|
Post by templeton on Feb 27, 2014 15:35:52 GMT -5
The principles of natural farming make no mention of water so irrigation would be fine, and necessary in dry summer/wet winter climates probably. Although Jean Pain (of compost for heat and fuel fame) said he never watered his garden and he had dry summers. he grew under a kind of lattice affair he built from branches and twigs which kept the garden in dappled light for much of the day. Perhaps that would a necessary adjustment in such a climate. One of my nephews lives in central west Queensland with summer temps in the 40s (Celsius) most of the time. A vege patch is only possible under shade cloth. Perhaps we are inhabiting areas where man is not meant to live! Well, agrarian man, perhaps.
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 27, 2014 3:20:51 GMT -5
I've pondered this approach a bit - mimicing nature in dryland central victoria would mean growing nearly everythig in autumn and spring, both a bit iffy from year to year. Winter tends to be a bit too cold for much growth, summer way too dry. Grasses set seed in early November, native tubers by mid december. then no growth until the autumn break, in april, or may, or june. This would mean growing sufficient storage foods in the spring window to last most of the year, a daunting prospect. Is the application of water considered an acceptable intervention under this approach? It can trigger weed germination in the same way as tilling...Or am I being a bit too literal? Most of the stuff I like to eat doesn't fit in with the local rhythms. I could totally change my diet, but not without much inconvenience. Or install an extensive wetland, and harvest Typha and Phragmites reeds, ducks and fish. Bit difficult on a hillside.
More power to the arms of those willing to try,and I'm sure there are valuable lessons and insights to be gained. But it's not really for me. I suspect that to adapt the One Straw approach would require so much modification that it would little resemble the original. T
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 27, 2014 0:21:54 GMT -5
Stillman, I'm in Bendigo, Vic. One issue you might come up against is different flowering times in the different varieties. This is a good reason to spread your plantings across a couple of seasons - first season lets you work out timing, second season do the crosses. While the giant Peruvian corn might be just want you want, is there some other characteristic you might want to incorporate, or that wouldn't worry you if it was incorporated? If so, you could plant some other varieties to extend your genetic diversity, then reselect for all the desired phenotypes. You might end up with something unexpected, too. Not sure what your intended end use is, so hard to make suggestions. The lack of room to grow out decent amounts has made me put corn growing on hold, but best of luck with it, and keep us informed. T
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 26, 2014 5:56:51 GMT -5
All things considered, I just don't know why I don't just prefer food that doesn't have even possible caveats. Perhaps, on the face of it, balncing the weight of probabilities,you mostly make a fair point, Steev (The only real reason I grew these out was to get the powdery resistance and the semi-leafless traits into my snow peas - and they came from a plant researcher I trust). But back to trellises... T
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 26, 2014 0:09:59 GMT -5
"Mukta is a semi-leafless, semi-dwarf pea with poor early vigour . . " Hmmm . . . anyone read these adverts? :>) May??? These are commercial varieties for broad scale farming. The poor emergence and poor early vigor is something I've also experienced with some heirloom varieties - it just means you need to sow more heavily. Presumably the trade off is the high resistance to foliage disease, or other desirable characteristics. It probably reflects growth in average field conditions when sown in S.E. australia during the the season when they normally grow field peas in their crop rotation. I think the poor emergence is probably susceptibility to soil organisms. My guess is the breeders opted to choose a range of phenotypes to go on with, that exhibited a range of desirable characteristics, rather than extend the development time searching for