July is for - breaking down the barriers

It's winter, and for me that means woolly beanie and gloves on the way to work in the morning, and wrapping up on the lounge in a blanket at night. Hopefully at least one of the cats will join me as a living hot water bottle. The real struggle for me comes when I have a day off - though it sounds exciting or relaxing, or both, often it isn't either. The house is just too cold during the day. I'm all for getting out in the garden to warm up, after taking the dog for a brisk walk (often with a bacon and egg roll stop) and maybe painting the walls for a while. But there's really only so much tea you can drink, and so many warm things to do.
The main issue is the house design, as there is only one window on the northern side (where all the sun is at this time of year). We are hoping to add another window in the bedroom  when time and budget allow, but for this season we have simply made better use of the one window we have.
Without boring you with the details of our strange house layout, let me just say that the living room is far too small and entirely the wrong shape, and along it runs an equally unusable and oddly shaped 'bedroom'. I'm sure you COULD fit a bed in there and my neighbour tells me that many years ago two young brothers shared it (a lesson in making do, if ever I needed one).

 

 

After taking a climb on the ladder into the roof, we confirmed that the wall separating these two 'rooms' wasn't loadbearing, and took to it with the nearest tools.

 

 My hammer hardly made a dent, and we discovered that it was composed of 2 layers, with thick gyprock covering horsehair plaster at the top, and plywood on the bottom half. Progress was slower than we expected, but the light that began streaming into the dingy living room was wonderful. Now at the centre of our house is a large, lightfilled room. 

Let there be light!

  Unfortunately, the walls and ceiling of the two rooms don't quite match up, so there is more work to be done disguising the join or at least making it presentable.

 

 

But we don't care. At the moment it's just nice to sit in a sunny room, have a read and a cup of tea. By summer we will hang some curtains to keep it cool, but that can wait. Before then there are floorboards to sand and polish and walls to paint. At least now our precious sunshine isn't wasted on that funny little side room, and we have a lounge room that can actually fit our lounge in it. How luxurious!

And here is a sneak peek of what we have planned for next Winter:

February is for... feeling hot, hot, hot!

This summer has been so hot and dry I've had trouble keeping the tomatoes alive, and the pumpkins and eggplants have struggled along. The faithful zucchinis and squashes have kept us eating veg most of the week (especially the VERY prolific Tromboncino) and cucumbers failed to even get far off the ground. What a year. The upside to the hot, dry conditions is the avalanche of chillies filling the kitchen.

We've been eating some of them fresh, and leaving some in a basket in the hot sunroom to dry out. Matt even made a giant batch of curry paste to freeze for our favourite red curry. I think that's been the most successful dish of the summer: 'garden curry' with eggplant, zucchini and pumpkin, chillies, basil and galangal, all from the garden. Delicious! It's based on the red curry recipe from 'Cooking with Poo' (yes, that's the real title I promise, you can check it out here http://www.handicrafts.org.au/contents/en-us/d63.html). There are some great recipes in it, but this is my favourite.

We're growing 3 different chillies this year, the mildest being the jalapenos, next the long red chillies, and finally my all time favourite the Purple Dragon. It has gorgeous purple, white and green variegated leaves, with purple flowers that turn into purple fruits, and turn red as they ripen. They look beautiful all year round, and this one is 2 years old now. It is super-hot though, and I usually only use 1 or 2 of the tiny little gems in a meal. I have had to apologise to my dear sister for not warning her well enough, resulting in a ruined thai beef salad... but I'm sure she will forgive me!

 

Today though, I'm wearing my warm pyjamas and a jumper. It has finally been raining, and it's such a divine sound on the roof. Hopefully it's just in time to get some corn and the last of the tomatoes before it cools down, and then I'll have to get cracking planting some winter veg seeds.

Photo of the week - counting beans

This Summer has included a new vegetable adventure; growing beans for drying to use in the future. I'm picturing beany soups and stews, maybe some delicious nachos or salads. We will see what we can come up with!
For now I'm just enjoying the colour and shine, they are truly beautiful. There are Red Kidney and Borlotti beans as well as Cherokee Wax and  French Flageolet. I've just been waiting until the bean pods go papery and then picking them, drying the beans themselves on a plate for a few days and then into the jar they go. To the bean mix I've also added  the chickpeas and some broad beans that missed being picked and dried out.

 

The chickpeas have been really interesting to grow, with lovely soft feathery leaves and sweet little white pea-flowers. The strange  thing about them is the 'wet' feeling that you get if you brush your hand against them. The hairy covering on the leaves and stems seems to trap moisture, which may be a survival mechanism as they originate in the middle east. What a little beauty!

Photo of the week - summer scents

The Gardenias are in flower at our place, and I can't resist floating a handful in a bowl of water to add fragrance to our bathroom. Divine. These are all Gardenia magnifica, but I have a couple of grandiflora star, radicans and augusta Florida as well. Just can't get enough of them in summer, so most are planted under a window to let the scent drift inside.

 

 

February is for... reaping what you sow

 

 

How do you make sausages and mash into a delicious and nourishing dinner? Make it with loads of love, and quickly dash out into the rain for some silverbeet, snake beans, purple king beans and spring onions. Add them to your potatoes after mashing and cook for another minute or so. I promise you it will be amazing.

I have never been one to shy away from eating greens; my mum may tell you it took me years to warm to zucchini, but it's now a regular in my kitchen. And frozen peas will probably never float my boat, but the tender little ones you grow yourself are another experience altogether! I tend to find that there are many veg that can be added to almost any meal, and growing them myself means that ingredients I wouldn't have bothered to buy are there to add extra flavour and vitamins to most of the things I cook.



Mixed heirloom tomatoes, fresh from the garden

Sometimes they are even the star of the show! I love a good spinach pie and last week made one from silverbeet, leeks, basil and thyme. And the heirloom tomatoes from this summer have made many a colourful salad or cheese and tomato toastie. I had high hopes for tomatoes this year after building them trellises to climb from the old fence pieces we pulled down. And there were plenty to go around, until the heat hit us! I have cut back a few of the bushes and crossed my fingers, but have also sown some more seed a fortnight ago to see if I can extend the season a little. 'Amish paste' was the only variety that didn't skip a beat and is still loaded with fruit. I am banking on it to crop well so that I can try out my Pop's recipe for tomato sauce, I remember it being so tasty when I was young and am hoping I can do it justice.

In any case the cucumber, chilli, silverbeet and eggplant are powering on, and there is more basil than I can poke a stick at. Growing them against the fence has kept them nice and warm, and helped to find a use for the old fence panels.





As well as these beds we have planted out an old bath and a gutted out fridge and filled these with beans, spring onions, chives, chilli and sorrel, with some carrot and radish seeds coming up in one and the perennials asparagus and galangal in the other.



















One regret from this summer is that I haven't managed to grow any pumpkins, but I don't think it's quite too late and will keep my eye out at the nursery for a seedling or 2 to give it a whirl before it gets too cold. I do love a good pumpkin fritatta. Or pumpkin and pesto pasta. There are still armfuls of basil, after all...