I noticed some of the prices of produce at the shops today, and have had a look at what I have picked from my garden. Hopefully this will inspire you to grow your own if you don't already.
Tomatoes at $3.99kg - I have picked about 3.13kg this season, worth $12.50. The seedlings were free, but I had to buy cow manure, seasol and fertiliser to look after them.
Zucchini are also $3.99kg - I have picked about 5 kg so far, worth $19.95. I don't remember how much the seedlings cost, would have only been a few dollars. Once again, planted in cow manure and have used seasol and fertilers on them.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Time to start planning the next stage of the garden
I have been getting quite a bit of produce out of my garden, and have been enjoying the fresh produce. However, I have noticed that some things are starting to die off or go to seed.
My lettuce has gone to seed, as has my parsley. My sweet corn and sunflowers are dying down... so it's time to think about my autumn/winter crop. I will be considering rotations crops and companion planting, so will allow the sweet corn and sunflowers to die down so they add nitrogen into the soil ready for the crop that will go in after them.
However, as some things are reaching the end of their life, other things are just fruiting. I have some rockmelons growing now, and have noticed some baby eggplants as well. I hope they reach maturity so we can enjoy home grown rockmelons and eggplants!
Growing sweet corn
I have learnt quite a bit about growing corn over the last few months. The first thing that comes to mind is location, location, location. I planted 8 sweet corn along the southern end of my back yard, and one over near the western fence. I thought the southern end would be a good spot for them, as they would get the northern sun. I was wrong. They are shaded by the shed to the east of them, as well as the trees right behind them, stopping the summer sunlight that would be going straight overhead. So they are shaded most of the day. The one over near the lemon tree is not shaded by anything, so gets sunlight most of the day. In this photo you can see the size difference in the corn cobs of the one picked from the southern fence compared to the one near the western fence.
You can also see that the small one is irregular, while the large one is full of kernels and looks much more appetising.
The sweet corn have now reached the end of their season, so here is my plan for the next time I plant sweetcorn:
Plant over near the western fence and make sure they have lots of sun.
Start early in the season so that I am more likely to get a few more ears of corn off them before they die off. I planted these in mid to late November last year.
Fertilise regularly as they are heavy feeders.
You can also see that the small one is irregular, while the large one is full of kernels and looks much more appetising.
The sweet corn have now reached the end of their season, so here is my plan for the next time I plant sweetcorn:
Plant over near the western fence and make sure they have lots of sun.
Start early in the season so that I am more likely to get a few more ears of corn off them before they die off. I planted these in mid to late November last year.
Fertilise regularly as they are heavy feeders.
Reasons to get to know your neighbours
Many years ago I worked in a job where I had no private life. When I left that job, I valued my privacy so much that when I bought a house shortly afterwards, I raised the fence (taking it from a four foot fence to a six foot fence) and didn't get to know my neighbours or talk to them much, if at all. One day I came home from work to find the police at one of my neighbours house. The cops came over and asked me how long it has been since I had seen him. I said his cat had been over and crying at my door each night for about four weeks...it turned out that is how long my neighbour had been lying dead in his house! I quickly realised that overprotecting my privacy had a downside - I didn't know or look out for the well being of my neighbours.
I now live next to two fantastic neighbours, and have realised there are many benefits. If you don't know or talk much to your neighbours, here is some food for thought:
1. My neighbours always look out for my safety and keep an eye on the house when I am out. They aren't sticky beaks, but do take note of who comes to the house when I am not here. They are also concerned whenever I am not well.
2. Both neighbours either side have fruit trees and vegetable patches, and give us the excess produce and seedlings. They supply us with lovely peaches, persimmons, lettuces, silverbeet, etc. Sergio gave me 6 tomato seedlings which are now in my garden and supplying us with lovely, fresh tomatoes. In the past I have given them jam made from the fruit they have given me. Now I have enough produce in my garden that I may also be able to give some to them. This photo is of the peach tree from Jim's yard that hangs over our fence. On the weekend we picked two lovely peaches.
3. Whenever we go away they are always happy to feed the dog (if we don't take her with us), put our bins out for collection, collect the mail and look after the place.
4. I know that if I ever have to nick out quickly while Brendon is sleeping I can always ask Beri to watch him for a few minutes. I have only done that once, but wouldn't hesitate to ask her again if I had to.
