On my mind...Sacrificing fruit for good roots.

FIRST YEARS FRUIT TO BE SACRIFICED
I must straighten this back up too
after the horrible wind storm we had the other day.

Many thanks to Rhonda at Down to Earth for this concept.

This is a Friday photo feature that anyone with a blog can join. To take part, post a photo on your own blog, write a short caption explaining it, and link it back to here from your blog by saying you're part of "On my mind". Please write a new post, don't link to an older one. When you've done that, come back here and add a comment below, with  a link to your blog.

Yep, this one is going to hurt....I was looking forward to having oranges this season, but I have learn't that in order to set your new fruit tree up for a good life....it's best to sacrifice the first fruit so that the energy goes into the root ball, and not into growing fruit. This sets the fruit tree up for the following years to be a much healthier, happy plant.  Ohhhh, it's going to hurt....My little Seedless Valencia Orange is full of fruit, but what Richard says in the gardening course........makes so much sense!

So Richard, if your reading this..this post is for you..to show that I am a good student,
and I do as I am told....lol

Dwarf seedless Valencia fruit ALL GONE
:(  equals  :) next season

I also sacrificed the lime flowers too......so it can grow and become stronger. Ahhh, no point worrying about it now...can't glue 'em back on...lol....Oh, if your'e wondering about the size of the pot....It's not permanent...It's going to be planted in the front garden once it is built.

LIME TREE - FIRST YEAR
Sacrificing the fruit buds.

I'm such a good student.....hmmmmmm, all that fruit that could have been.....will be on my mind today.

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RATS IN YOUR GARDEN? 

I have two types of rats in my garden at the moment.....

one feral, and one not so feral named Rusty.

I'd like to tell you about a little thing that happened in my garden yesterday......

Every morning, Rusty comes out with me to the garden, I go out there, just to check on things,.....water the mushroom compost...and take stock of what still needs to be done....Rusty, on the other hand, comes out with me...to hunt for lizards, and anything else smaller than her. Her motto is....'Anything smaller than me, on MY property...MUST DIE'..... she even takes cockroaches out of the house to kill.

Rusty is a good hunter too...never giving up on a scent.....staying so focused she becomes out of breath from searching every trace smell left behind by 'Anything smaller than her'. Sometimes it's cats, sometimes it's a rat....mostly it's just lizards though.

Yesterday, while on our morning walk around the garden....Rusty's behaviour told me that a rat had walked along one of the big black tubs.....I had a few trays of Tomato seedlings sitting in the tub to protect them in the horrible wind storm we had.......The tub is full of soil, waiting for some of my seedlings...........

Well, Rusty, my darling dog who I tell ..."Is the most beautiful girl in the whole world"....decided upon herself to remove the Tomato Seedling pots from the top of the black tub....so she could jump up into the tub for a better sniff and hunt. One by one she had stretched her neck far enough that she could grab the pot by the top with her teeth...and dump it on the ground. There were 6 pots on the ground. I had a mess to clean up, and some seedlings to save.....

Meanwhile Nanna (my Mum) yells out her window...."Can you come and put my slippers on for me"....and as I had just finished cleaning up the mess....I guess she heard me yelling at Rusty....so off I went and helped Mum with her slippers.......

By the time I got back......there were another 9 seedlings and their tubs dumped on the ground....and one very dirty Rusty Dog! I yelled, I ranted, I raved....I even threatened her with a cane close by, by tapping her on the rump with it. Not very hard...just enough to give her the message, that it is serious. ( this is the first time too for such a tap, so she didn't know what hit her......no pun intended here).....

So........... she goes around the sink area, to avoid me......and back to the Tomato Seedlings....with that; I gave her another whack; on the bum this time..and a little harder too.....sure; I don't think it would hurt her much...but it would give her something to think about. 

I work too hard to have it all tossed on the ground....so after cleaning up the second bigger mess....and saving what I could save...I realised there was no way I was going to stop Rusty from hunting for the rat that had long gone....but had left behind a trail of scent to annoy her anyway....So I relocated the pots to another area.

Different varieties of tiny tomatoes.

You may think I have lots of Tomato Plants...and be wondering what I am going to do with them all....surely they aren't all for me?.....No they're not! This is what grew when I planted seeds....so I will give them all a chance....

• Some I will keep for myself...the strongest of them all...probably about 4 of each variety...they are all the mini tomatoes....
• Some I will donate to my local Community Garden......
• Some for an elderly couple up the road............for their grandchildren when they visit them.
• Some I will sell on the trade table at the Garden course........( a new idea of Richard's)
• and Some I will donate to freecycle..........

