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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Back to Basics Week 2

I think I am a bit tardy in posting week 2 but here goes anyway.

Sowing and Planting:

Sowing
  • tomatoes- lots of varieties
  • chillies- paprika, tepin, habanero, jalapeno, black pearl, tabasco, siam
  • capsicum
  • eggplant- rosita, udumalapet, Thai green, black bounty
  • rosella
  • tomatillo
  • globe artichokes

Planting

  • 3 silver birch trees
  • 2 black currants
  • 1 thornless blackberry
  • 1 raspberry- Digger's gold
  • 1 blueberry-O'Neil
  • 1 jostaberry
  • 10 heritage apple trees- Beauty of Bath, Bramley's Seedling, Improved Foxwhelp, Sugar Loaf Pippin, Pomme de Neige' Irish Peach, Geeveston Fanny, Lord Lambourne, Worcester Permain, Keswick Codlin

Harvesting:

Broccoli, asparagus, snow peas,herbs, cauliflower, lettuce, flowers.

Planning for the future:

Organising our holiday. Planning accommodation and pet and livestock care.

Working for the future:

  • weeded the orchard
  • mowing
  • bought paint for house exterior (when the weather is fine again)

New Skill:

Patience when navigating the confusing world of booking holiday accommodation.

Tracy

Monday, September 20, 2010

Birthday

Today was my birthday. The only thing that would have made the day better would have been if the kids were home all day to share in the fun.A nice morning walk started the day. Tim and I hiked to the top of the local lookout and enjoyed the view.


We had a short rest before heading back home. Thank goodness I wore the sunglasses to mask the crowsfeet.

I received some lovely gift. From some of the ladies in my yahoo quilting group I received some lovely log cabin blocks. The gift above was not actually for my birthday but for the dishcloth swap on Jodie's blog but it arrived just in time for my birthday so it was just like a birthday present. Thanks to Janice, the dishcloths are lovely, the soap smells divine and who wouldn't love nasturtium and basil seeds?
Tomorrow I will be back to post my Back to Basics post, lots of planting has been happening here.
Tracy


Sunday, September 12, 2010

Summer seeds

After a fun morning around a campfire, cooking breakfast and boiling the billy for cups of tea, we came home and started potting seeds for our summer garden. Every year I think I will make an extra early start but every year, I leave it until the weather feels warmer. I just can't motivate myself to plant seeds when there are frosts and too much of the chill of winter in the air. Well, there are a lot of pots of seeds in the greenhouse now and as I am in a cool zone, it isn't too late for a head start on the warm weather.

Grace found a four-leafed clover while we were planting seeds and although I don't believe in good luck charms, I will take it as a good sign for things to come.
Tracy

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Spring in my step

That is how I felt today. Tjis morning at least. Tonight after a full day weeding and generally tidying up in the garden, my step is a little springless.I did pick a wee posy of flowers for the dining table. They smell lovely and are a great reward for a day of work outside. Much better than any shop bought bouquets.

Turkey egg and chicken egg
Today we had our first turkey egg of the season. It is always a sure sign that spring is here when the turkey hen starts to lay.
Tomorrow we are going to have a belated Father's Day celebration. A breakfast picinic and a bushwalk.
Tracy

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Back to Basics- Week 1

On my old, now defunct Sunny Corner farm blog, I participated in Belinda's Back-toBasics Challenge. It was a good way to record things in a succint format and also a nice way to find out what other food growers were doing. I have decided to join in again on this blog to keep me on track . I think it is the spring promise in the air that has planting, growing and gardening at the forefront of my thoughts.


My messy seed storage box

Sowing Seed or planting:

  • Cranberry red potatoes

Planning for the future:

  • ordering new dahlia bulbs
  • deciding which seeds to plant for this spring
  • deciding which lambs to sell and which to keep this year

Working for the future:

  • sorting and reorganising seed box
  • weeding vegetable garden in preparation for new plants/seeds

Building Community

  • working on my dishcloth swap for Jodie's swap

Learn a new skill

  • nothing new in the past week that I can think of.

Tracy

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Hospitality

My hospitality skills aren't tested very often but I always find myself lacking in this area. I think that due to our location (and probably my personality too) we don't entertain very often. In fact I can't remember the last time a non-family member crossed our threshold.

This week we played host to my sister and my nephew for a couple of nights. It was fun to have a few days of frivolity with my family from afar that I don't see nearly as much as I would like.

Afternoon tea, some assistance with a hairdressing issue and a semi-comfortable place to sleep was about as far as my hostessing skills stretched. I'm sure she will come back though.

I was even so terrible as to make her do some chores. Collecting the eggs in the places that are hard to reach and tending the sheep.
Having a home that is more inviting and friendly to others is something I would like to work on. I don't think I will be hosting any major events any time soon but maybe a morning tea or two could be a start.
Tracy


Friday, September 3, 2010

Spring weather, Spring dessert

The weather had taken a decidely spring-like feel but today has reverted back to wintery winds in preparation for some more predicted rain. I am at the point with the rain that I have to remind myself not to complain because it will be summer soon enough and we will be in need of a shower or two.
The mower has been in action for the first time since autumn because rain + balmy spring days makes for lots of grass (and weed) growth.

Back in May, I was thrilled with my son's Mother's Day gift to me. A Blood Orange tree. It may be many moons before I have any fruit off it but the lure of Blood Orange Sorbet makes the wait worthwhile. My usual sorbet recipe was in a folder so through sheer laziness, I looked on the internet instead. I'm glad I did. David Lebovitz's recipe is so simple, just a combination of sugar, juice and the ice cream churn.

Blood oranges are so juicy that there is very little waste. The pulp that gets through the juicer doesn't even need to be strained so it is about as healthy as a sugary, juice concoction can be.

The colour alone is irresistible. It is a pity the kids love it too because sometimes you just don't want to share.
tracy