Bandicooting potatoes

I have been bandicooting potatoes. This is a variety of 6 different varieties that will make for a very yummy potato salad. I am especially looking forward to the very dark ones, which are purple right through!

My garden floweth over

My garden is taking control of itself at the moment. With little time to spare for the luxury of pottering around of late, some plants have taken it upon themselves to self seed and spread.

Borage, tomatoes, calendula, parsley, lettuce, chives, pumpkins... All good things which I am happy to have more of. But with the self seeding is also the interesting places that they have come up in.

Don't get me wrong, I love a flowing garden, but my yard is supposed to have a bit if order and structure. I have a plan, and tomatoes in the scoria was not part of the plan!

The patch, on the other hand, is a lot more free flowing. I am encouraging self seeding there... It's less predictable in terms of germination rates, and subject to loss through accidental weeding, but so much easier with a very relaxed feel about it.

So, now I have completed my Masters degree, and finished teaching at the Uni and at school (well, almost) for the year, I have more time to collect seeds and plant them where I want them.

Rain, glorious rain

The rain is wonderful. It is filling the tanks and watering the garden. It's warm enough that popping out for a spot if gardening in the drizzle is possible and even enjoyable.

But then I think back to last November when we had this wonderful rain as well. It was all good, except for the strawberry rotting abilities of constant rain. We lost a decent amount of our harvest due to that rain. Our strawberries are so juicy and sweet, the supermarket varieties hardly compare. Chemical free and plump, I look forward to November when the daily harvest is plentiful.

So now, I am considering how to protect my berries from that glorious rain if it continues as predicted.

A rose by any other name

A rose by any other name, will still smell as sweet.

But a boysenberry by a different name would lead to less confusion.

Especially for three year olds who get horrified at the thought that perhaps their mother has chosen to eat 'poison berries'.

On another note, the boysenberries are ripening up nicely and we are getting a larger crop this year.

I love my garden

The weather is heating up and the plants are growing like crazy.

Berry season has had a stellar start with bowls full of strawberries, sweet and juicy and delicious.

Flowers are adding splashes of colour. Summer veg are taking off with vigour.

I love knowing that I have created this space and being in amongst it.

I love my garden.

Now that the Cup is over... Let's get planting!

Well there is the 'rule' of sorts, to not plant our your tomatoes until after Melbourne Cup day for the Canberra gardeners.

The Cup has come and gone and the seedlings in my green house are outgrowing their pots. So, this weekend I plan to be planting out my tomato, zucchini, cucumber and eggplant seedlings and direct sowing beans and corn.

I am excited at how beautiful the garden is looking already, with flowers and sprawling productive plants. The delight that is still to come enthuses me. It won't be long until the picture that I have in my mind for the patch, will be a reality, and the baskets of summer veg are once again gracing my harvest table.

And in your garden? Well, think about what you like to eat and the size space that you have to plant out. I find that in summer, having an endless supply of salad veg is essential. Even a small garden bed can fit a couple of 'cut and come again' varieties of lettuce, a cherry tomato, some herbs and maybe a climber or two, such as snow peas, beans or cucumbers.

Many of these can be grown from seed, which is much more cost effective. If this is too much hassle in a small patch, look for striking varieties of edibles at your garden centre. Perhaps try some heritage varieties that you can't get off the supermarket shelf, which not only adds interest to your dishes, but flavour!

Happy gardening.

Salad from my garden girl

My just turned 5 year old has been out in the garden with me today. She pottered around with me and then, with no prompting at all, started collecting ingredients for a salad.

Here is the salad that she made, with only ingredients from the garden, with only a little supervision from me. Yum yum!

Rain, glorious rain

The weather is a little wet and dreary here. The sky is dark and it seems like even when it is not raining, there is a fine mist in the air. I don't think I'll be spending much time out gardening this weekend. The green house is a lovely place to sit, if it is not too cold. I get a lovely view of the garden outside and the seedling sprouting inside. Sitting in there even reminds me to water the plants in there, which is good, because when the weather is wet, I don't think so much about needing to water. So the garden is being watered by the rain, and the collected tank water has watered the plants in the green house. All is good, and in my opinion, it is looking amazing. Enjoy at wet weekend of gardening. Or stay dry and warm and plan for what gardening you'll do next weekend.

Gardening to the giggles of my littlies

With the temperature down for a few days and the clouds threatening rain, but very little to show for it, I am out in the garden.

Mostly I'm tidying, weeding and tossing on a dose of Seasol, which I have been neglectful about recently. I have noticed a few plants have self seeded from last year, so calendula and borage plants are being moved around to fill out empty patches, and I'm also putting in some seedlings of lettuce and mustard spinach from the greenhouse.

The littlies are making mud puddles and getting dirty, playing games finding homes for worms and laughing as they play. What a wonderful sound, it makes gardening even more enjoyable!

An egg that is head and shoulders above the rest

A new record. 130g.

Purple is my favourite colour

I think that most people who know me could guess that purple is my favourite colour. I have brought my love of purple into the garden with the many types of vegetables that come in purple varieties.

Here is my purple sprouting broccoli.

Rocket envy

Here is to a year without rocket envy. Last year I grew rocket, as I have done for several years. With its peppery flavour a few leaves was all that was needed to spice up a salad.

A year or so ago we were dining at a friend's house and were served a delicious rocket salad. My husband was quite impressed. He loved it. In fact, he commented a number of times how good that rocket salad was.

Well, I started to feel a little jealous of his comments about how my friend's rocket was better than mine! So, swallowing my pride, I asked her for a couple of sprouting plants or a handful of seeds.

And this year, I can have a Summer of salads without rocket envy, for now I am also growing the lovely subtly flavoured variety of wild rocket.

There are several different varieties of rocket, the very peppery standard rocket and the more subtle wild rocket, named for its wild growth habit. If you are looking at growing rocket for salads, I'd definitely recommend finding the wild rocket, and avoiding your own rocket envy.