They all get a chance, and I get to share....win win for everyone.

Do you have any 'First year fruit'.....will you be sacrificing the fruit so your citrus can develop a nice big healthy root ball? 

Do you have any rats of the Rusty variety? what did you do to keep them from being a rat?!

Gardening 101 for October

One month ago I attended my first month of a 12 month Gardening Course which I wrote about a while back....Richard the Practical Gardener is the best teacher. I came home with 6 pages of notes, and lots of homework for the following weeks....until we return for another lesson...... Each month we will cover similar topics, but it will be specific to that particular month...I like this, as we get to learn as each month comes around.....a far better way of learning so much information.

Robyn helping re-pot and thin the Clivea's

The topics we covered were:

• Annuals
• Veggies
• Jobs to do
• Growing home grown veggies & that no dig bed
• Espalier
• What to plant in that wet spot in your garden
• Fruit trees (Citrus)
• What to propagate in October
• Pests & Diseases - Safer spraying
• Which poo will work for you
• Plant of the month - Chillies

Afternoon tea was Rosemary Biscuits & Lemon Balm mini muffins which were all made by Richard's niece and were delicious.

Jean helping with cuttings from a
Variegated, Kaleidoscope Abelia 

My homework for the month of October is the following: 

• Items not completed on last months list
• Plant Zucchini,  Cucumber, Tomatoes, Chard, Silver-beet, Squash, Beans, Potatoes, Celery, Beetroot (different varieties to what I already have)
• Fertilise the lawn 7 days after the bindii spray (this coming Friday)
• Rejuvenate tired patches in the garden, with organic matter, manure, and/or Blood & Bone, dig it in well, and wait two weeks before planting.
• Cut back hedging plants if you have any
• Study what citrus trees I have and consider espaliating them, if Yes, then begin training them as you prune them. Prune Citrus Trees, & sacrifice any FIRST YEAR FRUIT, to allow the energy to go to establishing a good root ball.
• Set up DAK Pots about 2 - meters from your fruit trees to deter FruitFly , use soft-drink bottles and add Vegemite, Sugar & Water. The male fly will hang around the DAK pot trap, and get tired and drown....The female can only lay eggs in your fruit if she is mated....So if all the males are hanging out at DAK City....there's no hanky panky and egg laying. OR Molasses, Water & 2 coffee beans..one lady in the class suggested this recipe as the female is attracted to the coffee (Thanks Sonia).....I'm going to try both and watch closely.
• Grow from seed, some varieties of citrus, and other groups of fruit, using seed fresh from the fruit. Do not let the seed dry out first. This will be preparation for espaliated grafted fruit trees for next year. You can graft up to 8 different varieties of one fruit on one espaliated tree. OMG!!
• Grow from seed like above, PawPaw, and others (need to check up on these)
• Trim ANY shoots on ALL root-stock.
• Make a Blood & Bone soup mix, and spray garden plants, including citrus and fruits & veg.
• Remove any competition plants from beneath citrus trees.
• Look for Frangipani seed pods on neighbours tree, and ask for some cuttings to dry and plant. If planting cuttings, don't water. Cuttings will be true colour to parent plant, but seeds may be hybrids. 3 Years from seed to flower.
• Propagate Fuscia cuttings sacrificing the flowers.
• Make Natural Pesticides using Pyrethrum, Garlic, Wild tobacco plant, Eucalyptus, Skim Milk, Bi-Carb, Natural Soap, Chilli, Methylated Spirits, Olive Oil, Saw dust, Coffee grinds..A SEPARATE POST TO FOLLOW SOON.
• Fertilise Chilli plant, it is a perennial, so don't cut it back. Chillies don't like Winter but they do come back.
• Plan more for that wet spot in your garden, using Bog Plants. I need to set up the bath that the neighbour gave me as a water garden, which will be bigger/better than the sink I am using.

         Ideal plants for that wet patch OR pond in your garden are:

• Water Celery
• Water Chestnuts
• Water Parsley
• Taro
• Lemon-grass
• Mint
• Water Cress
• Ferny Azola     (All of the above are edible plants which I will use, but you can also add)..
• Silver Lady Fern
• Birds Nest Fern
• NOTE: If you are planning to make a pond, and need a Pond Liner, please buy one that has a high UV Rating. All others will give you grief and need to be replaced, some quicker than others, depending on how cheap they are made.

