Spring into summer

Well somehow spring came and went and I found myself in what feels like the middle of summer.
Is it just me - or is time somehow being condensed so that an hour is no longer really an hour? I swear I haven't been watching extra TV, I have not been logging into Facebook,I HAVE  been busy at work - but I am always rushing out the door to make my train, yet more than a month has come and gone since I was away and I feel like I have achieved strangely little.....

Its been a slow transformation but I think I am nearly there.....

Out with the daikon that bolted while I was away before I had time to harvest and enjoy, replaced with tomatoes, eggplants and FINALLY if I get around to it the capsicum patiently waiting to be plated out (thankfully I left two of last year's which have already bounced back nicely with a heavy burst of buds).

The raspberries had a fantastic flush of flowers a month or so back- but sadly a combination of hot dry weather, I suspect rats and birds have somewhat diminished the harvest compared to last year's bounty

I picked the last of the snow peas which succumbed early to mildew and tried my first crop of broad beans (yep I will definitely be adding them again). 

Sadly my attempt at growing cabbage in the front garden was a dismal failure- black aphids and snails. My garlic also let me down (a dry spring?). But the cavolo nero (Tuscan kale) that was stripped back to the stems by my feathered raiders recovered nicely... It's been resistant to bolting so I have been enjoying it sauteed with garlic, roast pumpkin (gleaned from fellow gardeners at the Maidstone produce swap) tossed through pesto spaghetti with a bit of free range bacon and Meredith marinated goats cheese. YUM!

Gardening in the Solomons

I am lucky enough to have just spent nine days on a tropical island.

This is Uepi Island. It's located in the Marovo Lagoon, the world's largest saltwater lagoon, situated towards the north-eastern end of the Solomon Islands. Getting there is a 3 hour flight from Brisbane to the capital of the Solomons, Honiara. From there (if you are lucky and there's a plane in working order) it's a 1 hour flight to the nearest airstrip at Seghe (in the central part of the lagoon) followed by a 30min boat trip through the lagoon and out to the island.

Of course gardening isn't it exactly what took me there........

rather..... the opportunity to indulge in one of my other (some may say, more extreme) hobbies

 

Although divers are generally a hardy lot, its kind of a sad state of affairs that you need to travel to some of the world's most remote locations to experience pristine reef systems as they are meant to be.  At the same time however it is an opportunity to provide an income to local people and provide reason for them to do their best to protect their local reef.

Wherever you go in the world it seems there's  one thing that a diving holiday revolves around (apart from diving) and that's eating........

Lunch is served: freshly baked bread rolls, satay chicken, green papaya salad, melon, paw paw and pineapple.

 In the Marovo lagoon, there are few shops,no supermarkets and no commercial supplies of things we would take for granted (a barge does a supply run through the lagoon every week or so bringing with it things that can be found in the capital) so its quite a logistics exercise for the Island's managers, Jill and Grant to keep 20+ guests and 25 staff (50 in total over 2 weekly rotating shifts) fed and happy.

Fresh fish and seafood (mud crab and lobster are a daily feature of the menu) are purchased from local fishermen. Jill has a policy of buying only the more plentiful pelagic (ocean going) fish species to ensure those living locally on the reef are protected.

Chicken, eggs, fruit (paw paw, pineapple, banana, limes, passion fruit and fiberous pink grapefruits, ) as well as vegetables (some apparently grown to order) including beans, teeny tiny capsicums, eggplant, watercress, various versions of potato and pumpkin are all purchased from the local villagers. One of the more interesting additions to the menu was 'pucha' salad made from a type of fern (I have tried this in PNG as well). The fern fronds were blanched in coconut milk.

The island also has a kitchen garden, which Douglas the gardener kindly showed me around. Unlike the larger volcanic islands, where most of the lagoon's population lives (think rich red volcanic soils), Uepi is a coral atoll - so gardening with no soil is quite a challenge. Soil is made from composting kitchen scraps and breaking down coconut fibres. Rainfall is not a problem as the island gets 3 metres a year (mostly falling in the afternoon or at night).

Plants grown in raised planters and containers included:


coriander

a small leafed mint

spring onions

cucumbers

snake beans

Kitchen salad leaves are grown hydroponically with coconut husks providing a growing medium. (I am not sure what they leaves are- when I asked Douglas he told me it was 'salada' (?) and that it was an Asian vegetable).

Out the back there is also a garden patch with pineapples and pumpkins.

When preparing a garden bed with compost, a layer of coconut husks is placed over the top.

Apparently this helps stop the abundant population of local monitors from digging up the compost, because the smooth surface of the coconuts makes it harder for them to scratch. 

 

 

 

How hard can it be?

I believe in the potential for growing food in the suburbs- its one of the reasons I started my blog. With the World's population and demand for food growing, it's something that will become more important over time.

