Zinnias are Awesome

"They bloom in vivid colors from summer until frost, are a snap to grow from seed, 

and attract birds, bees and butterflies to your yard"

One of our most successful flowers to grow has been the humble Zinnia. I guess you could call it a heritage flower, in the sense it has been around forever - If your grandparents were gardeners - they probably grew these.

The longevity and easy care nature makes it perfect for anyone looking to have a colourful display three seasons of the year.

The on-set of winter has meant however we no longer have them! They are slowly dying down but now we are blessed with dried seed buds! Yay - love seed collecting!

In a couple of months when the last frost has past, we will start re-planting - they are extremely easy to plant from seed.

Roll the seed head between your hands and scatter for a rambling cottage garden or pick out the spear-head shaped seeds, they range in colour from pale brown to black and are a similar size to a sunflower seeds, but flat. They can grow quite tall, so near a fence or other shrubs is ideal. As a rule of thumb, loosely cover the seed to a depth three times it's size. Allow 6 weeks before your garden is awash of Zinnia colour!

Dead heads don't look that attractive in the garden, but mean many more flowers for the future!

Used here in a foam block for a table centrepiece. 

A Foxy Story

24 hours after the introduction of three new beautiful black hens, I'm faced with bagging up a savaged chicken. Feeling heart-broken and angry this afternoon, I spent some considerable time re-fencing and reinforcing the coop.

Getting three new girls seemed like a good idea at the start of the week… for it was only a week ago one of our old brown hens went missing… now the penny has dropped and my lesson learned the hard way.

It seems from what I hear, foxes can either snatch and whisk away, or kill in the coop, clenching at the hens neck, possibly getting spooked, leaving the mess with intention of returning. It is highly likely the little bugger is living in the paddock next door, a greenbelt area with a creek running through it. And now the fox has taken two, it's likely to return for another!

Our coop has been quite suffice the last few years, but a complete overhaul is now likely, which means digging down at least a foot with fencing and covering over the top. It will also mean restricted grazing in their secondary paddock (aka dam area).

So out with some leftover chicken wire I went about completely enclosing their house this afternoon. I'm not taking any risks, pegged down with tent pegs, no escaping and hopefully no intruders. My four remaining hens (two old ISA's and the two new Australorps) are going to be close quarters the next few days until I can come up with some fox solutions… 

Roses 'n' Rain

We have suffered a few weeks of drizzling late-summer rain and getting into the garden to weed and prune has almost been impossible without gum boots, a rain jacket and a row boat! Okay, well perhaps not the later, but you get the idea!

Any attempts at pruning the roses today quickly dissipated when yet another dark cloud dropped its load overhead.

So instead of snipping, I pulled out the camera and did some snapping...

Back in late January when we scored that 21 inches in almost 21 hours everything, roses included, was fertilised with blood and bone. 5 weeks on, the results speak volumes.

A Spiritual Moment

Some may remember that little over two weeks ago the very first seeds where planted in our new garden. I'm wondering how many others planted back then, and if so are about to enjoy the spiritual moment we had last night…

Yes, our first harvest - albeit some small leafy greens… It was still just a moment of pure bliss to have some mouth watering tender new leaves that we grew from a tiny spec of insignificant nothingness - amazing!

Now this might not top the charts of 'first' moments in life, but it's up there! Having such a long break of growing with extreme heat and lack of rain in December, to now be rewarded.

For those who don't 'grow' I would like to quote Stephanie Alexander (Author, 'My Kitchen Garden') which sums up our thoughts pretty much about how we feel…

"Developing your own product kitchen garden is very satisfying, and nothing tastes as special as home-grown produce. You and your family can be confident that the food you are eating is not only fresh and seasonal, it is also free of any harmful chemicals, it has not been transported long distances…"

So get out there, no matter what scale and plant a seed or two!

Weak Egg Shells

We've had a few slipped yolks recently with a weak soft shell lurking in the coop. With no 'grit' provided, I thought I'd try the home ('frugal') remedy of feeding them back their shells. I figure why buy it when the chickens are already providing it to us...

It seems this problem is worse in summer - something to do with the calcium being retained by the hen and not putting much into the making of the egg.

So quite easy really and best done when you are about to use eggs for cooking as firstly, you are breaking the egg for a reason and secondly, generally you are about to heat the oven anyways!

Pop them on a baking tray and into the oven for about five minutes at medium temp. This will harden any leftover membrane still attached which makes it easier to crush up. 

Next smash them up using a mortar and pestle - well I think that is the easiest way - until they are quite fine, but not powder.

Then hey presto - ready for feeding - just added them to their daily bucket of scraps.

I'm going to start doing this at least twice a week and see how things improve. Tony is a little sceptical of chickens eating their own eggs but from what I've also read sometimes they eat their eggs because their body is craving calcium. 

Today's Harvest

Considering the lack of rain and subsequent enthusiasm for gardening lately, it still surprises me how much we are reaping the rewards of having a vege garden.

Potatoes, parsnips, zucchini, tomatoes and beans made it's way into our kitchen today. Now that's a great effort I reckon!

