lots of little boxes

Today I gained about six square metres of floor space by removing boxes.

The boxes were from previously acquired electrical goods and tools. Most of the boxes had been there for at least two years!

I kept the boxes as the warranty or guarantee was for two, five, or ten years – depending on the ‘stuff’.

The instructions and warranty were filed, non-recycleable packaging put in the bin, and the cardboard flattened to go in the garden ready to put under the mulch (hay).

Yay, week three of The De-clutter ’52 Things in 52 weeks’ Challenge accomplished.

pickled cabbage

H gave me Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Companion for Christmas. It is similar to the Cook’s Companion (which I already own), except that it has a section at the beginning of each chapter how to plant, grow, and cultivate each of the plant ingredients.

I wanted the book because I saw it as a way of knowing what what was in season, and considering what to grow in the garden, and how many plants.

When Red Cabbage is in season and plentiful, I usually make a couple of batches of pickled red cabbage. In the ‘Kitchen Garden Companion’, it says that you can grow cabbage all year round in hot and temperate climates. But it looks like I will have to sort out the water issue first, as I have read that they need a lot of water.

in the ground

The mango pip that I sprouted almost three years ago to the day, is now planted in the ground. It is under an established pomegranate tree, which I hope will protect the tree until it is more established. I will then cut back the pomegranate tree.

Just prior to the tree going in the ground, it did flower but it was not followed up by fruit as we had about three very hot days and the flowers were scorched. Also, many of the bottom leaves have dropped off either due to the stress of planting or the hot summer weather.

I’m happy that it has found its feet (or roots), as there is new growth from the top and it is groiwng upright. Also, it is happily sharing the irrigation with some catmint and a feral pumpkin, zucchini, or cucumber. Not sure how to tell these apart until you see the fruit.

orange and lemon

Gerberas are one of my favourite flowers. The last couple of times I have been to the Manning Farmer’s Market, the flower grower there has offered pots of gerberas – two for $10.

The pots are a little unruly, and you can see they should have been divided, but they are a bargain. I have created two flower beds full of gerbera’s from four pots of gerberas.

The garden bed alongside the washing line includes both orange and lemon Gerbera plants, while the front garden has gold or orange.

I cut the flowers before planting out, and stuck them in the jug with the spring onions intending to arrange them later. I never did. I sort of liked the gerberas in with the green leaves of the spring onions.

Unfortunately, since I planted them we have had many days above 35 deg C, so I am really have to nurse some of them along. But once they seem to get established they are strong plants and appear to bear the heat of the day quite well. Springing up in the cooler evening.

NIMBY

Yes, I have a supply of clean fresh water. However, water is becoming more scarce and is limited so I don’t feel I can wholly claim “Not In My Back Yard”.

Currently, I rely on a state government authority to deliver clean fresh water. Water is plentiful for drinking, bathing, flushing toilets, washing clothes, etc. However, I can only water my garden once per week with automatic sprinklers and supplement this with hand-watering using a hose pipe.

It is only the middle of October, but already the garden is suffering from subsequent dry warm days. I’m not sure whether watering with a hose pipe is going to be enough for the garden during the hot summer days. It is going to be difficult to prioritise my time to spend an hour every day to water different parts of the garden.

What I feel is really crazy, to me anyway, is that people can top up their swimming pools, but I can’t leave the hose pipe running on a fruit tree or turn on the automatic sprinklers. I guess if my lime tree dies, I can always go to the shop and buy a lime. But I would prefer not to buy the wax coated limes that have travelled thousands of kilometres.

If I could hear lots of splashing from people enjoying their swimming pools, then I may feel differently about it. Sadly, I think most of them are simply contemplation pools that require lots of top ups with water, chemicals, and power for the pumps.

I recognise that I have choices, some of them lifestyle choices. Unlike some parts of the world where the walk to a supply of clean fresh water is a long one. I don’t have to grow my own food, as there are many fresh food choices in shops very close to my home. And it is sheer joy to be able to pluck the ingredients from my own garden to create our meals.

A greywater reuse system seems the way to go. However, most systems are not suited to a small metropolitan block or the guidelines preclude any real advantage such that I feel that I am paying for an expensive hobby rather than working toward an environmental sustainable living. But I guess everyone has to have a hobby.

adaption and resilience

For me, climate change is on the doorstep.

If I differentiate the back of the house from the front, the two spaces each have a different combination of energies or microclimate. For example, the back yard has the air moving quite differently as it tumbles off the multi-story house at the rear. Whereas the front yard is somewhat sheltered from the wind by our own home and the surrounding limestone wall. The back yard is mostly shaded, whereas the front yard is in full sun, apart from one section that has some afternoon shade from the neighbour’s carport.

All the garden ‘soil’ is black sand, alkaline, free draining, and repels water.

We are considering installing a greywater reuse system and rainwater tanks as Perth’s 800 mm rainfall is reducing each year. The sprinkler ban during winter and now back to only being able to use irrigation twice per week is not enough to easily manage a lush food producing garden.

At the moment I consider myself fortunate in that I have the opportunity to grow my own food and that it is still a choice. That is, if I don’t grow food in my garden I can go to the shops and I buy what I need. It may not be as tasty, and there will be dozens of other decisions to make such as do I buy the local oranges from Gin Gin, Western Australia, oranges from South Australia, or from California. And that is not including the varieties or whether to buy organic or biodyanmic.

Eventually, we will have the greywater reuse system, rainwater tanks, solar hot water system fixed and back on the roof (currently we are using gas), and a photovoltaic system. We already have a pretty light carbon footprint, but we will do our best to look at ways of reducing it further.

