How Much Food did we Grow in One year?

One tonne Challenge Finale

Our one tonne challenge is over. For 365 days we have weighed and recorded everything that we have harvested from our frontyard garden. Everything from eggs laid by the chookies, potatoes, apples, artichokes, tomatoes, chillies, garlic, cucumbers, zucchinis, pumpkins, herbs, salads, lemons and much much more.

and so.....drum roll please brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrum....tiss! We harvested a whopping 380.73 kgs. YAY!!!!

All of the children have lent a helping hand, picking nasturtiums, strawberry guavas and tamarillos, (some even got weighed before they were eaten!) heading inside, balancing it on the scales, climbing up on the bench and writing it on our wall of blackboard......

Over a kilo a day from a normal suburban yard ain't bad, and, while we were a little shy of our  one tonne goal (which we are still determined to conquer), it just goes to show the value of a regular suburban lawn, if you dig it up and grow veggies instead. We calculated the average price per kilo for our top ten veggies based on the prices of Coles (shudder) and realized that (if we ever shopped there) we would have saved close to $4000 in fresh produce over the year!











this year our 2 big players, the grapefruit and oranges didn't fruit, nor did our bananas and all of our nectarines were lost to pesky possums and parrots....grrr next time gadget, next time! But our big winners this year have been lemons, sweet potatoes, yakon, potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes.

On the bright side we did harvest over 90kg of pumpkins from just 3 vines!  We were also surprised to realise we harvested over 900 eggs from the ladies over the year.

When we started our one tonne challenge we were only growing in the front-half of our frontyard (about 70 square metres of space). As the year progressed so did our desire to utilise all of the space we have so we covered the bottom drive and the rest of what remained of our front lawn with woodchips and manure to increase our growing space by another 20 sq metres.

Now that the only lawn we have is a narrow path to the front gate, we feel that we can finally, and in all honesty, call ourselves "frontyard farmers"!

Our front lawn...

After harvesting the pumpkins in the drive we realised it was the perfect space for a polytunnel...well a mini, home-made one. Using bamboo harvested from a friend's backyard, some zip-ties, clear plastic and a few star pickets, we constructed what has been a very handy little greenhouse for under $50.

So what's next you might ask? We are going to do it all again. With all the new growing space, we are curious as to how close we can get to the illusive 1 tonne. But its not about getting as much as we can from the space that we have, rather its about making the most of it, and making it better than how we found it. In a funny way its a habit, but also we find it insightful and rewarding, to fully appreciate it... the preparation of a bed, improving the soil, planting a seed, watching it grow through the seasons, and finally harvesting it for our  family table.

Putting them to Work
Good ol' fashioned, hard work is rewarding. For adults, preparing a bed for planting, trudging wheel barrow after wheel barrow of manure in to your garden or back breakingly planting out 150 spring seedlings - whilst you finish up exhausted, sore and a little more stinky,  you're rewarded with a great sense of satisfaction, these days, our daily routines of roaring back and forth to work in the traffic and sitting in front of a computer screen all day rarely leaves us with a sense of satisfaction. It's the same for kids, they thrive on hard work, having a challenge, getting dirty and achieving a daily goal. Not sitting in front of an x-box, an ipad or the tv, these empty things don't satisfy kids.

Our kids have daily jobs that they do every day, like many kids out there. We have linked these jobs to our family needs on purpose, so the kids know that their contribution is an integral part for the whole family's lifestyle. It's important not to deprive your children from the satisfaction that comes from hard work, no parent sets out with this intention. Our 9 year old son knows that when he feeds the chooks each morning, with grain, greens, scraps, clean water, collecting the eggs and cleaning out the coup, that the ladies will lay and we will get to enjoy their eggs. the smile on his face as he weighs them and puts them in the fridge is priceless.

Our 7 year old daughter rather prides herself as the domestic goddess, choosing to clean the family bathrooms each morning, wiping the basin, sweeping the floor, changing hand towels, returning tooth brushes to drawers etc, her completed job reinforces tidiness and a sense of each of us looking after each other in our home.

