by proxy, without being informed of the consequences, which at this stage are unknown. As Monsanto are the biggest manufacturer of GM products, they have a massive investment in "Roundup friendly crops". Yes, they are the company who not only create the GM seed stock that is Roundup tolerant, but also manufacture Roundup, which is a widely utilised herbicide. What a self perpetuating market! Not only do you have to buy there seed, but to kill weeds around them you have to buy their herbicide product as well.

Also, Monsanto recently purchased Seminis who own the Yates seed brand, which, in Australia is commonly sold in nurseries. So by purchasing these seeds for our gardens, we are supporting this corporate terrorist. They also have patented all of their GM seeds, so that if by chance an unfortunate farmer gets his crops contaminated by GM pollen from a neighbouring paddock, he can't do anything about it, and if anything can be taken to court by Monsanto for theft of a patented product! Not very fair in my books. Once again a clear case of profits before people, and very short term thinking by our policy makers who have lifted the GM ban in some Australian states. Shame, shame, shame. Corporate lobbying at its best, and our elected officials have been sucked in by them, and we shoulder the consequences.

All pretty heavy stuff, but to lighten it up a little, here is a very cool video about returning to the ways of organic farming, based on a Star Wars theme. For those who know me, I am into Sci-Fi as well as green stuff, so I thought the two would sit nicely together!



Enjoy, and I recommend to go organic where you can and if you can grow your own, even better for you. There are many seed providers that you can buy organic seed stock from, e.g. Digger's Club, Select Organic to name two. Even if it is just herbs in a window box, at least you will know what went into growing them. You will feel better inside because of it! I have never felt better since getting rid of some of the toxins in my food.

Fathers Day 2008

What a wonderful day!

Got out of bed at about 0900 after a nice sleep-in. Kim made me a bacon, egg and mushroom sandwich, which was really yummy, and the two out of four kids that were at home gave me their presents which were wrapped in newspaper. Ben gave me some stuff that he bought at his school's fathers day stall. Some degreaser, raw plug and screws, a picture frame (which Kim is placing a picture of Ben and I in it), and a diary for 2009, all which will come in handy. Good on ya Ben, great work!

Megan gave me a book, "Burke's Backyard - Homegrown, gardening and cooking for good health and great taste". It is a great read, and I wish I had something similar when I was first starting out. Not only does it have how, where and when various fruit and vegetables grow in OZ, it also has a couple of recipes per plant. Thanks Megan, a gift I shall always cherish.

Pam gave me a block of Rum and raisin chocolate. She didn't have to, but did anyway. It must have been son-in-law's day as well???

After the presents, I then got ready to take Pam (Kim's mum) to the doctors. She has been unwell since Friday, and has spent the last two days in bed with a extremely bad cough. She was in a fair bit of pain as well. After quite a while being treated, she was given a real good examination by Kim's doctor, Mark Robson. We all think that he is one of the best doctors in Melton. Great bedside manner (besides my GP of course, Doug). Anyway, Pam has a very bad chest infection and pleurisy, and while she was in the doctors office, she had to have a nebulizer to open up her airways. She was given heaps of medication and has a follow-up appointment on Wednesday to check on her progress. We are all hoping for a speedy recovery, so that she can start to enjoy her visit with us. She flys back to the UK in October.

Whilst Kim and Pam were seeing the doctor, Ben and I walked around to NQR to scope out any bargains for the stockpile cupboard. I bought the biggest pumpkin for $3, great to make pumpkin soup with. It must have weighed about 5kg. I picked up some stuffed green olives, one jar with garlic and another with jalepenos, which I had a few with lunch. Wicked stuff. Ben got himself a bag of chips and a packet of fizzy lollies that will last him about three weeks (not!) I also bought some Thomas Chipman organic chips for Kim and I as a treat. We don't buy ourselves many treats and only have one a week. We figure that with all the home cooked meals we make out of fresh ingredients, one bag of chips are not going to a. break the bank, and b. kill us! In summary, Ben and I spent a grand total of $12. We walked back to the doctors and Ben asked me many questions about the Hybrid. I gave answers that he could understand, and opened the hood and showed him the engine and where the in-line electric engine attaches to the battery bank behind the back seat. It was then I found the radiator cap only half locked down, and coolant splashes everywhere. It looks like the mechanic didn't lock the cap down when he did the 40,000km service last week. Thank goodness there was still some coolant in the radiator, and that the engine didn't fry. I shall be giving them a call tomorrow, to voice my dissatisfaction with their shoddy workmanship.

I then called my Dad, and caught up on all the goss up in Queensland for about 20 minutes. He is spending lunch with my brother Jim, and having a relaxing afternoon. Enjoy your day Dad!

We picked up Amy on the way home as her train arrived just as Kim and Pam finished at the doctors. Amy had been to her boyfriends, sisters wedding, that was held yesterday. Congratulations Molly. We had to go to the chemist to fill Pams' scripts. Instead of perusing all of the consumeristic rubbish that so many of our shopping centres have in them, I just sat a waited for them, and Amy and Ben went to Kmart to see what hours she had for this week. Ben got to see the secret staff room, and was very excited about that!

We got home at about 1330, and I had some of my olives and a few dill cucumbers for lunch with a nice cup of rooibos tea which contains no caffeine (which gives me headaches) and lots of antioxidants. I then giggled myself silly by continuing to read "Crap at the Environment". I am about half way through and it is such a great story. It is so funny that I belly laugh at just about every page. I have been getting some very odd looks from my fellow passengers on the train this week as well, because when I laugh, it is rather loud, and at one stage had tears streaming down my cheeks because I was laughing so hard. It is fun being me!

