Award winning Home-brew

A few weeks ago, a lovely lady sent me an email regarding her working near the HR department within the mining department...we have had computer trouble back and forth since....with bad timing, as I never got to send you a reply...I'm sorry I haven't contacted you, and unfortunately I lost your email as we had to get a new motherboard for our computer.....Could you please send me another email if you read this......


Today's post is all about Hubby...I have to give my hubby a huge big plug..while he isn't much into all the work involved in keeping things simple, he sure does love the good food and all else that comes with the work I do. It takes a team effort to make a house-hold work. It doesn't matter who is part of that team, as long as you all work together and that includes the children, even from a young age....and you will find that within your own team, there will be different skills held by each member.....One of Hubby's many skills is making a good batch of brew.

First Prize - Bitter

While I can make fruit cordials, and Kefir fizzy, and Rhubarb Champagne...I don't have, nor do I need the skills of making beer. That's because my husband makes his own beer. Hubby has been experimenting with brew making for at least 20 years....with that comes experience! For the last few years hubby has been entering his beers in the local show with some very encouraging results.

Second Prize - Lager

Second Prize - Pale Ale

************************

Sponsors for the 

home-brew section for 

Dapto Show 2012

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Longboard

Centre: Hubby with two of the judges
of the Homebrew Section
for Dapto Show 2012
LONGBOARD BEER

Longboard beer

********************************

Illawarra Brewing Company

What a lovely home-brew display at the Dapto Show

 ........and an even better display at home.....

Seeing the judging took place days before the show, we already knew in advance....and on helping Richard celebrate his birthday on Saturday at the garden course....Hubby gifted Richard with a 6-pack of the Prize Winning beer...which I'm sure he enjoyed....and I made him a birthday cake.

Here is a photo of the birthday cake I made for Richard...of-course it had to be garden related....lol

While we were waiting for the judging to finish and the presentations to begin....I couldn't help but wander a round the pavillion to look at the lovely dahlias which were entered.  I took many many photos..but here is just a small taste of what I saw. Aren't they lovely?

Have you ever made your own batch of brew? How did it turn out?

NOTE: Hubby is looking for some Hop Seed to have a go at growing his own hops....if you have any spare, and would like to exchange using a barter set-up...I would be ever so happy to chat with you.

Increasing your strawberry patch for FREE

If you live in a similar climate as I do...and you have a few strawberry plants...Now is the time to gather your FREE plants...If you look amongst the leaves, you will notice runners that you can turn into new plants.

It's really simple to increase your strawberry plant numbers during this time.....all you have to do is plant the runners on. If your garden bed has the space, nature will most certainly do it for you...but seeing my strawberry bed is a bunch of self-watering pots.....I feel I need to guide nature a little and give my strawberry plants some extra help along the way....Of course, saving these extra plants pays off by rewarding you with lots more free strawberry plants.....Did you know you can get roughly 20 runners off an individual strawberry plant? (I'm not sure if that is the entire life of a single plant)

There are many ways to collect your strawberry runners, but this is the method I prefer to use....I was never told how to do this, but my theory is.....the longer time the runner can be attached to the mother plant, the better the survival of the baby plant, while it is vulnerable and growing. Remember, the mother plant is usually growing in a larger amount of soil AND mulched...which limits the possibility of the new plant drying out while it is setting roots.

Consider it the umbilical chord for the baby plant.

Below, you can see that I use little wire pegs to keep the plant attached to the soil, so the runner can set roots easier. The peg is just a loop of wire, sometimes I use one on each side of the plant, sometimes it just needs  one.....

Once they are well rooted, these will be planted out into a new garden bed.
There's plenty more FREE strawberry plants coming along.

Below: I'm also helping out the Barrack Heights Community Garden with their strawberry patch and I gathered these runners  last week, and bought them home to grow. Seeing they don't have the mother plant...I will be keeping an eye on them...and once they are well rooted, they will be returned to the Community Garden for a new strawberry bed in the making. 

Barrack Heights Community Garden
Strawberry runners

On Saturday at the garden course, Richard demonstrated that you can completely cut the leaves off the crown, along with most of the roots, and they will still grow.....but I had already done these this way.
I still prefer to keep them attached to the mother plant for the health of the new plant, but if/when you are gifted runners to take home....plant them however you feel works best.

In the garage we have/hoard/collect/recycle a draw of electrical wire of all different diameters and/or plastic coated, that is just another form of recycling that we do....Sometimes I strip the wire, depending on what I need it for....but for strawberry runners...no need. (see the red pegs in the picture above)

Here's some light humour for you....

