Citrus Season

Currently there's not much happening in the garden. The weeding and winter plantings are done, the weather is cold and miserable and the girls are on strike. So to keep busy I have been turning to indoor pursuits. The other weekend I got around to preserving a bag of lemons. I put in an order for them when G went off to visit a friend who works in the mines and who's lemons would otherwise fall from the tree and rot.

It reminded me that this year I am very much missing the delicious grapefruits that had always been supplied by old friends from uni. It was always worth the hike across town just to collect a bag of them (and to catch up with them of course!) The tree itself was quite a phenomenon of nature versus nurture (I wouldn't consider K&P as avid gardeners). Without fail each year the tree would be heaving with golden grapefruits- unblemished and perfect. One year there was one the size of a soccer ball.

A few years ago I went through a phase of loving the little San Pellegrino fruit flavoured mineral waters- but somehow it didn't seem sustainable to be shipping little glass bottles all the way across the globe so grapefruits in hand G& I experimented with our own Italian style fruit sodas.

First we tried version 1: (half a grapefruit juiced add equal part of lemonade) but after the empty plastic bottles piled up in the recycle bin we invested in a good old fashioned Soda Stream. Enter Version 2 (half a grapefruit mixed with an equal part of soda water and a dash of sugar syrup to balance the sweetening) Note blood oranges are also great.

(*For the sugar syrup mix 1/2cup sugar with 2/3cups water in a saucepan, heat and dissolve)

Our friends moved late last year and we have been resorting to buying grapefruits for now. But thanks to some handy raspberry cane thinning that provided a welcome housewarming present for a colleague, apparently I can look forward to a new source of home grown grapefruits soon!

My vegies- psychic rewards for my middle class self??

So says 'a senior government figure'who was recently quoted in one of the articles from the Age's recent 'Future of Food' series by Royce Millar and Melissa Fyfe. The article posed the question as to whether or not 'alternative' food sources (namely farmers markets, vegie box schemes and home gardening) really do provide any value as useful food sources when stacked up against the modern agricultural food distribution model and the dominance of Safeway and Coles.

I would be interested to know how  'Mr Senior Government Figure' could possibly come up with the conclusion that growing all this food does nothing more than make people feel better and if anyone out there in government land or the mainstream food sector has any idea how you might measure the impact of small scale farming and vegie gardening.

The other day I was at the supermarket (even I will admit there are limits to the backyard and the Queen Vic) and I saw a billboard ad encouraging people to eat eggs..... I secretly hoped it was because the Australian Egg Board isn't keeping up with their projected sales growth targets- blaming consumers eating trends rather than the little mini chook boom that's spreading out into the suburbs. Despite being a newbie to art of keeping backyard poultry, I for one haven't bought an egg at a supermarket in years and between G and myself we know at least five families keeping themselves, friends and neighbours stocked with eggs.

Anyway as a bit of an exercise I have attempted to put 'Mr Senior Government Figure' back in his place and to quantify the pysical rewards from the week in the garden. (it goes without saying there are plenty of feel good rewards from venturing into the garden for a healthy dose of fresh air and vitamin D)

First to the financial savings-  here's the tally from a very quiet winter week in the garden (things in brackets were taken from the garden):

Menu:
Sunday- homemade chicken pie with mixed herbs (thyme, sage)
Monday- lamb tagine with preserved lemons and harissa (tomatoes- I am lazy so I chop and freeze, thyme, bay leaves, chillies via red harissa  and preserved lemon)
Tuesday- pumpkin and leek risotto (parsley)
Wednesday - more tagine leftovers (as above)
Thursday - was out for dinner
Friday - Pizza (almost the last of the capsicum)

From this tallying up my food savings for the week: (a quick price check a Woolworths)

• thyme $2.48
• sage $2.48
• bay leaves $2.48 (for a pack but lets assume only using 20% -bay leaves keep) 50c
• parsley $2.98
• tomatoes (equal to two cans of tinned- lets opt for Australian grown) guessing that's around $3
• chillies in harissa maybe 50c (?)
• preserved lemon $1
• capsicum (was only small) $1

Grand total savings not going into the pockets of the big two: approx $14

Of course you need to factor in the cost of inputs (the cost of the plants, soil, pots where required) - but pretty much everything on this list was either free (ie. lemons or grown from seed) or bought so long ago that comparing a $3 punnet with those prices they were paid off in the first month or so (my bay tree was a bargain from a weekend growers plant stall at a market). Tell me anyone who doesn't think saving more than $500 a year or so isn't a reward!


