Busy Spring

Recent events at Nirvana –Diversity of a small mixed orchard.

Spring workshop season ended this month with Deb conducting an extra biodynamic workshop.

Nirvana also hosted several school tours .Firstly a visit by Bridgewater Primary School who are part of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation a school gardening and cooking program. Then several groups from Belair Primary who were studding the concept ‘From paddock to Plate’ and where and how food is grown.

The basketry workshop ‘weaving magic naturally’ was also a successful day of learning, sharing and creating.

Next event is the BERRY SEASON Where you can buy fresh berries direct from our farm shop. The berries have travelled no more than 300 metres. Red and white currants, English gooseberries and Raspberries in December and black currants and mulberries in January.

A Close Encounter!

Today I had a reminder of how dangerous some farming activities can be. While returning the self –propelled slasher to the shed via the chestnut hill (a steep slope) it jumped out of gear and started running backwards increasingly faster down the slope. I was trapped between the handles and kept running backwards until I fell and the machine ran me over trapping one of my legs under it. Fortunately the mower blades where turned off. There I was stuck and screaming out for help. Quentin, who was mowing on the other hill finally heard and came to my rescue, lifting the heavy machine off my leg. Fortunately for me I only suffered some nasty bruises and skun elbows. This is an important wake up call as I often work alone and there is no one to help.

Today being a cooler day after the first ever November heatwave , which is set to continue this week , we were keen to get stuck into the long list of things to do before harvest and before Quentin’s knee operation which will put him out of action for all our berry harvest.

Early mornings are really the only time to get things done in the orchard before the searing heat drives you indoors. By the time the sun starts to fade and the evening cools your usually too drained to do anything except tend the vegie garden and relax.

Another job on the list is to set up an irrigation system on the raspberries. Being in a cool damp valley they have never needed additional water until last year. There is still plenty of moisture there at present, but it’s only November and we are in the middle of a heatwave and my midweek it’s expected to reach 41oC. The Red currants, and cherries are turning red, the gooseberries are large and succulent and will need their protective bird netting put up this week. At this rate I expect the raspberries to be early as well.

Spring

It’s been a hectic spring with goslings and chickens hatching, a new dog to train and lots of lovely rain. Although the rain has slowed down the orchard work there is plenty to do.

The horns have been retrieved yielding excellent quality biodynamic 500.

The spring workshops have had a wonderful cross section of people participating and I’ve scheduled a second biodynamic workshop this weekend for those who missed out in September.

We have had a rush of schools ordering fertile eggs to incubate and now primary schools are learning about food from paddock to plate , several tours have been booked by schools throughout November.

December and the beginning of the berry harvest is not far away. There are many more things to do before then but now it’s important to enjoy and savour the season of SPRING- the green of our valley, the activity of the wildlife, the vibrant colours and perfumes of the flowers and the fast growth of the goslings and chickens.

September, but it's not quite Spring yet.

For most of Adelaide Spring is deemed to start on the 1^st of September but here in the cool Adelaide Hills it does not really arrive till around the equinox.

It is very noticeable from the winter solstice that the days are lengthening, the buds start swelling, chooks start their laying season after the moult, the geese and wild birds start nesting. All signs that Spring is approaching but not yet here. The soil is cold and the sound of ‘squish’ comes to mind as the valley struggles to take in anymore water. The plants are smiling as they know there will be enough moisture to get them comfortably through the coming Summer. Such waterlogging could be a problem but the berries are all planted on raised beds. The weeding needs to be delayed to the end of September early October so as not to damage the soil.

With the tragic loss of little Hebe back in May we have finally found a replacement fox deterrent/poultry guard. .Late August saw the arrival of our new ‘family’ member Mika, a 9 month old kelpieX . Who is very keen and already progressing very well in her retraining.

Frank is also enjoying having another dog to run

and play with as well as sharing the guard duties.He is more than a little bemused at her passion for toys especially balls.

The geese have been sitting for 3 weeks so next week we expect to see goslings.

When the soil warms a little and the rain and excess water has soaked in it will be time to get stirring and put out the Spring biodynamic preparations.

Winter and Rain.

The last couple of weeks have seen nice steady rain, the valley has taken on its usual waterlogged squish squash which means the water is slowly being absorbed by the subsoil.

