After a while....

I thought I would give you an update on a couple of things.

Sourdough: A friend asked if I could bring some of the first batch along when I visited her - but I didn't think it would be great after 5 days (and in the end there wasn't any left), so I made my second batch a couple of days earlier than planned.
The first batch was made primarily with Coles brand wholemeal flour.  The second with Biodynamic Wholemeal Wheat Flour by Red Gum Milling.  This second flour was much finer, without all the obvious pieces of bran.  I also tried to handle the dough less between the first & second proof - to retain more of the air as I felt the first batch was a bit dense for my liking (SMD described it as tasting & feeling like a German Rye Bread - fine if that is what you want).  The other change is that the second proof took place overnight in the fridge, so I could bake the bread fresh in the morning.
This is the result:

I forgot to slice the tops - so they are very plain looking.

They turned out a lighter colour inside, and slightly less dense.

I have planted out the seedlings that I showed you in "Inactive - not quite" into the second vegetable garden.  And labelled them using plastic labels cut from a 2 litre milk bottle.  I found that the icy-pole sticks quickly grew mould and became unreadable, hopefully these will work better.

Seedlings newly planted - still in their toilet roll or egg carton homes.

As you can see I set up the automatic watering system at the same time, it's on the same circuit as the other bed, but has small sprays instead of drip lines.  The net cover is essential - when I had it open to work on the watering system Elsa (the Isa Brown) was in digging up the seedlings straight away!

The potatoes in the chicken feed bags are going well.

I have already added some lucerne hay to the bags, and straight after this picture was taken I rolled the sides up a bit and added plenty of soil, filling up the gaps as much as I could, then gave them a good water.

And lastly - the first vege bed is going OK - with its beetroot, carrots & bok choy.

Inactive? Not Quite

I know, long time, but I haven't been completely idle.
I'm 8 or 9 weeks post spinal surgery today,  I wasn't allowed to do any heavy work for 6 weeks, which explains a bit.  But here's what I have done in the last couple of months.

Garlic (far end), carrots, bok choy & two types of beetroot.  And I finally set the automatic watering up again.

Various vegetable seedlings, two local natives (a westringia & a calistemon) free from the council via the Greenheart Fair, and my Mother's Day Aloe Vera plant.

Repotted the strawberries (see them hanging underneath) with some capsicum & oregano - two pots worth.

Potatoes in chook feed bags - a good use of an otherwise wasted space.

I put two seed potatoes in each bag.  Two different varieties,  3 bags of each.  Hope it works.

Sacrificed the last few passionfruit (was too cold for them to ripen anyway) and chopped the vine right back.  Waiting to see if it resprouts, otherwise I'll plant another in the same area.

A member of the melon family - but which one I don't know.  It is self sown,  so we'll just wait & see how it does, growing between the bricks & the retaining wall!

On a separate issue - I suggested at the P&C meeting that we should try to take the Tuck Shop GM Free.  I was expecting some scepticism - but got overwhelming support!  Very happy.  So now I have another job - as, in order to increase my chances of getting agreement, I offered to do all the research & chasing down of info.  But great news don't you think?

And there is a another book review on the way.  Plus I haven't completely forgotten the Organic Certification reviews (it's pretty dry reading though, so sometimes hard to face, hence the delay).

Oh - and I've joined a 'box scheme'.  We are now getting most of our fruit & vege from Food Connect, which sources all the food from within 3 hours drive of Brisbane (they also operate out of Sydney).  Mostly organic, though not always certified, and usually small farms I believe.  This means we are eating in season, and very fresh & cutting down on food miles.  Have been thrilled with the quality so far.  Am also excited about the chance we get at some point to visit some of the people growing our food.

Anyway, life's pretty good, as I hope it is for you.
Best wishes
Ravs

Green (eyed monster?)

I did promise to put up some photos of my friends' vege garden in Stanthorpe.  They live on a mostly bush block with a cleared area around the house, a creek at the bottom of the property & a HUGE granite outcrop on one side.  Plenty of space for veges, chooks & kids.

Wide view of the vege garden.  Fenced for the usual offenders (wallabies, rabbits, pet dog, etc)

The chickens going through the 'tunnel' from their house to the run.