Sowing for successive crops

Wow, Saturday already. My weekend gardening is going to be focussed on enjoying the green, the warmth and the produce.

There is a little trick when it comes to planting successive crops and that is, if you are harvesting, it is already too late to be planting out the next crop. This is, if you are wanting to avoid having a gap in harvesting.

So with this in mind, it is seed sowing time again. I currently have some great little plants in the green house ready for planting out. It is easy to see the potential growth of those plants and not think about the need to sow more seeds. I find that for each lot of plants such as lettuce, carrots and onions that I sow, they can be relied on for a month or so of harvesting in the warmer months. That means, of course, that a new lot of seeds needs to be planted every month!

What's on my hot list to sow this week:
Coriander
Parsley
Spring onions
Carrots
Lettuce
Beetroot
Radish

Think electricity

Perhaps you are wondering how we almost halved our electricity usage? When first asked months ago, I vaguely said "ummm, I don't know". But that's not a very helpful answer. I think that by then, the things we had changed had become habits. So, thinking back more clearly...

What we did do was get an energy usage meter when we had our PV array installed 18 months ago. That's when the real changes started happening.

We became aware of how much power things use and started modifying our habits at home. It was quite exciting at first, like I was empowered with the knowledge of how much power my appliances and habits were actually using. Considering we already used compact fluro globes and had changed to some more energy efficient appliances, here are 5 of our big changes.

We started doing things like turning appliances off at the switch when they are not being used. It's a little thing, but every little bit adds up and it soon becomes a habit.

We considered whether we really need to use full wash cycles with the dish washer and washing machine. In both cases, we have opted to use mainly the short wash cycles and use cold wash where possible.

We realised how much energy heat lamps in the bathroom use, as well as small space heaters in the bathroom. We now avoid using these.

I put a few loads of washing through the dryer and realised how it blew out the daily kWh for our house. The clothes airers get a fair work out in Winter now, and the dryer has been taken away to avoid temptation!

We considered how we are actually using things, like the oven. If I am baking something for more than 30 minutes I will either not pre-heat the oven or turn the heat off 10 minutes before cooking time has finished. If I'm baking for more than an hour, I might even do both. I also plan my baking to bake several things while the oven is on and hot.

Perhaps these are things that you already do. But if they are not, try making these little changes and see how your bill goes down.

ABC News piece on Sustainable House Day 11/9/2011

And here is the link to the ABC News piece on Sustainable House Day, featuring my wonderful husband and our house. You can even get a glimpse of me in the background a few times.

Greening our home

So this past weekend was focused on preparing and showing our home. Sweeping, mopping, cleaning, tidying, raking, weeding, sorting... everything that would be expected when inviting the general public into your home and nothing very interesting to blog about. What makes our home a sustainable house is probably more interesting.

The way I see it, there are two parts to being sustainable. There are the things that can be bought and installed into a home to make it more sustainable and then there are the things that can be done within the home to improve the sustainability lifestyle.

 Things that can be bought and added into a resident include a PV array, water tank, insulation, weather stripping or building vegetable gardens. These things are add ons. You outlay money and improve the energy efficiency of your home or reduce the 'carbon mile' of food. Other things can be bought in order to swap or change, such as putting in more energy efficient appliances, double glazing windows or installing water saving taps and toilets. This is an interesting one as although the new products make the house more efficient, the removal and disposal as well as production of the new fittings add to the carbon footprint of the home. Recycling or reusing fittings should also be considered in terms of reducing the carbon footprint.

 The things that can be done within the home are what I consider to be lifestyle things. This is the actions that are part of the every day. For us this includes turning appliances off at the wall, avoiding using the appliances that consume a lot of power (like hairdryers, clothes dryers, fan heaters or heat lamps), reducing the temperature that the house is heated to in Winter, or not cooling it so much in Summer. We have changed habits to collect the water before it runs warm when washing the dishes or showering, we wash our clothes using cold fast wash, and our dishes using fast wash. We have played around with the amount of detergent used to wash properly, and now only use as much as we need to. We turn off lights when not in a room and we cover ceiling cooling vents during Winter so as not to lose heat into the ducting.

 Lastly there are the choices for at home that we make in the supermarket and when shopping. The products that we chose to buy are chosen for many different reasons, such as nutrition, diet, brand loyalty, convenience or cost. The choices we make in terms of products can have environmental impact too. Where ingredients are sourced, how a product is made, the amount of packaging, the work conditions of employees and the 'after use' effects such chemical waste or solid waste, reflects the environmental and ethical nature of the products that we buy. So that is a brief view of some of my ideas. I'll collect up my green info stars and add more tips soon.

Sustainable house day 2011

Today was sustainable house open day. We opened our home for six hours to show the many and varied things that we have done to make our home and lifestyle more sustainable.

Thank you to everyone who came by to see us. It was a lovely day!

What's your garden focus this weekend?

With the sustainable homes open day coming up next weekend, my focus this weekend is tidying up the garden. Paths need sweeping, beds need weeding and a general tidy up is in order.

I'll also be combatting the weeds in the paving with boiling water. With chickens and children to think of, using a a non toxic form of weed control is especially important.

I have a bag of seed potatoes for my children to plant in their garden bed today. These are a bit special in that they are purple potatoes - all the way through, not just the skin. Won't they be fun to eat!

Even though there is work to do, Spring has turned on the beautiful weather for us! What a lovely day to be in the garden.

If only there was more time to be in the garden this weekend

With the trees full of blossoms and the sunshine warm and inviting, I am thinking of all of the things I would be doing in the garden this weekend, if only I had more time to be there.

I could be sowing more seeds to grow in the green house. This is where I feel that Spring is really on its way, because seeds of capsicum, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce and tomatoes can all be sown now in a protected area, such as a propagator or green house.

I have moved away from raising seeds in trays lately. A few days too long without water in a seed tray is terribly unforgiving, with a few weeks of growth ending in shriveled sprouts. Instead I have been sowing seeds in a larger pot, then separating the tiny seedlings out into their own pots or the garden once they have taken off. The extra soil depth means the seedlings will survive a little longer.