Tony assures me he has been pottering around most days to keep it ticking along - I think I've been too pre-occupied with trying to keep my flowers alive and a small patch of grass green through the drought to notice too much about the vege patch.

My recent gardening efforts might not be enough to fill our bellies, but at least I have a small oasis in the desert to fill our hearts!

Community Gardens

On the hunt for tips in expanding our vege patch, I recently attended a local Community Gardens open day.

It is a group of mainly older folk who have some fruit trees and raised garden beds beside a retirement home. From what I could gather, they are encouraging individuals and groups to have a 'plot' and pay a small annual fee. They can plant whatever they like and join in a monthly gardening meeting.

Roping in a friend to share the experience, I got to mingle with a dietician, the stay at home mum guru, the 'bee man', uni students and a few other folk who I think lost their way back to the retirement home… plus share in a delicious vegetarian lunch with fresh seasonal produce complete with damper and home-made pestos. Oliver and his friend did some 'craft' and there was even some awesome live music from a very talented local guitarist. I taste tested honey from local native bees (yuck - give me honey bees honey any day), then there was a 'op shop' fashion parade… All the ingredients for a great day out - If only there were more people.

Now I get to have my little 'dig' at that lack of support these 'community' events have. Makes you want to sell up and move to Nimbin! Come on folks - get out there and get involved! Attend open days, make new friends and support these initiatives! Nothing to lose but so much to gain…

Dividing and Conquering the Jonquils

A few weeks overdue, today I dug up the Jonquil bulbs from the flower garden. They finished flowering quite a while back and all the tops have died right back. These guys have been in the ground a couple of years untouched and this year you could really notice them doubled up and crowded. So time to lift out! I guess some people do this every year, or others leave them untouched forever, but mine need relocating.

It is really important to leave the leaves die back before you lift the bulb out. Because as the leaves go yellow and fade, the bulb is withdrawing all the nutrients from those leaves to store ready for next season's growth. Depriving spring bulbs of this essential part of their growth cycle will result in poor, or no, flowering next time.

Leaving the tops on also makes it easy to locate the bulbs underneath! It is a little 'hit n miss' with digging them up though - you have to be careful not to slice any in half.

So originally this was a pack of 14 bulbs (yes, still have the label) well now I reckon that has tripled! From what I could tell, the original bulb has at least two other bulbs attached.

I will gently separate them off, making sure a few 'roots' are on each bulb. Loosely bag them up and then into the bottom of the beer fridge until late summer. Bulbs are one of the easiest low care plants with generous rewards! Next I need to research dividing the agapantha's! 

Organic Pest Control

Occasionally we see our children doing some beautiful things together and on the weekend we witnessed some great team work in tackling our grub infestation on the last of the sweet peas and snow peas.

Getting this little National Geographic kit with oversized tweezers, bug catcher and spy glass was hands down one of the best presents I have ever gotten them.

They were quite meticulous in selecting them without squashing them - which is quite ironic when you consider where they were headed...

Also, I didn't have the heart to tell them these old crops were going to be pulled out later today.

They spent a good half hour fossicking and collecting little green grubs and had several trips to the chickens who were hungry for more!

An alternative way to combat these critters is by spraying with a garlic mix: Put a whole garlic bulb through a garlic press and let it sit in a glass jar with a few tablespoons of salad oil. Then mix a few spoonfuls with dishwashing liquid, hot pepper sauce and water in a spray bottle. Spray the affected area once every couple of weeks.

But I think the tweezer approach is way more fun!

Lady Fingers Galore

But not from our tree :(  Although our tree 'pups' have been in the ground over a year, they seem to be extremely slow growing. They came from my Dad's suburbia tree - it seems to produce copious amounts of them! He gave us two hands on the weekend, a few days later they have all ripened at once (of course).

As we love smoothies, a fair few went straight in zip lock bags into the freezer for later use. I love love love frozen bananas in smoothies!

Cake tends to be the next best thing to make - great for school lunch boxes and with ice cream for dessert! I am always trying different recipes and scouring different books - this 'Easy Banana Cake' from the local day care centre has come up trumps. You know the type of fundraising books I mean; all the mums, aunts, grandparents etc contribute with 'never fail' delicious things to cook and the centre raises money to buy extra play equipment etc for our kids to enjoy.

So preheat the oven to 180 deg C (160 fan forced), spray some muffin trays and set aside.
Melt 125g butter, 3/4 cup sugar (I used raw), and 1 teaspoon vanilla in large saucepan on low heat till all melted and sugar dissolved. Add 2 mashed bananas (I used 3 lady fingers) and stir through until just blended. Add one egg and mix well. Stir in 1 & half cups of self-raising flour (wholemeal best). Add 1/4 cup milk and mix lightly. Spoon into the trays and bake for approx 20 minutes. I had enough to fill 24 mini muffins plus half a dozen others. If you were doing a round cake, obviously this would take longer!

I would love to hear from you on what you do with those ripe bananas.

