Everything is laid out before me, I have choices appearing, and yet all I want to do is write a short note, not many words..just, I miss you, the rest says it self.   But to do this, I know would be uncomfortable, unforgivable, inappropriate. Instead I write this here where no one will see it and if you do, well it may not be about you.
The rest of life, well if I had that under control, who knows where I would be?

What to do in the holidays?

One good turn.
 Should I head to Tasmania?

It is time again to contemplate the holidays and find myself a place to hide, or cocoon for the christmas holidays. And for Christmas itself, I need somewhere to be  .

It is early, still night, but called morning to keep things black and white,
divisions and old boarded up thoughts, wandering down nights back alleys,
Hey mister, wanna try out this version of what if? it's nice and cheap...
 The past always mugging the future.

  Cold, dark water slowly flowing through beds of frost brittle reeds and past bleak bare trees. 
               This is July for me.

Proof that these pictures were really taken in Australia

Plant of the moment.. Cotton Lavender

   I decided to tidy up the curving bed beside the front path today. As usual a simple trim and sweep became a major clear out as I found the Ivy roots and firethorn growing beneath the plastic sheet.  The sheet had clearly been covered in mulch at some point, but time and nature had turned the original mulch into a 5-10cm layer of topsoil.
  In the end the firethorn has been pulled out of that garden bed and a row of cotton lavender planted to provide a bit of continuity.

  Seeds have been ordered! I will have a variety of seeds available for sale at Rowany festival and hopefully a number of books related to gardening, self sufficiency.


I have a copy of this book which will be up for sale. I'm not sure what else I will have yet, we will just have to wait and see. This is a good introductory book with enough pictures of artefacts to educate and provide inspiration for your own creations.

I will have some dye seeds, some edibles and some medicinals. I'll  give more details later as I am still waiting to hear back about availability of the seeds I have ordered!

Artichokes

A Profile of the

Artichoke 

The Artichoke

Cynara cardunculus syn Cynara scolymus and

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 Traditionally the artichoke has been considered to date back to Ancient Greece or Rome, more recently the development of the artichoke has been advanced to the 10th or 11th centuries.  Sicily is considered to be the most likely centre of origin, a location where there was certainly a thriving Arabic horticultural tradition (Sonnante 2007).

It is difficult to pinpoint a location for the domestication of the artichoke, however its wild ancestors are found throughout the Mediterranean region (Zohary 1975)

date	Source	Location
1100	LIBRO DE AGRICULTURA BY IBN BASSAL IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY (Sanchez 1998).	Iberian peninsula
1586	The Gardeners Labrynth Thomas Hill	England (London)
1599	Richard Gardner “Profitable instructions for the manuring, sowing, and planting of kitchin gardens	England (Shrewsbury)

Table 1 a list of combined culinary/horticultural texts and archaeological evidence for the presence of at specific times and regions.

Cultivation of the artichoke

Thomas hill describes the cultivation of artichokes from side shoots, a process which has changed little.

“Artichokes come of young plants taken from old stock…And when you would take the plants from the stock, dig the earth away half a foot deep about the stock, and pull the earth clean from the stock; Then thrust your thumbs between the stock and the plant, and slive them off, keeping the bottom whole and unbroken”

Harvesting them

Thomas Hill

“You must gather your Artichokes (cutting them almost a foot from the ground) when their to beginneth to open a little; and with your foot break off the stalk left on the ground”

Richard Gardener an author also writing around the same period gives almost identical instructions, he does go to give instructions on how to produce large quantities of Artichoke slips (or cuttings) for sale by planting slightly below the surface in a hillock.

References

• The Cultivated Artichoke: Cynara scolymus Its Probable Wild Ancestors Author(s): Daniel Zohary and Jehuda Basnizky Source: Economic Botany, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1975), pp. 233-235 Published by: Springer on behalf of New York Botanical Garden Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4253608 Accessed: 09/02/2010 00:22

• Economic Botany and Ethnobotany in Al-Andalus (Iberian Peninsula: Tenth-Fifteenth Centuries), an Unknown Heritage of Mankind Author(s): J. Esteban Hernández Bermejo and Expiración García Sánchez Source: Economic Botany, Vol. 52, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1998), pp. 15-26 Published by: Springer on behalf of New York Botanical Garden Press
• 
  
• SONNANTE G, PIGNONE D,HAMMER K 2007, The Domestication of Artichoke and Cardoon: From Roman Times to the Genomic Age, Annals of Botany 1–6, available online at www.aob.oxfordjournals.org
• Gardiner, R 1599 “Profitable instructions for the manuring, sowing, and planting of kitchin gardens Very profitable for the commonwealth and greatly for the helpe and comfort of poore people. Gathered by Richard Gardner of Shrewsburie”. , Impinrted [sic] at London : By Edward Allde for Edward White, dwelling at the little north doore of Paules at the signe of the Gunne,   Bib name / number: STC (2nd ed.) / 11570.5 Physical description: [32] p. Copy from: Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery Acessed by EEBO

