Podcast 17 - Green Easy Listening

Well I told you that I hadn't forgotten Episode 17.  Here is the podcast that I recorded on Tuesday 26th April, testing out some new recording software which I decided to turn into a radio show episode.

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Let me know what you think.  Should I give this type of podcast a go, or is it a waste of time?

Brown Onions and Carrots

Today was a fantastic day to be out and about in the garden in my neck of the woods.  With a sunny day and 23C, it was perfect to plant some onions and carrots.

I prepared the garden bed by turning it over and raking it level.  The crop beforehand was zucchini and cucumbers, so I usually follow those with a root crop, and this year I decided to plant out and entire bed with brown onions.  We had a bumper crop of onions last year, and we finished the last one that was harvested in November just last week.  So buoyed by last years success, it was time to get them in.  I decided to purchase seedlings instead of growing my own.   Kim helped out by taking the pictures for a bit of a 'how to'.  I learnt this technique from Peter Cundall, gardening guru.

So this is how I planted them.  Firstly, I dug a long furrow and piled the soil up on one side only.

Then I divided up all the individual plants and placed them about 15cm apart laying on the non piled up side.

Like thus, all the way to the end. 

Then all that was left to do is to backfill with the pile using the back of my hand.  Don't worry about the onions laying down, as they straighten up when they find their legs.

There you go, one row down and three more to go.  I won't bore you with each row, but suffice to say that the procedure is exactly the same!

Then I got the urge to plant some carrots.  Now onions are a great companion plant for carrots, as the onion smell deters carrot fly and aphids.  I was gifted a unique packet of carrot seeds yesterday for presenting a raised gardening bed workshop at our local Bunnings Warehouse.   They also gave me some other stuff, but that is for another post if I get the photos sent through.

Here is the seed packet.

This is quite a cheats method of planting carrots, but it kind of guarantees success.  As you can see, there are carrot seeds placed between two layers of tissue paper.  I have read on some gardening blogs that you can do this yourself with toilet paper.

Then it is as simple as using your hand to make a very shallow furrow and laying the tape into it.

The gently cover the tape to a depth of 5mm.  I planted two rows in between the outer rows of onions.  Now that all of these vegetables were sown and planted, I simply turned on the irrigation system and gave it a good soak.  Once watered, I sprinkled some snail and slug pellets (iron chelate) around the bed, which is pet safe but lethal to the hordes of slugs I have around here after a wet winter.  The carrots should be up in about 7-14 days, then about 3 weeks later I will have to thin them out.  The onions will not need thinning as I have already spaced them out adequately for full growth.

Other than planting, Kim and I trimmed our live Christmas tree, which was shading two of the solar panels, and significantly reducing their output.  Then we had the pleasure of chasing the chooks around to give them their fortnightly leg oiling to keep away scaly leg mite.  This time we both wore old aprons to stop the hens from splashing oil on us when we dunked their legs in the olive oil!

All fun and games at the TGOG urban farm.  Have you planted onions and carrots before and what sort of success rate did you have?

Podcast 18 - An Interview with Julie G (Go Greener Australia)

This weeks podcast is an interview with Julie Grundy, who lives in Perth, Western Australia and is the author of Go Greener Australia. 

I am a fan of her blog and also the G Magazine Challenges that she participates in.  During the interview we talk about her motivation to continue writing, the water security issue in Perth, the proposed Kimberly Gas terminal, and her garden!  It was a fun interview.

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And if you are wondering what happened to Episode 17, well it is going to be posted when I am in hospital.  I recorded what I am calling a Green Easy Listening radio show using some new software, which Kim thinks may not be a hit, but I am willing to give any format a go to promote sustainable living.  Watch for Episode 17 soon!

Introducing Teddy

Meet Teddy the West Highland terrier who we adopted from our local pound, and a new edition to our family. 

You can see in the photo below that he was putting on his 'please adopt me' look, or was it his 'I am scared, please take me with you' look.  It didn't take much convincing, let me tell you.  We couldn't believe our luck when Kim stumbled upon his adoption post on the local council website!  It is not often you get such a wonderful little dog that has been abandoned and handed in.

Here is a better photo of him, taken this afternoon, when we signed the papers and handed over the money for his sterilisation (by law), microchip, vaccinations and doggy wash and clip.  Ironically, his operation is the same day as mine!  

I do believe that Ben has fallen in love with the little fellow!  He has a great temperament, but we will only see his true character once he gets used to us. 

