Zesty Zinnias

One of the few things going right in my garden has been my Zinnias.



They have been throwing up round little spots of bright Summer color here and there in pinks, deep oranges and dark red. Some of them are like little rounded pom-poms of petals while other have a mass of little golden stars growing in their center.


They are such joyful little flowers that I can't help but smile when I see them.

Disappointment

I've been quiet. I know!

I could blame it on a lot of things, such as the three weeks of working from home because of damage to my work building by the Brisbane floods in January. Or I could blame it on the frantic sewing I've been doing to get (too many) costumes ready for the Jane Austen Festival Australia that I will be attending in April.

But really, my quiet on this blog has been due to my recent failures making me feel miserable and very non-bloggy.

In the garden it has been one disaster after the other.

Gardening failures make me feel sad, droopy and
used up like this horrid little mushroom...

I got but one cob of corn from 8 plants and that was a slightly deformed cob with a strip of no kernels on one side.

I got only one zucchini from 3 plants before they all started dying from bad powdery mildew. I might have been able to save them had Rhys not mowed over the healthiest trailing one "by accident".

Then the powdery mildew moved to my white petti-pan squash which had been doing so well up to that point. And from there it moved to my rockmelon and watermelon plants.

My sunflowers all met an early death due to the awful weather.

Only a few of my carrots survived whatever was eating the seedlings off at the base (cutworm perhaps?).

My leeks were going nowhere at a very slow pace.

Miniscule onions (pulled up prematurely)
make me cry as much as the normal sized ones do....

I managed to kill my beautiful strawberry plant that had been so lush and healthy when I bought it.

Even worse, I managed to kill the chocolate pudding fruit (black sapote) tree which had been gifted to me by Christmas by my sister in law.

All the bronze fennel seedlings I neglected died in two short days, as did the tomato seedlings and roly-poly carrot seedlings I had bought from Bunnings on a whim.

My Loganberry plant was looking ready to give up the ghost. I don't think it liked being in the full Summer sun all day.

The holes in this leaf
leave a hole in my heart....

A marigold plant I had bought from Plants Plus to keep away the bad pests was eaten by... bad pests. (Nasty little grubs which chewed into the flowers like mad).

I discovered that the plants I had been nurturing, thinking them to be the gypsophilia I had planted, were actually common weeds.

The lavender I had planted by the front steps got a disgusting mould problem and died.

My Tigerella tomato plant seemed to be offering up one last fruit but it was a mutant tomato, with a tough skin just like a cracked old leather couch left in the sun.

Taking a 2nd place for making me miserable (narrowly beaten by the powdery mildew), was the infestation of bugs, grasshoppers and leaf hoppers which left holes in everything. EVERYTHING!


All in all, it's been terribly disappointing and has, of late, dulled my enthusiasm for gardening and not given me much blogging fodder.

But don't despair! I picked up the pieces and got to gardening today...

Oh Brother!

A dear and generous friend loaned me her backup sewing machine a long time ago. I recently decided it was well overdue the point where I should return it to her so I found at last I had sufficient justification to go and buy a new one.

The overhead bulb - brighter than the room lighting.

It sews.
It sews fancy stitches.
It lets me create my own fancy stitch designs and save them in the onboard computer.
It cuts the threads for me when I'm finished.
It threads the needle for me.
It tells me if I'm running out of bobbin thread.
It automatically winds the bobbin thread.
It has three different alphabet stitches.
If I buy an extra foot, it will cut the fabric as it overcasts... just like an overlocker.
It has a speed throttle that can be changed during sewing.
It is portable and light.



But wait! There's more!

The Brother Innovis 900. My new favourite toy.

It has an embroidery unit which is attached to do embroidery and appliques.
It has 70 onboard designs and a card slot.
It also can hook up to a computer so any designs purchased online can be used.

The first completed project of the machine - a small tea-time tablecloth for a friend.
It completed this design in less than 10 min.

I love it. I love it goooood.

From Little Things Big Things Grow.

I started gardening for a few reasons:

• to do my part in creating a more sustainable food industry/culture in Australia.
  
• to change my yard from all lawn (very unfriendly to bees and native birds) to a dream paradise where bees would flock and little native birds would find a haven. This perhaps is a pipe dream...
  
• the sheer joy of watching things grow under my care.
  
• to put fruit and vegetables on my plate that had not been sprayed with chemicals
• to eat vegetables and fruit that are not stocked in the supermarkets. Chocolate pudding fruit? Purple carrots? Chocolate Brown Capsicums? Yes please!
• to help keep these heirloom varieties live by learning to save seeds.

The last four points are why I grow from seed.

Growing from seeds amaze me. I am fascinated by the way that each seed has it's own different shape, needs, germination rate. Did you know that the seed from palm trees can take up to three years to germinate while zucchini seeds can take less than a week? Some seeds will only germinate after a period of frost, others after being exposed to smoke or fire. I think that's very cool.