I could be planting out more pea and snap pea seeds into my garden and in the patch. I think this year I'll make some 'tee-pee' style frames using bamboo stakes or perhaps long A-frames. I am also looking forward to trialling growing beans up corn stalks. I have heard about how they are a great companion, although I haven't actually grown them like that myself yet.

My preferred onions to grow are spring onions, because they grow well and can be used in place of regular onions in most cases. It is a great time to be planting onions, so a few patches of spring onions, especially for sharing in the patch, is called for.

I bought some Jerusalem Artichokes for planting recently and they need to go in the ground pretty quickly. I just need to find a good spot to put them in. I'm really looking forward to seeing their beautiful tall flowers.

Speaking of tubers, I have more potatoes to put in, too. These can be left till next month if you prefer. The soil will be a little warmer then, which is good to kick start their growth.

I think I have done all of my pruning, but now is the time to finish winter pruning fruit trees. Berries that need pruning should be pruned as well. I have some heritage raspberries that I have only had of one fruiting season, so I need to check whether they are considered Summer or Autumn fruiting. Summer fruiting raspberries need last year's fruiting canes to be pruned and the new canes to be left, whereas Autumn raspberries should be cut to the ground.

My nectarine is covered with pink buds, which is a timely reminder that I have not sprayed with a copper fungicidal spray, to help protect against leaf curl. It is also time to spray fruit trees with an oil spray to help protect against aphids. I also plant nasturtiums as a sacrificial plant, as aphids will prefer it. The red ladybugs also eat aphids, so it's good to encourage them into the garden.

So, if I had more time to enjoy the beautiful weather and garden, I would be very busy. But as it is, I will do what I can, and what is most pressing. I'm looking forward to it already.

In the paper again!

With a lot of excitement we opened the Canberra Times Food & Wine today to see another story with our names in it. This one is about our own garden. What a great way to start the day!

Planting potatoes

I don't know what my fascination with potatoes is. We eat them maybe once or twice a week. But I get so excited about growing them.

So I have chitted my potatoes and today I have planted some if them out. We prepared the soil by giving it a good dig over to make it nice and loose and crumbly. My boy and I then had a great time digging out the furrows, like rows of 'dirt castles' and moats in front.

Then the exciting part. The laying out of the spuds. This year I have 7 varieties, for interest and trying new things. I was particularly impressed with the nicola potatoes last year, so we definitely have some more of those in.

A gentle brush of soil on the top, leaving more to cover over the shoots when they sprout through, and there we go.

I still have some more to go in the patch, which we'll probably put in on the weekend, once we work out where to put them!

Berries

I came across these berries this morning and thought they looked just beautiful. I have no idea what they are and I assume they are not edible, but what a striking architectural plant for in the garden or in a vase.

Camellias

That's the view from my bathroom window. It seems the camellia shrub has been in bud for months. Finally I have seen a few tinges of pink, but I know the beautiful blossoms are still over a month away.

I have several other camellias in my garden that have been flowering recently and I can definitely see the appeal of a camellia hedge. Perhaps one day my now quite small white and pink flowering tea camellias will form a delicious hedge for me.

In the meantime, I will still have the amazing flurry of pink in Spring, right outside my bathroom window.

Now that is one big egg

One of my hens has gone above and beyond the call of duty today. We have come to expect large eggs, with the average being 75 grams or more. Our largest egg was a massive 95 grams.

But today I think we'll be dining on eggs, because in the nesting box was an egg weighing 122 grams. That is about twice the weight of a regular supermarket egg. Well done Miss Isa Brown!

My, how we learn...

As the first glimpse of colour emerges from my flowering bulbs, I have been think how my skills as a gardener have grown.

Looking at my ornamental gardens, somewhat disheveled through the dreariness of Winter, I think of how they started. Years ago, my mum gave me several bags of bulbs extracted from her own garden. I think she actually had a chuckle when saw bulbs started sending up green shoots then flowering. I had planted them rather neatly in rows. It looked totally wrong.

Despite my Mum's flair for garden design, I had produced a garden which looked a little strange. As they have set more bulbs and I continue to move and fill spaces they look much more naturalised.

I have learnt so much over the years through trial and error, and most importantly through a great network of fellow gardeners. And I still have much more to learn.

Patch to paper

Well, this gorgeous little patch of our appears to be something a little different and special. In fact, it has caught the eye of a local kitchen garden column writer.

Susan Parsons has written up a story of our patch, with the picture of my lemon meringue pie also appearing on the cover of the Food and Wine section and on the front page of the newspaper! This was in yesterday's Canberra Times (10/8/11).

I am tempted...

This weather is so delicious. I can almost taste a summer harvest as I laze in the warm rays. The trickery of this Winter warmth has made me want to start my summer plantings.

There are so many new seeds in my box that I am looking forward to planting, seeing the growth of different plants and then, finally tasting the produce. But it is just a tease. Soon the weather will be cool again, the mornings frosted and crisp.

The warmth has been a timely reminder that the bleak cold days and slow growth does cease. Not long ago I bought some seedlings. (gasp!) At this time of year, germination takes much longer than in the warmer months, even for over-wintering veg. This warm spell has reminded me that it won't be long until my children and I can get out the seed trays again and get sowing.

Spring is in the air today

It is still Winter. I know that. But my, my! What a glorious day it is today!

Walking my girl to school was an absolute delight in the cool air but warm sun. Then, while tidying up the cane berries and bramble berries, I noticed a ladybug. A gorgeous yellow and black ladybug. Spring really is in the air today.

The secret is out (to my very yummy french toast)

It is possibly too good to keep a secret any longer.

We have a family breakfast together once a week, for no particular reason and on no set day. Normally it's just at home, with me making something that is a little more decadent than oats or cereal or toast. Sometimes we make gorgeous scrambled eggs or even a big breakfast or pancakes. But one thing that has to be planned for, which makes it a little more special because of the anticipation of the next morning's breakfast, is french toast.

