oh dear

such a long time between posts, I have loved immersing myself in the blogging world and wished to be among the regular reads of my blogging idols. Alas I have failed miserably... I am sorry Ali Mud Pie and Hazel Dene and Slow Living Essentials - I cannot do it, and I admire you for your dedication. I am struggling to balance full time work and my real passion for a slower living. On the plus side, would you believe the onions are still going! Against my DH wishes to slow down I still went ahead and planted out two vege gardens, and so far so good. I am suprising friends and myself with crochet beanies, and a quiet reflection to a local lady (Rae) who passed away with a passion for craft. I was most grateful to be given bags and bags of wool and patterns dating back to the 1950;s. A real blast from the past to get crochet patterns for bikinis from the 70's. If you'e reading please say hi. Let me know :=)

Tonight's dinner compliments of .....

...... the vege garden! Yay!! I'm thinking a vege curry. There are heaps more eggplant, but the peas are just about done. The snow peas didn't do much either, but the purple beans liked that trellis so will plant them there again. I am particularly proud of the onion. They take such a long time to grow and we use so many of them, you would think it would be easier to just buy them and not worry, but that doesn't work for me. I want to grow as much as I can and this one will taste much better and be much fresher. The carrots were from a rainbow mix, but orange seems to be the norm for carrots around here. The one on the bottom is lighter than the other two.

The chooks are obviously on a roster system and today 3 had an RDO. The passionfruit vine has produced a bumper crop and we had a steady supply all through winter, it is starting to dwindle now and I guess it will start to flower and the process starts again.

So far so good

I haven't had much luck with zucchini these last few seasons.
At our last house we grew more than enough. Some would get missed for a few days and end up a foot long. We would slice them lenghways, scoop out the middle and stuff them with bacon and cheese and bake them in the oven.
My last few attempts would grow just fine, flower and produce fruit, but as soon as the baby zucchini were about as big as your finger they would start to rot from where the flower dropped off. We eat alot of zucc's so it was very frustrating not to be able to grow one of our favourites. I have high hopes for these little onesthough, they look to be doing great and I have been diligent with regular watering. I have three bushes thriving at the moment, each with five or six little veges on. Looking forward to letting a couple grow oversize to stuff again too!

Mashed, chips, boiled, in their jackets, soup, roasted, gnocchi

So many ways to enjoy the humble spud. I have chitted and planted more potatoes this growing season than ever before. Our last crop was the best so far, and there is no better motivator than success. I really think the secret was patience. I normally go digging and ferretting around to see how big they are before they are ready. (quality control) This time they had definately yellowed and died off.

This time around I am trying my Pop's wisdom (passed down to me through my Dad). Pop's theory was to plant on Ekka Wednesday and dig up Melbourne Cup Day. Two easy dates to remember :-) So into the ground they went at Ekka time and we are now eagerly awaiting November to see how much they have died off. Dig up day might not be exactly on the Tuesday however, my race day hat might scare the chooks and the champagne at lunch time together with the pitchfork is just asking for trouble!

Thanks Poppy Brown - wish I got to know you.

Houston, we have a problem

Being a slightly impatient gardener, I thought I would pull a couple of carrots, purely for quality control measures of course. But there is something wrong, very very wrong with my carrots. They are not even remotely purple as their little tag suggested. Not even a soft violet or a hint of mauve. Not a trace of indigo or plum to be seen. No they are well and truely ORANGE.

Incidently there are no words in the english language that rhyme with either purple or orange.

Wonder how many words rhyme with ripped off?

Peas please

These are very special peas... they are the first ones I have ever grown that turned into something edible. Past attempts have been more bonsai like - oh so cute, but useless. Some plantings never even bothered to show themselves to the world, they just diappeared. I tried all sorts of tips and tricks, placed them in wet paper towel over night, tried different times of year, tried them direct in the bed, tried them in the seed raiser first, sang to them, danced for them (ok so maybe no singing or dancing) but this time the harvest gods were on my side and they have thrived and produced. They are tender and sweet and we are using them whole, after waiting this long I don't want to waste any part of them.

My Indulgence

Just received my parcel from T2 - www.t2tea.com I love this place! Every parcel is packed with love and so much attention to detail ... oh and a little added gift or two :-) The delivery time is also really quick, which is a huge bonus... I hate waiting for parcels.

This time a turkish cherry tea and a HUGE canvas tote.

I tried the mixed box of teas the first few times and now have indulged in my favourites. The melbourne breakfast tea has a smooth vanilla twist, the brisbane breakfast has fresh mango flavour, the french earl grey has a hint of fruit and the red fancy fruit is so refreshing. Looking forward to these each morning makes getting up that little bit easier!