a 'holy grail' field pea that was outstanding at everything. I've got a few other standard field varieties that I'm yet to trial - this is incentive to get them and see how they do. My reading of the 'may be suitable for human consumption' is that it reflects the common end use and marketing of peas rather than actual unsuitability for consumption. Not much dry pea gets eaten in Australia. Most of the peas go into animal feed. Some gets exported to countries that consume pulses - mostly India and the middle east. I guess they hadn't done a huge amount of market research, and weren't sure of the desirability of this particular pea in 'exotic' food markets. I've crossed it into some of my snow pea development lines,(looking for semi-leaflessness, and powdery mildew resistance) so if you read of a dead Templeton in a few years time, or I start making choking noises, beware! The semi-leafless snow pea I subsequently managed to get hold of wasn't a great performer for me, so maybe there's some gene linkage around early vigour. I've just done a bit of search re GM organisms in Australia. There have been 128 applications for intentional release of transgenic organisms in Australia, most of them withdrawn or now ceased. Currently cotton, pineapple, canola, sugarcane a nd a few others are being grown or researched. the full list is here <http://www.ogtr.gov.au/internet/ogtr/publishing.nsf/Content/ir-1> Pisum has never featured in these lists. However, CSIRO did research into GM field peas (presumably in containment, since they never applied for field testing), and withdrew it after adverse reactions in mice in 2005. An interesting report about how it was 'destroyed' yet miraculously re-emerged in the European Union, here www.gmwatch.org/index.php/news/archive/2013/14968-the-curious-case-of-csiro-s-gm-field-peasT
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 24, 2014 22:05:28 GMT -5
My little home garden setup is 100mm X 100 mm wire mesh roll 1800 mm wide (4 inch X 4 inch X 6 foot) stretched between metal fence posts. 4 X 4 lets me put my hand through. I use this for beans, Cukes, Tomatoes, peas, summer squash. hang it a bit above the ground, don't fix it too low so I can turn the soil between crops without removing the trellis and poles. Have done a really nice arty pea trellis of woven bamboo stems pushed in at 45 dgrees, then roughly woven together. Keep the twiggy branches on for added support. Don't think either of these solutions would work outside a small backyard garden - too fiddly. Tim, I might have some Aust field pea varieties you could try if you're interested. Pretty sure they are non-gm, developed in south australia - semileafless for self supporting broadscale growing. Not sure about suitability for soup. www.awb.com.au/growers/awbseeds/productprofile/VarietySummaryKaspa.htmwww.sardi.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/45998/mukta.pdfT
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 22, 2014 18:50:34 GMT -5
I planted some Green Mountain seed in SH autumn 2013, and held some back to plant in SH spring 2013. Both batches did well, but the autumn planted ones were larger and more productive. This is the autumn planted set. The spring planted ones are smaller, and a little bit later to mature - but it might just be the bed they are in.
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 22, 2014 17:19:35 GMT -5
Yes Richard. I'm hoping growing from seed will help me develop some spuds that flourish in the subtropics. I'll post you up some of my TPS when you get settled, Ray. Pretty sure I've got a few old seeds in the Solanaceae shoebox. T
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 21, 2014 23:15:55 GMT -5
Sorry, a bit late to this thread. Welcome, Gilbert. I'm a ratbag athiest myself, but really enjoy hearing how other people make sense of this messy universe. I spent a small amount of social time with Bill Mollison in the 80's, and Dave Holmgren lives 3/4 of an hour away - I've heard him speak a few times. Bill and David's original permaculture books were just applied ecology agriculture. Not much religious, spiritual or even cultural commentary in either of those books. Bill's later Permaculture Design Mmanual which a friend of mine was translating into german, does have social commentary embedded in it from memory.
