The chicks have turned 4 weeks old!! And in celebration of this milestone: they got evicted out the house. Finally, my house doesn’t smell like chicken manure anymore. But the chookpen hasn’t been finished yet. In fact, it hasn’t been started yet. In exsperation, this is the solution: An old sandpit, a for-sale sign and some chicken wire, tada! With a little box inside as a sleeping area, they survived their first nights outdoors. That being said, it was rather windy outside, and I ALMOST took them all back indoors because I was worried that I’ll find them all dead in the morning. They also had their first meal of slugs and grubs. Another milestone. Next milestone: 2nd Dec (20 weeks and laying)

And I had started some seeds in a makeshift greenhouse. I planted zuchinnis, tomatoes, eggplants, pakchoy, coriander and okra.

More gardening tomorrow. I shall sow the amaranths and asparagus tomorrow!

Being a romantic at heart, watching the stars in the romantic show get together despite difficulties and trials, just makes me happy. Although their situations aren’t the same as mine, watching their perseverance often give me strength in my marriage. Watching their silly and stylized awkwardness often makes me recall my own interesting memories. Watching their arguments and disagreements often helps me work on my own communication, helps me to be more patient. There’s a need to be discerning, because not everything that the drama portrays is right, yet one can always draw some helpful insights (of what to do and what not to do).

The show I am watching now, is a Japanese drama called Tokujo Kabachi. Its a story about employees in a legal document firm, using the law to help the weak. I personally like Japanese dramas, because they are only about 10 episodes. They are fast-paced, have much better content/script, than Taiwanese or Korean. Short and sweet.

My chickies are now 3 weeks old… which means 17 more weeks before we got our own free-range eggs from our backyard! They seem to really like the rocket that I’ve been giving to them as a treat, so I sowed a whole row of them today. 21-35 days to harvest, so I’ll have to forage in the neighborhood for some treats for the them meanwhile.

My seed library is all organised, and I ordered 5 more packets of seeds today online from TheSeedCollection on ebay. I decided let price dictate where I buy my seeds from this year, since I am new at gardening. I’ll been reading up about lunar planting, and was told that its an excellent way to do gardening.

“The moon exerts a gravitational pull on the Earth by reason of its promixity.  It controls the tides and the movement of all water on Earth, including lakes, rivers, seas and groundwater.  The gravitational pull of the moon is greater during the first and second quarters, and less during the third and fourth quarters.  Seeds and crops planted during the first and second quarters can more easily take up water than those sown in the waning or decreasing phases.  As a rule of thumb, plants with a lot of leaf area and/or requiring a lot of water during establishment (such as lettuce, spinach, brassicas etc) do better if planted during the first or second quarter, and root crops (eg: onions, carrots, garlic) trees and deep rooting shrubs which are tolerant to more dry conditions can be planted generally during the third quarter.  The fourth quarter has the weakest gravitational pull and is generally used for cultivation, soil preparation, weeding, extermination of pests and noxious growths, and for starting worm farms and compost heaps.”
- http://www.aussieslivingsimply.com.au/readarticle.php?article_id=37

The new moon is on the 10 Aug, and that’s when I’ll be busy sowing…

I harvested some pak choy from the garden. Although a little battered by the snails and cabbage fly, its still delicious stir-fried with garlic and oil.

And I finally bought more Easiyo sachets (www.goldenglow.com.au) and made yogurt. The kids love it with their cereal, with fruits, just on its own.. lovely tasting thing… Homemade fresh yogurt has lots of live cultures such as l.bulgaricus and s.thermophilus (responsible for milk’s coagulation). Much better than the ones at the shops that doesn’t contain any live bacteria…

I tried making soy milk this morning, and the whole batch went down the drain… I (ahem) didn’t switch off the heating coil before I opened the soy milk machine to check, and caused some to burn on the coil. I then (stupidly) put the coil back into the  machine, and the whole batch smelt burnt. I got this machine (Hanabishi) from my husband’s aunt without the manual, and its really trial and error to figure out the best way. More beans soaking…

And the worst part of the day, is when I am trying to cook dinner, and Heidi is doing this:

First, it was just rubbish piling up inside a black bin. Then I see mould forming. Then I see flies. Not houseflies, I thought that they could be fruit flies. The I start worrying, something isn’t right. Those wonderful bacteria that suppose to turn my rubbish into compost has rejected my pile. Bacterial activity should be accompanied by heat, but my pile was cold. The chicks’ bedding was shredded newspaper, all covered in poop (wonderful nitrogen rich stuff), so I thought, why not? so into the compost heap it went..

I spoke to some fellow gardeners about my composting woes, and was assured that winter is generally a bad time of the year for composting. Also, the fruit flies is most likely compost flies, which is normal and part of the whole natural process.

When I brought my kitchen waste to the garden today, the bin was warm to the touch. Its funny how much joy a fly-infested, rotting pile can bring to my heart.

Got my seeds orders from Seed.com.au today. Quite satisfied with their service, since I only ordered them on Thursday and it arrived on Monday. Organic seeds, $2.50 a pack, free delivery, I must say that its pretty reasonable. Amaranth and Sunflower (for the chooks), Watermelon, Tomato, Blue Lady beans, Pak Choy(for the humans)

Strawberry seeds in the freezer for 2-4 weeks, to imitate winter, to increase germination rates. I’m planning a whole column of it, since Aidan’s allergy test showed he’s no longer allergic to them! My inspiration:  http://wordpress.thissustainablehouse.com.au/2010/06/great-towering-strawberries/

Feeling rather miserable, since I am out of dramas to watch. Maybe its time to dig out the old ones to watch again! My husband has threathened to throw out the chicks if I bought more, so I need to figure a way out. I am against streaming them online, since its a violation of copyright. Unlike in the States where they have dramafever, which is streaming and legal, there isn’t anything like that here in Australia…