5. The chats over the fence are always wonderful. We have developed a good relationship with neighbours on both side, and do occassionally chat to the ones behind us, but don't get to see them quite as much.
6. I have found that neighbours and friends often have knowledge that I am after. Sergio has shown me what to do with my olives, and Beri and I have often swapped recipes over the fence.
7. I would certainly notice if I hadn't seen these neighbours for 4 weeks! I feel safe knowing they are looking out for me as I am for them!
I now live next to two fantastic neighbours, and have realised there are many benefits. If you don't know or talk much to your neighbours, here is some food for thought:
1. My neighbours always look out for my safety and keep an eye on the house when I am out. They aren't sticky beaks, but do take note of who comes to the house when I am not here. They are also concerned whenever I am not well.
2. Both neighbours either side have fruit trees and vegetable patches, and give us the excess produce and seedlings. They supply us with lovely peaches, persimmons, lettuces, silverbeet, etc. Sergio gave me 6 tomato seedlings which are now in my garden and supplying us with lovely, fresh tomatoes. In the past I have given them jam made from the fruit they have given me. Now I have enough produce in my garden that I may also be able to give some to them. This photo is of the peach tree from Jim's yard that hangs over our fence. On the weekend we picked two lovely peaches.
3. Whenever we go away they are always happy to feed the dog (if we don't take her with us), put our bins out for collection, collect the mail and look after the place.
4. I know that if I ever have to nick out quickly while Brendon is sleeping I can always ask Beri to watch him for a few minutes. I have only done that once, but wouldn't hesitate to ask her again if I had to.
5. The chats over the fence are always wonderful. We have developed a good relationship with neighbours on both side, and do occassionally chat to the ones behind us, but don't get to see them quite as much.
6. I have found that neighbours and friends often have knowledge that I am after. Sergio has shown me what to do with my olives, and Beri and I have often swapped recipes over the fence.
7. I would certainly notice if I hadn't seen these neighbours for 4 weeks! I feel safe knowing they are looking out for me as I am for them!
Zucchini Cake Recipe
I have lots of zucchini's in my garden at the moment, so here is a lovely cake recipe using the fresh zucchini's that I have growing. This cake is delicious.
Ingredients;
3 eggs
2 cups castor sugar
250grams butter, melted
2 cups grated zucchini with skin
3 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bi-carb soda
3 tsps vanilla essence
3 tsps ground cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Method:
Beat eggs until light and fluffy, add castor sugar and vanilla essence and beat until sugar is combined. Then beat in melted butter. Stir in zucchini, sift in flour, baking powder, bi-carb soda, cinnamon and add walnuts. Cook at 180 C or 350F for 35-45 minutes. Makes 2 loaf tins.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Home gardening economics.
This morning I took a bucket out to the vegie patch and picked about 2kg of produce. It felt great to do it. I have been recording how much I have been picking from my garden so I can work out how cost effective it is. If you check out the My Garden page, I will update the amounts there. So far I have collected around 15 kg of produce. My tomato bushes have yielded 1.7kg, at about $5 per kilo in the shops that works out to be $8.50. I have picked 7 zucchini's totalling 2.5kg, so I will be interested to check out how much they cost the next time I am in the shops.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Cheap and Cheerful: Madura Omlettes
I invented this recipe while staying overnight at the lovely caravan park at Madura on the Nullabor Plain. It really is the most picturesque spot, an oasis in the middle of the desert.
This recipe is a great way to use up the remaining oil in the jar of sundried tomatoes,once you have used the sundried tomatoes up that is. Usually the sundried tomatoes are in oil, garlic and other herbs that give the oil a lovely flavour and aroma. Since making these Madura Omlettes, I always reserve the oil left over from sundried tomatoes to fry onions for bolognese sauce, etc.
Ingredients:
Left over oil from seasoned sundried tomatoes
2 eggs
about 1/4 cup wholemeal flour
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
sprig of fresh parsley
firm tofu (quantity ?, however much you like)
little bit of canned corn
1 mushroom, diced
little bit of milk
Method:
Fry the onion and garlic in the oil. Mix all other ingredients together into a bowl until it is the consistency of thickened cream.
