Home Grown

It's always such a pleasure to eat food that you have grown yourself.

Lately we've been enjoying some of the fruits of our labours, and I'm happy to admit that not a great deal of labour was involved.

The micro-greens I've been growing on the kitchen bench have been very successful. I'm so happy with them. I bought the seed from this little website, a great source of organic seed in Australia.

So far the seeds have grown in three medium:

1. In glass jars as sprouts. I like to do alfalfa, mustard and mung beans in jars.
2. In little jiffy pots. I grew red cabbage, sunflower sprouts, broccoli and brussel sprouts.
3. Just on wet paper towel. This is an easy method, but it does dry out quickly. I grew wheat grass with this method.

It's been nice to snip the sprouts onto salads, breakfast, anything really. For a snack the other day, I had some little sprouts mixed into goat's curd cheese. Delightful!

My other little exciting home grown produce is the portobello mushrooms. So far, I haven't had a huge crop, but for taste, nothing is like a freshly picked mushroom. Beautiful. I had them for breakfast with some refried potato wedges I'd baked last night, along with some spinach. Sprinkle on some gomasio and sprouts...delicious.

We've also had a great harvest of grapefruit. They aren't very sweet, but I still love them. I added some to our totally home grown salad tonight. A little vinaigrette - yum!

Are you eating anything home-grown right now?

Gardening for Mind, Body and Soul

Today I  stepped out into the sunlight for a moment, and stayed for nearly four  hours. I had no idea I had been outside for so long, because once I got started in the garden, time became irrelevant.

And that's not all. Worries became irrelevant too. I realised after about two hours, that I had not once thought of my lost baby, my waning fertility, or felt the deep sadness I had been feeling for the last couple of weeks. I also didn't feel the fatigue that had been plaguing me for that time too.

It just felt good to get into the flow of pulling weeds, digging the dirt, planting the seedlings, composting the weeds, fertilizing the beds with stinky organic chicken poo, looking forward to spring-time's bounty with anticipation, and harvesting some peas, spring onions, mustard greens, chicory leaves and a single golden bean pod to saute for lunch.

Michael brought me a hot cup of tea at just the right time, which gave me the last bit of energy I needed to finish the job. Perfect.

Now - for the perfect green saute for lunch :

Start with sauteing some chopped onion - I used the white parts of the spring onion, and add a couple of cloves of garlic which have been chopped. Add to this the chopped leafy greens, the finely sliced bean and peas. Then a little water or stock to finish cooking the greens. When they look bright and ready, pile onto your plate, and sprinkle with some Gomasio and a squeeze or two of lemon.

Doesn't get much better than that!

My next garden project is to start my own micro-greens (sprouts) - not the kind you do in a jar, but the kind I have been buying from the grower's market - in little jiffy pots- ready to snip whenever you like to add to salads, toast,stir-fries, whatever you like.

They are a powerhouse of wonderful enzymes, minerals  and vitamins - watch this space...

Simply Eleven Good Things

Hours of imaginative play with wooden fruit, vegetables and meats.

Finished knitting projects

And  just started knitting projects

A stack of good reading on my bedside table

A small boy asking for playdough, prompting mama to make scone dough

Plump scones for breakfast

Real cups of tea in real cups and saucers

Washing hanging in the sun to dry

Freedom for a 17 year old (and his parents)

Nighttime rain for the plants

And daytime sun to grow the new seedlings

 And one more...The  daily inspiration provided by SouleMama.

Beautiful Bountiful Garden

Happily hanging out with the chookies.
Lovely lemons.
Brocciletti
The beans that just keep giving.
Cabbage and coriander.


I love seeing my plants progressing. I love this time of year, when I don't have to worry about watering, the plants are lush, and everyday they are noticeably bigger.

I love to just potter around the garden, pull out a weed here and there, stop and smell the grapefruit blossom and make great big plans in my head about what I'll do to the garden in the future(the "future" could be next week, next month, next year, or even further along, there's no rush).

I really love the way the garden makes me feel.Everything slows down and I feel contented.