A rotated view of an orchid in the bush area down the back of the block.

Various Irises in the "Fairy Garden" - their bathtub is located in this area - Yes, it really is outdoors.  The kids loved it!

No Fairy Garden would be complete without Foxgloves!

Onions & friends - plus two other beds.

Lettuces and friends.

The mushrooms growing in the purchase spent mushroom compost.  They made a great addition to dinner! Broad beans can be seen behind.

Yet another glorious vegetable bed.  I'm told the carrots never get terribly big - the kids eat them before they get the chance.

Another view of the onions.

A cage made from recycled materials - protecting the delicate seedlings.

It is so long since I wrote that I have much more to fill you in on.  But I'll just have to do it a bit at a time.  Need to take some more photos.
And Christmas is coming - another reason I haven't updated you recently, I've been spending my time shopping online for the last few things, and creating the annual family calendar.
Take care & bye for now, but before I go....
.....a couple more of the chickens.
Ravs

Chickens in their run.

The man and his harem. Lookers aren't they?

 

All by itself!

I leave the garden for 9 days of cycling - and this is what I come back to!

The 

The Kangaroo Paws are in full flower.  I haven't managed to get a photo that really does them justice - they are really gorgeous.  I want to put some more plants in - especially of the 'original' green & red variety.  This sunny well drained spot seems perfect for them.

I also picked (for us just starting out) a heap of produce.  The potatoes are sebagos - just one plant's worth.  There's BokChoy, Calendula leaves & flowers, the last of the Sugar Snap peas, two types of carrot (still just thinning them out), and a beetroot.

The boys had the peas as a snack immediately.  We had the smaller potatoes, the bok choy & carrots for dinner within two hours of picking them - delicious!

The next day, last Sunday, I made a salad for a BBQ consisting of mixed salad leaves (from the supermarket), calendula leaves & petals (above), grated raw beetroot (above), and boiled eggs from our chooks.  I was very please with the result.

Planted a heap more potatoes after looking in the box and realising all my seed potatoes had sprouted.  They are probably too crowded but nevermind - we'll just see what happens.  Hopefully I won't disturb them too much when I harvest the remaining older plants in that bed!

I might go & see what I can harvest for dinner tonight!

Ravs.

New Life

Due to J6's soccer carnival being rained out today, and SMD deciding to take the boys to see 'Hoodwinked' at the movies, I got some unexpected time to garden today.

I needed to do a bit of weeding as some of the lucerne hay has sprouted over the last few weeks.  But luckily this has happened just around the edges of the beds as some of the veges are already starting to sprout too!

Sex Without Strings!

Aren't there some super plant names?!  This time it is a bean plant.

After all the work I have finally started planting my veges.  So far I have sown the following in punnets to transplant later:

Silverbeet 5 colour mix

Garlic Chives, Sage, Thyme, Parsley Continental, Lettuce Royal Oakleaf, Mignonette and Flame, Silverbeet 5 Colour Mix, Chilli Tobago, Capsicum 7 Colour Mix,

And 7 colours of capsicum!

Capsicum Mini Sweet, Cabbage Red Drumhead, Broccoli Di Cicco and Romanesco, Tomato Currant Mix, Wapsipinicon Peach (what a mouthful!) and 3 Colour Zebra, and some cherry tomato & basil.

Fat Bastard

pNo, I'm not being rude, it's the name of one of the Asparagus plants I put in today.  The other is Sweet Purple.  Slight contrast there, don't you think?

These were two of the plants that arrived from the Diggers Club late last week.  I have already planted the knotted marjoram in the herb pots out front, the heritage strawberry in a hanging basket on the deck, and the purple coneflower in a sunny spot under the Illawarra Flame Tree

 Other garden (?) news is that Blacky is off the lay.  So we are only getting a maximum of two eggs per day.
The reason - she is moulting.  So instead of my gorgeous glossy black hen I have one wandering around minus a tail and with a bare bottom.  I didn't realise the moult would be quite this drastic.

I'm not sure she'll let me take a photo - might be beneath her dignity.
Bye for now.
Ravs