organic vegetable gardening courses, growing tips and homegrown recipes.
So how does she smell? Amazingly good since I've sprayed her with EM-A spray. An old joke I know, but Effective Micro-organisms work in chook houses, compost heaps, dirty ponds and septic tanks too. The spray contains the same active ingredients that work so well in a Bokashi bucket. I've only got one dog so it's hard to do a controlled test … [Read more...]
This will serve about four people, depending on the size of the hare. I add eight or so golf-ball sized potatoes to the top of this to serve with it together with buttered, shredded, steamed cabbage or a salad. The hare backstraps (equivalent of a beef eye-fillet) are better kept for something else. My favourites are topped with pate and wrapped … [Read more...]
Just because you don't see them, don't pretend they're not there. If you keep hens or have ducks around, sooner or later you'll get a visit from a mustelid pest. I'd never seen a live stoat or weasel around here, but we've caught quite a few over the last few years. Nothing for months and then this female stoat appeared in a our DoC 200 trap near … [Read more...]
Watercress soup is a vibrant shade of green if you don't overcook the watercress. I think it benefits from a rich, meaty stock-base. I simmered left-over bones and gravy of a shoulder of hogget for a few hours just covered in water in the slow cooker. I used half the strained liquid as a stock and froze the other half for later. This also gave the … [Read more...]
These miniature toetoe (chionochloa flavicans) eventually got too big to interest the rabbits. They looked lovely in the winter sunshine this week. The most useful book on New Zealand native plants for your garden I've found is the aptly named 100 Best Native Plants for New Zealand Gardens. It's recently been revised and updated into a much more … [Read more...]
I make my leek and potato soup heavy on the potatoes. You could chill it in summer and call it 'vichyssoise'. The leeks have grown all through the summer - planting them close together makes them slim, sweet and tender. They'll keep through the winter in the garden before going to seed once it warms up in the spring. If you've got enough leeks you … [Read more...]
Sometimes the weather isn't right for outside gardening. Sometimes you don't have access to a garden. Sometimes you want to try something new to get your kids interested in growing things. Here are three things you can grow without leaving your house. You could get your kids to help you make lemon curd too. They'll certainly help you eat … [Read more...]
There's not room in everyone's life or garden for a rooster. They are noisy at very unsociable hours. But if you want the patter of tiny chickie feet, keeping a rooster is one option. If you would like to give a very handsome pure-bred Rhode Island red rooster a good home, please email me. This is a photo of their dad, Henry. … [Read more...]
