We Are HOME!

Whew!  It's done!  we are home living at JustEarth.  hard to believe .... this dream that we have had of moving towards a more sustainable life, with a bit of land and space for the kids is coming true.  how truly blessed we are!  more than i can say in words.

and yes .... i do truly feel that way.

we have had friends help us in ways that we couldn't imagine.  God's call to live in community and walk with each other and help each other has truly blessed our lives.

routines will slowly get back into place and will no doubt make a huge difference in the long run.  new bus for the kids, day light savings, you name it, everything has been turned topsy-turvy ..... so hanging on to the familiar (church, school, relationships) has helped to keep the chaos monsters under a bit of control.

so we have a humanure composting toilet .... working a treat thank you very much!
i have a washing machine that runs like a dream
we have hot and cold running water
and a shower to boot!

.... so as far as the basics go .... can't really complain.

kitchen set up is coming along .... it's all out doors, which is fine, but we need some sort of covering.

and so begins the husband and wife debate of what sort of house to build.  we have to be realistic at the end of the day ....more to come on that one!

humanure hacienda being worked on .... give it a year, and we'll have
lovely compost coming out of this!  that's our neighbors house behind us, btw!

fruits of green manure composting thank you!  

farm days

i forgot my camera when we were out at the property with friends last week (add four kids to the mix!).  coulda shot myself for that.  if i had had it with me, you would've seen pictures of ....

• a new colour of green tree frog.  this one was light green with grey and black lines around the eyes.  
• kids in bare feet running around and having fun
• kids raking up the grass from the mower into piles for using as mulch
• ...and then ripping it down and forming it into forts to shoot each other from!
• playing "red light / green light" and "what's the time mr wolf" across this vast expanse
• exploring the dam and seeing all the cool life that surrounds a water source.

it was really a treat for me to see these kids running around and having fun.  it made my heart happy is really the only way i can say it.  it's always been about doing the best for our family ... about being a family.  so, because i forgot the camera .... here are a few other shots of times out at the farm where the kids have inspired me and us .... to keep on keeping on!

our friend Trevor with the kids ... he just delivered two large hay bales!
thank you!

the first large green tree frog .... we've seen a fair few smaller ones, but this is
the only one that has sat still long enuf for us to take a picture.

JJ and friend playing in the hay .... 'nuf said!

daddy showing Raymie how to scythe!

too cute .... farmer JJ!

every farm must have it's princess ... and we have one to fit the bill!
perched high atop her throne!

hey mum!  look at me!

planting the pea tree! (a la River Cottage!)

... yes mum .... i put in all the green manure like you asked me too!

Ninja JJ  coming up from behind the compost pile!

small steps towards ....

it can all be very overwhelming you know ... buying a piece of land in order to create a sustainable life .... not just for you but your children as well ... it is a huge responsibility.

and you have to take the time to slow down and do it right .... getting it right is important at this stage.  there will be lots of experimenting down the track .... but we need to get some basics down first up.

we need trees

lots of trees

to create a food forest

to give us shelter

to feed us and give us fuel

so we are startin' small .... by getting a few pioneer plants on the property.  some to improve the soil, some to become nice big canopies for us.  just a few for the moment .... to get things going.  we have put in an avocado (great canopy trees!), an acacia, casurina and a silky oak .... all these will be great for the landscape.

but wait.  oh geez .... how do we water them???? tend them while we are waiting for them to take?  and at this time of year when we don't get much rain?

enter one very creative husband and an old garbage bin. this particular line of trees is planted on a slope on the fence line .... so we have placed the garbage bin just above them ... lid, which happens to have a small hole in it, turned up to catch any rain (wishful. thinking!) .... and the obligatory brick to weigh it down.

brilliant!  thank you sweetie!

this will allow us to continue to plant up and down that line of trees for a few months yet, and ensure that we have a source of water that we can go out to as we build up our forest.  eventually we will have a rain water tank in with a gravity fed ag line i'm fairly sure .... but in the meantime, every other day i am bringing out 5 x 3 ltr containers of water and a 10 ltr container.  watering the trees and putting the extra in the garbage bin to keep the storage growing.  it seems to be working!

the other thing we need to do is create soil.

it is at the heart of what JustEarth is all about .... acknowledging that soil .... this good earth is what will enable us to create a sustainable way of life that will go on into the future.

so we need to make compost.  it's really a family affair at this point .... and i think the kids enjoyed themselves!

we've placed a thick layer of cardboard down with a trailer load of wood chip and mulch clippings on top.  this has been watered in a bit and the next layer will be some green kitchen scraps and more grass clippings. that should do well.  i expect there will be a number of these piles appearing all over our land.

and on one final note.  we don't have a lot of money and we need to get this property under control with all the tall grass.  can't afford a machine to slash (a waste of money) .... and would hire someone to slash, but even that is a lot.  if we can get this slashed we can start creating straw .... which will create our beds later .... quick answer?  a scythe!

i reckon this is pretty ambitious.  but it also means we can do a section at a time get it under control and then move on from there.  on face value a good plan .... and good for the health too!  we will certainly keep you informed of how this one comes together!

ahhhh .... compost

i am utterly convinced that making compost is good for the soul.

ha!  you don't believe me.  composting is about building up soil, replenishing and returning fabulous nutrients to the soil and using them time and time again.  and well, all i can say is that i am one happy camper as i return to compost making!

when we lived in the grand suburbia of the blue mountains west of Sydney we have a great little composting system ... using all our brown waste and splitting our food scraps between the chooks and the compost.  our garbage / waste collection each week was minimal and we truly knew that we were starting to close the loop and making much more of what we did sustainable.

we started really well when we moved bush.  trying to lay down some brown waste in plant beds and put food scraps on that and then covering with straw and planting in that.... knowing that it would all break down and make a great space for growing things.  and we've had some success with that.

but we live in a rental, and honestly, it's hard to get motivated to care for and build up soil in a place that you know you are gonna leave.  and we went off composting.  putting our food scraps and brown waste in the garbage bins .... and it felt ......

