Raising funds by harvesting Carob Bean Trees.

Cash in on your Carobs! Sell the dried beans from your tree for profit for your organization or for pocket money for the kids.

George (of the two Georges fame) asked if all you growers of carob trees together with clubs whose members know someone with carob trees and would like to raise funds, get busy at harvest time and start gathering the beans for sale. Harvest starts from late January in Geraldton. He told me that there are people in Geraldton who are willing to buy ripe carob beans for processing in the plant they showed off at a recent Mingenew expo.

Here are the details George asked me to pass on to you;

‘Carob Fruit Pod/Harvest’

‘If you could get the kids when on school holidays when they want a bit of pocket money/ a few dollars to support your local sports club/youth club, then why not pick the ripe Carob fruit on the tree in your back yard?

We would be most interested in buying the ripe dark brown Carob pods.

The Carob pods should start dropping just after Christmas and in January.

 You can drop off the fruit at the public weighbridge at Central Metal Recyclers, 190 Gould’s Road, Narngulu, tel: 9923 3698.’

About this amazing tree;

The carob is a slow growing, long living, evergreen tree that is well suited to dry, harsh climates with infertile soil. They can produce for up to a hundred years and the broad leaves offer lots of shade in summer. The fruit is a brownish coloured pod which can grow up to a foot long. Locust bean gum is extracted from the seeds. The pods can be used in chocolate.

They are high in energy and make a good stock feed supplement.

The tree is nitrogen fixing and can improve soil fertility. It could be included in programs for sustainable agriculture. Little or no chemical treatment is needed for its cultivation while its feeding needs are minimal.

They will bear fruit from seven to ten years after planting the seed, but cuttings planted under irrigation can produce in less than three years. The fruit is dark brown when it is ready for picking but not when it is a green colour. Ancient harvesting methods used a bamboo pole to gently bump the fruit off and nets were placed on the ground to catch it.

The pods make up 90% of pulp and the seeds the other 10% so nothing is lost. The product is organic by nature as little man made interference affects the tree or the fruit.

Back in the dark days of world war two, when we were little kids living on ‘Womarden’ about three miles out of Three Springs, we would stay in town each Friday and visit my Aunt’s place for the afternoon. In the back yard I remember this huge Carob tree and the dark brown beans lying all around the base. We never tried to eat the seeds but were told it was OK. The tree was good to climb and hide in!

Travelling around Australia in an old van.

We crossed the West Australian part pf the Nullabor, although it is not actually the treeless plain till we reached into Adelaide. Just a hell of a long way of not much! But finally we got to Eucla on the border between Western Australia and South Australia.

 Camping in bush parks near the Eyre Highway

 Cold light of dawn wakes us up to head off again.

Bunch of mini-mokes heading west. Good luck with that!








Then we rose up off the flat plain to Eucla and the beginning of the great Australian bight. This was the original wireless (telegraph station established many years ago).

 Opposite the Eucla road house is a large mock up of a whale as the blue whales migrate along the great Australian bite across the Southern ocean before turning up the west coast past Albany. They used to be hunted in the hundreds up to 1978. Now they are a tourist attraction!

The sign post at Eucla shows that it is a long way from anywhere.

In the distance you can make out the outline of the old telegraph station that was built a hell of a long time ago. Due to the sand drift the town was moved up onto the high ground that is the beginning of the amazing cliffs facing the Great Southern Ocean.

The Hotel keepers here have established a great garden setting around the building and facing the sea. The owner told me that there are hundreds of frogs in Eucla because no insecticides are used there.

Right across the Nullabor plain the cliffs face the Ocean with a dramatic and dangerous face. Underground in these areas are many limestone caves.





We made it across to our camp on the Nullabor before heading off towards Kimba in South Australia in the morning.

Will keep you posted.

Travelling in the Eastern States of Australia.

Hi

Since early September I have been travelling from Western Australia with my friend in a 1986, Toyota Lite Ace Van.

We left Albany after looking at the old whaling station Museum.

 Old photo of the flensing deck.

Harpoon gun on Cheyness 1V whaler.

Pygmy whale skeleton inside the museum.







We set off from there to Esperance, Norseman and across the Nullabor treeless plain towards South Australia.

 Pretty bleak camp overnight on the Nullabor. My mate was sleeping outside during the night and a howling gale blew in from the desert!