Often when walking around my neighbourhood I see run down weatherboards on big old blocks being knocked down to be replaced with paving and crowded townhouses. In a place where there were grapevines and fruit trees there are now black bricks and white stones. While that's not necessarily a bad thing (if it saves precious farmland further out) it seems a waste. I also look at some of the neglected or barren gardens of remaining homes and think that only people with a 'gardening liceense' (the enthusiasm and the willingness) to make the most of their land should be able to own the land that they do.

Constrained by my own limited patch shaded by trees (wildlife habitat) I have been thinking how to start my own suburban garden revolution. Here is the start of my journey.

This is the council owned block on land at the end of my ROW. The land used to be a road that ran through between two streets (where the silver shed is now). For years it has languished as a dumping ground and car park. The land can't be developed (council has tried that) because there are issues with access the ROW and the main sewer line that runs down it.

Lets turn this........

A little over year ago I decided I couldn't keep sitting around while there was a patch of unused gravel with vegetable growing potential. So I created a flyer outlining my vision for our very own neighbourhood community garden.

into this

After letterboxing 100 or so houses in surrounding streets I had just over ten households get in touch and want to get involved. Armed with this information I contacted council. Lucky for me council had just hired a 'community garden coordinator'. I waited a few months for her to start work and to figure out what she was supposed to be doing. Finally I arranged a meeting. The community garden coordinator suggested that in the first instance I would need to form an incorporated association with the neighbours (meaning we would need officer bearers and an AGM) at the same time we would also need to organise public liability insurance, oh and by the way as it was council land we wouldn't be able to fence it, meaning  by the way despite the hard work and financial contributions from a few neighbours the garden would be a free for all for the whole street. I explained as much as people were keen and had expressed an interest in a bit of fundraising and a few working bees to get the garden together that didn't seem like a fair deal.

The coordinator told me that anyway before any further decisions could be made by the council, the first priority was creating a 'Community Garden Policy' and this would most likely go to council in February. February came and went. The council meeting minutes said policy deferred until April. I can't remember what happened in April, but finally I got an invitation to attend a community gardens meeting. Probably the most tedious two hours of my life (will spare you the details) but the outcome being that council has realised people are interested in growing food on their nature strips so they decided to fund a 'planter box trial' for vegies in two suburban streets.There was no info on how the locations would be decided but thanks to a bit of extra persistence from some of the other interested neighbours, council decided that given the block was technically a 'roadside' they considered that a planter trial might be the best option. (this would also avoid the need for the incorporated association)

One more tedious 'community planter box trial' meeting and a rather interesting site meeting with local residents and it looks like council is funding the installation of eight professionally built planter boxes and a water tank to be topped up by council as required. (Individual residents had to fill out a planter box application forms and liability waiver and agree to abide by the planter box regulations- in order to maintain the planter maximum height restrictions no plants over 50cm high!).

I should be excited..... but somehow I feel a little deflated about my grand visions...if we are serious about transforming suburbs back into the food producing areas they once were......should it really take one person one year....and council a few thousand dollars (??) just to get eight planter boxes placed on a vacant block?!

Only time will tell what happens... will the garden grow and flourish, will the rest of the neighbours get involved or complain to council that they can no longer park there cars on the block... will I have a space to expand my vegie garden challenge without people stealing the spoils.... I don't know but I will keep you updated.







What to do with daikon.

Its been a while since I posted- partly because I have been working on another garden project (will provide an update soon!) and partly because the chooks have found a way into the vegie patch (still haven't quite figured out how they are beating the system as they are also smart enough not to do it when I am around). This has meant that my bountiful brassica harvest has become somewhat less bountiful. Hopefully my other project will provide a chook free solution next year... but in the meantime one thing I have been left with, is my crop of daikons (Japanese white radish).

A friend of mine gave me seeds a few years ago- and although I was not huge daikon fan - I was won over by the fact they are easy to grow at a time of the year when not much else is. Armed with surplus daikon here's a sample of my daikon repertoire.

Dol sot bibimbap (Korean spicy rice and egg hot pot)

This is one of my favourite Korean comfort dishes so I was excited to come across a recipe as part of the SBS Food Safari series.

The recipe is not difficult. It requires Korean chili paste (not super hot) - buy from the Korean section of a good Asian grocer (for Melbourne people I love Great Eastern- in Russell Street in the City).  Take a few ingredients such daikon, carrot, bean sprouts, spinach, shitake mushroom, sliced beef, steamed short grain rice and a single egg per serve. Chop and cook meat and vegies where necessary (in this case I left the carrot and daikon raw, bean sprouts can also go in raw). I had previously thinly sliced and marinated (with some Korean BBQ sauce) some left over eye-fillet and put it in the freezer ready for use with this dish (you don't need to marinate the meat but it adds flavour).

