Random garden pictures

Thought that it was time to post a few more garden pictures. There would have been more except the camera shut itself off for no reason!

Here are the self seeded lettuces complete with cat deterant (he is soooooo close to becoming a pair of gloves, you have no idea!

This is the first lemon blossom on my dwarf lemon. I'm looking forward to great things from this little fellow.

Another kale picture. I love kale.

Did you know that aloe vera plants get flowers!

Straw bed picture. A few spaces need filling as I have been harvesting like mad from this bed.

Soap making

I was inspired by Melissa at day to day

yesterday to finally give soap making a go.

I read the instructions, grated like mad, mixed, stirred and the end result is Oat and goat milk soap. It's delicately scented and coloured with the final bar of Dragon's blood soap from gift's that pamper.

I will let you all know how it washes up next week when it's been through it's curing period.

The next challenge on the soap front will be to make soap from the raw ingredients, not just soap flakes.

My bit for the energy crisis

Can you see the time/date? Well at 10.40am today, the temperature is 12.5 degrees.

I am finding it a challenge to be honest. I have a nappy bucket full of nappies which need to be washed (plus a full laundry basket). I am seriously considering washing clothes by hand, how mad is that!!!!

Wondering about making some bread by hand and filling the oven to the max at the same time to do one massive bake. The other alternative is to pop the Tots into the pram and walk to the shops to buy some hideous white sliced loaf :(

I can't wait for my solar oven to arrive.

News alert at Wit's End!

The Crone has spent money on a new purchase.

With all the dramas here in WA atm regarding gas shortages/electricity shortages, I decided to stop ummmming and arrrrhing and just go ahead and buy a Solar Oven.

http://www.rpc.com.au/catalog/solar-cooker-190mm-p-2201.html

Now Mr Premier try and tell me to cut back on my power usage!

For those of you who may not know, there was a gas pipeline explosion here in Western Australia a couple of weeks ago. Due to extreme shortages, we have all been asked to cut back on our power usage. In fact, one artical yesterday asked the following;

"CCI chief executive James Pearson said the gas shortage would ultimately cost the WA economy billions of dollars and households could help out by halving their energy consumption during peak periods for the next six months. He said if this did not occur, the Government would be forced into making a “tough decision” on domestic power rationing. He pleaded with households to adopt drastic measures such as taking cold showers, not using heaters and eating raw food in a bid to “save businesses and protect jobs”. "

Now to find out more about Solar everything, I don't want to be dependant on the grid for longer than I have too.

Did I mention that it is winter here in Australia ATM?

All right Brazen, I'll play along too

Brazen has challenged everyone to show off their pantries;

Here are pic's of my main cupboard

My store cupboard

The Husband's Chinese cupboard (we are complete opposites BTW!)

The bits of paper stuck to the wall under the cupboard are my recipes. I like to have my favourite ones in an easy to access space :)

No fail polenta

AKA Baked in the oven polenta :)

2 cups Polenta
8 cups of water
2 stock cubes (I use vegetable)
2 tablespoons of butter

Bung the lot into a greased oven dish and bake for an hour and a half in a moderate oven. Stir and fluff at the one hour mark then pop it back into the oven for the last half hour.

Like minded people

I have recently joined the relocalize it community here in Perth. One of the blogs on the main site is the Small farm permaculture and sustainable living blog and they have put together a fantastic local "all you need to know" list, everything from bio diesel to a fantastic list of fruit trees which grow well in Perth. You can find them here

I'm also just going to remind local readers of my blog about the POP meeting on July 2 2008

Wednesday 2nd July, 7pm
Talk at Permaculture Association of WA monthly meeting.
St Mark’s Community Hall, Parker St, Bassendean
All welcome (members free, visitors $5)Supper to follow

So, I have a weird sense of humour

I'm in an odd mood tonight, so it's time to put on our thinking caps and come up with some lighthearted entertainment to amuse The Crone;

Remember that book "101 uses for a dead cat" (sorry NatureWitch)? Well in keeping with the peak oil theme that's been around the blogs for the last couple of days, let's have

101 uses for a dead/petrol-less car!

I'll start you off

1. Chook bed - rip out the back seats so that they can go into the nice comfy boot space to lay. Easy access with the boot and all.
2.karenmc said...
Remove boot lid & door locks = cubby for the kids
3.Fill foot wells with soil & plant something that requires a protected environment.
4.Keep a sledgehammer handy and use it to vent your frustrations.
5.naturewitch said...
closed up dead car - great for raising vege and other seedlings xx

Another snippet of conversation at Wit's End

DON'T READ IF YOU HAVE A DELICATE STOMACH!

