 The wind had dropped in the morning and we had the spectacle of the sunrise over the plains.

.
This sign says it all! The treeless plain is not very wide on the Eyre highway but widens out North towards the East West railway line.






Closing off this blog now, have much more to update later.

See you then

Stan Maley

From Russia with Love.

Andrey and Irina  were on a round Australian trip in their caravan when they arrived in Geraldton two years ago. They stayed here and bought in Geraldton  The house needed a lot of work and the young couple set about doing that. 

Andrey's Veggie patch

We met them on a wet afternoon and asked them what they had in mind for the future of their place in Geraldton. Turns out Andrey was a fan of the Anastasia books and understood the concept of Dachas or home gardens which had always been common in certain parts of the Russian country side. Their shared vision was to create a sustainable garden once the renovations were complete.

We met the pet Galah, Gertrusia, inside and they showed us the tricks he (or she) was taught.

“Does he understand Russian?” I asked.

“No!” Irina explained. “He follows the movement of my fingers and is rewarded each time with food. That is how we do it. He doesn’t understand Russian” she laughed.

Irina's pet pink and grey Galah

 

 

Outside Andrey showed us the English rabbits he is breeding while the geese and ducks paraded around. He remembers as a kid in Russia how the grandparents all kept rabbits and ducks for food and raised veggie gardens and this spurred him and Arina on to try and develop that lifestyle here in Western Australia. In parts of Europe today and in Russia after the collapse of the USSR there were hard times and food was short. 

Large English rabbit

 

The small gardens helped people through these periods. Andrey said his home country of Uzbekistan was a similar climate to Geraldton (without the wind) but the soil was very different! Arina hails from Vladivostok which is a long way from Uzbekistan, and she said it is very cold with wind. It is seven days by train to Moscow and eight hours by plane whereas Sydney is seven hours from there.

Andrey has planted mulberries, grape vines to form a trellis for fruit and shade, fruit trees including mangoes and mulberries. He showed me the veggie garden, corn growing for animal feed and spoke of the future where the whole yard would be an orchard and a place to call home.

We left wishing them well in their dream of creating an ecological and sustainable garden inside their back yard in suburbia.

Geese and Muscovy duck.

 

I was glad to meet up later with my mate Bob and share with him what I had seen, although he was fairly blasé about my constant rhetoric on the theme of sustainability.

“What happens when all the bugs turn up and eat everything like they do every year?” he asked.

“You have a good point,” I replied. “Even now the green caterpillars are coming onto the cabbages and broccoli and I have seen aphids on the beans the other day. But until a balanced eco system is in place we are going to have to spray.”

“Thought you greenies were against spraying?” he said.

“We are, but there are sprays we are going to have to use like Dipel (Bacillus thuringiensis) which is a naturally occurring bacterium. It controls many leaf-eating caterpillars of moths and butterflies, but does not harm other insects, birds, fish or warm blooded animals. Dipel does not kill caterpillars immediately. Once a caterpillar eats treated foliage, it stops eating, but may take up to 3-4 days to die and drop from the leaf. You can mix Seasol with the spray as a wetting agent” I replied.

“That’s a mouthful, coming from you, been googling again hah? Anyway, it’s your turn to buy,” he said.

 

Hot Weather is good for Mango's.

                                                                                                                        

 Hot weather is good for Mangoes. They love it and we have plenty of that this summer of 2012. Mike of Northampton said they cover all the fruit with brown paper bags. The bottom of the bags are cut off and then slid over the fruit to form a sleeve and held by two staples at the top. This prevents the fruit from being sunburnt and scratched by branches in the wind. Quality, not quantity is their mojo here. These quality ripened mangoes are sent to Perth and our farmers markets.  This year’s crop is small so they will be marketed locally. Mangoes tend to have a big crop one year followed by a smaller one the next one or two years.

                                                                                                                                                          

I met Michael and Shirley at the Railway Station Sunday morning markets and we arranged to meet again at their small plantation on the outskirts of Northampton.  They have been there for eleven years, he grew up as a youngster on a banana plantation in Carnarvon and Shirley is from Lancashire in England. After traveling through England and India for two years they returned to W.A. and spend another two years finding this place. The farmlet is set on a gentle slope with rows of healthy mango trees on the lower part. Originally there were lots of palms, ferns and tropical plants. They removed them and replaced with native plants that flower for most of the year for the bees.  Just next to the house was a neat small gum Mike called a Citronella scented Mallee for want of a better name, as it is a gum that has naturally crossed itself with another and created a unique species.