Back on the fuzzy side there's the environmental rewards made from reducing packaging (the herbs came in a plastic punnet type thingo and I have skipped the need for 2x tins, a couple of  jars for my harissa and the preserved lemon) each of these coming with notable environment savings (see Get it Right on Bin Night - a blatant plug for the whats been keeping me busy as part of my day job). Recycling is good but not creating the packaging in the first place is even better! Not to mention the reductions in energy for transporting and storing all of that through the supply chain through to the supermarket.

So to summarise - Mr Senior Government source- gardening in the suburbs is really more than the feel good factor and if everyone got involved we might stand half a chance of meeting the food challenges all 7 bilion plus of us will all be facing in the future.

Blessed with eggs

When I started composing this post a few days ago I really was feeling blessed. Now is normally the time when shortening days stop chooks laying in their tracks. I was feeling secretly smug that for the second year running it looked as though Boss was going to keep popping out eggs right through the winter. Sadly I think Boss laid her last egg  for the season on the first day of winter. Barnevelders have a reputation as good winter layers so I hope it won't be a long wait. In the meantime this post is good excuse to marvel at these perfect brown speckled beauties and to share my interpretation of a Japanese favourite 'Oyakodon' (chicken and egg rice bowl).

Oyakodon and other versions of 'donburi' (rice bowls) are a staple of reasonably priced Japanese cafes and lunch spots wherever you go and I will rank a Japanese eatery purely on the basis of their 'donmono'. A perfect donburi needs the right blend of sweet and soy (caramel sauce is a definite no), the way the sauce blends with the egg, and the egg cooked to perfection (not overcooked and not raw, the perfect donburi egg should break the yolk to slightly combine with white and be served so its still slightly transparent).

Depending on where you go - you might have the bonus of a few slithers of green beans, snow peas or beni shoga (ginger).

You can find different versions of the recipe in any Japanese cook book. This is my version which I adapted from a demonstration by the Ikeura family, when I was living in Wakayama more than 15 years ago.

(serves 2)

Wash 1.5 cups of short grain rice and place in rice cooker. Note: You can use 'koshi hikari' or sushi rice - but along with many Japanese living here in Aust,  I use Sunrice Calrose (red packet) for my everyday Japanese cooking

Mix the following in graduated measuring cup:

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce (Japanese soy is available but regular 'made in Singapore' Kikkoman sauce is fine)
• 1 tablespoon Japanese mirin
• 1 tablespoon Japanese cooking sake (Ryorishuu)
• After dissolving the sugar in the other ingredients, fill up to the 1/2 cup mark with Japanese 'tsuyu' (it's a kind of a soup base)- I use the brand below but there are various versions.
• Add 1/2 cup water. (so you have a full cup of sauce)

Prepare the following:

• chop a chicken thigh fillet (into small bite sized pieces)
• thinly slice 1/2 an onion
• thinly julienne a handful of green beans or snow peas (whichever is growing the garden) note: you can also substitute with frozen peas or a mix

When the rice is done- serve into 2 deep bowls
Cook the chicken in a small skillet. Top the rice with chicken.
Next fry the onion - when slightly brown remove half the onion and set aside.

Next, turn the stove to low heat and pour in half the sauce. Break an egg into the sauce (gently breaking the yolk), add the green beans/ peas around the edge of the pan. Bring the sauce mix to a slow simmer.