If you think you have removed all the seed from your Pak Choy seed pods

and decide to use the dried pod shells for mulch.......

Be prepared for seeds to pop up anyway. (below)

don't worry; once these Pak Choy seedlings are a bit bigger

they will be moved on to another area in the garden.

Do you save your strawberry runners? 

Have you ever used your empty seed pods as mulch?

A glut of tomatoes and my first zucchini

What a fantastic response so far to my Garlic give-away....the seeds are drying slowly...but there is still time to get in on the action and be a contender for some of the seed, or maybe even the clove of garlic...You never know, and I always say..."You have to be in it to win it!"
* There's also another give-away coming soon for the celebration of my first year of blogging...but you will need to wait a few weeks to see what I have planned for that one.

So...what did I do with my first zucchini? I added it to a batch of preserved tomatoes....This is actually a recipe I made up along the way for a 'ready made tomato base'....you know...for those crazy nights...When you really just have time to brown some mince...or boil up a batch of pasta.....This will be great to have in the store cupboard....It's actually turned out so well...I plan to make more...next time maybe a bit spicier though...and with more garlic.

This all began because I had sourced a 10kg box of Roma Tomatoes for $9...I wish now I had gotten two boxes...one for this, and one for relish...but I'm sure there will be more tomato bargains in the near future.

So firstly...I quartered most of the box of tomatoes (four trays in total).....and tossed some lovely fresh garlic cloves in amongst them....(no oil, and no salt)...along with some herbs from the garden...Baked them until the natural sugars began to caramelise slightly.....(sorry, no photo for this part)

I then put it all in the crock-pot to cook slowly...due to time restraints and energy levels...I wasn't really ready to cook this up after chopping all the other vegetables....but I did chop up the following:

• My first eight-ball zucchini....(my first zucchini of any type) which hubby said looked more like a cannon-ball due to the size....lol
• Another long zucchini gifted to me by Lee and Alison...
• A huge bunch of Ruby Chard (coloured spinach) stems from the garden...of all colours...Yellow, red, pink and the original......

The colour is from the ruby chard...

The beauty of this sauce is that my boys aren't that keen on the zucchini or squash varieties...but they love these sauces....


Now, seeing I had used all the spinach stems for the base I was making....I decided to blanch the spinach tops to be put in smaller blocks into the freezer.....for later use. Don't pour that lovely cooking liquor down the sink yet....but strain it, just to be sure there are no impurities left behind...then use the water as the base to the tomato recipe you are making....this is what I do anyway....no point wasting those nutrients....

         

Zucchini and Ruby Chard (Rainbow) Spinach

I also chopped up:

• 1 large red capsicum
• 1 large green capsicum
• 1 large yellow capsicum
• 6 carrots...which I finely shredded with my slicer......
• 2 kg brown onions

So that all goes into the spinach water to cook up................................

I then put the tomato mixture through my Moulix to remove all the tomato and garlic skins....and seeds.

When you have finished running it all through the moulix,
pour boiling water over the pulp to release more flavour...
and run it through the moulix again.

Adding both mixes together and adding some extra spices and herbs...then allow it to cook for another hour or so...no thickener is needed, because you just allow it to reduce to the thickness you like. This photo shows it about half reduced...

Pot it all up into sterilised jars....and process in a water bath for 45 to 60 minutes....Some went in the Preserving outfit......and some into recycled jars with old lids which were sealed in a  hot oven for 40 minutes.

2 from the oven leaked, so they went aside to be used first

Mum gave me advice to check for a good seal...Place a pencil across the lid and clip...if there is no gap...the seal has failed.....they were all concaved...so a good seal was achieved for all of these ones.

After all this work, and attending the gardening course for January....along with other weekend events....Sunday night was the perfect night to test out this base......So tea involved the following:

• 2 smaller jars of the tomato base
• 3 sliced up chorizo and quickly fried to release the spicy flavour
• half a packet of pasta....boiled on the stove
• a big spoonful of crushed fresh garlic...from the fridge 

Combined together to make a really delicious meal.....perfect way to end the weekend...

and yes! the tomato base is perfect!

GIVE-AWAY for 10 lucky readers....HUGE GARLIC

Well, what a year it's been already.  Welcome everyone, to 2012....I hope you all had a lovely Christmas break....I'm pleased to tell you that I am back in the blogging world, and have many blog ideas for the year.....Hubby is back home too, looking for another job. He wasn't really given a reason for the dismissal, but we think the company may have lost the contract for the work he was doing. So for now we are unemployed again and hubby is applying for mining work daily.