We pick him up on Thursday next week, after all the processing has been completed.  He will be earning his keep by keeping the birds away from my veggie patch and away from the chicken feed.  Hopefully I should be able to teach him to ignore the chooks and not play or eat them.  Time will tell.

Emmental Cheese at the Co-op

Today's main post is over at the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op, where I describe the flavour and texture of home made Emmental Cheese.

Emmentaler is a holey, nutty tasting cheese that needs a little TLC during its creation, but well worth the effort.  The proof was in the taste test, and the taste was fantastic.  Please pop on over and have a read.

Pumpkin Harvest

Whilst I have been unable to do much around the place, Kim has been helping me in the garden.  Over the last 3 weeks she has been clearing away the dead pumpkin vines and I have been throwing them into the compost bin when I got home from work.  Thanks for the help darling! I will make a gardener out of you yet.

There are so many hybrids in the batch, mainly because I planted seeds I collected from an Australian butter that I grew last year, and they obviously cross pollinated with a Queensland blue, and a Japanese pumpkin.  There are some amazing shapes and sizes.  There is an Australian butter shaped like a Queensland Blue, a Queensland blue shaped like an Australian butter, an Australian butter the same colour as a Japanese and a solitary Butternut the size of my fist!

Hopefully the flesh tastes okay.  We have already had a glowing report from our friends next door who swapped me a six pack of home brew for an Australian butter pumpkin.  They cooked up some pumpkin soup and said it was fantastic!

I also planted a few seeds of Turks Turban, which were very small.  More ornamental than anything else and bit of a curio.  

All in all I harvested 13 pumpkins this year, which is about on par with what I managed to grow last year.  Next year, I will plant some true to type Australian butter, as they seem to do the best in my climate, and besides I think that they taste far better than the humble butternut anyway.

What are your favourite pumpkins or squash?

Garlic In The Ground

Yesterday, I finally got off my bottom and got stuck into planting some food.  I started off, as the title suggests, with garlic.  This is my 3rd year of growing garlic, and it is so easy.  This is how I grew garlic last season.  So this season, I decided to plant even more, as we have been feeding it to the chickens as medicine to keep mites and intestinal worms away.

The pumpkin patch was cleared a couple of weeks ago, and they are very hungry feeders and take a lot of nutrients out of the soil.  This is exactly the type of soil that garlic loves.  It doesn't need any extra manure to get it going, just some water.  If you do add manure or an organic fertiliser the garlic grows too much leaf and not enough bulb, which is what you are really after.  All I did was loosen the soil up a bit with a rake.

Anyway, I planted two varieties this year.  I picked up some Southern Glenn from Diggers Club, which is specially bred to be day length neutral so it can be grown as far north as Northern NSW and Queensland.  It is a softneck variety and the reason I planted it was because it matures early in spring and stores for 6 months.

The other variety were bulbs that I saved from last years crop, which I believe are Australian White (below). 

Overall, I planted the cloves from 7 bulbs, two Southern Glenn and five Australian White. 

Garlic is so easy to plant.  Just dig a hole double the length of the clove (about 5cm) and bung it in, pointy end up.

It might be a little hard to see, but this part of the bed now has the two bulbs of Southern Glenn planted.

Then I moved on to the big bulbs that I had saved from last years crop.

Moving along with each clove, planted double the length down with my hand.

Breaking off some more,
 

 
 Then just smooth over the soil with my hand.  Simple as pie.

Then I watered it all in with rainwater.  The leaves should show in about 4-6 days.  Five bulbs down and two to go.

Then I tackled the the next bed.  The bed near the chicken run was overgrown with couch grass (I think that is what it is?).

Most people would spray it with Roundup (tm), but not this little black duck.  I resorted to pulling out every single bit of grass and root that I could.

Down on my hands and knees to tackle the tough stuff.

The roots were so deep in places that I had to get out the trusty hand fork.

It took me a good hour to get it all out, but then within a few months it will start to grow back.  I will just have to keep on top of it as the garlic grows.  I gave this bed a rake and a water, then popped in the cloves from the next two bulbs.  Job done, and it was time for a cup of tea and a rest.

Tomorrow I will be clearing three beds on the other side of the house and putting in brown onions and broad beans, leaving one bed free for cabbages and broccoli.

What have you been planting over the weekend?

Podcast 16 - An Interview with Jonsey (Wind-blown, dust and dirt)

I had a chat to Doug Jones this afternoon, who is the author of Wind-blown, dust and dirt.  Jonesy has had to stop blogging due to illness, which he talks a little about during the interview, but loves to read other green and sustainable living blogs.

We also talk about his area, his community, how he designed and built his passive solar house, and about his veggie patch.  Jonesy also talks about what keeps him going each day.

