One bonus of having all this reno 'stuff' lying around is it is perfect for making shade for my new seedlings on a particularly sunny day like today. The other bonus is I now have a giant dirt mound.....and what do you do with that - plant some seeds of course! I have growing in my dirt mound flat leaf parsely, cape gooseberry and cherry tomatoes (self seeded from dirt that were dug up near the original plants) and I also popped in some seeds from my butternut pumpkins I grew earlier on in the season. Hasn't cost a cent and is putting an ugly mound (with good healthy soil) to use.Have you created something handy out of 'junk' recently?
There's been a lot going on here the last few days......We had a carpet python try to steal our eggs or chickens..... I planted out our garlic, gifted to me from various friends......We had lots and lots and lots of rain and now lots and lots and lots of mud....And I had a birthday and was amazingly spoiled!
What have you been up to lately?
When it rains it snails!These guys are from round 2 of a scan of the garden, the first round had twice as many. I love to go out into the garden after a bit of rain and round up all these slimy critters that love to eat my juicy plants and especially my new seedlings.Then I squash them up and feed them to the chookies who love them.Sounds a bit harsh but then that is the nature of organic gardening I guess.
Have you had a scan of your garden lately to see what critters you can manually remove and save using those horrendous chemicals?
The other day I watched a clip of rats running all over dried chillies, my skin crawled. Another tick in the box reason of why I like to know where my food comes from. So it also got me thinking about other food items I have in my pantry and how I can go about making them myself.The first one I saw was my dried herbs. Boom!So yesterday I went out to the garden to pick a selection of herbs (Basil, Oregano, Thyme, flat and curly leaf parsley and Rosemary) and then I popped them into my dehydrator.
Dried out for a few hours and then pulled off the stalks and crunched up. Viola!
Have you had a thought recently about where your food comes from?
A hard workout at the gym today called for some good protein and nutrients and what better place to find my 'happy meal' than right here from my own little patch of goodness.Nothing beats good ol' scramble eggs tossed with shallots, capsicum, silverbeet and chives with a side of dragon fruit of course! Feeling super satisfied and nourished nowWhats your go to meal after a tough sesh (in the gym, garden, or anywhere)?
A few of the goings on around here..... eggplant, shallots, pumpkin, passion fruit, turmeric and corn just to show off a few and I have just planted some new winter seedlings today.
Have you started planning your cooler season garden yet?
Yummo! Dragonfruit. This little gem of a fruit packs some seriously amazing nutritional benefits. With its mildly sweet flavour it is easily a fave in our house. I look forward to the very short fruiting window each year.Some of its super powers per 100g serve include:Calories: 52.Protein: 1.1 gram.
Fat: 0.4 grams.
Carbs: 11 grams.
Fiber: 3 grams.
Vitamin C: 34% of the RDI.
Iron: 10.6% of the RDI.
Thiamine: 2.7% of the RDI.
Have you tried this delight yet?
Have just put a brew of green tea 'bucha' on...... I've had a few requests lately for this delight. I used to make this in my early days, but preferred the taste when its made with black tea.This first brew will be for us, as I want to make sure the taste and ferment is right before I spread its joy.What do my kombucha loving friends think?.....
My oldest bubba picked me a flower after we went to the dentist a couple of weeks ago, we took it home and popped it in a vase. It flowered for a day or so. I left the stem in the vase until today - it still looked 'alive' and happy. I was about to throw it out when I noticed it had developed roots. What a pleasant surprise. Although it is only an Oleander (yes I know they are poisonous - had a chat with the wee ones about that afterwards), the gift behind it has meaning for me, so this baby will go into a pot and find a new home on our balcony....once its finally finished. A small treasure can be found anywhere! What 'treasures' have you found lately?
Baked these beauties today. Banana and Ginger Loaf. I sold these by pre-order through my Facebook page. My lucky local followers can enjoy the delights of my garden too.I use my own homegrown banana's and ginger and the girls out the back provide the eggs, so lots of love and goodness into these.....oh and did I mention, they taste amazing!
Last weekend I was lucky enough to visit King Creek Farm and assist Erik with his honey harvesting. What a great experience!I did manage to get at least 12 bee stings in my valuable lessons but I would do it all again in a heartbeat. And I will be.....soon I will have my own bee's to keep me mesmerised and these babies will be coming from the farm. He sells 100% pure local honey if you are interested, just pop over and I'm sure he can help you out.Do you keep bee's? Or have you..... or want to?
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When the goodness I've grown or raised from home ends up in our tummy's.....From the garden to the plate proudly brought to you by our beautiful hens. Tonight we had zucchini and kale 'egg pie' straight from our own little patch. What goodness are you creating from your little patch?
The wind and sea spray has been howling for 3 days straight now with gusts today up to 37kmh, the effects are so damaging to my garden. There is not much I can do to help and protect from the wind. I have put big boards of ply up supported by star pickets to protect my citrus trees. After the weather calms down its pretty much back to square one for many of the plants. Its a wonder I keep going back. Sucker for punishment I guess.How does your garden survive crazy weather?
