Lady Lou Lettuce

Pick me, pick me....

2012-01-10T08:36:00.004+10:00

If there is one way you can put a smile on my dial is to take me to a garden shop and put me next to the fresh herbs. Gosh I love them.

After asking hubby to take me to one of our more favoured garden shops, we arrived only to find out that the herb section was sadly lacking. Mind you, it was the New Year weekend and unfortunately I did not think that supplies could be low due to this fact. Yes, that was the case and I have filed that away in my mind for future reference.

I decided to take my darling daughter to the same place a couple of days later but was smart enough to ring the shop first to check on the availability. Would you believe the lovely lady at the end of the phone line informed me she was in fact standing waiting for the truck to arrive with their first delivery of herbs for the year. I was so excited as I so wanted to grab some fresh herbs and was desperate to re pot the 'old' ones as they were certainly needing newing.

We arrived at the shop to be surrounded by shelves and shelves of beautiful fresh herbs. Quite honestly I could not decide which to purchase as I really wanted to buy one of everything as they all looked so fresh and I am sure they were calling to me to take them and care for them. I did resist however and purchased my much needed mint, rosemary, basil and parsley, paid for them and lovingly took them to the car with glee.

Hubby very kindly potted them for me last weekend and I love going out each morning to say hi to the fresh new additions. They are all looking very happy and my daughter and I look forward to harvesting them in days to come to add to our cooking and enjoy the health benefits of fresh herbs, not to mention the monies saved from growing your own.

Basil.....fly away!

2011-12-29T17:48:00.002+10:00

Whilst recently visiting a lovely Italian girlfriend for morning tea at her home, I noticed on her sliding gauze door a couple of Basil cuttings were placed on the door. On enquiring why the Basil was on the door, my friend informed me that her aunty had often placed the herb on her doors to rid flies.

Whilst sharing a cup of coffee with my girlfriend, she placed the same Basil on the table where she had also placed some yummy morning tea. During the couple of hours I was sharing with her, indeed, the flies did not seem to want to join us at the table. I was amazed and informed her that I would be trying this natural fly deterrent at home.

Yes, 'tis true. I have placed various springs of Basil offcuts around my kitchen and this has indeed warded off those pesky flies. So my friendly readers, feel free to try it.....you'll like it.

Merry Christmas and thank you

2011-12-15T07:48:00.004+10:00

It is the time to be thankful during this Christmas season and so it would be remiss of me not to thank you, my readers, for taking an interest in my banter. My 1000 visitor will occur over the next day or so to this my Lady Lou Lettuce blog and quite frankly I can't comprehend that so many of you from all over the world take an interest in my blog. Regardless I thank you all.

I hope I have put a smile on most faces whilst you read and I look forward to continuing the blog into 2012. Though my gardening prowess has been limited due to my downsizing from a garden to a balcony, I am hoping to diversify in the future and chat about other gardening happenings around my area with the intent always to, each time, put a smile on your face and maybe even create a little giggle too.

To you and yours I wish each a very Merry Christmas and again I thank you all for taking the time to read my words. I look forward to continuing to fill these pages for you into the New Year.

Say it isn't so!

2011-11-28T07:19:00.001+10:00

Well, my friends, after having spent a weekend away in Melbourne, Victoria, I went to say hi to the balcony family and alas..........it is with much sadness I must say that the Coriander has not thrived as I had hoped. Actually, I have an admission...the poor things started looking sad about two weeks ago, interestingly I had just fertilised them but to no avail. Clearly I do not have the magic touch and along with our very hot (already) summer's arrival, I guess I will just have to put this Coriander to it's resting place and continue to purchase it (yuk) from the retail outlets. That is OK.....we can't be good at everything. Having just crossed to surf the net, I have been reading that it is a cooler weather herb and clearly my Queensland balcony heat is just too much for this very delicate herb. Boohoo but I can take it!

However, I can say that about a week ago I cut back the mint as it had started to acquire a powder mould on the leaves, I think I may have been over-watering it (yes, due to the extremely hot weather I was killing it with kindness). After giving it a very good haircut last week as you can see, it has returned to it's former self and I am delighted as there is much lamb chop bbq'ing and eating to come and we must have our home-made lamb sauce to accompany the lovely lamb.

Here is my darling grandmother's mint sauce recipe for those of you who have mint growing at home:

Home-made Mint sauce

A bunch of washed and chopped mint leaves; boiling water; sugar; white vinegar; heat-proof jug.

