More spoils from the garden....

We have had loads of chillies and zucchinis for a few weeks but the other day we proudly harvested these:


And here's some succulents we've been propogating to give to some friends:

Gardening meets sport....

I love this installation by Madrid urban artist Spy...it particularly resonates with those of us who live/work in a concrete jungle and dislike sport.

Our first zucchini!

We were very excited to find our first zucchini grown in the veggie patch! The zucchinis are a light pale green with a soft prickly fur on the outside, ensuring no bugs get near!

As we were going for Dalyesford for the weekend, I proceeded to make a zucchini cake! I varied the recipe somewhat and used dates instead of raisins and sultanas and almonds instead of walnuts and added some grated carrot. Very yummy!

Keeping Chickens

I attended a meeting of the Food Gardeners Alliance the other day, which was very interesting, raising many issues such as the new water restrictions in Victoria, developing governmental policy and some hints and tips. One of the attendees then delivered a talk on keeping Chickens in your back yard, something that requires less space than you may think, so here's a few hints and tips...

• Firstly Investigate and double check your local council's policy on keeping animals, there's no point getting everything in place to then find you've done something illegal and having to get rid of all your hard work.
• Chickens will eat scraps of food, in fact pretty much anything you feed them, such as newspaper and other bits of non-toxic rubbish.
  
• As with most other species in the animal kingdom, what goes in, comes out at the other end and Chicken manure is extremely good for the garden.
  
• It's probably not a good idea to keep Roosters, especially in smaller properties, they're noisy, aggressive and don't give you any eggs!
  
• Check the closeness of coups to neighbouring properties and also check with your neighbors before going ahead with keeping chickens, again there's no point embarking on an endeavour and then being forced to stop due to a neighbourly complaint.
• Keep the chickens, coup and their surrounding area clean and pests under control with normal and cheap powders and tablets from your vet. If a chicken is very ill or dies, take it to a vet straight away do discover the cause and to prevent spreading.
  
• Keep the coup secure to save the chickens from foxes, mice and rats. Don't cut back on costs by using low gauge netting, wire or locks. Keeping the coup clean and free of excess food will help keep away rodents.
• Chickens food consumption and egg production depends on many things including season, light, temperature and what you feed them.
  
• Aside from pellets, they need greens and vegetables. Silver beet is great for this, feeding fresh vegetables means more yellow yolks and protein filled eggs.
  
• Where do you get your chickens from : From farms, $15-30 per chicken on point of laying, or somewhat past it for $1.50, but these chickens will have a lower egg production
• A Chicken's Good laying time is between 2 and 15 years.
• To stop Chickens flying, trim the edges of their feathers, this puts them off balance and stops them flying.
  
• There's no real minimum for space, but the larger space and run the better.
• You will need at least 2, chickens are social animals.

Interested in finding out more, take a look at www.bookachook.com

Weekly container Gardening Spotlight!

Sick of boring terracotta or woven hanging baskets? Kate Pruitt from Design Sponge shows us how to make these wonderful hanging baskets with a personal flair.

Home going for beginners-free workshop-November 13

Paul, Adam and Nathan from Permablitz are inviting all to this free 2-hour seminar on how and why to successfully grow your own veges and fruit.Arrive at 6:45 for a cuppa before the 7pm start.No RSVP required.

For more information email permablitz@gmail.com
Address:
Kindness House - 288 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.

Time: 18:45 -21:00

Free silverbeet!

Our veggie garden is overflowing with silverbeet! It's been a staple in all kinds of veggie dishes and also got me into making silverbeet and fetta pastries the other night. They were a hit for all of us, even the young child we were babysitting!

I don't have any pics, but here's how it goes...

Ingredients:

onion

silverbeet

parsley

mushrooms

tomato

fetta cheese

puff pastry

salt and pepper

nutmeg

Method:

1. lightly saute all veggies. The silverbeet shrinks considerably so use more than you thought needs.

2. add cheese and condiments and mix through. Allow to cool.