They also grow some citrus and a crop of special garlic which has a real hot component in it. The trees and garden are watered from a bore by drip irrigation Mike said to never wet the trunk of the mango tree with the drip or watering system as it encourages rot and disease to start. (Mangos can’t handle salt water).

Animal manures and fish based fertilizer are used plus worm juice from their own worm farm. The mango fruit is very sensitive to strong feeding and will not go a golden colour on ripening if the fertilizer is too much and too rich. Mangoes ripen from the bottom up and when we see yellow spots on the bottom they are ready to pick to ripen in cool storage. No chemical insecticides are used here. They prune the mangoes a lot. They do three or four different types of pruning a year. The tops of the trees are taken down about a metre or two every year to keep down the size of the tree. Mike told us the Northampton soil is unique in that although rich it is very shallow with rock not far below the surface. Any root competition from other trees like gums robs the moisture and nutrients from the mango's.

Bees are an important part of the eco-cycle of this orchard. They have a few hives and he learnt all about bee’s years ago from a library book initially and now swaps information with other bee keepers. Honey is collected for private use and for sale. Honey chilli sauce is one of those.

After the two years in India Mike said he could not eat the boring Aussie food and set about making chilli and hot sauces to add to the preparation of their own food. They use small mango's and windfall fruit plus herbs, garlic etc in his secret recipes. Exotic spices like nigella sativa, turmeric, fennel etc are purchased from India through a Perth based importer. The jars of finished products are available at the Sunday markets along with quality mango's in season. Mike and Shirley just recently announced their retirement and their family have taken over the show with the recipes and support where necessary.

Desert Rose in Full Bloom.

The Desert Rose is a colourful addition to any garden and they have surged in popularity over the years and have been blooming prodigiously this season. Jenny at the Palm Nursery showed us the large number and variations they have for sale.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Soils aren’t Soils! So Amanda and Nick found out!

Soils aren’t Soils! So Amanda and Nick found out when they took up their block on the top of a windy estate in Buller. Plenty of wattles and rabbits greeted them as they set about building their very first dream home and garden on part of their thirty acres near the City.                                                                                   

From Paris, from England to Africa to an Australian outback setting.

From her small flat in Paris and he from his bleak mining town in Yorkshire, onto Kenya. From out of Africa to Geraldton’s sunny shores Isabelle and Charlie settled and have created something unique and pristine in suburban Bluff Point.

Isabelle told their story, in her parisienne accent, as we drank coffee on the balcony overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Aquaponics and Salty Garden Tales

Hi Folks, aquaponics and fishy tales.                                                                                                       

Neville and Anita  heard our story about how Ivan and Margaret were catching dinner plate size perch from out of the old swimming pool in their back yard. “Come and have a look at this” he said.

Turns out that after arriving in Gero from Cervantes they set about, with the help of Father in-law Dwayne,  to build a Aquaponics set up under a shade house in their back yard.  A year later with info from the enthusiastic bloggers on the net and local knowledge he ended up with what looks like a small sailing ship with leafy vegetables climbing up the masthead and silver perch swimming around the bottom of the captain’s cabin!

Your lettuce bolting on you?

 John rang me because he was concerned about his lettuces.                                                                  

“Why are they running up to seed before it makes a heart?” he wanted to know. So we decided to go around and take a look. What a surprise! John has established a great vegie patch on a vacant bit of dirt and had some tricks up his sleeve I hadn’t heard of before. And he was able to share them with me to pass on. All of his vegies were very healthy indeed.

First thing though, we tackled the problem of lettuce running up to seed before setting a heart. Nature does make sure that it more than adequately protects it s species. Because a plant can’t run away from predators or adjust itself to sudden climate changes it does certain things. If a dry spell sets in, or a few hours of intense heat occurs, or any other outside unusual stressful event takes place the plant will almost immediately start setting seed. You may have noticed some species of plants will flower profusely in a drought even though there is not much actual plant or leaf growth. In the case of John’s lettuce we were not able to determine what actual event occurred to force the plant to seed, but it may have just been some unseasonal hot weather for a day or so before rain. They were planted on the 14^th of April and started to run up to seed about a month ago.

