I don't think that I noted that the other day, whilst moving things out of the nursery into wind and sun hardening positions I noticed that the membranaceous was about to throw a big new shoot, so I decided to plant it out underneath the top swale next to the Java plum, so pretty much in the middle of the "gulch" up here on the ridge... It has been raining pretty well ever since so it is getting a good homecoming...
Um, today I worked all fucking day at trying to make enough mulch to cover a few square metres... I don't mind, really a few square metres in a day is pretty good progess... Still, it got me thinking a lot about having the equipment to go around trimming trees for people and getting paid to collect mulch to bring back here...
I remember looking at Geoff Lawton on one of his visits home to Tagari Farm when we were sitting dow to lunch and he had been working his arse off... I think he had taken his third huge big plate of food, and I looked at him and said, "Oh, you're hungry eh Geoff?" His reply has stuck with me, "You've gotta eat, mate!". Another time, I was sort of bemused by his behaviour and he gave me a similarly impassioned rejoiner... I said to him something like, "You're a crazy fucking hard worker aren't you Geoff?" and his preply was all about "I'm interested in square metres per day Rich! That's all I'm thinking about! I'm not thinking about how tough I am or whatever, I'm thinking about how many square metres per day I can get under ground covers and productive sustainable systems... !".
Today I was reminded of those words because after feeding the animals in the morning, I spent a greater part of the day pushing wheelbarrows, hacking down arundodinax cane grass with a machete, and harvesting heliconias and that flowering thing that sort of looks like tobacco, from down in the gulch, chipping them up and then spreading them on top of newspaper around the pidgeon peas and perennial peanuts that we put in a couple of weeks ago. The peanut was looking pretty shithouse, but maybe it will come back now that it has some mulch...
I also ended up talking to tenants for more of the day than I had wanted, but that is the way, right?