Unknown plant

RMan and I went to Mossel Bay today - on a shopping trip for the farm / tractor.

As we were leaving Mossel Bay I spied a bush on the side of the road.  Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of it, but I did nab three berries - three large berries.

The bush - I think it was pruned, and had green thorns and lots of very pretty white star-like flowers and loads of these large berries.

A sticky white liquid quickly oozes from the
berry as soon as it is picked from the bush

The first thing I noticed was that as soon as they were picked the crown where the berry met the branch started oozing - a white, very sticky fluid.  I immediately wrapped them in newspaper - so they wouldn't leak the sticky gum in the car.

3 hours later the sticky white fluid is still visible
in the flesh and around the edges of the berry

When we got home I broke one of the berries open and this is what they look like inside...

The seeds are almost identical to watermelon
seeds, only much smaller

In the pic above you can clearly see the seeds - almost like small watermelon seeds.  The flesh is most appealing - soft and juicy.  I can't pick up any significant smell.

Does anyone know what it is?

If it's indigenous I fancy trying to grow them from seed.  It's a very attractive bush and should also attract birdlife :)  Maybe even the field mice might fancy it - more than they fancy my tomatoes and butternut...  That would be a win, and would form another aspect to eco-friendly pest control.

Reality of solar power costs

I get many e-mails, especially from others in South Africa, regarding our move off-grid.

So many people in South Africa are totally fed-up with Escom's load shedding shenanigans (enforced blackouts) and are eager to go off grid, but I think that the unknown cost of that is inhibiting most people from making the change. Perhaps it would be easier if I broke down the cost of our 1.12kWh solar system.

First, though, when we left our town house and moved to our smallholding, we were using approximately 15kWh / day.  At the time that was costing us ZAR1.37 / kWh.  Therefore 15kWh / day was costing us ZAR616.50 / month.

Minimum grid power costs over 5 years if we
had stayed in our town house

As you can see from the above, if we had not moved to our smallholding and gone off grid we would have spent approximately ZAR54 271.20 (excluding V.A.T.) over a period of 5 years.  And that is calculated at an annual increase of only 8% / year.

The minimum grid power costs over 4 years
on our smallholding 
- if we had availed ourselves of the service

Plus, if we had continued using Escom on our smallholding we would have had an additional service fee at a cost of ZAR589.00 - ZAR715.93 per month.  But, our electricity bill would have been even more than the total monthly amount in the image above.  Our smallholding neighbours spend on average ZAR 1200.00 - ZAR1500.00 / month.  Why - because they are not aware.

So - now to the costs of our solar power system.

As you can see from the above our system cost us ZAR54 886.39  That was back in 2012 - the cost of solar panels is lower now than it was then, so that cost would be reduced even further.

To me there is no comparison.

We live quite normally.  You just earn to become more aware.

If you discover that you require the use of a fridge and a freezer, and you don't have the power output for 24 hour use of both, then, if you are able to purchase a better energy rated side-by-side fridge /freezer unit, as opposed to plugging in a separate fridge and a freezer, you can have that requirement fulfilled.

Similarly the washing machine.  Front loaders use far more energy than a top loaders, and a cold water wash will clean 99% of your clothing as well as a hot water wash will do.

Selling on your now redundant appliances helps to offset the cost of the new ones.

Our Owl electricity monitor

We  have become completely aware of exactly what appliance / gadget we switch on, and for how long.   Providing you keep your eye on how much power your panels have produced (via the charge controller), and, with the assistance of the Owl electricity monitor (or similar), how much power you have consumed, then you can judge what you can switch on at any time on any given day.  This is especially true on wet, rainy days when less power is being produced.  Funnily enough, dry overcast, or cold sunny days often produce more power than full sun, hot days, This is because the heat generated by the sun on the solar panels reduces their efficiency.

For us, the current scenario is that in comparison to what grid power would cost us, within a maximum of 3 - 4 years our solar system is producing electricity for us at no charge - with absolutely no electricity price increases amortised into the cost of it's set up :).  The panels have a 10 year lifespan, and the batteries a 20 - 25 year lifespan.

Now, if only Escom would, firstly, agree to more sustainable power production via solar panel and wind turbine farms, and, secondly, allow for those who produce their own power to feed their excess back into the grid, then perhaps they wouldn't be in the mis-managed, shortsighted position in which they are now finding themselves - a position from which the whole country, and it's GDP / current and potential international investments, are suffering...

There you have it.  The nuts and bolts costs, and pro's and cons, of installing and living with solar power.

