Internet is running poorly from my house so images will be added later.
CORN SEEDS AND WEEDING
Today I planted corn in spleft over space in the vege patch. We originally had two rows of corn, but in hind-sight, that probably isn't enough for six families. Still the left overs in teh seed packet were not enough to fill the space so have to get another packet of Yates Corn seeds to fill it up.
I also started the arduous and never ending task of weeding the garden by house (again) with my WWOOFer Franzisca's help. Such a lovely young lady and it is a real shame that her visit has come to an end.
THIRD MEAL
When we were in the garden 'tidying up', we noticed the abundance of beetroot leaves, knowing that they can be used in salads we were wondered if older leaves could be used for anything. I think sometimes you ponder things at just the right time... as my wwoofer Franciska said, that she has sautee'd them with onions and put cream with them... so that night we gave it a try and I have to say I loved it. We had only sour cream at the time and it was fantastic, I loved it and would defini do it again... cream, sour cream, yoghurt or cream cheese would work fine. At the same time I made sage & oregano gnocchi (from scratch), also a fantastic dish thanks to Cindy making it when she was here.
SALAD GREENS
Now that the initial bulk planting of seeds has occurred my planter box is all mine again. I now have in my planter box, lettuce, basil, corriander and chive seeds. Already the lettuce and basil are showing.
CONTEMPLATING COFFEE
Over night it suddenly dawned on me that one of the mum’s in our new entrant class at school (with my 2nd son just starting) owns one of our local cafe’s.
Next morning I found her and she is happy to store up their coffee beans for us, and also the scrap food for the pigs/chickens… now I just need to find a whole pile of buckets.
For anyone travelling near Waiuku or the Glenbrook Steam Train (very close by), they are by far my favourite cafe, not only for the great food, but the setting is so lovely. Take a look at their facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Calendula-Cottage-Cafe-and-Gardens/154673477902098?sk=wall
PEPPERMINT TEA
One of the most lovely treats that my visitors have given me was a use for peppermint.
For Xmas last year I was given a peppermint plant, from a family visiting from Israel. Through them I was introduced to peppermint tea and frankly it is amazing.
Now that my plant has grown big enough to start using more frequently I am very excited… So much so today’s Mummies in Gummies ‘meeting’ I got the old Baileys teapot out to enjoy a brew.
MANURE
Liz and V talked about getting the horse manure today… after V left, she decided to go and scope out her source… LUCK… there was some sitting by the side of the road. She managed to pack in 5 bags and Liz ran up and managed another 8. Will be great in the compost and in the garden.
Although the stuff we need for between the rows etc is the sawdust or hay the horse farms take out of the stables. This is what we really need on the tops of the tyres to grow our pumpkins… MUST GET ONTO THAT.
MORE PLANTING
Remember we are feeding 28 people…. so yes more planting
This time a few extra potatoes in the area’s that didn’t seem to take. A few more peas, the odd onion seedling that did actually grow, Pak Choi and low-growing silverbeet.
the pumpkin plantings got another step closer. The tyres are now full of stuff to be compostede and in a few days ‘fingers crossed’ we will have horse manure / saw dust delivered to pop on top to grow out pumpkins in.
The plan is to grow them vertically, but of course it wouldn’t matter if it grew over the compost too.
We girls have had great giggles over the potential use of our old bras ;)
WATER TESTING
No I don’t mean the pH levels… but rather whether water is simply getting through the sprinklers.
Even after Trina’s great effort five of the sprinklers were blocked with ‘new’ algae.
Poor Liz had to stand in the ‘rain’ to see what was and wasn’t working.
At least it was a good day for it.
BAMBOO TEEPEES
Trina and Tania had a great time cleaning the bamboo shafts that Lin's hubby Bill had cut for us. They made a great laugh out of rotating and cutting the bamboo... but I wasn't really privvy to it so I can't quite understand the analogies.
Any way, we made some great teepee type support structures for the peas and beans which are getting up there in size now.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Irrigation
After the girls cleared some of the obviously blocked sprinklers the other day, Trina decided to take a look at them all... and just as well, my goodness some of them were hideous. At least now they should let out a lot more water. It just seemed strange that it was drying so easily.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Johnson Family
This week for school holidays the Edmonds household had some visitors camping. They are the Johnson family, Karrina, Cindy and June (in generation order). Dad, Cary was unable to join them time around.
