Chooks move up in the world and watering system fail!

All the normal folk have finally finished with their Christmas hijinks and are moving on to New Years celebrations.  As for us, we're doing it all at once, kinda.  As the kids have all been away for a week, we're doing Christmas on the 1st of January, so we've still got 2 sleeps to go.  Consequently, we've been a little quiet of late...

So, what have we been up to?

Well, first of all, our brown shavers have had their coop put up on stilts...  The rats were upsetting our girls laying, and after getting one chalky egg and another with no shell (not to mention that our girls won't sleep in their coop) we made some modifications.  The jury is still out as to whether they are happy with it.

I potted out a bunch of the strawflowers and statice that the girls raised from seed, along with some varieties of scabiosa and some shoo-fly.  It's the start of the potted garden our girls are wanting, and hopefully we'll have some pretty colours on the front porch over summer.  There's still some seedlings waiting to come out of the greenhouse, but they're a while off.



We had some pretty intense wind gusts the other day, so the greenhouse is now lashed to the porch rails by a couple of ropes...  Unfortunately, we may have lost both zippers in the wind, so I'm looking out for some rip-stop nylon and perhaps some velcro.  Yet another sewing project looms.  (Oh yeah, on that subject - I finished what I was making, but I can't post it up until Saturday, as the kids haven't opened those presents yet)


I also took a wee stroll around the garden this evening with the camera, to show some of my favourite little surprises of the week.  The first "Southland Sno" pea has formed and is growing larger, my evening primrose has started blooming tonight (although, I didn't realise that the blooms would open while my back was turned - there were 2 blooms only 10 minutes later), and our rhubarb is flowering again.

Baby Southland Sno peas

Sneaky evening primrose

Rhubarb flowers

pineapple sage (left) rosemary (right)

Some months back, I read that planting sage and rosemary together would help the two plants to flourish... So, trying to do my best for my babies, I put Sam's pineapple sage next to my wilting little upright rosemary.  As it turns out, the sage definitely flourished...  Here's hoping my rosemary can grow fast enough to keep it's head above the leaves

My mother gave us some echeveria rosettes, which we planted under our letterbox.  Frequent division and replanting of the new rosettes means we've nearly got full coverage in the tyre we planted them out in

So THAT'S where he went

I spent a while in the greenhouse, trying to find the monarch caterpillars I'd moved into the shelter.  Sure enough, he was under one of the aubergine leaves on the plants I've been babysitting for a friend while she's away.  Tricky little beggars!





Of course, if you'd seen the amount of plants on the floor in our greenhouse at the moment, you'd understand why it was hard to find where the caterpillars went.  I potted out all our tomato plants (Sam has an evil plan to post pics of me potting plants too - awesome alliteration!) and the aubergines I'm babysitting take up a little space too.  There's one other plant there, but I can't tell you what it is until after Saturday (wink wink)

My second lot of Cape Gooseberry plants are well on their way to being planted out.  I potted seeds from a plant belonging to a friend and they've flourished.

 

Sam's zucchini plants are producing us at least three or four zucchini every day now, so along with our native spinach, we're eating plenty of greens every day

Oh yeah, the "watering system fail" bit...  Well, I figured I'd better post it up BEFORE Sam does...  That way, he can't twist it into something worse than it was...  See, I had this GREAT idea, that perhaps, I could use some kind of siphon/displacement system for watering the plants in the greenhouse...  And at the moment, our old fridge (which is a lot taller than me) is next to the greenhouse.  So, by my reasoning, I figured that a bucket on top of the fridge, with an old hose in it, would be perfect for my watering needs.  So, the first bucket worked okay, but the hose kept falling out.  Determined as always, I put a large rock in the bucket, holding down the hose.

Now, I'm about 5'5" and the fridge is about 5'10" or so (guessing here)...  And a full bucket of water, with a rock in, is probably about 11kg...  And to the top of the bucket, from the ground, sitting on top of the fridge, I'm guessing again, is around 6'8"...  So, just a little higher than I can safely reach up...  And my beloved 6 foot tall husband was only 20 or so metres away, talking to me...  But I can be fiercely and stupidly independent...

So now, I have a bruise on the bridge of my nose which is only slightly in evidence, a small faint bruise on my forehead,  and a 2" round bruise on my left forearm...  An extremely painful form of wet t-shirt contest...  The bruise on my ego is a little bigger

So, I survived my watering experiment, but only barely!  (By the way, it works perfectly when you don't injure yourself in the process).  And I'm sure there was a lesson in it for me...

Anyway, take care and have a wonderful New Year!

Bring on 2011!

Take care,

Mama Fern

P.S.  Although I support NZ, it's a damn shame to see the poms do the sprinkler...  My condolences, Australia, and remember - it's ALL PONTING'S FAULT!

First day of the school holidays 2010

Well...  We have all 5 kids off school for the next six weeks, (admittedly, they will be with their other parents for odd parts of the holidays as well).  They're all excited, with Christmas so close, and it's up to me to provide entertainment for the first week of the holidays...