Place the chopped mint into a pouring jug; sprinkle approx 1-2 tblpsn sugar over the top of the mint; cover with recently boiled water, just enough to cover the top of the mint and allow to cool; add the approx 2 tablespoons of vinegar and stir, remember to taste as you go. You just want it tart enough but not so that you cannot taste the slight sweetness and the beautiful mint. Accompany with a lovely roast leg of lamb, maybe some delicious bbq lamb loin chops or fabulous pan-fried crumbed lamb cutlets! Scrumptious.

I have learnt much during this Coriander learning curve. Mostly, it is clearly a colder climate herb and I just have to accept that. I do know that my friend has success growing hers and I have an idea that she has a lovely cool area in her garden for this scrumptious and precious herb and that is fine.

I will however try growing it again as we reach autumn and hopefully I will have more success with it.

As a consolation...here is a photo of some beautiful roses which my darling hubby purchased for me from a wonderful Brisbane rose farm yesterday, (which we visit on a regular basis, yes I am a little spoilt), as a gift to me to celebrate our wedding anniversary......life is good.....no life is great!

Lucky Lady Beetle

2011-11-13T08:48:00.001+10:00

I just had to share this little creature with you all. I have just walked out to check on the hydration of the pots and there she was, enjoying a relaxing time on the Basil. Apologies for the lack of focus but I have never and will never profess to be an ace photographer....Mother Nature....you've gotta love her!

Coriander light my life.....

2011-11-13T07:00:00.001+10:00

I cannot believe it has been a month since I last put fingers to keys. Oh well. Life has indeed been busy.

As you can see, the Coriander is coming along nicely. However I dare not get too cocky about my achievements as Brisbane's summer has certainly arrived and the heat has graced us well and truly with it's presence. How will these delicate shoots manage through this heat is a question only they could answer.

Whilst at the markets yesterday, where I sell my handmade wares - see below - (Davies Park Markets, Montague Road, West End Sat 6am-midday), my customers were chatting about how they are in agreeance regarding the heat onslaught.

My concerns, therefore, is whether my little lovelies above will survive well or will wilt away due to heat exhaustion. We must await the outcome my friends.

I have included as above, a selection of some of my other herbs in progress, Thyme, Basil, Rosemary (also Parsley, Mint, Oregano not visible here).

Now most of you who have read my blog regularly will know that cooking is one of my great loves and so I would like to share a recipe with you all, as simple as it is, which is a big hit in this household. Due to the abundance of herbs on my balcony, and with a family who loves food, I came across this little beauty recently which was the perfect solution for utilising my lovely home grown herbs and gave it a go and it is a very very welcomed meal in our home. This is a crust for a rack of lamb but I have tweeked it just a little.......

Herb Crust:

Preheat oven to 180c

Ingreds: 1-2 cups breadcrumbs; 1-2 tblspn Dijon mustard; zest of 1 lemon; 3-4 tablspns oil; salt and pepper; chopped herbs of your choosing. Chops of your choosing. Now I use this with lamb loin chops and I always include Mint in the herb selection. When cooking Pork chops which are also ideal with this crust, I will include Thyme in my selection of herbs. Naturally, a rack of lamb would be ideal too.

Method: Mix the breadcrumbs etc together in a bowl. Pan fry the chops on both sides so that they are just browned. Remove the chops from pan and place chops in ovenproof baking dish, lying chops flat. Cover the chops with the herb mix and pat down firmly. Cook in the oven for approx 35-45 mins or until the crust has browned.

I cook up some lovely "in season" vegetables with this in winter or in summer, will accompany this dish with a lovely fresh salad and a boiled potato or two adorned with some lovely sour cream. I assure you am in everyone's 'good books' when I cook this. Enjoy......

Well my friends, until next time, I wait to see how these lovely Coriander shoots go and hopefully will be able to harvest them very soon for use in a lovely Thai dish or salad and will hopefully have another pot or two growing well at the same time.

Don't take life too seriously and remember to laugh often. Sometimes it is hard to do but it is so important.........oh and stay tuned!

