Southern Tablelands Shipping Container Build

[Uncle Bob]

Great to see you're still updating this thread Turnstiles. It's looking very nice!

[turnstiles]

Great to see you're still updating this thread Turnstiles. It's looking very nice!

Thanks Uncle Bob - glad to see you're still around!

Still updating, but less and less things to post about. More outside work is needed though (currently trying to get the totally neglected veggie garden back producing this Spring/Summer.)

This thread (including the previous site) is turning into another "Neighbours"!

[r3nov8or]

"....everybody needs good...."

[turnstiles]

Well it seems to have been one of the windiest Septembers I can remember since being in this region. More than any other weather phenomenon - I hate wind the most!

As the house is now a home, i am loathe to do any messy building work indoors as the dust and mess will get into everything. So this is currently my workshop:
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So the wind has impacted on what I can and can't so.

One thing i love about my bathroom is being able to gaze out of the window as I shower in the mornings and watch the 'roos, ducks on the dam, and brightly coloured birds in the trees. I can see out of the house in three directions.

Through the shower screen and open door to beyond the kitchen and the big window at the front of the house:
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Directly through the bathroom window:
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And thirdly, the reflection in the big bathroom mirror through the window which reveals another different perspective:
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But during the past year a few visitors have expressed surprise that one would be so 'exposed' while showering!!

It has never concerned me as it is so quiet out here, but thinking about how visitors who stay over might feel, I decided to add a roller blind for privacy.

It may also be useful for minimising the morning Summer sun which shines straight though the window from sunrise until about 11am.
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I've been watering the grass seed twice a day and it has started popping up:
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This side of the house gets morning sun every day - at the back of the house, much of where I have sown grass seed is in perpetual shade until well into Summer when the sun is higher, so it has taken about 10 days longer for the seeds to sprout. (I used a shade tolerant variety.)

Being Spring, when it wasn't a howling gale, I would duck outside and work on the veggie garden when I could.

I put up a climbing frame across one of the beds and have planted snow peas and climbing beans.

Rhubarb is always in, as it mint and chives. Plus a few tubers of yacón - a South American root which is sweet and crunchy (like a Nashi pear) and can be used in fruit salads, salads and cooked. (I put it in stir fry's and on my breakfast cereal.)

I've also sown a row of coriander and one of capsicum seeds.
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The rest of my veggies will go in sometime in mid October when the soil warms up more.

I know the soil needs mulch, but there is no point until the bad winds stop as it will just end up being blown off the soil and up against the fence!

I then decided to tackle the mess under and around the veggie garden water tank - a dumping ground for all things gardeny!
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I plan to enclose 3 sides under the tank and add a shelf. Then I can store fertilisers, plant food, pots etc there. On the outside I'll attach wire mesh and grow some climbing purple Hardenbergia there,
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Hopefully I can get it to cover the water tank.

One positive of all the wind and being housebound is I've been able to spend a lot of time resurrecting my dormant art career - my little working space has spread a little. A large piece of polystyrene packaging has been useful as a back 'wall' - great for protecting the sofa and as a pin board.
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I really do need to crack on and get my studio built!

[Moondog55]

Given enough water the Hardenbergia would grow up around and over that small tank in a couple of years. I still recommend a couple of bathtubs for worm compost [ wait until you can get some free naturally] and for growing wet loving foods like Kangkong

[Moondog55]

Also given how good the house looks I can't wait until you start on the chicken palace [ foxproof/ goanna proof naturally] and how you'll tackle that.

[ErrolFlynn]

You should give some consideration to cross-bracing the legs of your water tank. There's probably more than a ton of water in there when full (1 gm/cc). Timber doesn't last for ever. It might be a pleasantly cool place for the dog to snooze, but a weight such that toppling would be nasty.

[turnstiles]

You should give some consideration to cross-bracing the legs of your water tank.

You're correct - the thousand litre tank holds a tonne of water.

Boxing the under-tank in should do the job! Mind you - it's been standing there almost 10 years and doesn't seem to have changed!

[ErrolFlynn]

Okay, now that's off my mind, the other thing that occurred to me was in relation to:

Rhubarb is always in, as it mint and chives. Plus a few tubers of yacón - a South American root which is sweet and crunchy (like a Nashi pear)

The rhubarb, mint, and yacón might make a nice jam.

[turnstiles]

The rhubarb, mint, and yacón might make a nice jam.

Sounds like an interesting combo. The yacón (weirdly related to the daisy - but looks a lot like a sweet potato) would contrast nicely with the rhubarb. But I'm not madly fond of mint - am judicious in what I put it in as mint flavouring can remind me of chewing gum or toothpaste!! (Peppermint tea to me is like drinking hot mouthwash...!). A bit on boiled spuds, in a green salad and mint sauce on steamed spinach is about it for me. I've made a lot of rhubarb jam - will have to wait until next May/June for the yacón to be ready to give it a try.

[ErrolFlynn]

mint

A tiny bit of mint may be enough. There’s a cafe I sometimes visit. They serve a nice French toast with all the fruit trimmings and maple syrup. The first time, I spotted two leaves of mint. Decoration, surely.

I was going to ignore it, but trimmed off the tiniest slice from one leaf. I’m referring to a piece no larger than 2mm and manipulated it on top of one of the strawberries then gobbled it whole. It changed the whole flavour experience. It was wonderful.

[turnstiles]

Also given how good the house looks I can't wait until you start on the chicken palace [ foxproof/ goanna proof naturally] and how you'll tackle that.

LOL - unfortunately you'll be waiting a long time! I've decided not to go down the chicken path. I know what is involved in looking after them, and I want to be able to shut up shop and nick off for a month or 3 and not have to worry about the chooks getting by on their own! For the sake of a few free eggs I hope to find a chook loving neighbour and swap veggies for eggs.
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