It's raining, It's pouring!

Well, we have had a week of wet weather again here in south-east Queensland. Not unusual most would say. But certainly it seems that this La Nina event is again bringing us plenty of water, with 100mm of rain falling over Noosa in 1 hour on Friday night. That is certainly a massive amount of water and has resulted in some damage to the road network in that area, with sections being washed away and bridges damaged. Commuters also got caught in the deluge with the train tracks flooded and the roads so awash with water that people abandoned their cars only to come back and find them either gone or damaged with the rising waters over the next 12 hour period. Crazy stuff!

But my main excitement (not to downplay the dramatics of the events) during this wet weather, apart from having a house which is no longer leaking (thanks Mr insurance) but the joy of hearing the rain hit my roof, head towards the nearest gutter and downpipe (thanks to partner for installing extra just before this last lot of rain) and watching it rushing into my rainwater tanks. This is sooooooo exciting for me. The constant replenishment of our rainwater tanks is a joy to me. Watching the water fill the tanks has always been such a satisfying feeling for me, even when we were in our last house and we were on town water. I just love watching this natural process: capturing a wonderful natural resource with the idea that I could use it at my leisure and pleasure for whatever purpose I choose. Yes, some would say I am a freak, but if you ever get the chance to watch the rain pour into your own or someone else's rainwater tank you tell me that it isn't satisfying or at least mesmerizing.

Another exciting thing that occurred during this last large rainfall event, is that my new 2000L tank that I recently purchased and attached to my carport is also full! Woo hoo. I was a little worried that I would miss all this summer's rains and as we head to another El Nino event (I believe) that it would take an eternity to fill up and the cost of installation ($1000 for the tank....slimline corrugated iron) wouldn't justify itself for many years. But already I am satisfied that I have done the right thing.

Love to hear your rain appreciation stories. Pin It

Garden tips...wet weather projects

We have just had a couple of days of heavy down pours where I live and this has provided me with inspiration to get into the garden. Not only is it not too hot, but it means that some of the typically hard labour jobs have become a little easier.

I spent the afternoon pulling out clumps of grass that have escaped into my garden beds. With the rain, the soil has softened significantly and it is easy to grab these clumps and remove a lot of the roots along with the tops. Such a task would typically involve some sort of shovel or other garden implement and the removal of a large amount of soil to even grab the root ball. It would also certainly otherwise leave a lot of the roots in the soil, in turn just bringing new sprouts with them.

Another task I have previously tackled after similar weather is the complete removal of established plants, mostly shrubs. Much of the established gardens in our new place have typical garden plants and my preference is to re-establish these gardens with mostly native plants. So, in an attempt to salvage these plants and allow other people to utilise these plants in their gardens, removing them in wetter, water-logged soils means less damage is done to the root stock and in turn the plant is more likely to survive after being transplanted.

So my suggestion is to get out there and experience the difference in your garden and maybe get on top of some of your weeds or medium-sized projects. Pin It

What's happening in the environment where you live?

As part of the initial concepts and introduction to permaculture, keeping an observation journal is very important to begin to understand the natural patterns that you will either attempt to work within or modify once understood.

Things that I have noticed around my place over the last few weeks:

• the molasses grass has seeded and started to die off now
• the weather is extremely dry
• days are starting to get warmer during the middle of the day (t-shirt weather at midday)
• still have chilly mornings
• blue billygoat weed is flowering
• acacias (wattles) both planted and naturally occurring are flowering. This started back in June and various species have flowered over this time, but the beautiful yellow flowers are still prevalent around my area
• magpie babies have grown up and some have dispersed from their parental territory
• strawberries are in full production in my area
• increased numbers of roadkill around my area, mostly feral animals, but have noticed a number of dead bandicoots on the side of the road (guess it is the beginning of their breeding season or dispersal of juveniles).

Another interesting thing that occurred in my neighbourhood is that the neighbour on the either side of the creek has decided to clear fell an entire paddock. Thankfully the creek line has government protection and he has abided by this protection, but I now notice there is increased sunlight levels glimmering through the vegetation which was not visible before he cleared. To me that is a little sad because the vegetation is predominantly wet eucalpyt and rainforest and the increased light levels are likely to encourage the growth of weeds in this community and along the drainage line. There will also be changes to the microclimate for the animals and plants that have occupied this area up until now. Pin It

In Tune with Nature

To become more in tune with the land, seasons and opportunities for food growing, energy and water capture and the changes in wildlife and weeds in my life and the land I occupy, I am going to start an observation journal. 


What will this entail?


Recording:

• date
• season
• weather - temperature, rainfall, cloud cover, etc
• what is in flower/fruit - food, native and weed plants
• what is happening on the land

and anything else that takes my fancy. 


Overtime, I hope to collect a picture of the patterns in the landscape, what I will need to be doing on the land, what to expect from my food plants and identify things that are out of place or sorts.


I am looking forward to learning from this process.  Pin It

El Nino/La Nina

It is raining luscious rain here in south-east Queensland. Does this surprise anyone? Some people might say 'no'. But are we all so forgetful to lose sight of the extremely low dam levels we experienced only a couple of years ago where the government forced everyone to become extremely water efficient and the general drought conditions that we experienced here in Australia? No watering the garden, no washing the car, etc, etc.

In light of the cyclical patterns of these weather events I thought I would try and understand the El Nino/La Nino concept a little better. Having read only a few pages on the net, I can share the following.

• it is a cyclical pattern
• when the El Nino event is on the Australian side of the Pacific, the east coast of Australia experiences below average rainfall (drought-like conditions, depending how extreme this event is)
• when a La Nina event is on the Australian side of the Pacific, east coast Australia will likely experience higher than average rainfall (as we currently are experiencing)
• the concept relates to the oscillation of surface air pressure between the eastern and western sides of the Pacific (hence the 'southern oscillation index' (SOI))
• The SOI measures the strength of this oscillation and measures the difference of surface air pressure between Tahiti and Darwin
• If the SOI is positive it indicates a La Nina event (above +8), if it is the negative it is an El Nino (below -8).

Presently Australia is experiencing a positive SOI, with the Bureau of Meteorology currently reporting (13 September 2010) the 30-day SOI as +25. Thus the east coast of Australia is having conditions that would indicate a La Nina and we can expect to receive above average rainfall. Yeah!

Don't get complacent with the water saving measures though, despite our current wetter than usual conditions. We will eventually swing back to the El Nino event (on average every five years) and need all the water we have saved during La Ninas and also need to be well-practiced in how to scrimp on water. This is the time to perhaps install a rainwater tank (if you didn't when the government was basically giving them away) to collect water for your garden, hook up irrigation systems in your garden to either your water tank or your grey water system or just undertake some of the maintenance around your house that needs a little extra water now so that you don't cut into the water supply when we don't have much.

Don't forget water is a precious resource.

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Indigenous Weather Knowledge

I have just come across a website linked to the Bureau of Meteorology's webpage called "Indigenous Weather Knowledge". It sounded very intriguing. The link is: http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/

It appears only to have information for the Northern Territory at the moment. I don't know whether there will be additional information posted for the rest of the country at a future time, but certainly something to look into, as I haven't really even thought about this previously...well, not under the title of "weather knowledge". Pin It

Tornado in Lennox Heads

Can you believe there was a tornado in Lennox Heads, Northern NSW today? This to me is amazing, it isn't even typical cyclone season. Apparently it only last for about a minute but caused a lot of devastation.

What is the cause???? Climate change comes to mind, but whether this is actually the cause I don't know. Pin It