Soil condition and preparation

There are quite a few large stumps on the property (11 in total) for which we used the services of a professional stump grinder to remove. This took 2 days. The stumps were first cut close to the ground using a massive chainsaw and then ground down to below ground level with a special grinding machine. The picture below shows just how large the stumps were! We could make some lovely furniture out of this beautiful timber! Sooj had already removed 17 stumps himself (using his chainsaw and a hired stump grinder).

Here are some of the stumps post-removal.

Last Friday I started the massive task of soil improvement on the property. The soil is silty clay and moderately acidic - my pH measurements ranged from 4.5 to 5.5. A low pH impedes the ability of plants to take up nutrients and so does the clay nature of the soil. Most fruit and vegie plants will be more productive with a slightly acidic soil (around pH 6.5). To help break up the clay I've added gypsum (I started with a rate of 0.5-1kg/m2, which I partly based on the geotechnical report recommendations and also from books) and to increase the pH I've used dolomitic limestone (roughly 0.2kg/m2 - this is probably a bit less than what's needed but I'll add more later if necessary). I had my first experience of driving a tractor and discovered that using the bucket (to transfer loads of soil etc) is actually quite difficult to coordinate (for me at least). It was quite hard to get a decent load size. We also really need to add lots of organic matter to the soil, which I've started in the form of some well-aged horse manure (combined with stable sawdust bedding) from a nearby horse stud. We need lots more organic material which is difficult as it's expensive (well compost is to buy and it takes time to make). We have started a compost heap but this will be a slowish process. However I also plan to plant a green manure crop which will help to improve the soil structure as well as adding nitrogen to the soil and helping to suppress the growth of weeds. I have some perennial ryegrass, oats and also various legume seeds (chickpea, lentils etc) which will be planted directly into the soil as a mix. I'm just waiting on some rain (or the forecast of rain) so the seeds will have a chance to germinate!

Starting Clean Up

Rivetting title this one! Nettie was away all weekend for a vet course and I was in Sydney on both days so we haven't done that much more. Annette struggled with the tractor a bit on Friday but she'll chug along all day getting things done slowly but surely, whereas I struggle with hard work and labour full stop... I go hard in spurts of 10~15 minutes then rest and day dream and get distracted for 30minutes!!!

Oh well, have started cleaning up the piles of wood from the clearing... it is much simpler to burn it, but we're going to save it all for firewood, mulch and compost.. so it'll probably take many weekends.

cya
sooj

Rainwater Tanks Are In

The rainwater tanks arrived on Monday at 8:30pm. On Tuesday, the plumbers re-assessed project (hence previous irrate post) and yesterday they began work.







The drains all go under ground now to the 2 tanks which are 5000gallon each. Therefore we have 45000 litres of tanks connected to the house. The third 5000 gallon tank will go the shed.








The down pipes USED to curl under and UP under the verandah into long pipes that were suspended and had lots of bows in them so that there would have been lots of puddles of water in the pipes all the time because they couldn't drain properly. So, all the down pipes were cut and have been extended straight down into the ground where we laid new pipes right around the house 50cm deep.





They all go to a first flush device, which will stop the first 30~40 litres of rainwater from going into the tank. Instead they will drain away into my future wetland/pool.

As for the future wetland, I'm talking about a Natural Swimming Pool.... see the link below. They've been big in Europe for 20 years and in the UK for a few years and they're just being found out in the US. I want to do something along those lines.... they rely on aggregate and planted out shallow sections as well as water cirulation in order to have a swimming
hole that is clear and clean without the
need for artificial chemicals such as chlorine. Which also means that insects and fish and frogs that eat mozzie larvae can also live there. The water cirulation further deters mosquitoes.... anyway, I digress...


I cleaned out the gutters today and Nettie
has started work on the soil (I'l let her post about that) and the Stump-grinder guy has come. So no more big stumps... and we have to find uses for the large logs that are left. Maybe a few garden benches and coffee tables and chairs...

Anyway, all good apart from the usual challenges and frustrations!

CYA

Work Commencing FInally!

ARRRGGGHHH... so frustrating... and its only just starting. One of my main stresses planning this is that we are working with new trademen. We aren't dealing with any of the guys that I've developed relationships and raport with over the last 6 years, doing renovations and repairs on our properties. I'm stressed because I don't trust these new people. Maybe I'd be happier if we had lots of quotes.... hmmm maybe I will get more quotes.