Country Life.........Easy Style

Greetings Fellow Gardeners.                                                                                                                                                     

“Raodasider couch, the sort I get off the side of the road” is how she explained her lawn. Looking fresh and green, it makes a great foundation for the low care gardens around the Rose Cottage of Roseanne and Charles down Greenough way. It doesn’t mind the bit of salt that comes up with the bore water she said.

Hidden away across the Greenough River the house is an excellent example of the architecture of the late eighteen hundreds. Roseanne and Charles have used their talents to create a pleasant, open garden of low care plants that give the feel of country and space. Using odds bits and pieces Charles designed the eye catching examples of his art positioned carefully in the surrounds of Rose Garden cottage. They have a feel of the times gone by with their rustic character.

Rustic Lifestyle in the Outer Suburbs

Hi  Fellow Gardeners                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Gabrielle and John have been running their upholstery repair business from home in for about thirty years.  They met up in Townsville when they were both in the forces, she was in a corporal ain the Air Force and John a private in the army, she outranked me then he said! After a stint in Darwin they made it to Geraldton and worked and raised a family of three here. They shared with us that they love the rustic lifestyle that they have been able to create.

Victoria and Holly are the two resident Saanen goats, one is being milked and the other is pregnant. The milk is used for drinking and cheese is made from the residue. Sitting around their kitchen table sharing yarns I told them many years ago as a young married couple we had a pure bred Saanen goat tethered to a post out in the bush next to humpy we lived in. Her name was Esmeralda Tasenalda the Third and had a pedigree that was of a higher order than the position she found herself in!

The Full Monty on Sustainable Living

Hello Gardeners                                                                                                               

Sustainability is the buzz word according to my mate Bob. Although his idea of sustainability probably refers to making enough home brew to last until the next mix! But the course I am engaged in at Durack Institute of Technology, (DIT is the new nickname,) is towards a diploma in sustainability. Since no one actually knows what that is, it is a bit of a worry if we can pass it!

So that’s what bought me to have a look at what Peter and his partner are doing up there at Howatharra on his thirty acres of land near the highway. Gardening is only part of sustainability and Peter has gone the whole monty by designing  his nine and half star rated house. He decided to invent a new slant on straw walls by building inside with fastwall bricks. On the outside of them, he will fasten about 300 mm width of straw bales, covered outside with three layers of plaster to form a very effective insulated 540mm thick wall around his open living house. The windows are all double glazed and filled inside with Argon gas. 

How I set about making a garden in a small unit.

Hi Fellow Gardeners,                                                                                                                                                    

Recently I shifted into a two bedroom unit. It is brand new but only has a small area at the back that I could use for a private garden. Since I have been talking about growing vegies at home, I thought I better set out an example to you, our readers what the hell I was on about. This is what I had to show and tell.

Nice garden up Kalbarri way, You should visit!

Hi fellow gardeners                                                                                                                    

We had heard about Alison from Kalbarri so I gave her a call and Ada and I went up to look at what she was up to. Turns out she is one of Kalbarri’s original citizens, having lived in this one house for fifty two years. When me and me mate Tony from Three Springs camped on the river bank back in 1964 she was living there then in what was a small asbestos lined house. This was the only one in that street apart from a few shacks around about.

Surviving in the suburbs on the pension.

Surviving in the suburbs on the pension.                                                                         

I have raised this issue with Bob and a few others at different times down at the local. Being on the pension is a tough call if that is all you got.

“I reckon you gotta be able to grow something yourself,” Bob said. “Not like you can get a killer for a carton and skin it in the back shed like we did back in the good old days. Or have your own chooks and get a rabbit or two now and then.” He complained. “Save a few quid if there was a way pensioners could get vegies or something that was easy.”

“I heard of a bloke in Gero who is doing something like that, “I said.

“Well, why don’t you go and ask him?” Bob answered.

And so I did.

Wilf  hailed from Cockatoo Island in the North, been a crocodile hunter, baker, haul pack driver and a few other things in his career. Now in retirement in Chapman Valley Road, he is growing vegetables, herbs and all good stuff to the extent he and Rose are self sufficient and also supply friends and family with much needed clean, untainted produce.