When I grow from seed I know that the plants produced haven't been feed chemicals or non-organic fertiliser.

But best of all is the exciting varieties of plants that I can get when buying seeds. Even the major seed companies like Mr Fothergills and Yates are now producing seeds for exciting and heirloom varieties.

So, if you care to have a try at growing Red Rocket carrots, oka, Acerola cherries, green tea, white eggplants, Banana passionfruit or Dark Opal Basil here are a few sources of seeds within Australia that stock seeds for both traditional varieties, as well as some you'd never have imagined existed!

Though I have listed some companies that are stocked by local suppliers like Bunnings, Plants Plus, K-Mart etc I encourage you to support the other little guys who are locally producing seeds and started the heirloom (a.k.a. heritage) seed market.

Be warned! Seed collecting is addictive!

Seed Suppliers Often Stocked at Garden Centers or Stores
(All have websites with excellent gardening information and advice.)

D.T. Brown
Cheap and good value. Usually stocked by Crazy Clarkes and the Reject Shop. I have had much success with them. (Imported from UK).

Mr Fothergills
Well priced. Usually stocked by Bunnings. I have had reasonable success with them.

Yates
Reasonably priced. Usually stocked by Bunnings, Plants Plus, K-Mart etc.

Johnsons Seeds
Reasonably priced. Usually stocked by Bunnings. Not much success with their seeds so far - catnip had zero germination. (Imported from the UK).

(I have a large number of 'Grower's Pride' seeds however this is only because Bunnings were dumping their stock at 99c/pkt. A good and reliable brand but I haven't seen it anywhere else.)



Websites
(Check websites for details but most produce seeds organically and all produce seeds locally so they are better suited to Australian weather than imported seed.)

Diggers
This company forged the way for seed saving and heirloom varieties in Australia and are strong advocates of organic gardening. They have a massive range of heirloom seeds and a 'diggers club' you can pay to join to get free seeds and seed catalogues throughout the year. I have used them heavily with varied success but find that I have a LONG wait for my seeds to arrive - so plan ahead!

Eden Seeds
I haven't used this company yet but they have a good reputation and a great range.

Green Harvest
I haven't used this company yet but they have a good reputation and a great range. Extra love to them for being one of the first to sell a 'beneficial insect' seed mix (i.e. seeds for plants that will attract the good bugs to your plot).

Cornucopia Seeds
I haven't used this company yet but they have a good reputation. Their range often includes varieties missing from the other's sites.

Rangeview Seeds
I haven't used this company yet. They aren't one of the 'bigger' online companies so I haven't read much about them on the online communities. Very well priced.

Greenpatch Seeds
I haven't used this company yet. They aren't one of the 'bigger' online companies so I haven't read much about them on the online communities. All seeds are organic.

Lambley Dry-Garden Nursery
All plants in the Lambley Dry-Garden (and stocked in their online store) are selected because they survive and thrive in dry conditions and require very little water. There are some very stunning varieties with blooms of all colours. (Be sure to check out their gallery of the gardens!)

Pleasance Herbs
I haven't used this company yet. They sell only herb seeds but have an enormous range.



Ebay Sellers
(Note - I haven't used any of these. None offer any varieties you cannot get from the above suppliers. However, some people are comfortable with the ebay process and they can be very well priced so I've included them here.)

Little Miss Seedy
Excellent range - particularly of heirloom tomatoes.

Seedy Lady
Small but interesting range.

Heritage Seeds International
Excellent range.

The Great Mayonnaise Debacle.

I had squeezed the very last splurt of mayonnaise from the squeeze bottle and my menu plan for the next fortnight included two meals that used mayonnaise. It was time to buy more.

Inspired by the 'Real Food' challenge on Not Dabbling in Normal I decided that I would make my mayonnaise from scratch. It would be healthier without all the preservatives, it would have a more traditional feel to it and I would feel better for having made it myself.

Or at least that was the plan.

The following debacle unfolded on Facebook so enough talk from me. I let the disaster speak for itself.







The big lesson here is this:

Though adding extra ingredients to a failed cooking endeavor may work sometimes it is not always the best way to go. Lemon essence? Really!

Project Use-Up-The-Ham Part 1

This year my family had a large Christmas dinner with all of my Dad's side of the family there as well as all my brothers and sisters, their spouses and children. It ended up being close to 30 people... thank goodness it wasn't hosted at my tiny house!

This year the responsibility of buying the Christmas Ham fell to me, a task I didn't take lightly. Knowing the number of people due to come and the healthy appetite of the clan I bought a decent sized smoked ham leg for $60.

As is usual with Christmas dinners there was a lot of leftovers. My ham was returned to me with less than a quarter of it gone. Enter Project Use-Up-The-Ham!


PROJECT USE-UP-THE-HAM

Objective:
To use up the entire remainder of the Christmas ham in exciting and different ways (i.e. not ham sandwiches every day for a month).