WRONG

so now that JustEarth is starting to become a reality, we know that there is a lot to be done to build up the soil. the motivation has returned and we have come back to our roots.

building earth for JustEarth.

so it is with great delight that we have returned to composting .... with a new little u-beaut system.  we had to take certain things into consideration .... keeping the size of containers small so that kids can handle them as well as the stability of these containers because in the short term, we will be transporting waste from our rental out to the property (about 10 minutes out of town) is really paramount.

so i found these great food grade buckets .... woohoo!  composting has returned to the Walters household!  these are great!  and as you can see we have one that is the plastics bucket .... these go into the recycle bin. a second is paper waste .... which will get mixed with leaf litter, and the third is our food.  the blue lid is fabulous .... goes on nice and snug and comes off smoothly.

this waste will be used as part of our no back ache ruth stout system of growing (see this great article for more information.)  post on this will be forthcomng ....

and .... it feels so right to be doing this.... like i said .... good for the soul.  i know i am doing the right thing by the land, by our family .... and for JustEarth.  

it's all about .... them

life has been really busy lately.  consumed with kiddo's.  bustin' with bus-i-ness.  so no time to write ... and honestly, just waiting .... in a holding pattern until this land settles.

waiting ..... it ends up leading to reflection.  reflecting on what JustEarth is going to be all about.

reflection on why we have chosen a sustainable life.  sure .... it's creation care, wise stewardship and following our Creator God.  and it's about instilling those values in these kiddo's.

it does the heart good to reflect on that.  makes the wait worthwhile .... and makes these moments joyful as we anticipate what the future holds.

Summer Planting Update

we went out to a beautiful little 6 acres parcel of land that we hope is going to be JustEarth this morning ....

glorious, isn't it?

coming back to our rental property i was invigorated ... to plant.  whether it be here at the house, or having seedlings ready for the property.  i was motivated.

i realised too, in a very pleasant way that my perspective on land and our earth has changed dramatically.  almost a year ago now i took my Intro to Permaculture Course from Milkwood Permaculture.  I still clearly remember going outside and our instructor, Nick, getting us to pick up a handful of dirt and to look at it and think about it.  about the life and the things that were living in that soil and how important it is to our very lives each day.  it wasn't icky dirt.  it was earth ... GOOD EARTH.  what our beloved planet uses to grow the good stuff we eat.  and we need to care for it.

how funny today when i was planting some seeds that i looked at the soil and saw all these bugs running through and around it.  realising these were just the ones i could see!  the microscopic organisms in the soil that is well cared for and nutrient dense is amazing!  our God is one amazing Creator to have done this.  and it is a wonderful thing.  

yeah .... my perspective has done a 180!

so what did i plant today ... well!  we are challenging the boundaries of what is known and normal.  to see what can be done.  we are in the sub tropics now!  we can grow year round .... well, just about!  <g>  

i had been remiss in putting in some sunflowers in.  i just love the colour. but hadn't put them in here.  but i have now.  too late in the year?  maybe!  but with all the wet they wouldn't have done well anyway, and we do live where the winters are barely long sleeve weather so i figure we'll have some great late autumn flowers mixed in with the beans and tomato's!  i have also put in the standard start of the winter fare .... broccoli, broccolini, cauliflower and cabbage seeds.  we'll see how they go.  i am expecting a u-beaut crop!

leeks..... <sigh>. i never seem to get this right .... but am loathe to give up because i love them so much! so i am trying to do them the Allsun Farm way.  it is outlined here at the Milkwood Market Garden blog.  onions and leeks are in the same family .... so i figure it can't go too wrong!  <g>  

and last but certainly not least.  tomato's.  what a rotten year to try and grow heaps!  the wet muggy weather has caused all sorts of problems and i've barely been able to keep ahead of the moldy mildewy leaves.  as a result .... no real tomato's to show so far.  but i hold out hope!  i was talking to a grower at a market recently and asked what was the growing time for up here in the northern rivers and they indicated that if you are ok with them growing more slowly in the cold weather .... that unless we get a frost .... we could pretty much grow year round.  so i'm gonna give it a go.  i bought some seedlings from an organic grower at the kyogle markets recently that she said were hardy .... put a few in the aquaponics, but have planted out the left overs in the ground.  i have also planted some seeds for some purple calabash.  these are mid to late season heirloom variety that i have hopes will give us tomato's well into the mid fall season and on!  

march will be time to plant broad beans, peas, garlic and snow peas up here ...some will be for here, and some will be for the school our kids go to.  but i can't help but wonder if some of the crops that i might even have planted today will go into the ground at JustEarth.  

time will tell!