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Bungala Ridge Permaculture Gardens REDUCE ... REUSE ... RECYCLE ... REPAIR ... RETURN ... REVEGETATE ... REPLENISH |
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Permaculture Diary: 13th January 2008 Copyright © Beverley Paine At 6.00am it started to rain, only lightly, but enough to wet our fruit drying tables! We leapt out of bed and covered them over with a sheet of black plastic. Fifteen minutes later the drizzle petered out. After a couple of hours we felt confident it would be okay to uncover the fruit. The fruit leather we brought inside and dried in the oven on low heat with the door slightly open for half an hour. Fingers are crossed we won't get any mould growing on this batch. By mid-morning the clouds had cleared somewhat and the covers came off. I noticed that a couple of my roses look quite sick and will probably not survive. This is from the severe pruning the local kangaroo gave them soon after we planted them. Sometimes I am disheartened by gardening. I'm not much of a gardener. I think it takes a lot more than simply watering and irregular fertilising and pruning. The leaves on the deciduous trees are finally drying out and browning. This usually happens a month before now, or earlier, and it is only because of the good rains we had late last year that they have looked so wonderfully green this long. I heard on the radio that maples dry not because of lack of water in the soil, but lack of humidity in the air. Ours certainly perk up after a good shower of rain. I've planted some geraniums at the base of the tree and hand water them two or three times a week (with rainwater) and I think that's helping. The day slipped by without a sense of doing much, which is good as we tend to be too busy and don't put aside enough time to relax, let alone go for that walk along the beach or do some gentle stretching exercises. I need to remind myself, and Robin, more often the need to change our basic routines. It's too easy to keep doing what we have been for years: get up, do the chores, work on the next job that needs to be done, pile up many more on the never-ending list, and then flop at the end of the day with little energy for anything except to be passively entertained. Some good advice I came across in my internet wanderings to help with the sense of disatisfaction with the way our life currently plays out was "make tomorrow build on today". We seem to be bogged down with the feeling that we aren't getting anywhere with what we are doing. I think it's a reasonably accurate summation of the situation! What we need to do is to take time each day to identify the lasting value we are gaining from each day, or even each activity. Even the chores can be better appreciated as building towards a better tomorrow. By working at establishing a steady routine with the chores we free up time to do the things we feel would be more satisfying. So when doing mundane, repetitive and not very stimulating chores I need to remind myself that not only are inherently rewarding but that are building my desired future just as steadily and as surely as getting on with some of the exciting projects. Lasting habits are well and truly worth the energy and time spent on creating them. When you can go to sleep each night knowing that you are better set for the future than the day before, you will have had a worthwhile day.
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