Reflections, July 2008

Time to review what our plans are for the bushland project. But first, a minor rant.

With so much talk about Peak Oil and our economy doing the rounds at the moment, it's almost enough to make you want to down tools and give up. We have a mortgage like many others, and if anything should happen so we cannot make those payments - we'll have to sell. It can feel daunting at times and almost disheartening. But something occured to me recently, and that is nothing in life is perfect. Peak oil or not, we still have a job to do here - a labour of love, so to speak.

The native wildlife still eat, breed and sleep on our back doorstep. We have to keep the land for them, as much as we want to keep it for ourselves. I saw a kangaroo family the other morning, eating fresh grass just as the rain paused for a few minutes. There was one male, two slightly smaller females and a youngster even smaller than them. They spread out and grazed - each taking a turn to look up and scan for threats. I see a young Maggie and it's mum come eat near our chicken tractor on a regular basis too.

Somehow the world doesn't seem so bad when I look at the life already taking place around me.

So I am inspired to spread sustainability more than just our own backyard. When we get the orchard planted, my first prunings will be eagerly propogated and I intend to vist as many neighbours as I can with FREE plants. How many people would grow more of their own food if they were given them for nothing? I intend to find out. Because it's not just enough to have my own orchard, if my neighbours have to buy their own fruit.

So by the end of 2008 we want to seriously get the orchard up and running. If it was just a matter of putting in plants, I would've done that already. Like all things on a sloping site however, we first have to move some soil. Nothing like a labour of love to motivate you though.

If you're reading this, be inspired to include your neighbours and community too, as you create a better way of living for yourself.