Busy, Busy,Busy

Despite the broken toe, I've still managed to get into the garden. Sorry, no photos of the garden today, but I will try to get some this week, because things are going so well.

The beds are pretty well full, I've got cauliflower, broccoli, broccoletti, savoy cabbages,scarlet broad beans, peas galore,lettuce,parsley,carrots,sweet potatoes,potatoes and coriander! Sounds marvellous doesn't it? I've been giving them regular doses of seaweed emulsion and weeding every chance I get.

Pretty happy with that!

I just love that the sun has been shining for us, it is such a pleasure to be out in the sun, getting my hands dirty.

Photos next time.

Tasty Tomatoes

Oh my goodness, the hard work and netting has paid off! We have had a great harvest of tomatoes, and are still picking them every couple of days. We've had enough to eat them fresh whenever we want, and I was able to roast a tray of them, with garlic cloves to make a wonderful Spanish rice for dinner a couple of days ago.

I started by frying a chopped red onion, along with a small red capsicum and green capsicum(also chopped).I also added a teaspoon of sweet paprika and chopped basil. Then I added 2 cups of long grain rice, stirred that in to coat with oil. Then I put the beautiful roasted tomatoes in (or you can use 2 cups of pasta sauce or tinned tomatoes), I also added the roasted garlic (I roasted a whole head of garlic, in the skin, then squeezed out the lovely soft flesh into the rice). Add 2 cups of hot chicken stock and stir. Let it cook on the stove, stirring occasionally, and adding more stock if necessary. I did this til the rice was cooked, then I added some cooked chicken (but chorizo,prawns or other meat would be fine) and the corn kernels from 2 cobs. Heat through and "ta-dah", yummy dinner. The whole family loved it, even the wee one.

I think those fresh roasted tomatoes made all the difference.

We also had an amazing crop of beans, picked them daily, but they are finished now and I have collected seed for next year.

The little self sown broccoli plants have come up, but I am not sure if they'll survive. We are having dry day after dry day, and I'm still not very good at regular watering! Hopefully some will survive.

More Gardening!

Back in the garden today and very pleased with the progress. I had Charlie and Freya to help, and Freya took today's photographs.I think she's done a great job! I ended up staying out for about 2 hours, but the kids went in earlier due to those damn midges biting again.
I planted out new seedlings of lettuce,basil,rhubarb,sweet potato and beetroot. I planted them in some lovely compost, so I hope they'll be off to a good start.Following planting, I watered them in with seaweed emulsion, and mulched the entire patch with the pea hay. Although it takes only a couple of sentences to write it down, it was a good couple of hours work!
I really hope all my efforts aren't in vain.

You can see from the photograph that the tomato plants are doing really well, just not ripening yet. I noticed a few small orange tigerella tomatoes, but also noticed there were many stinkbugs hanging out with the fruit. I will google and see if they are going to adversely affect the fruit. I really don't want to share our hard earned tomatoes with the insects! I've fought off the birds and lizards, now for the insects!
However, the bees are more than welcome to pollinate everything! I love seeing them in the garden, hard at toil, making it all happen for us!

Making Progress

Today was the first real chance I had to get back into the garden. It was a cool 20 degrees Celsius so out I went! The rest of the week has been perfect beach weather, so we have made the most of it, and also spent time with Michael's sisters whilst they were in town.

So, I am pleased to say that I'm making headway. I put the eco-hydrate onto the vegetable patch, you can read about it here:http://www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au/product.php?id=3.
I'm hoping it will help the soil retain some water.It is so dry.

Then I was driven inside by the midgies.This year has been the worst year for them. They make it impossible to stay outside as they have a nasty bite and love to get into your hair,ears,eyes, everywhere.We try to use a natural insect repellent, but it doesn't keep them away for very long.It is frustrating!

I was able to get back out to the garden in the afternoon while Freya and Charlie played in the paddling pool.The midgies weren't as bad and I think I may have had a couple of hours out there, pulling weeds and dead plants,fertilising and mulching with three bales of pea hay. I have one bale left for the vegetable patch, which I think may be enough because the plants are covering much of the ground.

