Gardening and Cooking with Friends

It was lovely to spend the morning gardening and cooking with some friends from the permaculture group and with some friends from church who are interested in similar things.

Jody and Deeann weeding the cherry tomato jungle - and all the subsequent weeds, pruning the grape vine and harvesting what they could.

We spent the morning gardening, below you can see the other garden bed near the house weeded, mulched and the rhubarb plants were dug up, divided and replanted with soil food - horse manure and dynamic lifter! We then stopped for (a couple of pots of) tea and lamingtons, and then spent the rest of the morning cooking. Made sweet chilli and tamarillo sauce, posted about that one last week, bottled pears and demonstrated and discussed drying food. I am currently experiementing with my first fruit leather.

Jody really enjoyed bottling fruit and was very proud of her bottle of pears.

Working with 4 is so much more productive than one.

Thanks for those who came lending a hand. hope you had fun, and your cuttings grow well!

Have a lovely day xo

First prize at the show!

First I thought I would share my latest blackboard photo. We painted a blackboard in out kitchen, about the size of a door, where we can write messages, draw pictures, and of course ask others to contribute to the communal artwork. The latest one includes a picture I drew of a date J and I went on, a rainbow drawn by my neighbour, some scribbles by my 18m old nephew and my little toadstool...


It's now a clean slate and ready for some friends and guests to leave their mark....

To make your own blackboard, just buy some blackboard paint, pick a wall and paint about 3 layers of paint on... It's that easy. Paint is water based and works really well.


I also entered some produce and products at the local show this past weekend. I got first for carrot cake, zucchini, capsicum, roma tomatoes and plum jam, second for white bread, fancy bread (I made raisin toast) scrapbooking, set of cards and bottled mulberries in syrup.

Some judges have silly rules. I got nothing for the best collection of herbs, because a couple of mine were in flower, and only second for mulberries when I was the only one in the category because the jar wasn't full. I don't make these things to sit on a shelf and look pretty, I make them to eat! And with the herbs, the one they pointed out was Borage of which I only eat the flower... arghh. Someone needs to write a guidebook for entering things at the show...

Enough of my rant. I also got three highly commendeds for photos I entered, and I am going to use all the photos I printed as gifts to people through the year.

Lots happening at the farm... all 1/8 of an acre of it :)

I am loving having a strong set of arms (belong to my husband) who is happy to dig holes, move heavy things and is currently installing my fence between the lawn area and the vege garden area. All the posts are in now, just need two more recycled hardwood rails - from my BIL who is renovating his and my sister's house and ripped out some walls.

I have been busy in the kitchen...

Sourdough english muffins for breakfast this morning...

Sundried tomato and olive sourdough loaf....

And exciting to be bottling the first produce entirely from the garden! 4 size 20 jars of yummy rhubarb. I was given the plants from a special friend who was killed in a freak car accident shortly afterward and they are very special to me. This year I divided most of the original plants and they are doing so well. I always make sure I leave two leaves and one baby leaf on each plant when I am picking it.

Sourdough loaf (you need starter from a friend or watch multitudes of youtube videos on how to grow your own.

Feed your starter with a flour/water mix the night before

Before work the next morning....

1 cup starter

1 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar or honey (only if going to be a fruit loaf)

I put all these in a mixer with a dough hook and then add plain flour (mix of regular and wholemeal) until dough forms a lump and comes away from the sides.
Then place dough - still a bit sticky - in an oiled bowl and turn a few times to coat in oil (stops it drying out) Put the whole bowl in a plastic shopping bag and leave all day.

When you get home from work.

Tip dough (should have about doubled in size) onto well floured bench.

For a plain loaf - knead a minute or two then put in loaf tin

for a fruit loaf - knead a minute then use fingers to spread dough out into a rectangle. Sprinkle mixed fruit (I am using sultanas/raisings and dried plums at the moment) and 1 tsp mixed spice onto the bread, then fold it over and knead the fruit through a little. Place in loaf tin.

For a savoury loaf. Do the same but use sundried tomatoes and olives (no pits) chopped roughly and I use mixed italian herb sprinkle too. Place in loaf tin.

Leave for 1-2 hrs. (I have noticed that there is a warm spot just in front of my oven... not sure why, but tins go there while oven heats up)

Bake in a hot oven 200-220'c for 30-35 mins

Should pop out of tin straight away.

