Autumn fruits

I bought tomato seedlings at Ag Day in October and planted them about a month later. They didn't grow. But amazingly one of them didn't die. 

Instead it stayed the same size until the rain started up again. And then it grew and fruited. This is the meagre crop to date. I don't mind at all though, given the fight that the plant put up through a long hot summer. Fried green tomatoes, anyone? 

In contrast, my kale is still producing well, over a year since I cut the first leaves. This week I made kale chips (which were surprisingly delicious) and kale pesto (which was also a great success). I do hope the plant keeps going for a while longer yet! 

Blackberrying

We really need to get a contractor in to mow the paddock and spray the brambles. 

We might as well make the most of this year's crop first though... 

New Year, Old Projects

The time off over Christmas has given me the odd opportunity to catch up on some things that I'd left undone. 

Staking this kowhai was a top priority. It had quite a lean and has started to yellow. It's a special tree as I planted it over one of my two placentas. I also love kowhai and the tui that they attract so I was keen to save it. Fingers crossed it works. 

Fixing the flapping and fraying wind barrier on the raised beds became more pressing once I planted my first crown of rhubarb and a cape gooseberry. 

I used my father's idea of threading through a bamboo cane and hooking on a bungee cord. Some of the original hooks had rusted through so I hammered in a baling hook saved from a cube of sawdust. The bungee won't last in the sun though so I'll need a more sustainable option for the long term. 

Inside the house, I conquered my fear of meringue and made a pavlova base. Sadly our hens have stopped laying (in the coop at any rate) so I had to buy eggs. I was able to buy them from a local producer who once took some of our chicks so they're almost our own eggs. 

I also squeezed in an hour of sewing to put together a shopkeeper's apron and a tool belt for the children. They need the straps adding in but they're much closer than before. Progress at last. 

Christmas dinner

Our raised beds are not quite as productive now as they have been. I'm not sure exactly why but maybe because I didn't water the latest plantings like I did the first ones last January. 

Corn and tomato seedlings didn't grow (thought they're still alive) and the rocket bolted before I cropped it. The irrigation system should be on stream again soon though. 

In the meantime, we have enjoyed some Tom thumb lettuce, a motley selection of carrots, purple beans, broad beans and sugar snap peas. The leeks looked edible if skinny but remained woody even when cooked. Shame. 

If anyone knows why the garlic didn't grow at all, beyond putting up shoots, please let me know. I wonder if it's the same reason behind the poor performance of the garlic and the leek. 

Chicken news

Our little flock of chickens has survived another winter. They started laying again within a day or two of the equinox and mostly lay in the coop. I did find a clutch of around 14 eggs in the grass atop the retaining wall last week and the vegetation had kept them cool and fresh. I'm still waiting to see a troop of chicks emerge from the bush as next door's rooster has been pacing the boundary fence impatiently.

The quails are busy again, dashing around the lawn, and I found a lovely pair of handmade ceramic quails at our local gallery a few weeks ago - a real bargain.

One chicken is not doing so well though. I'd noticed that her breast seemed to be well fluffed up but she seemed in good health otherwise so I didn't worry. When I found her in the coop last week, I took the chance to have a closer look. I suspect that shes one of our original chicks as she didn't mind me handling her - even though she had a huge growth over her breastbone.

A trip to the vet resulted in a cyst being drained and once that was done, the vet could feel a large tumour underneath. She's still in good health though so hopefully she'll carry on living out her life happily on our block.

The fruits of our labour

I'm just about managing to maintain progress with our raised beds and the demise of Jemima was a good push to plant some fruit trees this winter. We planted feijoa, fig, a dual-grafted apple (Monty's Surprise and my favourite, Granny Smiths), cherry, orange and mandarin. I strapped them to give them a bit of support in the high winds that howl around our place and even managed to feed them all too. 