Hill, T, 1586. “     The gardeners labyrinth containing a discourse of the gardeners life, in the yearly trauels to be bestowed on his plot of earth, for the vse of a garden: with instructions for the choise of seedes, apt times for sowing, setting, planting, and watering, and the vessels and instrumentes seruing to that vse and purpose: wherein are set forth diuers herbers, knots and mazes, cunningly handled for the beautifying of gardens. Also the phisicke benefite of eche herbe, plant, and floure, with the vertues of the distilled waters of euery of them, as by the sequele may further appeare. Gathered out of the best approued writers of gardening, husbandrie, and phisicke: by Dydymus Mountaine”. , Printed at London : By Iohn VVolfe, 1586.

Bib name / number: STC (2nd ed.) / 13487

Copy from: Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery

Rowany Festival: Wombaroo Gallery part 2

A few Pictures of the new Rowany Festival site

Location Of Wombaroo in relation to Mittagong: it is possible to get both buses and trains to Mittagong

Satellite view

The site map from the Rowany festival page

The mature trees are impressive

The view from the Bardic circle

The Boating Dam (Lake Bourgogne)

 

The base for one of the water tanks

There are several big sandstone slabs around the site

The Dining Hall

The wood heater in the dining hall

WHEELBARROWS

Part 1 

History and Types of Wheelbarrow

Festival is coming. For many years I have thought about making a barrow to move gear around, to carry goods to the market, to loan to fighters and quite possibly so that I can use one after dinner each night just like this :

This Barrow is a flatbed type with a box built above the bed/handles. It also fits the rustic stereotype of a  wooden wheelbarow : A glutton, a book of hours (PML M.1175, fol. 191r), c. 1525-1530 Bruges, Belgium

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  But mainly I want one because Wheelbarrows are cool.  So here is part one of the research process, finding images and background information on the wheelbarrows of medieval Europe.

Wheelbarrows are known from at least the 1st century BC in China (Lewis 1994). however our first solid piece of evidence for the wheelbarrow in Medieval Europe comes from the  building accounts of King Henry III around 1222 A.d and concerns the purchase of eight wheel barrows to be used in the Kings works at Dover (Matthies 1991). Handbarrows which are essentially a stretcher appear to have remained popular for some time, despite an increase in the pictorial and financial evidence for the Use of wheelbarrows in Europe (Matthies 1991). Wheelbarrows in England were around 6 times the price of handbarrows, possibly a disincentive for their use.

This image from around 1250 A.d shows both a "handbarrow" or stretcher and a Wheelbarrow. (Vitae Offarum, Trinity College Library, Dublin MS 177

Wheelbarrows while varying widely in design can be split into 2 main types.

A crippled child on a flat wheelbarrow, the barrow pusher has a strap around his neck to help support the weight the Luttrell Psalter (British Library Add. 42130, fol. 186v), c. 1325-1340 Also Giant duck!!

•   Flat bed wheelbarrows resembling the original handbarrows in that a flat surface created by the two handles create the basis of the barrow and support the load.

Detail from  the Berner Chronik 15th Century (MS Hist Helv I 16, fol. 35r, Stadtbibliothek, Bern), showing a wagon or box style wheelbarrow with a solid rather than spoked wheel.

• Wagon/box bodied wheel barrows which have a box built into the barrow as a load holder. Some of these Barrows have solid wheels.

More of a  2 wheeled cart than a wheel barrow..... But check out those boots !!  Salvaging from the ashes, Konzil von Konstanz (ÖNB 3044, fol. 82r), c. 1465-1475

Dutch Market Scene C1550 Pieter Aertsen. Note the strap over the Barrow pushers shoulders.

What next?....

I intend to make a couple of Wheelbarrows, providing I can find someone to take them to festival for me. Hopefully I will have a post detailing my decisions regarding style, material and design and then another showing  construction. Hopefully! 

I will also be consulting this site quite a bit Building a 16th Century wheelbarrow

References

•  Lewis M 1994 "The Origins of the Wheelbarrow " (pp. 453-475)Technology and Culture Vol. 35, No. 3, Jul., 1994 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press

• Larsdatter, K webpage Medieval and Renaissance material culture Linkspages

•   Matthies A. 1991 "The Medieval Wheelbarrow" Technology and Culture Vol. 32, No. 2, Part 1  pp. 356-364    Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press: Available through JSTOR database which is available to Australian National library card holders online at no cost.