(loaves can also be made freeform on a pizza stone)

delicious toasted.... just had two slices of fruit toast to prove it.

Anyone have any other interesting sourdough recipes

Hannah xo

Kim Chee - a first experiment in fermenting.

Femented foods are very healthy for us, and were the original way of preserving food, as well as brine/salt preserving and drying.

Examples of some fermented foods are wine, vinegar, kombucha, tofu, miso, saurkraut, pickles.

Kim chee is the asian version of saurkraut and is really easy to make. I've had a recipe for ages and this week made my first batch. I got this recipe from Kendra Jane, who blogs at A sonoma Garden

She has the most beautiful photos and lots of posts with recipes and ideas.

1 head Napa cabbage, cored and shredded

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 cup carrots, grated

1/2 cup daidon radish, grated

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes

1 tablespoon sea salt

4 tablespoons whey* (or use additional 1 T salt instead)

Place vegetables, ginger, red chili flakes, salt and whey in a bowl and pound it with a wooden pounder or a meat hammer to release juices. (See picture of my kimchee mid mashing)

Place them in two quart sized glass jars and press down firmly until all the juices come up to the top and cover the vegetables. The top of the vegetables should be at least an inch from the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days at which time you can put it in the fridge or cold storage.

I only made a half quantity, and was very relaxed with the amounts of different vegetables. I don't think it will really matter. It's sitting on my kitchen bench fermenting away, and tomorrow it will be ready to taste and then refrigerate!

Kendra jane explains that you can get whey by draining a quart of yogurt (make sure it contains the good bacteria-we use Pavels) through a clean dishtowel for a few hours. If you do this overnight you’ll end up with more than 4 tablespoons, but it will keep in the fridge for up to 6 months. And you’ll also end up with yogurt cheese as a by product, which is delicious and makes a great alternative to cream cheese

I have also in the past gotten whey from making ricotta cheese which I have posted about here.

I also use the whey in my breadmaking, it adds extra protein which is good for the bread dough and for you!

I'll let you know how it tastes tomorrow! Ps, the onions, garlic and daikon radish were all from my garden!

A very Gardening Saturday

I had a wonderful weekend, visiting some friends (and their gardens).

Firstly thankyou to Sue, who came and found me at the Markets so that I could come visit her. Sue and I are both part of Aussies living simply, and it was great to meet her and her husband and see their garden and their home.

They have the most amazing stockpile, inside they have dried foods (they have adapted fowlers jars to vacuum seal their dried fruits and veges) bulk rice, groceries etc. They have bulk wheat which they grind themsleves for bread and scones in an electric mill. Under the house is the cellar with the bottled food.

They had a shed which they lived in while building their house, this was the preserving area, with converted shelves to hold hundreds of bottling jars, fowlers and pressure canning units, dryers and more.

Then the garden, which was full of food. They grow much more than they can eat and give the surplus to the local meals on wheels group. Her husband has a shed full of old engines and toys. I was so impressed I almost asked if they would adopt me. :)

Sue's Stockpile. Fruit, veges and soups. (She can bottle veges and meat as she has an american pressure canner, which can cook foods at much higher temperatures.

Sue's Garden, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, onions, broad beans. She has runs for the chooks, areas for berries that is netted in and an orchard.

What an inspiration! When I grow up I want to be like her.

Also on Saturday I went to Feedback, a gardening group based in Nthn Shoalhaven. They were wording on establishing a permaculture garden at a rural property that had recently been completed.

There was a large group, adults and children, and the garden was almost done by the time I arrived with my gift of banana trees and lebanese cress for the garden. We finished up the work and then went for a bushwalk.

The creek we crossed to enter the property, there was a causeway to get over.

The landscape was a mix of open paddocks and pristine rainforest. Some of the group are keen bushcare volunteers and were pointing out plants and picking up weeds to destry.

Imagine this for a view out your loungeroom window!

And sunsets like these....

Tempting, but I do love my house, and my crazy community.

After the walk we had a pot luck dinner, delicious with homemade sushi, dolmades, salads and curries. Thanks Janet for inviting me, I'll definately be coming back!

Lastly, I'll add in a photo from Sunday...