The raised beds aren't terribly productive at the moment. Most of the salad has come to an end though the silverbeet is going strong. I ripped out all but two of the kale plants because they were covered in white fly and their grubs. The radishes were a great success but we've eaten them all now and the broccoli and cauliflower, in contrast, were a dead loss, too spindly and fast to bolt. Only a few of my carrots sprouted and the leeks will have to go another year before they're fat enough to eat. 

The herbs are fit and healthy but the garlic looks pretty thin. The fruit bushes (loganberry, blueberry, guava and blackcurrant) are coming back nicely after winter and the strawberries are taking hold - I was amazed to discover that they were carnivores when I opened up the strawberry food and discovered that it was blood and bone! 

In the last month, I've put in tomatoes, dwarf purple beans, corn and sugar snap peas which I bought at the local Ag Day plant stall but they've been slow to take off and I think they're a bit thirsty. We're in the middle of re-configuring our irrigation with a header tank to limit the burden on the pump and so the seedlings are suffering. The broad bean plants that I grew from seed rustle when they get a breeze through them. There are a few pods developing though so all is not lost. 

The potato plants look promising - though they're in need of earthing up - and we should have a decent crop in the New Year. And next in the queue are some capsicum seedlings that I picked up at our local garage sale - fingers crossed the irrigation system does the trick...

Midwinter harvest

I managed to grab 20 minutes in the garden today to tend to my vegetables which seem to be thriving on neglect. 

The salad leaves are a little overgrown but they're the most wonderful colours. 

I filled my trug with ingredients for the next few nights - celery, spring onions, bok choy, oregano, marjoram, chillis, cos lettuce and beetroot. I've finally worked out that I can just break off what I need from the celery and spring onions rather than bringing a whole head or clump. The beetroots are a bit small and there's not many of them but they're growing moss so I picked half for a casserole. The leaves are still in good nick so I can use those as salad. Jasper got some of the cos leaves that were battered in the storms. 

The cawliflowers are still tiny but I should be able to use some broccoli next week - fried with butter, garlic and some of the chillis from the garden. The chilli plant seems to be re-growing from the main stem and coping with the frost but unfortunately my tarragon has all gone. 

My cultivated garlic cloves have sprouted and the broad beans look strong. I thinned the radishes and kept the thinnings to give away on our local trade and swap page or else eat as micro greens tonight. The carrots have been slow to germinate so need a few more weeks to establish themselves before I thin those too. 

Over in the compost heap, a new choko vine has taken off - the pukekos will be delighted! And I think there's a pumpkin vine next to it with tiny fruit already appearing. I need to work out how to protect them as they seem to be rotting in the damp and cold. Fingers crossed that some survive at least... 

One step backwards...

We had one of the worst storms on record for forty years a fortnight ago. Amazingly the only damage was to my globe artichoke. It had already grown to giant proportions so it was a bit of a setback for my vegetable patch. 

Interestingly, the damaged leaves seemed to be even more under attack from aphids (or similar) than when the plant was thriving. I've stripped those leaves off now and hope the plant revives itself. 

The pumpkin growing in my old compost heap is looking very healthy in comparison. It's still quite small but there are flowers already. There's a new choko plant growing alongside it too. 

In the native bed, I was delighted to find that my two dwarf kowhai are in good health and both of them have their first flowers. None of the native grasses survived the summer but some of the other ground cover plants have new leaves. 

Inside, I've been busy pickling red cabbage. 

We've been enjoying bok choi and winter salad too. Our first cos lettuce is in the fridge ready for a salad tomorrow night. Winter growing is off to a good start. 

Time for a tidy up

There were still a few flowers on my dwarf bean plants but not so many leaves so I decided that their time was up. I harvested the last of the beans and dumped the plants with a lot of yellowed kale leaves on the compost heap. 

The red cabbage was up next. There were three cabbages remaining and my strategy of leaving them in the ground until we needed them hadn't really worked. They were rotting from the outside in and home to quite a few slugs and snails. I salvaged over 2 kg though and that's more than enough for making pickled red cabbage. 

I gathered some windfall grapefruit for curd and silver beet, herbs and chillis for a soup. There were a few leaves leftover for a treat for Jasper too. 

