Words, Words, Words - It's All a Message

One of the things about using the phrase "global climate change" when attempting to sway the hearts and minds of your average middle class Aussie is as a general rule they massively underestimate the complexity of "climate" and I find to a level are comforted by the word "change".

For me, someone that is a little {:-)} uncomfortable with the idea of change at the best of times, this phrase actually does ring alarm bells. Why then do I think using it is a problem? In reality if I had to count the amount of times I was patted on the head and had "A change is as good as a holiday", or something in a similar vein, chanted at me during my lifetime I would probably despair of anyone taking the word seriously. I will say I haven't had it chanted at me in this context but socialisation says that a lifetime of believing change though not exactly a good thing, well, happens and usually has some type of silver lining means we just might be sending a rather unintended message.

Another thing I really don't like about using the word change is the perceived powerlessness of it. Really how often is "change" someone's specific life choice. For most of us it is something that happens to all of us and we have to deal with it. That there I feel is a key point, it has to happen before we do anything about it. Using a not particularly attention catching reactive word just prompts people to "wait and see", you never know the effects might not be that bad and we will have expended all that effort for nothing.

Maybe I am wrong but although it is a whole lot more confronting, possibly because it is a whole lot more confronting I personally prefer "climate chaos". I do think it is a lot more descriptive of the situation the science is presenting.... it really isn't just a simple equation where you add +3C to your local minimum and maximum temperatures and I find although that understanding is starting to evolve within the wider community that has been the generally held "folk wisdom" up until recently.

There is actually part of me that hesitates to use this phrase though. It is quite a confronting idea and I do believe trying to scare people into action is more often than not counter productive. In that vein I find myself stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to talking about this issue.. do I use the words that I believe communicate more clearly the flow on effects or do I use the more generally accepted, politically correct version that part of me believes perpetuates the problems we are currently seeing in relation to community participation on this issue.

Do you think I am totally insane and just splitting hairs to amuse myself?
What do you use and what type of reception do you get?

Temps - Just For My Own Record Day 2

One more to go... thank your favourite deity for the evaporative properties of wet cotton.

Temps - Just For My Own Record

I expect the numbers in the next 48 hours to be a whole lot less impressive than the first two days.. but considering the house has no internal cooling so far so good. Now I just have to get myself into gear and work out the best solution to letting even this much heat in the house in the first place.

Back To Basics - Week 15

Sowing seed or Planting -
Harvest

• 1 zucchini
• 8 raspberries

Maintenance

• Put down 3 more bales of mulching straw
• Pulled and harvested the broad bean seed for next year
• Watered Every food crop on the block

Observing

• Massively high winds snapped my mature squash at the ground :-(
• Sunflowers didn't fair as badly as I expected in the high winds

Planning for The Future -

• Made phone contact with clustergroup oraniser... meeting next Monday
• Bought a raft of books on preserving, fermenting etc
  

Working for the Future -

• processed the rest of the apricots into unsweetened paste and froze
• made ice poles from some of the apricot paste

Building Community -

• bought my mulch from one of the permie group members
• bought a couple of books from a Melbourne ALS member
  

Learn a new Skill -

• finished my first batch of gluten free bread.. very unusual ingredients and process but actually produces something quite closely resembling bread as long as you are not fussy
  

Participant Posts
Remote TreeChanger

It's All Good

Cockatoo Dreaming Jan 20th
Cockatoo Dreaming Jan 27th

Oh Boy... this is Gunna be a doozie of a week

I had oesto on my shoulder again today and lets just say it is telling me all about the things I do that it doesn't agree with, typing being one of those activities.... so I think Back to Basics will be in condensed format and written up tomorrow.

In the mean time this is a picture of the weather station in our house... Mudbrick is good but this spell of extended hot days with high overnight mins is going to test my soft Melbourne mettle .. Me thinks

Back To Basics - Week 14

Hi Everyone,
I have been having a bit of an issue with my shoulder which is severely limiting both my daily work and online time. My plan is to do my best to keep up with the Back to Basics Updates but my other blogging may be pretty spotty until things get a bit more under control. Some weeks I may need to drop the summaries to keep things short but please make sure you link to your own post in the comments if I do need to do that as we are all very interested in keeping up with all your progress.

