Starting small again

I started doing things in my garden again.  Hooray!  I have my close friend Melissa Loh to thank for getting me inspired again.  She has only a tiny apartment balcony to grow on but has been harvesting a few things despite the space limitations.

I planted basil, chives, thyme and marigolds in my herb garden.

I admired the tenacity of the cherry tomato plants which just keep popping up everywhere in our yard/lawn courtesy of the previous tenants.

But just when I began to feel a sense of achievement and self-satisfaction with the beginnings of my garden... disaster came in the form of a local bush turkey.

That poor basil didn't have a chance.  A few of my marigolds were entirely yanked up out of the earth, root ball and all.   It appears that the cherry tomatoes are also all too tempting to Monsieur Turkey.  (Perhaps some resident possums may also have something to do with that particular crime as well.)

Another setback came my way also.  I planted seeds - a LOT of seeds - from my collection.  From catnip seeds to cosmos to three types of climbing beans. 

For weeks there was not any sign of life.  I put it down to a) seeds gone long beyond their viability date and b) really poor potting mix, the cheapest I could buy at Bunnings at 20L for $3, with no additional nutrient supplements.

But despite the worst possible start I could give them, a few broad beans (Diggers seeds) poked their heads out followed by a handful of 'mystery beans'. 

I planted out Purple King Beans, Butter Beans and plain green beans.  I have no idea which ones of the three sprouted into seedlings!  These little fellas grew up in the seedling pots locked away from Monsieur Turkey's domain. 

When I went to plant them out yesterday I decided they should go on the verandah upstairs to give them even a tiny hope of success.  Good luck little broad beans (pictured above) and mystery beans!

 

Do you have any wildlife in your garden that causes you grief?  

Other than netting everything, which I hate to do, does anyone have any suggestions on turkey control?

Unfortunately, Monsieur Turkey is a protected species in my local area so turkey death is not on the cards.

Worm Composting - What you Need and What Can Go Wrong

Ages ago I bought a worm farm and wrote a blog entry about becoming a worm farmer.

Since then I've had two lots of worms go to the giant worm farm in the sky above.  So you can say I'm well learned in the lessons on how NOT to worm farm.  Since we moved to our new home my worm farm has sat empty. 

But today a new batch of little squiggly worms were installed and I once again became a worm farmer.  This time a little wiser for my past mistakes.

When I told a good friend by text that the worm farm was up and running again, she replied that she might have to look into setting up a worm farm for her gardening husband.  So I thought it might be a good time to blog about all I know (not a great lot in the scheme of things!) about worm composting.


Why worm farm? 
I have covered this in my previous post so I'll keep it brief here.

• food scraps go into the worm farm instead of landfill.   When food scraps go directly into landfill they rot in a way that creates methane which has been linked as a contributing factor to climate change.
• the worms do their work on the scraps and produce worm castings (a fancy way of saying worm poo) which is actually super brilliant stuff for gardens.  Mixed in with soil it is a natural and high-performing fertiliser with nutrients galore for plants. 
• If you have a worm farm that is designed with a water catcher at the bottom, you also collect the worm pee and the nutrients that are washed down through the worm farm as a liquid fertiliser. 

What do you need to start and where can you source it? 

• The worm farm

The worm farm can be a commercial once such as the Can-O-Worms, the Worm-Cafe (both available at Bunnings) or it can be a home-made rig.

I opted for a commercially produced setup, the Can-O-Worms, which I paid $75 for at Bunnings.  (Today I saw the same thing for $63.)  If you are against large companies like Bunnings, you could try smaller gardening suppliers or track down a local composting products company or online seller of worm farms instead.

If you want to make your own at home it can be done very cheaply.  There are a stack of videos on this website showing a variety of ways to make your own, even one using styrofoam fruit containers.  If making your own the main considerations are to provide enough drainage and insulation, a solid and tight fitting lid to prevent nasties from getting in and, if possible, a method of catching the liquid fertiliser.

• The worms

First things first - you need composting worms.  Fishing bait worms or other worms just won't do the job.  You need redworms or tigerworms for composting. 

To populate your worm farm you should start with roughly 1000 worms.  If you have a large family or you tend to produce a large amount of kitchen scraps you may want to start with a larger number.

You can buy worms from a variety of sources.  You can buy boxes of worms at Bunnings and other garden stores in the composting section.  (Today I paid $48 for 1200 worms).   You can also look on gumtree or traderoo for local worm breeders who will sell you an amount of worms, often for a cheaper price than the prices you pay at Bunnings et. al.   Lastly, there are online suppliers who will ship worms to your door.

