Belinda Moore

I feel as though we’re flying toward the end of another year…

AT HOME: No changes on the home front again this past month, having not been home much it’s tricky to get anything done!

We had some WWOOFers for two weeks - Marije and Kaitlin from The Netherlands. With Gary on holidays, the Dutch girls visiting, the Yungaburra Folk Festival, school holidays and camp - it’s been a full few weeks!

AT WORK: I just finished another column for Natural Life, and the current issue arrived in the mail. The two months between issues seems to roll around quickly!

I have started sharing my writing on another blog, the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op… So I will have to become more prolific with all the columns, articles and blog posts to keep up with.

Spiral Garden was a little quieter in October, but I’ve been busy ordering in stock for Christmas shoppers. So don’t forget to use the New Products link to keep up to date with what’s available.

I’m still working on revitalising the local LETS group. I’m passionate about relocalisation and alternatives to mainstream systems, and my volunteer work reflects these passions. It’s very rewarding to build connections in my local community with others who have similar interests.

ON THE FARM: Our chicks are growing strong, but we did lose one (to another mother hen, who is very bossy and aggressive!) We also lost one of the quails, who escaped somehow and never returned. The other quail has two baby chicks for company, but we’re not sure how long that will last. I think we need another cage (yes, another one) just for the quail and his new friends when we buy some.

The guinea pigs had their babies at last! Five babies between the two of them, born on the same morning. They are so big when they’re born - covered in hair with open eyes and able to run about right away. I hadn’t seen newborn guinea pigs before… Now we’re trying to learn how to sex them. I think we have three-four weeks to take the boys away from the girls.

I have been busy in the garden over the past few days. On Sunday I gave it a good cleanup - removing sweet potato vines, nasturtiums, mint and comfrey which were crowding everything out! They’ll grow back of course, but in the meantime I have room to grow other things! On Wednesday I added manure and mulch to all the cleared sections of the garden, and gave everything a good soaking as it hadn’t rained for days (yes, that is unusual here!) And on Thursday I planted loads of seeds - some mesclun mix, pak choi and other varieties direct, and over a dozen other varieties into punnets. I also transplanted a lot of the young trees I’ve been propagating for this summer’s planting sesssion! On Friday I planted even more lettuce, which I never seem to have enough of! I grow extra seedlings and share with gardening friends.
Marije and Kaitlin did some maintence on the orchards and we planted five new fruit trees together - mulberry, elderberry, pomegranate, wax jambu and velvet apple. These are all around the duck enclosure. I also have pumpkins, chokos and jerusalem artichokes growing down there, so it should be lush and green in no time!

We recently bought a 2nd old caravan for the WWOOFers to use, but it needs re-lining inside. It will have a basic kitchen, 2 single beds and cupboard when we’ve finished cleaning it up. Another job for the to-do list!
HOME ED.: The highlight of October was our camp at Kauri Creek. It was a great spot and we had a fantastic time. I hope we go to the same spot next October!

ATHENS is growing, with new families joining the mailing list all the time. We went to the Strawberry Farm last week, which was great fun for the kids. I just loved their lemon gelato and would go back just to indulge in that again! I have bought a lot of new fabric paint, so everyone’s looking forward to the painting workshop next week. All welcome!

We have so much more time on our hands now that theatre is over for the younger children, and our fortnightly art classes are postponed for now… But we’re still having trouble fitting everything in! The big girls have begun their sewing projects - Brit’s is a red polar fleece bath robe, Immi’s is a farmyard print apron and Abby is making some celestial print flannel PJ bottoms.

The girls are doing well with their individual Italian lessons, but we haven’t done any group work yet. I have the resources ready and we hope to get back into our weekly rhythms soon - before the year ends and we take a break for Summer!

The Folk Festival was brilliant for the kids (and us, of course!) It’s such a safe, positive environment for children to be free to play, create, be entertained, shop at the stalls and be with their friends. I really value the experience and hope to be involved again next year as a family of volunteers, performers and festival-goers.

Happy November days to you and yours, and thanks for all the feedback - I love to hear from those reading my blog!