Pictures from Wombaroo, site for Rowany festival 2014

Tired and happy.
I just spent 3 days at Wombaroo and I'm absolutely exhausted! It was brilliant though, got to know more students and staff, climbed 2/3 of the vertical challenge and generally had fun.

 Many of you will be wandering what I think of the site, so I took pictures.
Here are the first few,

The road where it enters the camping area.

the area I think the troll booth will be set up

the paddock next to the above picture

I sat upon the back steps looking out out clothesline and the apple trees as I ate my morning muesli.

 

Crested Pigeons

What can I do to change the world?  What can I do to help other people change the world?

:Getting down to the Roots of Nazca civilisation: Huarango

Some time ago I watched a documentary about the Nazca people. Surprisingly the Nazca lines were not the documentaries main focus, instead the Nazca people and the environment in which they lived were discussed at length. Even so when I saw the beautiful ceramics and textiles which they created I was stunned. Clearly there had been more going on in this desert landscape than I imagined.

That should have been my first clue...Desert.... Often a small number of species will provide habitat, capture moisture, add organic matter to the soil and generally make it possible for a wide variety of species to thrive.

Which Key species allowed the Nazca to develop their civilisation? The dominant tree in this region  is the Huarango Prosopis pallida.  This tree is deep rooted, long lived, has seeds which can provide food for humans and livestock, useful timber and provides habitat numerous species.  The video below highlights some of the current problems and the solutions being tried.

PRE-INCAN TEXTILES, SERIOUSLY COOLER THAN THE GOLD!

Today I went to see the National Gallery of Australia exhibition  Gold and the Incas: lost worlds of Peru . I expected to enjoy it, I expected to see ritual golden artifacts and a few other items. I wasn't prepared for the exquisite textiles and ceramics.

These pictures, while not all from the exhibition do give you an idea of what to expect.

CHUQUIBAMBA culture Southern highlands 1000 – 1475 AD
Textile length with 'tocapus' pattern 1000-1475 AD wool , tapestry weave
218.8 (h) x 91.2 (w) cm National Gallery of Australia, Canberra NGA 1981.1089

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moche
North coast, Peru
Portrait Vessel of a Ruler, 100 B.C./A.D. 500
Ceramic and pigment
35.6 x 24.1 cm (14 x 9 1/2 in.)

 

 

 

 

 

Mantle border fragment, 1st–2nd century Peru; Nazca Cotton, camelid hair; L. 41 3/8 in. (105 cm)

 

 

CHANCAY culture Central coast 1200 – 1450 AD
Open-work textile with fish design 1200-1450 AD cotton
105.0 (h) x 96.0 (w) cm 

 

 

 

 

If you get the chance see it. I'm going to and find out more about these Peruvian cultures.

ILLAWARRA FOLK FESTIVAL 2014

I had a ball, seriously. I have to admit I was a little reserved and it took me a while to get over that, but I did. Next time I will take some form of percussion with me, perhaps I should revisit the idea of dished out bottle tops. While there I went in a story telling competition, recited my sad Lemur limerick and ate, drank and was merry.

Between Kaleen and Giralang

The heavy humid air offers promises of lightning 
and the roar of thunder.

 I am led through pale straw grassland, blue bells and the bleached white husks of wild oats in windrows.

I am transported High on this ridge.

So long as I look forward. One sideways glance is all it takes,

And the spell is broken.

What a load of Carp

I began a rant about coarse fishing and sports fishing and hunting..... and then I stopped, I should do something not sit here carping about it

Quail, the super producing backyard bird for egg an Meat  production, the ultimate in "micro livestock" suitable for those trying to live in a more ethical and sustainable manner.

However a quick glance at many of the websites suggesting this show a method of quail raising which looks disturbingly like a cage/battery system.

http://www.microponics.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Quail1.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Why I am considering Quail

According to the N.S.W Department of Primary Industry

•   Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) are   hardy birds that thrive in small cages and are inexpensive to keep.
• They are fairly disease resistant. 
• Japanese quail mature in about 6 weeks
•  Usually in full egg production by 50 days of age.  
•  With proper care, hens should lay  200 eggs in their first year of lay. 

Then there are the other cage types which I think I will lean towards.

 Quail will still be kept at higher densities than  would keep chickens, but at lower densities than the the  cage systems shown above.

http://www.ablfarm.com/2013/11/

 

    Big pluses for this type of system are:

• The quail get to express natural behaviours. Dustbathing, Foraging,etc
• Quail will eat weed seeds and fertilize lawn and garden areas.
• The will have access to the sun.
• I will feel less mean.

So that this works I will need to remember to make garden beds and cages the same size!

The above image is from a site with some interesting information about this quail keeping method and the way it impacts the lawn.