It has been almost nine years since I updated the tour, and while there have been plenty of changes to the front yard (check them out here) there have also been some significant changes in the back yard. We have made changes to improve our productivity, increase our adaption to heat and make it easier to process our organic waste.
The Veggie Plots
There are still 14 veggie plots all up, and they are comprised of -
• Two sets of three against the southern fence, the southernmost set of three having a fixed trellis set up along the southern fence, no real changes there.
Growing on the southern trellis
• Three long(3metre) ones in front of the choko tree, also no changes.
• Four against the western fence which also have a fixed trellis on the fence. At the time of the previous article, two were 2 metres long and two had been expanded to three metres long. but now all are 3 metres long with a pathway in the middle to give access to the inner ones.
Western veggie patches redone
The back yard from above!
• One of the two against the northern fence was decommissioned (the quail have come and gone) but the outer one is still in use, sort of, but with the new three bay compost system installed next to the northern fence, it may also have to be decommissioned – work is ongoing.
The system has now been in place and operating for almost 20 years with only minor tweaking to make it more efficient.
The chook Tractor
The chook tractor is still in operation although it is now on its fourth iteration. It is still painted gloss white with one long side to reduce the effect of the summer sun and keep things cooler for the chooks. The framework of the previous design was DAR pine with three coats of white paint. Even after all that painting it only lasted 5 years before it rotted and fell apart. So the four G chook tractor has a framework aluminium angle and this one has lasted seven years so far, although the access panel finally gave up the ghost and was replaced with two half doors back in 2022.
The Greenhouse
Our Rion greenhouse is still in use and performing well. There has been relatively little change over the last nine years, with the shade cloth still used to keep the greenhouse productive over the hotter months. In general terms it has aged well, but the odd bit has broken off and some of the clear panels, particulalry the ones on top, are getting a bit thin. The aerobin composter sitting beside it is being decommissioned but more on that later.
Raising seedlings in the greenhouse
The greenhouse itself
The Retirement Village/The Worm shed
There have been no outrageous changes to the retirement village or the worm shed. The following alterations to our plans happened –
• The choko vine worked for a while but is not in place at the moment.
• The internal door inside the retirement village shed fell apart after many years of falthful service and has now been replaced by some colourbond sheeting covering the western mesh wall.
• The idea of adding mushrooms to the worm shed did not eventuate, but we did grow mushrooms successfully in the garage.
• The green roof on the retirement village/worm shed has also not eventuated. It has been invaded by jasmine vine which we are still having fun with.
Also, after the passing of a couple of older chook, only a single chook was left in the retirement village, so we got a couple of younger chooks to keep her company.
Retirement village and worm shed
Chooks in the retirment village
The Jerusalem artichoke bed, continues to be very fruitful with almost no interference from us except to harvest the tubers during late autumn and winter. We have been using materials cut from the constructed wetland and productive water garden to provide mulch for the Jerusalem artichokes. As you can see from the pic below, they are growing well.
The Tanks
The three original tanks in the back yard, ie two galvanised tall form 2500 litre tanks behind the garage and one 500 litre plastic tank that is connected to the shed plus the 200 litre black plastic drum added to the outflow of the tanks behind the garage are still in place. However, a 3000litre slimline tank was added to the southern side of the garage fed from the 5000, litre tank in the front yard was added in 2018. A 200 litre black plastic drum has also been added to the outflow of the southern 2500 litre galvanised tank and the outflow of the 200 litre drum as well as the outflow of the 3000litre tank beside the garage have been directed to a drainage chimney, installed near the corner of the garage.
The southerly 2500 litre tank is showing its age
Both 2500 litre tanlks on the back of the garage
3,000 litre tank running down the side of the garage
The solar oven
The solar oven is still in use but did not see a lot of action during the La Nina years and the reflective surface has faded, going transparent in places and flaking off in others. It is in the middle of another refurb to replace the large square reflective surfaces with thin mirrors and the angled corner pieces with different reflective film.
The Fruit Trees
The mandarin and choko tree are still in place and a passionfruit vine (I know, not a tree!) has been added to the corner of the house and over the office window..
The Choko tree
The Wicking Beds
These are still in place and have a 50% shadecloth cover installed from mid spring to mid autumn. The wicking function has not worked very well, possible due to holes in the plastic membrane and function more as raised beds. Currently carrots are in the southern one, capsicums in the northern one.
