Yes, as you can tell by my lack of posts, I am a bit Over it all now. I also lost my camera, so no pics of Tasmania! and I have to use the old camera for my Blog Pics.
I spent a few weeks in the lead up to my Tasmanian Overland adventure dehydrating food, tasting various packaged dehydrated foods, and mixing up tasty and healthy dried concoctions, that were not local, so it was a bit strange after having such a limited diet for so long. On the trek I enjoyed tuna, wasabi, nori sheets, mung bean and lentil sprouts, cuppa soup, hot chocolate, sugar (it was lighter than honey) powdered milk, Willunga museli, dried fruit & nut scroggin, Madura tea, museli bars, cous cous and rice. I must say, it was very nice having the variety, and a lovely treat having the tea and hot chocolate! I was pretty disciplined though, I did not take chocolate (too heavy) or sweets. I did take lots of home made beef jerky, and curries (which I had to make with foreign spices). I also gave myself a break from the diet while in transit to and from Tassie via Melbourne, it was nice not to have to think about it. To savour whatever I fancied form the menu without having to ask where everything comes from. The fall out from this has been a big relapse in my resolve, and I have to confess that I have decided to include Madura Tea on my diet. At least it is Australian. I just find life is not the same without tea. Must be the British blood, life is too short to not drink tea! S Tea is oficially the one thing I cannot live without, so I am ordering a Camelia Sinensis tree this month - to try growing my own. The pantry has inevitably, some left over dehydrated stuff, which we are treating ourselves with. Mostly I couldn't do without - Willunga Almonds for quick easy snacks, lashings of local wine, Mark and Lisa's apples & pears, and local dairy products.
Chickens
This week's challenge is our chooks deciding that they don't like our new Royal (Rip off) Rooster chook tractor. The irony is, we paid a small fortune for this deluxe chook palace, fox proof floor, lightweight aluminium construction = easy for one person to move & no mite breeding habitat in the wood. We got rid of the $40 fox proof floor after day 3 I think, as the poor girls couldn't scratch properly, and it made the tractor heavy and difficult to move. They still were not happy = not laying. We bought them delicious Organic wheat and barley from the food co-op, - still no eggs. We stopped moving them daily. Yesterday we got 2 eggs from our 3 girls for the first time. Things are looking up. We are considering making them a new stationary chook pen, or putting the girls in the freezer and trying again with a new batch of point of lay chooks who will be trained from day one to be nomadic. My latest research involves finding another type of feed for the girls, as they may not like the new mix. I have been a bit dismayed by thr list of ingredients in Red Hen mix. On the plus side, they are Lauckes grains, but ingredients like yellow colouring, fish meal, blood and bone, and meat meal, as well as canola, soy, and corn, all concern me. I emailed Lauckes and they were unable to tell me whether the grains were genetically modified as the producers don't have to label their products. The meat products were Australian, the fish imported, not sure where from. So I have now emailed and await replies from Baristok and Fleurieu feeds. I am also investigating local places to send our girls for processing as I understand that there is somewhere that will process small numbers. They are 2 years old now, will need boiling/ crock pot roasting, but as I buy chickens to eat anyway, it seems logical.
What are we eating this week?
Baker Girl
Actually this is not a photo from this week, we haven't seen the beautiful Bread lady at our door for several weeks. This is the fabulous bread that she delivered to our door twice a week for $6. Made from sourdough and Laucke's organic flour. Yum. We miss you Tamara & Erica!
My lunch of local bread - I think this is actually Russel's, Farmer's Market tomatoes and cheese, and garden greens, I have given up on the local pink pepper corns - they just don't work in the grinder, are sticky, and not that peppery. So I decided to use the peppery flavour of the nasturtiums instead. Don't know why I didn't think of it before! yumo.
Bananas
These were grown by Steve Poole in Aldinga Beach - he apparently had 6 bunches this year! Such an inspiration, and to be so generous with them - thanks heaps Steve! They were not as sweet as I expected, being a lady finger variety. I think maybe they need more water or feeding? I have planted 2 baby plants from my sister's place. I have planted them in 2 different locations in my garden, even though it is best to plant them together. One will get more sun, but I will have to remember to water it. The other is more sheltered, but gets less sun and more run off from the raised bed and outdoor shower etc. It's a bit of an experiment. Hers have not fruited yet, so the race is on to see who's tree fruits first!
I think this was my first breakfast on return to Aldinga after trekking the wilds of Tasmania. More nasturtiums for the pepper flavour - it actually works a treat. It gets me thinking, before spices came along to the european table, we must have relied much more heavily on herbs. So much so that the manor house garden always had a substantial herb garden (for medicinal use as well). When spices came along, they were probably as exciting as convenience foods are today. You did not have to go out to the garden to get flavourings from the herb patch, you had spices at your finger tips in the pantry. It makes me wonder how many spices could be substituted with herbs? I wonder if kitchens were much more self sufficient pre-spice trade - or just more bland?
Decadent lunch, Primo Estate Colombard, Alexandrina Gouda, Mark and Lisa's pears, Farmer's Market cucumber, and snow peas. Udder Delights blue cheese, Perry's Fruit & Nut Nursery avocadoes. Delish.
My first harvest on my return. It was so wonderful to come home to a lush green abundant garden! I had so much broccoli - I love it, so I plant a lot! But I have not got the right method of succession planting sussed yet, so it all ripens at once. My first instinct, is to give it away, but this time, I decided to blanch and freeze some.
My first post Trek dinner, Spanikopita (there is lots of spinach in the garden), I had no garlic, so I put in lots of onions, browned them first, and our own home processed olives ( this batch was a garlic and pepper flavour - superb), as well as some herbs from the garden. I made the pastry as I had no pasta sheets. I made it with olive oil as I had limited butter. It was wonderful, and not so hard to make pastry. I tell myself it is hard, can't be bothered, takes too long, etc. but actually, it is ok, messy, but not too time consuming at all. I wonder if it is the same for bread - I tell myself the same things about bread.
Trying out some more heritage seeds. I am excited about trying new types of tomato and different coloured carrots. I am also trying to get used to starting new seedlings as soon as I have planted the first batch.
My prize broccoli
Prize Broccoli and me! It must have been all of the rain we had over winter, it meant that the crops were delayed by the cold, but bumper because of the water -I think? Maybe I just don't normally water enough?
Actually, I have been feeding the veg a lot more this year, with worm wee, seasol and charlie carp, as well as BD preps.
Farmer's Market roast Chicken and veg. (My greens)