Working with the climate, adapting to it, I feel is a better way of living sustainably and increasing resilience. So no, we won’t be installing the exterior uplights, swimming pool, or airconditioner that appears to be the new home essentials.

organic and biodynamic weekend

Saturday was mostly taken up with Yoke‘s ‘Wholegrain, Sprouted Wholegrain and Essene Sourdough’ workshop. A dozen of us ate and baked our way through:

• wholemeal sourdough sandwich bread
• multigrain sourdough bread (sweet and moist)
• black rice sourdough ciabatta (very sweet and dramatic looking)
• quinoa spelt sourdough bread (would look great with red quinoa)
• light rye spelt sourdough bread
• dark rye spelt bread
• essene bread (we made wafers and decided these may have been early ryvita but much tastier)

Yoke demonstrated making a multigrain sourdough bread dough, which we got to take home to bake. Also, we had the choice of what dough to make ourselves to bake at home. I made a quinoa spelt sourdough bread with 50% cooked quinoa and 50% sprouted quinoa. Apart from being a bit big for my small loaf tin and the difficulty of getting it out, the crust was crisp and the bread was delicious. We had it with Borlotti Bean soup on Sunday.

Now I need a kitchen gadget, i.e. a juicer/grinder to pulverise the sprouted grains. Having seen Yoke’s Samson – it was so quiet and steady, I’ll wait until I can save up for something similar. However, apart from the essene bread and multigrain, I can bake the other breads from the workshop and perfect these. What is really great about them, is that they require a lot of starter. Great for the those days, when it is plentiful and raring to go.

Armed with sun hats and umbrellas, on Sunday we went up to the WA Biodynamic Festival at High Vale Biodynamic Orchard in Pickering Brook. It did rain while we took a tour of the orchard, but the weather was warm and we missed the very heavy downpour. The guide’s presentation was interesting and he answered many questions clearly and succinctly. A article written about biodynamic vs traditional farming was posted with a photographic display of the farm that explained that a biodynamic farmer’s enthusiasm for the health of the soil is what makes them different to traditional farmers that rely on products brought onto the farm.

One of the reasons we went to the Biodynamic Festival, is that they promised tasting of their core cider. It was worth the drive. Unfortunately, we could only taste it. Distribution is not happening until January next year. We’ll be watching out for it.

Over Saturday and Sunday, I emptied the worm factory tray ready to plant seedlings, and moved the compost bin for the first time. Also planted two lots of cucumbers (bush crop and burpless), sweet corn, basil, and red onions. I planted the seedlings in the worm castings, and spread the compost around the plants. The compost is very black and a nice crumbly texture, and very wormful. Hopefully the worms will find new homes before the neighbourhood magpies come on their rounds. There were so many snails, that I opted for the snail pellets. Not sure what the biodynamic or organic gardening technique is for snails. Strange as it may seem, I have found that they prefer my basil seedlings to beer. Perhaps they are not Australian snails

my first pomegranate

I got to eat the first ripe fruit from my very own pomegranate tree.

When I cut it from the tree I noticed that it had the obligatory spider in the end of the fruit. I don’t know why pomegranates have spiders, whether they are a particular species, or just opportunists.

It is one of the few things I don’t have to share, as H can’t be bothered. Also, he spits the pips out!

I scored it so that I could break it apart more easily – as you do.

Interestingly, when I went googling on how to propagate the pomegranate tree, I read on http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/pomegranate.html that:

For enjoying out-of-hand or at the table, the fruit is deeply scored several times vertically and then broken apart; then the clusters of juice sacs can be lifted out of the rind and eaten. Italians and other pomegranate fanciers consider this not a laborious handicap but a social, family or group activity, prolonging the pleasure of dining.

It was ripe enough, although it could have been left to ripen further. It was tasty, and it was mine.

There is a second larger fruit on the tree, and if I get to eat it this then the tree will have already paid for itself based on current greengrocer prices. Bonus.

divine

I have been growing marjoram for over a year. It is used instead of oregano when we feel like a change in our Greek Salads.

Recently I harvested marjoram to use in a dish titled Oysters Bercy in Rosemary Hemphill’s Cooking with Herbs and Spices.

To some it may appear back to front to choose two teaspoons of flavouring, over the main ingredient of three dozen fresh oysters. But I think you have to have fresh from the garden herbs as well as fresh oysters for this dish as the flavours are so subtle.

Bruno at South Perth Seafoods provided us with two dozen beautiful oysters. I almost felt that it was a waste to coat them in a creamy sauce. A bit like a good malt not needing anything but a glass to drink from.

However, I’m pleased that I tried the Oysters Bercy recipe. It is DIVINE.

Note: The recipe does not indicate the number of servings. I could not quite stretch myself to purchase three dozen oysters, and two dozen appears to do well as a main meal. Recently I prepared this dish for four as an entree, and two dozen oysters seemed right for that too.

someone’s been eating my porridge

I’ve been checking the underside of plant leaves looking for the culprit or culprits that are neatly nipping off leaves at the stem.

It is caterpillar season again, and having spotted them nibbling my newly planted basil and spinach seedlings I’ve resorted to the ‘vegetable dust’. No organic gardening for me this season.

The infrequent rain washed the vegetable dust off the leaves today so I’m out doing the rounds looking for more nibbling.

The basil and spinach are fine, but I noticed this critter on the ivy geraniums that were given to me a couple of weeks ago.

When poked, the millipede swung around to ward off my leaf and then curled up. Based on this behaviour, I’m guessing that it is a Portuguese millipede [1].

I thought that millipedes were like snails and that they went for the decaying stuff in the garden, but perhaps like snails, they like fresh green leaves too?

[1] Department of Agriculture Gardennote 02 (PDF)