I went to my workmate's for lunch and after we ate, her husband decided to sew a cover for his new camera lens, I couldn't resist a photo!

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Hannah

Independance Days Update

Planted: Another salad bed: lettuces, rocket, basil, and more, Okra.

Harvest something: Oranges, Herbs

Preserve something: Grandma's Tomato Sauce

Store Something: Rice, Flour, Raw sugar, Oats and Sultanas from Food Co-op.

Manage Reserves: Bought up as rice is getting very hard to purchase, so I am a bit overflowing at the moment. I am gradually getting down to one of everything and using up mu multiples.

Prepped: Saturday I visited a friend's farm. It's organic, natural methods for animal management, and he works with at risk young people at the farm. Amazing. Check out A Taste of Paradise. Anyhow, Francis gave me a few bits of donated timber to take home and start making my chook tractor. I regrettably didn't take my camera, but I did play with horses, chooks and day old baby goats. (Cluckyness for the baby goats was definately going on - although seeing what they're like as teenagers in the next yard helped alleviate that feeling somewhat) I will go back soon and take photos I promise.

Went to the buy back centre at the tip yesterday. Got some bits of Reinforcing mesh for garden trellises, a mower catcher for nesting box - should result in cleaner eggs. and some metal roof ridgeing for the chook tractor.

Spent an hour with my neighbour Sunday pm starting to make the chook tractor, also recycling metal braces for the frame from his in-laws house building.

Worked on Local Food Systems: My old house mates bought their first fruit tree (haha, I would like to take full credit for inspiring that one, but I know her parents are gardeners too. I also did my regular shift at the local organic food co-op.

Reduced Waste: Re-using PET bottles as cloches over the veges. Photos in garden update this week.

Cooked something new: Mushroom Oven Baked Risotto (2 cups rice, 2 stock cubes crumbled, 2 cups mushrooms -I used the chinese dried style which gave it a great flavour and they soaked up well through the process - 2 tbsp butter and 5 cups boiling water. In a casserole dish with the lid on in the oven on med for 1/2 hour. Stir through parmesan cheese and serve.

Learned a new skill: Drilling through metal and cutting corruguted iron with tin snips.

Time flies when you're having fun.

I was recently out at Huskisson on a weekday with work and they were haveing a paper bag sale. Basically fill the paper bag they provide with clothes and soft items and the lot is $5. I got brand name jeans, black dress pants, lovely warm track pants, shorts, a skirt, a number of shirts and jumpers, a pot holder with chickens on it and this lovely apron. The skirt I have on underneath is the skirt I got in the bag. It's handmade, and fits like it was made for me.

This is the detail of the embroidery up close. I think it may have been machine embroidered, but not sure.

Some of my friends say they don't go op-shopping, because they can't find things that fit. Maybe I have an op shop figure (whatever that is) because I find it easier to find clothes that fit at the op shop than at the stores. You have to have an idea of what you are looking for and stick to things you actually need, but I love them.

Just thought I share some of my flanellette quilt. My mum made this for me, it's a kit she bought at one of the craft fairs, and it's divinely warm, and most beautiful autumny prints and colours. Thanks Mum

I had my neighbours around for dinner last week, and on thusday Alison gave me this painting she did of the night. The red flowers are Arctotis "Hannah" Which I had on the table, which is in the middle of the painting. The blue kitchen cupboards, which are growing on me, and the shelves where my plates are stacked.

And this weekend I made Tomato Sauce. This is an old recipe passed down from my grandma and it's divine. I got the tomatoes at $12 for the box (10kg) which is very reasonable. In the shops they are on special at $1.50 per kilo so I went to the local fruit and veg, and they gave em a discount for buying the whole box.

I did buy the bottles, but they were only $2 each and I can re-use them many times. The jam jar just fitted what didn't fit into the bottles and I'll give that to my old housemates who i'm having dinner with tonight, and they love the sauce too.

There's still half a box of tomatoes, I have a pasta sauce recipe I am nearly out of so I might make some of that up, but I'd have to buy the fresh herbs for it, as I don't have enough growing yet. Hmm.

In other exciting news, My harvest total reached 11kg today!!! (That's 24 Pounds) My goal is 50kg by the end of the year, and I think it is not such a crazy goal.