Busy,busy,busy....

Just quickly popping in with an update.

* Today we divided our back section ( 40m x 13m) into 3 yards using star pickets and stock wire. We have two meat lambs coming tomorrow and we will use the 3 yard system and allow them to strip graze one section before moving into the next and so on.

* I've planted a Lapin Cherry tree, a peacharine, 8 white carpet roses and some variegated grasses. Plus sown carrots, radishes, beetroot and some more lettuce.

* My employment has been insanely busy-but I'm off to a professional conference in New Zealand next week and will go over a couple of days earlier for a few days sightseeing first.


Back soon. :

Home harvests..

With busy times at the moment, it is heartwarming to walk out to the vegie garden at the end of the day and harvest items for that night's dinner.

Sunday's harvest:broccoli, small cauliflower, young cabbage, snowpeas and eggs.

This mornings forage: Cauliflower,4 eggs, kale, asparagus & one shallot

 

 

Budget dinner when two of the grandsons were here on Friday night consisted of beef & vege casserole topped with herby cheese dumplings.....grandson #2 went home and told his Dad that I fed them ducklings!

 

 

Simple soup....

 

Our weather here is having one last wintery fling and as such casseroles & soups are appreciated. This is one of the easiest and cheapest soups to make-especially for those out there who are a bit unsure of which vegetables to toss together.

 

 

Simple soup.

 

1 packet of soup vegetables ( $2 at my local supermarket)

1 400g tin diced/crushed tomatoes ( 80c)

2 litre Chicken stock ( home made or made with stock cube/powder)

 

*Chop vegies into large chunks-peeling the onion, swede and parsnip first. Peeling the potato and carrots is optional.

 

* Toss into a pot and add the tin of tomatoes

 

* Rinse the tomato tin with chicken stock and add to pot.

 

* Pour the rest of the stock into the pot and simmer until vegies are tender.

 

* If you want a more liquid soup add more stock or water.

Sun & strawberries......

Welcome aboard to the new followers-I'm always so surprised  pleased when people see something here that appeals to them.

As alluded to in my last post, we have moved our strawberry beds-we have had two 1.2m x 1.2m raised beds along the southern boundary of our vegie garden (plus 1 other bed used last year for onions) and decided to move them & better utilise the space.

All three beds have been moved to the eastern side of the vegie garden and the middle bed has the Cambridge Rival variety, whereas the two outside bed will have the Aroma variety ( we have enough runners from one of the old beds to now create the new one as well).

The space that has been freed up will allow us to put in a 5th water tank plus a 3m x 3m garden shed..in the future when we can afford to!

We are coming to the end of our 3rd year of living here and we have worked out the best way of using our acre of land. Many of the plans will wait until we have either the time or money required to bring them to fruition...but that just means we will appreciate it even more when it happens!

We will add a compacted gravel path around the beds

Committee of Management keen to destroy transplanted strawberries assist.

Spring sprung...

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous first day of spring...blue sky, green grass and a warm breeze.

Although it was Father's Day here, His Lordship & I spent the afternoon in the backyard-mowing, trimming, moving strawberry beds and cleaning out the chicken coop.

I don't think that I've ever shared the interior of our hen's home-they spend the day outside free ranging in the orchard- with access to the coop via a ramp. The layer pellets, water & nesting areas are inside.

You can see the sawhorse roosts, galvanised bin for pellet storage and feeders (all of which are raised on bricks). The floor is a concrete slab; which we cover with some form of straw and then regularly replace ( with the manure rich old straw going on the garden)

Wilma wondering why I'm standing there with the door open!

There is one nesting box built as part of the shed-shown here being entered by a headless chicken!

Looking back towards the door & ramp-we have used an old plastic dog kennel as a nesting box..the lid lifts up for easy access to the eggs.

The Committee of Management waiting for me to vacate!

 



The old manure laden straw is placed on one of the fallow garden beds.