My days are full again. There's a lot going on here and that looks like being our normal for the next few months. We're changing our garden, I'm doing a series of talks in Brisbane, we have visitors coming and I've started writing again. All in all, I have enough to do every day and even though most days are accounted for, I still take time out to have tea with Hanno and to rest whenever I feel I need.
It is the first day of spring today in Australia so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that over the past week we had another snake on the front verandah. This time it's a two metre long python. Hanno called me to come outside and see it, but I only saw the tail. If you look closely at this photo you can see the snake coiled up in the undergrowth.
Our food over the past week has been the last of the winter stews and soups. I'll use up whatever stewing steak I have in the freezer over the next week or so and then it's on to all the summer foods and salads. I whipped up a few banana and walnut muffins. These are truly the easiest and fastest of all my morning tea recipes. You can have them made and on the table in about 35 minutes. It only takes one bowl and no mixer so washing up is a breeze. The recipe is the basic muffins recipe in my Down to Earth book, plus two mashed bananas.
We're harvesting potatoes again - Dutch Creams. Sadly, this may be the last year we grow them but oh, do we love the taste and texture of freshly dug potatoes. These are so crisp it 's like peeling a good apple. We are having them in potato salad, mashed, boiled then lightly fried and baked. We'll continue enjoying them until the last one and then they'll become another one of the things we used to do.
We're harvesting potatoes again - Dutch Creams. Sadly, this may be the last year we grow them but oh, do we love the taste and texture of freshly dug potatoes. These are so crisp it 's like peeling a good apple. We are having them in potato salad, mashed, boiled then lightly fried and baked. We'll continue enjoying them until the last one and then they'll become another one of the things we used to do.
I plan on taking a few photos at my library talks and will share our days out with you via those pics. I'll be back later in the week. What are you doing this week?
Are you giving up potatoes because of the work involved or the space they take up? If either of these is the case then might it be possible to try the patio potato system instead? They can be grown in an old sack or in Britain you can buy lightweight bags made for the purpose. You couldn't grow so many potatoes, but you could at least have baby new potatoes.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side of the world, our autumn is starting and I am using the last of my salad potatoes (charlotte). I don't think you can beat home grown potatoes straight from the ground. Sorry you might not grow them again.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, what did you do with that snake ?......snakes and spiders creep me out, though I have a rule , if they are outside they are in their appropriate space, inside ...well.
ReplyDeleteI'm very interested in how your going to be working your garden, we are in caloundra, bottom of the hill really :) I'm injured at the moment, so instead of ramping up the spring planting, I'm finding I'm doing my best to battle the bindi & weeds. They seem to be growing faster then I can hobble around :) I know I have to garden smarter with my injury. Any tips are lovely.
ReplyDeleteHi Briar Rose. I'll be blogging about our new garden in the next few weeks.
Deletesnakes are my least favorite thing so I hurried past that photo. We are a few weeks away from the first day of fall here in Missouri. Looking forward to some cooler days. Then some short winter days. I love it when it gets dark early so that I can curl up with a good book and hot tea in the evening. Looking forward to seeing your garden changes! :)
ReplyDeleteThe muffins look delicious as do all of those potatoes...I missed out on planting ours this year so will have to be organized for next year. See you at the Arana Hills Library on Wednesday for your talk. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your busy weeks ahead. Our spuds are just sprouting and we're looking forward to them. This week I'll be designing other peoples gardens for 'work' and preparing tomato seedlings for our summer garden. Loving be able to work from home and taking time out to do our garden.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to hearing about your garden plans.
Kate xx
The muffins look delicious. I'm going to make these as I have your book.
ReplyDeleteIf the weather cooperates I hope to get all our fall planting done this week. We've had a lot of rain lately, delaying things. We really need to get the planting done soon to have things in before the frost. We start harvesting butternut and spaghetti squash today and will also try to get our fall cover crops sown this week. It's a busy time of year here.
ReplyDeleteMy wife was startled by a small moccasin last evening while foraging mushrooms. That's bad enough. It would take me a while to get used to sharing the farm with a big python!
I hope the rain stops long enough for your planting, Bill. I'm not sure how big moccasins are but a two metre python isn't big. The big ones can swallow a hen or cat, whole. They aren't aggressive. They're just looking for food and then they go on their way.
DeleteIt's funny to think that it's your first day of spring when, here in Canada, it's our unofficial first day of autumn! The mornings are crisp and I'm looking forward to pulling out knitting, quilting, and writing projects that have been neglected over the summer. Meantime, I'm documenting my summer canning recipes on my blog and watching the last of the garden crops ripen. Happy spring to you!
ReplyDeleteOh Rhonda Jean! I have such wonderful news! I am going to buying a small farm in Washington state here in the USA by next May or June! I will be able to put to use all of the great things you have taught us over the years and, I am taking the book you wrote with me, of course! I will have some farm animals, mainly chickens, but may get a few goats for milking and my daughter will be able to continue her horse rescue and training program. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to live the rest of my years the way I have always dreamed!!!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see how you are changing your gardening. I have so many things in my head about what to grow and how to go about living the life you have been writing about. I will be following you closer now, than ever before.
That is great news! Such a wonderful opportunity for you and your family. I send you my best as you move towards your dream. xx
DeleteI am so impressed by your total calm at having a two metre long python slither past - I'd be a wreck! Enjoy the spring!
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda, we're getting ready for my mother-in-law moving in with us on Friday! She will be travelling 600+ miles and will be 90 years old in October. Plucky lady! :) Looking forward to picking her brains about the old (and best) ways of doing things. :) Well done on not freaking out about the snake! I wouldn't have been so calm! Love, Tina xxx
ReplyDeleteOver here in the US, I'm working furiously to use as many apples as I can from our tree, which produced unexpectedly well this season. I'm getting ready to start making more soups and stews to freeze, so I'm exactly the opposite of you right now. :)
ReplyDeleteto think we are ending summer here and you are just starting spring there.....
ReplyDeleteWe are watching our fall garden grow. It won't be long and I will be picking beans once more for canning. The beets, kohlrabi and carrots are growing like weeds it will be a few more weeks before they are ready to harvest for canning and freezing. The tomatoes are still producing although they have slowed a bit. I suppose they are finishing up for the year. I canned 12 qts of tomatoes and 12 pints of okra yesterday which brings my over all total of canned goods to 150 qts, 74 pints, 56 half pints. More to come of course but has been a busy year and a great start for my winter goods. We don't hardly eat out so I am hoping we don't run to short on goods. I sat and figured it out on how much we should have and we have as much as we need ....we will make it all stretch. Have a great week Rhonda! love the look of the muffins by the by.....
Those muffins look delicious, i'm in the middle of re-reading your book at the moment which i try to do every few months, i'll definitely be trying out your muffin recipe tomorrow.
ReplyDelete