October

I finally finished moving all the dirt from the old garden and have been trying to get some grass seed to grow there using a sprinkler, but haven’t seen any results yet. Hopefully some of it will start growing after this rain if the birds don’t finish eating all of it first. I have also completely removed the old fence that was between the house and the back paddock and am repurposing it along the side between us and Scott’s to hopefully stop his chickens coming into our yard. I managed to just tack it up into place before it started raining but will go back and fix it properly soon. I may also use some of the metal stakes I pulled out to strengthen the entire fence. Looking back at where the garden was I can see that I still need to remove quite a bit of dirt to get a nice smooth slope from the house down into the paddock. Maybe next winter when the ground is a lot softer. At this stage I’m not planning to put in a new fence at all, that one was only there because the previous owner kept some sheep back there.

I have been taking advantage of the nicer weather and have just about finished filling all the new raised beds with dirt from the old garden. I plan to treat them with some dolomite lime and aged manure to get them ready for planting, apart from the one I might use for okra. I have finished breaking up the last big chunk of dirt and today I will haul enough up to finish the last raised bed. The rest will go in a pile just up the yard a bit for use in filling the holes and depressions I come across from time to time. I am also moving some up to where the mulch pile was to try to grow some grass there. When I’m finished moving dirt I need to shape the slope on the old garden so it’s a good gradient for the mower and then water in some grass seed. It will be a huge improvement from the unsightly old vegetable garden that was there originally. Maybe I am actually achieving something.

The plovers started flying last week and I’m pretty sure we both witnessed their first attempt which went pretty well. They normally fly together fairly low to the ground and their landings are pretty good. They are making the same noise as the parents when you get too close, and the parents don’t dive bomb you any more. They are still pretty protective, going up high with the rest of them whenever an eagle or swamp harrier flies over, and the young ones still hide when that happens. The young ones can hang around for up to 12 months but it is usually less than that and then they have to go and find their own mates and territories. There is also a chance that the adults will lay some new eggs in the next few months since they will do that when conditions are good.