Sowing seed or Planting -
Harvest

• 4 zucchini
• 3 squash
• 12 rasperries
  

Observing

• This hot weather is starting to knock things around.. some emergency measures were required for the lemon tree last week

Planning for The Future -

• Sent off an email to become involved in the Community Harvest project Montrose/Kilsyth clustergroup
  
• RSVP'ed lots of the advertised Community Harvest Events
  

Working for the Future -

• Put through a batch of apricot jam from fruit given by A's parents
• made and froze stock
• Started processing cherry plums with M
  

Building Community -

• Started working with a local pilates instructor
• Becoming involved in Community Harvest
• Attended Mt Dandenong Permaculture group meeting

Learn a new Skill -

• starting to activate those lazy abdominal muscles
  

Participant Posts
Remote TreeChanger - The lavender punnets have now been potted up and multiplied to ensure that the hedge has the best chance to make a statement when it comes to getting it all in the ground. A wonderfully informative op shop book will hopefully make recipes written in the more tradtional Italian style just a bit easier to desipher. Straw for mulch and protection, congratulations on finding yourselves a local source. It seems that insulation might be on hold for a while as money is currently being spent to resolve a condensation problem before it reaches the living areas. Ordering school supplies couldn't be easier when one of your daughters researches and comes up with online options from Kmart. Considering Linda's current reading material it looks like there might be a small business in her future.


It's All Good - The little seeds sown last week have now started making their appearance, while the sunflower seedlings are wanting to stretch their roots a little more. Forward planning is one of the most important skills in budgeting when it comes to large purchases. Lela now has a long term house plan that will be revisited every 5 years or so to ensure their house can expand with her families growing privacy and space needs when those all important high school years hit. In preparation for council cleanup the treasures in the backyard are currently being assessed for usefulness... so the new to them pavers can create a nice little section of the back yard. When rehoming clothes and borrowing out the crib it is wonderful when you get payed back in kind with someone passing on some toys their kids have grown out of and what better solution to a friends intermirrent daycare needs than giving your kids a new face to pal around with. Nice work on cracking gathering it is a skill with many uses.

A Joyful Keeper -In keeping with the trials and tribulations of living in a variable climate they got hit by frost in the middle of, summer, January. Thanks to quick thinking and a liberal spraying of water the damage was minimised but needless to say the heat loving plants were not overall happy about the events. To keep their duck breeding varied the household drake has found another home and there is a new boy on the block who seems to be earning his keep. A couple of boxes of strawberries have been put to good use in a jam pot.. some to gift and some to keep, it is a lovely feeling to know you have some in reserve. Helping out a neighbour came with the wonderfully educational experience of helping birth a goat kid, for some unusual reason the goat wouldn't let the kid feed properly but with some regular human intervention both seem to be happy and moving the right direction at this point. I have heard that milking stanchions do make life so much easier if milking is going to be a regular event.

Towards Sustainability - Harvesting is really kicking in out at Julie's place and she is specifically meal planning to make the most of it to save a few dollars while she can, so she can afford that wish list of seeds she is currently writing up. Between what looks like some marathon cooking sessions and refitting sections of the house to improve liability and energy efficiency what can I say but the girl has been buuuusssy. I hope you get some positive feedback from your friendly discussions and that your toy donations were well received.

Sticks and Stones - Like many of us the seed order has now been placed to ensure that winter is as productive as it can be. A few more summer seeds have been sown and the dirt at the new place has started being dug over and prepared to be as productive as it can be with the minimal care that will be able to be administered. Unfortunately the birds and heat interfeared with Rebecca's plans to sun dry more apricots but I am sure the ones that have been done will be savoured for the wonderful flavour they will provide. Wonderful to see you really making an effort to get out in the community and have fun as a family... as you said leading by example is the only way. Nice work on the apricots and the apron, showing that good food and creative gifts don't need to cost a lot is a wonderful step for everyone it touches.

Core and Corridors

Well since Belinda's arm is still sore I'll write something.

One idea that I don't see mentioned enough in green press is cores and corridors.

Cores are completely wild core areas left in pristine condition. They need to be big enough to have stable ecosystem.

Corridors link the core areas, letting animals and biomass travel between cores. Allowing safe migrations, reducing inbreeding etc

The two together allow something like the wild ecosystems to continue to survive even with less overall land area.

I think Land for Wildlife and the Australian Conservation Foundation fund these.

Permaculture fits it very nicely with its zone 5 areas. You want to live on the edge of a corridor as that is likely to be the area with most energy.

So this method allows the wild animals to live. They can use the corridors with increasing contact from humans, and the corridors are surrounded by food forest hybrids with the various corridors.

Like a garden with its core zone 1 beds, paths and corridor like spreading self seeding zone 3 beds. You also need to weed to decide where you want strong control. Generally permaculture recommeneds you weed areas which are already under good control. ie pay more attention to the keeping clean the cores rather than the corridors or overgrown areas.