We had an absolute blast with them here. Karrina entertained my three rugrats so superbly, that despite Jason being home he actually got to 'rest' the foot that he had injured.
It also meant that we had an opportunity to get to know Cindy better. She is our local dance teacher. Liz and Tania have been taking her class for at about 2 years.
Immigrating (from America) is difficult at the best of times - so... you guessed it, we've asked them to join Mummies in Gummies :)
They are a fabulous addition to our little community and we look forward to many happy harvests with them... and of course dancing around the garden :)
We had an absolute blast with them here. Karrina entertained my three rugrats so superbly, that despite Jason being home he actually got to 'rest' the foot that he had injured.
It also meant that we had an opportunity to get to know Cindy better. She is our local dance teacher. Liz and Tania have been taking her class for at about 2 years.
Immigrating (from America) is difficult at the best of times - so... you guessed it, we've asked them to join Mummies in Gummies :)
They are a fabulous addition to our little community and we look forward to many happy harvests with them... and of course dancing around the garden :)
reflecting on the week
After asking Cindy to join our crew we had our Tuesday morning working bee.
Not all of us could make it, but those of us who could got straight into work.
Weeding mostly... But also noticing the changes that were happening.
The Scallopini Zucchini and one or two cucumbers had started on the mounds we set up before our trip away.
The carrot seed tape got put down too so we'll see how well that's going to do. The original had not worked in the GH so we pulled that up and put it under plastic to germinate. The onion haven't done very well in trays so also trying them in toilet paper tape. Fantastic space saving discovery that with a little water it sticks to the window well...
Given the kids were off school, they were offering to help, so we put them to work cleaning sprinklers and setting up the remaining tyres for the compost bin.
We hoed the tomato area and the potatoes and dug over the area for more beans.
That night Tania and Liz got out and created rows for the beans.
Next day Lin got in and planted said beans.
Following day V and Liz put in more beans and fluffed around with the irrigation system. There is a setup where you can suck up water from a drum- like a manure tea or the like - however that is not working. Went down to the local plumbing store and it looks like it's going to be a $50 expense that no one really has right now, so that is definitely one place that the Yates winnings (fingers crossed) could come in handy.
The pumpkin is ready to be planted, but we need to finish filling up the compost bin tyres so we can grow them vertically.
Pak Choi almost ready to go in too
My b-i-l, Justin rang one night and asked if he could bring some 'twigs' over to burn on our property. When he got here the trailer was full of compost... so my brain got ticking over and decided to place it in the area that we were about to dig over for silverbeet... yay... less work to be done :)
Next with my new wwoofer Franciska we level off the silverbeet patch, removing any raspberry saplings that were popping up.
Also planted a the Yates lettuce seeds, which is already popping its little heads out :)
Not all of us could make it, but those of us who could got straight into work.
Weeding mostly... But also noticing the changes that were happening.
The Scallopini Zucchini and one or two cucumbers had started on the mounds we set up before our trip away.
The carrot seed tape got put down too so we'll see how well that's going to do. The original had not worked in the GH so we pulled that up and put it under plastic to germinate. The onion haven't done very well in trays so also trying them in toilet paper tape. Fantastic space saving discovery that with a little water it sticks to the window well...
Given the kids were off school, they were offering to help, so we put them to work cleaning sprinklers and setting up the remaining tyres for the compost bin.
We hoed the tomato area and the potatoes and dug over the area for more beans.
That night Tania and Liz got out and created rows for the beans.
Next day Lin got in and planted said beans.
Following day V and Liz put in more beans and fluffed around with the irrigation system. There is a setup where you can suck up water from a drum- like a manure tea or the like - however that is not working. Went down to the local plumbing store and it looks like it's going to be a $50 expense that no one really has right now, so that is definitely one place that the Yates winnings (fingers crossed) could come in handy.
The pumpkin is ready to be planted, but we need to finish filling up the compost bin tyres so we can grow them vertically.
Pak Choi almost ready to go in too
My b-i-l, Justin rang one night and asked if he could bring some 'twigs' over to burn on our property. When he got here the trailer was full of compost... so my brain got ticking over and decided to place it in the area that we were about to dig over for silverbeet... yay... less work to be done :)
Next with my new wwoofer Franciska we level off the silverbeet patch, removing any raspberry saplings that were popping up.
