First Honey Harvest

We did our very first honey harvest here today. 
Phew that was some kind of hectic!
A couple of hours of work and we have a whopping 15kg(edited) of honey from 6 of my 16 frames! 
And only 1 sting, somehow right at the end one little baby managed to get inside my suit, copped one on the back of my neck. I'm all good, so dont worry x
I dont plan on selling any at this stage but if that changes you will be the first to know ;) 
Who else out there is getting ready for a honey harvest?

Big Beauties

The beauties that lie beneath! 
After clearing out the nasturtium/sweet potato/pumpkin gone wild up the side of my patch I dug around a little in the rock hard ground to find a few purple skinned beauties. I'm surprised they grew here as the ground is hard and clay'ish'. This one weighed in at just over a kg! I should dig around a bit more, I'm sure I will find more.
Have you found any nice surprises in your garden lately?

Craziness in the garden

Back out in my patch getting my garden organised today....
planted a few continental cucumbers right next to my beehive thinking they'll be pollinated beautifully here. Pop them in, set up my tee-pee trellis and watered in with a soaking of seaweed solution then BAM!!!....the bee's go nuts. I'm thinking they seriously dont like the smell. I am running like the wind with no luck. Copped a nice sting on my back and a good whammy on my nose. Mental note to self, dont water with any smelly goodness near the hive in peak hours!
A little bit later when I think its safe, tried to drag the nasturtium and sweet potato vines that I pulled out earlier up to the chook house and WACK, they are still coming for me. I need to hide!
So onto sowing some more seeds (inside!) ....german pickling cucumber, more zucchini, jack-be-little pumpkin, bolero melon, okra, spaghetti squash and long red chilli (all from my collection of self saved seeds).
Moved the nicely sprouted seedlings from my kitchen bench back outside to make room for the new ones.
And that's about it, the adrenaline is still running through my body, so I think I just need to sit and calm down.
Has anything crazy happened to you today?

From the garden to the plate

From the garden to the plate.....
Today I got in a cleared out as much sweet potato from its patch as I could to prep it for some spring bounty. I wish I asked someone to take a photo as this patch is right beside my beehive and the bee's weren't overly impressed with the flurry of activity that I had to don my smock to protect me from the guard bee's that were trying to tell me to back off. A hot and sweaty look.
So after all my hard digging, tonight we had lots of yummy simple roasted sweet potato with a salad of greens from the garden, tossed through some parsley, my sweet cherry tomatoes and feta cheese (dressed with a simple mix of olive oil, balsamic and honey) with hubby's homemade rissoles.
Simple and yum.
Are you eating from your patch this weekend?

Happiness is Homemade

Those who know me well know I love to create and make things from scratch at home, using ingredients from my very own garden or locally sourced. 🌱
First and foremost I make products that I use at home for my family, including healthy edible and healing goodies or cleaning gear so I'm not inflicting too many harsh chemicals on my wee ones. 
I dont do fancy at all and I do simple very well, so you will find most of what I use being recycled and reused. Glass jars and bottles are my best friends. I love the gift of an empty jar or bottle! 😂
I feel so much happiness when I make homemade goodies that you like too. Thank you for being part of my simple journey and supporting me in my 'happiness'. 💚

Getting ready

What an absolutley glorious day it is here today. 1st day of the last month of Winter, but is sure feels like spring is here. I did plan to do the housework, but the sun beckoned me and I was drawn to the garden of course.
So I got in and cleaned out my banana patch, pulled a few extra suckers to keep the goodness for a select few, snipped away the roaming boysenberry tendrils, tied up the ever growing tomatoes and planted out some seeds.
In no particular preference other than what I picked up first from my spring collection I have sowed chickpea, black cumin, snow pea, heirloom pea mix, honeydew, heirloom watermelon mix, Jack'o'lantern pumpkin, black zucchini, eggplant, corn, heirloom beetroot mix, heirloom basil mix, kohlrabi, tatsoi,bok choy, agertum blue, paper daisy.
These babies will stay inside on my kitchen bench where they will get all the warmth they need to germinate and be out in the garden in not time. Each week I hope to sow out new seeds and just hope I have room in the garden somewhere for them all.
Have you started planning your warm season garden yet?