I now have one quarter of a bed cleared and ready for turning over. I'll plant garlic at the solstice and then think about what new crops to start. 

A busy day in the field

We took a wander around the paddock today and found lots of interesting things including this huge fungus. 

And dozens of shed cicada skins which resulted in a bug hunt - more on that later.   

We picked a few dozen blackberries for a crumble. 

And then mowed the paddock - good bye gorse and brambles and reeds. 

Feast

Whilst we've been feasting on frittata, it seems that some of our neighbours prefer a raw food diet. 

I picked about two dozen caterpillars off our red cabbage and curly kale last night, including a chrysalis or two. I knocked off as many eggs as possible too. Hopefully that will give the plants a head start for a week or so.   

Kitchen creations

I've been busy cooking over the last few months. I made my own mincemeat for the first time with cranberries and orange peel. I learnt how to sterilise the jars in the oven and it has kept well.

Chocolate bark was another festive success though Lark's teachers didn't thank me for this gift at the start of term when it compromised their New Year's resolutions...

I've been experimenting with cake decorating too - using a crocheted doily to make a pattern with icing sugar on a Somerset cider cake. (If you try this, do it just before you're ready to serve the cake otherwise the icing sugar is absorbed and you can't see the pattern - it took me three attempts!)

I attempted a buttermilk glaze for this plantation prune cake but it didn't really work - tasty but lumpy - so I covered it up with more icing sugar! The cake itself was popular at one of our gardening group gatherings.

I've been doing some more preserving with grapefruit cordial, using the remaining fruit from our tree...

... and pickled cucumbers (though I didn't serve them together).

Next, I think I'll try some more adventurous bread-baking - maybe rolls or hot cross buns in time for Easter...

House plants

I've been busy gardening inside as well as out. Lark and I have been busy propagating all these babies from our spider plant to provide more ground cover in some of the borders. 

And my chilli plant has been flowering well after being cut right back over winter - but no signs of chillis yet. Does it need food, perhaps?

Elders and Berries

This was my haul from the garden last weekend. Hydrangea heads for an arrangement for a party, three eggs, a dozen apples from our young tree and a few teaspoons full of elderberries - just enough to flavour an apple crumble. 

I was interested to find that the berries in the shade were ripening faster than the berries high up in the sunshine. I can't begin to explain that.

The tree was covered in sap-sucking passion vine hoppers which I'm sure are the reason for the meagre harvest.

We should have more success in future now that this young elder tree has been planted by the chicken coop. I hope the chickens will eat the bugs and not the berries and we'll have sufficient blooms for elderflower champagne.

Grapefruit Curd

I attempted to make grapefruit curd for the first time in August 2010. It was a disaster and didn't set at all. I finally managed to put my demons behind me and tried again this week. Success!

I used a different recipe and I think that sieving the eggs might have made all the difference. And the simmer ring on our gas hob might have helped too. Plus stirring for 50 minutes non-stop.

So far, it's been delicious with pikelets and lemon muffins and toast. I'll make some yoghurt soon and stir it through for a tasty dessert.

Huntsman's Stew

From this...

...to this...

...to this! Mmm...

Crescent Dairy Goat Farm

Competitive streak

I recently had the opportunity to enter a cupcake competition at work. I picked out an unusual recipe - spiced kumura cupcakes - and planned a Matariki theme - decorated with fish and silver cachous to represent the seven stars of the Pleiades which can be seen at the Maori New Year. 

Sadly I then caught a bug and was off work when the competition took place. Though that may have been a good thing as I tried the recipe out a few weeks later for an office morning tea - and I was really disappointed in my first attempt at proper cupcake icing. The lemon and cream cheese icing was far too wet to produce the beautiful swirl that I could see in my head. Luckily they tasted pretty good (if a little stodgy) and so all was not lost. 

The next competition is for the best scone at our local produce show. I think that I will start work now on perfecting an apple, oatmeal and Lancashire cheese scone. I have at least six months to get it right!