New Idea: using a divider to minimise root damage when transplanting
using old pot labels

I know, I know.....too many pumpkin and zucchini planted, but when you consider one for the slugs, one for    the slugs, oh....and one for the slugs......I should be able to get a few for the garden....If there are any left, I will either sell them or Freecycle them.

Hope you like reading about my gardening course, I am finding it very rewarding. The information overload is fantastic......Thank-you again Richard for a lovely day.

Making Friends, Spring prep & Seed Saving

"Choko causes friendship" That's what the headlines should say this morning.....I recently sent Holly a couple of choko's that were sprouting...

(Does anyone else want some choko to plant? I have a few more now - email me)...

In return Holly sent me:

• some wonderful smelling coffee soap...which I can't wait to try once it dry's out a little more.....
• some lovely handmade paper which reminds me I should make time to make some more...My frames are gathering dust somewhere in the study....
• ingenious envelopes made from recycling magazine pages
• some bright 'save the planet' stickers, which I will want to restock once I use them all.
• a packet of Rosella seeds

Many thanks to Holly for such a wonderful gift in return for two choko plants.

Spring is definitely here....At least my plans are anyway.....I have recently planted seeds of many different varieties of tomatoes which hopefully will be my best crop yet. I have also been re-potting tomatoes into larger pots, giving them more space to spread their roots, before being transplanted into the garden. A few days before being planted directly into the garden I will move the punnet trays into the planned space to toughen them up a little. The least amount of shock, the better.

I am really pleased with how the Tomato Plants have come along, and even though I have planted out 7 of them; I still have 9 to go. And that isn't including the small varieties I have planted from seed. (above)

When you buy a plant from a store, do you look for the pot that has the most plants in it? Or do you just take which ever one looks the best....I don't! I take the one that has the most plants in it...after all, why would you buy that pot, which has 6 plants in it like the label says.....When you can have this Pot with the same label...and it's got 16 plants in it? Common sense really.....Even if you don't have the space for all of them, you can give some away to a friend or a neighbour.

I have also been scattering marigold and other flower seeds amongst the garden, hopefully some will take and attract more bees to the garden. This years garden will be far more successful as I have learn't so much since, and my garden has also grown so much.

I have the garden course coming up again this Saturday...The first month was amazing, learning so much and putting it all in place once I got home was even better. I had the pleasure of having Richard (now called My Gardener to the family) visit my garden yesterday. We walked around my garden, as I showed him different things I am doing. He was impressed that I was growing my own mushrooms under the unit, and admired all the lovely new growth I had coming on my fruit trees; most being too young to bear fruit yet, but the citrus and the mulberry are going so well....

The two black tubs will be for my little tomatoes this year
I will be adding more mesh for them to climb as well.

Richard advised me to bring the fruit trees into full sun
until they are planted in the front yard.

Lemon/Lime
and an empty bed

Kiwifruit

can you spot the spider?

Bay Laurel coming along nicely

The Choko is climbing again
I'm not sure I want it there this year,
as I want the  fence for beans.
I may have to move it, but to where?

Lemon or Lime blossoms

Rhubarb is doing well.
Rhubarb champagne will be lovely

Red Currants will need to be netted soon

I was able to give Richard a potted plant of Lemon Balm, as his had died off and needed it for baking the cookies for morning tea for the course. I have employed Richard to help me build the front garden....my trees need a new home and I can't wait to have the extra space. Richard has a very successful business called Illawarra Blooming Gardens. 


Here are some other things happening in my garden, I've been rather busy filling the new garden beds from the black tubs I got at Bunnings.

Water Cress is flowering and
some Water Chestnuts are coming up amongst the Azola and PennyRoyal

Front: Spinach & Ruby Chard bed
Back: Beans to come

These ones are not doing so well.

Perennial Basil from the Community Garden
look at the roots, ready to plant

I recently put a call out on FreeCycle for wanting a cutting from someone who has a Kaffir Lime tree, a lovely lady from Port Kembla came through for me....the little drive was far cheaper in petrol than buying a plant. I will be potting it today. I did have it in water trying to set roots like the Basil (above), but My Gardener, Richard informed me I had to take it out of the water and put it in some soil.

Kaffir Lime Cutting
Richard, It will be planted today.

Corn Salad is growing better now I have stopped harvesting it.

and so has the watercress

I consider my gardening space to be rather limited, unlike the lovely huge gardens I see on many farm blogs that I read....you lucky gals....