3. Defrost puff pastry ( I must confess I've never made my own)

4. Cut pastry into triangles, spoon mix to the centre and fold over pasty. Seal by tweaking the edges.

5.Bake at 200c for about 20 mins or until golden.

You could certainly add tofu and/or whisked eggs if you would like more protein.

So, if you are based in Melbourne and would like some silverbeet, please let us know. We also have an ample quantity of rosemary growing in our front garden.

Weekly Container Gardening Spotlight-Tutorial

I've been intending to do something about my pot plants for some time. I have quite a few cuttings(mostly succulents) that I potted a year or so ago and conveniently forgot about last summer as it was so hot everything in a pot except these died. We got a heap of new pots and pans for a wedding present so I decided to do something with the old ones. They don't look particularly pretty yet, but once they are thriving I'll post some decent pics.

The benefits of reusing the old pots are that you get to remove the crappy 'terracotta' plastic pots that so many plants are invariably housed in. These were cracked so they went in the recycle bin. Further, the pot handles make them easy to move and rotate when it's really hot (even putting them inside) so you don't kill them off.

You need:

• old saucepans/pots/big lids
• seedlings
• cuttings
• potting mix/succulent mix
• water (grey ish)
• power drill

Directions:
1.Get out power drill only to release the battery has died and it will require several hours of charging. Relax on the couch with the newspaper and a cup of tea.

2. Assembly motley crew of pots in the meantime to demonstrate productivity in between cups of tea.

3. Water all plants you will be repotting. I used water that had been used to rinse garden veggies for the veggie seedling and herbs and a little that had been for some mild cleaning for the rest. The succulents are pretty hardy and dont really know the difference.

Here we have thyme, cucumber, baby lettuce and baby spinach

Various succulents and some tired looking pelargoniums.

Do you like this watering can? Make Gardens Not War! Awesome wedding present!

3. Remove plants from their pots. If they are root bound like mine, chop em up as you wish.

4. Drill holes in pot and lid bottoms. Realise it is impossible to take an action shot by yourself. If you don't have a drill you could try a hammer and nails but that may only work on tin cans and olive oil containers.

5. Realise you forgot to take shots of soil filling and plants due to chatting with husband.

6. Fill pots with soil. If you are feeling really excited you could buy potting mix specifically for succulents which is a bit more sandy.

7. Cut and tidy succulents and replant in their improved glory along with the seedlings.

8. Arrange decoratively as you wish. These will be significantly more decorative once I get some more plants so I can make more pots.

I love the lid full of succulents here: The box is for our new bbq-the old bbq will be used as a herb planter once I buy more herbs.

You can see my pelargonium collection down the bottom. The pots were decorated by the wonderful Craftea Chat participants as a wedding present!


Close up of succulents. The jelly bean ones are cool.

Marvel at wedding present pots again. I still can't believe Rayna got asked for ID when she bought the spray paint for decorating the pots!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, give it a try and let us know how it goes.

Resource Efficient Gardening

A few weeks ago I attended an excellent talk and discussion panel hosted by The Food Gardeners Alliance, we posted a little more on them in a previous post.

Buying produce from a supermarket is perhaps one of the most un-environmentally friendly things you can do, not just the direct resource usage of farming, but the effects of product transport, wastage, refrigeration, personal transport and much more. We only have a small patch in our (mainly concrete) back yard but it's enough to supply us with just under half of our weekly food, the statistics on this are :

A 4 by 5 metres patch can produce enough for 2 people, approximately 200kg a year with only 2 or 3 hours a week of work.

Even if you have no yard or garden there are many tricks to be performed with containers, an issue we have also frequently covered here.

Lets take a look at a few more tips offered by some of the speakers at the discussion.