Thanks...

...

For all your prayers / dances.

We had 22mm on Wednesday, and 9 mm the next day - 31mm in total.

Whoo Hoo!!

Sunset on Tuesday night - a prelude to the
 rain ahead.

That resulted in our water tanks filling half way - we can breathe easier again :).

Addiction

I often wake at night - and battle to get back to sleep.  So, I have been sitting in my armchair in the wee dark hours, playing solitaire on my phone until I am bored tired enough to try hitting the sack again.  Last week, when RMan asked me what I did whilst I was up at night, and I said I play innumerable games of solitaire, and he said "What about Scrabble?"

RMan hates Scrabble.  Getting him to play a game of Scrabble with me is asking for one enormous favour.

Years ago, back when we lived in town, I played Scrabble online - at this site.  That was back when we had an adsl line and unlimited bandwidth and there wasn't any farm work to be taken care of.

ISC has scrabble for many languages, and they even have Scrabble in english for those from the UK (SOWPODS) or those from the USA (TWL) - to make allowance for the differing ways of spelling.

When we first moved here we had very limited internet bandwidth.  Connecting to the internet was purely for business purposes and was done through an unreliable dongle.  Now, thanks to the business on-line requirements, I have reasonable whack of our monthly 10Gb wireless broadband internet available.

10Gb and a relatively stable internet connection means that options are open.

I guess most bloggers like writing.  Does that mean that most bloggers like words?

I do.

So - as RMan had reminded prompted me, I followed instructions.

Scrabble on my phone

Literally as RMan's words left his mouth I had my phone in hand and was busy finding a Scrabble game to download on my phone lol

However, that is not ideal, as the game chews through the battery.  And the dang phone keyboard is so small I can barely see it, never mind use it.

Scrabble on the laptop

So, I went back to my faithful Scrabble provider - ISC.  On the laptop.

I'm a happy puppy again...

I have laptop Scrabble when the power streams into the batteries, and cell phone Scrabble for nighttime.

Except,  now I still can't get any sleep because I constantly have words streaming through my brain with fingers permanently counting if they're a 7-letter word or not, or what to do with the dreaded v, c and u letters, or starting with wag, which becomes wage, which becomes wager, which becomes wagers, or swages...

It's hopeless...

... I can't stop my brain.

Yup - I'm reckon that I qualify as an addict!

Thankfully, playing this game - like the jigsaw site I gave you the other day - does not entail chopping down any trees, nor manufacturing any plastic, nor does it have a transport footprint, and doesn't cost me a cent - except for bandwidth, which is paid for already and is wasted if I don't use it.

For your info - you can either play a person, or, if after you have played the first 11 games, and have a verified score, you can play a "bot" - which doesn't have an atitude, is not rude, and doesn't distract with idle chatter.  Not everyone on ISC is like that - but there are some...

If anyone decides to join ISC, and you do a handle search (my ISC handle is in the top left hand corner of the screen capture above) and you see me online - why don't we have a game... :)

Fibre prep

Please - pop over to my other blog for info...

Manna from Heaven required...

A widening chasm was developing where the
water enters the dam

After a 35mm downpour in November our dam entrance gully took a hammering.  When RMan plowed the fodder fields in order to remove the weeds a whole bunch of stones were exposed, so those have been used to fill in / support the ever widening / deepening gully. 

Stones / rocks will hopefully prevent the chasm
getting any worse...

All we need now is some rain to fill the dam again.

Some serious praying and rain dancing needs to take place.  The water situation here is quite dire.

Our 7 X 5 000lt rain water tanks are completely empty...

Emptier

 our dam...

That looks like the bentonite layer peeping
through on the lower left hand edge of the
water

... is at it's lowest level since we added the bentonite to it.  We calculate that perhaps only 2 - 3 feet of water remains.  Not more than that.

The leaves of the trees are all curling
 up in an effort to try and conserve water

... the leaves of the trees, in self-preservation mode, are closing...

...and the local rivers and streams are drying up...

This weed inside
the duck enclosure
(under a shadecloth
"roof") is not a happy
chappy...

 ... and even the weeds are wilting.

We are desperate for some manna from heaven.

Our weather report for the next 9 days

Today (Saturday 24th January) the temperature outside is a stinking, claustrophobic and stifflingly hot 37oC (+/- 99oF) and there is no rain predicted for the next 9 days.

Taking into account that our rainfall for the past winter and summer months was, and is, well below average, I am very grateful that we are not having to financially support ourselves on what we grow as other (commercial) farmers have to.

