Summer Wrap Up

Well, we all know that all good things must come to an end, and it's the same with summer. All those gorgeous summer gardens in Tassie are gradually coming to a close, and mine is no exception. I've been breaking things down for the winter here, cleaning up and preparing for fall and winter crops.

I had a whole bunch of starter pots at the side of the house near the gate, just sitting there, with (I am embarrassed to admit) a few dead, brown twigs sticking out of them. So, I cleaned up that mess, dumped the soil out into the bigger pots to bring them up to level (no matter how much soil you put in, it always seems to disappear), before lining a few up neatly under the window. I now have two empty pots flanking my basil, my jalapeno chilies, and a volunteer tomato plant that amused me by popping up randomly in a vacant space.

The starter pots and water dishes are stacked up, ready for storage in the shed as soon as I can make the room to get them in there. I swept the sidewalk, and did some weeding, and started pruning that big bush by the corner of the fence, until I developed a blister, so I just threw the limbs onto the pavers in the yard to be dealt with later. Hubs said he'd get up there and cut it back all the way for the winter. it helps the sun reach the house better if we do.
 
I also cleaned up the front porch "nursery", where I keep the mini greenhouse in spring. Shook the dirt off the door mat, swept the steps, swept the drive to neaten it a bit (discovered a large nest of honey ants in the process...ick!), took in all the small starter pots there to be emptied and put away for the winter with the others, trimmed that south african bush (whatever it is) back to let the sun get to the porch (and considered removing it completely...), and then set up five large pots with Fordhook Giant Silverbeet, Rainbow Chard, Perpetual Spinach, Lacinato Kale, and Tatsoi seeds. *GASP!* The pots are artfully arranged with staggered heights on the porch steps. Artfully, I said. I do try to be stylish. ;)

We'll see if I can get myself some pots of greens growing before it gets too cold to germinate.

And, I consistently forgot to remember it was Easter, as I wasn't baking anything special or making chocolates. I did, however, bust open that big pumpkin I had harvested from the plots and baked up a few chunks, and decided that I've found the PERFECT pie pumpkin. Huge, thick, fleshy walls, relatively thin skin, nice dark orange flesh. Some pumpkin pie might be in our near future. I'm definitely saving the seeds. 

All in all, I hope your holiday weekend was a good one, and that your gardens are going well, and may everyone have an enjoyable upcoming season, whatever it may be.

The "Cage Free" Myth

Coles is so proud of their "cage-free egg policy" that they wrote an article about it in their free magazine, and I just couldn't stop myself from looking into it. They say, quote:

"We consulted many experts and set a target at 10,000 birds per hectare for cage-free layer hens. It was about finding a balance between egg affordability and welfare."

Oh really? I think you need better experts. Well, here's a bit of a heads up for you consumers: 1 hectare is 10,000 square meters. Do the math. That's one square meter per bird. (In contrast, the Free Range Farmers website page on Hen Welfare describe a 1500 hen limit per hectare to be considered free range for commercial producers, and all FRFA member farms have a stocking density limit of 750 hens per hectare.)

http://www.freerangefarmers.com.au/hen-welfare.html

Anyone who knows anything about chickens knows that they scratch at the ground and poke about for bugs, grass, etc. They tear up the ground pretty good in a few days. If you had *4* hectares and rotated the birds, you wouldn't have enough room to give the ground enough time to recover, to give the chickens the best possible grazing. They go on to say:

"It would be detrimental to drive down to lower density levels if it meant ending up with eggs costing six or seven dollars."

You mean... like the cost of your free range eggs? They vary anywhere from $5 to $7, depending on what brand you get. And, right back to the Free Range Farmers website, they say free range isn't as free range as you might think:

"The Egg Corporation admits that a third of eggs labelled as free range are from intensive farms, some with 40,000 and even up to 100,000 hens per hectare."

Can I get a big ol' WTF here? With a heaping side serving of "Why am I your customer again?"

It makes me wish I had the room to raise my own chickens.

So, consider this your consumer wake up call for the week. I, for one, will continue buying my free range eggs from the local guy, for 3 dollars a dozen.

Say Cheese... Part 1

So, my latest experiment has been making a sort of hard cheese without using cheese cultures like most hard cheeses have. It all started when I decided to try making ricotta salata, after I was given two liters of whole, un-homogenized milk by a friend cleaning out her fridge before she went on holiday. I followed the directions, but I do think they could have been a little clearer about the drying process.

I left the cheese to dry out on a plate in the fridge, rubbing it periodically with salt, as per the directions. I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I got was this odd, hard, crackly skinned yellow hocky puck type thing. It looked like something that had hitched a ride in from another planet. Not very appetizing looking, but it was certainly some kind of happy accident. Once I'd sliced it open, I realized that under the weird rind, the inside was a very smooth, fairly dry, salty firm cheese that was extremely tasty. Especially with fresh, homegrown cherry tomatoes. Oh yes.

Hubs demanded I make more of it. (Partly, I think, because he wants me to impress at the Saturday arvo dinner we're having with friends.)

