Hidden Valley at Gro Mad Plantations

16/06/2026

Too pretty to harvest

22/05/2026

Yellow tailed black cockatoo

24/04/2026

This is one of the easiest ways to compost.

A worm tower turns kitchen scraps into root-ready fertilizer without a compost bin, a tumbler, or a pile that needs turning. The worms do everything underground. 🪱

The mechanism is straightforward: food scraps go into a perforated pipe buried in the garden bed. Worms enter through the holes, eat the scraps inside, and carry nutrients outward through the surrounding soil as they move. The castings spread 3–5 inches in every direction — directly into the root zone of whatever's growing nearby.

The build takes about 20 minutes:

- Cut a 4-inch diameter PVC or ABS pipe to 20 inches total length
- Drill holes across the lower 12 inches using a 3/8-inch bit — spacing doesn't need to be precise
- Bury 12 inches underground, leaving 4 inches above soil as the feed opening
- Cap the top with a terracotta pot lid or a loose-fitting cover to keep out rain and pests
- Start feeding: fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, crushed eggshells

What not to add: meat, dairy, oily food, or citrus in large amounts — all slow worm activity or drive them away. 🌿

One tower serves roughly a 4-foot radius. For a standard 4×8 raised bed, two towers positioned in the center third of the bed covers the whole root zone. No turning, no smell, no schedule — just scraps in and nutrients out. 🪴

22/04/2026

Looks like it is time to make jam!

01/02/2026

I am bagging the dragon fruit as not wanting to share with the possums.

27/01/2026

So how special are our girls? Double yokers are 1 in a 1,000 but triple yokers are 1 in 25 million. A lovely surprise for breakfast.

Next time you come camping ask if we have any eggs available.

03/01/2026

Please keep solar panels off the grass. Have then either tilted or on a crate as it only takes a day or two for the grass to burn with the heat generated from the panels.

02/01/2026

The frangipanis along the boundary are beautiful.

02/01/2026

Having a go at hand pollinating the dragon fruit this year to see if we get a better crop.

24/12/2025

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.

I will be spending the day with family and friends and not taking any check ins or phone calls on Christmas day.