The two youngest, 5 and 3 year olds, water the seedlings each morning between 6:30-7am. They empty the compost into worm holes and water the entire patch. This means cold fingers from using the hose, hurrying up with breakfast and being responsible with water usage, turning off taps and checking over the garden. By doing their job properly then the seedlings thrive, can be planted and then harvested for our family, they are very aware of this.

work is bliss!

Whats growing in the patch

With Spring just around the corner we wanted to test-drive a few new varieties of veg. We're trialing a row of Siberian tomatoes that are already in the ground (mid Aug). These tomatoes are reported to be v tolerant to cool conditions but we doubt they're tolerant to frost, so we're expecting they'll be a good choice for the start and end of tomato season to extend the growing period - we'll report back and let you know how they go.

the new beds, prepped for our Siberian visitors

The coolest cukes for 2015 would have to be painted serpent cucumbers and Cuca-melons which are actually a miniature watermelon...yum. On the bean front we're excited about growing the Madagascan Lima bean which is a perennial, said to be prolific in its 2nd and ongoing years. They also make an outstanding falafel and are said to be a good alternate to fava beans for warmer climates.  Asparagus peas (also known as the winged pea) are next on our trial radar which as they suggest have a similar flavor to asparagus. We've also been growing a range of radish over the winter including Japanese daikon, hailstone (both white varities) and French breakfast. Interestingly enough we've noticed that slugs are quite attracted to the French breakfast but seem to mostly leave the others alone.

Hawaiian Guavas... wonderful colour!

An oddity that we're given recently and are also thinking about trialing is a pea bean cross, or Pean, which we think is more commonly known as Hyacinth bean or Lablab. I don't know if the guy that gave them to us was trying to knock us off, but our initial research suggests that they may be rather poisonous, if not boiled repeatedly.... hmmm....worth doing your research! Has anyone else heard of the mysterious Pean? Love to hear from you Pean experts out there.

Next time,  more on Black soldier fly, and some ideas about a virtual community farm in the Mountains.

Grow Your Own Organic Food

Our Urban 1 Tonne Challenge

With the end of summer upon us and only 130 days left in our latest Urban food production challenge (to see how many KG's of organic food we can grow on our suburban block of 750 square metres) we have just passed 233Kg of home grown food. Not bad huh?

Since summer started we have barely bought any fresh produce, bar the occasional bunch of bananas, some onions, and the odd bag of shrooms that have crept into the trolley,  but other than that our family have been more than satisfied with what we have grown in our garden. The kids have devoured tamarillos in their lunchboxes every day since school started again and the road-side apples we picked a few months back (they store really well wrapped in newspaper, certainly fresher than most of the apples in the big supermarkets). They've eaten heirloom tomatoes straight off the vine or helped themselves to crispy cucumbers as a snack. In the kitchen we've cooked and prepared seasonal produce; salad greens, radicchio, basil, mint, leeks, beetroot, sweet potato leaves, nasturtiums just to name a few - breakfasts of warm sourdough with a parsley, tomato, basil and nasturtium bruschetta mix, served with a poached egg straight from the laying ladies, is what life is all about.
Now with the cooler weather we are looking forward to roasting, souping and baking this season's produce, sweet potatoes, potatoes, parsnips, pumpkins roasted with our own garlic and rosemary and our neighbour's honey and baking citrus tarts and pumpkin scones for afternoon teas. As a society, many people don't even consider purchasing and eating seasonal produce. Watermelon in June? Coriander in July? "Folks, this ain't normal!" The questions are , where is your food coming from? What's been done to it to allow it to grow out of season? Or how many kilometres has it travelled to be there? And why aren't we supporting local farmers and fresh, seasonal food?

While we won't reach the magic "1 tonne" (this year) we are still hoping to reach close to a kilo of food for every day of the year... but the quantity of kilo's isn't really what counts. The point of this experiment is to explore what we can do with the space that we have, to get others thinking about how we can boost our local food security by growing our own food, and realising that food is our own responsibility, not that of the industrialized globalised petroleum guzzling, mass producing, off shore food monsters that we have all unwittingly become dependent upon. We say its high time to stick a home grown purple carrot up their bum!



