I know its only 1 month into Autumn and really a beautiful season- summer crops linger on, some dying and leaving their fruit in bountiful harvests. Pumpkin plants so large I have not seen that part of the garden for months and as they dy back reveal their treasures underneath those large green leaves.

Some more housey stuff on the go- I am changing over from an electric heater to a wood heater with a water jacket. This should save on the electricity front- I know the arguments for wood heaters and how they add to Co2 emissions but am yet to see any real other options- nearly all use electricity from coal fired power stations- My trees I use can be regrown absorbing the carbon again- once we burn coal that’s it- its not getting renewed. My big plan is to reduce the electricity consumption so I can put on solar panels. That money saved will go towards more energy saving devises- gas stove, more insulation and even double glazed windows.

Fire place for the wood heater made from recycled bricks

Something else I am trying to do is to plant more natives- the way I see it, when living in town, people think only about birds and fluffy animals and if they are too far in town they give up thinking thats it they can not do too much. Australia’s herbivores ( plant eating animals) are really all the insects- yep we have kangaroos but no huge hers of any animal- but we have stacks and stacks of insects- so let me plant some food and shelter for them and hopefully this will attract other natives like lizards and some small birds. Plants should be seen as shelter or food- spiky plants will help protect birds.

planting some natives out the front

Now is the time to be scanning the paddocks for those little white beauties- Mushrooms- the best thing about Autumn- I love them and wish I knew more- lots of people are scared to eat them in case they are poisonous- however many more are edible than those that are poisonous- I mush spend some time with a mate of mine- Rohan Anderson from whole larder love fame- he a bit of a mushroom guru.

mushrooms- the best thing about Autumn

ahhh- mushrooms, garlic and butter- there is no better combination