Hoorah!
We got nearly a kilo of potatoes from one big pot. I'm not sure it's enough to really bother doing again in our garden, but interesting and satisfying nonetheless.
Quite a suitable post for around St Patrick's day really.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Pot o' potatoes
I have always been skeptical about claims by gardening book authors that potatoes are so easy, you can just plant them in a pot and almost forget about them until it's time to harvest. Often these authors are based in the northern hemisphere, and as our pot of potatoes baked on concrete through an Australian summer, I couldn't help doubting their claims. Finally I was sick of wondering, so this week (perhaps a little too early) I tipped out the pot to see if anything had happened.
Hoorah!
We got nearly a kilo of potatoes from one big pot. I'm not sure it's enough to really bother doing again in our garden, but interesting and satisfying nonetheless.
Quite a suitable post for around St Patrick's day really.
Hoorah!
We got nearly a kilo of potatoes from one big pot. I'm not sure it's enough to really bother doing again in our garden, but interesting and satisfying nonetheless.
Quite a suitable post for around St Patrick's day really.
Foula
This week I received my degree at a graduation ceremony, and while that piece of paper is a pretty swell piece of paper to have, I'm also excited about my Nanna's graduation gift.
My father's family is from the Shetland Islands, a tiny cluster of islands to the far north of Scotland. Plenty of fine things come from this part of the world: Shetland ponies, Shetland sheepdogs, Fair Isle Knitting, my family. Off the coast of the Shetland mainland is Foula.
In 1914, the Oceanic was wrecked just off Foula. It had at one time been the biggest ship in the world and was made in the same shipyard as the Titanic with similarly luxurious fittings. The dangerous waters that had been the Oceanic's downfall also hampered any salvage efforts until 1973, when advances in equipment made diving feasible.
At that time two divers, Alec Crawford and Simon Martin, managed to recover some of the valuable metals used in the engine rooms, including copper from the generators. Shetland Silvercraft (now known as Shetland Jewellery) crafted the metal into pieces linked to the story.
(See the island's silhouette?)
My father's family is from the Shetland Islands, a tiny cluster of islands to the far north of Scotland. Plenty of fine things come from this part of the world: Shetland ponies, Shetland sheepdogs, Fair Isle Knitting, my family. Off the coast of the Shetland mainland is Foula.
In 1914, the Oceanic was wrecked just off Foula. It had at one time been the biggest ship in the world and was made in the same shipyard as the Titanic with similarly luxurious fittings. The dangerous waters that had been the Oceanic's downfall also hampered any salvage efforts until 1973, when advances in equipment made diving feasible.
At that time two divers, Alec Crawford and Simon Martin, managed to recover some of the valuable metals used in the engine rooms, including copper from the generators. Shetland Silvercraft (now known as Shetland Jewellery) crafted the metal into pieces linked to the story.
(See the island's silhouette?)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Sustainable meal
It was pretty nifty to be able to look at our dinner the other night and realise how much of it was from the garden.
Lots of salad leaves, some of our cucumber bounty and tomatoes. And then the piece de resistance - silverbeet tart from Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion, which I was given for Christmas.
(It looks better when she photographs it!)
I've already used this book so many times; it's brilliant to be able to look up whatever you have a glut of in the garden and make something different and I'm enjoying browsing as I'm choosing what to plant.
And to accompany it, a bottle of Re-Wine, which I wrote about last year!
Lots of salad leaves, some of our cucumber bounty and tomatoes. And then the piece de resistance - silverbeet tart from Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion, which I was given for Christmas.
(It looks better when she photographs it!)
I've already used this book so many times; it's brilliant to be able to look up whatever you have a glut of in the garden and make something different and I'm enjoying browsing as I'm choosing what to plant.
And to accompany it, a bottle of Re-Wine, which I wrote about last year!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Kooky Cuces
Is Cuces how you would spell a cucumber abbreviation? But quite seriously, our cucumbers are amazing. I've never grown them before, and they keep surprising us. You just think there are a whole heap of leaves covering some ugly trellis and fence,
but then, whammo! A huge cucumber.
Sometimes they're so good at hiding that they get a bit out of hand. And now they're starting to try and make a break for it.