The Crop and Swap (Four years old!)

In April we will have ended our fourth season of the Crop and Swap (our local food swap with now over 300 registered members). Much of the locally grown food produce this season has been outstanding in quality and variety. Beetroots, breads, brassica's, honey, tomatoes, tamarillo's, turnips, parsnips, you name it, someone has dared to grow it in their backyard this year!

Not only is the swap still growing strong, it has brought our community together in a way we never really expected. We have made some fantastic friends, learned enormous amounts about gardening, shared plants, seeds, laughs and tears, and collectively shared thousands of kilos of locally grown  and home-made food. Beyond even this, we have held countless workshops on chooks, worms, microbes, pests, fertilizers, jams, and even fungi (each by different members of the community). We have held socials, and shared resources.



The swap has even encouraged the development of new networks between neighbours, starting their own initiatives such as gardening working-bees, sharing firewood, and even pig shares! Oink!

Bottom line, the Swap has changed us, and everyone else who has shared in it. Its captured local imaginations, and made each of us realise the worth that each person can offer to their community. Some swappers have even taken the brave step to quitting their jobs and moving into the organic food industry... Isn't that amazing? If there is one thing that you can do to really build a sense of community food networking and security in your own community, we would very much recommend that you start your own food swap in your local hood!

So here's to the Swap, 4 years on, and going strong!


Experiments in the Patch

As always, just when you think you have settled on the best way to set up your veggie patch, you find an even better one, but that's the fun of gardening I guess, and we are always experimenting with new and more efficient ways to grow our veggies. Recently we have come across two concepts that have changed the way we grow.


Bird netting saved most of our veggies after a massive hail storm

The first is called "SPIN" farming, which stands for "small plot intensive farming". The system is very popular in the States, and basically looks at how urban farmers can make a commercial profit from a small plot of land, growing high value crops in quick succession. The growing rows are about 80cm wide by approx 7 m long. This is so that you can easily straddle the beds and water them with a regular garden hose. A guy by the name of Curtis Stone (not the b grade Aussie celebrity chef (?)) has been making a successful business out of farming people's front yards and backyards, delivering greens to local cafe's. Very cool and worth researching.

The second concept is "No Till" gardening. This method follows the basic principle that turning your soil ruptures the micro and macro habitats beneath the soil, including the complex networks between worms, insects, microbes and fungi. If you  have ever watched "Horton Hears a Who" you will get this principle straight away. Soil that is undisturbed is teeming with life, while soil that is turned and disrupted regularly quickly becomes baron, needing chemical supplements to remain fertile. Many farmers are now moving toward a no till method, and so have we. We simply add organic matter, like compost, chook and horse manure, coffee grounds from local cafes and wood ash, then cover with mulch. the worms do the tilling for us.


Worm bombs and fish guts
Speaking of worms, one of the new things we have been doing in the garden is "Worm Bombing". As you may already know, worms do heaps of really cool stuff below the soil that improves plant growth, like unlocking available nutrient, aerating the soil, improving water retention, increasing good bacteria, eating naughty nematodes, and increasing root growth; so why not add them to the soil as you plant?

Before planting out our new seedlings, we raid one of our 7 in-ground worm holes and scoop out a good handful of wriggly wormies. With each seedling that we plant, we make a hole (with our trusty upturned beer bottle), drop in a 'worm bomb' (a ball of worm castings and worms) then plant the seedling. Not only have our plants been growing faster and healthier, but the soil is starting to pump with worms. Give it a go.

The addition of worms works super well with the no dig/till method. by continuously adding more organic matter to the top of your beds, your garden becomes one gigantic worm farm.

We have also been using our worm wee as a foliar spray for our veg. Worm wee is not only packed with nutrient, but also beneficial bacteria, which improve nutrient uptake and reduce disease in plants. For the brave, who want to get serious about microbes in the patch, and aren't squeamish about fish guts, read on.

