Early Harvest

Well, we are starting to pick!  Have had some beautiful strawberries and a small crop of peas.  Think I may have been a bit early planting the peas as they are kicking on again now and I didn't get a lot at the first harvest.  here they sit in their colanders amongst the herbs. It's a happy little spot.

Well I've gone from this...

to this..................

See how the snapdragons are protecting the stalks of the celery?  Hopefully should get some nice succulent stalks, not too woody!  At least that's the theory!!

The jury's still out regarding the hanging baskets though.  They are a good idea if you don't have the space but they get very dry.  I have to water them twice a day at least and the plants are quite some with small yields.  BUT, it is early in the season so I'll wait and see what the warmer weather brings.  Forever hopeful!

The cabbage doesn't seem to mind the cosy place though!!

While the lettuce and spinach over on the other side of the back area seem to be flourishing!  Maybe a bit protected over there?

It's All Happening

Finally the hen house is done!  What started out as a simple improvisation has turned into a labour of love to produce the most amazing "Poultry Palace".  And so it shall be named!

And here come the "girls"!

Not quite pullets but nearly there.   Hope none are roosters!

Spring is here, the garden emerges!

Well isn't this warm weather inspiring?  I've had my hands in manure  and have been preparing the planters and pots for my little baby seedlings.  Some are now ready and others gaining strength daily! How amazing are those custom built planter boxes?  All recycled, even the paint is second hand - bartered from a neighbour.

These are some that are in but you can't see the potatoes - they are yet to emerge of course.
The large planter behind has some lovely beans plants but you just can't see them very well from this angle. But look........

a little baby tomato!!!  Hello, welcome to my garden!

Check in again in a few weeks to see lots more. (BTW, I got my hanging pots from the Reject Shop for $4 each - about $20 at Bunnings!!) 

Bread Addiction!

WOW! Since I've discovered that can actually eat my bread I can't stop eating it!  Free of chemicals and made with the finest flour it's not only yummy but very healthy.

Even with my salicylate sensitivity I can eat this bread and I'm making up for lost time!

Last loaf I bought was on June 5th!  Trouble is a loaf doesn't last long.  Think I will soon start making them in pairs.

Chook house here we come!

Today I've taken the first step towards creating a back yard hen house.  This will be a 5-star hen house with lots of room for just a few lucky "girls".

I said in my profile I'd be converting a cubby house into a hen house so today we have Stage 1.

The hayloft!

What was an unfinished cubby, turns out to be an advantage as it is perfect without walls.

So, plans are under way (with much contention), to design the coup.  Part of the underside will be walled off for a safe night haven including perches and nest boxes.

There will be an extended run to the left fenced with wire.

All suggestion welcome! 

Culinary Genius!

Hey! Don't you just love it when you take risk by cooking up something creative and different and it works?  Last night made a seafood pie, (ignore the date above, it is Monday now!) never having had one or seen one made and it was scrumptious!  Didn't think to take a pic till we were well into the meal so these are a bit ho-hum!

It was all done with fish "left-overs" from the night before would you believe?  We'd had a family get together for Donna's birthday and I also did some experimenting there too!  Made some canapés and had some extra mixture of the garlic prawn one. Can't remember exactly how I made it but I did use green prawns, fresh garlic, spring onions, fennel and that's all I remember, sorry!

Just sautéed that till tender and added enough Tofutti and Philly cooking cream till it looked right.  Whizzed it up and there you have it, a nice thick filling!

Also had some fish left over. I just dried the fillets and dusted them in flour before lightly cooking them in a spoonful of oil. BTW, they were yummy served on a bed of basmati rice and topped with some sautéed greens. (Leeks, spring onions, fennel, celeriac and fresh garlic).

OK, so one left over fish fillet and the prawn mix them became a seafood pie!  How you ask?

Threw together a quick pastry with lots of butter, organic plain flour and a tsp of lake salt and rubbed it till crumbly.  Didn't bother about chilling it. Just rolled it and baked it for 10mins or so.

Sauteed similar greens as above and a touch of carrot.  When cooked I added the fish which was broken into small pieces and the prawn mix.  Once again, enough Tofutti and cream to make a gooey mix and poured it onto the flan.  A topping of sharp grated parmesan cheese was the finish.

