Posted on 2nd February 2010 by admin in Gardening | Our Yuendumu Gardens blogs | Susan's posts
no dig, recycling
From our now defunct Yuendumu Gardens blog a posting from 3 April 2006
I got home from Lajamanu in November last year to find all our loungeroom furniture pushed to one side and a set of tyres taking up the space. Trevor had a jigsaw in hand and was tackling the tyres head on. Pretty little flower like petals emerged under his hand. Recycled tyres made into plant pots.
Just give them a wash and then paint them in white Trevor said to me. So I did. Visions of swans cut out out tyres in 1950s gardens flashed before my eyes.
But somehow the tyres emerged as wow what a great idea. God nows we have tons of old tyres lying around the place. The roads are hard on cars out here. A trip to the local tip will yield trailer loads of tyres, rims, exhaust pipes, bumper bars, car doors, and any other car part you can name.
The tyre idea started with me reviving my memories of Esther Dean’s no dig principles.It is back breaking work to dig into the earth here in Yuendumu. It bakes solid under the searing sun. Watering a section for 24 hours continuously is one way to dig, but in a place where rainfall is scarce and our underground water reserves are precious such a method seems criminal.
And with the multitude of car parts around here why not add a recycling component to Esther Dean’s idea. Seems like a perfect partnership.
By the way want to know how to make a swan out of a tyre? Check out this site.
Happy gardening
Susan
Posted on 2nd February 2010 by admin in Gardening | Our Yuendumu Gardens blogs | Trevor's posts
recycling
From our now defunct Yuendumu Gardens Blog posting of 3 May 2006.
There were two steel gates from cattle yards that had been lying around the outskirts of Yuendumu ever since we arrived. We resisted the temptation for nearly a year and finally succumbed just before Christmas 2006. What with my shiny new inverter welder and recycled welding shield from the Tip
Shop in Alice Springs, in no time I had a demountable “A” frame sitting on a solid base frame to keep the dogs out.
With some old carpet from a friend’s house we laid the floor before erecting the shade house and spot welding it to keep it together. Its strong enough to withstand a force 5 cyclone.
An angle grinder and a welder are the basic tools in making use of the vast supplies of steel available at the rubbish tip here. I’m waiting for someone to hand me down an oxy-acetylene set. That would complete the outfit.
The plants are coming along well and the next task is to install an automatic watering system.
Posted on 2nd February 2010 by admin in Chickens | Susan's posts
Chickens
Once upon a time someone found a small featherless bird and gave it to kind hearted people who as it turned out had chickens.
Was it a wedgetail eagle, a hawk? Experts were consulted and agreed it was a raptor of some kind but what kind?
A week or so passed and feathers grew and it dawned on everyone that it was a chicken. A rooster though of course with that history.
The chickens passed to other people as domestic circumstances changed. They looked forward to to the sound of the pitter patter of little chicken feet. But days and weeks passed and no cock a doodle a doodle was to be heard.
A google search was carried out on the sexing of chickens. Conclusion it’s a hen. That explains the mystery of the four eggs a day when there were only three hens.
From eagle to rooster to hen – what a shape shifter. Time for a new name for the chicken from the Wati that he/she has been carrying till now.