Also planted a the Yates lettuce seeds, which is already popping its little heads out :)
Feed 'em S@#T and Keep 'em in the Dark
MUSHROOMS
About a week ago V bought aruond a mushroom kit. Today I attempted to read the instructions... quickly fell asleep on those and decided to google.
So far this is the most useful and least scarry guide I've found
This video talked about the use of card board and coffee grounds, but I didn't quite understand why?
This next one explained the coffee grounds a little (albeit no audio) and gives you an option to increase your yield
Then I found a fantastic website that explained some of the terms and gave you idea's on what to grow them in... also explained coffee grounds :)
http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/grow-mushrooms.html
So then I got to thinking... it's all very well, putting the spores into the soil but how do you get new spores without having to buy them again. Then I found this site which I have to say has been the most enlightening and has video as well. It told me the name of the process of 'getting more spores' was called cloning (surprise surprise) and then - you guessed it - GOOGLE for more videos. http://www.mushroomvideos.com/Mushroom-Cloning
Just before we move on to cloning though this site really was the best one I think... should our mushroom venture take off that Bill (AKA DH to Lin) will likely be tasked with creating a boiler for us to sterilise the substrate... (see at this point in the process I am starting to use strange words).
So anyway, cloning - I found this video with green lighting and done in silence until the end where mexican/spanish (I think - we don't study that part of the world down here) is spoken... thus making me wonder if it really was taking a culture from a button mushroom (but infact it was...) It was done in open air and if you read the comments, some people were horrified by that. Personally I figure if it is done in an unsterile natural environment then why have all the pomp and ceremony of a glove-box (but that's just me)
There was also a video of the same sort of thing done in front of a Hepa-Filter blowing air toward you thus pushing any contaminants away from your work... a little bit of protection doesn't hurt I guess ;)
Of course if we want to go down the petri dish method we'll best learn how to prepare petri dishes. This is a video about how to do with ath with Potato Dextrose Agar 'mix' the name of which I got from the 'green' video.
and then there was this beauty to extract the spores (far easier and a different video had already said that aluminium foil comes off the roll sterile)...
Best spore print without all the scientific gear - Part 1
then what to do next
and with that and the fact that I have been at this for two hours and it is 11:15... it is time for me to sleep :)
One last thing before I go... I've seen this word coir used here and there, and was baffled as to what it was and how it is used. Turns out it is just another type of substrate (growing mix)... or, as per a site I found... Coir is condensed coconut fibers that expand in moisture and when properly prepared can help budding mushrooms fight off the molds and bacteria that would kill them. Other material must be added to meet the high-nitrogen requirements of mushroom growth. http://www.ehow.com/how_10045860_use-coir-substrate-mushrooms.html#ixzz1bPeNIqft
About a week ago V bought aruond a mushroom kit. Today I attempted to read the instructions... quickly fell asleep on those and decided to google.
So far this is the most useful and least scarry guide I've found
This video talked about the use of card board and coffee grounds, but I didn't quite understand why?
This next one explained the coffee grounds a little (albeit no audio) and gives you an option to increase your yield
Then I found a fantastic website that explained some of the terms and gave you idea's on what to grow them in... also explained coffee grounds :)
http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/grow-mushrooms.html
So then I got to thinking... it's all very well, putting the spores into the soil but how do you get new spores without having to buy them again. Then I found this site which I have to say has been the most enlightening and has video as well. It told me the name of the process of 'getting more spores' was called cloning (surprise surprise) and then - you guessed it - GOOGLE for more videos. http://www.mushroomvideos.com/Mushroom-Cloning
Just before we move on to cloning though this site really was the best one I think... should our mushroom venture take off that Bill (AKA DH to Lin) will likely be tasked with creating a boiler for us to sterilise the substrate... (see at this point in the process I am starting to use strange words).