• Filler for the farm

Your worms will need some stuff to live in - it must be lose and easy for them to squiggle through.  In two of my farms I have used coir which they seemed to like very much.   When setting up the new farm today I was under-prepared so my worms will make do with the smelly mix of manure and soil they came in as well as a bit of potting mix and shredded newspaper. 

Coir blocks can be bought very cheaply from gardening centers. 

• A cover for the scraps

You will need some kind of thick, insulating cover to go ontop of the food scraps.  (This is different to the lid to the worm-farm which is designed to keep things dark and secure from nasties).  This dampened cover will help keep the farm moist and the worms will be more keen to visit the top of the farm and feast on your scraps.

You can be a sucker, like me, and pay the handsome sum of $9 for a special commercial worm mat or you can just use a thick layer of newspaper.   The newspaper has the added bonus that it will degrade over time.  My commercial mat has the bonus of a little handle to lift it up so I don't have to touch gross newspaper.  Yes.  I'm a sook.  

• A neutraliser (optional)

You can buy specialised powder to put into the worm farm which will help keep the conditions at the perfect pH for wormies.  I didn't bother with this in my earlier attempts but thought that I would use it this time.  Anything that helps this be successful for longer is welcome to me!   I bought this product from Bunnings (again, in the composting section) for $11.  Only a little is sprinkled into the farm each week so I expect it will last me for some time.

If you don't want to buy a specialised neutraliser you can also add a little bit of wood ash, dolomite or lime to the farm every so often which will do the same thing.


What is the cost of setup if you buy everything commercially?

All together, if I bought everything I needed for the worm farm at Bunnings (based on prices I saw there today) the cost of setting up a worm farm would look like this:

Worm Farm (Can-O-Worms) $63
Box 1000 worms  $48
Block of coir  $4
Covering mat  $9
Neutraliser   $11

Total - $135

The cost of this could be reduced to $115 by not buying the covering mat and neutraliser. Of course you can always make your own home-made farm setup to reduce the cost as well.

One thing you cannot scrimp on is the worms.  You do need to buy the full 1000+ worms.  Not a cheaper booster pack with only 500 worms.   That said, you may find that local sellers of worms (on gumtree or other classifieds) will sell composting worms more cheaply.   Check around!


What mistakes should be avoided?

All of these mistakes I have made. Learn from my follies!

• Don't keep the farm in direct sunlight.  Shade is necessary to keep the farm cool and moist.
• Don't feed the wormies citrus or onion scraps.  They don't like it, won't eat it and it will raise the acidity in their farm.
• Don't neglect to maintain the pH levels in the farm.
• Don't let the farm dry out.  Keep it all moist.
• If you find you are putting more scraps in than the worms can handle get a booster pack of extra worms.
• Don't just add the scraps and nothing else.  Occasionally add a spade or two of soil/coir/compost to the scraps.

There you have it!  A recipe to put together a worm farm and a nice list of what to avoid.

Hasselback Potatoes

There are so many things you can make with potatoes and so many different ways to prepare them. The humble potato, be it a floury white or a lovely pink,  is included in so many meals but usually as the extra, not the star.

So when I had two friends over for dinner on the first day of the new year I wanted to do something a little more fancy with the potatoes I was going to serve - hello hasselback potatoes!

Hasselback potatoes are so likeable - not just because I think of David Hasselhoff ('The Hoff') every time I say/read the name.  They only require a little extra work in the preparation but the result is a very impressive and fancy looking side dish.  Try them and see if you agree with me that they also make a delightfully well done roasted potato.

1. Take a happy potato.  Larger potatoes are better than small.
2. Peel that 'tater and cut him in half lengthways.
3. Oil/butter up a roasting dish.
4. With the flat, cut side down use a knife to slice across the back of the potato.  Don't cut all the way through the potato, leave about 1cm uncut so the whole thing holds together.  Repeat the slices across the 'tater's back at intervals about 1.5mm apart.  
5. Mix some herbs into mixed melted butter and a small deash of olive oil. 
6. Pause to think of The Hoff running down the beach in slow-mo, in red Baywatch gear.  Smile.  
7. Place the potatoes, flat cut-side down, on the prepared roasting dish. 
8. Brush the butter mixture over the backs of the potatoes.
9. Roast in a hot oven until the backs are golden brown. 
10. Serve up to satisfied friends/family/self.

Swiss Bircher Muesli - Summer's Porridge!