Thanks mate for a great interview!

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Until next time.....

Our Earth Day

Source: Wikipedia

Every day is Earth Day as far as I am concerned, but a lot of people just don't think that way.

Before my greening, I had never heard of Earth Day, probably because it originated out of the USA in 1970.  I have now of course due to the Internet, but if it wasn't for internet media, you would never know that it existed where I live.  Here in Australia, there are very little in the way of Earth Day celebrations.

So I am going to celebrate it in my own special way.  I am going to put my hands into the soil today and just hold them there for a while and think about all the ways that I am connected to the Mother Earth/Gaia/Terra/Globe or whatever you want to call it.  It should be a powerful experience.

Then I shall plant some seedlings in the very same soil and watch them grow, and give thanks to the wonderful bounty that this great place provides us, but only if we live in harmony with it. 

Enjoy your Earth Day!

9 Weeks!

I am overwhelmed with the task at hand! Well, not really, but it still has not sunk in.

9 weeks long service leave, no work, so what is a bloke to do?  Well, over Easter, I will be slowly working in the garden planting garlic, brown onions and cabbages, and I may catch up on a few movies that I have been waiting to see.  I do have a 'raised garden bed' workshop that I am presenting at 1000-1200 on the 27th April at Bunnings Warehouse Melton.  That should be fun, as I like presenting.

Then next Friday, it is into hospital for the operation and probably about 2-3 weeks recovery after that.  Which means no heavy lifting, in fact no lifting at all.

To prepare,  our stockpile is ready for the lull in activity around here, so we will not be food shopping for a while.  We should not need much at all, except for a boost from the chooks to increase their egg production a little more.  The bantams are the only girls laying at the moment, so the 7 other larger hens better get their act together, because I am so grumpy I might just make a few chicken dinners.  I will warn them all tomorrow!

Other than that, it will be cheese making, vegetable gardening, day trips around Victoria, looking for local volunteering opportunities, and just relaxing around the TGOG urban farm.  Oh and maybe the odd podcast and blog post or two.

Rock on!  This will be the longest holiday I have ever taken in 31 years of working.  A bit of a culture shock, but I think I can handle it.  I suppose the question should be, 'Can Kim handle it'?

Making Soy Wax Candles

About a month ago, Kim and I ventured into the giddy world of candle making.  So much fun, as it takes me back to primary school, when we used sand and old cardboard milk carton to pour molten wax into, to make candles.

Kim bought a kit on-line which consisted of 2kg of soy wax, about 50 wicks and metal thingies and some colour discs.  We had saved lots of salsa jars which were just perfect for holding our candles.  Nothing quite like reusing stuff that most people would probably throw away or hopefully recycle.

We chose soy wax as it was more eco-friendly than paraffin, however we realise that it is not as eco-friendly as bees wax.  Bees wax was just too expensive, so we opted for soy.  Instructions came with the kit, however here is how Kim made them (click to enlarge any photo).

Firstly she crimped the wick onto the metal thing, and each metal thing had a sticker on the bottom to keep it from moving when the wax was poured in.

We then poked holes through some ice-cream sticks and threaded the wicks through them and placed them in the jars.

Like thus!

Kim then got out the wax,

Placed about a litre in volume pressed down into a pyrex jug,

Then zapped it in the microwave for between 1 - 2 minutes, or until it melted and went yellow.  Note that once melted we got about 500ml of liquid wax.

Then she took the jug out of the microwave, and whilst hot we broke a colour disk,

and stirred it into the melted wax.  We didn't need to put it back in the microwave as there was enough existing heat to do the job.

It looked very dark in colour, but the instructions said it would lighten when it cooled.

Gently, she poured it in, making sure that she did not disturb the wick.

Kim poured it up to the lip of the jar, so that the wax had a well to melt into when lit.

We filled up 8 salsa jars in this manner, and let them cool overnight.  Do not touch them, or you will disturb the wax and the wick.

Once solid, I trimmed the wicks.  Note the little dip around the wick.  This is because the wick soaks up some of the wax, but it is not an issue as when you light them, it soon melts and fixes this up.

As always, Kim got very artistic and glued a butterfly on each jar.  I think they look very pretty.

I suppose the question you are all asking is do they work?  Well, categorically, yes they do.  We lit them for a party and they burned down about an 2.5cm (an inch) in 6 hours.  They burn with a nice even fame, with minimal flickering and no smoke or smell.  Quite lovely really.  At least soy is natural, unlike paraffin which is made from oil.