 

The hardest bit is sourcing a 'stone' pot. (I note that all the comments on the SBS site  associated with the recipe are about the pots!). My quest took brought up various lost in translation moments at a couple of Korean supermarkets but eventually I found some cast iron pots (with wooden serving trays) in one of the Asian cookery supply stores in Bridge Road Richmond (one of Melbourne's famous Asian food precincts).  The pot is the crucial part of the recipe.

Place the pot on heat and add a few drops of sesame oil before adding a single serve of steamed rice topped with an egg. Allow the rice to crisp up (you should hear it crackle). Check to see if its browning a little and then turn off the heat.

 

At this time stir in all the meat and vegies, along with roughly a tablespoon of the chili paste. The egg cooks as you stir it all in. And here's the finished product.

 



Age-dashi tofu with 'daikon oroshi' (deep fried tofu with finely grated daikon)

Use a relatively firm Japanese/ Asian style tofu for this recipe. To prepare the tofu, drain it and place it between paper towel with a weight (eg. a plate) on top to press out as much water as possible. Prepare the stock- you can use a ready made 'tsuyu' soup base  (see my post on making 'donburi') or make a soup base using a watery version of my don sauce recipe you can add a tiny bit of grated ginger if you wish. Warm it on the stove and place in a bowl. Dust the tofu in flour (note: in the past I have used Japanese/ Korean potato starch flour from the Asian supermarket for a light bubbly batter, but regular wheat flour is fine). Deep fry in vegie oil and drain. Drop the tofu into the sauce. Top with finely grated diakon using a ginger grater/ microplane grater.

 

Japanese 'wafu' salad.

Mix baby spinach with daikon match sticks - top with a Japanese style dressing and toasted sesame seeds. *Note -'wafu' means 'Japanese style' in Japanese.

And there you have it three uses for daikon.

Whats been growing in August

Ok- so its not the end of the month yet.... so technically this post should be 'what is growing in August', but I have chosen the past tense for a particular reason......Just when I was looking forward to some tasty Asian greens with oyster sauce and some wonderful sauteed cavolo nero.

No unfortunately its not a hoard of hungry caterpillars that have inflicted this damage on my poor garden....

 

Changing the subject.. choooks are wonderful creatures that supply fresh and bountiful eggs (when they aren't either broody or moulting and its not the middle of winter) and a copious supply of poop fertiliser packed full of chookie goodness and (normally) left conveniently for you to collect off the back door step. They also have an amazing brain and eyesight that is constantly alert and on the look out for the slightest opening to get into anywhere they know they are not allowed to be... house, vegetable garden etc. It amazes me how they can also hone in and charge straight for the tastiest plants and spot an unripe raspberry camouflaged amongst the leaves and not visible to all but the most observant eye.

Our chook proof fencing system consists of star pickets with hanging panels of flexible wire trellis hooked on. The panels are supposed to overlap and each panel has a garden stake wired to the bottom to allow it to hang straight down and stop the girls climbing under. The system allows the panels to be removed whenever access is needed to the garden beds and can be rearranged so that sections of the garden can be opened up for the girls to turn over when required. It works 95% of the time its just the 5% of the time that you have to worry about.... especially when they are left unattended for any amount of time and they manage to spy a gap between the panels they can squeeze through (which is obviously what must have happened the other day). I caught them at it again on Saturday morning.. and the rest is what can be seen above. The only positive about it all is that the renewed burst of energy and generally destructive behaviour has heralded the start of the spring lay. B has been busy producing for a little over week and judging by her pushiness S must be due to start any day.

Aside from the chook raid its not exactly been the most successful month to date. The potatoes I planted out in the lane in the autumn had started to wilt so I dug them up. I reckon I got well over a kilo of potatoes but they were mostly much smaller than I expected. The snow peas are also taking ages to transform flowers into fully grown peas. Here's waiting for spring!!

little potatoes

sharing the spoils

A while ago I heard about a great idea to collect excess and unwanted fruit and other produce from home gardens and distribute it to the needy. This idea recognised that many people particularly the elderly with established gardens are capable of growing more fruit than they can possibly handle. Foodbank in Victoria has been involved with this idea, first in Wodonga in country Victoria and more recently with a  similar initiative called Urban Street Harvest in the inner west of Melbourne.

While I am not exatly needy, over the past month or so I have managed to scrape into meeting my challenge of eating one home grown ingredient by utilising my own personal network for a home grown version of this idea.

A few weeks ago I got a massive bag of oranges from my friend. They were given to her by someone else with a tree. After taking her share passed them onto me. As a result I have come up with a couple of creative uses for excess oranges.

