The hail storm that ravaged Melbourne, and in particular, Warrandyte, was so furious, it literally stripped the branches on the exposed side of the gum trees and piled the debris all over everything. That debris, which is highly flammable, now carpets my block and that of all my neighbours. Cleaning it up is a nightmare.
These are the in-progress pics of the Great Clean Up and the fresh green grass that’s growing up from underneath. Clearing the area directly around the house and the fire fighting pumps has been my first priority:



There’s a bit of green pretty much everywhere, but the lushest green is on the terraces near the house where grey water from the laundry has soaked in, keeping the grass from completely drying out. The melted hail, and the good rain that came after, did the rest.
The largest terrace was created from the clay and rock excavated for the site cut. The site cut is literally a flat spot dug out of the slope of the hill to make space for the house.
The pic below shows the set of field stone steps leading down from the top terrace to the ‘orchard’ area. Much of the debris came from the steps themselves and the banks on either side:

And finally, a close up of the ‘bin’ we made out of star pickets and left-over corrugated iron sheets.

The inside measurement of the ‘bin’ is 1.5 x just under 3 metres, so it’s big. Even so, it’s about 1/3 full already and may not be big enough to contain all the debris from the house area, let alone the rest of the block. We can make it a bit bigger, but I don’t want to bring such a huge heap of flammable material any closer to the trees [in case a bushfire goes through and turns it into a bbq].
Once the bin is full, I’ll close off the front, plant a sprinkler on top and keep everything moist until the fire season is over. Gum leaves don’t compost very well so I may have to burn them off in bits over winter. Joy.
Thanks to my neighbour’s house acting like a shield, the hail didn’t cause as much damage in the front as in the back. If we’re lucky, and nothing bad happens before Easter, I may be able to get rid of most of the debris in front via the weekly green bin. It’s not very big, but as I don’t have a trailer or even a car that could tow a trailer, I have no other way of getting rid of the green waste.
Thanks for your great generosity, Nillumbik Shire Council. <<biting sarcasm>> One of the richest shires in Victoria gave us one extra green bin collection to help us reduce our fuel load. I’m sure it bled their coffers dry.
Anyway, time to take up my trusty rake and get back to work.
cheers
Meeks
January 28th, 2020 at 6:48 pm
The rule for composting here (according to the expert who lectured at my mum’s village garden club) is to keep it moist and hot, with a variety of components to aid with biodiversity, so add some of your kitchen waste to the leaves, cover and keep as damp as you can manage. He said it’s worth turning it occasionally, but that if one has space, it’s easier just to have 3 compost areas, and to move one into another every 4-6 months, by which time the first will have had a full year of composting , and most can be used to mulch / enrich. He also said about ‘seeding bacteria’ by including some of an already functioning heap in every new one started.
I hadn’t realised your plot was so big. It looks huge in these photos. And how did I not remember / know you have llamas (or are they alpaca?)
LikeLike
January 29th, 2020 at 7:15 am
That all rings a bell. There’s a gardening show here on TV called ‘Gardening Australia’. It’s been going for decades, and I watch it when I can but…just at the moment I’m not sure that hot and moist is a good idea. It’s going to be 41C on Friday again so I think I’ll just keep a sprinkler handy in case something starts in the area.
Yeah, my block is almost country. 🙂 The alpacas have been at my neighbours getting supplementary feeding coz there was nothing for them to eat. We let them back in once there was some green to be had. lol I think they ate non-stop for three days. Like kids in a candy story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 28th, 2020 at 12:52 pm
Hail. What else can possibly hit you all? Despite the raking and raking, it does sound like you’re being proactive. I hope you get a great big drenching rain.