One of them even tried to peer around the corner of the barbecue this morning.
With one of those every day or two and a salad bed that looks like this:
we're eating plenty of garden food right now!
but then, whammo! A huge cucumber.
Sometimes they're so good at hiding that they get a bit out of hand. And now they're starting to try and make a break for it.
One of them even tried to peer around the corner of the barbecue this morning.
With one of those every day or two and a salad bed that looks like this:
we're eating plenty of garden food right now!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
The Prom
It's funny how such a short word, prom, can have so many different connotations around the world. In the states you'd be talking about a high school dance if you said 'I went to the prom'; in England, someone might think you had mispoken and meant The Proms. In Victoria, you mean Wilson's Promontory, the national park on the southern tip of mainland Australia.
I hadn't visited in years, but we recently spent a few days walking there with friends, and it really is beautiful. Rich orange lichens grow on pink-toned granite, thick temperate rainforest edges the walking track, and when the sun is out the sea is a brilliant blue.
These were taken at Sealer's Cove just before dusk. Post walking and swimming, pre boulder scrambling and dinner on a boulder on the beach.
I hadn't visited in years, but we recently spent a few days walking there with friends, and it really is beautiful. Rich orange lichens grow on pink-toned granite, thick temperate rainforest edges the walking track, and when the sun is out the sea is a brilliant blue.
These were taken at Sealer's Cove just before dusk. Post walking and swimming, pre boulder scrambling and dinner on a boulder on the beach.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
And I'm Back in the Game!
(Every time I say that phrase in my head, which is actually surprisingly often, I imagine Joseph Gordon Levitt in 10 Things I Hate About You saying it. So now that you're inside my head, let's begin.)
Sorry for the long absence, full-time work + full-time study makes you really busy, and things don't get to calm down much when you then have two weeks in which to do all of your assessment for the semester and then - because your landlords' son wants to move into your home - pack up all of your stuff (and your boyfriend's stuff because he's still studying for an exam that will make or break his postgrad studies) and move it to your parents' house in about one million trips across town in a car the size of a roller skate. Things don't really get any calmer when you have to co-ordinate the final parts of your move and signing a new lease from across the Tasman.
But it's all over now, and WE HAVE A HUGE NEW VEGIE PATCH!!!! It faces north, it doesn't have a dense mat of tree roots that regrows as fast as it can be dug out, it doesn't have a big shady tree covering it for most of the day. Sure, there's still plenty of that landlord favourite wall-to-wall concrete, but there's also plenty of lovely rich soil bursting with worms, and I'm absolutely loving having things actually grow for once.
I'll get onto garden and life related things in the next post, but for now, let me re-introduce myself by way of a quiz which I completed months and months ago but never posted: (I've updated some of the answers though)
I was tagged a few weeks ago (now many months ago) by Pepper Stitches, who has a great crafty blog with lots of fun links and stories - you should go and check it out!
I was meant to answer some questions, the original list can be found over at Seeds and Stitches, but like most others I've just answered a few from the list. I'm meant to tag others but I'm a bit shy when it comes to things like that so I don't think I will this time.
What is your current obsession?
Planting vegies that might actually grow, and the furniture, painting and pottery in the Mad Men offices.
Image via Shelterrific
What would you eat for your last meal?
Too much. I'd then probably vomit out my nose as I infamously did in a friend's front garden when her lovely Lebanese mother fed me lovely Lebanese food until I pretty much did burst. Spaghetti bolognaise, lentil and hamhock soup, chocolate and wonderful fresh fruit and vegies would undoubtedly feature on the menu of a last meal.
What was the last thing you bought?
Some radish seeds, a bunch of terracotta pots and some potting mix. I actually went out shopping for clothes, which I hate doing, got depressed by my own lack of trendiness and style, so retreated to the nursery instead, where I figure I get far better bang for my buck in terms of money outlay-happiness experienced.
What are you listening to right now?
My housemate playing guitar in the next room. When I'm listening to my choice of music, it's Teddy Thompson's latest album for brisk strolling, The Beach Boys for doing the dishes, The McGarrigle Sisters for rainy afternoons in the kitchen, Catatonia when I'm at my desk.