Coriander problems solved? Maybe

2011-10-12T09:21:00.001+10:00

Hubby and I recently attended a 60th birthday celebration of one of my darling girlfriend's hubby's (gorgeous Italians) birthday and the room was 99.9% filled with their Italian relatives and friends of the birthday boy. It has been a little while since we were in a room where we didn't know anybody (except the family of the birthday boy) and so it was a real "meet and greet" fest for us. We sat at a table where there ended up being not one Italian but lovely people nonetheless. Whilst we girls chatted about life, one of the birthday boy's co-workers, female, informed me that she was a keen gardener. My ears poked up immediately as I was very interested in learning about her expertise...which ended up being broccoli, lettuce and wait for it.....Coriander. My interest increased ten-fold due to my lack of being a successful Coriander grower so I listened to her intently. This lovely friendly lady informed me that, having had trouble herself growing this gorgeous herb, she was listening to a radio gardening show not too long ago and the learned as the host took calls from many unsuccessful Coriander growers....his conclusion to the problems was that he believed most people planted the seeds too far below the surface soil, he suggested not even 0.5cm, hence just below and to then lightly cover the seeds with soil.

Problems with the herb plant going to seed too early was also a very common problem of the listeners and again the host suggested we plant the seeds in a cycle ie plant one pot and then some 4-6 weeks later plant another lot of seeds in another pot etc etc and hence you will have a never-ending supply before they start to seed.

Naturally I was so excited about this information and I mean so so so excited I could not wait to utilise this information at home. Hence the pot above. The seeds were planted about a week ago and so far so good. Ok, it is very early days but regardless, I am very determined to give these suggestions a go as we do so love Coriander in our meals/salads in this household so I am being very positive about it all. I promise I will let you know about the progress of these gorgeous plants. Very excited!

Hip hip hooray.......herbs are on the way

2011-08-18T09:05:00.070+10:00

Hi everyone and for those 'doubting Thomas' I told you I would be back. The work has been done by my wonderful hubby and the herbs are lovingly potted, fertilised and on their way to our dinner table soon.....we hope. I cannot tell you how much I have missed these gorgeous beings and let me tell you that since they were potted just days ago, each morning one of the first things I do is to go and say hello to them (well if Prince Charles can chat to his plants, so can all of us and I love it.)

As I have said in an earlier blog, we have had an unnaturally cold winter here in Bris Vegas and, (as I sit here with my second head cold and not breathing terribly well but all will be OK) I am a little 'over' wearing the scarves etc. I was sitting watching my Nigella 7 playing soccer a couple of weekends ago whilst chatting to one of the other mums and this mum was telling me how she is 'over' her winter wardrobe and is looking forward to her summer clothes.....I am hearing you babe! Hence, the pots have had a tough time and so I welcomed my hubby consenting to go off herb buying recently.

Here is the start of what we are all hoping will be a fab summer harvest. We have planted the usual, parsley, mint, basil (oh how I love basil), oregano, thyme and rosemary and am so excited. I really am!

We visited my parents over the weekend and on our arrival my darling mum and dad were out in the sun gardening away. Mum has always been a keen gardener and is where my love for flowers and plants clearly comes from. She also has many pots and amongst them has the most incredible Camellia. Mum informs me it is a Commander variety and was a gift from her darling sister. Each and every time I see it I stand in envy but more so joy, it has so many happy buds adorning it and the blooms are out of this world. The answer to this vision of loveliness mum tells me is..........Epsom salts. Her Kumquat pot also has a gorgeous orange and dark green combination of colour, again, the result of Epsom salts. So, whilst chatting, I mentioned my once blooming but now very sad potted lime tree which is clearly not happy and guess what.....you guessed it......Epsom salts was suggested.

So I have given it a feed of Epsom salts and I await the outcome. I can't wait to see how things go as I have harvested numerous limes from the tree over the last two years from this lovely pot and interestingly enough it was my darling aunt (yes the Camellia gift-giver and very keen gardener too) who, along with her lovely water lillies in her pond and amazing Wisteria climbing the pergola at her front door, has the most fabulous lime tree in a pot on her balcony with a regular and plentiful supply of fruit. Being a keen cook and loving Thai cuisine, I decided to purchase one for our deck though since moving to our new abode, I feel the windy balcony seems to be challenging it. However as my darling teenager would say to me "green thoughts mum......stay positive.......green thoughts" so I am heeding Nigella 7's and mum's words, have my fingers crossed and I await whatever surprise may occur within the next months. Oh and how I am looking forward to the rise in temperature with spring just around the corner.

Our very cold Winter and oh how I need to re pot!