If you haven't had french toast made with cream and orange zest before, well, you don't know what you are missing out on. I stumbled across this idea somewhere along the way to becoming a fully functioning adult who cooks and cleans and gardens. Today I made the decadent version with cream, but it does still work with all milk. I use 4 eggs, but the average egg size from our chooks is 75-80g, so you may like to use an extra egg or two, depending on the size eggs you get.

French toast
1 baguette or vienna loaf, sliced
butter, for cooking

egg mix
4 free range eggs
½ cup cream
½ cup milk
zest of 1 orange
1 tsp vanilla extract

strawberry syrup
250g frozen or fresh strawberries
¼ cup orange juice
zest ½ orange
1 tbsp sugar
1 tspn cornflour mixed in a little cold water, optional

to serve
maple syrup
2 oranges, sliced
8 short cut rashers bacon, pan cooked until crispy
thick yoghurt such as Gippsland fruit yoghurt

Method
Whisk together ingredients for egg mix. Dip in slices of bread into the egg mix, ensuring the mixture seeps through the bread.

Place a small amount of butter into the pan and heat. Place eggy bread into the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked.

Meanwhile, place the ingredients for the strawberry syrup, except the cornflour, in a small pan and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until the strawberries have defrosted and collapsed and a syrup is forming with the juices. To thicken the juices, stir in the cornflour and stir gently until thickened.

If cooking the french toast in batches, keep cooked toast warm on a plate under a large upturned bowl.


So while there are oranges hanging on the trees, get out there and give it a try.

Time to chit

July is the time to be chitting potatoes. Chitting is basically testing to see whether something will grow. Some people chit saved seeds to see what the germination rate will be.

So, have a dig around in you potato bag and see if there are any potatoes that are starting to turn green, with little ‘eyes’ sprouting out. Well done! You have chitted some potatoes. Ok, perhaps you didn’t do that on purpose and are now wondering what to have for dinner tonight instead. Well, there is a bright side.

Instead of tossing them into the compost heap, pop them back into the cupboard and let the sprouts grow a little bit. It is a good time to think about where to plant the potatoes as they are a long crop to mature and can take up a bit of space, you can ‘double up’ an area and plant corn amongst the potatoes if you wish. Soon you will have potatoes ready for sectioning. You will need cut the potatoes with a clean sharp knife ensuring that each section has a nice sprout growing from it. When planting your potatoes, it is useful to know that they grow up the stem. So if possible, dig out trenches or furrows, pop the sectioned potatoes spread along the rows and cover with soil. As they grow up and sprout through the soil, gently cover them over again, repeating this till you have used up your available soil. This way, the stem is longer and you get more potatoes.

But we’ll get into that more later. For now, chit away. And if you are really keen, you might even like to try some gourmet or heritage varieties. It is often a good idea to use certified disease free ‘seed potatoes’ available from garden centres and home improvement stores now.

Planning the dome

Planning the dome is quite exciting. My brother is putting pen to paper and searching geodesic dome designs and use on the net. I, too, am searching, dreaming and planning.

My husband sees the building process as something to look forward to, plus he knows all if the great things it will bring. He even has some fanciful ideas that won't eventuate because although having an entertaining area and fireplace sounds good, it simply won't be that big. And those things are best left for outside.

Mum and I look forward to the serenity of the space and my plant choices will be guided by her as well.

We plan for the dome to be well insulated, with some form of double glazing, probably polycarbonate. There will be a high opening window and some low opening windows, creating air flow, which is especially important to let out the scorching Summer heat. The south side will probably have a section that is thicker or painted or otherwise made to be a better 'heat sink' to keep it warmer in Winter.

I am so keen to start thinking about what I can grow. I have ideas about tropical plants, but it's probably just wishful thinking. I actually don't know what kind of temperatures will be possible to maintain in Winter.

A few degrees above the 0.9 degrees overnight that my current green house experiences would be good. Although that means I can keep some frost tender things alive (like my marigold seedlings), just a few degrees more and the possibilities are endless!

This year we ate the last of our fresh home grown tomatoes at the end of June. Perhaps we can have home grown fresh tomatoes all Winter next year...

I love planning!

A house in the tree

Well 'kid land' has had its long anticipated addition. The grand plan for the tree house has been consuming my husband's thoughts for some time. This week the paper and pen plans were left inside and a 'plan on the go' attitude was taken in the creation of what can only be described as an awesome tree house.

Using reclaimed timber and metal posts the vision has become a reality. For the cost of a few bags of quick-set and some screws the building was in full swing. It soon became apparent that the splurge on a big slide would be very fun and well used.

It is not yet complete, with roof, hammock and basket pulley still to come but this really is the tree house of my husband's childhood dreams. And mine too.

Keeping out those pesky birds

I love our chickens, we all do. But how they love to scratch. And eat. And scratch.

My search for appropriate bird netting has continued. The wire and plastic mesh frames I have shown earlier are extremely effective, but also rather costly and they don't give much 'head room' for the plants. So I have been trialling a much cheaper and roomier option. 'Anti-bird netting for pesky birds'. Seems to be working!

Dreams do come true.

The past few weeks have been so full.

I went on a very affirming and interesting 'train the trainer' course a few weeks ago, which took me away from my family much more than they, or I am used to. Then my body succumbed to sickness and the last week of term was a write off. My Masters study is tantalizingly close to completion, with my Winter term subject drawing to a close and then just one more unit to go.

Yet, with my eyes bleary from work and my body aching from lack of sleep and bickering children, my heart and mind are overflowing with love and thanks. I have been so well supported by my family and friends. I feel so fortunate.

I actually feel like a dream is coming true. And quite literally it is.

My dreams of a biodome. The wistful thoughts that I spoke of mere weeks ago of building a biodome have been met with a resounding call of excitement.