"Mumma, why is there a bottle of juice in the bathroom?"

:) Told you not to read if you have a weak stomach!

Thank you Molly (and Supercook!)

I am going to make this dish tonight http://www.supercook.com/show_dish.asp?l=http://www.recipezaar.com/155250 Mixed greens with feta and pasta. I have just gone out and gathered all different varieties of greens/purples for this meal! Can you see my fresh dandelion leaves!

"Mumma, Mummmmmmmmaaaaaa!"

"Mrs G said we all have to wear a warm tracksuit tomorrow as it's going to be very cold!"

Deep breath Crone, you have the material and other stuff needed. It is going to be 4 degrees in Perth tomorrow, the Tot is right, she needs a warm winter uniform. So much for snuggling in bed with a Maeve Binchy book, you will be sewing.

Cost: Polar fleece 2 metres @$4.99 a metre. Also used leftover elastic from nappy making days.

Heart on my sleeve here

If your child goes to school with a kid who is on the autism spectrum, can you please invite the ASD child to your child's birthday party.

It sucks big time to have a child who never gets invites to parties because they are 'different'.

Just thought I would add that my ASD child is a girl :)

Lawdy Miss Clawdy!

'I'm all shook up' 'just because' I was 'first in line' at the mailbox and was 'paralyzed' with laughter as I 'rip(ped) it up' and found that 'I was the one' who received this from a friend;

Elvis Presley 2 cd autograph collection!!!

K, you are such a good friend and so very very funny! The Husband was not impressed that I put a cd on in the car this morning!

Mwah!

So I'm clearly nosey, but who lives in

Lochmaddy, Eilean Siar? The name sounds so pretty, like something out of a Kate Forsyth novel :)

So many people are visiting my blog from around the World, it's totally amazing to see where you are all coming from!

Oh and for those who are interested, I have been surprised that 'output' isn't as great as I expected it to be, despite the fact I drink a minimum of two litres of water every day ;)

A snippet of conversation at Wit's End

"Is that what I think it is? Oh that's disgusting Mother!"

The Teen reacting to me walking through the house with a two litre container of liquid gold.

All citrus have been fertilised and the rest poured onto the compost heap.

Question of the day

Can I walk an eight km round trip once a day to reduce using my car? 4km's to school, 4km's back, pushing a pram carrying three tots (one seated, one in toddler seat, one on pram skateboard)?

If I do this I cut 40km's of fuel off of our consumption per week.

Pondering, pondering.

Crunchy Chicken, my family thinks I've gone bonkers!

It's all Crunchy Chicken's fault.

I have declared war against 'pee and flush'! In fact, no one is allowed to pee at the seating for one at Wit's End anymore!

Visitors beware, you will be asked to deposit in the nappy bucket :)

Bet I have the healthiest plants in the street from now on!

Just wondering.....

As you know, I am a vegetarian. I am however, very aware that families are struggling with the price of food right now. I finally remembered just now, part of the conversation NatureWitch and I had this afternoon (The Crone is sick; sniffle sniffle, sneeze, blergh) and it was basically me wondering if people would consider hunting Kangeroo, keeping rabbits for food and other non commercial meats and NatureWitch pointing out that that was how most people got through the depression in Australia.

So would you do it? My best mate as a child lived on a dairy farm and her Father kept rabbits for food. I remember one time being round there and seeing him hang a rabbit from a hook in the doorframe and 'dress' it for the table.

How tough would things have to get financially for you to eat foods you never would have considered eating before?

Starting on a light note then getting serious!

Do you suffer from KPA? Does it tie you in knots? Do you wander up and down the aisles of the supermarket with a feeling of dread?

Kitchen Performance anxiety is apparently a real disorder! I have been very lucky to never have suffered from this problem (it's a different story with public speaking though!) and love the challenge of scanning my pantry and throwing things together to feed little groups of 12- 15 LOL!

I have started learning about the slow food movement (which is something I have always done naturally) and in one book "The slow mediterranean kitchen", Paula Wolfert talks about KPA and how the slow food movement takes the pressure out of cooking because

"most of the kitchen work may be accomplished at a leisurely pace in advance, obviating the necessity for stressful, last minute performance" (Wolfert, P. 'the slow mediterranean kitchen, xvii, 2003)

So if you find your stress levels rising at 5pm, go check out the slow food movement!

Right, now the serious stuff!