What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Always chocolate.
What is your favorite colour?
Green. It's beyond ridiculous how much green is in my wardrobe!
What is your dream job?
A journalist. Which is what I already do. But a proper, full-time journalist. Who gets more money.
What are you going to do after this?
Finish some job applications, plant some rocket seeds and then see a friend's gig.
What is your favorite smell?
I really love the smell of wet tomato plants, daphne, jasmine, earl grey tea, and clean bedding dried on a sunny day.
What are you most proud of?
Changing to become more like the person I want to be. And changing who I choose to have around me as part of that journey.
How many times do you press the snooze button before you get up?
I have been known to press it for up to two hours. I understand that this is both shameful and foolish. It probably won't stop me from doing it again though.
It's good to be back folks. I'm probably meant to tag some people, but I'm a bit shy about stuff like that. Although I was incredibly stoked to be tagged, so it seems mean to not tag anyone. I'll definitely tag someone next time I'm tagged for something and I'm back in the swing of blogging and commenting (although I've absolutely been reading plenty of blogs, I've just been very quiet for awhile)
Sorry for the long absence, full-time work + full-time study makes you really busy, and things don't get to calm down much when you then have two weeks in which to do all of your assessment for the semester and then - because your landlords' son wants to move into your home - pack up all of your stuff (and your boyfriend's stuff because he's still studying for an exam that will make or break his postgrad studies) and move it to your parents' house in about one million trips across town in a car the size of a roller skate. Things don't really get any calmer when you have to co-ordinate the final parts of your move and signing a new lease from across the Tasman.
But it's all over now, and WE HAVE A HUGE NEW VEGIE PATCH!!!! It faces north, it doesn't have a dense mat of tree roots that regrows as fast as it can be dug out, it doesn't have a big shady tree covering it for most of the day. Sure, there's still plenty of that landlord favourite wall-to-wall concrete, but there's also plenty of lovely rich soil bursting with worms, and I'm absolutely loving having things actually grow for once.
I'll get onto garden and life related things in the next post, but for now, let me re-introduce myself by way of a quiz which I completed months and months ago but never posted: (I've updated some of the answers though)
I was tagged a few weeks ago (now many months ago) by Pepper Stitches, who has a great crafty blog with lots of fun links and stories - you should go and check it out!
I was meant to answer some questions, the original list can be found over at Seeds and Stitches, but like most others I've just answered a few from the list. I'm meant to tag others but I'm a bit shy when it comes to things like that so I don't think I will this time.
What is your current obsession?
Planting vegies that might actually grow, and the furniture, painting and pottery in the Mad Men offices.
Image via Shelterrific
What would you eat for your last meal?
Too much. I'd then probably vomit out my nose as I infamously did in a friend's front garden when her lovely Lebanese mother fed me lovely Lebanese food until I pretty much did burst. Spaghetti bolognaise, lentil and hamhock soup, chocolate and wonderful fresh fruit and vegies would undoubtedly feature on the menu of a last meal.
What was the last thing you bought?
Some radish seeds, a bunch of terracotta pots and some potting mix. I actually went out shopping for clothes, which I hate doing, got depressed by my own lack of trendiness and style, so retreated to the nursery instead, where I figure I get far better bang for my buck in terms of money outlay-happiness experienced.
What are you listening to right now?
My housemate playing guitar in the next room. When I'm listening to my choice of music, it's Teddy Thompson's latest album for brisk strolling, The Beach Boys for doing the dishes, The McGarrigle Sisters for rainy afternoons in the kitchen, Catatonia when I'm at my desk.
What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Always chocolate.
What is your favorite colour?
Green. It's beyond ridiculous how much green is in my wardrobe!
What is your dream job?
A journalist. Which is what I already do. But a proper, full-time journalist. Who gets more money.
What are you going to do after this?
Finish some job applications, plant some rocket seeds and then see a friend's gig.
What is your favorite smell?
I really love the smell of wet tomato plants, daphne, jasmine, earl grey tea, and clean bedding dried on a sunny day.
What are you most proud of?
Changing to become more like the person I want to be. And changing who I choose to have around me as part of that journey.
