We’ve been getting some beautiful sunsets lately.

In other news, we had the second driest month last month since 2019, I hope this is not La Niña turning off the rain already!

I got a photo of my neighbours’ electricity board post lightning and fire. I’ve blacked out the NMI, those blobs aren’t part of the damage.

They have power partly back now, after almost a month with generators and many extension cords.

The #goats are in a section that was previously a trial vegetable patch.

I had grown some potatoes and broad beans, but it’s too far from the house and I tended to forget it, plus it’s very rocky, so I am letting go back to grass. I sowed some cover grass here, and the goats are really enjoying that!

I grow both bush beans and climbing beans in a bed, one row of bush and one of climbers.

The bush beans fruit more or less all at once, so I get a huge pile of beans in about 10 days, then they’re done. We eat quite a lot, but I’ve also made 11 jars of dilly beans for later in the year when we want a crunchy dill-full bean to remind us of summer!

The climbing beans fruit as they grow, so they’ll keep fruiting for many weeks, until the weather turns cold.

The bush beans have finished fruiting, but they still have two important roles at our place.

First, the tops go to the #goats, who really love them. They’re still very green and full of fibre and protein.

Second the roots stay in the #soil and as they break down their little nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria in their roots will die and release the nitrogen into the soil.

Veggies are coming along nicely.

I’m doing a “two sisters” thing with the corn and beans and I was starting to worry I’d planted the beans too soon and they’d stop the corns’ tassels from opening up, but it looks like it’s working out.

Two piles turned, this one is the biggest. It has lost about 1/3rd of its volume since I made it eight weeks ago. I had to add quite a lot more water since the middle layer had dried itself out. This is the heap that was above 70ºC a few weeks ago.

I’m hoping this will kick it back into gear, it had cooled down to only 45ºC.

Came out to find a large branch had dropped off a gum near our outdoor fireplace. It was still in the night, so it just decided to fall.

It crushed one of the chairs we often sit in, which means that “project relocate the fireplace” is now a much higher priority.

This is why I dislike having gums anywhere near the house or sheds or where people like to hang out. There’s no sign of rot or disease at the break, it seems to have just got bored being up. It’s the second time this tree has lost a big branch, but the last time was during a gale, so I forgave that.

Anyway, that’s what I’m cleaning up this morning!