Back To Basics - Week 13

Hi Everyone,
I have been having a bit of an issue with my shoulder which is severely limiting both my daily work and online time. My plan is to do my best to keep up with the Back to Basics Updates but my other blogging may be pretty spotty until things get a bit more under control. Some weeks I may need to drop the summaries to keep things short but please make sure you link to your own post in the comments if I do need to do that as we are all very interested in keeping up with all your progress.

Sowing seed or Planting -
Planting

• 2 Capsicum
• 1 Broccoli
  

Harvest

• 2 zucchini
• 4 raspberries

Observing

• Fruit set occurring on Tomatoes
• Parsnip seeds starting to dry
  

Planning for The Future -

• N/A
  

Working for the Future -

• Sorted and organised the herbs that arrived
  

Building Community -

• N/A
  

Learn a new Skill -

• N/A

Participant Posts
Remote TreeChanger - A wonderful find out at the TreeChanger means that a lavender hedge is in their future. No matter if it ends up being a wonderful addition to their garden or a selling point in case they end up deciding to sell those plants will bring a smile in the future. Fixing and maintaining furniture is just one of the many ways that Linda and her husband make the most of everything that comes along their path. Going back to one of those skills most of us haven't used for years it seems that a co operative game of jump rope is a wonderful way to while away an evening.


Cockatoo Dreaming - It seems that wicking beds are making a significant difference to the watering needs out in the veggie patch. As there are more beds being planned they are going to spend a bit of extra time at the beginning to ensure the health of their plants into the future. The weekly menu plan has also taken the mental pressure off a little and added up to less trips to the shops over the week... Woohooo. More cleanup has been happening for bush fire prevention, with the guttering being the current focus. Good luck, I hope everything goes well with the youth camp when everyone is out having fun.

It's All Good - Gardening is a fest of planting, snail hunting and kouch erradication in the last week. Lela has also spent some time planning out her presents and dreaming in her fabric stash for the coming year to ensure that she isn't caught short in the time department when those important dates roll in. The week has been busy filled with a present, twirly skirt making and preserving the tomatoes to ensure that their winter stews can be filled with home grown tomato goodness. It seems that buying in bulk and sharing the spoils are just one more way that money is going to be saved in the new year out at "It's All Good".

Footprint Reduction in the 'Burbs - Wow, all I can say is with all the new planting space that has been built recently things are kicking along out in the 'burbs. Autumn/Winter seed orders and planning is being done to ensure that everything gets off to an organised start so that all that preserving research is going to be put to good use. Hope you have been having fun with all that catching up and socialising.

Candied Chocolate Oranges

Now from the outset I will admit that this recipe is a messy cook and requires much cleaning up from.

Personally, I find there is no way to play with sugar syrup and not end up with it everywhere, who knows maybe I am just clumsy. Luckily the result is pretty awesome and in my book worth the effort for a special event. I am well aware that these would be slightly less evil, and significantly less messy, if you skipped the whole candy process and simply dried the oranges dipped in chocolate which I will certainly admit are good. Unfortunately I do find the "glazed window" visual effect created by the process as well as the awe inspiring sweet/bitter balance when it is done this way with good dark chocolate is almost impossible to beat.

Now of course as with any recipe that I made adjustments, not many and not particularly significant ones, which is why I am certainly not going to claim this as my recipe, but adjustments none the less.


Candied Chocolate Oranges
6 Oranges
2 C Water
3 1/2 C Sugar
200 - 300g Dark Chocolate

• With either a mandolin slicer or very careful knife work cut oranges into slices around 2mm thick peel and all. When your finished with that orange carefully stack all the slices and divide the rounds in half.
• In a medium saucepan use the sugar and water slowly to the boil using a medium heat.
• Let the sugar syrup cool slightly, so that you don't get burned if it splashes, and carefully add your orange slices to the mix as evenly around the pan as you can achieve.
• Put a small plate face down on the top of the pan to weigh down your orange slices and bring everything back up to a slow simmer for around an hour.
• Remove the pan from the heat and leave to return to room temperature
• Carefully arrange the slices on drying racks set over baking trays and put in the oven at around 50C for approx 4 hours. I look for the slices to have a glazed look and a resistance almost crispness when you bite one.
• At this point you can refrigerate to complete later or move on to melting your chocolate in either a double boiler or microwave.
  
• When the chocolate is melted and mostly smooth remove from heat and dip the orange slices, resting them on wax paper when complete.
  
• Allow the chocolate to harden and peel off the paper and move into a storage container in the fridge.
  

