The Wet

And it rained, and it rained...
The tanks were full. That red gadget tells us the water level by going up as the tank fills.
Afternoon downpours - over 100ml in an hour each time.
The rain gauge was also overflowing, I think we need a heavy-duty one here.
The ground could take no more. The chickens delighted in bugs and worms coming up for air. This is the wet season...

The tropical plants adore the rain. They wait all year for this! This one above is Ceylon Spinach and the variety with the green stem is our favourite. It's a great spinach substitute and grows all year round for us on a rampant vine in the greenhouse. We eat young leaves in salad, medium leaves sliced for stir-fries and in quiche, and the older leaves are for the ducks.

And the plants grow before our eyes. Above is a choko vine, reaching for the sky, full of possibilities. Despite popular opinion, I believe that one can never have too many chokos.


And the pumpkin vines ramble through the grass and weeds. And the pumpkins look as though they might burst. And some do. And some rot too. So we often pick them if it rains too long and hard, and dry them off inside.
They store for months, full of promise of lovely orange sweetness...
The one above is a young Queensland Blue, and below, our standard and prolific Jap. I've been growing it, and saving seed, for over ten years.
I think "my" variety is becoming accustomed to the wet weather. I am too.

These "Italian Beans", below, I got from my local Seed Savers group. They just love the rain, with no sign of mould or other diseases so far.

And we know what they say... "Great weather for ducks!" And it's true...
Here are our four young happy Muscovies - three ducks and a drake (we think).

But not such great weather for some other creatures.
I saw this moth on the underside of a glossy leaf. Weathering the storm.

And up on the hill, my young orchard in the clouds...
One day we'll be looking up into our very own food forest. Stay tuned.

Pigeon Pea

Botanical Name: Cajanus cajan syn. Cajanus indicus

Family: Fabaceae

Yesterday we finally planted out the Pigeon Pea plants I grew from Seed Savers' seeds. They were well overdue for planting out, all 15 of them crowded into a styrofoam box (which I use for seedlings) and quite tall already.

Pigeon pea grows as a shrub to about 3m high. I have one mature plant from last year's efforts growing on a terraced area behind the house with numerous other edibles and natives. Yesterday, we planted most of them around (outside) two sides of the duck yard, another one on the same terrace and one amongst some bananas.

This edible hedge will have many purposes:
- as animal fodder (the seeds are 25% protein and the leaves are also edible)
- food for humans (the seeds, cooked, become dahl)
- as mulch for themselves and nearby fruiting trees, pumpkin vines and banana plants
- nitrogen fixing for surrounding plants
- a windbreak
- to beautify the duck pen built from recycled materials

These shrubs have a lifespan of up to five years or so, but are quick-growing and can be started from seed when we need to re-plant.