My brother has also been coveting the idea of building a geodesic dome. With his study and impending career in architecture well underway, he is interested in designing and building a biodome. My husband, who is rather handy with tools, has found several potential places in the garden for me to selects from (even if we do need to move garden beds or shrubs to fit it in). And my Mum, well she is keen too and will be helping with the significant investment that it is.

As I said, I am so very fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life who make my dreams come true.

Carrots are actually making it inside

It seems that for a short time at least, we might actually be getting to eat some home grown carrots. My husband and I, that is. With the garden netting in place to stop the free roaming chickens scratching up the vegies, it seems the children have also had their stealthy carrot consumption curbed.

I am in two minds about this, as I love the taste of fresh picked carrots and finally I'm getting some for dinner. But without having free access to the beds, my children aren't eating so many of their own accord. Fortunately they are all together pretty good vegetable eaters so they still get plenty as snacks and at meals.

Biodome dreams

I would LOVE a biodome greenhouse. I like the way they look and what can be created in the space. I would grow plants as well as seedlings, I could extend growing seasons by months and not just a few weeks. It would be a living space as well as a growing space, where we could relax and enjoy meals.

But, in reality I know it is not really an option. The cost and the space as two big issues that prohibit my biodome dreams becoming reality.

So I need to make the best of what I have. This week I rearranged my polycarbonate greenhouse, moving shelving and making decisions about what plants are to be in there. The big change though, is the new little 3 piece table and chair setting. I now have enough room (just) to sit and enjoy the peace and possibility that a greenhouse can offer. I could probably even enjoy afternoon tea, but the real estate is in high demand with only seating for two.

There are some things that we need to compromise on in life. I think this is a good mid way point because I can already tell how much I will enjoy my new space. But I still have my far off biodome dreams...

Slow progress but the turnip swedes are good

The start of winter means slow progress in the garden.  The patch is slowly taking shape, with good winter plants, such as kale, broccoli, mustard spinach, coriander and lettuce growing nicely.  We have also put in some other perennial herbs, garlic, onion and prepared the soil for peas and sweet peas.  The chickens are loving the patch and are back to laying an egg each a day, which is a nice treat for winter!

In my own yard I have more of the same with the addition of carrots and turnip swede that are at picking stage.  My children have even taken to the swede.  We discovered that when not prepared properly they are really not very nice, but with a little knowledge and correct preparation, they are so delicious we all want more!

I was a little worried when I cooked up my first picking and I didn't like them, thinking 'but we have so many still growing... does that mean we have to eat them...'.  I then saw them being prepared on Masterchef, with a lot more of the outside peel being removed than I had.  What a difference it makes. I think of it now as 'double peeling' and I run the peeler over them twice, blanch then bake in butter. Yum. I think I know what's for dinner tonight.

A picture from the patch

Here is a bit of the patch. Mostly we are working on soil improvement, getting it ready for Spring, but a few things have gone in. Under the chicken proof cage is mustard spinach, lettuce, coriander and some seed rows of carrots, spring onions, swede and orange beets. In a few weeks I'll put in another similar planting to ensure continual supply for the three households.

Kids planning their gardens

We had brunch at one of the local nursery cafes this morning, and as usual we had the wander around, dreaming of plants afterwards. In order to do this (and to encourage my littlies' green thumbs) my children have their 'job' of finding two things for the garden each - an ornamental and an edible.

My boy, who has just turned 3, picked up two plants almost straight away, a pansy and a strawberry. We have lots if pansies and strawberries already, but he could not be persuaded otherwise. I gave myself a little pat on the back that he could correctly identify the plants without tags on them.

My girl, well! She is older at four and a half and is developing a sense of value and compromise. She picked up different pots and put them back, she considered what she liked and changed her mind. Eventually she settled on a punnet of stock seedlings and a packet of pea seeds.

So here I sit, still in the garden after two happy children planted their purchases. What a good day!

The patch

Our community garden, lovingly referred to as "The Patch" is now up and running. Fence is up, gates are in, the grass has been ripped up, the soil is being improved and a few plants have even gone in. I'm loving it! And my neighbours are too.

The frosts have hit

With frosts the past few nights, the summer veg have reached the end if their time. Here is my zucchini plant, with the last zucchini for the season. Now for the post frost clear out...

Green tomato pickles

By happy chance I picked a kilo of green tomatoes today, just the right amount for a batch of green tomato pickle. Well, it's the right amount for a batch in the breadmaker, which I haven't used for pickle or jam before, so we'll just have to see how it goes!

I haven't made my pickle for a few years so I know my husband will be licking his lips when he discovers today's achievements.

Greenhouse heaven

Remember all of those seeds that I sowed a few weeks ago? Well they are growing beautifully. I have 'potted on' lots of tiny seedlings into larger pots, one plant to a pot and the shelves in the greenhouse are filling with potential produce. Communal garden, here we come!

I am also attempting to continue with some tomatoes, aubergine (eggplant) and lemongrass in the green house, but I'm unsure how successful they will be. The greenhouse provides some warmth and frost protection, but time will tell how long it actually extends the growing season.

Aubergine are actually perennials in warmer regions, but are treated as annuals in frosty areas. So while the aubergine in the garden will soon be gone, I'm hoping to still make a few more of those aubergine curries that I enjoy so much.

Garlic planting time

Remember the strange little garlic clove things growing up the stems of some of my garlic? Well it's garlic planting time, so they are going in the ground today. I'm also putting in some regular garlic cloves, and a few days ago I separated out the new plants that were growing for the heads that I left in the ground.

The other bowl has little onions that are sprouting. They were from my garden, but they are going back in. We can use the growing tips as salad onions and the bulbs will actually divide and give me more onions. How clever!

What to plant and do now

Lately I have had a few people asking me what they can put in their vegie garden at the moment, with winter approaching.

Now is a good time for the good winter veg. Think brassicas, roots and peas and beans. More specifically cabbages, broccoli, brussels sprouts for your brassicas. Perhaps try some different varieties - I have put in a purple sprouting broccoli this year.