Continue the simmering until the egg is three quarters cooked but still slightly transparent on the top. Remove the egg from the heat and place on top of the chicken - pour the hot sauce over the egg to continue finish off the egg's cooking process. Repeat by adding the remaining ingredients (onion, another egg, sauce and greens) to the skillet.

Itadakimasu! lets eat.

Whats been growing in May

Okay it's officially June - so my last chance the report on the May harvest. May marked the last (belated)  month of the summer harvest. It was out with the old and in with the new. I have harvested the last of the tomatoes and eggplants. The beans and capsicums are also down to the last trickle.

In their place there are snow peas, Chinese veg and brocolleti (or Italian rapini- not to be confused with brocolini as I suspect most people like myself, who picked up a punnet from Bunnings did). This time for the first year I have also grown cabbages (savoy and purple) and Tuscan kale (Cavolo Nero) on mass.

The girls make themselves busy- "preparing"the pot for the next seasons planting

With the last of the red chili and a second flush of green chillies I have been busy making up pots of red and green harissa, along with a pot of pesto from the last of the basil.

For the harissa I use recipes from Sydney based Moroccan chef, Hassan M'Souli. His book make it Morroccan is great for a repertoire of Moroccan basics (dips, preserving lemons, dukkah etc)

Recipes are as follows (I chop all ingredients roughly before throwing into the mix master chopper)

Red Harissa

250g of red chillies (stalks removed- seeds in)

1 red capsicum (roasted and peeled)

1/2 preserved lemon (from home grown lemons of course)

2 small garlic cloves

1/4 bunch coriander (if you wash it- dry it out before you put it in)

2 tablespoons of ground cumin (I used cumin seeds, dry roast and grind with mortar and pestle)

1 tablespoon salt.

olive oil to cover (after chopping I stir half the oil in to coat the chili mix and top with an extra covering)

Green Harissa

250g of green chillies (stalks removed- seeds in)

1/2 preserved lemon

1/2 bunch coriander

2 small garlic cloves

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves (wash and dry as per coriander)

1 tablespoon coriander seeds (dry roast and grind with mortar and pestle)

olive to coat and cover as above.

If put into well sterilised jars the harissa will keep in the fridge for ages.

A few weekends ago I  also dug up some pots of galangal and turmeric- unfortunately while the turmeric has already proven itself the galangal was a little odd and not what I was expecting at all! 

here's the turmeric

and.... the galangal (?)

Actually I am not surprised..... this year my friend went back to the stand at the Melbourne Flower and Garden Show where we got these. She wanted some replacement galangal having moved house and losing track of the original. The guy mentioned the plant marked 'galangal' was a different type to 'normal' galangal which was sold out.. It looked suspiciously like mine. A quick google search linked through to wikipedia and could it be this?

Anyway I haven't been game to try it out... so instead opted for another attempt  at the

Neil Perry lamb and sweet potato curry sans galangal.

Expansion plans

Once again its been a long time between posts- but besides spending two weeks away in South Australia I have not been resting on my gardening laurels and there are expansion plans afoot.

Not content with the limitations of my backyard I have started expanding frontwards and have decided to make some ornamental yet edible plantings in the north facing bed infront of the house. This area has proven problematic in the past as it sits under the overhang of the verandah eve and thus getting no natural rainfall. The garden has an existing box hedge planted by the previous owner as a presale instant garden 'tart up' so my creative vision is for a formal french style potager bed with a row of cabbages interspersed with tyme bordered by the box hedge - my vision and the reality may end up somewhat different but I will give it a go.

There's also been some expansion in the lanwey guerilla garden with the installation of a raised planter. This was my birthday present request to G. I  had been pondering options for creating DIY recycled planers when I saw a demonstration by the Urban Bush Carpernters at the Sustainable Living Festival and got extra inspired. Their website provides free plans for recycled planters out of abandonned pallets. Being the proud engineer G created his own design and found some fantastic hardwood that once served as an internal wall of a period home. It was chucked on the nature strip labelled- free firewood. I almost feel guilty that such good timber is ending up as a garden planter in a laneway. In reality it was a little tricky to work with and most of the work involved removing the many nails where the plaster had been nailed on.