 Our mate Craig, from the food swap, makes a brew from old fish guts, kelp, molasses and worm castings. Fear not, he has a background in microbiology and knows his stuff. The first step is to blend up some fish offal and leave it to break down in a bottle with a loose lid (somewhere far, far away from the house). After about 3 months its ready to use. Add a cup of fish soup, a few tea spoons of kelp, a jar of molasses and about 20 litres of water to a large bucket. Add a stocking with plenty of worm castings and a rock or two, so that it sinks to the bottom, then turn on the fish pump and leave it to bubble away for a couple of days. Amazingly, it doesn't smell at all, and is packed with good bacteria for the patch. spray it on the veg or water it on the soil to give your plants a super pro-biotic boost!

198 seedlings


these 198 trays have been fantastic!

A while back, my bro-in-law gave us a whole lot of seedling trays (for tree seedlings). They have been great, but because they are quite deep, they take up a lot of seedling mix. Having visited a couple of farms recently, the common seedling tray that is used for vegetable seedlings is called a "198", because it has 198 shallow seedling pods, so we got ourselves a few trays. 6 litres of seedling mix is enough to easily fill two trays (396 seedlings), which equates to about 3 cents per seedling for the mix, rather than 120 seedlings that we were potting with out bigger seedling trays.

In the pursuit of even more veggies, we have decided to say farewell to what remains of the front lawn, and drive way, and put in another 9 rows of growing space, and maybe even a poly tunnel! So the 198's will be getting quite the workout over the coming season.

Beautiful beans 

Who needs diamonds, when you can have beans. These Molly Zebra and Scarlet Runner beans are as beautiful as little jewels; tiny kidney shaped miracles of creation that awaken a sense of child-like wonder in anyone who gazes upon them. We always used to be blasé about beans until this season, when we afforded them a whole bed row unto themselves. Beans (we have discovered) are delicious! There are so many wonderful, and beautiful varieties of beans, and if you can't manage to eat them all fresh off the vine, you can easily dry them and store them for winter soups, or planting next season.

Although the summer months have passed, we still have plenty of pumpkins to harvest and loads of sweet potatoes, yacon tubers, potatoes, and Jerusalem artichokes, not to mention the winter citrus season ahead. How many more kilo's can we grow in 130 days???

Stay Tuned, We are determined to get back to regular posts ;)

Springtime Harvests and home grown Garlic

The heady perfumes of jasmine and wisteria, grapefruit blossoms and bush fire (back burning), have become the welcome and well known intoxicating smells of springtime here in the Blue Mountains. Walking out on the balcony in the morning time, the rich aroma's hold us in a dreamy suspense, and remind us just how good life in the mountains is. The weather is warming, the Kookaburras are sitting plump & content, and it's time to watch the garden grow.

As you may already have heard we're are doing a 1 tonne challenge! That's right, we are aiming to harvest a tonne of food from our yard in a year..nothing like setting the bar slightly high - that would Joe's fault. However, in the last 80 days we have now harvested 80 kgs! That's a person, and we haven't yet hit peak harvest season, actually Springtime in the garden is the leanest season of the year...so for all the non believers out there (I secretly think we might hit closer to 450kgs) watch and be amazed ;)

Today we harvested the last of our citrus, the final oranges and lemons, though there's an abundance of new blossoms bursting with potential. We've been citrussy spoilt this last season, massive juicy grapefruits, sweet oranges and perfect zesty lemons. The secret to our success has been building the chook enclosure around the citrus trees and wait for it - sucking all of the stink beetles into beetle oblivion with the vacuum cleaner - the old vacuum cleaner, that whilst retired from domestic duties proudly sports its abilities with Joe at the realm any time the stink beetle population gets, well stinky. 

Home Made Orange Juice

Springtime specials

 Over the past weeks the kids have been picking the new season mulberries, cape gooseberries, strawberries and broadbeans. We've also been enjoying loads of Pak Choi, yum, yum, yum and it has without a doubt taken over kale to become our new favourite green. Tonight we enjoyed a noodle, chicken, sweet potato, garlic, pak choi and chilli laksa. Pak Choi can be grown all year round and if it's cooked ever so slightly its deliciously juicy and packs a satisfying crunch with every munch.