For the root veg, it's things that grow underground! Carrots, turnips, onions, parsnips, beetroot and a relative of these is silverbeet. I like the rainbow char varieties of silverbeet because of the strikingly coloured stems, but I'm sure the flavour is the same. Be careful not to confuse spinach and silverbeet as your spinach won't do any well.

It is more specific when it comes to peas and beans. Check seed packets to ensure that your variety of pea will grow over winter, but most will. Beans on the other hand, really just leaves it to broad beans. I told you all that I wouldn't be planting broad beans again, but I am once again tempted by the welcome green bushiness and pretty flowers at a normally drab time.

You can also put in year round varieties of lettuce, and herbs help add a green touch to the garden, with lovely smell and culinary uses to boot. And garlic. Don't forget the garlic! Lots of garlic if you have the space. You won't get to harvest till close to Christmas, though, so remember that when working out what is going where.

In terms of flowers, for the complimentary, companion type garden there are still a few to choose from. Plant sweet peas up a trellis for their pretty flowers and sweet scent. Try calendula for some colour, although I have found young seedlings can be frost tender, even though a mature plants are frost hardy. Pop some pansies in now for continued colour and now is also the time to be putting in spring flowering bulbs. Strawberries can be pretty in borders and have the bonus of fruit. Put them in now but you won't get fruit till spring.

And before the frost hits... move potted basil and tomato plants into a frost protected area or inside. Do the same with aubergine, chilli and capsicum if you can. Aubergine is a perennial in warm climates, but doesn't tolerate frost so is usually treated as an annual in frosty zones. Pull out pumpkin vines, cutting pumpkins with a few centimeters of stalk. Leave pumpkins in the sun to cure and the skin to harden (they should sound hollow when you tap them) or use soon.

Happy gardening!

PJG

Inspired by a friend

Inspired by a friend living in Noumea where the local patisserie serves up all sorts of delightful treats, I have had my first attempt at home made marshmallows.

The two extremes

In the last few days our chickens have laid our biggest and smallest eggs so far. The biggest is a massive 93 grams and the smallest is a tiny 22 grams. Our hens usually lay eggs in the 60 to 73 gram range.

I'll be interested to see whether the big one is a double yolker!

A lush green grass

I just walked past a yard with unusually lush green lawn for this time of year, and very neat at that. In contrast, the rest of the garden is overgrown and messy, with dry crumpled leaves everywhere and overgrown shrubs and trees.

It took me a moment to realise that this incongruity was due to the grass being AstroTurf.

This made me wonder. Do you rake or sweep the leaves off AstroTurf?

From the garden

I'm thinking pasta sauce...

Insects for my garden

My gorgeous husband gave me these wall hangings for our wedding anniversary. Very well chosen, I must say!

Our community garden

Recently we had a brilliant idea. It was warmly welcomed by our neighbours and it has got me planning and thinking.

We are going to set up a three way community garden with two of our neighbours! I have more gardening in me than space to garden. My neighbour has more space in her yard than she cares to think about and an interest, but little knowledge of vegetable gardening.

My Mum is over the fence as well. She is, of course, my inspiration to start gardening. She ignited the gardening spark, so to speak. (And I think I still have my copy of the children's gardening book "Gardening is easy when you know how")

Together we are planning more of a free form permaculture garden, each with gates into the yard. I suppose it is really my husband and my brain child, but I am looking forward to all of us enjoying the space and the produce!

Seeds sowing in Autumn

Any time is seed sowing time when you believe in the miracle of the seed.

Corn silks

The silk of the baby corn or popping corn (yes, they are the same plant!) is just amazing. Maroon-ish in colour it almost looks like the hair of a Dr. Seuss character.

Capsicums

My capsicums have never done very well before. I grow chili plants quite well in pots or garden beds and get great chilies. But finally... Some big capsicums! I have about 8 there so I think I'll let some go red and will pick some soon. Yum.

And finally the seeds are growing...

It has taken a full cage over the seed bed, but my seeds are growing beautifully now they are totally protected from the chickens. With a few rows of carrots, onions, turnips and beets sown a few weeks apart we should have some good root veg in the next few months. I have another bed with a similar structure over it, so we will even have successive crops!

Fingers crossed the chickens don't learn how to lift the top mesh and scratch these up too...

The bottom potato

This potato looks a like a bottom. The creamy flesh of the Nicola potato looks almost skin like, which is a little disturbing... The question is, what should we do with Nicola's bottom?

Tonight's pasta sauce

Eggplant, zucchini, tomato, garlic, onion, basil, parsley, chorizo, bacon and haloumi. Six from ten out of the garden, not bad. Delicious actually!

Fairies for the garden

For Christmas last year my wonderful husband gave me two beautiful fairy statues, Ellen of the Elder (pictured) and Rhea of the Oak. I am so pleased to have these fairies and think they are so gorgeous I don't want to put them outside in the garden for fear they will weather and become damaged. I know they are fairies and that's where they belong, but I'm sure they can stay inside a little longer...

Eggplant curry and Dahl dinner from the garden

I love this Chettiar aubergine curry and Tadak Dal, and what's more, I love how much of this meal is home grown and home made.

Caged Watermelon

I have had to put cages over my growing watermelon (sugar baby) to stop the chickens eating them. Let's hope it works!

Raspberries

The canes are taller than I am and they are producing these delicious berries. I think I'll scoop out some bowls of ice-cream and put these on top. Yum.

Patterns in corn

How interesting that corn can grow kernels in lines and swirls. I wonder why this is so...

More dinner from the garden

Zucchini slice and vegetables for dinner. Zucchini, eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, beetroot and corn from the garden. Yum.

Garden to plate

Here is my harvest plate ready for me prepare tonight's dinner. I'm hungry just smelling it all fresh in front of me.

And how good are those colours together!

Grug and I have a lot in common

Recently I bought a copy of 'Grug and his garden' by Ted Prior. I fondly remember Grug books from when I wad a child and I see now how the simplicity is appealing.