How many times do you press the snooze button before you get up?
I have been known to press it for up to two hours. I understand that this is both shameful and foolish. It probably won't stop me from doing it again though.
It's good to be back folks. I'm probably meant to tag some people, but I'm a bit shy about stuff like that. Although I was incredibly stoked to be tagged, so it seems mean to not tag anyone. I'll definitely tag someone next time I'm tagged for something and I'm back in the swing of blogging and commenting (although I've absolutely been reading plenty of blogs, I've just been very quiet for awhile)
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Oh my giddy aunt.
What a stupidly busy few weeks. And it's not really likely to calm down anytime soon, so I really don't know if I should bother getting back into posting when I'm quite liable to disappear again, but I guess I just want to.
I've been so busy with a newspaper internship which was meant to go for the first two weeks of August but which is still going and has now been extended to November. That's full-time and then uni and other work slot in around it, and so far so good, but it doesn't leave large swathes of time for things like gardening and blogging. But I did have a couple of things I wanted to share, so I'll at least keep plugging away at getting those posted.
I feel bad for not commenting on all the posts I've enjoyed reading, but it has at least been nice to still have a constant feed of exciting things other people are doing to read about.
I think maybe this blog needs to change a little as well. I think I was so inspired by reading other people's creative blogs or blogs about their fabulous garden that I forgot that I don't live a particularly creative life, nor is my garden fabulous. (Well, I think it's kind of fabulous but that's because I remember when it was all concrete and weeds and mouldy newspapers and broken glass, but I didn't take any of photos of it back then, so I can't even prove how far it has come.) Anyway, what I'm trying to tell you is that perhaps my first angle was a little flawed, so maybe I need to branch out and find other things to also talk about that are just as satisfying for me and interesting for you.
So forgive the explanatory post, hopefully I'll return soon with something a little more noteworthy.
Wait! Here's something noteworthy:
This is the most important thing I learnt last year. When I learnt it I told lots of my other incredibly busy, driven, perhaps slightly over-achieving friends, and then we all sat back and sighed and felt a little bit better. And sometimes now we still tell it to each other when we're stressing ourselves out with our own actions. So here it is folks.
Detach your sense of self from your achievements.
That's not to say you can't be proud of them and take joy in them, but just don't get so caught up in them that they drown out your other ideas of who you are and what makes you a good person. So with that little gem I'm off to bed. Hopefully I'll see you all soon, and will get back into the swing of posting and commenting.
I've been so busy with a newspaper internship which was meant to go for the first two weeks of August but which is still going and has now been extended to November. That's full-time and then uni and other work slot in around it, and so far so good, but it doesn't leave large swathes of time for things like gardening and blogging. But I did have a couple of things I wanted to share, so I'll at least keep plugging away at getting those posted.
I feel bad for not commenting on all the posts I've enjoyed reading, but it has at least been nice to still have a constant feed of exciting things other people are doing to read about.
I think maybe this blog needs to change a little as well. I think I was so inspired by reading other people's creative blogs or blogs about their fabulous garden that I forgot that I don't live a particularly creative life, nor is my garden fabulous. (Well, I think it's kind of fabulous but that's because I remember when it was all concrete and weeds and mouldy newspapers and broken glass, but I didn't take any of photos of it back then, so I can't even prove how far it has come.) Anyway, what I'm trying to tell you is that perhaps my first angle was a little flawed, so maybe I need to branch out and find other things to also talk about that are just as satisfying for me and interesting for you.
So forgive the explanatory post, hopefully I'll return soon with something a little more noteworthy.
Wait! Here's something noteworthy:
This is the most important thing I learnt last year. When I learnt it I told lots of my other incredibly busy, driven, perhaps slightly over-achieving friends, and then we all sat back and sighed and felt a little bit better. And sometimes now we still tell it to each other when we're stressing ourselves out with our own actions. So here it is folks.
Detach your sense of self from your achievements.
That's not to say you can't be proud of them and take joy in them, but just don't get so caught up in them that they drown out your other ideas of who you are and what makes you a good person. So with that little gem I'm off to bed. Hopefully I'll see you all soon, and will get back into the swing of posting and commenting.
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