Trickle Hill volunteer workers | Businesses

Trickle Hill volunteer workers

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21.01.2022 After easter we had an exciting big project starting at Trickle Hill! It had been long in the planning to cover one of the orchards with netting. As for this we need to prune trees, drag branches to a burning pile, and move a fence line, the girls get pulled off the bus, and help with proper farm work. Shannon found a beautiful toadstool and hoped it will survive in a new spot. - well, one can hope Arthur has secretly been arranging a new kubota 4wd buggy to replace our... quad that has seen repairs upon repairs- and is now deemed beyond repair. It turns out to be a godsend! as not only will it transport 5 ladies- it does very well with a load of poo and soil. Buckles likes telling the excavator off for ruining so much of her beloved farm. she is always successful, as eventually it will stop and leave the rest of the ground in peace .

17.01.2022 Two men came and built a frame, with Arthur helping them a lot with excavator and tractor- but then they had to leave and go to another job, which gave us a wonderful opportunity to dig a few holes ( thank fully with excavator) so we only needed to empty them of clay- fill in with poo and straw, and then with soil, in preparation for new trees! Lucy and Shannon got pulled out of the bus again, and put their best straw hats on for some proper farm work! The rains that are no...w starting don’t make our lives easier- as the ground gets very boggy, and everything sticks to each other: mud to our shoes, trolleys to the ground, shovels to holes... These are not easy days, so we are lucky to have help. Pity Art hit the main water line when digging a hole- but quickly made use of the opportunity to create a tap- which is a great asset to an orchard, especially when you are planting 12 new trees! Lucy and Shannon work pretty hard to get all poo and soil into the holes, and clay out of the enclosure, since we knew big horrible rains were coming, which would probably mean: doing nothing. So, work had to be finished. and we did! just in time all holes were filled, with a top, and are now ready for planting in a few weeks.

14.01.2022 When the discussion came up of who would be helping us packing the steer, once he was not a steer anymore. there is quite a bit of raw meat involved, and our kids balk at that. Lucy, the vegetarian, was the only one that showed any interest- but Shannon relented and helped too. she did mention that we wouldn’t have to pack portions of 6, as there might be a time they would not live with us anymore . we sort of counted on them leaving at some stage, so we agreed with that. ... And suddenly- there was talk about restrictions lifting!! One of our kids - who was supposed to do a gap year in Europe at the moment- was keen to travel, as were Lucy and shannon. It’s not great weather in Victoria, but the border to NSW was opening up, so we quickly had to go through options. age and driving experience made hiring a van way too expensive, but Anton , who was here in November/ December had left a car behind.... he was ok with the intrepid travellers borrowing it, so we swiftly dragged it to the mechanic for some tests, cleaned it of mould ( standing in the wet bush for a few months clearly wasn’t great) and got it road worthy. After a few last jobs, the three adventurers hopped in the car with a lot of bags, warm blankets, and an eskimo- and took off to do the great ocean road. they were back a week later, but only to pick up our 16 year old, and go to Wilson’s prom for a long weekend. then it was really good bye! a bit weird after 3.5 months

10.01.2022 Of course having 6 people at the house means a lot of water in showers and toilets, and dishwashing, and... Our worm system didn’t like that. We knew that it wasn’t great anymore, we knew it was coming.. but really, dealing with a blackwater systems that turns out to not have worked for a few months, and suddenly overflows into the laundry through the toilet- is not fun. Lucky there is a good network of permaculture people in Victoria, and very soon we knew where to get rep...lacements parts, and roughly how to empty the system, and rebuild it. One thing was sure; it involved wadingboots, raincoats, long gloves and face masks. And NO helpers. as I always say, I will ask my helpers anything I will do myself ( unless they are really uncomfortable with it), but digging our poo? no. so, Lucy and Shannon dug around the container so we could find the opening, and were then sent down, back to the bus. The rest of the week was our time to have fun. lots of water, hoses, ( no pressure washing - that turns out to have a tendency to splash back) hooks, bread crates, and onion bags later... the system is clean. refilling with clean onion bags is a breeze and almost, almost fun. Had the onion bags been really super clean that is. we were both very happy to put the lid back on, and use the toilet again!

04.01.2022 After a full week of rain, things cleared up! lucky they always do So we had a super busy day where everything happened at once- the net went over the frame- and the tree lopper came to take a few trees down that had grown very large, and were becoming a problem for surrounding buildings. Lucy and Shannon built their very first ever wicking bed and did so very carefully- with various layers of plastic, protection, and then aggregate to wick moisture up to the soil in the ...layer above. It’s a bit scary to build something that you have never built before with the knowledge that it needs to be super water proof- but I am sure they managed well To celebrate the return of the beautiful weather, we roasted chestnuts over an open fire. And as a present we got the best sunset - colours are always so beautiful here. The next job was an interesting one we thought: catching a steer in the paddock of a friend, and loading him up on our float, to take him home. That turned out a LOT easier then we thought! Our short term tenant just walked down the lane, and even Bailey didn’t have to push him very hard. He was also the first to load up the crutch, and went in the float without a problem. So we took him home, and unloaded him in a paddock, and he seemed happy When the next day a friend called, that she had almost totally cut off her finger while making a wicking bed, and could I please stay with her until the ambulance came ? Of course I rushed off. Lucky the girls were great wicking bed builders by then! obviously with a hand in plaster you can finish wicking beds, But Lucy and Shannon are by now old hats at that so the rescue crew was ready to go, and soon a second bed was done...