Airgead post=354484 wrote: PeterD – Generally acknowledged that the medieval warm perious was purely Western Europe. Likewise Roman warm. No record of either in global records.

Weather climate.

As Disraili said – there are lies, damned lies and Statistics. You can spin numbers any way you want them if you really want to. The overwhelming…

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Another study looks at the same data and spins it to the other side as a counterpoint.

Many respectable studies and climatologists indicate that there was a “medieval warm period” around a thousand years ago – and probably also a “roman warm” two thousand years back – during which temperatures were higher than they are today as we can see in…[Read more]

I’m a brewer and baker by hobby so all your fermentations happen there. Cheese, yogurt, buttermilk. Made kimchi, kefir, kombucha, and pickles, the list goes on.

Sadly buying at the market a lot of these items you don’t get true ferments or health benefits. You get comercial factory quick and dirty soaks in vinegars or vinegar additions like with…[Read more]

Just remembered Tea Tree oil. In the washing machine to scent the clothes and sheets for the bed. Makes a good dog control. Rinse after wash with some Tea Tree oil in it and if you have cloth type collars you can put the oil on that. I dont think its cat safe becase they would lick a lot more of it off their fur than a dog will.

Had a look round for the diatomaticious earth, no one in the Ag stockist, pet or animal industries had it, but go figure, the health food stores have it, people seem to be eating the stuff 🙂

I’ll also look at growing some penny royal.

Best for your immediate purposes of egg production in ducks are the Khaki Campbell ducks. As you don’t sound that gung-ho to get into killing and eating ducks right away you will find the Khaki Campbell’s will outlay any champion chicken for egg quantity and the eggs taste absolutely beautiful. Looks like a large chicken egg, no funny off smells,…[Read more]

Feels like we were living up in Canberra down here with the heat and the garden destruction. Lost my beans, all shriveled up, lost 40+ walnut tree saplings. Lost the Oca, half of the leaves on the Yacon. Lost most of the other fruit tree saplings, cherries nectarine and lost 10 out of 13 avocados.

As you say watering heavy didn’t help. Our garden…[Read more]

Thank you Bell for the offer. I’ll rebuild slowly. Hope to get some seeds off what I have left this year and try again with the lost crops next year. The lady in Ballarat has her house up for sale now. Think she has had enough but will try another suburb that hopefully has less risk of damage than where she is at as her husband needs the…[Read more]

PM’d.

I am in the goldfields near Ballarat.

Shame as I have a heifer Dexter calf, older Dexter heifer and Dexter cows.

I’m thinking of getting a bull (probably not a wise move!) so I need to sell off a few of the Dexters to make room.

I agree that Tassie gun laws have gone down the UN disarmament guidelines route and your departments no longer want to issue registrations of interest to hunt ferals on crown property. Thankfully this is not so in Victoria where they moderate the UN guidelines (as an aside most firesrms acts if you read them are near copies from the UN) but does…[Read more]

Quite the opposite, the rabbits I shoot and eat on my property taste brilliant compared to the ones in the specialty butchers, very nice. I’ll never buy rabbit from a butcher again as they are expensive and more gamey tasting. I also take the odd hare for the pot as game meat.

If anyone is in Victoria, I’ll help them get their gun licenses.…[Read more]

My Yacon is a bit slow so I think thats par for the course with this plant. It is not as bad as my Oca which is only now just throwing out roots.

Look up the woodright’s shop on PBS. It’s been showing for more than 30 years and seems right up your alley.

Just a quick update. I may get more photos but,

The scarlet runner beans got up and walked out of the trays 🙂

In a week they hit 3 inches above the light and a few days later were over 6 do they had to go and into the garden they went. The corn is now in the same situation so I’m packing them up and driving them to a friend who can grow them…[Read more]

Try now… I don’t normally have desktop computer access so I get 1/2 my screen cut off on the phone so no menu buttons to insert photos but it should all be fixed now.

Light added and trays 1 day old after transfer of seedling.

Black Mountain Watermelon was a 100% germination success.

Scarlet runner beans (now touching the lights) just a few…[Read more]

My notes

Germinating Seeds

70 degrees Fahrenheit is Summer
21.1111111 degrees Celsius

40 degrees Fahrenheit is Winter
4.44444444 degrees Celsius

D-70 = dry storage breaks chemical germination inhibitors and 70 F is the germination trigger temperature.

70D = the seeds were in the dark.

70L = the seeds were in the light.

40-70 = the seed…[Read more]

That corn is the same as was in the bag and only 4-5 days later. That heated bench is amazing to give seedlings a good run.

My books I learned from:

Seed Germination Theory and Practice
http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/41278/PDF

First Supplement to Seed Germination Theory and…[Read more]

I will have to get photos organised but a report on running this incubator.

Success! Well so far.

Bel sent me some of her ironbark seeds. In 2 days all germinated except 3 and were potted on. The rest I started on Sunday and by Thursday I had filled over 180 seedling pots in trays. Mostly beans (in the high 90’s % germination rate) corn (in the…[Read more]

This is just the first go so I’ll dial in the settings as I go. I wanted longer hours as the energy in the lights is it as high as sunlight. It’s only for a few weeks of seedling growth max before out potting to outdoors so I’m not worried about flowering as I’m it growing under lights for the entire life of the plant.

I have photos but they…[Read more]