First up, I want to take time to say hello to all my new readers this year, both followers and lurkers (lol) I welcome each and every one of you. Don't be shy,...don't be a lurker......lol I may not always have time to reply to the comments individually. But I sure do love reading them.


Like many of you, I've been busy with family life this year..and getting back into blogging has been slow going ...until now......This post, I could not hold off....It's just toooooo exciting NOT to share.

Free bounty of Giant organic garlic

Have you ever seen a head of garlic this huge? 

Almost 500 grams.....Almost half a kilogram

Almost 500g for one head of garlic

With each monthly drive to my garden course in Jamberoo, I have had my eye on some Wild Garlic along the road....When the bright purple colour of the seed head reaches for the sky amongst the drying grasses...How can you not spot it?  I'm one of those people who when driving, can spot a fruit tree a mile away....Hubby reckons I turn into one of those bobble heads on a long drive...
Richard, my garden teacher told me he travels that road very often, but has never spotted it....He told me he drives with tunnel vision...lol...I think he will try to spot it now that I've told him where it was though. I gave him some anyway.

After researching different varieties of garlic, I think this is very similar to Elephant Garlic. With the recent floods in the last couple of years, I can only assume that it was washed down from someone's garden, as it tends to be closer to the little creeks AND Mother Nature has kindly self-seeded the garlic every year since.(just my opinion after observing what is in the soil when digging it up). It will be there for many years to come, I'm sure.

What about just one clove of garlic

weighing 154 grams? 

The garlic has a lovely strong aroma and will fill my stores year after year, now I plan to grow it too. 

I have saved the seed heads as well, which are now drying out. Richard told me that you don't need to leave them on the plant to dry out, before collecting them.....each little green jewel will dry out to become a seed.

Oh, how I love gathering seeds...especially when I end up with plenty to share out. Some will go to the students in the garden class, and some will be shared with the community gardens in the area....not to mention handing it out to friends and family.

Giant garlic seed
waiting to dry out

If you live near Noosa, you can get your own huge garlic at Super Natural Organic Garlic (SNOG) which will cost you roughly $28 per kilo . They have a lovely informative blog on how to grow your own garlic too....along with some great recipes to share.

Hmmmm lets do the math on this one.......5.6kg at $28 per kilo.....$156.80.....Now that's a huge bounty.

The give-away for 10 lucky readers....

offer finishes at the end of the month!

*All you need to do, is tell me what you would do with some of this garlic ..maybe you have a great garlic recipe to share.

*The best comment will receive a clove of the garlic to use however you wish....(maybe pop it in the ground, or use it in cooking)...

*I will also choose 9 more comments to send some seed to....This give-away is only offered to Australian residents though..and I will need to check what states I can send it to....So, sorry to those who aren't eligible...I'd still like to hear from you too.....

I've already added it to my herb mix or soup starter.....I also have it finely minced and in Olive oil in jars in the fridge.....

I can't wait to read what everyone comes up with.....

Reflections for 2011 & Happy New Year for 2012

Wow, what a big one...where do I start?.....

I think I would have to say that finding the DTE forum, and starting my blog in February to be up the top of the best things that have happened......I've met some very lovely people along the way, made some awesome friends both here and overseas..and learnt lots of new skills. The enthusiasm here is fantastic and I appreciate and cherish each and every comment left by my readers....If you are one of the 'lurkers' that left a comment for the first time in my last post.....Hello there, It's lovely to meet you and thanks for leaving a comment. I don't always have time to leave comments, but I sure do love reading them.

I also joined a monthly garden course learning local knowledge month by month....which has given me lots of encouragement to try new things. To top it off, I'm getting to know a lovely bunch of people who also love gardening. Joining this class has been the best thing I could have done to improve my gardening skills. You can't get this information from sitting down reading a book, I don't care how good the book is.

Adding flowers (Yes, even non-edibles) to my garden to attract bees has been a major learning curve for me and I say hello to each and every bee I see now. When hubby was home, he took a walk around the garden with me and couldn't believe how much healthier everything is growing.... Every time I plant a new seedling, I also plant a pesticide plant and a pollen attractor if needed; which I also grow from seed or cuttings I've done myself.

My garden areas now have at least trippled and I love the workload.....It's fantastic therapy for both the mind and body, even though this run down body says "Enough!" most days.
I'm also working on a whole new food forest which is in the plans for next year.....The back yard really doesn't have any more room for plants, unless I start lifting pavers, and I've thought about doing that too....lol.

