heat

Vlog 3: Surviving the heat

It’s the last Vlog of the year and it’s a hot one. This time, I cover the ways we keep the garden and critters watered and cool. At this stage of the game, we don’t need to artificially shade any of the plants. The garden was designed so that after two or three years, the larger plants would shade areas in which we planted annuals and more delicate perennials. I’m happy to say it’s worked a treat. Anyways… Happy New Year from all of us… 

Vlog 2: It’s hot! 

Summer’s here and the temperature is frequently topping 40°C. I usually go around the outside of the house and compare temperatures in full sun and in shade. This year I’ve made a video of most of my findings. Some might surprise you – they always do me! The take home lesson from all this is that shade is good, full sun is bad. It’s that easy! The inside of the house averages 24°C throughout the Summer with minimal input from our evaporative air conditioning. We do have a reverse cycle aircon that came with the house. That gets used for an hour or so here and there when Jelina gets home late from Uni on stinking hot days. She deserves a little coolness at the end of the train trip home.  Apart from that, it’s ceiling fans and judicious cooling of the house at night time by venting in the cooler air through the evaporative system on the vent setting

read more Vlog 2: It’s hot! 

Nearly a home.

We’re so close to owning our own home, having done all that the bank wanted, checking all the boxes and jumped through all the hoops. So, it’s time to restart all the kitchen fermentation and get some edible plants into the ground. We started with four deciduous fruit trees, an apple and a pear, and dwarf nectarine and almond trees to help maximise the space. All our favorites, because with the small space we have, and the limited budget, there’s no point planting what we won’t eat! The trees are have been placed so that they will block some of the harsh western sun in summer and hopefully make the place a bit more comfortable.