WELCOME to my BLOG

Hi there!

I’m slowly working towards some simplicity within the home, but hey! It’s a lot of hard work!

I love having a go at growing my own veges and always use herbs fresh from my garden. I try to plant from seed whenever I can and have learnt to save and share my own seed for the following year. I make Award Winning preserves and pickles; and my husband brews Award Winning boutique beers as well. I love to stockpile and try to limit quick trips to the shops. I dabble in bread making and enjoy making my own stocks too.

I enjoy feeding my family good hearty meals, nothing like those tiny restaurant stacks you have to look for on the plate. My husband maintains our vehicles and machinery and we both enjoy fabricating on a small scale mostly relying on metal & timber recyclers for any materials needed.


While I don’t always have time to reply to comments, I love reading them. I hope you enjoy your stay and I hope you learn something new because I love sharing what I learn, and I'm always looking for another new skill myself.

Cheers!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Garlic seed, Rhubarb & Apple pies & Jumping Johnnies

Ok, so I know it's late in letting you know.....and some of you may have already received them....but the Garlic Seed is on it's way.....(four days ago)...lol. I'm spreading myself a bit thin these days...and blogging seems to be one of the things that is falling behind.....


If your wondering how much seed you are getting....I discovered that each little ball on the flower head is full of seed...so I just measured out 1 tablespoon of the little flower balls..and popped them in a press seal bag. So depending on how many seeds are still trapped in the flowers....that's how much seed you are getting.



I've started a test with the garlic seed, but Richard (my gardening friend) tells me it can take 4 or 5 weeks for the seed to germinate....I covered the seed (not shown in the photo below) lightly with more soil and the pot is in the hall way on top of my recycling station. (If the weather fines up and we get some hot days, I will think about transferring it out to the hothouse) We now have a skylight in the hall, so it's bright and I can keep an eye on them. This spot is working well for storing seed while it is soaking or drying.



On to some yummies........

I recently cleaned out the Rhubarb bed ready to give it a feed....I also found that I need to relocate some of the crowns to fill in some gaps...but that won't be happening any time soon, because of all the rain we are having at the moment. So anyway....I had some Rhubarb to use up......

I have also collected the seed this year from my Nan's Rhubarb plants...If you would like some seed from my Nan's Rhubarb plants; send me an email for my address...then send me a self-addressed stamped envelope....and I will get some to you. I think it's awesome that I am able to share my Nan's Rhubarb plants with others....her Rhubarb lives on......and I think she'd like the thought of that.

Rhubarb & Apple Pies
I cut up the rhubarb and I had some apples to use up from the crisper....and stewed them both together.....added a little bit of sugar to taste....and then I had the perfect pie filling. Using Nan's recipe for pastry again....I began assembling the pies....(if your wondering...yes, I re-use my foil pie trays)


What a mess............
but only because I shoved the trays on the bench for the photo...lol
Having just enough stewed fruit for one last pie....I couldn't see the point in having the oven on for one pie.....so I made some open pies....by blind baking the pastry flans....then dividing the fruit mixture between the four flans....They weren't very full...so I sliced up some pears and placed them on top. A few circles of pastry later....and a wash of milk before going into the oven.....yummmmmm

Not bad, not bad........


Pictures for the Jumping Johnnies.............


Yep, Jumpin' Johnnies again.............If you have been following my blog for a while, you will remember my saga with the Jumping Johnnies recipe......I finally have photos I can share with you. You can also find a printable version of the recipe with 4 copies on one page...so you can share the recipe of-course with your friends. I will also update the recipe pages with these photos so that the photo's are with the recipe.




I had a lovely response from my last post, wondering what others are up to....so I will ask again....
Have you been baking?.....Tell me what you've been up to in the kitchen. 
Maybe you've been busy in the garden?........
If you have a blog and have posted about it...leave a link with your comment...I'd love a peek.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Narelle, my garlic seeds arrived late yesterday. Thank you sooooo much, my goodness I didn't expect so many. I can't wait to get them in the pots:)

    I haven't been up to much exciting stuff just studying - I have rather foolishly signed up to do a uni course and the first subject is chemistry. I'm starting wonder about my sanity. I am a bit over the rain but at least I don't have to worry about flooding like a fair bit of the state at the moment - one of the few advantages of living on a steep block.

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  2. I do have a blog. Its kneedly.knots.blogspot. I have no idea how to make a link but if you'd like a look this should find me.
    I really must remember to plant garlic this year. It got forgotten in the rush last year.

    viv in nz

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  3. Thank you Narelle for the garlic seeds that was picked up from the post today. What a lovely lot too so I will do my usual and share to some with my fellow gardeners. This also makes the odds better for successful harvests.

    I'm hungry now after looking at your yummy cooking. Maybe a vegemite sandwich will help.
    Best wishes,
    Dell.

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  4. Yes, I got my seeds yesterday as well, hoping to plant them on the weekend when we finally set up the other three gardens beds we have sitting downstairs.

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  5. It's nice to hear that people are receiving their seeds. It's exciting to try new things!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Narelle. My seeds arrived yesterday. I look forward to sewing them in the next couple of day. The seeds were a lovely surprise when I came home tired from work. They seemed like a little reward after a hard week.

      Donna

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  6. Oh Narelle, you sweet thing. What a lovely surprise to find in my letter box on Friday, some of your garlic seeds. Thank you so much :)

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    ReplyDelete

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