Now that its been put in place I have been busy planting out some of my favourite 'royal blue' potatoes. (I grew the seed potatos in one of the tyres from a couple of original spuds that grew at the bottom of the pantry). Here they are four weeks later.

Out and about.

A few weeks ago I spent a wonderful sunny autumn day visiting small scale organic farms in the Daylesford Macedon Region thanks to an event organised by Daylesford Macedon Produce as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.  On the tour we visited four different organic farms and saw how they each ran their businesses. For me it was an interesting and inspiring experience whereby I took away something from each of the places we visited.

First stop was Angelica Organics- Aneglica is famous for its garlic. But what I learnt- It is possible to grow a sustaining vegie and produce business on just FIVE acres of land and even commerically grown cucumbers and zucchini end up a little worse for wear with mildew by the end of the growing season. I have to say the garlic was beautiful and I am looking forward to popping a few cloves in the ground to enjoy next summer.

green house for heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers

Next stop on the road was Mt Franklin organics. This farm was run by Florian Hofinger an Austrian and former chef at some of Melbourne's five star hotel. Florian is using 2 acres to grow a whole range of herbs and vegies for the local farmers market circuit. 

the vegetable beds- artichokes and asparagus in foreground

herb: borage or starflower

The farm here is run on solar. This was a decision primarily made on the basis of the practicalities and cost of having the mains power connected- but just proved a practical example that living off the mains is possible. It isn't however so practical in terms of running a cool store- meaning without one its necessary to get produce to market quickly!

The next stop was Captains Creek, a winery and mixed farm. I was particularly interested in the way livestock (sheep, cows) were raised in a mixed farm environment with the winery, orchard and nut groves. The sheep help out fertilising and weeding in different areas of the farm and winery at different times of the year. Apparently throughout the worst of the drought - when other people were needing to bring in expensive additional feeds the sheep here were munching on chestnuts.

The last stop for the day was Daylesford Organics- how AMAZINGLY cool are these chook trailers.

The way the system works is that the trailers are moved to whatever part of the farm needs a little weeding and fertlizing (in the case a new orchard area). The area is fenced of with electrified mesh and the chooks are placed under the guard of friendly Marema pooches....

The chooks use the trailers as laying and sleeping quarters. The floors are wire so poop from the inevitable early morning poop fest drops straight to the ground. Each day the trailer is pushed along a few metres to spread out the poop. Once the trailer has travelled the length of the pen the chooks are locked into the trailer one evening, hooked up to the back of the truck and driven off to the next area. I was also interested in the presence of a number of roosters- which I am told we sold as one day chicks supposedly of the opposite sex. Lucky for them, egg production, whilst a lucrative offshoot is not the only source of income for the farm so they are allowed to stay and enjoy an idyllic life happily foraging amongst there girls. According to Brendon the owner it helps keep the girls happy and content.

 Looking at all the different farming systems on the day was really inspirational and really made me question the way large scale conventional farming works. We are taught that this is the only practical and economically sound way of doing things- but it gets to a point where we might get so big and compartmentalised that the efficiencies really start to hit a brick wall. Expensive fertilisers and practises that degrade the soil can only last so long and I hope that people will begin to see the value smaller scale sustainable farming can bring.

Sharing the love.

One of the best things about seed saving and growing your own- is that if it works you will likely end up with more plants than you can possibly use.

Last spring I was extra organised and started off my seed growing early in the spring. I grow my seeds in old strawberry and tomato punnets. The lid creates a greenhouse effect to keep the soil nice and warm- (an absolute must to germinate summer seeds like tomato and capsicums). I keep the punnets in a tray and move them between the sunny north verrandah (by day) and infront of the heater (by night). The result was plenty of plants to share.

Here are some pics from my friend Ruths garden....

Other plants made their way to work where we held an Oxfam 'Gather to Grow' fundraiser. For a gold coin my colleagues scored themselves some of my favourite 'yellow' capsicums!