A Pleasant And Unexpected Surprise

Every day is a good day...

...but some days are really special.  Today was one of those days.

It is now well over three months since I moved to my new address, and I have settled into some sort of routine.  I like routine.  As long as it is good, progressive, purposeful routine, it adds structure and framework to the day. One of my daily routines (weekdays only, though in my world it is hard sometimes to know if it is a weekday or not) is, at around 11.30am, to stroll down to the mailbox (which for some obscure reason is situated on the opposite side of the road, making a round trip of some 150m) to see if any mail has been left for me.  That turns into a particularly joyful occasion on those days when I find one of those little green and white post office cards there, indicating that a parcel is awaiting my collection at Yea LPO.

As I said earlier, today was one of those days.  So, in my little car, I trotted off to Yea to pick up my parcel and buy bread plus a vegetarian quiche and something nice for afternoon tea (my routine, in recent times, does not include any regular spot for baking).

I was expecting two parcels to arrive about now and I was hoping this would be the dozen hand-crafted wooden arrows I have ordered from CAS Custom Arrows (Greyarcher appears to be delighted with his package) in the US (I do a little archery, which I may blog about at some stage).  But no, it wasn't that parcel, although from USPS tracking I know it arrived in Australia on August 17.

The other package I was expecting was a seed order from My Home Harvest online shop.  I can't remember how I came in contact with My Home Harvest but a week or so ago I had ordered three different sets each of three different packets of seeds.  I already have lots of seeds, some saved from my plantings at the previous place I lived in and some not yet planted from earlier years, but I needed more.  Even though I had only a week earlier received 33 packets of seed varieties in an order from The Diggers Club, which is my usual source, I believe that maintaining a collection of heritage/organic seeds will prove invaluable in the coming years of food shortages brought on by economic, climate, population, and resource depletion upheavals.  Forewarned is forearmed, if acted on.

I would never buy commercially produced seeds from a nursery, supermarket or similar.  All the seeds that I purchase are heritage varieties and/or organically grown seeds from trusted sources.  Seeds are vitally important to our welfare and none of us would be here if it were not for food propagated from viable seeds.  Since there are global trends to copyright all seed varieties and invest all production and ownership of seeds in a few giant global corporations, which are the same businesses that own and produce all of the chemical fertilisers and pesticides used in global food production, the fate of humanity rests on these entities who have proven many times to not have your and my best interests at heart.  They are driven by profit and are owned and operated by unscrupulous people.  I do not want my future food consumption to be in  any part  reliant on these organisations.  

Anyway, that aside, my parcel was in a sizeable Post Office carton, which struck me as odd for a few seed packets.  Yet it didn't feel very heavy.  Imagine my surprise and delight, when I opened it at home to find, handwritten on the invoice in addition to my requested seeds "plus the Felco prize" and another parcel wrapped in red tissue paper which contained two pairs of Felco secateurs, the Felco 300 and the Felco 310 .  I had no expectation of such a windfall and there was no mention of such an opportunity when ordering.  I consider myself very, very, lucky, and whether I am the only one to have received them, or not (I have no idea), I am extremely grateful to Tash for the gesture.  Felco tools are said to be among the best in the world.

Consider taking a look at the wealth of advice, information and resources available at My Home Harvest.

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Gardening From Scratch

I have not Meandered here for a while.  Well, it has been a cold, wet, windy Winter and there is a lot of interesting things going on in the world at the moment which have kept my keyboard running hot, plus with a plethora of good Kindle books to read and the introduction of the new Western Front armies in Company of Heroes 2, I have actually been quite busy ...just not outside.

That's not quite true.  I have been clearing what seems like vast expanses of grass around the house with my scythe on the days when the weather has been a little kinder, and that is progressing well.  A couple of really clear, sunny days this week have helped.  I am using a 65cm Austrian scythe blade, the length being known as an All-rounder.  It is a good length for most jobs that a scythe might be used for.  Since deciding that using a scythe is something that I want to and can do, and which fits in with my philosophy of gathering mainly non-powered tools ready for the day when that will be the only way to perform work tasks, I have recently bought two more scythe blades for future, and more specific use.  One is a 75cm field blade, the longer sweep being beneficial for mowing large open areas, plus a 40cm veggie blade for close work around growing plants.  I have yet to use them, or even sharpen them properly, but if you don't have them, then you don't have the option.  That is another part of my philosophy for the future.


Today I discovered a little garden over near the fence.  Actually I already knew it was there, I just hadn't gotten around to clearing that area yet.  But today I did, and discovered some partially buried seedling trays which confirmed for me that it must have been a little garden at some stage.  It is the only area of the land surrounding the house that shows any signs of cultivation except for a couple of straggly rose bushes at the front of the house plus a couple of fruit trees.

This is where I will start my new gardening adventures in what is basically a clean unpainted canvas.  Can't wait to get going.  I did do a little digging today to see what the soil is like in this little 3m x 3m square bounded by sleepers, and was please to find that it is good and clean under the grass cover, down to a spade blade length and it is replete with worms.  A good sign.  I have left the grass uncut as I intend to dig this area over completely very soon.

I do have other plans that have been formulating while I have been scything and observing, but more of that another time.

I was standing at the end of my driveway earlier in the week, something I have done several times now, being impressed and awed by the beauty that surrounds me.  I have never had a camera with me on these occasions, but I did today (just my phone cam), so I took a short panaramic video of the sight.  I keep forgetting that I have a Gopro and will have to find it and retake the view at a better time of the day when to Sun is behind or overhead.  Anyway, here it is, for what it is.