Over a year ago I watched an episode of 'River Cottage - Everyday' all about breakfasts.  Hugh talked about making Swiss Muesli the way it was initially intended, soaked overnight so that it is soft and easy to digest in the morning.   His recipe is here on Channel4 Food's website. 

I was intrigued but didn't get the chance to try it at the time.
Fast foward over a year to find me sitting in Mileto's Cafe on Chapel Street in Melbourne, while on holiday.  (Incidentally I loved this small cafe which had a comfortable, country feel to both the decor as well as the menu). While pondering the breakfast options I spied Swiss bircher muesli and decided that it would be a good, healthy and hearty breakfast to keep me fed for a while.

Out came my meal and it was love at first sight.  I mixed the puree, apple, yogurt and museli together and tasted it.  Wonderful!  I think I actually thought the words "I want to eat this every morning for the rest of my life!"   But then... I can be a bit dramatic like that.

Fast forward a little to a few days before Christmas when my parents accepted my invitation to breakfast with myself and Mr R at our new home.  I thought about what I could cook for them that would be a new experience and not leave too much washing up.  Swiss bircher muesli came immediately to mind so I set about finding a recipe that suited.  I ended up using this recipe by Food 52 because the addition of flax seed (linseeds) interested me and because toasting the oats and flax seeds as called for makes it a step up on the special rankings.  And Christmas day is pretty special!

I made a very minor change to the recipe in that I changed the hazelnuts for pistachios and instead of whole almonds I used flaked almonds.   Because I didn't change the recipe that much, I'll leave you to check out the original recipe on the Food 52 website.

But the general gist of how it came together was that I toasted the oats and ground flax seed and also toasted the nuts seperately.  The juice, almond milk and oats/flaxseed mix were mixed together, covered and left in the fridge overnight so the oats would gently soak up the liquids.  In the morning it had a consistency like thick porridge.   The toasted nuts are then stirred through the mushy muesli.

The muesli is served up cold in a bowl, with grated apple, yogurt and perhaps some extra fancy thing like blueberries, extra nuts or a pureed fruit or low-sugar jam.   Stir together and eat! 

Leftover museli mixture can be returned to the fridge, covered, for the following morning.  I like to make a half batch of the Food 52 recipe which lasts me two mornings.

I've since remade the recipe with other changes, such as using grounded wattleseed in place of the cinnamon and using pear instead of the apple.    When you think about it, there are so many combinations of sweet spices and toppings that you could do with this wonderful, filling and healthy breakfast! I've also remade the recipe without toasting the oats and flaxseed.  Though it did lack the rich, nutty flavour that toasting brings, it was still pretty tasty and a good alternative when you don't have time for fiddly toasting the night before.

If you make swiss bircher muesli, I'd love to see a pic, or hear how it went and if you enjoyed it as much as I did.

First Harvest of the New Garden!

Less than three weeks in our new home and already I've been able to make the very first harvest from my new garden.

On Christmas Day I made Apple Blossom Cooler, a refreshing non-alcaholic drink recipe by Margaret Fulton.  The first step of the recipe requires making a sugar syrup flavoured of cinnamon and mint.

As luck would have it,  the previous tenants had over 10 mint plants in the ring of herbs in my back yard.  This was the very first 'harvest', if I was to be pedantic about it.

Since then I have also taken oregano for homemade pizza from the herb garden, as well as a few more mint sprigs for a strawberry, ginger and mint cocktail concoction.

I also used my herbs as well as a cutting of cucumber leaves, flowers and tendrils for a herb bouquet to decorate my table for a tiny dinner party on New Years Day.

But supposing that some think that a 'harvest' should involve the picking of a fruit or vegetable,  the very first harvest from my new garden is this teeny cherry tomato!  It went into a small lunch salad the following day along with some beans picked fresh from my flourishing garden.

Not a big harvest by any means, and though it was all due to the hard work of the previous tenants I still had a little thrill and enjoyed eating something which I had plucked with my own hands.

But how about you folk?  How have your gardens been growing?  Have you been able to harvest any edibles from them lately? 

A New Home and New Plans

Why hello there!

I've been reminded about how long it's been since I wrote here.

And I have a new house (still renting) and new plans.

My husband and I were tired of spending so much money, time and energy on commuting to work (roughly 45-55 minutes each way by car and a minimum of a 20 minute car ride to the nearest train station.)  Mr R pointed out to me that the money we were spending on fuel, parking, wear and tear on the car, more regular services, higher insurance and use of the new Clem 7 tunnel could be put into paying higher rent for a place nearer the city.   Somewhere we could walk to work.

