Will we get Pomegranates this year?

Our pomegranate tree is flowering, and hopefully setting fruit for the first year.  There isn't a lot of swelling at the base of the calyx yet, but I'm watching and waiting to see how these interesting fruit develop.

The flower: so vivid and so delicate!

With the petals gone, the calyx has toughened up.

Until next post!

Catherine

Cherry season!

It's early Summer and it's CHERRY SEASON!  Yum!  This is our first fruit crop of the season.  Our Stella Cherry tree produced a 'stella' crop.  Look at this huge bowlful, and that's only about 1/4 of what we picked.

Unfortunately, not all the fruit ripened fully on the tree.  We had to pick it early as the birds were having a huge feast.  I don't mind them having some, but it was disappearing very quickly.  Picking the fruit early means that they don't develop their natural sweetness to the maximum, because cherries won't continue to ripen after being picked, unlike other stone fruits. (I learnt that from the River Cottage dvds).

Last night we decided to have a go at making a cherry pie.  It gave me a chance to try out this little gadget: a cherry stoner.

 

My hands were very sticky and very well stained after we finished doing four cups worth!

We followed a recipe I found at Joy of Baking.  It uses tapioca as a thickening agent, which I had on hand, so thought we'd try out.

After the required baking time, I found I needed to let the pie 'sit' a little while to cool and let the tapioca soak up all the lovely cherry juice.  Maybe it's because my tapioca wasn't the 'quick cooking' variety specified.  Anyway, it tasted WONDERFUL!

Until next post!

Catherine

Pruning our apricot tree

It's been a wet weekend, but we found a little time when the rain had eased off to finally get out into the garden.

I still hadn't pruned my fruit trees, which is a 'no no' when it comes to apricot trees. We should have done this job about a month ago.  However it still must be done, so with Papa's help with the heavier branches and the use of a chainsaw, we took at least 1/3 off our apricot tree today.

This apricot tree was planted with Maestro's help when he had turned one.  It's been growing so well and has given us many a wonderful crop. The problem is that it's now way beyond my reach on the upper branches.  Last year most of the fruit up the top was enjoyed by the birds.

There is a right way to prune a fruit tree to maximise your crop.  You really don't want to take off any fruiting spurs, so you need an eye on what to look for and just remove the newest growth that gives the tree height.  I'd first read about this in a book: The Complete Book of Growing Fruit and Nuts in Australia. (It's hard finding this on sale as it's not in print right now.  Thankfully my library still has a copy!) I have also recently found an online video explaining how to do this here.  The audio wasn't quite in synch here on my pc, but it may work fine for you.

This is another nice explanation of how to prune an apricot tree, at a larger scale.  The camera work is just not as steady for the close-ups.





We also have a problem with a fungal disease called 'Freckle'.  It started on one part of the tree last year, so I'm hoping pruning that branch off will minimise any return of it on the next crop.  I need to do some research on treatment now.  Argh!  My first experience with diseased fruit trees!

The photos that should have been here yesterday

Please excuse my camera's tardiness. It seems to enjoy taking excursions with my children to various parts of our home, then often gets a little disoriented before returning to it's rightful place in the study. At least when it DOES return, it leaves some clues as to where it's been!

Day old chick, named 'Esther',

an Araucana breed. 

Mariposa's hen "Beauty" who had patiently sat, being broody,

for 2 weeks before we put some fertilised eggs under her. 

'Apricot Delight' rose

Evening Primoses are abundantly sprawling on the pathway 

to the front door at the moment.  

They seem to have really enjoyed all the rain!

Teeny butterflies enjoying the nectar from the Evening Primroses.

YUM!  These were hiding under some of those primroses.

Too pretty to not photograph

Oh, if only I could share the scent wafting from these gorgeous blooms with you!

It's Spring.  What else can I say?

Flower Arranging (1)

Quarantine isn't much fun, especially when you're not really feeling 'sick'.  Mariposa was desperate to do something with me, so I suggested that she make a table arrangement.  She's helped me make some nice little arrangements before, but this time I let her take the reins and I was going to sit on the side ready if she needed some help.  I would also snap away and take plenty of photos. (smiles!)