Our first order creek which joins up with others to become Scott Creek is flowing again and the filter ponds are slowing down the flow and the flow forms are doing their job of aerating and energizing the water before it leaves Nirvana Farm on its way to Clarendon Weir. (It is then pumped back to the Heathfield water tanks to supply this area… but that’s another story!)

Here are the flow forms in action in our creek.

There is an abundance of wildlife around at present, maybe a sign of early spring! The kangaroos are enjoying the damp grass, while the bird’s colours seem to be brighter as they busily move around the bare trees. This cute ringtail possum has been around the garden for the past few weeks and managed to sneak into the kitchen when the door was left open.

The passing of the Winter Solstice has seen the usual increase in egg production, the chooks all have lovely new feathers and look great. The geese also have responded to the increasing day length by pairing off and starting the mating squabbles. They will begin laying by the end of July or the beginning of August. Here is one of the roosters.

Quality above all

Isn’t it interesting that if you wait long enough what you do becomes trendy. For 26 years we have created a wholistic garden & farm, ‘Garden Quality Farming” in balance with its surroundings. Although it is a commercial orchard it is also a system that embraces the whole and provides opportunities to learn the many skills that have been lost through the generations. A successful example of such a lifestyle is rare let alone so close to a major city & costs the public purse nothing.

Whether its educational farm tours that show the overall diversity & balances that can be achieved on any scale to the home orchard , vegetable & herb gardens or natural fibre gardens its all here.

Here everything has its place under the cosmos and everything interacts with everything else creating a wholistic system. To achieve such a system takes planning, work and definitely does not happen overnight or in fact after several years. Once the quality environment starts to click into place you can then consider the quality food & lifestyle benefits.

When you live a lifestyle in harmony with nature you can enjoy your surroundings. What for example is the value of watching a fledgling wattle bird learning to fly or finding a koala in a tree you planted as a 6 inch seedling or walk through the clouds of the common brown butterflies in summer or simply observing the seasons as they pass by.

When it comes to food you can boast regular ‘meals that money can’t buy’ everything from the gardens including the wood to cook it. Just as a typical example we can start with goose liver pate- with homemade bread, roast goose or rooster stuffed with fruit and herbs depending on the season, mixed roasted vegetables including carrots, parsnips. salify, garlic, beetroot, onions fresh greens, chestnut puree (Speciality of the house) followed by a desert with berries, fruits nuts either fresh or preserved to choose from and the time and company to enjoy it.

To create a lifestyle based on quality environment, food/flavour, lifestyle you need to first jump into the slow lane so you can enjoy it and then creatively take what ever bit of earth you have be it large or small and get it into balance and harmony because nowhere else in the world will food taste the same as it does from your soil, climate under your human care.

Never forget agriculture (& therefore gardening) at its most basic level is the solar gift and work is love in action.

Biodynamic Autumn

Tonight I sat on the veranda and celebrated the completion of putting out the autumn bio dynamic preparations. After a long hot and dry summer it was wonderful that autumn arrived and delivered some much needed rain, although the springs have not started running or the creek flowing yet it’s a good start.

If the ants are any indication the serious rains are on the way as they have built up their nests at least 4inches.

While walking through the orchard the other morning I noticed the most amazing aroma, an aroma I had never experienced before, an aroma that eclipsed that of rain on dust! Up to that moment my most favourite smell. But the earthy, damp, sweet, like humus rich compost aroma filled the air.It felt like the soil had become light and moved into the air. I thought may be being morning it was rising from the earth and the dew had contributed to the aroma and feel so I returned latter in the morning then early afternoon and again at sunset it was the same lingering aroma each time –just magic, in fact I just need to keep coming back for more. For about a week now it’s been the same and I feel it's a result of the intense program of bio dynamic preparations I have been applying.

As we had endured a long dry and very hot summer I thought a concentrated effort of bio dynamic preps would be the ideal way for the orchard to celebrate autumn. A mix of yarrow tea and barrel compost was used 3x on consecutive days followed by 500 on the fourth day. .Although our property is only small (4.5ha) this has taken 12 days of stirring and putting out as I always dived into 3 sections based on crop and soil type. It’s been a wonderful experience if not tiring on the knees. I also made sure all the terrace banks had a good dose of barrel compost by putting out most areas by hand.

Rain is expected for the next few days so I’ll be interested to see if the aroma persists. Rudolf Steiner said each occupation had a sense to develop and for farmers it was smell.

Such experiences make farming worthwhile and enduring such a harsh summer helps see deeper into nature’s processes..