You can see in the picture that I have a few different seedlings to plant, but didn't get to it today. Tomorrow's forecast is for 22, so I may get to it tomorrow.I have beetroot,basil and two types of lettuce:baby buttercrunch and red lettuce. I also have carrot and leek seeds.

Another task I was able to get to was to collect the seed from broccoli plants and the sweet peas, lovely blue ones and pink and white.They are so pretty in the spring and smell so nice.

We are picking a big bunch of beans everyday and I love it! I hope I'll be doing the same with tomatoes soon.

The Vegetable Patch

I thought I might show off what is happening in the vegetable patch. I'm really excited to be harvesting and eating some of the vegetables I've been trying to grow. I plant out many things and have visions of us eating only home grown produce, but the reality is that more often than not, my hard work doesn't always pay off, particularly when I am fighting against the weather, the wildlife and a lack of time.

However, it's not all bad. We are picking French runner beans daily and I also found some lovely red onions which we had in a tuna bake a couple of nights ago, some beetroot, basil and a couple of Tigerella tomatoes.

These runner beans have been the most successful I have ever grown. The seed were saved by my green thumbed friend, Kerry, from her last year's crop. They have grown so well, no problems at all, and are producing tonnes of lovely yellow-green pods every day.They are tender and succulent. So glad I planted them.

I have netted off one of the patches of tomatoes.This will help keep the birds off, but I am sure the skinks will still get in and help themselves.Hopefully they won't be able to reach the higher fruit!

We didn't manage to get a net onto the plum tree and all the green plums are gone. Honestly, I don't mind too much, the tree is very pretty in spring, and until we start making netting a priority, we can't expect to have our own fruit. We have talked about building a large frame and netting off the (mini) orchard, but, like the watering problem, we've never found the time,energy or money to get it done....one day...

Already, I'm making good on my new year's challenge. Callum collected four bales of pea hay yesterday, so I'll be mulching the garden soon. I would have loved to do it today, but I want to use the soil wetting agent and some manure before putting down the hay. Cal was going to collect some things from the nursery for me but they suggested I come in on Thursday when the new stock arrives. Goody, I can't wait!

I spoke to my mum today, and she is bringing us some fertilized eggs to put under our broody chicken. It'll be good to have some more layers.Three isn't enough to keep this family going!

Taking up the Challenge

I've been trying for a long time to tread more lightly on the earth, and I believe we(as a family) have a long way to go.

Today I read about a challenge at http://hipmountainmamablog.com/one-small-change/comment-page-2/#comments. The idea is to make one small change per month, write about it in my blog, and on World Earth Day, April 22nd hip mountain mama will announce winners.

It will be great to follow others trying to reduce their footprint, and I hope I'll learn how I can make changes.

Some of the things I have tried to do, especially since having Charlie ( I realise that our having a large family can impact greatly on the earth), include the following:

• Using cloth nappies (diapers) as much as possible
• buying second hand clothing for the children
• recycling as much as our local council allows
• composting garden waste
• feeding food scraps to the chickens
• growing vegetables
• buying as much local produce as I can from the farmer's markets(its seasonal, it's within 100km)
  
• buying local, organic meat from our farmer friends, the Frosts
• Drying all our washing on the clothes line
• changing all our light bulbs to energy efficient ones
• driving a smaller,diesel car which is the most energy efficient in its class
  

But I'd like to step it up a bit. I know I need to work harder on the vegetable patch so that we can have more produce to eat from it.I actually need to put more time and effort into it.

We don't use cloth nappies all the time.I try to, but for some reason, if Mike or Lily changes Charlie, they gravitate toward the disposables ( I do buy environmentally friendly ones, but I hate the waste.)

So one change I will make is to be more consistent with those things.

I've been toying with the idea of using my old clothes (the fabric is still in great condition) to make a quilt.Maybe this is the incentive I need.

Bigger changes I'd love to make include buying a water tank to store rain water, putting in an efficient watering system for the garden,and putting solar panels on the house for our own electricity and to to put the excess onto the grid.