All oil mixture into the bowl and whisk together. Put back into frypan and cook, flipping once.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
January Garden update
Here are some photos of what is happening in my garden. The sunflowers are now in bloom and look lovely, although they need staking as one is leaning over. We have been picking lovely zucchini, tomatoes and strawberries. The lemon verbena is going berzerk. The lettuce is going to seed, as is the basil but I keep picking the flowers off the basil to make it last longer. The mint is very happy and looking its best ever as I am giving it plenty of water. I bought this pot of mint about 5 or 6 years ago and it is still going strong. The capsicums are making an appearance as well. The olive tree is loaded with many small, green olives so I will be bottling them in a few months time.
Monday, January 2, 2012
New Year's Resolutions
First of all I would like to say Happy New Year to all my followers around the world. I am absolutely amazed when I look at the stats for this blog and I see countries like Latvia, Germany, Russia, Croatia, USA, Singapore, Thailand, etc come up. What a wonderful feeling it is. My home made muesli bars has always been the number one hit on this blog.
We had a quite new year at our house, the heat wave meant that we have been doing everything we can to keep the house cool. Fortunately the insulation that we put in back in September is now paying off.
I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions as I find I don't keep them, but here are some resolutions that I have made regardless of what time of the year it is.
1. Try not to waste too much money. Think about my purchases before I make them. Is there some way cheaper I can do it? Do I really need it?
2. Get the most out of my vegie patch. That means giving it some attention; weeding, watering, fertilising and removing pests.
3. Try not to waste food. After all, that is a form of wasting money. Throwing food out that has gone bad before it was used up is like throwing money out. Try using the food up while it is still good or preserving or freezing it if needed.
4. Remember to make claims. Often local government bodies offer rebates on water saving ideas, for example, if you give them your receipts. Often I enter the receipts into our expenses, and then throw them in the recycle bin.
5. Recycle as much as possible. I am trying to reduce the number of rubbish bins we fill each week. Before starting a family, we used about one rubbish bag per week, as the rest either went in the recycle bin or the compost. Hopefully my son will want to toilet train soon, so we can get rid of nappies. In the meantime, I am washing the Pea Pod nappies everyday so we can use them instead of the disposables.
6. A friend in need...Remember to ask my friends if they have any childrens stuff they want to get rid of before I head down the shops to buy something for my son. Recently we have been thinking of getting him a bed as he is too big for his cot. We went for a walk one evening and saw a child's bed in good condition in someone's front yard with a sign on it saying "Free, please take". So we did. Now all we need is a mattress (which we will buy as I don't like to use second hand mattresses). He has just outgrown size 2 clothing and moving into size 3, and needs new shoes soon, so I will be asking my friends if they have anything they want to give away or sell.
Well, I think that's enough to concentrate on for now. I hope you all had a great New Year. Please feel free to post your New Year's Resolutions here.
We had a quite new year at our house, the heat wave meant that we have been doing everything we can to keep the house cool. Fortunately the insulation that we put in back in September is now paying off.
I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions as I find I don't keep them, but here are some resolutions that I have made regardless of what time of the year it is.
1. Try not to waste too much money. Think about my purchases before I make them. Is there some way cheaper I can do it? Do I really need it?
2. Get the most out of my vegie patch. That means giving it some attention; weeding, watering, fertilising and removing pests.
3. Try not to waste food. After all, that is a form of wasting money. Throwing food out that has gone bad before it was used up is like throwing money out. Try using the food up while it is still good or preserving or freezing it if needed.
4. Remember to make claims. Often local government bodies offer rebates on water saving ideas, for example, if you give them your receipts. Often I enter the receipts into our expenses, and then throw them in the recycle bin.
5. Recycle as much as possible. I am trying to reduce the number of rubbish bins we fill each week. Before starting a family, we used about one rubbish bag per week, as the rest either went in the recycle bin or the compost. Hopefully my son will want to toilet train soon, so we can get rid of nappies. In the meantime, I am washing the Pea Pod nappies everyday so we can use them instead of the disposables.
6. A friend in need...Remember to ask my friends if they have any childrens stuff they want to get rid of before I head down the shops to buy something for my son. Recently we have been thinking of getting him a bed as he is too big for his cot. We went for a walk one evening and saw a child's bed in good condition in someone's front yard with a sign on it saying "Free, please take". So we did. Now all we need is a mattress (which we will buy as I don't like to use second hand mattresses). He has just outgrown size 2 clothing and moving into size 3, and needs new shoes soon, so I will be asking my friends if they have anything they want to give away or sell.
Well, I think that's enough to concentrate on for now. I hope you all had a great New Year. Please feel free to post your New Year's Resolutions here.