The simple life is not a sleepy life. Thomas is usually up at 5 am working out simple solutions for our basic needs. Sometimes ideas come during sleep, sometimes it’s the busy morning birds that inspire us. And then there’s Rufus the towhee that thinks he’s a rooster. Either he loves us or he loves the reflection of himself in the trailer windows. We’ve come to expect him banging into the window, welcoming the new day.
Rufus' branch, view from Thomas' window
We’ve decided to operate off the grid. Our three solar panels, with boosts from the generator, are providing the power we need.
The solar cart is a golf caddy from the recycle depot, its base the former bulletin board from the Degnan Bay dock.
Here’s the power centre of the homested.
We finally got the right pump set-up for the well, and a successful way of getting water from 40 feet down up to barrels that gravity-feed the garden watering hose.
One of our interesting challenges has been what to do with greywater.
Measuring greywater drain
Greywater sluice
Our goal is to reuse greywater, after filtering, on plants that are compatible. We are learning from friends and local experts as we go. For instance, what products do we use for cleaning, cooking, etc, that we want to deal with on the other end of the drain?
We're now looking for products which are biocompatible - which biodegrade into materials that are beneficial for a particular ecosystem - not just biodegradable. We've found a couple of useful books: Create an Oasis with Greywater and Builder's Greywater Guide, both by Art Ludwig.
Here's the website to find out more: http://oasisdesign.net/
The temporary refrigerator - buckets under the trailer
Our trailer came complete with everything needed, but for some reason the fridge wasn’t working. For growing food, a working fridge and freezer – even a small one – is pretty important. For about a month we tried to figure out the problem. We’re not about to haul our home to the RV centre off island. Thomas got helpful advice from lots of folks, and called a neighbour who's a small engine repair person. It took quite a few tries, but what a satisfying day when it began to work!
Our work continues. All the beds have been double dug, slow work but effective. Low tech.
The garden fence does its job
We inherited the largest ant hill we've ever seen
The ant hill is a favourite spot for kids. We thought ants were helpful, hardworking neighbours, they seemed to be running up and down the broad bean plants, keeping the aphids away. Now we discover they farm the aphids, expanding their numbers for their own uses! And the ants aren’t friendly to the ladybird beetles.
Ants have colonized this wild cherry shoot, leaves are curled and dying with hordes of aphids.
The garden keeps growing, and we feel ourselves to be part of this vital, growing environment.
Cherry tree - gift from a friend
Sunny garden view from Elizabeth's window
1 comment:
Yeah! Great Post Elizabeth. What an awesome homestead. I hope La Sonrisa is moored in a harbour nearby so you can escape to the sea from time-to-time.
Love to you both... Rob xoxo
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