11 April 2010

Rush hour at our home

  I took this photo just 30 minutes ago after I let the chooks out for the day.

There is an air of serenity in our backyard.  It's aided by the weather, wandering chooks grazing on green grass, the sound of unseen birds calling from the rain forest and the knowledge that here we can support our passion for home grown organic food.  We spent much of yesterday morning outside.  Hanno planted and weeded the garden and I spent time in the bush house sowing seeds and propagating ginger and turmeric.  We have our first seeds and seedlings in and growing well, but to support the need for food next month and the month after, we need to have  more seedlings ready to plant out.

On the way back from the chook pen, I saw this little kookaburra on the fence watching my every move.

When I was in Maleny last Friday, I went over to Green Harvest for supplies.  I bought Scotch curly kale, celeriac, Wakefield cabbage - a heirloom sugarloaf type and a trio of organic Italian garlic heads.  I always buy Green Harvest seeds, they germinate readily and there is a large selection of old varieties for me to choose from.  They're often local seeds too, so I know they're suited to the conditions here. The lovely Francis was in the shop when I walked in and after saying hello, she left me in the capable hands of one of the women there to place my order.  Soon after she returned with a handful of perennial leeks.  She had brought them in from her own garden for her staff and gave some to me to try.  What a thoughtful and unexpected gift!

 Rush hour at our place is usually over in two blinks of an eye.

Hanno was keen to get them in the ground yesterday morning and like our Welsh onions they'll happily grow out there for years without needing to be replaced each year.  We have trouble growing onions here because of the warm weather so having Alliums in the form of Welsh onions, perennial leeks and garlic, gives us some form of those vegetables although we still have to buy our brown and red onions.

The outside of the bush house - yes, it needs to be tidied up.

I was asked last week what our bush house is.  Well, it's just a shade cloth covered structure, located in the backyard, near the water tank, where I sow seeds in trays, propagate plants, store potting soil, keep the worm farm, and generally protect young and emerging plants from the harsher conditions outside.  Inside the bush house is always cooler in summer, and if I keep the water up to it, provides a cool and humid place for ferns, orchids, sick or baby plants and seedlings.  I guess  it's the tropical equivalent of a glasshouse - it provides protection from sun, heavy rain, wind, birds and wandering insects.
Inside the bush house (ditto on the tidying up), the potting mix bins sit under the worm farm (bathtub), seedlings on the left and assorted plants sit on the shelves.

It's early Sunday morning now and I know we'll have a lovely day today because Shane and Sarndra are coming over for lunch.  I've already made a mountain of little meatballs that I'll add to homemade tomato sauce,  I'll pick a salad from the garden, bake bread rolls and, depending on whether there is an egg or two later this morning, make a lemon tart for dessert.  I'll sow the celeriac seeds before they arrive and then we can all relax and enjoy the afternoon, knowing that all our work has been done and those little seeds are slowly making their way through the soil into the sunlight.


 Newly sown seeds, seedlings and propagated herbs sit at the sunny end of the bush house.  They get the gentle morning sun for about two hours to warm the soil, then sit in shade all day.
All this week's roads have been leading to this lunch; a time to sit back and enjoy life with my family.  Even though most of our days are similar now, made different only by the days I go to my voluntary work, there is still something special about Sunday afternoons - they seem to be made for experiencing, first-hand, the comfort of one's home, socialising, connecting and being with family and friends.  These are the days that memories are made of.


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22 comments

  1. What a paradise your place seems. Thank you for sharing your bush house with us, even if may need tidying!

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  2. It looks beautifully serene Rhonda. Glad you're black in this space every few days- we missed you! xo m.

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  3. Beautiful garden! and so tidy!

    LOVE the bush house. What a nice potting shed! I am very envious!

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  4. Just looking at your home makes me relax. Thank you for sharing. We have our spring garden started and I have had time just to sit and enjoy the backyard. We are slowly making ours a relaxing place to unwind. Thank you for the inspiration.

    Enjoy your lunch with family.

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  5. Good morning Rhonda, I hope you all enjoy the lunch today. I will check out Green harvest later on thank you, I'm heading into the garden now.

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  6. Hi Rhonda, love the bush house Its wonderful and useful to see little glimses of the way others do things .It inspires use to get out and do .Thinking I may need a potting area maybe not a house but possible a table type structure where I can keep pots and soil etc..currently using an old barrel near the tap. Enjoy your special lunch.Linda

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  7. Nice Bush house, I believe we in the U.S. would call it a potting shed. We have onions in the ground and preparing the beds for more planting tomorrow. Enjoy your special lunch!

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  8. I was just thinking this morning about living in the tropics. I remember Thailand the abundance of fruit trees (citrus, mango, etc) and avocado trees, and the year round growing season. Your wonderful post reminds me of how much I enjoyed it there (loved the way houses had courtyards and walled gardens). Thanks!

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  9. What a fantastic bush house that is! :) I would LOVE to have something similar someday! :) Our chickens are so funny like that too...we open the coop door and out they run every which way...then they follow me, thinking I have food for them! They are such silly girls! :)

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  10. What a beautiful and inspiring post. Thank you!

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  11. Sigh. What a wonderful feeling this post has, so content and happy. Makes me smile.

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  12. Your home is so very inviting!

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  13. I hope you enjoyed your lunch with family today Rhonda.

    I too use Green Harvest as their seeds seem to germinate a lot better. Thank you for sharing your bush house with us all. My mum has a similar "fern house" and my hubby and I were only discussing today whether or not to put in a glass house. After seeing your bush house and my mums fern house perhaps this is a much better alternative give how hot our summers get.

    Susieq.

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  14. What a wonderful looking vegetable garden. Your girls look great too.

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  15. I thought I would share.

    http://mrsmamahen.blogspot.com/2010/04/sunshine-award.html

    Of course, don’t feel obligated to the “tag you’re it” aspect, but I just wanted to share your blog with others.

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  16. Lovely post! I don't think the bush house needs tidying up at all. It looks happy and well used. :)

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  17. I would love to know if you let your chickens out into your garden? like the first beautiful picture above? If so, how do you keep them from scratching up all of your vegetable plants and eating succulent greens? Thanks for your lovely website.

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  18. Hi Rhonda, a bit off topic (BTW your garden looks great, it's nice to get some seeds in the ground finally isn't it? Anyway, you did mention in a comment on my blog as to whether you could help... you could... if you could let me know if you ever run classes on how to knit a kitchen cloth or crochet nanna squares... I'll be there, Sonya

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  19. sonya, I'm not much on crocheting but I'd be happy to teach you to do knitted dishcloths. We can do it here over a cuppa. Just ring to make a time and it will happen.

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  20. Thank you for that, I can't find your number though... can you email it to me at permaculturepathways@yahoo.com.au and let me know when is a convenient time to call? Looking forward to it, will bring some honey and beeswax candles for your time. Sonya

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  21. We have hens, but if we don't keep them in their large yard, they get into my garden and destroy. How does your garden survive your totally free-ranging hens? Do tell! Thanks, Sandy

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