Now, I do have  .... somewhere! ....  a proper little collection of flower arranging materials.  When I find them, we can explore some other options.  For now, we're just going to use the following:

• a small waterproof bowl
• a pair of secateurs
• a small block of oasis, cut to fit into the bowl, allowing 1cm sticking out above the rim
• a collection of medium sized leaves for covering the base
• a nice selection of blossoms from the garden
• some 'filler' blossoms or folliage to go between the flowers in the arrangment

I'm going to share how I was taught to do flower arranging from when I was at youth summer camp, in my teen years.  I really enjoyed learning this skill, so it's stayed with me. :)

First thing to be done is to soak the piece of oasis.  Oasis (or florist's foam) may be found at $2 shops, florists, or ebay.  Make sure you have a piece that fits snuggly into the bowl, and that it also is raised above the rim by about 1cm, then pop it into a dish of water so it can absorb as much water as possible (give it at least 1/2 an hour).  Whilst that's happening, you can go about collecting and laying out your flowers and folliage.

Once the oasis is full of water, carefully put it into the bowl.  At this stage, you'd usually tape it down with waterproof florist's tape.  I couldn't find mine, so we're making do without.

Start by making a 'skirt' for the arrangement with some medium sized leaves.  I often use camellia leaves, but some other suggestions are bay leaves, small ferns, or as we've used, scented geranium leaves.  Cut the stalks at a bit of an angle so there's more surface area open to the moist oasis.  The point also helps when it comes to inserting it into the arrangement. 

Next, choose your main flowers and think about where they'll be placed.  Because this is a table arrangement, we need to ensure that the finished product will be enjoyable to view from all sides, so aim to keep symmetry.  Here, Mariposa has used some freesias that have just come into flower.  I instructed her to place them evenly around, starting by putting a smaller flower at the center (top) for height.  Then, she put in a flower facing out at all the corners.  Wherever she placed one on one side, she had to mirror on the other as much as possible.

It's worth noting that lighter colours do appear to come more to the foreground than darker flowers, so place these lighter ones where they'll give good balance.  You'll notice that your eye will get drawn to these first.

Some larger flowers will fill up an arrangement quite quickly.  With ours, though, the freesias are fairly small, so we have plenty of 'spaces' to fill.  We've cut some shrubbery from our fragrant pittosporum bush, then cut off small bunches to fill in close to the oasis.  You want to hide as much of the oasis as possible, creating a background between the main blooms.  You can use all sorts of filler to do this job.  Some suggestions are thryptomene or gypsophila, which are commonly used by florists here, or variegated leaves from various shrubbery.

More filler flowers were added in the form of yellow marguerite daisies.  These highlighted the yellow freesias beautifully.  Then, finally, a few lavender flowers for a touch of 'blue' and some extra dimension.

Make sure some water is added to the bowl every day, and if the weather is quite warm, a spraying over with some water in a small bottle is beneficial.

Not bad for her first 'almost' solo effort.  I think this may become a fun little activity she can do for the family dining table on a regular basis, using the blooms we'll have in the garden throughout Spring and Summer.  We'll practice some other florist skills as we move along.

I have found a 'how to' video online. This may also help give you some information on how to start.  There are many other helpful related links from the video page HERE.

The "to be done" list

Do you keep a list of things that need to be done around the house? We always manage to write up an impressive page or two of tasks that we'd like to get done before Summer comes. There's something about the birth of Spring which brings about the homely nesting instincts, and hubby and I found ourselves, once again, writing out such a list.

This year's list, for us, is going to be fun, but a lot of work. We'll be pulling out carpet and polishing more floorboards (it's taking us about 3 years to work through the whole house in stages), painting the bedrooms, and finishing a few touches that were left from last time.

Mariposa's selections: flowers for the garden,

and a choice of a blue for her bedroom wall.

We're also going to tackle sprucing up the kitchen on a budget. Basically this means giving the walls a lick of paint, as well as painting over all the cupboards in a complimentary colour (they're currently all polished pine paneling). The sink .. yes, the faucet needs replacing, and I've just ordered a venetian blind for the window (now that the neighbour's tree has fallen down and been removed, we can each see straight into each others kitchens).