Thankfully, our municipal supplied water is keeping our summer veggies alive.

Just.  (I shudder to think what our water bill is going to be this month...)  I have to store up whatever I can harvest to get us through the upcoming winter.

My strawberries have taken some serious
punishment

Figuring that the oats for the alpacas was more important, we allocated the mulch to the fields and fruit trees, and we're letting everything else battle on on their own...

The rain is critical to planting, and successfully growing the oats for the alpaca fodder.

So - anyone care for a dance...?

Following and commenting on blogs...

If anyone is missing my visiting / commenting on their blog, it's not that I'm not interested - it's not my fault.

why?

Well, I discovered the weirdest thing the other night.

Mum's blog is clearly
visible on my smartphone
dashboard

My PC and laptop Blogger dashboard is not the same as the one that appears on my smartphone.  I was reading the prelude of blogs on my smartphone the other night whilst RMan was involved with his sport on TV and I noticed that Mum had done a blog posting.

I tend to use my smartphone to check / comment on blogs only occasionally - preferring the normal keyboard of the laptop to navigate my way round the blogosphere, and to post my comments.  (Why do they make smartphone keyboards so dang miniscule?  They're more suited to a three-year-olds fingers than mine lol)

Mum's blog doesn't show up on the dashboard
on my laptop

But that blog posting is not appearing on the dashboard of my pc or laptop...!?!

How many blogs / blog posts have I missed because of this??  I thought that the blogs I am trying to follow were very quiet.  I thought they had all stopped / grown tired of blogging.  That thought saddened me.

Now I think I know the reason...

Mum - just so you know.  I have deleted my following of your blog and have then added your blog to my reading list again.

For those who don't know how to do that, it is as follows.  Go to the blog you are following / want to follow and find their followers gadget:

If anyone knows that I follow your blog, and you would like to go through my blog list on my profile and check if your blog is there I'd appreciate it.  Please let me know if your blog doesn't appear...

Is this happening with anyone else's dashboard??

It's a drag

So - RMan managed to remove most of the weeds by plowing - the plan regarding sheep eating the weeds (and their seeds) never materialized.  No, not through a change of plan.  After asking the shepherd for the sixth time we gave up...!

We didn't want to wait any longer - as the oat seed has to be scattered by latest March, field preparation time was a-wasting.

It turns out it didn't happen because the neighbours shepherd, who moves the sheep here and there to graze, felt it was too far to bring the sheep down to our plot!?!

The new fence behind the fruit trees

And RMan and John went to all the effort of fencing off the fodder fields.  It is a stunning fence in the same style as the paddocks we made for the alpacas.  Continuity is key :)

View of the new fence from the fields / driveway

So - the weeds have been given some attention and we've certainly fed the soil with the 2 tons of lime which has been generously sprinkled everywhere.

How else could we feed the soil?

The neighbour at the end of our road had straw bales delivered last year and they have just been sitting there rotting.  We asked him if he had a plan for those bales and his reply was in the negative.  When we asked if we could relieve him of them, he was more than happy to get rid of a very large rotting pile which had become an enormous mouse (and therefore snake) straw bale nest.

Straw bales being deposited onto the fields

In the past when we have purchased the round bales for fodder, and they have been loaded onto RMan's trailer by the seller.  We didn't have that luxury this time.

And the big round straw bales are heavy.

And falling apart after standing out in the open for so long.

It would have be impossible to get the complete ones onto our trailer, and the rotting ones were just falling apart when they were moved.

We had to make another plan.

After giving it some thought I came up with the suggestion of "sliding" them (with the aid of a rope and the tractor) onto an old piece of steel balustrade. Sometimes odd scraps of fencing / metal / wood come in handy and it is worth keeping them - even if you cannot imagine what use you can put them to at the time.  These scraps material of don't have to be an eyesore if they are kept in a neat pile.

The old piece of steel balustrade at work
moving part of a straw bale

RMan, his tractor, some steel chain, John and a piece of old balustrading got to work.

A strong chain is the key to a successful sled

Even the old broken bales were eased onto the makeshift sled with relative ease and schlepped up to road to our smallholding.

Where possible we unrolled the straw bale onto
the field prior to spreading the straw

The end result?

The top alpaca fodder field is now covered with a straw mulch  :)

That should help in preventing the surface residue lime from blowing away, the weeds from reappearing too quickly, and should help in retaining any much needed water which may fall from the heavens.

All we need now is some rain...