So here I am, at round 2. I bought 4 liters of milk this time (four 1 liter bottles, same kind of milk; they were discounted!), and made two batches, following the same cooking directions. I did do it slightly differently at the end though:

I pressed them for a while in the ricotta basket, like the instructions said, but then I pulled them out, salted them, wrapped them in a single layer of cheesecloth, then pressed them again, using a small plastic cheese dip container saved from who knows when. I'd poked a few holes in the bottom of the container and weighted it.

Once firm, I pulled the cheeses out, placed them on plates, and I've been rolling them in salt and drying their plates periodically all afternoon. I'm going to see what kind of rind I can get on these babies by Saturday. Check them out:

The salt is doing a good job drawing out the extra moisture, though I think one did end up getting pressed longer than the other. One is a little softer to the squish (yes, that is an official technical term: a "squish" being the act of gently squeezing an object with the fingertips while attempting to avoid causing damage.)

One is already beginnign to show signs of developing the yellow rind. We'll see how it goes. I'll post an update on the day of reckoning. Oh yeah, and I guess I should post the recipe, shouldn't I? It's below.

Ricotta Salata

Whole Milk Ricotta

2L whole milk
1 tsp citric acid diluted in 1T water
1 tsp salt
1ml of calcium chloride

1. Add calcium chloride and salt to milk in a pot
2. Heat milk to 90C while stirring constantly. Once you have reached 90C, take pot off the heat.
3. Stir in citric acid.
4. Ricotta should start to curdle immediately.
5. Leave ricotta to cool 1-4 hours.
6. After 1-4 hours the ricotta should be firm enough to scoop into the draining basket.
7. Leave ricotta to drain 20 minutes in the basket before serving.  

Happy cheese making! 

Bring On 2013!

Well! The holidays are almost over, and here, on New Years Eve, I am left trying to find the words to write up a newsletter for everyone. I guess the best I can do is tell it like it is. :)

The best Christmas present I could have ever asked for was given to me with out any real fuss: my permanent partner visa has been granted! The next step in my immigrants journey is getting my dual citizenship set up. I look forward to an even more secure future now. :)

I achieved a few goals in 2012, and have more planned for 2013.

2012 was many things: it marked our second anniversary, my second year living in Australia, a three week long trip to visit home to see all my wonderful friends and family again, my goal of achieving at least some SS values. It was success in my garden, it was a renewal of old skills, and the learning of new skills. I had succeeded in sourcing suppliers of free range eggs and chicken, grass fed beef and, most recently, fresh milk. I had finally made some efforts at coming out of my usual seclusion to meet people and make new friends in the area.

I have all of these successes now to help me further build my confidence for the new year.

My goals for 2013 include building my much wanted cold smoker, building and establishing a top bar hive, increasing my garden yields even further (and perhaps finding more customers), finish my hand pieced, hand sewn quilt, finish sewing the doonas for winter bedding, make more friends and connections and, of course, continue learning all that I can. We also look forward to another trip home in September, assuming everything goes to plan, and we think it will.



I am happy. I have a loving husband who I'd do anything for and who I love with every fiber of my being, I have great friends, new and old, and I have great things to look forward to.

Here's hoping you all have a fantastic new year!

Don't Be Wasteful

Hey folks, Living and Learning here again, and I just want to point out some interesting facts to you about using off cuts. Off cuts being, of course, the pieces of an animal we don't normally think about using, what's often processed for you, so you never even get the chance to think about using them.

For instance, chickens don't just consist of wings, legs and breasts. They have necks, backs and feet (and, of course, organs), all of which are just as good for cooking as the other parts they market. You can simmer them for broth, soup, stock, the meat shreds easily for meals, sandwiches and snacks, the bones can be boiled until soft and then crushed and dried in the sun to be used as a garden additive, the feet are used to make broth as well, and the organs can be used in numerous recipes for extra yummy nutrition.

Here's what I did the other day. I had the wings, necks and backs left over from from those two roosters I slaughtered in my yard. I bunged them in Hal, my new stainless steel slow cooker with some hot water, and simmered them until the meat was falling off the bones. Then i pulled the meat chunks out, strained the broth, and while the onions, carrots, garlic, and herbs that I added to it gently stewed into a fragrant broth, I stripped the meat off the bones. Check it out:

All the stuff on the left is skin and bones. And on the right? That's all meat. You see that? There's a load of meat there. There's like, a meal for four. Sandwiches for lunch. Snack time heaven. And all that you can usually get for way cheaper at a store than you can buy a whole chicken for. Pressed for cash? Get the cheap cuts like this. (Granted, I did get these for free, but I did have to kill and process them on my own as well.)

Food for thought.

Gearing Up To Grow

Time for me to catch you all up on what I'm doing here. :)

Re: Snow Peas

I'd put up stakes around the raised box when I'd first sowed the combination of "Alderman" and "Mammoth Melting" peas wholesale. My reasoning was, well, this is an older packet of seeds and a new packet of seeds, so what grows, grows, what doesn't won't matter. The plants that are there now are about 12-18 inches high, and it helps that I tied bean netting to the stakes so they can climb on it. They are loving it.