Livin' the Dream

Perhaps it is the spring weather or maybe the end of year approaching, but which ever way you look at it seems I've had some time recently to reflect and appreciate...

For starters - we love where we live - apart from the obvious location in South East Queensland, I am also talking about our local area and the place we call home.

Making the move from town to semi-rural a few years back has afforded us the opportunity to experiment/expand the garden and reap the rewards everyday. And it is not just me, Tony has this love thing going on too "Just livin' the Dream!" - his latest standard answer is more truer than you think.

We are rewarded everyday and not just from what we harvest from the vege garden to eat, but also having play spaces for the kids to explore/create/imagine; getting them involved in the planting/picking/checking of the veges; keeping chickens and providing them with glorious greens post-harvest to devour; being able to give surplus food/flowers/seeds to family/friends/neighbours (especially after they have looked after your pets and garden when you go away); but maybe the most important aspect - the sharing of knowledge!

Sorry for getting all philosophical with you, but truly guys - I hope you are all out there livin' your own dream like us :)

Mulberries, Peas & Flowers - Hello Spring!

Finally we had some rain in the couple of days, but in the last few weeks we have been watering most days and not spending much time in the garden for pleasure. Getting a chance to wander around this afternoon we feasted on mulberries (Oliver loves these - thank heavens for stain spray I say) and snow peas.
Here are some random shots of life in the garden at the moment taken with my in-built phone camera. Enjoy :)

Seed pods emerging on the sweet peas -
we will save all these for next year's planting.  

Father's Day Choc-Beet Treat

I don't need too much of an excuse to bake a cake - but being Father's Day - the temptation was too much. I've had baby beets just begging to be eaten so I fished out the chocolate cake with beets recipe from my deceptively delicious book. Jessica Seinfeld has created this deceptive cookbook trying to hide all sorts of healthy vege amongst her baking - often disguised with lots of sugar! That is a whole other topic so I will try and stay on track.

The beetroots get roasted first - save yourself some time and electricity by doing this the night before while you have something else in the oven.

Beetroots trimmed but not peeled
then wrapped in foil and roasted
for approx 40min - peeled when cooled

I then finely diced them using my nifty tupperware chopping gadget - you could try and puree like the recipe says, but this way seems far easier. You need half a cup for this recipe.

Beat 1 cup of firmly packed light or dark brown sugar with 1/4 cup margarine until creamy. Add one whole egg then 2 egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then beat in 85grams of melted dark chocolate that has been cooled. Then add the beetroot (1/2 cup), 1/2 cup buttermilk (I used skim) and 1 tsp vanilla beating well.

Add 2 cups plain flour, 1 tsp bi-carb soda, and pinch salt, beating well again. You will have the gloriously deep pink mix that looks divine!

Pour into a lined 9-inch round cake pan and bake 180deg for about 40 minutes. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes before turning out and when cooled completely ice with some chocolate icing. The recipe says it will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days - but they are kidding themselves - ours will not last the day out!

While we are munching down this divine cake I fess up to the kids and admit the added vege - but it did not bother them at all! Happy Fathers' Day to all - especially our Ol' Rusty Possum daddy!

Hot Orange Beetroot

The afternoon roles around and once again I am faced with the 'what's for dinner' scenario... With a few beets picked the day before and some oranges still remaining on the tree... what can I whip up?

A recipe was sought and this strange combo turned out remarkably well! Even our 4yo shared in the glossy red citrus delight. 7yo showed no interest - but that is typical - he doesn't tend to try anything that is brightly coloured (except icing on your typical birthday cakes).

1. Cut stalks from a few medium sized beetroot. Place in a saucepan with a cup of fresh orange juice, bring to the boil then cover tightly and simmer for about 40 minutes. Remove beetroot, cool slightly and slip skins off (they come off really easy - don't forget to feed these to the chickens or add to your compost).

2. Half or quarter the beets and add back into the saucepan with juice. Add 2 tablespoons of wine vinegar, 1  teaspoon of brown sugar and cook for a minute.

3. Combine 2 teaspoons of cornflour with 2 tablespoons of extra orange juice and add to the beetroot, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens.

It went fabulously with our lamb casserole and mash potato. This vege is fast becoming one of my favourites. Now, where was that chocolate beetroot cake recipe... 7yo is bound to try that!

Seeing Double

We've been seeing double all this week around the house. First we were mesmerized by two grey kangaroos running around and around the yard trying to find a way out! There were a few nervous moments when one went into the 'top paddock' - upon later inspection surprisingly she (must of been a she) didn't trample one single plant!

The next day a pair of tawny frogmouths were perched quite low on a tree branch near the dam. Huddled up watching the sunset pretending to be asleep! What amazing creatures to be seen so close by the kids too.  I had time to race and get the camera too! I love any animal who likes to play statues - movement can really bugger up your shot!

As if that wasn't enough, two ducks have decided to brood in our backyard and dam this season - can't wait to see if little ducklings show up one day! Our 4yo has been asking about baby chickens, perhaps seeing ducklings around will fend off his requests...