Rain changes everything

Following on from yesterday's post... yes, the rain did come:

The swales filled,

rain drove across the cellar door,

the neighbour's excess storm water was directed around two beds,

the newly planted seeds were bedded in,

the broad beans lapped up the heavens,

and my giant eucalypt pods were painted wet, among the grasses and berries.

Sowing and picking

We've had rain on and off today, which has come at a time just after I had added horse manure to the north bank garden and turned it over. It's also a few days after the full moon, so what better time to throw around some tree kale seeds and plant some broad beans, collected and dried from spring last year.

I then picked tonight's dinner veggies in the rain, which we'll have with brown rice and a light smatter of tamari.

To get decent rain in Autumn is a rare and welcome pleasure. Happy birthday Zephy.

Two weeks on (swale work)

Click for bigger.

Two weeks ago we put a swale in and remarkably we have had regular good rain since. This much rain is very unusual for this time of year. It has spurred me on to build more food beds and other functional things (such as an all-weather path running down to the chooks) along the swale. I'm building next door and was able to use the leftover concrete mix (stone and sand) for our new path, laying it on piles of old newspaper. Tonight it rained again, and I was able to capture the swale holding water. It poured down, the swale filled up and over about 30 minutes the rain absorbed into the ground and under the thick mulch.

Rain, finally