David Holmgren is an infamous figure in the recent resurgence in gardening, one of the co-founders of Permaculture he proposes a more holistic approach to gardening, considering micro cultures and climates to encourage growth and nature. It's a fairly involved process and there are many who offer courses, literature and insight into it. Rest assured it's not just applicable to those with lots of space, permaculture can also be practised easily in restricted spaces with processes such as Rooftop gardening, planting in containers, vertical gardening and aquaponic systems.
www.holmgren.com.au


Diggers is an organisation perhaps better reserved for those with slightly larger gardens, but for a source or certified organic seeds it is ideal. Specialising in vintage, cottage and heirloom varieties of plants Diggers maintains an impressive list of breeds that you've probably never heard of.
www.diggers.com.au


Jane Edmanson is a famous figure in the gardening world, host of TV shows for many years and generally a figure of respect and trust in the wider community. Her tips were generally a lot more practical and common-sensical, moving themes back into the home and the benefits that growing and eating our own produce can bring, such as gardening being a great source of exercise and that fresh produce could help reduce obesity. She also bestowed the virtues of seasonal planting, something that can frequently be overlooked when your attracted to the myriad of pretty plants available to you.
www.janesgarden.com.au


There was also an interesting representative from Sustainable gardening Australia, but I admit that I had to leave early, so missed what they had to say, expect something on the SGA in the near future.
www.sgaonline.org.au

The benefits of growing your own veggies...

It's amazing how beneficial home growing is in terms of carbon emissions and water savings compared to veg you'd pick up at the average supermarket as the photos above illustrate. Not to mention factors like budget and taste benefits! The Food Growers Alliance do some amazing work education the public and lobbying government on the benefits of home grown and the need for increased water access for home growers.

Want to get involved? FGA holds regular meetings on the second Wednesday of every month, our next confirmed meeting will be on November 12th. Check out their site for more information

Noble Park Permablitz

Ever attended a Permablitz?

It's a great way of learning some new techniques and methods of handling your garden, here's the next one coming up in Noble Park on teh 8th Oct :

Details

Save water in your property : The Garden

Here's the first of a few tips on how to save water in your rental property, adapted from a Yarra

Water leaflet, but picking out the highlights relating to renters...

• If you have grass in your garden then run hosing from the water outlet pipe on your washing machine on to it to maintain a lovely slab of green turf. If you don't have grass, then collect some of the water into a bucket which can easily be used on non-edible plants.
• Collect rainwater in buckets or tanks for future use.
  
• Group plants on their watering needs to make the most efficient use of water.
• Check the soil before watering, if it's damp already then save that water!
• Most plants will not need watering as much as you think, try cutting back and keeping an eye on the plant.
  
• Pot plants and house plants need a lot of water, do you really need then?
• Remove weeds from beds, they'll only use up water plants you actually want need.
• Water plant roots, not onto foliage.
• Larger plants and long grass can shield smaller plants from the sun.
  
• Use water crystals and wetting agents to keep the soil from drying out.
• Consider laying compost or mulch to keep soil damper.
• Plant native or drought resistant plants instead of water greedy European varities.
  

www.savewater.com.au
www.ourwater.vic.gov.au

There is a $30 rebate from your water supplier for products with a value of $100 or more from hardware stores or garden centres.

Gardening shennanigans!

I bought these little birds at St Andrews Markets the other week:




Here they are protecting the lettuce and silverbeet:






Pretty flowers grown from seed:


Cabbages, garlic, chives and parsley are all going well:



Celery is ready to harvest!



And to celebrate, I'm making celery soup! We have lots of celery so stay tuned for more celery recipes...

Celery Soup Times Ten Recipe
Ingredients

1 bunch celery (including leaves), chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock or broth
1 potato, peeled and finely shredded
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
salt and ground white pepper
1/2 cup whipping cream or half and half

Directions

In large saucepan, saute celery and onion in a small amount of olive oil just until vegetables begin to brown.

Stir in stock or broth. Bring to a boil.
Stir in potato, reduce heat and simmer 30 to 45 minutes.
Cool slightly. Puree in food processor or blender.
Return to saucepan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Stir in cream or half and half.
Ladle into bowls to serve hot, garnished with a celery leaf.
Chill if serving cold. Ladle into bowls and garnish with finely chopped celery and leaves for "crunch".
Enjoy!

weekly container gardening spotlight!

All houses have toilets, but what makes you decide to find a spare one and put it in your garden? If you're looking for some inspiration.....





from here




from here

And for some overkill...

Eeek! But an impressive display of water saving plants.