In order to do those things we are going to look into a "green loan" http://www.environment.gov.au/greenloans/. It involves having an audit done on the house, which will then make recommendations on how we can improve our home to be "greener". They will give us a $10,000 loan, interest free for 4 years. I think it is a brilliant idea, so will definitely look into it.

So, in January, the plan is to make my vegetable garden more productive. To start with I need to make the soil more receptive to water. This week I'll look into putting an organic soil wetting agent on the garden, and I'll get some mulch to help stop the evaporation. Other things to do include netting the tomatoes so that the birds leave them for us, and planting out more vegetables. So, a trip to the nursery is in order.

It's a beautiful warm day today, forecast 30 degrees Celsius. We went to the beach early and swam, but it was very windy, so we didn't stay long. Charlie has taken to throwing himself into the surf.He has no fear, so we cannot take our eyes off him for a moment. Luckily there's more than one st of eyes to do the job!

More Time in the Garden

The weather has been so lovely lately that I just have to go outside with Charlie.He loves to play with the hose, and gets very wet, but it doesn't matter when the sun is shining.It also means I get a few minutes here and there to tackle the weeds.

I manages to plant some lettuce and tomato seedlings (thanks Katelyn) in the vege patch, weeded around the fruit trees (still a lot more to do there), also dug some clay in around the fruit trees.It is so dry and sandy already. I will have to get a load of sheep or pig manure for them.

I also planted bean and carrot seed, from Kerry's garden - she lets some of her produce go to seed to keep for the next year.I will try that too this year.I do buy many seeds and they aren't always successful.I suppose if you have a proven seed, it is worth saving.

I am hoping to get more time out there again today. I have a "Jane McGrath" rose to plant out, and I think I'll go to the nursery and see what is there.I have a few gaps that could be filled. It is always such a pleasure to visit the nursery, even if it is just to browse the plants. We have a gorgeous local nursery "Lush"(if they had a website I'd post the address, but they don't). The name is appropriate as the plants are all healthy and gorgeous, but one of the best things is the beautiful exotic home wears and garden ornaments etc.My girls love the place as much as I do, and the ladies there always remember the girls and are so kind.They give them little punnets of pansies and veges to plant. I love the place! I am not sure about taking Charlie there though! He might get into mischief!

Charlie and I have also been heading to the beach.Mostly walking, not swimming, as although the weather is lovely, the water is still cold. I am looking forward to the Luewin current which will warm it up a bit, so we won't have to have those nasty "ice cream headaches". Ouch!

I love this time of year!

Spring has Sprung

Spring is here and the garden is blooming.It is lovely to see all the flanders poppies waving their little red heads around. Charlie and I are spending many hours outside, enjoying the sunshine and a chance to pull up the multiplying weeds. They are trying to take over the vegetable patch, but I am fighting back! There's still more to do, but I am more than happy to spend time outside, especially now that Charlie is into typical toddler mode.

Charlie is toddling and running everywhere.Not only that, he is an adventurous little soul, who loves nothing better than to scale any piece of furniture that might bring him closer to the item he most desires. This is usually a computer,sewing machine,telephone, or the piece de resistance: the television remote. I think if anyone in this family is going to take up mountain climbing, it will be Charlie.He is very canny and quite skilled.It is worrying! So, whenever I can, I take him outside to explore the great outdoors: so far, not too much climbing happening out there....give him time...

Who can believe the year is drawing to a close? I can't believe how it has flown, but then again, to see how much Charlie has grown makes it all the more obvious.Although he is still very small and cute, he is no longer a baby. I realise now how easy babyhood was! Toddlerhood is proving to be quite a challenge. Apart from sleeping, there's not a lot of "stillness".Luckily for me I have willing helpers, so I do sometimes get a little break.I quite like to have a little nanna nap some afternoons.It makes for a less stressful evening.

One step forward....

Two steps back...bloody chooks! Looks like they need their wings clipped again. I planted red cabbage on Sunday only to find they had disappeared this morning, and the chooks were licking their lips (err...beaks)!

What is the point in keeping chickens when they don't even lay eggs!