Important Information:
Ham will keep for some time given it is stored correctly. One of the best ways to store ham is in a ham bag (a.k.a a calico bag) which has been soaked in a mixture of 1L of water and a cup of white vinegar. The vinegar acts as an antiseptic while the soaked bag stops the ham from drying out.

The ham bag needs to be re-soaked every few days.

Progress so far:

To date the ham has been used for a number of meals including:

• ham and salad rolls.
• homemade pizza with ham, capsicum, onion and tomato toppings.
  
• diced ham included in a bento box for lunch
• other, more exciting, options below.

Boxing Day Soup


Don't be fooled by the curious name. It is pretty much just a variation on pea and ham soup.

It uses:

• whatever mix of pulses and grains are in your pantry in the place of the split green peas. (I had split green peas, some red lentils and brown rice).
• whatever soup vegetables such as carrots, celery, leek, turnip, swede etc. you have available.
  
• Salt, pepper, a bay leaf and some dried herbs. (I used whole peppercorns, thyme and basil.) either vegetable or chicken stock.
• Smoked ham diced in the stead of the usual ham bone scraps.
  

I put all of these ingredients cold into the slow cooker and let it stink my house up for half a day. And there you have Boxing Day Soup.



Italian Omelette
(adjusted from a Family Circle Recipe- Pasta Cookbook)

Bad photo of excellent food. Italian Omelette went so quickly this is the only shot I got of it.

Again, this recipe has a deceiving name. This is nothing like a traditional omelette. It is closer to a frittata.

• 2 tab olive oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 125g ham diced finely
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked spiral (or other short) pasta.
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup grated gruyere cheese
• 1 tab fresh basil chopped
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese.
  

Heat half the oil in a frypan. Add onion and cook over low heat until soft.
Add the ham and cook over low heat for a few minutes. Transfer to a plate.

In a bowl, whisk eggs, milk, s&p together. Add the cooked pasta, parmesan and gruyere cheese, herbs and onion/ham mixture.
Return the omelette mixture to the same fry-pan, top with cheddar cheese and cook over low to medium heat until it has started to set. Put the fry-pan under a grill to set the top of the omelette.

The mix of the three cheeses really made this dish sing. The photo doesn't do it justice at all. Dan and I both went back for seconds and I ended up with no leftovers!



Honeyed Ham For Breakfast



Honeyed ham is, in one word, delicious.
Honeyed ham for breakfast is just plain decadent.

Cut off chunks of ham.
Heat either olive oil or butter in a saucepan.
Add the ham and a generous dollop or two of honey.
Fry the ham in the honey mixture until golden brown.

Best served with toast and egg with a cup of tea on the side. Oh yeah!



Ham and Vegie Fritters


When my mum heard of Project Use-Up-The-Ham she offered her suggestion of fritters. This is a family favorite to make use of leftover roast and I can't count the number of times I had fritters for dinner as a child.

• 1 egg
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 onion finely chopped
• pinch salt
• 125g ham diced finely
• 1/3 cup peas
• 1/3 cup corn kernals
• oil for frying.
  

In a bowl, beat the egg and milk. Stir in all other ingredients.
In a frypan, heat olive or vegetable oil over high heat. Once sufficiently heated, drop two to three tablespoons of the fritter mixture into the oil. Fry each side until golden.

It is imperative that these are served with an emoticon (smiley face etc.) of tomato sauce.


I failed at frying the first batch because I didn't have the temperature high enough or wait until the oil was ready before adding the batter to the frypan. My second batch was more successful. Remember that you are frying these.... they should be golden and crispy and not the consistency of pancakes (though they taste pretty good that way too!)



End report:
With a large amount of the ham now gone I am still looking for ways to use up the last of it.

Suggestions so far have been a ham-based carbonara and fried rice.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for completing Project Use-Up-The-Ham?

Impatience

I planted alpine strawberry seeds a LONG time ago. It didn't take too long for little seedlings to germinate. I cheered them on, all the while thinking of the delightful, juicy, plump strawberries I would pluck from them once they had grown.

But that's the problem - they've never grown more than a few millimeters tall.

Today, while partaking in the joy that is shopping at Plants Plus in my local area (hooray for supporting small business!) I noticed some strawberry plants begging to be taken home for just $3.95.

So I caved because I'm sick of waiting for this...

(Do you think I have a future in hand modeling?
Keep an eye out for these fingernails in the next dishwashing detergent commercial!)

to turn into this...


I am trying to work out where I've gone wrong with my seedlings. I know I planted them in the correct season according to the packet. They were planted in coir (shredded coconut fibres) with no other soil or additives so perhaps there is a severe lack of nutrients. It could be that they require sun and I've kept them too shaded or perhaps the strawberry plant is just a slow grower.

I may try to transplant the weeny seedlings into a better, more nutrient filled soil tomorrow to see if this helps them along at all.