Most importantly, though, is the installation of a new greenhouse I recently purchased. We have a space in our backyard where a concrete slab was poured to make a detached BBQ area. However, we've not found it very functional, with all the roofing disintegrating not long after our move into this house. So, it's become a bit of a storage area for tree trunks and prunings to dry out, bags of compost and miscellaneous materials. Well, it's time for a clean up! All the wood is to be cut up properly for firewood, and we'll have to organise trips to the tip with whatever is deemed unusable. Maestro's been given the fun task of demolishing the brick BBQ, which we will rebuild in another location. Then, this space will contain our new productive greenhouse. More yummy organic vegies; I can't wait!!

The site for our new greenhouse.  

I had to take a before picture .. but it's such a mess!

Today, I'll also start sowing some seeds for the front garden. We've decided to put in a number of sunflowers, along with some chinese greens and herbs. The shadows will begin to retract soon, so we'll start these plants off in little punnets and plant them out in a couple of months.

I have no idea how long it will take to get all of these jobs done, but I think writing some time goals are in order. Mariposa is champing at the bit to get the paint for her room. Some paint swatches were bought home, and she's chosen a lovely cornflower blue as a feature wall. Oh yes, I should write this down too: her furniture to also get a lick of paint. Oh dear, we are going to be busy!

You can all look forward to some updates as we go along.  I really needed to put up this post as motivation, because these jobs MUST get done, even if they do take until the end of the year.

Colours of this morning

Early morning; the sun's fresh over the horizon 

and peaking into the garden through a clear blue sky.

The jasmine on the garden arch has a few of it's fragrant bloom in the spotlight.

Ground cover plants are delicately veiled still in dew.

And for another plant, it's the first morning that it's blossoms open for the season.

This will become the meeting place for many bees as soon as it's discovered.

Comfort reading

On cold nights, a book to read in the comforts of a cosy bed is very rewarding.

I found this book in our library catalogue, so put in a borrowers request. When it arrived, a quick scan through the pages had me looking forward to getting some time to read it. 

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Our Year of Seasonal Eating is a writing about a new lifestyle, set in southern Appalachia, USA. Barbara takes us through her memoirs season by season, adding her journal investigative thoughts throughout. Moving from light, humourous conversation to political and environmental issues keeps the reading interesting.

Barbara starts with the first harvest season after a cold winter, when asparagus spears begin to emerge. We're still waiting for our first asparagus of the season, so by the end of chapter 2, I'm out there in the garden inspecting any signs of progress. No, it's too early here still.

Reading on, we move through the stages of garden productivity, when to expect what vegetable in it's seasonal order, and some recipe ideas shared. I'm now only in chapter 7, but the excitement of Spring's possibilities have whet my appetite sufficiently to start sorting through my seeds and seriously plan what we want to be eating in a couple of months.

I love the humour in the book, too. The light-heartedness side of family life, where personalities blossom with innocence, is a lovely side to read. I relate to her youngest in this book, as she sounds so much like Mariposa. Here's an excerpt from page 94 that I had to read aloud to my husband; it made us both laugh:

As weeks passed and her future on the farm began to take shape in her mind, Lily asked if she'd also be able to have a horse. Her interest in equines surpasses the standard little-girl passion of collecting plastic ones with purple manes and tail; she'd lobbied for riding lessons before she could ride a bike. I'd long assumed a horse was on our horizon. I just hoped it could wait until Lily was tall enough to saddle it herself.

In the time-honored tradition of parents, I stalled. "With your egg business, you can raise money for a horse yourself," I told her. "I'll even match your funds - we'll get a horse when you have half the money to buy one."

When I was a kid, I would have accepted these incalculable vagaries without a second though, understanding that maybe a horse was out there for me but I'd just have to wait and see. The entrepreneurial gene apparently skips generations. Lily got out her notebook and started asking questions.

"How mush does a horse cost?"

"Oh, it depends," I hedged.

"Just a regular mare, or a gelding," she insisited. When it comes to mares and geldings, she knows the score. I'd recently overheard her explaining this to some of her friends. "A stallion is a boy that's really fierce and bossy," she told them. "But they can give them an operation that makes them gentle and nice and helpful. You know. Like our daddies."