Re: Nasturtiums and Calendula

All the nasturtiums and the one calendula plant I had planted in the garden box (with the peas) have over wintered splendidly, and I've got yellow flower heads already, and soon will have the orange, red and magenta blooms from the nasturtium. I've also started more calendula in the greenhouse, and more nasturtiums will follow. I'll attempt to sell the extra plants.

Re: Spinach and Silverbeet

The spinach is out of control. I don't have a row of spinach anymore, I have a freaking HEDGE. I'm going to let it go to seed, collect the seeds, and then grow more later.

The silverbeet has performed admirably for a plant that was strictly a volunteer. I'll be removing it though and growing it in rows instead, probably around the house.

Re: Garden Allotments

I am over run by weeds! Luckily, the ground is still soft, and they are relatively easy to pull. I think I'm going to do battle with the weeds by using black weed cloth to block them. Just weed the areas I want to cover, till them over with sheep poo or whatever, rake into mounds/rows, cover with the weed cloth and stake it down. Cut X's in wherever I want an opening for a plant, and away we go. Maybe cover with a bit of mulch.

Re: The seeds I planted before I left for holiday

They failed. Every single one. No chives, no chamomile, no red silverbeet. I was very disappointed. I am over it now, and plan to grown other stuff.

And, last but not least, I got more seeds!

Radish, Daikon-Miyashige
Silverbeet, Fordhook Giant
Silverbeet, Rainbow Chard
Capsicum, Purple Beauty
Chili, Hungarian Yellow Wax
Bush Bean, Borlotti
Bush Bean, Cherokee Wax
Runner Bean, Scarlet Emperor
Tomato, Hillbilly
Tomato, Cherokee Purple

I look forward to this new growing season. :)

Cheers!

How to Prune a Grapevine

My grapevine. It's about 25 years old, according to my husband, and as you can see, I haven't yet pruned it. Since it's still looking pretty dormant (no signs of swelling buds or other life) it's still safe for me to prune it back.

Pruning in the commercial sense basically "stresses" the vine, and encourages it to produce a larger yielding of fruit. Great if you are a vineyard owner, or wanting t

o make your own home wines.

Pruning in my case, though, means keeping the vine in a manageable state; grape vines especially are notorious for growing wildly in all directions in a huge mess, and since I am trying to train it on the fence to keep it tidy, this means I'm going to spend some time picking and choosing the direction I want it to grow in.

This requires clipping back last years growth.

 

As you can see here, this vine has grown in tandem with a honeysuckle, which, for the majority of it's years, was not to it's advantage. I cut the honeysuckle back severely about two years ago, and the vine has been doing much better. The honeysuckle seems to be doing just fine as well.

So! Here's what to look for when you're pruning.

The section of the trunk of the vine with all the stringy gray-brown bark is the older wood, usually two or more years old. Generally, this won't bear fruit, or even sprout much, though if you have a lot of grapes, you will encounter vines that throw out suckers like there is no tomorrow. Just scrape those off before they lignify (harden into proper fruit wood).

The brown lengths of stem are the fruiting wood. They are last years growth. Every nodule (seen as the slightly swollen "knuckles" along the length of the stem) is a bud. Now, I won't go into all the details about the buds, but what you really need to know is that if these are viable, they will sprout more greenery and stems.

You can control how the vine grows by choosing the buds you want to stay and cutting out the rest. This not only directs the vine, but gets rid of anything that would create much more tangled growth. (Another good idea is to have twine or green gardeners tape handy to secure the vine to your trellis/fence/stake and support it, while training it to grow in that particular direction).

 

 I'll use this section as an example.

What I have here is a forked section of old wood.

One section (seen growing off the bottom of the picture) peters out into a dead branch, has one small (less than a pencils thickness) stem which is sickly looking, and no other viable options.

The other fork is a short spur with two nice looking stems (look for ones about as thick as a pencil or a little more; they are generally going to give good results).

One stem is right at the end of the spur (you can just about see the dead, dry remnants of last years pruning), but the other is in a bad spot: too close to the branch and growing back on itself.

 

 So, that one that's growing close to the fork? Just cut it off as close to the old wood as you can.

 And, because the other branch of the fork ended in dead material and had only a sickly looking stem, just cut that section off too.

Prune your chose stem them to give it two or three buds, and then secure the branch of the vine where you want it. Continue with this process all over the vine until it's all pruned.

 You now have a vine that will grow relatively neatly, and still put on quite a bit of fruit if the season is good. I'll get a kilo or two of grapes off this skinny old vine.

 The pile of grape cuttings, reading for grafting or sprouting as you see fit.

Because I want have more grapevines growing along the fence in future years, I'm going to attempt to plant some of the stronger stems and see if they will sprout. If they do, I'll plant them along the fence and train them as I do the old vine.

Happy pruning, and have a great weekend!