LikeLike
January 29th, 2020 at 7:24 am
lmao – ssssshhh! We haven’t had pestilence yet. :p Rain would be very welcome.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 28th, 2020 at 11:46 am
Sorry to hear that the hail has added to your problems. We didn’t get the hail here (inner Melbourne), just the lovely soaking rain. My sister is Glen Iris way and told me stories of broken car windows, smashed carports, skylights etc. It certainly has been a wild and crazy January (but of course well all know that climate change is crap! Thanks Tony.)
LikeLike
January 29th, 2020 at 7:29 am
Yeah, it’s been weird to say the least. Apart from several leaky hoses, dimples on the Offspring’s car, a broken sensor thingie on the hotwater heater, and the debris, we seem to have escaped the heavy duty damage. I really feel for those who’ve had damage to their houses and cars. Even if insurance covers it, repairs don’t happen overnight. I hope Tony’s cringeing under a rock somewhere.
LikeLike
January 28th, 2020 at 7:05 am
I don’t know how to respond except to say, “oh my!” Time for all of us to adapt to the land. I’m not entirely sure what that means for me in New York City, but I’m working on finding out. From using sustainable materials in my apartment renovations to insulating to minimize energy for heating & cooling. We’re all a long way off from the relationship between the land and its indigenous people.
LikeLike
January 28th, 2020 at 7:34 am
Yeah, you face a very different set of adaptations, living in such a huge city. I remember when you were without power for…weeks? After the Sandy hurricane?
I know it sounds alarmist and silly but…I’ve started stocking my pantry with things that will last. We don’t have compulsory evacuations here, but once you leave, you won’t be allowed back in so my squirrel brain is putting nuts aside. And yes, I probably have been reading too many post apocalypse stories. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 28th, 2020 at 1:16 pm
I think you’re looking reality squarely in the eye and saying, ‘I am NOT going to act like a chook with my head cut off and stuck in the sand. ( mixing my metaphors, I know 🙂 ) Just starting with a few things puts you streets ahead of 90% of the people around you.
LikeLike
January 29th, 2020 at 7:23 am
I know, and I do feel safer for it, but I keep wondering how much worse it has to get before the other 90% decide that maybe they should do something too. This planet is like a leaky life boat and we’re all fighting over the one paddle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 28th, 2020 at 6:54 am
They do compost faster with the mow-over method (use a catcher for less raking post-mow) and adding dolomite (I also add a vinegar mix – 1/2 cup vinegar to one bucket of water once a month. My method varies with the toughness of the leaves). Luck.
LikeLike
January 28th, 2020 at 7:37 am
I can mow over atm because it’s shin high with branches, large and small, but I will get some dolomite and see if sprinkling it over my Mt Everest helps. I’m assuming the dilute vinegar is for proper compost heaps?
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 28th, 2020 at 9:02 am
I have no idea what a proper compost heap is, but if I don’t have someone who can add urine to the mix, I use vinegar to help feed the things that break down the veins … at least, I think that’s its purpose.
When I was on the farm, composting was putting a big pile together, whatever was around went into it, but I learned that to make it break down faster, I had to give it air (usually a few sticks or star-pickets that can be wriggled around a few minutes a week – the lazy person’s strategy) and an acid, but with a bit of dolomite or similar to keep the worms coming back. The wet stuff was usually mowed green weeds, duck/goose droppings, cow-pats (neighbour contributions).
I also learned that compost heaps can ignite if the conditions are right – check out how hay-stacks ignite sometimes: https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/10/22/3872278.htm
LikeLike
January 28th, 2020 at 9:49 am
omg…bookmarked for further study. With my luck all the ducks would line up in a row and my prevention would be worse than the disease. 😦
Now I don’t know whether to wet it down or leave it very very dry. Will have to do some more thinking. Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 28th, 2020 at 10:39 am
Wetting it down and getting air into it and never letting it compact – that’s what I was told. Scared the [ducks] outta me when it happened to a neighbour’s stack.
