On the weekend

We had a wonderful mixture of resting, planning and working over the weekend. We're getting ready for our new season vegetable garden and both Hanno and I are excited by the all the possibilities ahead of us this year. We produce food in the backyard almost all year. Our growing year starts in March with empty garden beds, builds up as the cooler days pass by and ends, of a sort, in November. We stop planting then but continue harvesting until it's all gone. That varies every year. Last season we had tomatoes until Christmas and the capsicums/peppers, Welsh onions a few herbs and chillies are still growing now. Hanno went along to the local market on Sunday to pick up some seedlings to get us started. He also bought another orange tree to replace the pink grapefruit that died during the prolonged rain. Next week I'll start planting seeds for later plantings.

Hanno harvested all the loofas growing along the trellis. Now I have the arduous ask of skinning and deseeding them. BUt is gives us plenty of loofas for the year with a few to give away.

Living seasonally as we do, it's quite easy to get into a natural rhythm, helped along by cooler days, fewer bugs and the absolute pleasure of wandering through the garden to pick this and that. I think it's a real shame that in my lifetime we've gone from backyard gardeners to being more reliant on trays of fruit and vegetables in the supermarket that look fresh but might not be. I'm hopeful that more people are returning to home grown vegetables, at least that is what I'm hearing, but I wonder it it's true.

You don't need a lot of land to produce vegetables, in fact you don't need land at all. We have a large backyard but our vegetable garden takes only a small fraction of that available space. If you don't have land, you can produce small amounts of fresh vegetables and herbs on a balcony or verandah. That applies all over the world. If you want to grow your own, do what ever you can with the space you have and see what you come up with and if you can improve each year. All gardening is that. Even seasoned gardeners like us have failures, nothing is guaranteed, we learn something new every year, but when everything goes according to plan, you are rewarded for your efforts in many wonderful ways. Gardening is also an excellent way to get the full value of the land you live on. Why just leave it sit there under grass when it could be making a significant contribution to your food budget and your health.

In addition to all the garden planning on the weekend, I also made my first meal from the CWA Classics book - lentil soup. It is as delicious as it promised to be and I'll certainly be taking some of it in a flask for lunch today at the Neighbourhood Centre.

During the breaks to rest my weary bones, I knitted. I finished off an organic pink cotton cowl scarf for me and I've got Hanno's two year jumper out again ready to finish off to keep him warm over winter. He feels the cold much more than I do and even when we were at Tricia's last month - in summer - he was wearing a woollen jumper and slept under a woollen blanket and a doona. He only has one good jumper so this one will be more for around home on those cold mornings and nights.  I have some lovely alpaca here too so I might knit some long-armed fingerless mittens for him too.

We were visited by Jens and Cathy and their dog Koda and new Airedale puppy Tilly on the weekend. We puppy-sat Tilly late last week so she was in familiar territory on this visit and it was a beautiful thing to see Koda and Tiily hit that golden time of day for Airedales - 4pm - and run around like clowns chasing each other in the late afternoon dappled shade.

What a great response to the swap! There are only three more days to sign up, then it will be closed off, completely. Sharon will pair off partners and post that list on the blog soon. When you have your partner, you can email them and ask about colour and style preferences, or decide to surprise each other. All aprons will need to be made and posted by 17 April. Sharon has asked that you include a family recipe in with your apron and I think that is a wonderful idea. These swaps are not about seeing who sews the best - it's more about fun and friendship, connecting with others who live as we do, fun, improving sewing skills if you're a new sewer, and helping others who may not have done something like this before. So I encourage you to join in, even all those shy people who lurk in the background - both women and men. My only request is that if you do sign up, you honour your commitment and send your apron on time, as promised.

We're having the Queensland launch of the book on Wednesday at the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre. I'd love to see  you if you're close enough to come along. Rosetta's Books in Maleny is organising the event so if you decide to come, please book through them on 5435 2134. Wine and cheese will be provided and the cost is $8. We start at 5.30pm for a 6pm to 7 pm event.

BOOK PAYMENTS - PLEASE READ
If you've paid for a book but haven't received it yet, please email me with your payment details, including the date and your name. Don't worry if you haven't received your book, we paid extra so that all parcels can be tracked. I hope to have all the books sent out this week.   I have a Swift transfer from someone overseas. If you've ordered my book from another country and you haven't received it, please send your payment details as well as the amount and date sent. Also, can Brad Van Hemert email please.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.