So, a slow start to the day, with pancakes for breakfast, and the girls and I spent a few hours dancing and listening to classical music.  It all started with Wagner's bridal march from Lohengrin, followed by the Ride of the Valkyries, and then through a bunch of dance-worthy classics, from Bizet to Mozart.  Then the girls snuggled up to listen to Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf while I sorted morning tea (pineapple, apple, oranges, kiwifruit, banana, pretzels and peanuts).

It's raining again.  The garden is springing into life more vigorously, and the kids are scratchy...  But, while the rain broke for an hour or so, the kids ran to the trampoline to let off some steam.  Then they took off with the neighbour's kids to play at their house for the afternoon.

In the meantime, I managed to sneak out of the house during a break in the weather and grab an update of our garden's progress:

Our first tomatoes

The first couple of tomatoes have started to grow on the largest tomato plant in the greenhouse.  Hopefully, once the other plants are up to a decent size, we'll start harvesting a fair few.

Baby pepino

My ruby pepino is forming its first fruits as well, which I look forward to trying...  I've had them described as similar to cucumber, but also compared to watermelon...  Should be able to tell for myself soon enough

All our strawberry plants are producing well now, but the birds are getting more than we are for the moment...  Job for the weekend - cover the strawberries!

Peppery nasturiums.  Yum!

Sam and I have both discovered we like the taste of nasturtium flowers and leaves, so we've been busily plucking them while wandering the garden.  So nice and peppery!

I'm behaving, and leaving Sam's raspberry to ripen for him, instead of picking it...  But it's so tempting.

Potatoes by the chook enclosure

We've added another tyre to each of our potatoes and loaded them up with more straw.  They're growing happily and will hopefully produce a fair few spuds this time around...  Potatoes and tomatoes seem to be my gardening downfall, so any positive progress with either will please me.

I'm yet to see how well it does, but the "Beneficial insect blend" of wildflower seeds I bought from Kings Seeds is finally starting to sprout nicely.  This lot is in the chook enclosure, where I hope to get extra seeds from it once it's done, to put in other parts of the garden.



And last of all, a couple of cute vids of our animal friends...

Andre was telling me just how hungry he was this morning, so he had to squeak a little longer while I got out the camera (I promise, I fed him after)

And, true to their normal desires, Sammy and Fluffyfeet are broody again.  I didn't want to interrupt them for long, but here's our little broody girls, keeping my golf balls warm



Take care,
Mama Fern

Blueberry and vanilla icecream (take one)

I've been making icecream for a few years now, but haven't yet attempted to recreate Sam's favourite treat from when he lived in Oz...  Blue heaven icecream.  It's a blueberry and vanilla flavoured icecream

Having never tried or seen it myself, I can't really recreate it thoroughly, but this is my first attempt to get something that will hopefully at least taste similar...  I decided to make it the first time without really consulting any other recipes or asking Sam what Blue Heaven was really like...  So, this is the first trial

(Note - I've done this particular recipe before a few times with blackberries, and also done it with raspberries, with great success)


Blueberry flavouring:

Stew 1/2 cup of blueberries and a couple of teaspoons of sugar together on the stove until the berries have turned to pulpy, almost jam-like consistency.  Leave to cool.






Icecream:

Ingredients:
300ml cream
3 eggs
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup caster sugar (yes, two separate measures of sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Stewed blueberries

Whip 300ml of cream until thick and place in a bowl

In another bowl, beat the whites of 3-4 eggs until stiff peaks form, then carefully mix in 1/4 cup of caster sugar, until the sugar dissolves

In a third bowl, beat the yolks of 3-4 eggs until they are thick and pale, then mix in 1/4 cup of caster sugar, until the sugar dissolves.


Very carefully, fold the contents of the 3 bowls together in a larger mixing bowl.  (Don't fold too vigorously, or you will end up with chewy icecream)

Place into a 2 litre freezer-proof container, then carefully swirl through 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence, and the cooled stewed blueberry.  Put on the lid of the container, and freeze for two hours, or until firm (I usually find it's better to leave it overnight - two hours often isn't enough)

Enjoy!

Oh yeah, and the verdict...  So, it looks nothing like Blue Heaven, tastes like it doesn't have quite enough blueberries in it, and I might have to try making blueberry jelly to swirl through the next time...  But... It was delicious!

Will post the results of my second attempt when I get around to trying again


Take care,
Mama Fern

Garden update mid-December

Another somewhat dull and dismal day, but the garden is loving it...  And finally, we have new life outside the front fence!  My lupins are almost all sprouting, and the dichondra has come up too

Baby lupins

My new footpath with berms

baby dichondra

Our youngest daughter bought miniature roses, but the flowers themselves have died, so I could only photograph the labels.  Tracey Wickham and Red Ace are the varieties.  They'll go into the potted garden the girls and I are planning outside their bedroom window.  For now, they're keeping our seedlings company in the greenhouse.  As you can see, Sam has had a fair bit of new growth in last week's seeds he laid down.
 