Capsicums in northern bed
The Self Watering Containers
These are also still in place and operating well, located in front of the wicking beds. They are currently growing turmeric, galangal, ginger and cardamom.
Turmeric, galangal, ginger, cardamom
The Aerobins
These are in the process of being decommissioned. The second hand one between the tanks has been emptied and removed, being second hand it was in pretty poor condition. The original one is being emptied and will hopefully be passed on for someone else to use.
Photos during dismantling
The Water Garden
This is still working well, producing water chestnuts and arrow as well as a bit of kang kong (water spinach).
The Insectary Area
The bug hotel is still in place but has been raised up a metre off the ground on besser blocks after I found out that is a better position. Tenants have varied over the years and we currently have a number of solitary wasps in residence. I also installed a self-watering insect waterer in front of the bug hotel. Unfortunately, most of the insectary plants in this area were out-competed by the choko vine!
Hi-Rise Bug Hotel!
Wasps checked in to the bug hotel
Banana Circle
The banana circle has gone berserk, is very productive and has gone from strength to strength. There have been several unforeseen advantages of the banana circle: one is that it lends a tropical vibe to the backyard and it is nice to look out the kitchen window and see all that green leafy foliage. The second is that the bananas have become so tall and dense that they shade the back of the house wonderfully, reducing the effect of the (western) summer sun. The third is that they provide lots of biomass for our new three bay composting system. One of these days I am going to learn how to cook using banana leaves, and that will become another advantage!
Banana circle, 6 months after installation
Banana circle 2024
Veggie Bed Sun Covers
The 50% shadecloth sun covers are still in use, and currently cover eleven of the veggie beds. Two of the beds against the western fence are covered, two are not. I have found that some crops, like corn, do just as well or better without the covers. The covers, during most years, go on in mid spring and are removed in mid autumn, although this my vary depending how weird the weather is being.
photo
Clay Pot Irrigation
All but two beds have olla (clay Pot) irrigation. The only two beds which don’t have ollas in place, have buried pipe irrigation installed to see how well they do compared to the ollas, research is still ongoing.
Pottery made olla, lid above ground.
Pottery made olla
Olla made from commercial pots, in the ground, plug in place
olla made from commercial pots
Fertiliser Extraction Tube
This is still in place and operating, although the drier weather lately has meant that out comfrey is not being as productive as it has been in the past.
Constructed Wetland
The constructed wetland is in place and has been continuously operating since it was installed. As well as reducing the pH of the water from 9+ to around 7, and reducing the salinity of the water, it also provides biomass for use as mulch and for the composter.
Southern half
Northern half
New Productive Water Garden
This is also still in place and operating and still growing water plants including papyrus, pickerel rush, arrow leaf and water chestnuts. It also provides habitat for frogs, tadpoles and various flying and aquatic insects.
New Stuff
While there has been a lot of work carried out in the back yard previously, and for the most part it is still operating and being productive, there is not a lot of new stuff. But what new stuff there is, is listed below –
The Back Deck
I had built up a small deck on the back of the house many years ago, covering the west facing wall of the kitchen and dining room, but it was too narrow and never really worked. So in 2017, with a few friends and over a couple of weekends we deconstructed the old deck and built a new one, bigger and better than the old one. The roofing is clear polycarbonate and in summer it is covered with 90% shade cloth, which is removed during the cooler months to allow more light and heat in.
It has turned out to be a great addition to the house and to be multipurpose. It reduces the effect of the western sun and after the addition of some bamboo blinds on the outside of the deck it has made the house cooler in summer. It is also a nice place to sit of an afternoon, I use it to support pots and hanging baskets to increase our growing space and also use it as a an area for outdoor cooking, using the rocket stove. We use it to dry washing, store fruit and veg and catch rainwater. This is not conventional water storage, the deck is surrounded by a permeable path and runoff from the deck is directed down to be stored in the soil rather than a tank.
Back deck with bamboo blinds in place and permeable path
It has proved to be a wonderful addition to the house and well worth the cost and time taken to build it.
The Three bay compost
This has ben mentioned previously, and replaces the two aerobins which did not work very well for me. It is constructed from seven hardwood pallets, held together by a series of brackets in each corner of the bays. I constructed it in 2023 with assistance from my daughter in law, as a fathers day present. It is now march 2024 and I have already harvested some friable, dark, fertile compost from it, which is being incorporated in veggie beds that have been raked over by the chooks and before the patch is mulched.
The tour of the front yard can be accessed here