So anyway, cloning - I found this video with green lighting and done in silence until the end where mexican/spanish (I think - we don't study that part of the world down here) is spoken... thus making me wonder if it really was taking a culture from a button mushroom (but infact it was...) It was done in open air and if you read the comments, some people were horrified by that. Personally I figure if it is done in an unsterile natural environment then why have all the pomp and ceremony of a glove-box (but that's just me)
There was also a video of the same sort of thing done in front of a Hepa-Filter blowing air toward you thus pushing any contaminants away from your work... a little bit of protection doesn't hurt I guess ;)
Of course if we want to go down the petri dish method we'll best learn how to prepare petri dishes. This is a video about how to do with ath with Potato Dextrose Agar 'mix' the name of which I got from the 'green' video.
and then there was this beauty to extract the spores (far easier and a different video had already said that aluminium foil comes off the roll sterile)...
Best spore print without all the scientific gear - Part 1
then what to do next
and with that and the fact that I have been at this for two hours and it is 11:15... it is time for me to sleep :)
One last thing before I go... I've seen this word coir used here and there, and was baffled as to what it was and how it is used. Turns out it is just another type of substrate (growing mix)... or, as per a site I found... Coir is condensed coconut fibers that expand in moisture and when properly prepared can help budding mushrooms fight off the molds and bacteria that would kill them. Other material must be added to meet the high-nitrogen requirements of mushroom growth. http://www.ehow.com/how_10045860_use-coir-substrate-mushrooms.html#ixzz1bPeNIqft
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Deliverance...
d-d-ling ling ling ling ling ling ling
We have corn... of course at this early stage it looks like grass - of which there is a lot of in the garden here and there but this is appearing in a row and forgive me if I'm wrong, but grass clumps together.
The carrot seed that I toilet-papered germinated VERY well and now that the shoots are starting to turn green they got planted... here's hoping the next stage works well. The test tape that I put into the garden originally did not work as it did not keep wet enough.
Of the mounds we made just before I went away, we have a Lebanese Cucumber and a Scalloppini Zucchini poking through. Given there was space at the base of each mound for the cucumbers and gherkins we decided to put beans toward the bottom of the mound. Apparently good companions and will help protect the cucs a bit I believe.
You probably also notice that the dirt is quite dry. This is due to forgetting to water it last night and having a lovely sunny day today. However, I do want to state that I think the earth needs 'help'. I do not remember it being this 'clay-like' a few years ago, and given it hasn't really received any TLC I think it is time to give it some. Must get on to neighbour about getting sawdust and horse manure.
We have corn... of course at this early stage it looks like grass - of which there is a lot of in the garden here and there but this is appearing in a row and forgive me if I'm wrong, but grass clumps together.
The carrot seed that I toilet-papered germinated VERY well and now that the shoots are starting to turn green they got planted... here's hoping the next stage works well. The test tape that I put into the garden originally did not work as it did not keep wet enough.
Of the mounds we made just before I went away, we have a Lebanese Cucumber and a Scalloppini Zucchini poking through. Given there was space at the base of each mound for the cucumbers and gherkins we decided to put beans toward the bottom of the mound. Apparently good companions and will help protect the cucs a bit I believe.
You probably also notice that the dirt is quite dry. This is due to forgetting to water it last night and having a lovely sunny day today. However, I do want to state that I think the earth needs 'help'. I do not remember it being this 'clay-like' a few years ago, and given it hasn't really received any TLC I think it is time to give it some. Must get on to neighbour about getting sawdust and horse manure.
... and more planting
but this time I won’t rabbit on for ever…
So Lin, Tania and Liz had a quick wizz in the garden this morning to plant a few more ’things… ZUCCHINI, SCALLOPINI ZUCCHINI, GHERKIN, LEBANESE CUCUMBER and APPLE CUCUMBER.
I’ve given up on the trays, so given I’m away for a few days thought it a good time to try taking it straight from the ground. So we dug over the area and created 10 mounds. Right now only these seeds have been sown, but the plan is to check out their best companion plants and stick them in the ground when I get back. At least this way, they are there and going to start growing… I mean, why waste time right.
So Lin, Tania and Liz had a quick wizz in the garden this morning to plant a few more ’things… ZUCCHINI, SCALLOPINI ZUCCHINI, GHERKIN, LEBANESE CUCUMBER and APPLE CUCUMBER.
I’ve given up on the trays, so given I’m away for a few days thought it a good time to try taking it straight from the ground. So we dug over the area and created 10 mounds. Right now only these seeds have been sown, but the plan is to check out their best companion plants and stick them in the ground when I get back. At least this way, they are there and going to start growing… I mean, why waste time right.
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