Good weeds in the garden

I check out my garden every day, a few times a day and when you see it this much, it sometimes seems like everything takes forever to grow! 
Spend 3 days away from it and boom, its like everything has doubled in size. I should have picked a broccoli head before we left, but didn't and now its going to seed, which is totally fine as the busy bee's are going to love it.
I also let some of my 'weeds' just have their way like this beautiful smooth sow thistle, looks like a giant dandelion that stands a good 1.2m tall and has lots of lovely flower buds coming on which the bee's are going to love too. Did you know the whole sow thistle/dandelion from the root to the flower is edible for humans.....have you tried any?
I also planted several daikon radish before we left and they all have sprouted and my other seedlings are becoming the strong plants I look forward to eating!
Do you let any weeds grow for your personal use? Feel free to share your knowledge :

)

Herbs are amazing

The addition of fresh herbs to a dish can be worthwhile in so many ways adding flavour, colour and even medicinal properties. 
Tonight I cooked up a simple vegetable pasta dish and added so many herbs just because I can!
I saw this tidbit floating around fb today regarding nasturtiums so I also chopped up a heap of leaves and added them too. 
Eating from our own garden to nourish our bodies is one of the simplest pleasures in life.
What did you do today to nurture your body?

Gardening reality

Its been a bit of a topsy turvy winter, but there are still little green babies coming along. 🌱
The beetroot loves it here, phew! The snow peas never make it into the house, I'm dreaming about what I will do with my sweet cabbages and the broccoli looks so cute.
I find it so very interesting when I talk to other gardeners around here and how vastly different the growing conditions are for similar plants.
I have been having a crack now for a good 8 years on this patch and I can tell you it took me almost 8 years to accept I just cant grow everything I want.
So I put the love into what I know will grow and am rewarded with my abundance.
Figure out what grows well in your patch and be blissfully happy when you serve it up for breakfast, lunch or dinner. 🙌
Do you struggle to grow something that your neighbour somehow manages?

Green Smoothies

My magic bullet blitzer thingy broke recently after 8 years, I upgraded to the nutribullet and am loving its magic blitzing powers. 
Breaky this morning is big green smoothies using frozen homegrown banana and pawpaw, fresh kale, turmeric and mint, and homemade rooibos kombucha. 
The girls love this! They think they are getting a special treat for breakfast, I know they really are 😉
What treats are you having for breakfast today?

Gardens in the rain

I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen of late, but the garden is still going on beautifully out the front. 
I love visiting the garden during the rain, everything looks so clean and bright against the drab light of an overcast day. 
With the recent winter solstice and the beginning of longer (and soon warmer) days I planted out more seedlings - kale, celery, more beetroot, red onion, tomato, pak choy and more broccoli. Each time I visit I try to get a little more mulch down, its a slow and careful process putting it all in and around new babies.
My gifted sugar cane and cassava have sprouted new growth and I have a solitary winter sunflower hanging about near my beehive.
I also thought I'd share my pretty dinner from last night....Potkin Risotto with pomegranate and feta. Yummo!!
And a couple of jars of sauerkraut I bottled up today....only 2 available $8 each.....if you want some I can do some more, but you'll have to wait, it takes a good 3-4 weeks to ferment this baby.
Have you visited your garden in the rain? What else have you been up to in the garden this winter?

Turmeric time

One of my favourite harvests of the year is my Turmeric.
I've been busting to get this up as I recently ran out of my homemade turmeric powder which I use in everything!
This root spice has great anti-inflammatory properties and gives dishes a good punch of flavour and colour.
The health benefits of turmeric include an improved ability to digest fats, reducing gas and bloating, reduce joint pain, and improved skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, and acne.
How do you use turmeric?