Garden Update

I can't believe after the awful weather we have been having that our garden is still standing! At one stage last week I looked out through the rain covered windows and was sure these plants were horizontal. The wind was incredible, not to mention all the rain and flooding.
The carrots here are going strong and my experimental onions ( to the right) are really coming up well. I haven't grown onions before so I hope they are going to be a real hit as they are one vegetable we use all the time. Behind that you can see the potatoes and broad beans coming along really well.

Looking at this little area today, it seems as though things are recovering. Thank goodness. I have a lot of seedlings that I have raised and am hoping to put into their new homes this week, but I couldn't put them into pure mud!

These two little tomato plants are going quite well, considering. They are little chili plants that are coming up around them. A friend around the corner from us had the most beautiful huge tomatoes all organically grown and she had chili plants practically wrapped around them. As you can guess, there was not a bug to be seen. As such, we are trialing that method with these two plants.

... and of course, how could I forget my lovely ladies that always do their job so well. Here they are turning scraps into eggs. How delightful!

Celebrating......

Tomorrow it will be our youngest son's 8th Birthday. I can't believe it!

Yesterday we took a group of kids up to Port Macquarie to spend the day at the indoor rock climbing centre. The trip was pretty slow because we have had such awful weather. At least it was patchy. We were ready to cancel the trip if it didn't clear up a little because the last place you want to be in the rain is the Pacific Highway.

There is a lot of flooding around at the moment. Although the rivers have broken their banks around here, there are no threats to houses. Unfortunately that was not the case a little further north. Kempsey and Grafton were being asked to evacuate and we listened to the local ABC broadcasting emergency instructions all the way up. The highway was blocked just north of Port Macquarie - so there was very little traffic.


Once we got to the centre the boys climbed the walls ( must have been all those lollies! ) and also had a game in the laser skirmish maze. The day went quite quickly really - I know I was exhausted after holding up seven young climbers all day, not to mention the blisters on my hands!

Driving back, number 2 son was chatting away all grown up with his friends when he suddenly tapped me on the shoulder and lent forward and touched two fingers together with me. This is our secret family ritual. It dates back to when our eldest was too little to talk properly and used to reach out two fingers and say ' sou sou' instead of 'love you'. It became a habit that whenever we were going anywhere we would touch fingers and say 'sou sou' to each other.

When youngest son did it in secret so his friends wouldn't know what he was doing, I thought he must have had a truly wonderful day - although if you ask him he will day ' yeah, it was good' in a really cool, laid back sort of way. ...... after all, that's what you do when you are eight years old!

Changing Seasons

Autumn really snuck up on me this year. We were swimming, water-skiing and applying sunscreen right up until about 3 weeks ago. That's when I saw the first red/yellow leaf drop to the ground. As soon as that leaf hit, everything started to change. Step by step I noticed that nature had begun preparing for the change of season and I instinctively started doing the same.

Don't you think it is funny how we naturally follow the course of nature - although we rarely stop and think about it. The biggest changes for me seem to be at the beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn. In the spring time we start to open up the house again. The front door starts letting the sun in through the day, the windows are opened up wide to let as much warmth in as possible and you feel the need to clean everything out and start afresh. It reminds me of a flower coming into bloom and slowly opening each of it's petals.

Autumn is the opposite. The flower starts to close and tuck itself in tight to weather the cooler months. The jumpers come out, the socks go on and the snuggle rugs are put out on the lounge. In our house the change of season means that we put blankets on each of the beds and even an electric blanket, ready to warm the beds before getting in each night.

Each winter I add the old pink blanket ( pictured above) to our bed. It is one that belonged to hubbie's mum and dad. It is so old, it even has their surname (and ours) embroidered in the corner. I love things that stand the test of time. They seem to bring their story with them!

In the garden there has been a period of nothingness. The last of the summer crops come out and the winter ones go in. Until they emerge, it looks like a heap of dirt with nothing to show! Lately things have started to come to life. There are potatoes, broad beans, peas, beetroot, carrots, broccoli, onions and still loads of celery, spinach and a few different herbs. I am just hoping the garden survives this awful weather we are having. We have had very wild damaging winds and about 71mm of rain in the last four days. Once again the back yard is completely flooded. This morning I had to go out a dig a trench to let the water out of the chook pen as they only had one little island to stand on !

Do you like the roses pictured above ? They are from my garden. I have them beside my bed because they make a room so pleasant and lovely and their smell is beautiful! So, does he love me, or does he love me not ? Considering he gave them to me from our own garden...... I'd say he loves me !

Lawns Into Lunch .... always busy !

On the weekend we extended our 'farm' area. We had a vision for many more garden beds so we moved the fence closer to the house, giving us an extra 2 metres in length and lots of room for extra beds. Today we dug out an area for a tomato and chili patch. Of course the chooks had to get in and help.

I am really loving the 'farm' area. I spend quite a lot of time up there now, planting seeds, filling in the garden diary, sketching plans and reading gardening info. As part of the 'farm' extension we took out the clothes line. It was far too close to the chook house and took up quite a bit of space. I now have a temporary makeshift clothesline along the veranda in this area until we 're-purpose' the old clothesline into a new model that better suits our needs.