Decided not to cover the pie and cooked it in mod oven till golden. Voila!  While I was doing this I also had a loaf of bread on the go. Must be nearly 2 months since we have bought bread!

Feeling quite intrepid now, wonder what I'll try next?

The Proof is in the Eating!

There's no point in making yummy food and not sharing it!  It's been a great success at home but today I invited Heather and Toby over for lunch.
Home made chicken soup with toasted home made bread. The German grain bread was great to dunk and even better with jam.  Heather preferred the white which I must say was very special.

Toby chose blackberry jam but next time I'll offer my own pear jam.  When I get super organised I'll do a step- by- step blog on how easy it is to make jam.  And you know it works out much cheaper then the bought stuff.
Thank heaps Heather for your expert advice with setting up my blog. Hey everyone see my nice , new additions?  You can follow me now!

Big Effort in the Kitchen Today!

On the road to recovery from the belly bug. Much of the success may I just say, comes from easing my system gently with a few bowls of my totally home made chicken soup. (Some lomotil and buscopan helped a little too!).

Bought myself a master chef style stock pot and 6 chicken carcasses and voila! Chicken stock.  Today after straining the stock through a colander (in preference to a sieve) I added fresh veggies and whole chicken breasts to produce the most scrumptious soup ever!!  Because of my food issues, NO herbs or spices were added, just a hint of parsley at the end and lake salt.

But, I added something NEW and EXOTIC instead!  Celeriac.  WOW! What an amazing little veggie. At $5 a pop I was hoping it was gonna be good and I was not dissappointed.

If anyone is interested in the recipe from start to finish I'm happy to oblige! Got some cool pictures of my carcasses!!

Aaaagh!  Trying to get my head around how to drive this blog!  Just lost everything, but I am proud to say, I didn't close or log off or anything AND I FOUND IT ALL!!!  How cool is that!

Anyway, just wanted to whet your appetite with my bread.

These are 2 small loaves made in tins. But could have made a large one or a big cob with the same amount of flour.  Nice and warm for Jarrah's afternoon tea!   More of that another day. See ya!

Sunny day in the garden

Well, what a beautiful, sunny and warm winter's day today!  Since I'm just recovering from the dreaded "bug",  thought I'd go out into the garden for some healing!  And why not?  It's time to think about spring planting.  Last year I started with seedlings but it did prove a bit expensive.

So, this time I'm "walking- the- talk" and raising my own seeds.

Always looking for ways to save money AND recycle, I've come up with a few ideas for seed planters.

If you look closely you'll see half milk bottles (1Litre and 2Litre), hubby's cracked tea cup, one of last year's pots from the nursery and some egg cartons.  

I like the egg cartons as you don't have to pull the baby seedlings out, just plant the lot!  I pushed holes in the bases and used the edges of the carton to splice into place to make dividers. This gives more depth to the cup.  They are sitting on the lids or scrap cardboard to reinforce the base so it doesn't fall apart. Go easy on the watering so as not to make them perish too soon. 

With the bigger seed pots I have a fine sprinkling of seeds and will later separate them. I did chives, dwarf beans, carrots and lettuce.

But in the egg cartons, I will be carefully planting just 1 or 2 seeds so that I don't have to handle them. The theory is, I can gently separate each cup and plant them intact!  The carton will be quite soggy by planting time and should break down nicely!  Here's hoping!

Not too sure what I'll put in them tomorrow, got to choose something that doesn't need too much depth.

Also tomorrow, I'll be painting the timber plantar box.  It was made with recycled untreated timber so it needs more protection.  Hopefully my husband will soon finish the 2nd box and I can get started with bed preparation!

So, it's off to the paddock up behind our place to collect some manure.  You can but bags quite cheap along the roadside in a lot of towns where there are small hobby farms or backyard animals too.

BTW, just as a sneak peak, I made some bread this morning, but more about that later!  Hope you're hungry!

Coming Soon....Urban Veggie Patch

Just a little teaser for you. This was last year's crop!

 Peas, carrots, lettuce, leeks and potatoes!

I'll be posting lots of ideas to help you set up your own urban backyard patch of veggie goodness and other great DIY tips and green living solutions. 

See you soon, Jenny.