Did you see our article in Essence Magazine?

Check out what they had to say about our house http://www.essencemagazine.co.nz/article/house-and-garden/sustainable-living/

Autumn must be coming, because here come our Pumpkins

This biggie is the first.  Isn't he a giant!

Pumpkins will keep for all winter in a cool place.  Wash the skins with a very diluted bleach mix (1litre H20 and 1t bleach) to kill any moulds or whatnot that may be parked on the outside.  Let dry, then put on a shelf in a cool place.  They do not deteriorate at all, and make wonderful eating during the winter months.

I haven't counted how many we have outside, but there must be more than a dozen, all looking gorgeous.

A Cowtastrophe

Oh Dear....Mark's beloved corn has been trashed.  He moved his cows into the field behind the vege garden and lo-and-behold, they got over the fence and into his corn, and ate the whole lot down to ragged stalks!

He was so proud of the corn, it was his pride and joy and he delighted in telling eveyone how his corn was so much better than mine because he planted his from seed, whereas I planted mine as seedlings.  In truth, his was way healthier, bigger and had more cobs on it.  I have to give him that.

But now, devastation....

Good news, the pumpkins are growing little pumpkins everywhere, including hanging from the fence.  Mark has learnt a wee lesson, and there is an electric fence around the pumpkin that has spread out into the fields beyond the garden.  - so the cows won't get in this time.

In other news the artichokes are going to seed, and everything is getting a bit overblown.  We have a new lot of potatoes in which Mark put in and they are now flowering.  I put more beans in with the hope of getting some before autumn.  And our strawberries are still producing great berries for school lunches.

Stuffed Pumpkin Flowers

I planted 5 pumpkins in our vegetable garden.  Now, you might think that it does not sound like very many, but holy heckamoley, what a lot of growth one pumpkin plant can produce.

They have grown all over one of the vege beds (luckily masking the fact that our cauliiflowers have been eaten to death by something unknown and will never flourish).  They grew through the fence where the cattle have nibbled on them, and up the fence and I see some pumpkins forming which will be supported by our wire fencing suspended in the air,which is a bit nifty.

Then there is the pumpkin which I didn't plant.  It audaciously appeared in the flower bed.  Obviously transported by some compost of some sort.  It has grown to gigantic proportions, I hope to post a picture soon.

All these produce an amazing amount of flowers.

Pick only male flowers (and then, not all of them, you need some for pollination).  The male flowers have only one stubby stamen inside.

Carefully take inside and shake out any vermin who might have made their homes inside them.

Stuff with: cream cheese, grated cheese, some spring onion or chives and salt and pepper.  Make a simple batter with water, 1 egg and whisk in some flour.  Spoon in some stuffing and twist the top of the flower.  Leave in the fridge for 15 mins or so to set a bit, then dunk in batter and shallow fry.

These were delicious, but why is there a bitter bit at the base? which spoiled the last bite!

A "Rain Dance"

I don't know what god has been listening to me, but it is raining!  solidly and steadily.  I can hear my garden gasping and drinking madly!

Now my plants can live long and prosper :-)

Water Problems, and what to do about them?

It has turned into quite a hot summer, with days and days of settled, warm, sunny weather.

Great! you think...but, it comes at a cost.

Our new house was built with a lot of "green" issues in mind, and one was to be mindful of water.  We don't have a piped supply, we are reliant on what the council call "one Unit" which is 1800 litres per day, drip fed into our tank.  So when building this new home we put in an extra water tank, partly buried in the ground and all the downpipes from our large roof feed into it.  Therefore when it rains, the water is harvested off the roof and fills our tank.  This tank water can then be used to water the garden, and water the stock out in the paddocks.

However, one big flaw has come to light.  The plastic tank we put in the ground is not suitable for in-ground, and has folded up like a handkerchief.  Now when it does rain (which hasn't been very often) the water just pours off the roof, out of  the pipe into the ground and goes to waste.  We can't afford yet to replace the tank with a concrete one *boo hoo*

Less available water plus hot weather has equalled water problems.  We keep just about running dry.  The 40 head of stock drink so much when it is hot.  So we have had water restrictions in the house...".if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down"....keeping all water that veges are cooked in and letting it cool in a bucket for watering container plants...... 3 minute showers....and I have even started collecting all the water from our washing machine.

The first time I collected the washing machine water I could not believe it!  so much going to waste, something like 50 litres!  So I have learnt to turn our machine off after it has done the "wash" bit, pull all the clothes out and let them languish in the laundry sink, then put the next lot of clothes into the same washing water and do that lot too.  Then I let the water go out, while collecting it in some large flexi plastic tubs I have.  Which I painstakingly take to a bit 40 gallon drum in the garden for watering purposes.  I follow the same process in the rinse cycle.

I really hadn't realised what a lot of water clothes washing takes up and I wish we had come up with a grey water collection system for it.  I am thinking of getting some drums to put outside the laundry window, and letting the hose go out the window!

We are just waiting for an extra unit of water from the council to be set up, at VAST expense I might add...$6500 for a unit! per year

In the meantime I continue to lug buckets of water everywhere!

Perfect Carrot Thinning Weather

We have just returned home from our honeymoon in India!  while we were away it was stonkingly hot, and dry and there were all sorts of water related issues at this house.

But, we must have brought cooler India Winter with us, because it has been mild and not at all stifling.  Then, yesterday, RAIN.  Buckets, bathtubs and oceans of rain poured out of the sky and all over our grass, lawn, vege garden and animals.  In fact, there was no dearth of water, it was swimmingly soggy everywhere.  Perfect for carrot thinning...I thought today when the sun came out.  The soil was warm, damp and the seedlings came out easily.

Carrots don't like being moved.  As you eat the root, it has to be sown into rows where it will mature.  So the usual method is to sprinkle the seed in straight drills.  When the  carrots have reached a decent height you thin them out.  I usually try to aim for about 1 carrot per inch or so.  Then later in the year I will thin again if necessary, though in the meantime I do start thinning carrots for putting in the pot.

Thinning is a painstakingly slow task, but very necessary.  If you don't thin, the carrots won't have enough room in the soil each to make a good sized root.

Here's what I thinned out today, and we will eat them quickly heated in butter for tea.  My sister calls these "micro vegetables", but I just think they are baby carrots!