Two of my favourite bloggers have sort of thrown down challenges;

NatureWitch has challenged us to reduce our energy consumption by getting out our bills and looking at ways we can reduce further each quarter.

Molly from doing it naturally has inspired me to write myself a list of 'What I need/what I want to make Wit's End more self sufficient. This comes from her post about Peak Water.

So, what do I honestly need to do to Wit's End to make it as self sufficient as possible;

Solar energy
transform the pool (my water tank) into an swimming pond
Build a wood fired oven in the garden.
Build a solar oven.
Build a veranda around the front of the house
Install heat remover things in the roof space
Get a composting toilet
When my current washing machine dies, get a twin tub again. I love them and they save so much water. Of course ideally I would wash by hand and get an old fashioned mangle LOL!
Get chooks!
Get a preserving system, dehydrator/fowler's vacola.

Now for my plant audit. This is the list of fruit trees I have and when they produce month by month.

Jan: Avocados, bananas, Blueberries, figs, guavas, icecream beans, lychee, mango, passion fruit, pineapple, roseapple, lemons, Black sapote
Feb: Avocados, bananas, monstera, figs, guavas, icecream beans, lychee, mango, passion fruit, pineapple, roseapple, lemons, Black sapote
March: Cape gooseberry, Guava, fig, icecream beans, lychees, mango, passionfruit
April: The start of the apples, and citrus
May: As above plus pears
June: As above
July: as above
August: As above
Sept: Strawberries,
Oct: The start of the Jan list again.

So all this tells me that I need to look at getting some winter producing fruits in. Rhubarb comes to mind as well as kiwifruit and plums. Off to ponder :)

Have you ever been inspired by a book?

Lots of books have inspired me in the course of my life, too many to name here that's for sure. One story however kept popping into my head every summer, 'Fried green tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe'.

I always wanted to grab a handful of green tomatoes and try out the recipe (in the back of the book) but at the last minute I would be seduced by the ripening tomatoes and ended up always using them up in salads or making up batches of sauce to store.

Well this year I planted a batch of tomatoes in my strawbale beds to see how they would go over winter (the decomposing straw acts as a lovely thermal bed for your plants). I have a heap of tomatoes in June which are slowly slowly ripening. This morning I found a recipe in 'The slow mediterranean cookbook' and really wanted to try it.

Results: They were crunchy on the outside and soft inside and slightly sharp to taste. Will I cook them again? Honestly, no. I think I will use them in other ways before frying them again but I am glad that I experimented!

For people in Perth!

I just received this email;

Preparing Perth for Life Without Oil
Wednesday 2nd July, 7pmTalk at Permaculture Association of WA monthly meeting.St Mark’s Community Hall, Parker St, BassendeanAll welcome (members free, visitors $5)Supper to follow
Peak oil is the biggest threat humanity has ever faced.... What can we do to help Perth people prepare?
We'll share POP's preliminary strategy, and the thinking behind it, and then invite ideas and involvement from you!
Anyone who thinks they might be interested in lending their energy to our efforts to prepare Perth for the rapidly emerging carbon poor future is urged to come along!

So if you can make it, go to the link on the left hand side of my blog labelled Post Peak oil Perth and you will find the contact details.

Panic Attack!

Never, never assume that last year's pioneer day costume will fit this year! Thank the gods I have a stash of fabric and retro patterns!

This is what I am going to make for Tot 1.

Please let it look ok! Please let my machine do what it's meant too today!

next year I will plan better!

Edited : Making the apron and bonnet right now.

Voila! Costings: fabric, ummm 60 cents. Lace, made by Nature witch and given to me a couple of years ago. Elastic, leftover nappy elastic! threads? used up three bobbins full. Pattern, freecycle :)

For those of you who have access to 'Old trout's spawn', the full pic is up ;)

Nasturtiums = wasabi?

The teen just nibbled on a nasturtium leaf and said

"Is this what wasabi is made from?" Now I believe that wasabi is made from horseradish, but you know what, there is a similarity!

Off to google to find out more!

My confession.

The Tots have been up since 'sparrow's fart', sorry for the description but what else would you call 5am?

So I am being a bad bad mother right now and have stuck them in front of the electronic babysitter watching "Lilo and Stitch".

Now for my true confession;

I love Elvis Presley! Yep, the girl who rocked her way through the teen years singing songs by the Sex Pistol and the Dead Kennedy's, has discovered that at the age of 40+, The King's voice sends shivers down her spine and makes her toes curl ;)

I might have to go borrow some cd's from the library and smuggle them into the house (I would never live it down, The Husband would die from laughter!)