In this story Grug has his garden but realises that something is eating his cabbages. He goes out at night with his torch and discovers a snail is to blame. The next day he plants enough cabbages for himself and the snail.

I'm with his way of thinking. I just wish I only had one snail to worry about!

Big decision made

I made a big decision yesterday. It wasn't easy to make and I'm not sure if it was the right decision still. Last year I ran a lunch time gardening club with some of the junior school children at my work. I have decided not to continue with it this year.

I realised that I have a lot on my plate this year. Well, I knew that I would when I applied for my study scholarship, but I really realised it. I have started my studies and been enthused by, well, getting better at my job. I am loving doing the readings, I think about the lectures, I'm working on my assignments and I'm planning how I can improve myself as a teacher and coach at work. I am loving it.

But even though it is a part time study load, it is on top of my part time work hours. I have committed myself to a full time load!

I really enjoy Gardening Club. The kids all want to be there, they are enthusiastic and it is such a fantastic learning opportunity in so many ways. I plan for the club like I plan for lessons, I grow seeds and seedlings to take in for us to grow at school, I put in a lot of my own resources and half hour that it is supposed to be, often has me shooing kids to class after 40 minutes and me having no lunch break. it is time consuming and requires thought, planning and money.

Unfortunately when I was considering what things I can let go of to increase my chances of successfully getting through work and study this year, I realised that gardening club is one of those things. Without gardening club I still have a half hour duty, but it's regular duty. No planning necessary, except maybe a spare pair of shoes so I don't have to walk around the oval in heels...

I do feel like a bit of a gardening sell out here, but hopefully it will give me that bit of time that I can be out in my own garden and not getting things ready for the garden at school.

Corn

We have started harvesting our first ears of corn and they are tasty! We know corn is ready to harvest when the 'silk' poking out the top (the bit that the pollen needed to fall on to pollinate the corn so it would grow) turn brown and dry up.

My girl was so keen to pick and eat one that we peeled a few leaves to check that it was ready. It wasn't quite ready, so we had to cover it back up and wait a few days... Oh the waiting! It sure tasted good eating the first, eagerly awaited corn if the season.

A hens nest

Since our second hen started laying a few days ago, she has only laid one in the nesting box... But she has made her own little nest in the garden by the back door of our house.

It seems she has enlightened the other hens to the concept of out door laying, too. Today there were four eggs in there!

Potato harvest

We harvested the rest of our potatoes over the past few days. Potatoes actually store quite well in the ground, so there is no need to harvest them all at once like we ended up doing. Our chickens discovered the bounty of worms and insects hidden amongst the straw and soil so they actually started the mass harvest for us!

We have probably already harvested and eaten 5 kg of potatoes from the garden and this photo represents about 12 kg or so more. It's not a year's supply by any means, but I do like growing them and I didn't have any more room!

My son absolutely loved harvesting them with me as well, which is half the joy of gardening for me - seeing my kids enjoy it too.

A two egg day

And we have another layer! Yay!

The private lives of pumpkins

The pumpkin season is really kicking off. Last week I counted 16 Golden Nugget pumpkins and although that's a fairly decent harvest, it's nothing on the combined variety harvest of 70 last year. Just in the last week the self sown compost pumpkins (most probably a cross variety of the ones I grew last year) have really taken off, with so many more potential pumpkins forming.

Pumpkins are self fertile, meaning that you only need one vine to produce fruit (unlike the passionfruits!), although they still rely on bees or insects to pollinate the flowers. Flowers are either male or female, with the female flower having the embryo pumpkin at the base of the flower (bottom flower in the picture).

At the beginning of the season I always like to hand pollinate to ensure that I get some pumpkins produced. To do this you can take a soft paintbrush and dab it in the pollen from the male flower and then dab it in the pollen of the female flower. I have very helpful children who paint all different flowers in the garden for me, and are pretty good at painting 'matching' flowers and not tomatoes with pumpkins, which doesn't do anything much other than keep the children busy for a bit.

My preferred method is to just break off the whole male flower with some stalk for a handle, remove the petals and leave the pollen covered stamen in place. Gently dab the male stamen on the female stamen to mix the pollen and you're done. If you do this with a young flowers of the same variety that haven't opened properly yet, then you can tie closed the female flower and tag the pumpkin for seed saving.

Cucurbits cross pollinate very easily and although it doesn't effect the current year's harvest, if cross pollination has occurred seeds saved will not be true to the vegetable they have come from. That's how my compost pumpkins form, cross pollinated seeds of last years pumpkins coming up from the seeds thrown into the compost.

If you are wanting to seed save, you'll need to hand pollinate and protect flowers. If you are not concerned then grow different varieties of pumpkins, zucchini, cucumber and zucchini without a worry and enjoy your home grown produce!

Bees in the passionfruit flowers

The passionfruit flowers are looking amazing. Unfortunately the pollination partner for our passionfruit didn't survive long after we planted it, so another season with just one vine will mean beautiful flowers but no fruit, no matter how hard the bees work. They are beautiful flowers though...

Butterfly squash

I just found this squash in the garden and thought I should take a photo of it before cooking it up for dinner!

Diggers Club

I received a subscription to Diggers Club for my birthday this year and I have been flicking through the catalogues and making a wish lift of all of this things that I would like to grow in the garden... I think I need to sit down with our garden plan again and work out what we are going to do, where we have space to put new things and where we have a semi-idea, to work out specifics, like which fruit and nut trees are we actually going to put in the space that we have set aside for them.

So many possibilities and so many thoughts. Unfortunately I think practicality must win here. Just like I know that some things simply don't grow in our climate, I need to realize that we do only have a suburban block and it does have its limits!

I'm growing milk bottles

This past week, or is it two, I don't think I have done that much in the garden. With the heat increasing and making gardening during the day unpleasant, it has just been the urgent things and watering that have been done. We did have one lovely evening in the garden after dinner where we got some good tidying up done, but it meant a late night for the kids and lots of mozzie bites.