Anyway, not all bad news.I am very happy to say I have finally, after a year or so, got my plants back into the garden. The photos show the little bit of progress I am making.
It feels really good to get the plants into the ground, as they were lifted out last April so that we could kill off the kikuya which had immigrated from the lawn, and pretty well taken over. And it isn't the kind of weed you can just pull out.Oh no, this stuff gets in deep(sometimes a metre deep) and strangles the root system of everything in its path, and nothing will kill it, apart from a good dose of round-up, three times! Blimey,it is tough stuff. So much for being totally organic. You just can't beat it without help from glysophate.

So my plants have been waiting patiently, and I did lose a few.But that's okay, because I have changed the design a bit, and made different choices of plants and different ways to plant them.I am hoping the garden will be a bit less "cottagey" and a bit more designed, but that remains to be seen.

I have put in a couple of dwarf nectarines and a "doughnut" peach, as well as three Chilean guavas, which have edible fruit. I like the idea of having some edible plants in the border.

This photo was taken before I started replanting:

This one is after planting, though it doesn't show alot of difference, it will look much improved in spring. Note the gorgeous colour of the Triton Maple.

And finally, something I have been hoping to do since Charlie's birth - to plant his tree, the Gingko Biloba, over the placenta which sustained him for 9 months,growing him into a strong and healthy baby.Now it can do the same for his tree.(In case you're wondering, it was in the freezer all that time!)

The Buddha statue now sits under the tree. The tree itself doesn't look that great, but it is losing its leaves for Autumn, and I am sure it will look beautiful in the future. I also planted perennial irises around the tree and Buddha.I am not sure what kind of irises they are, but they are delicate and pretty, and I think suitable for a special spot.

It feels good to be gardening regularly, to look forward to what the plants will bring : perhaps food, beauty, flowers to bring inside, a lovely place to wander, to sit in, and a chance to get my hands dirty and to connect with the earth...Ahhh, bliss!

Busy,busy,busy

A busy couple of weeks...As you can see, there's a new path in the garden.Michael did it over the school holidays. Any progress in the garden is a wonderful thing. I am very excited that I have finally been able to start replanting in the bed in front of the house (pics of that in a blog to come). I am hoping I'll get some time out there soon.

Freya stated homeschooling this week.So far,so good.She is a very fast worker and so eager, ready to tackle the next task as soon as she has finished the first.This means I have to keep on my toes! Sometimes Charlie makes it difficult, as he believes his needs are always to be met straight away!

We set up this corner with a desk for Freya's homeschooling. It meant taking the kitchenette out and finding a new home for all the crockery.It was a good opportunity to cull what we really don't need.The rest found a place in the pantry, which also underwent serious culling. It always feels good to cull (so why do I still have compulsions to buy more!Incurable!).

Charlie is now crawling everywhere at a great speed.He is very cute.He hit the 8 month mark on the 23rd.He still hasn't cut any teeth, but judging by his ferocious grip whilst breastfeeding (sets my teeth at edge) he isn't far off.He has also been dribbling great wet fountains this week.

His crawling style is very interesting.He tends to do all the work with his left leg while keeping the right leg bent, but not really doing any of the work.It works, he's able to get stuck under chairs and tables ALL the time!

Another milestone met this past weekend...Callum turned 18! Wow! It is amazing having a boy-adult under our roof.He's legal for drinking and other things, but it isn't really all that different to when he was 17! He is very independent - we hardly see him - he works long hours, then hangs out with friends.We really only catch up in the mornings for a few minutes.It feels a bit strange, but at least we see him more than when he was living away.

So that is why I have been really busy. It is so hard to get any time for myself,particularly with Charlie's sleeping habits, which require my nice warm body! If I get him to sleep and put him in his cot he almost ALWAYS wakes up. I honestly don't know how to deal with this problem.I don't want to leave him to cry, I just won't go there, but I worry that he'll never sleep in his cot, or that I'll never get a little break(I'd really like a little bit of time in the afternoons to sew or garden).Anyway, he's still little and I know what I signed up for, so I'll just make the best of it...

We are off to swimming lessons tomorrow(for Charlie), how exciting.I hope he enjoys it.