Home-grown Garlic

This year we were determined to supply ourselves with as much garlic as possible. Planting well over 200 bulbs, on St Patrick's day..to be sure, to be sure and now, in the last fortnight we have harvested and feasted on our very own fresh garlic. Whilst the bulbs aren't enormous, the flavour has been beyond compare to trashy, out of date Chinese and Argentinian store bought garlic, sprayed with all manner of nasty pesticides and fungicides...(along with strawberries, garlic is one of the most heavily sprayed post-harvest crops to promote longevity). There's no need to wait 9 months though to enjoy your garlic. We've been cutting the green tops off the plant all year and loving them in our cooking, offering the most flavoursome  edge to any dish.

If you have never tasted it home grown, do yourself a flavor, and plant some at the end of summer. mulch well and keep the soil moist. then next spring, pull up your very own garlic bulbs and try them roasted whole, or finely sliced and simmered with a little butter and olive oil and parsley, served on sour dough.

Whilst we've been enjoying some springtime treats, we've also been pretty busy in the patch preparing some of the summer heavy weights - pumpkins, zucchinis, potatoes, cucumbers and of course lots and lots of tomatoes.  So far we have 12 tomato plants (and expect to plant at least another 10 before the end of summer) in and thriving including some cherry varieties lemon drops, dark cherry, tommy toe and also some orange juan flambe which have all produced well here in the past. We've also potted up some heirloom tigerella tomato seedlings which we're hoping will be as prolific as they were last season.

 Our front driveway has been decommissioned to make way for our brand new pumpkin patch, so if you're planning on visiting you may never reach the front door alive...might be best to come in via the side gate ;).

WINTER HARVESTS, FALAFELS AND FOODIE FASHIONISTA'S

IN THE
WINTER
GARDEN

Finally, last night we had our first decent drop of rain after what seems like months. We took the girls out for a puddle hunt and didn't return until they were sufficiently soaked with muddy water. The water tanks are full again and the vegetable garden is soaking up as much as it can hold. We are 21 days into our challenge to see how much food we can grow on our suburban block in one year, and so far, we have harvested a modest 45kg of fresh fruit, veg and eggs from our garden. We have set ourselves the goal of trying to reach 1 tonne of food production before the year is out, and although it seems ambitious for a suburban block, we're quietly confident that we can at least get close.

You may be wondering what there is to harvest during winter in the mountains, but we have a bounty of lemons, oranges and grapefruit, tamarillos, and plenty of greens. Shallots, bok choi, nasturtiums, kale, and even dandelion greens have been harvested daily. After reading a great little book on edible weeds, "The Weed forager's Handbook", we have been looking at some of our weeds rather differently. Instead of pulling them out, we have been enjoying them in salads, which makes a lot more sense.

R with a double decker tamarillo!

Kale Chips? Anyone? Anyone???

Kale has been enjoying celebrity status in the vegetable isle around the world, it seems, for the past year or so, and all the most chic of herbivores have been desperate to be seen with a bunch of these designer label leafs, preferably wrapped in some rustic brown paper, being peddled in the front basket of a retro bicycle. Scientists have found that Kale keeps you looking healthy, and very, very vogue!

Not  to be left behind in the food fashion world, we decided to grow some this season, so that we too could bask in the Kale haute - couture, of this oh so "in" veg. Yesterday we made kale chips, and were very impressed with ourselves. The feeling of being cutting-edge-cool was almost palpable, until we tried to share them with the kids, who each screwed up their faces and collectively gagged at the taste....philistines!

Crispy Kale chips

Kale chips are actually worth a go. Of course, only a more seasoned pallet will appreciate them. Simply dry off the leaves using a towel after washing them, then toss them with a tiny amount of olive oil. Tear up the leaves into rustic looking bite sized bits, and pop them in a low oven at 130 degrees c for about 15 minutes until they have gone delightfully crispy.

We sat and ate our high society,all organic, home grown kale chips as we casually flicked through the paper, knowing that, even though no-one could see us, the world  somehow just knew, we were bourgeois foodie gods... and then, I saw it, an article in the paper on how seaweed is the new super fashionable green to be eaten... suddenly I felt like a K-Mart end of season sale bin!


