This Sustainable House

Posts Tagged ‘weather’

One of the things that I really love about living at TSH is the fact that we have four distinct seasons. There is a definite Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter with all the wonderful variety and experiences they bring. It also means that we have a much shorter growing season than some of our more ‘tropical’ friends which of course necessitates a few changes in the way things are done.

And as evidence for these changing seasons this morning I awoke to the first frost of 2011. Admittedly it was a fairly light frost, but it does highlight the inevitable march towards the quiet of winter. It’s now time to begin making preparations for the cooler months such as ensuring that the under cover beds are ready to go, where they can take advantage of the warmer microclimate, as well as potting up any species which are likely to need some assistance over this period. The main species that comes to mind at the moment is my lemongrass clump.

This weekend we will begin preparations by redesigning the greenhouse, and setting up a few new watering systems under the verandah.

Only last night I uploaded the weather data to the website, and this morning we had SOME. I have to admit though, that I’m terribly glad that I haven’t yet planted out my pumpkin seedlings, instead they are snug and warm in the greenhouse.

The reason I’m so glad is this morning I awoke to the oddest site… snow at Mulloon. In fact I had been lying in bed listening to the rain on the roof for a while, but then there was no sound. I could see the ‘rain’ falling, but in my sleep induced haze, didn’t put 2 + 2 together. In fact by the time I took the video below it began to be mixed with sleet.

Needless to say that snow at Mulloon isn’t a common occurrence, even in the dead of winter, so to have snow in mid-October is something of a treat. Unless, of course, those summer vegetables are already in the garden….

For those of you who have visited this website on a previous occasion, you will have noticed that a new page went live this evening. The new page details the local weather at TSH and can be found here or by using the tab on the top menu.

The weather page is connected to a sensor at TSH which electronically measures the temperature, humidity and rainfall on the property. At a later stage it’ll also measure wind speed and direction, but at this stage the anemometer isn’t working as well as it should.

The dials on the page will provide you with updates of the current weather, well a few minutes behind the current weather anyhow. There is also a graphs button that will allow you to choose graphs of historical information (when there is some historical information) and a page of records for the site. You can also change the units to any units that make you feel most comfortable. Finally there is an option to go into full screen mode to make it easier to read.

Please check out the weather page and let me know what you think.

In an earlier post I mentioned that I had created a pair of ‘sacrificial paddocks’ for the cattle. Well recently the cattle have been moved out of these paddocks, and one has been sown to a spring pasture mix (comprised of forage brassica, plantain and clover). This video highlights how the paddocks were sown, without the use of any mechanical apparatus apart from a rake, and how they are growing.

And they said it couldn’t be done…

HOME is an ode to the planet’s beauty and its delicate harmony. Through the landscapes of 54 countries captured from above, Yann Arthus-Bertrand takes us on an unique journey all around the planet, to contemplate it and to understand it. But HOME is more than a documentary with a message, it is a magnificent movie in its own right. Every breathtaking shot shows the Earth – our Earth – as we have never seen it before. Every image shows the Earth’s treasures we are destroying and all the wonders we can still preserve. “From the sky, there’s less need for explanations”. Our vision becomes more immediate, intuitive and emotional. HOME has an impact on anyone who sees it. It awakens in us the awareness that is needed to change the way we see the world.

This is, quite possibly, one of the most powerful documentaries ever created… it is essential viewing for every human being.

Watch the trailer below

To watch the whole movie go to http://www.youtube.com/homeproject.

The Canberra region has quite a harsh climate for gardeners with very hot dry summers, and bitterly cold winters. As a result our growing season is quite short requiring strategies, such as greenhouse growing of early seedlings, to artificially increase the growing season.

Last night the realities of cool climate gardening became apparent as the first frost descended over the property. Admittadley it was still quite a light frost but it does symbolically, and practically, demonstrate that the joy of summer is over. The still of winter has begun…

Or perhaps, mote accurately, collect water while the rain falls…

Water is the number one limiting factor at TSH, as it is for most Australian farmers. We are, after all, the driest inhabited continent on Earth.

Like most rural properties, TSH has no reticulated water access but relies on the water that can be collected off the roof or catchment run-off. In the case of roof run-off the water is stored in a series of thanks with approx 140,000L capacity. However catchment run-off is a different tale with main storage being one medium sized delapidated dam. Damn!

The fact that our dam doesn’t hold water, if you’ll excuse the obvious pun, is actually a blessing as it encourages me to be more creative with how water is stored on the property. Which brings me to the point of this post… Swales!

Swales are an earthwork designed to capture water in-situ and transmit that into the sub-soil. Whilst in a dam one attempts to capture water with an impervious layer, in the case of a swale we capture it with a permeable layer. The basic principle, as demonstrated below, is to trap rainwater using trenches/embankments placed along a contour and then allow this water to permeate into the soil where it flows under the surface. This has the advantage of lowering evaporative losses as well as placing the water right where our plants need it, at their roots. It also reduces erosion and, best of all, requires NO energy to run a pump… Grand.

In the case of TSH there are a couple of areas that would benefit from swaling. The first area is in the quarantine yards where the swales will capture road run off and direct it to a better use. The second area is the rear paddocks where the run-off can be chanelled along the countours to collect both from the ‘interswale’ areas and the neighbours paddock.

As we develop these earthworks I will post additional comments but in the meantime just imagine the possibilities.