Taking into account the space.....or lack of space rather....I always look for the most productive option....

With beetroot, I choose a variety that is long like a carrot, this way I get more slices of beetroot per plant. They are much like a carrot shape.

With the Berry Bed, I am able to take advantage of the unused space in front to plant radishes, also a long variety like a carrot....more slices per plant...Brilliant!

I have planted long radish which will be well finished before harvesting the berries above

PROPAGATING 101 - From the gardening course...

After finding out the secret to propagating from cuttings...having more than ten per pot....I came home and potted away......I saved Perenial Basil, Lavender & Rosemary...they are coming along nicely.

SEED SAVING IN MY GARDEN.....AGAIN!

Last year I saved seeds from my own garden....this is very productive, as you can pick the best plant to leave to keep the seed from. Not to mention the fact that you will have free seeds for next season

Here are some instructions I posted on saving some of the seed last season....

This year so far I am saving seeds from.....

Purple Radish - 1 of 3

Purple Radish - 2 of 3

Purple Radish -3 of 3

*Tatsoi lettuce leaf

*Rocket

*Bok Choy

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Check out the FREE mulch I got from the Dunmore Tip.....It has to be 12 months old, it smells great....

Best of all, Richard the gardener reckons it is 'soil'....

When I went out to the tip to investigate the mulch, there was a pile of horse manure next to it....So I asked the gentleman who was tipping it into the trailer if he could mix some through the mulch.

Thanks Mr Digger Driver....Oh it cost me $6 for him to tip it.

I think I have taken 8 wheelbarrow loads from this over the last two days.
This is what I have left for the front garden bed, once it is built.

Are you saving seed from your garden this season?

French Onion Chops

Or as we call them....Chops in the oven!  (Sure, it doesn't sound very exciting, but my boys know better).....We use Lamb Griller's when we can get them at a decent price.

I can't remember who gave me this idea, but I have been cooking them like this since I was about 19, maybe younger.....They just melt in your mouth...and that's all I can say really.....They sell themselves!

Simply spray your foil and add two chops per parcel.....one per person is usually enough.....
Sprinkle with French Onion Soup Mix...I've linked to a bulk recipe for the soup mix where 3 1/2 tablespoons equates to one packet mix. One packet mix or equivalent will be enough to cover both sides of 6 chops.

I first sprinkle the soup mix over the chop, then rub it in slightly, turn the chop over, and repeat. With your foil sprayed, wrap up the chops, and bake in a moderate oven for an hour......
It's mushroom time around here again and I have just picked my second crop....so I added some freshly picked mushrooms to the pockets too.

I have written about growing mushrooms here, here and here.....I even made a Mushroom Ketchup here.....which is lovely to use as a concentrated stock.

Above: This photo doesn't do the chops justice..as the parcel was still steaming when I took the photo...you can't see how lovely and glazed the meat is.

Carrots were freshly picked from the garden...they are coming along, but still rather small....and all the veg were put in the steamer...along with a bag of mashed pumpkin from the freezer to add to the mashed potato...Yum!


I encourage everyone to have a go at these chops...they are so delicious as they just melt in your mouth........If you do have a go at this recipe....please come back and tell me about it.

Roly-Poly's - Savoury & Sweet

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their wonderful comments and thoughtful suggestions, I will take them all into consideration...and now that I have vented I am feeling a whole lot better. Things certainly have gone back to the way they should be around here, it seems I wasn't the only one in a rut. 

Communication is the key! 

After taking mum to the doctors Saturday morning, I came home to washing on, dishwasher packed and running...and the sound of the vacuum cleaner....(a not so familiar sound around here lately). I was pleased that everyone was pitching in, and I would be able to spend my time working on organising the kitchen again.


I am at my best when I am creating! This is what I do...This is what makes me me; and when I don't have time to create, whether it be food, or experiments, or gardening, or even time to make my washing powder......I feel like I am letting both myself and my family down....It goes against all that I believe and am working towards...Hence the rut!

As a mum, I do what I need to do, often putting aside my own needs, but I am sure I'm not the only Mum who has done it. So we do what we need to do...and we get on with it. Today is Sunday, a sleep in, I'm thinking...but nope....I had to get up at 4am today to take DS19 to the train station, as he had rostered overtime. It is too far to ride to the train station, and I'm not sure it would be that safe anyway around here. While I don't enjoy the early morning starts, I take pride in seeing him grow into a very responsible young adult who is saving for a house deposit...Did I tell you he is an Apprentice Overhead Linesman Electrician for RailCorp.....I'm so proud, he amazes me every day......(Without me asking, He even cleaned out the bathroom yesterday after spring cleaning is own room).

