June Weather Averages

This is a little late but for those locals who have some weather interest (since our closest weather station is at Grove and not the best of comparisons).

As I post this, today (July 21) has been our wettest day of the year with the heavens opening. So far we are nearing 70mm for this rain event (8mm which was ast night). The dams I see from my window have topped up nicely and are overflowing.

June	2013	2012
Max Avg	13.9	13.5
Min Avg	4.6	3.4
Highest Max	19.2	21.9
Lowest Min	-0.5	-3.1
Rain	59.5mm	25.2
Avg Wind	2.1 km/h	2.5 km/hr

The Plight of the Honeybee

Even tho bees are numerous in my patch, especially through the warmer months of the year, bees worldwide have been on the decline for quite some time. many of us are aware that this is occuring, but some of us may not know why.

The following article is an excellent review of the bee decline and highlights some interest research that is occurring around the globe.


The Plight of the Honeybee

Gasland (2010)

This is a fascinating documentary on the move to natural gas in America and the impacts that fracking (is that how it is spelt?) especially on agriculture.

With Australia moving more and more towards natural gas, it poses many questions we should consider asking the regulators before permits are approved. Gaslands 2 is about to air in America so if you have not seen this here is the youtube version.

How low will the snow go?

Winter has well and truly arrived with an Antarctic blast currently hitting Tasmania. It is 5 degrees as I write this with squall after squall coming from the mountains out west. It is times like this that the wood fireplace works overtime and makes the house a cozy 20 degrees and those days of wood chopping in summer well worth it.

When I took the picture above, it was sunny with light winds, but as I type now, this front has arrived, is blowing winds up to 60 km/hr and driving horizontal rain. The forecasters are saying snow tonight will fall down to 300 metres, but some trusty weather people I know think it may dip to lower than 200. By tomorrow will shall find out. My place is situated around 100 to 120 metres above sea level. I am unlikely to see snow on the ground from this event, tho last year we did have some snow fall and melt on impact. The kids really want to see some snow on the ground at home, but it is only a short trip up towards the surrounding hills if we really want to see it.

Today I was planning on digging up the ground between two posts in preparation for my new berry area. I have 10 chilliwack Raspberries ready to go and a logan berry. I already have about 20 raspberries in the main patch but I did not plan their plantings the best when I was in the initial rush of setting. A friend has a neat set up which has inspired me to get at least one row in that I can be proud of. However in saying that, the berries produced well last year, the are just not set up ideally.

But alas, the weather is not conducive to me getting outside and my hands dirty. Hopefully the coming days I will find that motivation. Another task I must get to is

- planting Broccoli seed in punnets into the hothouse
- go through my seeds to check what I need for the coming Spring
- do a general weeding in the patch
- harvet (the best part)
- and prepare for the U14 Youth soccer game (I co-coach) and one of my boys 8th b'day party!!!

I also need to start considering the digging in of some green manure beds so the have time to compost in before the spring plantings.

With the wild weather fronts coming through, it was interesting watching the chooks and their antics. When the sun returned, they came out of the shed and searched for food amongst the pasture. When the front arrived, they rushed for cover and sat waiting for their return to the field. The only deviation from this was one stupid young rooster who would stay out and get soaked.

Two other projects I am aiming to keep up with over the next months is

1 - continue a list of all weed species I find popping up in the patch
2 - keep a list of all garden plants that my surrounding Pademelons (wallabies) will not eat.

I will post a blog on both of these in the future, but if you have any plants proven for success around pademelons, please leave me a comment.

Enjoy
Dave