From Failure to Falafel
Last year, we got all excited about the idea of making flour from our broad beans. We had giddy notions of making our own broad bean bread, and being oh so sustainable... but broad bean flour just doesn't work...at least, not for bread-making. Our one and only attempt at broad bean bread went from dismal failure to happy accident, when we accidentally made... the worlds best broad bean falafel mix!

                                    How to make a boastfully good broad bean Falafel

1. Grow and dry your own broad beans with pride
2. grind your dried beans in a food processor (we used a coffee grinder)
3. add water, some garlic, a chilli, and herbs of your choice to taste
4. roll the delicious mix into bite sized balls and shallow fry in a pan with olive oil.
5. serve with sweet chilli and homemade yoghurt!



The New Veggie Patch

Take a peek at our new patch. With the addition of another 14 square metres, we have loads more growing space for the challenge, and we are very much looking forward to testing it out this summer. Our perennials and fruit trees are grouped together, south of the vegetable patch, where, hopefully, apples, pears, bananas, tamarillos, strawberry and pineapple guava's, sweet potatoes, strawberries, cape-gooseberries, chillies and yacon will all happily grow in harmony.

 

We have also updated our in-ground worm-farms. We found that our first ones were too small, so we've added 5 x 20 litre buckets, cutting off the bottoms and drilling with holes. they are working wonderfully under our fruit trees, and the worm population in our patch is getting  a real wriggle on!

Our garlic has also been growing well, so far, despite a few aphids, and if all goes according to our garlicky plans, we should have mountains of garlic to store for the coming year.

 

In the seedling nursery we have 8 different varieties tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchinis, basil and shallots all awaiting transplanting over the coming weeks. Today we sowed carrots, beetroot and leek, a bounty that should help us reach our challenge target. One tonne here we come ;)!



THE FUNKY 1 TONNE CHALLENGE BEGINS

TIME FOR A CHANGE

With spring just around the corner, we have been making some big changes to our garden design in the front yard. We have dedicated almost 100 square metres of the front yard to growing vegetables, while the south east side of the yard is now solely for fruit trees and perennials. We have added 3 more apple trees, another pear, two feijoa trees, a 4th strawberry guava, and a plum tree, taking our fruit tree total to almost 30 trees, not including the community orchard.... We're adding some extra "fruity" to our "funky front yard farm".

This Sunday, after much deliberation, we decided to harvest our giant bunch of bananas, and we were gobsmacked at how heavy the bunch was. It got us thinking... with all the new growing space in the front yard, maybe it was time for a new challenge. I suppose the old question of "How much food can actually be grown on a suburban block" has always remained conveniently rhetorical. Well, not for much longer, as we aim to find out.

THE ONE TONNE CHALLENGE

Using a highly sensitive set of rusty bathroom scales and a state of the art set of cheap Chinese plastic kitchen scales,  our aim is to see exactly how much food we can produce in terms of weight over the next 12 months.... and diligently record it in chalk on our kitchen blackboard! So, yes, its going to be rather scientific.  It shall be known from this day forth, as ....(drum roll) the Funky Frontyard 1 tonne challenge (clashing symbols). Its highly unlikely, but our goal is 1 tonne of home grown food.

And what better way than to begin our weigh in than with our great big bunch of Blue Mountains bananas! the official bathroom scale weight is 22kg for the Bananas! not a bad start.

The challenge has officially begun, let's see how many more kilos of produce the Funky Frontyard Farmers can grow over the next 365 days!

Bananas and Bee stings

The Blue mountains is a magical place, filled with mystery and intrigue. Legends of unusual sightings of black panthers lurking in the bushland, and even towering yowies have been reported by perhaps less credible sources. But I would like to announce the recent sighting of something equally unbelievable....but true.

We have bananas growing in our front yard! (Queue audible gasp of disbelief). But wait, this is where it gets all X files... we have apples too!!!!! (Nooooo, it can't be true... apples AND bananas!!!! I don't believe it!) Doubt no more dear reader, I speak the enviable truth, so please excuse us while we take a little moment to boast openly about our recent success in the patch.