On the way to the train station this morning, we noticed a shopping trolley in the left lane on the road.....:That could cause an accident!" says DS19....I told him not to worry as I had already decided to stop and put it up on the footpath, on my way back home. It bugs me that it was there probably due to a Saturday night hooligan...But it would bug me more, if I had left it there, and found out later that it had caused an accident. There is a duty of care there, that I am only too pleased to put right. At that time in the morning there aren't many cars on the road, so with my hazard lights on, I locked the car and went and removed the trolley from the road.

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It felt fantastic yesterday, being back in the kitchen, creating, baking, experimenting......The lovely aroma's that filled the house.....hmmmmmm ...This is how it is meant to be!..I drained my water Kefir Grains, and the milk ones too. I also put up a batch of yoghurt. Things were back to normal around here.

Jar Set Yoghurt...I used this jar as my culture for the next batch.

So here is our lunch for Saturday......A Ham & Cheese Roly-Poly.....I had some ham that needed to be used  up before making the weeks lunches again with fresh ingredients.
The dough I used was taken from the 2 ingredient dough that I used to make our pizza's...but as I had used my last jar of Yoghurt to set the next batch...I used my drained Kefir milk instead, which gives a lovely light dough as well. Sorry; I didn't take any photos of preparing this lunch....But I can tell you it was delicious.....
The gap in the tray....that turned out to be the 'cooks treat', which we used/tasted to see if the dough had cooked in the middle...I did give it an extra 5-10 minutes in the oven.

Flour, Kefir milk, Ham, Cheese & melted butter...YUM!

I left aside some of the dough to make a dessert for after our evening meal......Hubby's two favourite fruits are Apricots and Pineapple...he reckons a pizza isn't a pizza without pineapple....lol.

Apricot, Pineapple & Ginger Roly-Poly 

Drain the Pineapple rings, and cut into small pieces....you could also use crushed pineapple for this recipe.....or use fresh pineapple if you can source it cheap.
Cut up some dried apricots, and leave to soak in the reserved juice.
Add half a teaspoon or more, of powdered ginger to the juice.

I used 3 rings of pineapple for this recipe.

To make the dough for both Roly-Poly's I used

3 cups of Self Raising Flour and 3 cups of Kefir Milk...

You can replace the Kefir Milk with home-made yoghurt if you like....I used white flour, but kneaded it on a wholemeal floured bench.
To roll the dough, it works best if it has had time to rest in the fridge for half an hour or so. Roll the dough into a large rectangle, leaving the dough about a third inch thick.
Sprinkle some brown sugar over the entire dough...that you have added some mixed spice to. Even just cinnamon would work great too.
Then spread out the mixed fruit onto the slab of dough....be sure to go right to the edges.
Now roll up the whole mixture......like below.....but roll it up completely into a log.

Once rolled into a log, cut into thick slices and working quickly, add them to a well greased cake pan.
Drizzle the rest of the juice and any remaining fruit over the rolls....

 And bake in a moderate oven until golden brown.

Delicious Dessert
Apricot, Pineapple and Ginger Roly-Poly 

Serve alone or with ice-cream...We went all out and had ice-cream with it....It was sooooo delicious, it has already been requested again.

Today, I hope to put down some Sour Cream using my Kefir Milk.... My yoghurt will also be ready to go in the fridge.
I will also grate a batch of soap that didn't turn out so well...Nowadays, I use the whizzer to grate my soap, then while the whizzer bowl is soapy, I make my powdered soap for the laundry. Then when I wash the whizzer bowl...I wash some dishes too. In that order, it's very efficient.
It's also mushroom time around here again...that means picking mushrooms from our mushroom farm under the house every few days....(I have recycled the old mushroom compost bags into the garden, and now have new bags from the mushroom farm.)


Some other ways to enjoy this quick easy dough.....

• Cheese & Vegemite..... 
• Ham & Pineapple with cheese...... 
• Tomato paste followed by basil, chopped tomato, bacon and cheese....
• hmmm Pizza Roly-Poly's .....Yummm
• Your favourite Jam.....
• Blueberry and Cinnamon Sugar or Nutmeg.....

What ingredients would you use for a Roly-Poly?