Posted in Frugal Living, tagged backyard vegetables, Linda Woodrow, Permaculture Home Garden on May 25, 2012| 53 Comments »
Our seven year old neighbour was tasked with preparing a school report on a backyard ecosystem, and chose to base it on ours. I thought you might enjoy his work as much as we did! I particularly like the worm close-up on the bottom right…
Our garden is based on a plan from Linda Woodrow’s fabulous book, The Permaculture Home Garden. Now that the infrastructure is well established, it’s really quite easy to maintain. As Little D points out, the chooks and the worms do most of the work for us!
Posted in Food & Friends, Frugal Living, tagged Gojak Butchers, Haberfield on May 17, 2012| 53 Comments »
I would love to tell you that we make everything from scratch.
But some days…it’s just too hard.
When that happens, instead of ordering takeaway, we head to our favourite butcher. Sydney’s specialty butchers are now “value-adding” their products, creating items which can be brought home, unwrapped and popped straight into an oven or frying pan. It’s a wonderful, high quality alternative to processed supermarket meals!
Dave and Mateja run Gojak Meats in Haberfield (photo above is courtesy of the lovely Lorraine). It’s a family run business – Dave’s father often helps out, as does their charming son Luca, who draws in all the young girls in the area during his Saturday shift.
When life gets too hectic and I can no longer think creatively, I walk into the shop and sigh…”Mateja, what are we having for dinner tonight?”
There is ample choice – often we’ll dine on free range chicken schnitzels that were crumbed that morning, or freshly made lamb and beef kebabs. Other times, we’ll throw Dave’s homemade cevapi onto pasta, or roast his marinated duck in orange sauce in the oven.
Last week, Big Boy (bless him) stopped into the shop on his way back from university, and bought a marinated free range chicken and some deviled wings…
They all went into a 180C oven – the wings for about 40 minutes, and the whole bird for an hour – before being plonked unceremoniously onto a serving plate. The meal was accompanied by a loaf of defrosted sourdough, and a plate of sliced cucumber and tomato…
Because the mains were so easily sorted, I then had a little time and brain space to make dessert. I defrosted a package of June’s sweet pastry and rolled it out to line my mini pie tins. These were filled with lightly sweetened apples and berries. If you keep a stash of pastry and berries in the freezer, you’ll never be short of a quick treat…
Do you have a really great butcher? If not, it’s definitely worth seeking one out. Look for someone who is receptive to suggestions – I asked Dave to consider stocking free range pork, and he did. Now all the pork products in his shop, both raw and cured, are made with Otway Pork. There aren’t many places in town that make their own free range ham and bacon!
. . . . .
Gojak Meats
177 Ramsay St
Haberfield NSW 2045
(02) 8065 5658
Posted in Frugal Living on May 13, 2012| 80 Comments »
I try to spend a little time in the garden every morning.
It isn’t always possible, but if I can find five minutes to wander about outside before things get hectic, the rest of the day seems just that little bit easier. Let me share this morning’s stroll with you.
The asparagus (asparagii?) have grown into a ferny mass. New spears are still coming up, although not as many as there were to start with…
The world’s slowest ripening lemon continues to develop. I think I’ve posted a photo of it every month this year!
This paisley shaped bed has been the bane of our garden. It was overgrown with weeds, the soil was poor, and we could never seem to get on top of it. About a month ago, we let the chickens loose on it. They weeded it, fertilised it, and suddenly we had a useful piece of ground to work with.
It’s been planted out with cos lettuce at the front, perennial leeks behind them, and the back of the bed has been sown with comfrey, parsley, sorrel and dill seed.
One of the hardest things we’ve found with growing our own vegetables is keeping on schedule with seedlings. They always seem to take much longer to grow than we anticipate. We were caught out this time, so our most recent bed has been planted with purchased seedlings – broccoli, sweetheart cabbage and celery. We also have kale growing which will hopefully go in soon…
The bed behind has three varieties of mildew-resistant peas – Somerset, Super Gem and Willow – planted alphabetically from left to right…
The peas have germinated very quickly…
The rest of the bed has carrot and onion seed, a few perennial leeks, and a couple of celeriac plants which were moved from the patch that the chooks are on now…
The bed at the back of the garden struggles – it’s close to the fence line and the established moraya, camellia and jacaranda trees suck the water and nutrients from the immediate vicinity. We have yet to find anything that will thrive there. We might sow the bed with manure crops for a couple of seasons to see if it improves the soil…
The next bed along is growing well, although under siege from pests at the moment. Our unusually warm Sydney weather is confusing the winter plants. We have broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, carrots, onions and lettuce growing there…
A little of the kale is still thriving…
…and we have some broccoli and cos lettuce to harvest…
The final bed along is nearly finished. We try to let as many plants go to seed as we can, as the bees love it when we do. The limelight basil is flowering…
…as is Pete’s pigeon pea. We planted this for the chooks, but they seem to ignore it…
Our mini orchard has been a spectacular failure. Dwarf apple trees are not going to flourish in our warm Sydney garden, particularly if we refuse to spray them. As soon as Pete’s brother can come over to help, we’re going to pull them all out and replace them with citrus – finger, Tahitian and kaffir lime. Wish us luck!
Our little herb garden near the back door continues to thrive on neglect – the rosemary is very healthy…
…as is the oregano and thyme, although the sage has had it…
It’s amazing how much joy this garden brings us.
Somewhat surprisingly, the weeds, pests and failures don’t cause us any angst at all. It’s like a fascinating science experiment – there are no right or wrong answers – just a growing understanding of our micro-climate, observing the interplay of pests and predators, and enjoying the peace and tranquility that the garden affords us.
Thank you for joining me on my morning meander!
Posted in Frugal Living on May 11, 2012| 50 Comments »
They really are ninjas. Or maybe Morris dancers, as my friend Cosmo suggested. And oh, how they love sorrel!
We took this clip with the iPhone…
And here they are in action – look out for the synchronised leaping…
PS. If you listen carefully, you can hear the sounds of suburban Sydney, including the currawong call near the end of the second clip!
Posted in Frugal Living on April 25, 2012| 62 Comments »
Chicken Phantom Agents...
Our ninja chickens in action!
They were on the hunt for worms and grubs. Bertie’s feet were a blur of speed and determination…
Stalking their prey…
When chickens dig for food, they scratch the ground with one foot, followed by the other, then leap backwards in a dramatic, ninja-like manner and peer intensely at the uncovered dirt, looking for anything edible…
Joanna once told me that this movement was known as “spuddling”. We could watch them doing it for hours! (Click on the HD button if your broadband can handle it.)
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