... and it goes on. Lily is a second grader, so a couple of years younger than Mariposa is now, but still so very much like her in character.

There have been parts I've related to Maestro also, but his interest in the animal world isn't quite as passionate. He really just wants to build things and experiment with his growing manly strength. When I suggested beekeeping as a possible interest, he squirmed with irritation at the thought of bees landing over him whilst collecting the honey. The idea of the money making side appealed though. Hmmm ~ that gets me thinking that there's usually a honey show happening here in August, so I may need to enquire about some type of 'excursion' to explain the practicalities of apiculture.

Scattered throughout the memoirs are her writings on issues, similar to those found in books I've already read, such as Food Inc. They are good reminders of why we should take care of what we eat and how it is produced.

Recipes are available on the Animal, Vegetable, Miracle website, HERE.

Now it's time for me to roll up my sleeves and get some practical work done outside, even though this morning's air is still so very crisp. Our fruit trees need pruning, and I need to make sure that the asparagus stays safe. Last year, our dog, Midgy, was the first to enjoy eating this vegetable, and I don't want that to happen again this year!

1st of July, and I'd like my holiday now please

It's Friday. The financial year is over and the paperwork is already done (yay!) We have no out-of-the-home commitments today. The sun's shining. I'd like to have my holiday now please.

Next week is actually the 'official' start of the term break, but we can lenient today, right?

What I'd like to do is get stuck into some gardening. There's a bed full of potatoes I'd like to scavenge through before Midgy, our dog, finds any more and eats them. An old bathtub, that's sitting outside, can then be used to raise these potatoes in a space that a dog won't dig them up.

 Some of these potatoes look a bit 'green', therefore inedible.

We'll plant these into the old bathtub to get a new crop.

I also have a narrow bed of raspberries being overtaken by some passionfruit root stock. It's as hardy as anything and I don't know how to get rid of it. The grafted part where the fruit develops died years ago. I've found some facts about this root stock here, and it looks like some pesticide (glyphosate) will be needed. From this discussion, it looks like Nelly Kelly passionfruit vines are out, and a better option would be the Sunshine Special.

 Too much vigourous grown from a Nelly Kelly passionfruit rootstock.

If I'd known the possible problems I'd have with this years down the track, 

I'd never have planted this variety.

I'm also tossing around some ideas for a new chicken run. Our hens have been keeping the grass under the fruit trees down for years, but I'm wondering if the soil there needs a bit of a rest. We still have the three Australorps and a White Sussex. I know our Australorps got very broody last Spring, so I'm also thinking ahead on how to handle that if we need to have separate areas for each hen to raise her chicks. This may need some time doing more research before actually laying my hands to any actual work.

Our hens, Australorps and a White Sussex.

One site I'd like to move the hens too, but we'd need fencing to keep our dog well away.

That may be enough to handle today. After all, we do want a break. At least the 'potato project' will be fairly quick to do.

When the cold comes to the front door

It's a little predictable here, that as soon as Mother's Day has arrived we begin to really feel the cold. All of the sudden, it seems, we need to get the heaters going, warmer sheets and the thicker bedspreads onto the beds, and porridge to warm our bellies in the morning.

A visit to the vet confirmed our suspicions about Midgy's cough. He's not well and is now on medication to avoid pneumonia. Then the children became ill with tonsilidis soon after his diagnosis .. hopefully not just out of sympathy. So, that makes three ill bodies in the house, needing warm food, cuddles and quiet.

The cold has also finalised our hens' laying season. No eggs so far this week. Unless the youngest hens start laying, we may not see any more eggs until Spring.

We do have mushrooms growing, though! I've been picking them as they come up in the front garden. They're your typical 'supermarket' white button mushrooms, coming up from the compost we lay out on the garden a month ago. At first I was missing them, as more mulch had been placed over the top of the compost. So, these mushrooms emerge under the mulch, giving them dirty looking tops. However, they've been quite edible once the outer layer is peeled off.

Here are a few that I picked tonight. The gills are still lovely and soft, and almost pink. These darken as the mushroom ages. I'll keep one of these mushroom tops to place on a sheet of paper, making a 'map' of the spores once they develop and fall from the mushroom. (Yes, a future post will reveal all!)