Back To Basics Update - Week 11 & 12

Sowing seed or Planting -
Planting

• 3 Chilli
  
• 1 Golden Zucchini (Advanced)
• 1 Capsicum
• 1 Lebanese Bunching Eggplant
• 2 Broccoli

Maintenance

• Watered in Seaweed Extract
• Spread mulch over beds
• Righted Toppling Carrot in flowering phase
• Finished the bean climbing structure

Harvest

• 20 Raspberries
  
• 1 zucchini
• 1 squash
• 3 leeklets
  
• 1 Kohl Rabi
• Rocket Seed
  

Planning for The Future -

• Put through a bulk herb order
• comparison shopped mulching straw
  
• Noted the spots on the property that are still a concern from a fire standpoint.
  

Working for the Future -

• Rearranged Preserves Cupboard
  
• Washed and Sorted all the glass jars into vague sizes for future preserving
  
• Refitted door to the chicken house
  
• Put labels on most of the preserves cupboard jars
  
• Marked soap drying times in my working diary
• Re-organised and decluttered front room to use the space better
• cleaned and re-organsied guest room for NYE stayers

Building Community -

• Hosted NYE Board Games night
• Attended Orphans Christmas at Maia's
  

Learn a new Skill -

• Made Candied Chocolate Oranges

Participant Posts
Remote TreeChanger - Linda has been harvesting garlic from her new house and contemplating the potential of the wild plums in the area. Some exciting new tastes are expected to turn up in her home the the addition of asafoetida powder to her pantry. Some exciting new tip finds means that a father, daughter team is pitting their will toward creating a working scooter and a new stove element has been fitted to make the daily cooking a little easier. A pre Christmas sleepover being held out at Remote Treechanger helped to make Christmas shopping just a little less stressful for a family under stress.

Cockatoo Dreaming - A camping trip has meant that not a lot has happened out in the garden but at least some of the cucumbers have survived snail attack. The bolting lettuce is currently being used for animal greens apart from a couple which will be left to mature for next years seed. The recent weather has trigged a fire risk assessment on their property, there are always improvements to be made. It seems that when you send hubby out to the local berry farm for strawberries the word glut takes on a whole new meaning. I am sure the friends who received a couple of punnets enjoyed the proceeds. It sounded like a wonderful Christmas day... it certainly is special when everyone in the family can make it.


It's All Good - Leila has been focusing on shade in the garden this week. She is hoping that by providing a bit of cover from the more harsh sun that a greater range of crops will live happier in her garden. The budget has been drawn up and is due to start next pay period. Celebration is also on the cards as the first Shade Sail has been bought and fitted this week, cooler house - here we come. As a Girl Guide leader Leila has put herself down for a leadership course which should help her not only in her current life but also in the future when she wants to re-enter the workforce. Her loan through http://www.kiva.org/ is a really great step in helping within the world community.


Going (a little bit) Feral - Planting this week has all been about non humans it seems. Clucker Tucker and Good Bug mix has been added to the garden to keep all the inhabitants happy. There has been a bit of pot and garden reorganisation going on to try and make sure that the current hot weather doesn't get the chance to fry anything while still ensuring they are getting enough sun to be happy and healty. Research is occuring to shade some of the brick walls with dwarf fruit trees as well as determine the best grey water and tank options for their needs. Christmas Day was a community affair with a friend with absent family being invited over for tea and a neighbour spending a couple of hours playing darts and generally having a good time. Needless to say adjustment to a new baby in the house is never easy no matter how many times you might have done it so the skills this week are about keeping house and home together while finding ways to meet everyones needs. Congratulations on the switch to cloth wipes.

Drywell - out here things are on the hot side too so the newly created sun Shades have gone up to protect the veggie garden and keep evaporation down to a reasonable rate. In a fit of inspiration the chickens now have their own dedicated worm farm as well as a good sized compost heap to collect the deep litter while it gets ready to become appropriate to fertalise the garden. Happy New Year to you too Muzzy.

Sunny Corner Farm - Still more planting going on out at Sunny Corner, with the focus being on tomatos, silverbeet and sweetcorn. An olive tree has gone in the ground with a berry plant of some kind due not to be far behind while the household is celebrating the first flush of glut and loving every minute of it. Budgets are being drawn up to try and ensure that the remodeling that they want to do can be done while still focusing on increasing their savings. The new garden beds going in should ensure that spending on food should be able to be kept at a minimum. Although we all learn new things everyday sometimes it is challenging to remember them, hope your paper piecing for you swap quilting block works out.