David, as far as I know doesn't have a spiritual agenda. Bill, when I spent time with him seemed to be a pretty grounded practical person, and never expressed religious views in my hearing. It is interesting that we often project our wider views and beliefs onto others who we think must have the same views because they share one of our lifestyle choices or beliefs. eg. 'All vegetarians respect the lives of animals' - but then Hitler was a vegetarian. I can imagine that there are folk (me among them, probably) who like the idea of permanent agriculture ecosystems, but don'r hold with all the design principles of permaculture as more lately expressed. T
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 21, 2014 22:22:44 GMT -5
templeton Nicely Done! I have to say lettuce seed is a real challenge, machine or not, so I think you put it through its paces. (Is there a way to see your images larger?) I bet the Brassica seed will be much easier to process. Thanks for sharing your experiences with this design - it really is a bit like a sculpture. Have just figured out how to. Original design, with wrong zigzag bits feet top feed in chute, partly removed, Top showing vacuum attachment suction adjustment new zigzag inserts, showing dust collection the last incarnation T
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 21, 2014 19:25:30 GMT -5
I built the Real Seeds seed aspirator a few weeks ago to sort a pile of lettuce seed I had. Been meaning to post about it, so here goes. I made the front and back from an offcut of 7mm ply.All the edges of the frame and the internal baffles are from off cuts of decking I had left over from another project - greenhouse tables, but that's another story. The clear front panel is coreflute style polycarbonate, from the greenhouse louvres that never got installed. I cut the back piece of ply to size, then laid out the position and size of all the baffles on to this in pencil, as accurately as I could. Used a mitre box to cut the baffles to length, so I would get good square ends. Used a tube of 'Nomoreskills' [TM pending] (builders acrylic gap sealer) and laid a bead along each of the baffle and edge locations, then placed all the baffles and edges, checking they were at right angles to the back. Then glued in the zigzag inserts. Carefully cut these to be the same length, since gaps between the ends of these and the front or back panels make places for the little seeds to lodge. not good for pure seed if you change from batch to batch. Screwed the plastic panels on. Instead of a wooden piece to fill the feed in spout area at the top of the zigzag, I used a piece of closed cell foam, which made a good seal, and allowed me to play with the feedin hole position and size without having to constantly replace the wood. Ditto the chaff remover hatch at lower right - just stuffed a bit of trimmed foam in. Changed the suction regulator a bit, just a panel of ply held onto the front with a screw through a slightly oversize screwhole, drilled. Used a hole saw to cut regulator holes in the front panel. I also added some screwed on legs so it's freestanding, and I can slip bowls under the seed chute, and the chaff chute when i open it for cleaning. I also used a piece of closed cell foam for the vacum tube connector hole, so it seals a bit better than a tube in the hole of the wood - and I didn't have a hole saw the right size. I've used it on very light seed so far, lettuce and parsnip. It's OK, but not spectacular. I've got limited seed, and so don't want to lose too much with the chaff, so you need a light hand on the suction controller. It's also a bit hard to clean - I'm not keen on unscrewing it all the time to get the dust out, which I fear might harbour little beast eggs if I leave it uncleaned. I reckon it's got a bit of an art deco appearance, I'm thinking of a colourful paint job... Happy to provide more pics if anyone wants some. I did have a bit of email correspondence with the guy who built it, who generously gave some advice to make it work better. And it does need a clear front, you need to be able to see what's happening with the seed in the sorting column. In retrospect, the time might have been better spent cleaning up the carport, and properly setting up a box fan and tarp, but it was fun to make. Yet to try it on brassica,and carrot, my next two seed collections. I made a few adaptions - the zigzag inserts are pieces of pre-formed moulding from the hardware store. I initially made these from small section stuff, with a sloping top, but horizontal bottoms, and it didn't work, so had to insert extra bits so there was a sloping top and bottom to the sections - it's about keeping the cross sectional area of the zigzag channel fairly constant, my initial design didn't do this. I was trying to save on materials...
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 19, 2014 6:01:01 GMT -5
Freezing my bum (ass) off in a tent in the mallee at the moment for work. Must be down to 10C :-). Been sunburned, windstruck and rained on this last week, paddling a coastal lake system. At lunch today, when the thermometer read 13 C one of the students remarked thats 30 degrees lower than usual. Poor buggers have been camped out in 45C weather for a couple of weeks. Home tomoz, to check the garden, think it got a bit of adrink out of this current cold southrly outbreak. Heres hoping. T
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 9, 2014 20:59:26 GMT -5
Blue, I take heart from the Night Parrot re-discovery, and the Wollemi Pine. But it's hope more than anything else.
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 8, 2014 15:32:35 GMT -5
I thought ray was referring to the reptilian tigers, that like to hang out round water. Heard a great doco on the radio last year about an old timer who had seen and heard thylacines in the 1980s. Was quite convincing. And I've been wondering how I can wrangle a week off work later this year to go hunting Geyornis on a camel expedition to the Simpson desert. Well a skeleton at least.
|
|
|
Post by templeton on Feb 8, 2014 4:09:57 GMT -5
No luck with seeds here this year, but last season's single seedling is thriving. Got 2 or 3 bulbils in a pot, as well. t
|
|