So, we're really moving through Autumn now and feeling the first real chills toward Winter. I think it may be time to make a list of some cool weather activities we hope to do. Are there any plans at your house?

Autumn, April 8th

The air smells of Autumn this morning, and the light has certainly taken on a softer tone. We munch on our very ripe William pears for breakfast, the juice dribbling down our chins and running to our elbows. This is obviously best done outdoors, preferably while taking a walk around the backyard to see what's been going on. A meander by the chook run means we can toss in the pear cores, check for eggs and see how the youngest to the flock are settling in.

This may be the end of a run of fine days, so the washing is all hung out early to catch the warm breeze. They say rain's on the way again tomorrow. I'm glad of that, as our tank has actually run dry. The chooks had to have their water delivered by bucket from the mains this morning, which hasn't had to happen for a while.

Cheeky hens; they've found a new laying spot again. Since introducing the youngest birds to the flock, some of the older birds have decided to lay elsewhere. Well, I found them out today and collected the eight eggs they hid away from their 'intruders'. We thought it was a bit too early for them to go off their laying. It's usually in late May, as the cold southerlies hail the call of Winter, that our hens begin to lay more infrequently. Still, I'll start saving most of these eggs we collect now, in preparation for the scarcity ahead. Our neighbours will have to revert back to store bought eggs for a while.

We'll have lemons this year! This is a huge achievement. We've not been very successful with our lemon tree. One tree was given to us by my mother-in-law when we moved here 15 years ago. To date, we have only had one fruit. A few years ago, I moved it, where it's grown a little larger but still no fruit. I also planted a different type of lemon, which was very small at the time and has taken a few years to establish. But, now, it's fruiting!

Time for a cup of tea and a read-aloud. We're starting a new book: Tarantula in My Purse. That will keep Mariposa quite happy. Then we need to finish the last chapter of Maestro's book today, a nice way to end a term, ready for a two week break.

River Cottage inspiration

I'm forever thankful that our library stocks so many wonderful resources. A recent wandering along the dvd shelves helped me find a new dvd called "River Cottage: Spring and Autumn". The censorship of M because of language had me a little concerned, so I started watching this once the children went bed.

Well, it didn't take long before I realised that this was actually a great dvd to share with the family. The M rating is a precaution about some 'slang' used occassionally (yes, a bit of bad language) and about showing some animals being slaughtered, but there was ample warning given to 'look away' before seeing anything.

The dvd series starts with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall helping a group of families in England's suburbia start up a community garden. This was lovely to see, and is a continued theme throughout all 4 dvds. The families learn to grow their own vegetables, then raise pigs, chickens and milking goats .. all in smooth transition, so nothing is too overwhelming.

Foraging is another theme that runs throughout, and part which we really enjoyed. It was just after seeing Hugh collect gooseberries that Mariposa and I decided to go berry picking the other week. Since then, we discovered that an apple tree is growing on the side of a main road near us, which was being foraged by another family. We may go back and see if any fruit's left on it, although we really do have enough apples from our own tree to keep us in supply for some months.

Now, what I learnt the most in watching this was in the apprentice butchering sessions. I know that we don't have any of our own livestock, but for frugal reasons alone, I think this is a skill worth having. So, I sought a copy of the River Cottage meat book to borrow. It didn't have all the 'hands on' information I was after. However, the opening pages have already taught me a lot about the importance of properly hung meat, the aging process of meat, and how supermarket packaging is more about keeping the water in for weight, destroying the integrity of the meat in the meantime. Of course, lots of lovely recipes fill the bulk of this book, but I'm still looking for more relevant information.

The next book I sought out, from a different library, looks to have more of the information I'm after: Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game. I've also added this to my Book Depository wishlist: The Butcher's Guide to Well-Raised Meat.  So, I've got my homework set out for me again.

It's coming up to that time of the year when we usually order a whole lamb from the butcher. We'll be chosing butchers very carefully now, and maybe even asking for the lamb to be pre-cut only into manageable sizes so we can have a go at finishing off the rest ... maybe?! It'll certainly be something worthwhile doing at some stage, and letting the children learn along with us.