I did get around to seaweed fertilising, but of course it just about time to do that again. This time was with the watering can and much easier with great little helpers, so even though it took longer I think it is the better option.

The seeds that were sown a few weeks ago in the kid's garden and in the vegie patch have sprung up quite nicely and I'm feeling successful at seed sowing again.

I have learnt the hard way about chickens in the freshly sown seeds, as the eat the seeds and have a dust bath in the soil... So temporary chicken wire went up around the beds and milk bottles over the seeds to protect them from snails. It seems to have worked a treat!

I have had such trouble getting baby corn/ popping corn to grow, with a combination of seed tray drying out, snails, chickens and I suspect some rotted in the ground with all if that rain that we had a little while ago. But my last attempt was a success! Finally, and just in the nick of time too, last chance to get corn in so it matures before the frost may have already past.

In Canberra we generally think the first frost will lay around ANZAC day, although last year I think it was a few weeks later, if memory serves me right.

Rain, glorious, rain, devastating, rain.

This rain that we are having here at the moment is drizzle and unassuming. The temperature is nice, so going outside in the wet isn't too bad at all. I did a spot of gardening with a friend at the local play school that my daughter attended last year (the garden was my design and garden away from home - this school year I hand over the reigns somewhat and leave my garden manual with my friend, the wonderful teacher) and my chickens roamed happily all day in my garden.

To me, this rain is watering my garden and filling my tank. But to so many others in other parts of our country, this rain is devastating. Lives and livelihoods have been lost. Homes, possessions and irreplaceable things, memories, lost.

We helped my in-laws recently with the flood damage on their 'hobby' farm. Their house was not damaged, they lost none of their cattle, or any of the animals agisting on their land. Their fences where knocked down and covered with mud and hay, their bridge was damaged and their road washed apart. They were very lucky. They have a big, time consuming and costly job ahead to restore their farm to proper working order, but what they have lost is very little compared to other flood victims.

These floods are almost incomprehensible. My heart goes out to all people effected by them. I am normally restrictive in the number of charities that I give to, but I think here I will make an exception and support something new in addition to my regulars. This is a time where we all need to help each other out, however we can.

PJG

A rainy week ahead but at least I got my jobs done last week, well most of them...

This week ahead is forecast for rain, and this time I believe it as it is raining right now. I was pretty successful with my garden list of things. To do this past week, so I think I can relax and enjoy the rain.

I trimmed the strawberry runners, all bar a few which had already taken root in the grass. They had gone to all the trouble for growing into their own little plants, why not give them a chance? Whether or not they grow and produce, at least they'll keep the edge of the lawn and garden bed neater in that hard to mow spot... They may well be a talking point like the self sown lettuce in the lawn last year. Later in the season I will allow some runners to grow and place a pot of soil under them to grow up a few replacement plants, or plants for friends. Sadly strawberry production has slowed right down, and the chickens are getting most of what there is, but to compensate we have a been getting some nice blueberries.

I thought I might bandicoot, or pick some potatoes before the crop is mature and the whole plant picked, which I did. I was very impressed with the size of the potatoes and they tasted delicious.

I think I go through a cycle when plants come to harvest stages. At first I am so excited about the flavour and special-ness of harvesting the first of our home grown produce that I like to make meals or dishes that showcase the vegetable or fruit. As the season goes on and we have more and more of it, it becomes just another ingredient in our meal.

We had our first artichokes this week as well, so another showcase preparation. I'm glad that I bought some fresh artichokes a while ago to give me some practice before preparing the very special first three home grown ones. While one had past eating point and was just about ready to burst into flower, the other two weren't too bad.

The tomato plants also got a tidy up and I sowed a repeat crop of beans and corn, which should give us corn and beans right up until the first frost.

I didn't seaweed fertilise but will this week, which will be better in the wetter weather any way.

I am still in awe of seeds and will probably find somewhere to sow some more seeds too. I have a collection of milk bottles with the cap off and the bottom cut off to use as closhes or mini greenhouses, but mainly as snail and chicken protection, so I can safely sow something...

First potatoes of the season

Here are some of the first potatoes of the season. I'm really rather impressed with their size. I'm looking forward to cooking some up for dinner!

Nectarines!

I am out in the garden and look! Nectarines that are almost ripe! We ate one ripe one already (shared it between the 4 of us) and it was so sweet and juicy. I never thought I could grow something so tasty...

Seeds for Christmas

Well this week the rain that I thought was coming didn't come and then the weather heated right up! I'm glad we just had our evaporative cooling serviced as we have turned it on for a bit over the last few days.

My sister sent seeds as part of her present to my littlies as well, so now we have a few different seeds to sow in the bare patches of their garden beds. This needs to be a staggered process because we need to have a few lattes and milkshakes first- I need the milk bottles to make covers for the seeds! I have discovered how vulnerable seeds are to attack by the chickens and how the new shoots are quickly gobbled up by the snails and slugs... A plastic bottle with the lid removed and bottom cut off placed over the top helps, and sprinkled crushed egg shells or coffee grinds help with the snails, but not chickens.

Seed sowing needs to be done in the cool of the evening and we planted out a few last night, but have saved some to sow later when we have more covers.

This week we also tasted our first home grown raspberries! Yum! Oh, and I finally sowed another lot of beans, "Blue Lake" this time.

I also tidied up a bit in the garden, pruning and weeding, etc. Good to get some done, but there is plenty more to go. I keep putting off pruning off the strawberry runners, not for any reason really, just it hasn't been at the top of my list. I'd better put it up there and get it done.

This week's list...
- Prune strawberry runners to discourage energy into new plants and encourage further berry production.
- Tidy tomato plants, big rambling plants are more prone to diseases, so I'll tidy them up a bit.
- Seasol again as it's growth time.
- I might harvest a few potatoes thus coming week (bandicoot them!)
- and to pick and eat my first home grow artichoke!

Happy gardening.