Amy gave me her present, which were the old faithful Grosby slippers. I get one pair from her every fathers day, which is good, because by the time the day comes around each year, the pair I have are so worn they are just about falling off my feet. I wear them like a second skin, and bung them on as soon as I walk through the front door. I have even been caught gardening in them because they are just so comfortable! As always Amy, a great present.

Kim also made me a present. It is a miniature vegetable patch! Here are some photos.

Here is another view.

And finally, in its little display box.

She makes them out of polymer clay, and is a very clever bunny! The dirt is made from tea leaves, and the cauliflower and apple actually glow in the dark! They all look so real, I could just eat them all up. She certainly has a talent and the minature vegetable box takes pride of place on my computer desk.

Kim, we are all still waiting for your next blog entry. Lets not disappoint the readers. You started off with a bang and now silence. Readers, leave a comment if you would like another crafty or frugal post from Kim. Treat it as a petition and maybe with some home grown activism, we may convince her to write another post!

Kim is cooking my favourite English fare for dinner tonight, Shepard's pie. I contributed the peas for it from the garden. Simple food is always the best, and I just love Shepard's pie! Adam and his girlfriend Stacey are coming over for dinner, so Kim is making two big dishes of the pie. Enough for a small eco-army, me thinks.

The rest of the evening will be spent with the kids, and talking about the sorts of things we like to talk about. There is no better way to spend the day than spending time with your kids. Thank goodness for a simple life.

[P.S] Adam and Stacey gave me a funny card, and a Bunnings voucher for $50. Now I have the means to buy the chicken wire I have been after. Freecycle still hasn't come through with the good! Thanks Adam & Stacey, nice gift.

Accepting Defeat is NOT an Option

Is it just me, or is there more and more crazy talk in the media about adapting to inevitable climate change. What the..?

Personally, accepting defeat is not an option in so far as Climate Change is concerned. We have the power right here and now to make a difference, and cut emissions throughout the word, which will help avert catastrophic Climate Change. We only have a short window of opportunity in which to act.

Take this article titled "Climate Change hits NT tourism hard" featured in The Age, for a good example. It is one of many but I will focus on tourism for this post.

This part of the article particularly peeved me;

"Funded by the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, the research will focus on the Top End, the Great Barrier Reef, the Blue Mountains, the Australian Alps and the Barossa Valley.

These case studies will be used to formulate "urgent adaptation strategies" and provide guidelines on how tourist operators can best cope with the changes."

Adapt! What an crock. If all of the tourist operators, and tourists adapted now i.e. by lowering their carbon footprint and by tourists maybe taking the train instead of flying everywhere, they wouldn't have to "formulate urgent adaption strategies"! They may even see some of this vast, brown land in the process.

Maybe I am being a bit harsh, but knowing that the increase in all this aviation activity throughout the world is speeding up climate change and pumping the very gasses high into the atmosphere where they do the most damage, I think that the average tourist of today should have a good hard look at themselves. I am not condoning tourism full stop, but I ask that some thought be given to the modes of transport we choose to get to our chosen destination. That will be the easiest way to adapt!

If you thought that we had given up the ghost from the last statement, please read on. It gets better. This part of the article which quotes a Dr Pascal Tremblay, Professor of Tourism, Charles Sturt Uni (no obvious qualifications regarding climate science, but I may be wrong) as having said;

"If a category five cyclone like Monica were to make a direct hit on Kakadu, it could wipe out an entire tourist season and have considerable impact on the destination's market share. It could also take tourism businesses years to fully recover."

No shit, Sherlock! Boo hoo, poor old tourist season, shall I call for the wambulance? What about the poor old ecosystems? What about the wonderful and beautiful part of the country you so nonchalantly mention as affecting the 'tourism business'? Stop thinking about the almighty dollar, stop doing bloody reviews, and do something about it, and tourism will not get affected! I am really getting sick of talk without action. Blah, blah, blah. Here comes another review about the impacts of climate change. Get over it. The world is heating up, we know that already! We as a civilisation have the tools right now to avert it, so get off your bum and do something about it Dr Tourism! And for our media friends out there, please stop printing that we now have to adapt to the inevitable climate change. It is not inevitable. It is mostly avoidable, if and only if, we act sooner rather than later. I am no climate scientist, but at least give the public some hope and the fighting spirt to actually do something. Get on board or bugger off.

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Now having finished my rant, I personally think that it won't be Climate Change that affects tourism, it will be the end of the age of cheap oil. Price increases of fuels, and therefore the increase in the cost of living (oil = food + everything else), are already making people re-think their holiday plans, especially in Europe and the USA.

I think a "staycation" is a great idea. Just think of it this way. People work all their lives to pay rent or for a mortgage on their abode, only to pay even more money when they actually take time off from work to go on a long distance holiday, usually overseas somewhere. Why not stay at home and visit places locally that are of interest. I would love a dollar every time I heard someone say, "I have live here for so many years, and have never been to the local zoo (insert whatever local attraction you have never visited)!" It takes a family member or friend to visit from interstate or overseas to get us off of our rear ends and actually become a local tourist. Even holidaying within your own state or province is a great start. I am just as guilty in the past, of this, as everyone else. The last holiday we took was to Stirling, South Australia (Mt Lofty Railway Station). That was 4 years ago now and was Kim & my first holiday since we were married in '97. We usually do day trips or go to the city via train to have a look around at the local sites. It has been a while though, and we need to get out a little more in the next few months, just locally of course.

So how about it? Instead of being brainwashed by TV ads and holiday shows, about far away destinations, think about a local holiday this season, and do the planet and our civilisation a favour!