Someone commented on the simple savings website that they enjoy my blog, but I don't write enough. I have been thinking about this...... I guess the reason is that sometimes I am too busy doing things to sit and write about them! lol

People can go to work and be busy all day and get paid for their efforts and then spend that money outsourcing their life needs. They get someone else to grow their food, bake their bread, make their clothes etc. Some even outsource even more of their ‘needs’ – they have other people mow their lawn, wash their car, take care of their children, and even cut and buff their toenails! Lol

When you don’t have a job, you have to do many of these things yourself. This means that your job is ‘life itself’. I find that living this DIY lifestyle is somewhat busier than a ‘normal’ life.
You see, If I want bread, I have to make it. If I want baked potatoes for tea I have to grow them. These tasks are not easy by any means! I can’t just get up at 7am and realise that there is no bread and ‘whip one up’. It takes about 2 ½ hours using a bread making machine and if i make it by hand I still have to allow time for rising etc. So there is a lot of forethought in a loaf of bread.

Potatoes! ::geesh:: they are even worse. If I want baked potatoes for my tea then I have to think about 14 WEEKS IN ADVANCE ::lol:: so that I can actually grow them.
This translates into a lot of busyness on any given day. Life is always about getting ahead and thinking ahead.

Thinking about needs for the future – what will I eat tomorrow, next week, next month? What can I do today to make sure that happens? That might be as simple as getting some meat out of the freezer or planting some broccoli seeds. It might be baking a cake for afternoon teas for a few days or making jam. Each action we do today is a sowing that we will reap some time in the future ....... therefore,....... :: AS YOU SOW, SO YOU REAP::

So if it is such a busy life, a life that takes planning and preparation – why would you bother ? Why would I bother growing potatoes when I can go to the supermarket and buy them for $2 a kilo ? Why would I make soap when it is on special around the corner ? Why not just go and earn money and just buy these things ?

The answer is THE JOY FACTOR. An undefinable, unquantifiable invisible element that some people see everywhere, whilst other people miss completely. There is a deep sense of satisfaction in roasting your own potatoes, or snipping off your own shallots. Sure sure, there are other factors at play. People have a number of reasons for doing things like growing their own food. It may be as a way of saving money, a way of obtaining fresh, organic produce or a way of securing a food supply in times of uncertainty. These factors DO play a role in my decision to grow my own, but the number one benefit to me is JOY, HAPPINESS, FULFILLMENT, ACCOMPLISHMENT, SATISFACTION or whatever other title you want to put on it!

Nothing To Leave The Block

I often think of the ideal of nothing leaving our block. I have written before about thinking ' what if everything we bought onto our suburban block was to stay here'. Imagine if we had to use, re-use, recycle or dispose of every little thing that came onto the block. I could go to the shop and buy what I needed - flour, sugar etc. That wold be fine because I can tear up the paper packaging and put it in the compost to break down. But when it comes to other forms of packaging I am totally lost. Where would I put the plastic wrap from the inside of a packet ? What about the bag that the oranges came in or the plastic tray in the rice cracker packet ?

If nothing was to leave the block I would have to start a little pile behind the shed, then maybe in the roof, then under the house....... how much would I use in a month... a year ??

:: I often think like this::

Of late I have even been suspicious of recycling systems. We put all our recycling into a different coloured wheelie bin and it is taken "away" wherever that may be. I have read quite a bit recently about how the price of recycled materials has dropped to the point where it is not financially viable to process the materials. Will companies still process recycled goods without a profit ? Out of the goodness of their hearts or their love of the environment ? ( that's for you to answer, but I know what my gut tells me)

So in keeping with my gut, I am still attempting to not have things leave the block, even if they are 'recycle' worthy.

The picture above is of my compost bin in the kitchen. I tear up any packaging or paper that will breakdown as well.

Living with the ideal of nothing leaving the block means you have to be really mindful when you are shopping. Believe me, this is EXTREMELY difficult. I can't ask the girl at the checkout whether waxed milk cartons breakdown in the compost and how long they take !

Yesterday one of the boys opened the last packet of water crackers that was in the cupboard and I tore up the cardboard packaging and ::gulp:: placed the plastic into the bin. Today I made a huge batch of lavash crackers to make me feel better.

Last Night's Meal

With what feels like thousands of eggs on hand the obvious choice for dinner last night was a quiche. This one has a little bacon and handfuls of herbs ( basil and coriander) and shallots. It was very tasty indeed.

We combined it with some home grown corn and beans. The corn is SO tasty. We always leave it in the husk and put each cob in the microwave for three minutes and then take them out and peel the husk and silks off it. They come off really easily and the corn is cooked beautifully. It is crisp and very very hot!

Maybe it is all in our mind, but things that come from the backyard seem to taste so much better. Is it the freshness? Is it because they are organically grown ? or is it the secret ingredient of the joy factor that comes from knowing that you grew it, you picked it and you then took the twenty steps back to the house and cooked it ?

Sad to say that some things didn't survive the huge amount of rain we had while we were away. While we were in Sydney for five days we had over 90 mls of rain.... and I was worried about getting someone to water the garden !! My poor butternut pumpkins became completely waterlogged and just dropped off the vine and the chook house turned into a swimming pool. At least the seeds I planted before I left were up when I got back.

Here is one of our chooks. I thought I would give her a little spot in the limelight considering their wonderful contribution to our food supply.

Garden Update

You can menu plan all you like, but sometimes the garden will dictate what is for dinner.