A weed compost tea

A couple of weeks ago we did a big weed tidy up out in the front yard - we pulled up lots of couch and kikuyu - I did not want to put it in the compost heap because both these grasses are invasive and spread by runners and they don't die in the compost heap. 

So I put them into a spare wheelie bin we have here and filled it with water - covering the weeds.

That was about 2 weeks ago - we now have one batch of smelly weed compost tea or extract.

It is too strong to use undiluted..

But once diluted to tea strength it is a great fertilizer for the garden.

What a great way to get those nutrients and other goodies out of a weed - once we have used the liquid the grass should be well and truly dead and it can go onto the compost heap.

There are lots of links to compost teas and extract - check them out here and here and here.

First year of fruit on our plum tree

We planted our plum tree about two years ago.  Last year we had only one plum that fell off (or got knoocked off by a soccer ball?) before it rippened... this year marks our first plum harvest.

Collecting plums before the birds get to them.

Harvesting blood plums as the kids go back to school reminds me of our plum tree when I grew up - we harvested and bottled these plums about the time we went back to school.

Maybe we will have enough plums to bottle the extras in a couple of years.

Finally - a list of what we would like to achieve this coming year

We have been busy in holiday mode doing all sorts of fun things but as work and school routines return I have been finalising our "resolutions" for 2011.  Below I have listed 5 things we would like to achieve over the next year - among the more general goals of moving toward being more sustainable.

1.  SIMPLIFY THINGS - We have accumulated many things in and around our house which sometimes lead to a life more complicated than it should be - and more cleaning.  So this year our biggest resolution will be to make a start on the de-cluttering of our house and shed.  I would like to systematically go through our "stuff" this year and assess what we use and want, then get rid of the excess.

2.  HEALTH -  I would like to see us all get fitter. I have an aim to get my walking fitness back so that I can enjoy extended bushwalks and start back with overnight hikes. Maybe we could start to take the kids on overnight hikes - our oldest is certainly requesting it.

3.  ENERGY CONSUMPTION - I would like to assess where we can make reductions to our energy use - this year our focus will be on household power consumption. 

4.  HOUSEHOLD WASTE - I would like to focus on ways of reducing the plastic waste in our household.  We already use "re-usable" shopping bags most of the time - but we still generate a lot of other plastic waste.

5.  LOCAL, ORGANIC OR FREE RANGE MEAT.  Over the past year or two we have changed our shopping habits and have moved to including much more local and organic produce in our diet - this will continue.  With more options becoming available in the rural centre of Orange I would like to see if we can only buy local, organic or free range meat.

So here's a belated cheers to 2011. I am looking forward to another year of challenges.