Well done Kim!

Talbot Farmers Market

Every 3rd Sunday in the month, the Talbot Farmers Market is held in the little country Victoria town of Talbot.  We had been meaning to go for quite a while, and I felt well enough to drive, so we invited our friends and neighbours, Rick and Renata, who leapt at the chance to go on an adventure with us.  We drove there yesterday, via Ballarat to pick up our daughter Amy, and then headed up north to the town.  Here is the route we took (click on any picture to enlarge).

This post is a bit of a photo feast with description of all the exciting things we did and saw.  Ben was once again in charge of the camera.

The trip to Ballarat is a bit boring, and is just freeway driving, however once we got to Ballarat the fun started.

In Ballarat we didn't get many pictures because we had been there many times before, but Ben captured King George V standing in his full regalia.  We then headed up the Midland Hwy to Creswick, then on to Clunes.

Some wonderful old buildings circa 1855 in Clunes.  This is the Clunes Post Office.

What looks to be a Free Library from the sign.  Also in Clunes.  I thought all libraries were free?

We travelled on to Talbot, and when we arrived we had to park about 1km away from Scandinavia Street where the market was held.  The walk made us hungry!

The first stall had two little pigs.  Kim declared to me that this was the closest she had ever been to little pigs and said that they were quite cute. 

At $125 each, I have a feeling that they did not sell.  I liked them too, and they were very friendly.

Next to the piglets were some pullets, mostly ISA browns, however we saw some Silky Bantams.  They were all roosters, and Mr man was trying to flog them for $20 each.  He was dreaming!

Then there were some geese.  Lovely big birds that were a bit angry at being in that small cage.

Moving along, we got to an olive stall that was selling cured olives and vinegars,

A large range of olive oils, which all tasted delicious, and

some raw olives.   Renata and I went halves in 2 kg for $7 (more about what I am doing with the olives in another post).

Kim bought a loaf of wholemeal sour dough bread from the Baker man.  We ate half of it when we got home.  Great flavour.

At the Dressing stall I tried some balsamic, chilli and honey dressing on a bit of bread.  It was tasty, and Kim made some when we got home.  It was just as good as the one I tasted at the market.

The cheese man was selling about 3 types of Brie and Camembert, and 4 varieties of blue vein cheese.  All were very nice, especially the ash coated Brie.  It spurred me on to make some Camembert in the next few weeks.  We bought some of the ash coated, as well as a Biodynamic Camembert.  Quite cheap at $4 each.

Officer Plod was selling oil seeds and oils, mainly flax and safflower I think.

Rick and I tried some beer.  A pale ale and a pilsner.  Rick and I both agreed that it was nice, however we make a far superior product ourselves.

We passed the venison man, but the prices were a little deer!  I didn't buy any, because we had a long trip home and I thought it might go off.

We sampled some pudding from Pud.  I actually remember seeing the lady who ran the stall on a travel show and said gidday to her.  The puddings were nice as well, but we can also make these so I didn't get one.

Then onward to the garlic man.  He was selling all sorts of good stuff, however his bulbs were half the size of the ones that I grew.  I did sample his garlic salt, which was made of dried garlic bits and salt flakes.  It was very nice, so I bought a small packet for cooking.

Amy took over the camera duties about here, and took a snap of Ben, who is growing so quickly.

Then one of yours truly, and Ben's ear!

Amy and Ben in a typical Facebook pose.

This puppy was so cute that Amy wanted to take it home.  I convinced her not to as she already has two jack russels at home.

This is the Talbot Town Hall.  There were even craft stalls inside.

Down the street a bit we saw some very old engines doing some things with chaff cutters.  Very cool.

Then on to the Scottish Hat Man.  He had a great range, even one like I was wearing.  Kim took a fancy tho this 1920s hat, but didn't buy it.

An entire stall of bush furniture, which was wonderfully crafted.  I especially love the coffee chair with built in table.
 

I bought some salami at the Salami man.  A massive big knob for just $16.  Then it was time to go home.  We walked back to the car, and on the footpath was a quince tree laden with fruit.  They were selling for $5 for two back at the market, so Kim and I picked a few so we could stew them later on.  Nice scrumping honey!

 
The trip back to Ballarat was picturesque.  A nice country drive back through Clunes, straight to Ballarat.

And the final picture proves that even in a small country town like that there is room for a few solar panels on your roof.  Nice work.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day.  Looking forward to the next farmers market.  Kim is tracking down a few more markets so we can visit them whilst I am on long service leave!  Only 4 days work to go, then it is 9 weeks off!  Hazar!