So we looked and looked and eventually the perfect house fell in our laps.

As of 3 days before Christmas last year (2012) we moved into a 1870s worker's cottage within a 30 minute walk to work for both of us.   The house is renovated but only in ways that retain the charm of the old building - so there are still charming old worlde elements around, like a double-shute fireplace, stained glass windows, old style light switches and sash windows.

I have moved the chicken mansion with us and have permission to get chooks.  So that's on the cards.

The garden I have inherited already has a small herb garden with mint, oregano and basil in it.  I hope to add more herbs and create another garden upstairs on the wide verandah, just outside my kitchen window for easy pickings.

Also in the garden are 3 banana trees, still young, a few cherry tomato bushes, a cucumber vine, some beans and a pumpkin vine.  I hope to add more veges to that list and add some companion plants and beneficial insect attractors.

The soil here is terrible and water drains straight down.  The previous tenants were trying to improve and build up the soil by mulching and keeping two chickens over the garden area.   I hope to work towards this goal as well.

My worm farm is going to be set up anew with a fresh batch of worms.  Between them and the chickens, most of my food scraps will be covered.

So- captured in a list, here are my goals in my new home:

1) Walk or cycle to work.  During drastic weather (major storms) use public transport.
2)  Set up the chicken run and get 3-4 chickens.
3)  Develop the existing herb garden
4)  Create a mini herb garden outside the kitchen sash-window on the verandah.
5)  Plant more vegetables.
6)  Build the soil quality on the property.
7)  Set up the worm farm and keep the worms fed and alive.
8)  Get back to meal planning again
9)  Get back to cooking meals again and return to wholefood cooking.
10) Get back to producing ingredients at home (eg. bread, herbs, eggs, veges, mayonnaise *wink*)

I hope you've all been prosperous in 2012 and have some exciting goals and projects to look forward to in 2013!

Yesterday was a Kitchen Sunday.  It felt good to have a Kitchen Sunday again after so long away from them. 

I meal planned in the early morning.

I then grocery shopped.

I made gingerbread cookies for morning teas at work this week. 

I made a split green pea soup (2 portions frozen and 2 in the fridge.)

I made yogurt for lunches this week.

I then made dinner following a recipe from an 1984 recipe book called "New Dimensons Recipe Book - A Vegetarian Guide to Health Foods" by Dr David A Phillips.

The recipe I chose was called Protein-Carotene Loaf and it is supposed to be high in Vitamin A.   Every recipe in the book has a small blurb which explains the nutritional value of the recipe as a whole and what certain ingredients add.   Most of the recipes also offer alternatives to change the recipe and serving suggestions.

I called this recipe 'Surprise Carotene-Loaf' because I was entirely surprised by how fantastic it tasted.  It isn't a very cheap recipe because of the addition of pistachios - however, the recipe's nutritional blurb states that pistachios have high levels of Vitamin A which most other nuts don't, hence it's addition here.

The finished 'loaf'.  Still beautifully orange inside but browned ontop.

Of course, true to form I tweaked the recipe.   I substituted bok choy for the silverbeet because a bunch of the latter was going to cost me $6 when a bunch of bok choy was a quarter that price.  I added almond meal - because I had it in the cupboard and it was due to be used up soon.  I substituted parmesan for most of the cheddar the original recipe called for because I only had a teeny bit of cheddar and heaps of parmesan.   So below is my (total guesstimate of some ingredients) rendition of...

Surprise Carotene-Loaf 
(altered from a recipe by Dr David A Philllips in New Dimensions Recipe Book, 1984)

•  10 leaves buk choy
• 500g carrots, grated
• 4 eggs beaten
• 150g pistachio kernels
• 50g almond meal
• 50g grated mozerella cheese
• 100g grated parmesan cheese
• 100g mushrooms - stalks removed
• A 'generous sprinkling' of saltbush herb (an Aussie Native herb) or other herb of choice. 
• 10g sunflower seeds

1) Preheat the oven to 180 deg Celsius.
Trim the white stalks from the buk choy.  Steam leaves until tender then chop finely.
2) Use a food processor or coffee mill to mill the pistachios into a fine meal.
3) Add all ingredients except the sunflower seeds to a bowl.  Mix well.
4) Brush the inside of a loaf pan with vegetable oil.
5) Press the mixture into the loaf pan, ensuring there are no air pockets. 
6) Sprinkle the sunflower seeds across the top of the loaf and press in slightly.   It will look like the picture below!

7) Bake for 45min to 1hr.  (The recipe called for 45min but I found it required another 10min in).