LikeLike
January 29th, 2020 at 7:32 am
Ugh, I’m compacting it as much as I can because there’s so much of it. Luckily the woody branches should keep some air circulating. I think for now I’ll leave it dry. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 28th, 2020 at 3:54 am
Glad to see you are rallying to the severe weather challenges in your parts! A bit of ingenuity and lots of elbow grease will hopefully see you through until cooler days. So lovely to see the green coming back!
LikeLike
January 28th, 2020 at 6:24 am
Thanks Mel. And yes, I feel as if I’m being rewarded when the green emerges, all bright and lush. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 27th, 2020 at 4:17 pm
Wow, what a summer! Glad you’re ok and have a plan you can follow 👍🏿
LikeLike
January 27th, 2020 at 7:38 pm
Thanks. We’ve escaped pretty much everything so far, but I have this creeping fear that fate is saving the best [or worst] till last. I didn’t want to say too much on your sea change post, but I’d want a bunker as option of last resort. Just in case everything else goes pear-shaped.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 27th, 2020 at 8:34 pm
Yes, I know what you mean- it does feel like calamity is lurking round every corner 😦
And yes, when I saw your concrete pumphouse I thought “Now that’s a good idea for the forest community too!”
I can’t believe we have to think like this now 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 28th, 2020 at 6:29 am
Yes, fire is becoming the no.1 danger. Hah, except in areas where it’s flooding, or both. -shakes head- Nature is not benign. It simply /is/ and our technology is no match for her power.
LikeLiked by 2 people
January 28th, 2020 at 8:00 am
I currently live in a flood zone… well, most of the town is *insert eye roll emoji
Dumb white fellas building on flood plains (the blackfellas warned them…)
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 28th, 2020 at 9:51 am
lmao – yeah, funny ’bout that. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 28th, 2020 at 1:22 pm
In the late 70’s/early 80’s near here I grew up (the Hawkesbury river floodplain) new suburbs were being built on the floodplain, and their justification was, and I kid you not, the 100-year flood hasn’t happened in over a hundred years, so it’s OK to build there. Three years later the entire thing flooded. I do love Herself’s sense of humour, sometimes. 🙂
LikeLike
January 29th, 2020 at 7:21 am
-facepalm- insanity, absolute insanity. And yes, I’m sure She has a giggle at our expense. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 27th, 2020 at 3:15 pm
I heard the rain storms were vicious and there was also flooding. Your climate is similar to ours except ours is not quite as hot and our fires don’t become firestorms [South AFrica]. Good luck with your clean up.
LikeLike
January 27th, 2020 at 7:40 pm
Oh! I didn’t realise you are an almost-neighbour! Forgive me for sounding like a demented fan-girl, but I’ve loved the idea of South Africa since I first saw The Gods Must Be Crazy. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 27th, 2020 at 9:31 pm
Yip, we are both Southern Hemisphere.
LikeLike
January 28th, 2020 at 6:25 am
Hail, Southie! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 27th, 2020 at 2:30 pm
Once it breaks down a bit it will make nice mulch.
LikeLike
January 27th, 2020 at 7:42 pm
The gum leaves? I’ve tried composting them before but they take forever.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 27th, 2020 at 9:44 pm
Put leaves in a pile, mow over them, and use on top to suppress weeds.
LikeLike
January 28th, 2020 at 6:25 am
Thanks for the tip, Dale. 🙂
LikeLike
January 27th, 2020 at 2:23 pm
No silver lining without its cloud! At least you have a plan and a means of executing it. Gum trees are native, aren’t they? I guess they’re sort of designed to burn, but with population density and climate change that’s not good.
LikeLike
January 27th, 2020 at 7:45 pm
Yes and yes. The eucalypts and many of the lower storey plants have evolved to germinate after a fire. That means they burn really well. In fact, the gum leaves contain an oil that turns into a volatile gas when it heats up.
The Indigenous Peoples used to manage the land. Then white settlers came along and messed things up. Now we get these unstoppable mega fires. Not good.
LikeLiked by 1 person