Like life in general, we've had some lows over the year, but with time we've also created some highs.
My oldest has completed his first year of an "Overhead linesman Electrician" which I am very proud of, and  being top of the class, he has his sights set on Apprentice Of The Year at the end of his 4 years of training....

One of our lows would have to be a huge change, when hubby and I made a joint decision for him to move away (2000km) from the family home for better work. We are both working towards one goal of paying off the house sooner.....While we all miss him ever so much when he is away, and my heart aches for him to breath the same air, we have grown even stronger than before. I am so grateful for the love we have after more than 20 years...it just grows stronger each week....

This past year has had my oldest niece going through a bitter divorce which isn't finalised yet, and we almost lost her to complications after a tonsillectomy. Her sister went to help with her children and her recovery, so I got to meet my youngest nieces two daughters for the first time; aged two and four....which I might add are darling little girls who love their great Aunty....
Sadly; Hubby's youngest sister has also gone through a divorce and on top of that, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. On the bright side, she is back at work after treatment and also found a lovely new fella.
I'm grateful for the health of all of them....

My mother's health has deteriorated some what, with complications adding 3 new specialists to her list...and she is also thinking of giving up driving, which will be a blessing, but also more running around for me....She is becoming less independent with each passing month....I can't help but wonder what the coming year has install for her.

Overall, I have learn't to take each day as it comes, and I've also learn't to listen to my body, and deal with my pain better.This has cut down on the amount of medication I take by half since this time last year.....and I am doing much more manual work too.....

One thing I like to live by is this: ....."How hard can it be? .....Really .....Give it a go!"
You never know until you try, and remember, anything is easy, once you know how.

Do you have any highs you would like to share for 2011? Maybe you have had some lows too, which you have been dealing with? If so, I would love for you to share some...If you have blogged about them, please leave a link too.

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas for 2011

I guess this is my first Christmas post on my blog, but don't worry, I'm pretty sure it won't be my last.....I'd just like to take the time to tell you all how much I appreciate you reading my blog. I have some very regular followers who have been here since the beginning...which isn't that long ago either, but I am coming up to my first anniversary in Feb too...which is also exciting.

If you are a lurker, now is the time to show yourself...leave a comment, and make yourself known. Given my blog stats, I know I have a huge list of lurkers who enjoy sitting on the sidelines, enjoying reading my blog. Don't feel obligated to show yourself though, it really is up to you and you alone. Although I would love it if you popped in and said Hi! No pressure....lol!

Christmas for me is a time to celebrate family and enjoy good food. Food that you wouldn't often eat, but more for a special occasion. I enjoy showing off my cooking skills at Christmas, and like to go the extra mile for a more complicated recipe.....although this year...I don't have anything complicated planned....but I know that my family will enjoy every bite.




I haven't even had time to (or remembered until now) to post about the beautiful Christmas Decorations both Mum and I received in the Down to Earth Christmas Decoration Swap.....


Mum received lots of lovely hanging 'gift' decorations from Lauren which are all handmade. They are stunning Lauren! Thank-you from Mum.

Just visible on the left is one of the
Origami butterflies....it's bright Orange.

My swap partner was Marnie...and I received a very complicated knitted stocking, along with a cute little house made from scraps of fabric....

Looking at all the photos, I didn't capture the Japanese Origami Butterflies,....but I know they are on the tree.....Thanks Marnie for the lovely decorations.

As you can imagine from your own household, things have been rather busy around here......As well as doing lots of baking for the freezer, I've been getting things done in the garden and doing lots of weeding, harvesting and planting too.....







I've even been too busy to publish my Gardening 101 for December post, but I did attend the December course, so I will make time soon to write that post....Sorry to those who have been looking forward to the December post, I will get to it soon after Christmas.

After hubby's flight being 5 hours delayed, I finally picked him up late last night....he had a huge day yesterday to get home for Christmas...the airport was packed to the rafters of all the workers trying to get home to spend Christmas with family and loved ones. I'm so grateful that we get him home for Christmas.


We have been busy tidying up, and I've been stocktaking in the garden to see what herbs I have for different dishes and salads....No herbs had to be store bought this year..which is fantastic!


Although I am organised with meat and other odds and ends...I can't help but look at more recipes......Yesterday, I found some more delicious recipes, and if I get time today, I might try a few of them out.