Most of you will hopefully be adequately envious of our climactic situation. Our hometown of Springwood is said to be one of the most temperate climates in the world, allowing us to grow a very wide range of fruit trees, from cool climate to subtropical trees, and if we are lucky, (and our bunch of bananas survive the cold winter ahead, and aren't eaten by yowies) we may be treating ourselves to a home grown banana or two next summer. As for the apples, they were delicious!

This season has been one of several firsts with our fruit trees. Our first harvest of tamarillo's has been very popular with the kids, and they are amazingly tasty. I don't know why they aren't sold regularly at the shops on account of their great flavour and ease to grow. We have also planted two feijoa trees that promise some more fabulous flavours in the seasons to come. Our first pomegranates also arrived in the community orchard this year, and of course, our apples...and bananas.

 

Our Tamarillo tree grown from seed only a year ago...super prolific - just add horse poo

 

Beekeeping - to bee or not to bee

Last month Jo and I went on a beekeeping course near Wisemans ferry. the course was run by the Sydney Permaculture Institute, and was well worth its while. the drive alone was spectacular, winding through the rolling green pastures that hug the serpentine bends of the Wiseman's ferry river, but best of all, Gramps was back at home looking after the four kids.

ready for action... oh the drama!

  The course included an induction to bee keeping, the history of bees in Australia, tools and equipment, and so on. Later, it was time to don the white bee suits and venture out to rob a hive. We pried open the hive, and with novice skill, removed four frames of honey comb. The smell was intoxicating and dreamy and sweet... and then I got stung on the ankle...

 

Once the lid was back on, we stole away with the frames and learned how to extract the honey. As I watched the incredible golden syrup ooze out, I was sold!

"Bees! Bees! Bees! What a brilliant idea!" On the drive home I sung their praises endlessly, but slowly I realised that Jo wasn't as convinced.

"hmm, where would we put them? what about the kids? the neighbours?"

Why was she asking such annoyingly sensible questions! What could I do to make her see that the one thing missing in our lives...was bees. This would take some convincing. I would have to play my cards carefully.

We decided to visit a friend who had bees in their backyard. The kids were very excited.

"See honey! you wouldn't even know they were there" I said to Jo, upon arriving a few feet from the hive. The bee's spun lazy droning swirls around the hive. N was fascinated. "Look dad, that ones going inside the hive, and that one must be a drone...and that one's a worker bee" he continued. I looked at Jo reassuringly, as if to say, "see how much he is learning... bees are good for our children... bees are goooooooood"

That's when we should have left... on a high note, so Jo could have hopped in the car and looked at me lovingly, and said, "you know what darling, you were right all along. Lets get that beehive!"

but no, just as we were saying our goodbyes, a bee, seemingly out of nowhere flew straight toward N and stung him...on the eyelid!

Noooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I watched as N's eye inflated like a hot, itchy balloon, and inside, my dreams of bee glory deflated. How could N bee so selfish!


The Insect Hotel

N's eye slowly returned to its normal condition, and everyone politely avoided the topic of bees at home for a week of so. My beehive building ventures would have to lie dormant until winter. In the meanwhile, I thought I would try my hand at making an insect hotel. I was inspired after learning a little about the benefits of encouraging native bees in the garden, most of which are solitary insects, and don't live in colonies.

Insect hotels are easy enough to construct and make a great addition to the veggie patch. the aim is to provide a habitat for beneficial insects such as lady beetles, wasps, native bees and green lacewing to lay their eggs and build in numbers. There are many insects that help out in the garden, preying on pests, pollinating fruit flowers, and so on.

To build one, simply create a timber frame that is 15cm of so deep. The frame is then stacked with small logs and sticks until it is tightly packed. Small holes are then drilled at various diameters of up to about 8mm. this is where the insects will set up residence. I'm looking forward to seeing who will move in!

If anything, they look great, and could be used as a feature in the patch, as well as help increase the biodiversity and fauna in your garden. Best of all, it costs nothing, if you can make it from left over timber. It also makes for a good pass time for anyone who wished they were really building a beehive, but couldn't...at least, not just yet.