The Garden Post

Its so nice to be able to comfortably walk out and about around the garden again.  I have been quite surprised at how much my veggie garden has contained itself over the past few months, completely neglected by it's keeper in the later stages of my pregnancy, the rain and natural elements have been kind enough to keep it in relatively good order.  These veggies have all been grown from my previous spring planting.   The eggplant were slow to grow but certainly impressed once they started producing, a lone cucumber vine appeared 3 months after my cues were picked and pickled, the capsicums just  keep coming and the tomatoes seems to have got a second lease of  life and are producing more tomatoes they did than earlier in the season. Just one problem though . . .

Anyone got any good green tomato chutney recipes, Something in the area seems to be picking these little lollies off the vine the minute they get  a tinge of colour on them, I am presuming it's birds of some kind, I must invest in a net, see if I can save me a few ripe ones.

I've been tossing a bit of capsicum and eggplant into everything lately, unfortunately the eggplant are not a   favourite with the kidlets so they're not getting eaten as quickly as I would like them too, Any suggestions on freezing Eggplant or easy peasy yummy recipes?

And for those Baby Watchers out there, here's our little Laura's latest photo...

Yes, she's smiley and she's chubby!

5 1/2 weeks old

Happy Gardening!

I have a confession

Oh dear, a bit of a REALITY CHECK really...

For the past 18 months or so I have been Blogging, Yes I know you knew that, what you didn't know was that I was suppose to be doing  my husbands Book work in my allocated computer time.

Boring.....  

Well, it's finally all caught up with me....I told myself I would get it done before bub arrives as I will no doubt be busier than ever, so the countdown is on and everything has been put on hold while I sit  and catch up on 'The Books'  with no sneaking over to  'The Blog' 

I'll have to be careful I don't accidentley sit over here...

 I must discipline myself, get my real job done and then I'll be back, I promise...

(it won't take long, I'm a pretty fast on the old PC these days)

Do you manage your time Wisely or does your Blog distract you from your everyday duties.

What should you really be doing right now?

Saving for a rainy day!

Freezer Preserving

I picked up loads of specials at my local fruit and veg market last week. 

Anything with a price tag of $1.99 usually very quickly gets my attention, I just can't go past a $2 Bargain!!

4 cobs of Corn $1.99

1kg bag of Beans $1.99

1 Bag approx 1 &1/2 kg Broccoli $1.99

and 1/2 kg Button Squash, you guessed it $1.99
Not to forget the big bag of Beetroot also $1.99.

A bag of each was purchased for the week plus an extra bag for the freezer . My local f&v market is a good 1/2 an hour drive so I don't always get there as regularly as I should. My backyard vegetable garden provides us with some great tasty crunchy afternoon snacks and plenty of fresh salads but as much as I would love to grow all my vegetables for the table, I would need to have a good couple of acres of  progressively grown veg to keep us all going all year round. Not to mention an electric fence to keep out the pack of veggie gobbling children. 

By keeping a stockpile of frozen fresh vegetables, it means I can enjoy a good variety when I need it and when bought on special it means that I am not paying a fortune for frozen packets from the super market.

To freezer preserve your veggies, you need to blanch them first, I usually pop mine into a pot of boiling water for about 2 - 3 minutes.

You can find more info on blanching here and a time table for the different vegetables if you wish to be a bit more precise.

Once blanched, remove from water and dry on paper towel or draining rack.

Divide into portion sizes and place in freezer bags

Remove as much air as you can and tightly seal the bags

Stack neatly into your freezer.

When your ready for Dinner, simply remove the bag from the freezer and place in a saucepan or steamer and cook as you would with your fresh Vegetables.

Remember to save your blanching water, which has now transformed into a tasty Vegetable Stock, cool it and drink it as a multi vitamin boost or freeze it to add to your next soup or casserole.

Freezer preserving is a great way to save money and keep your favourite prepared foods for times when you just can't provide them fresh. 

Happy Preserving!

More freezer tips, recipes and links

Home Sweet Home

It's always good to be back home, and back into our own warm cosy beds, our holiday experiences etched in our minds forever and  plans already made for a few special adventures next School Holidays.

  (I will keep you posted!)

It was nice to arrive home after a nine hour drive to a home baked dinner and dessert from Mrs Moo, my wonderful cousin, who had been house sitting for us, she's an amazingly talented Cook

The bags were unpacked this morning, the washing is hanging out to dry and it's now time to tackle my ever growing list of things to do which is already a good mile and half long...

There are biscuits and cakes to bake

A few new preserves I'm just dying to try from this great new book

Some Op shopping to wash, I found the best little church thrift shop while I was away, I hit gold with these great Pyrex mixing bowls, a handful of aprons, tablecloths and two sets of  kitchen curtains. 

Plus a lifetime and a half of household crafts that I'm very keen to get into...

But first of all there are a number of crochet projects I have been working on that need to be finished off

A garden to tend to that isn't producing half as well as I expected, I think it's time to spread a bit of Sheep Poop! 

It's also in desperate need of a watering system other than myself and the older children!   I'm thinking a basic drip system is good, it works for the chook water! Speaking of chooks, there are still quite a few running around without names! 

We will need to get back on track with that too...

Of course there is the general household keeping, looking after my husband and raising my children, but that's just something I like to do in my spare time!!! 

There is Painting projects, Sewing projects, Restoration projects and even Macrame all on this list.

as well as many new blogs to explore and a good catch up with some of my favourite bloggers.

And what will I do with all these freshly picked Oranges and Lemons, kindly passed on from family and friends.

I am feeling quite refreshed and rejuvenated from the family holiday, so I'd  better get back to it and I'll see you all along the way.

Finding the Time. . .

 "Lose an Hour in the Morning

and you will spend all day looking for it"

Richard Whately

 At the start of each day I write myself a 'To Do' list, it usually involves a few or a lot of household jobs, what to cook for dinner, maybe a phone call to make, bills to pay and something fun like a craft project, some planting in the garden, a special treat to bake or preserve, or allow myself sometime to Blog.

 I find if I set myself just small goals everyday then they are much more achievable.  I do not hold as much expectation on myself, if it does not get accomplished it simply gets moved to the start of the next days list and so on...

I do pride myself on my organisation skills, however I do have many times of major procrastination and minor meltdown...!

So with all that said this was my  weekend project 

Just crossed off my list . . .

Beef Jerky  

&

 Dried Apples