In the kitchen today I will do some of my salad prep for Christmas day.....All this stores very well for roughly four days in the fridge in press-seal bags....I use the bags, because they don't take up as much room as containers, and they can be stacked on top of each other: all being the same size....Some of my prep today will include the following:

• Cooking and draining two types of pasta
• Grating a big batch of carrots in the whizzer
• Shredding some cabbage
• Dicing spanish onions
• Making another batch of Universal Herb & Garlic Mix

Remember: any prep you do today, makes light of the time spent in the kitchen tomorrow. All these ingredients will go in bags and be stored in the fridge, ready to make up salads the next day....any prep I can do today, makes things easier and less of a fuss or mess tomorrow....I think I mentioned that....lol....I will also be:

• Boiling a dozen or so eggs to have on hand
• Making my potato salad...making it the day before adds to the infused flavours of the fresh herbs
• Mixing a French-onion dip for nibblies
• Cooking my Ham in coke...(see *)....

*Instead of making Nigella's Coke Ham this year, I've found a simple recipe for making a cola syrup to cook the ham in...I think I will double the mixture though....so I will be doing that today too......I think this looks far more delicious than the Nigella version....and a lot healthier too.

• Presents are all wrapped, and tonight I will get a small bag of pre-cooked turkey drumstick meat out of the freezer...along with stuffing balls and a few other bits.....all cooked over the last few weeks.....

Stuffing Balls

I've met many interesting and wonderful people since beginning my blogging adventure....and I appreciate all the comments and feedback...Some, I'm sure will be great friends for many years to come...To those who sent me a Christmas Card, I thank each one of you....I'm sorry, I didn't have time to do many cards this year. 

I take this time to wish all my readers, friends and family (and even the lurkers hiding in the background)...a very Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous new year. To  everyone on the DTE forum; along with all the followers on Rhonda's blog too.......


If you are travelling; stay safe.
If you are out drinking; make sure you have a designated driver.
If you are out partying, don't do it alone, take a friend.

Stay safe, and enjoy your Christmas holiday....I look forward to seeing everyone back here after their holiday celebrations....and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

Growing Sweet Potatoes

Until recently, I had never grown Sweet Potato....some also know this root vegetable as Kumera. There are three main varieties or colours of the Sweet Potato, but generally, there is not much difference in flavour.

I am yet to harvest my first tuber, but my plant so far is looking rather healthy. Sweet potato is an excellent source of mulch....it's also brilliant as a clay breaker....and either way; you get to eat the end result.....and if you bandicoot them while they are still growing, you get to have your crop and eat it too. How much better can that be?
This photo was taken almost a month ago, and the tub is fully covered over now with leaves and runners.

Even though I had already planted this lot earlier with beginners luck........After learning how to propagate a Sweet Potato Plant correctly at my garden course last Saturday, I had to have another go.  I visited the Barrack Heights Community Garden midweek, and came home with cuttings and plants, along with which was a few runners of Sweet Potato.

You can grow them too if you know someone who is already growing them. You can also plant a young tuber and hope for the best....I have had tubers in a brown paper bag for easy 6 months....and they are just beginning to form eyes on them....so I figure getting some cuttings or a runner off someone is the easier way to go.

Firstly, dig and turn over the soil where you are going to plant the runner.....dig in some compost and make sure there is good drainage in the area you have chosen. You can plant them in raised beds, which is what I am doing, or you can plant them on mounds about 15 to 20 cm high. You can see in the following photo all the tiny new growth, just waiting to prosper.

Use cuttings which are about 30cm long, and remove the side leaves.
Run a slot in the soil, and press the soil over the cutting. Don't forget to leave tip of the cutting exposed above ground.....You should have roughly 5cm of soil covering the cutting.
Water the area well, and often until roots have formed....the rest is just as easy.............

Before covering with soil.

Look at the difference in colour, of the vines.

The green foliage is my original vine, 

and the purple is the one I was given the other day.

Hmmm...I wonder if that means they are two different varieties?

Oh, and check out the two hitch-hikers I picked up from the garden.....I found them in the bag along with the cuttings.......I couldn't help but capture their beauty.....
all the while thinking how nice and fat they were....and how very destructive they would be in my garden, had I not found them........I had never seen anything like them before.

Have you grown Sweet Potato before? If so, how did it go?....Would you have a go now, after seeing how easy it is? ........


Have you ever seen these little, but rather big creatures before? I had a look on Google, but couldn't find their exact eye (fake) markings...lots of other Horned caterpillars though.......