Anyway, on the weekend, I worked at clearing things around the site so that the tanks could be installed. I had to put the plumbers off again because there were no tanks! They were supposed to be at the property during the settlement process, or at the very least on settlement, but they weren't there. We requested them 2 weeks ago and were told 'in a few days', which came and went. I rung them (previous vendors) again a few times until they told me 'Wednesday', which came and went and then they promised me 'Sunday'. On Sunday, after numerous calls and messages, they returned my call at 2pm and said they would be here in 1~1.5 hours. Again, no show until I heard back at about 5pm when they said that it didn't fit their truck so they've hired a semi and it'll be there mid-afternoon the next day. I got to the property in the afternoon (again, a couple of unreturned calls) and surprise surprise, no tanks... I got hold of them this time at 5pm and they said they were on their way up to get the tanks... ... I waited for them for a couple of hours but went home in disgust at 7:45pm after not being able to contact them at all. Mobile ringing out and being ignored no doubt. I finally got the tanks at 8:30pm last night.

This morning the plumbers came. Alas, the job was bigger than the guys thought... or at least bigger than what they were told by their boss. Also, the existing stormwater drain system is crap (which I had thought, but the guy who inspected it and quoted the job didn't mention anything or have a problem with it)... So to cut a long story short, the job to install the tanks and finish the rain water drains have been re-quoted and its over double. From $1975 to $4213.5 !*?!*?! Anyway, needless to say, I'm peaved off. I'm still going to get them to do the job, because its ready to go. Tomorrow I have to run around and sort out valves and stuff which should be with the tanks but aren't...Arrrggggh! But unless Annette can convince me otherwise, I'm not going to get them for the remaining work which they've quoted about $7000 for.. who knows how much I'll have to spend! We were also going to get them to put in the solar hot water system (~$5000) and the greywater system (~$7000)... again, I don't want to use them at this stage... which is definitely a bad omen considering they haven't even started any work yet.

Oh well, lets see how it pans out. Catchya

Pete

The Grand Plan

WHAT WE HAVE SO FAR:
3 Bedroom, 1 Bathroom with Large Living, Dining, Small Family Room and Laundry. The house is clad in Hardiplank with Colourbond Roof on trusses. The site is a mess!

WHAT WE NEED TO DO:
HOUSE
Re-arrrange some internal walls once DA for the modifications are approved.
Renovate and complete the bathroom.
Make a new ensuite bathroom off a new main bedroom.
Make a new Laundry.
Gyprock the ceiling and install roof insulation.
Wall insulation and all gyprocking (though we are looking into some greener alternatives for wall lining) and finishings (doorways, doors, cornice, skirting etc)
Finish flooring:
- sand and polish (there are some green options for this) old floorboards in bedroom 2 and 3 and the kitchen.
- main bedroom and living area needs a new floor (marmoleum? or ideally, bamboo florboards).
- tile entry-way, ensuite, laundry and family room.
Electricals:
- modify existing electrical wiring.
- install low-energy lighting fixtures throughout and outside the house (~$?).
- install plenty of power points so that appliances can be switched off at the wall (there is a new technology that can help shut off whole areas etc, but its a bit complicated for simpletons like us).
Do the plumbing:
- complete plumbing and allow for grey water separation and install water saving Aqualocs (Totally Green Plumbers ~$7000).
- install the water tanks (2 x 22,700 litre for the house$2000).
- install grey water recycling system ('Nubian' at this stage ~$7000).
- get solar hot water system (Apricus ~$5000).
- install metal gutter guards (~$2400 installed).

- septic system to be installed (Biolytix ~$10000 installed).

Power to be connected:

- power to be brought to the front of the property then to the house (~$18000).

- get 20 panel solar system with 2940watt inverter to be connected to the grid (~$10000 after the $8000 government rebate).

Install skylights.

Install combustion heater. We thought we would use this existing one until our massive stack of firewood was depleted, but that will probably take 5+ years. Firewood on-site has no freight or mining costs, so even though it still produces emissions, it is preferable to gas or electrical heating devices. We can't use concrete slab heating.... no slab! Hopefully we shouldn't need much extra heating.

Paint! Bugger of a job.

Windows:

- dress them.