1. New favourite salad of the month: Orange, avocado and rocket salad (this is based on a ruby grapefruit salad recipe) very simple- rocket, avocado, walnuts, spring onions and orange slices with a vinaigrette dressing.

Orange, avocado and rocket salad 

2. New favourite dessert of the month: Orange and polenta puddings (based on a recipe using mandarin that featured in a Sunday Age Magazine from 2004)

*The bonus for this recipe is that it requires 2/3 cup of marmalade (perfect to use one of the collection  of homemade marmalade jars I have been gifted!)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup marmalade

1tbs water

8 orange slices (rind removed)

1/3 cup polenta

1/2cup juice

125g butter

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups of self raising flour

Step 1. Grease 8 individual single serve oven proof dishes or pudding moulds.

Heat marmalade and water together over medium heat until melted and smooth. Divide into the dishes and top with a slice of orange.

Step 2. Combine juice and polenta and set aside.

Step 3. Beat butter & sugar until smooth, add eggs one at a time. Fold in half the polenta mixture, the flour and then the remaining polenta mix. Spoon mixture into the dishes.

Step 4. Place the dishes in a pan and add water to reach halfway up the sides. Cover with foil and place in preheated oven (180deg)  for 20-25mins. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before turning out.

This dessert was great served with some of my 'home made' marscarpone. (this was made using UHT cream with the addition of starter culture from my recent cheesemaking adventures. The marscapone was set using a highly technical method of placing a sterlised jar containing the cream and starter with a hot water bottle in a 'cool' bag to maintain the temp at 37-45deg for around 8 hours)

As a bonus in addition to the oranges I also got some cumquats. I didn't have time to turn the cumquats into jam so I passed them onto a colleague at work - who did manage to transform them into jam and gave me a jar! how good is that! Thank you E!

A noise in the night.

Last week I had an experience I seriously I hope I never have again. Fast asleep a noise came into my consciousness.

Although I don't own a rooster I am used to being awoken by what I refer to  as 'the whining chook'. Its always a sign I am enjoying a sleep in and those outdoors let me know about it.  "Bawwwwk bawk bawk" (which roughly translates to "let me out NOWWWWWW. I have not been fed so it must be a weekend. I want OUT Now")

But this sound was different.... it was the same voice... but it was hysterical.... It was the same frantic sound that comes out when the girls  (for whatever reason of momentary excitement) attempt to flap and  fly across the yard, but this time it was much more intense, like lives were depending on it. The sound an animal makes when it expects any breath will be its last, an unmistakable urgent sound that at once reminded me of the sound of my pet rabbit being dragged over the back fence by the neighbours cat many years ago.

It was dark and time stopped still as I ran through the house and flicked on the back light. All that time I prepared myself - for what I could imagine was happening.... one chook dead (headless??) or mortally injured the other carried off in the jaws of a fox. It had to be fox. It was the end of Boss and Spazz. I had to be prepared.

When I reached the pen the girls were still screaming, the neighbours dogs were barking and I reckon half the neighbourhood was on the verge of waking up. From the lights out the back I could see the girls on the ground, they were still screaming, puffed up like an angry rooster, wings flapping. It seemed whatever had caused the disturbance must have high tailed it out of there...... and after a few seconds I reached down the touch the girls and reassure myself they were completely safe and unharmed.

All of  us were still in shock. I gathered them up one at a time and took them into the shower in the laundry, where they used to live before they were big enough to fend for themselves out in the elements. I threw down some paper and wood shavings and after they started happily pecking on the wood shavings (eating wood shavings where they sleep is part of their nightly routine - even after they have had a feed- go figure) I pulled out the magic red cup- which is what always has their favourite mixed grain. In an instant the happiness had returned and it seemed all the trauma was forgotten. I guess to be a prey animal living on the edge of your existence- every time one of your comrades is picked up and eaten you can't really afford to dwell.

To be honest we are not really sure if there was a fox or not. Something had been digging up the back in the corner behind the shed but to get in there is no mean feat that has even the cats beat. But regardless its been a wake up call. According to the Victorian Department of Primary Industries there are more urban foxes than rural cousins. Its likely that the work on the regional rail link may have displaced the fox population that has happily lived down in the rail reserve with its plentiful supply the resident rabbits and sent them packing and hungry into the neighbourhood.

The girls are lucky that they live in a somewhat 'over engineered' pen with a wooden frame going around the base, wire below the surface and a row of bricks, rocks and concrete rubble testing the the digging skills of any animal. To add to the fortifications we have now added a horizontal board of treated pine nailed along the back fence creating an additional digging barrier to anything trying to get in.

Security features: wire roof, wooden frame, recycled heavy duty mesh and corrugated wall

After all the drama I hope the girls are grateful and can pay me back on the investment with just an egg of two.