Finding alternative fuel sources

Today the King of Avalon managed to buy a bottle of gas for the stove after running out over the weekend. He was one of the last customers to be so lucky, and this was the last supplier in the whole of East London to still have gas. Stutt has none. Apparently there is a gas shortage and the suppliers don't know when to expect stock. Yesterday I had to be rather resourceful at meal times as both gas and electiricity were low but it also got me thinking about self-sufficiency again.Why not consider a wood stove (Aga) and geaser (Donkie) as a viable solution? Problem is where would one find them and at what price? Why aren't clever young (green) entrepreneurs making new ones? Also started considering the sustainability of our "wood source". Right now it would be the millions of unwanted, invading Black Wattle in the commonage across the road, but just how long would they be considered "invaders" and "unwanted" if they became a major fuel source? Suddenly the fact that they grow so easily, mature so quickly and even add nitrogen to the soil wasn't such a bad thing after all. Who knows in a year or two we might be farming Black Wattle in the paddock totally unaffected by the gas and electricity crisis (how does one spell the plural?) of the world!?

It's raining, it's pouring

It's been raining daily for 4 days now and we live in a "summer rainfall area"! In fact it's been raining all over the country for days now I believe - talk about climate change!

In between the showers we've managed to employ Prince 1's semi-completed trailer that he built to collect cut Wattle from beside the road (so far we've done 5 loads). Now the neighbours definitely have their suspicions that we're "weird" confirmed :-)

All's alive and well!

The seedlings are still alive (I check them every morning)! Cutworms, frost and birds have not taken any yet (me thinks those wormies are freezing their willies off!). I know that companion plants really help (for pests & disease) and will try to get some soonest... On the way into town this morning I noticed that a band of municipal workers all smartly dressed in bright new overalls brandishing noisy petrol chainsaws were cutting down young Black Wattles on the side of the dirt road - now that's what I call provision!!! We'll load them if they're still lying there untouched in two days time...

The plans (for now)...

We need to start off by building Wattle fences. Black Wattle is an invader tree from Australia and it's stealing all our water and the indigenous trees' space. So the green- and frugal plan is not to buy any wood but to harvest our own from the commonage (areas that are not privately owned) instead. I would like to build a new chicken coop and run, fence in the new veggie patch (to protect it from the animals) as well as possibly the orchard so that it's also chicken-friendly (and will keep the dogs out while the chooks are "free-ranging"). We're thinking of even building raised veggie beds from Wattle. Raised beds with bark paths (cheap and easy to source from the local saw mills) will work best as the area I've decide on for the new and improved veggie patch has clay soil and can become water logged (drainage definitely needs to be planned).

The site of the new veggie patch

Then I dream of drip irrigation from the reservoir and more fruit- and nut trees in the orchard. Oh, and I really, really want a worm farm. I have been offered worms but need to get my head around the containers to use...