- metal mesh insect screens required by DA.

Put up balaustrades and stainless steel wire around the whole balcony.

Build the staircases up to the verandah.

OUTSIDE

Clear the stockpiles - dead wood, topsoil, brick and building rubble, massive logs (some >1m diameter), weeds, hardwood from old shed and house and old fencing.

Get rid of the many smaller stumps (hired stumpgrinder today $170 and hard labour!).

Get rid of the large stumps such as ironwood stumps up to 2m diameter ($1000 next week).

Landscaping.

Set up fire prevention irrigation system (DA requirement) for the whole building envelope.

Put up and set up a new shed (9m x 20m).

Get DA for and build 2 large wetland systems (properly vegetated dams).

Fencing - for the dogs 'PT' and 'Daisy' and the horse 'Santa'.

Catmax enclosure outside for our spoilt cats Obi-won and Yoda.

Entrance Fence and Gate (Solar powered automatic gates).

PERMACULTURE GARDEN

Lots and lots... Annette will post information on the existing soil type and conditions and what we are doing to set it all up!

Set up chook pen and house.

Set up a bee hive... yep I've joined an apiary club!

Small pond for some water veggies and our turtle 'Buddha'.

The amount of work wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for all the red tape ( surveys, geo-tech reports, plans, designs, etc etc ) and the need to have to deal with the Local Council... I HATE GOING INTO THE COUNCIL... its such a waste of time! I'm anticipating that we'll be spending about $100K for all of the above... I've put down estimates only... there is definitely a price for going green but we all know its worth it! OK? Right! :-)

Anyway, this is our GRAND PLAN... so for those of you wondering where we are..... look no further... we'll be at home.

BEFORE photos continued

Front Yard - will have a pond and a horse paddock on the right.
Future Shed Position - 9m x 20m shed approved.
Back yard - for veggie gardens, fruit trees, chook and another pond.
Stockpiles of rubbish to sort through - bricks, mulch, dirt, massive logs, dead wood etc.

BEFORE photos

These are the inital photos before starting any work.




The Front Entrance. The Driveway is about 50m long.

Approaching the house and building envelope.

This is the house on the day of settlement...
...and inside...
... and us later that night, celebrating with a modest fire, nibblies and some bubblies.

And so our journey begins...

This is my first ever blog... for some reason never got into the whole thing. Anyway, we thought this was a good way of keeping everyone updated on our progress... but I'd better start with an introduction:

We are Peter and Annette Tazawa (nee Lockley) and we got married last year. Annette and I have now been working on the Central Coast (NSW Australia) for about 6 years. I am a partner at Wyong Equine Clinic and Annette is now a part-timer, working at Tuggerah Vet Clinic and Long Jetty Vet Clinic.

For the last 5 years, we have been living on a small (450sq.mtr.) suburban block. Annette's always been very environmentally conscious and responsible (she even drives a Prius and before that she rode the bicycle to work) whilst I on the other hand grew up with a great appreciation for nature but my actions never really matched my well meaning intentions... hopefully that's starting to change!

We started getting itchy feet last year. We'd been cooped up in our little house for too long! Annette wanted to really let her green thumbs go wild (not enough food could be grown out of her 6mx2m veggie patch) and I'd always wanted to move onto an acreage (aka waterfront block with a boat rampa and jetty)....

Even though I'd seen this block of land for sale for some time, we'd never thought it was what we wanted. I thought I wanted a waterfront; Annette wanted a quiet bush block. This block is a bush block but its right near town. It gets a bit of noise from the freeway, but we can live with it if it means being closer to town etc, so that we are not driving so far (which is obviously a no no). We had both been reading about sustainability so much, that at some point in the past year... and I don't know exactly when.... we came to the realisation that we both wanted one thing... to have a sustainable home and apply permaculture and organic principals to our own plot of land and be more self sufficient. This block definitely had heaps of potential! So we thought we'd give it a go.

So this is our block: 25 acres of bushland with about 10 acres of it (at the back of the block) being wetland (swamp, alluvion, marsh, etc etc). The building block is only about 1~1.5 acres. It is flood prone and is in a high bush fire danger zone... (what are we doing?!*?) and the house is about 2/3 finished with no services connected and lots of unfinished areas.

Anyway, its getting late... more on this shortly!

Pete