Miniature roses

Sam's newest seedlings

Sam got his first couple of Christmas presents from me early, because I can never resist!  First was a gorgeous wooden chess and backgammon set I picked up at a local second hand shop.  Then I came across a perennial basil.  With basil being Sam's favourite herb, I just HAD to buy it!

perennial "African Blue" basil

chess on the outside

backgammon and storage on the inside

 The monarch butterflies have started hanging around again too...  The swan plants in the front garden are already covered in caterpillars, so I'm hoping to get the asclepias and swan plants in our greenhouse up to a decent size in the next week or two, before we start desperately needing caterpillar food

our other swan plant

swan plant with caterpillars

evening primrose and assorted wildflowers

My evening primrose has been growing vigourously, with no flowers yet, but the alyssum and various other wildflowers in the same tyre have started blooming.

no longer a "has-bean"

The bean plant our youngest boy started at school (which I nearly killed off not long after) has taken off now, and is loving our lasagna garden







The first raspberry ripened and I got to steal it before anyone else in the house could find it!  It was absolutely delicious!

the first raspberry

spotted it!

broccoli seed pods

Our broccoli in the front yard has produced amazing amounts of seed pods, and finally they're almost ready to pick.  I'm looking forward to trying our seed out for the first time.

Marble-ous Muffins!

I couldn't resist it, and just had to try making marble cake as muffins instead.

So, the finished result:

A dozen of the most marble-ous muffins

For the benefit of those of us that don't have an Edmonds cookbook...  The recipe:

3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
50g melted butter
2 tablespoons boiling water (NZ 15ml tablespoons)
1 tablespoon cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
Optional - another food colouring of your choice, for example:

• Yellow - a pinch of turmeric (add some lemon juice or zest to mask the mild powdery taste)
• Purple - a couple of teaspoons of crushed blueberries or blackberries
• Red - a little boiled beetroot juice
• Green - boiled spinach

Beat eggs until thick
Gradually beat in sugar until mixture is very thick and white
Sift flour and baking powder together
Fold into egg mixture
Fold in butter and boiling water
Divide mixture into equal parts (two for cocoa and vanilla, or multiple for additional colours)
Into first portion, add vanilla essence
Into second portion, add measure of cocoa
(For additional portions, add the colouring option you prefer)
Spoon the mixtures one at a time into muffin pans (or into a cake tin) and either leave as is, or gently drag a toothpick or skewer through to create marbling effect

Bake at 180 degrees Celcius for 20-25 minutes (cake) or 10-15 minutes (muffins) or until the cake/s spring back when lightly touched

I try to bake up a few batches and freeze them as soon as I can, so that they don't get eaten as fast.  A frozen muffin popped in the lunch box first thing in the morning is perfect by morning tea time

Take care,
Mama Fern

Pea Straw, Mama Fern and lots of new additions...

Stevia in background and orangeberry in the foreground

Well it's about time Papa Sam added to the blog... for better or worse, here I go. Mama Fern and I, bereft of kids today went for a bit of a bike ride today. We went to a dinky little nursery off state highway on  but it had little gems of plants hidden away, like pineapple sage. Yum. We got a whole bale of pea straw into the bike chariot and the nursery owner came out rambling about flower power in his age, now it was bike power. Like Totally Man!

Freebie celosia in left and lots of pea straw added to retain moisture.

Pineapple Sage #3 Eastern corner

Pineapple Sage #2 Northern Corner

Added 2 more pineapple sages to the other corners of the garden for bringing in winter predators and some red colour during winter. Plus they smell awesome.

Pumpkins and Squashes Flourisihing

More pumpkins growing under our bedroom window.

Pumpkins are growing well.  Lots of potential for this year's crop of pumpkin soup.

Added more pea straw plus more brassicas.

and further along the same fence.

Even more pea straw for the front wall, should help the marjoram, tomatillos, brassicas (romanesco broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts) so we don't have to water so much.

Front lasagne garden near 3 Sisters

...and the other side of front lasagne garden

Have extended the lasagne garden our the front and added tonnes of pea straw.  Planted brassicas in the surrounding tyres (Romanesco broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts) and have some seedlings that should be ready to do another batch of 3 sisters in a few weeks for the last harvest...maybe last, who knows...

Mama Fern and her brief moments of sewing bliss.

Mama Fern has rediscovered the sewing machine and I hear colourful language occasionally emanating from the vicinity of the sewing table. As to what she is doing, will update on this in a few weeks, as it's a surprise...

Youngest Girl's Blush Pepino.

Youngest girl bought her own Blush Pepino and a couple of miniature roses.

And as for the Backyard...

Brassicas next to the cos lettuce, almost ready for caesar salad time.

Tyre wall with lasagne 4 layers in each tyre.

...and around the corner

The Chicken enclosure is being prepped with some lasagne tyres. We filled them with paper, grass, cut leaves and topped with some pea straw on top. Did a mock up of tyre retaining wall (see below), probably going to do a staggered 3 tier tyre wall with herbs and stuff planted in the intervals.

Mockup of retaining wall to our next door neighbour's wall

2 sunflowers made it...

...and the final thing, be vewy vewy qwuiet..

the first Cape Gooseberry is hiding...

This is Papa Sam signing out, stay tuned for more future updates...