2011-07-21T07:33:00.001+10:00

How neglectful I am at the moment to this blog and I do apologise though I do have a good excuse. We have been experiencing an extremely cold winter this year, we even managed to make a high of 12C one day, and in a climate where in Summer we can experience 40C+ temperatures, this winter has been hard-hitting to say the least. Therefore as you can imagine, my darling balcony pots have been hit hard and are desperately in need of some love and re potting. I am pleased to say that my Rosemary and Lavender are hanging in there, as to be expected and the others like Mr Basil and Mrs Mint and Master Parsley are sadly needing to be replaced which I will be doing in the near future. My darling girls are really being inspired by my love of cooking and are really 'into' cooking these days and much to my delight, utilise all the fresh balcony herbs. Even they are starting to complain about the lack of resources on the balcony so I had better get my act together pretty soon. So stay tuned and when hubby and I manage to make our way to the garden shop to restock I will be back boasting to you about my acquisitions.

Having said that, I have been delighted to find, thanks to my bro-in-law, about a fabulous rose farm with even more fabulously reasonable prices here on Brisbane's outskirts and so I frequent there. Hubby is kind enough to purchase 2 doz for me each visit which makes my heart sing having these gorgeous creations adorning my vases in our new abode. Which reminds me, I must go and visit them again as have just thrown out the last batch of roses.

If you are getting bored with me on this blog and that is totally understandable, feel free to join me at my new blog blogtastical banter and enjoy my summations of my life's situations but I do promise I will be back here soon.

My new blog.....Blogtastical Banter

2011-07-11T16:53:00.004+10:00

A collection of short stories to hopefully satisfy (and kick-start) the various friends and relatives requests for me to write a book. As flattering as these comments are I am not dedicated enough to start a book, well not quite yet anyway....so how about some short stories? Enjoy the read....oh and be patient.....they will get better :) http://blogtasticalbanter.blogspot.com/

And of course there was Christmas!

2011-03-09T08:17:00.004+10:00

As well, I have to mention Christmas 2010, our first in the new apartment. How wonderful for us. Although AB was in London for 7 weeks during this time with her lovely friend Vanessa, we managed to have a lovely time regardless. Having disposed of our previous Christmas tree during the move, we obtained one which has optic lights and changes colour periodically, speed adjustable. We also added some lovely optic lights to the spiral staircase. These are now a permanent fixture and are very pretty to sit and watch change colour, whilst sipping on a lovely glass of champas or two! As you can see, Gus enjoyed the view too, minus the champas!

How time has flown

2011-03-09T06:50:00.004+10:00

Gosh, I can't believe it has been June 2010 since being on this blog. What has happened....sold the house, moved into our wonderful apartment on the river......bliss.....started back at the markets selling my lovely handmade greeting cards and oh how the family has grown and what a joy they are. Fob is enjoying school and wowing us with her home economic creations, AB has finished school, started uni and turns 18 tomorrow.....and it is my big year too for turning 50! No I have no hesitation in admitting this fact, I am proud as punch I have managed to hang around this long and my life is truly blessed. Here is the view from our bedroom balcony at the new apartment and you can see why I can't complain about anything. Stay tuned for some more updates.

World cup.....Socceroomania at home and abroad!

2010-06-18T08:56:00.007+10:00

My youngest, my twin as many tell us (due to her hair colouring and facial features, unfortunately not in the area of her very slim body, long legs and athleticism) has become a keen soccer player. Hubby is an ex-referee and we now all show a keen interest in the game of soccer since he entered our life. Fob, however, has blossomed in her sporting prowess over the last two years with her learning and playing the game of which I am so truly proud of her and again basque in her glory. We signed her up at the local club and her coach is a fabulous Irishman who is soccer mad and she has loved the game so much that even wants to train in the rain on occasion.

Let me say, things always were not so content in my world as they are now. The first day of try-outs last year involved us simply turning up with her in her mandatory new socks, homemade elastic garters, shin pads and sparkling new soccer boots. On approaching the field, I noticed that the there seemed a definite lack of female participants, in fact, as I counted a very impressive 41 head count, only 1 of those heads belonged to another young lady.....what have I done? My darling will be laughed at by these boys and she will hate me for the rest of my life for signing her up and not researching what clearly was my parental duty......I am a failure!!!!?????

You see, muggins here presumed that there would naturally be a female and male team for this age group.....clearly I was a novice soccer mum. No one told me at sign up day that this would not be so however nor did I ask any questions as I presumed that one sex teams would exist.....apparently not necessary for junior soccer. No, in fact my little darling would end up in a team consisting of 2 females and the rest males and she hasn't looked back. I asked her on that day that if she felt uncomfortable playing in a team of boys I would understand completely and like her truly fabulous "take it as it comes" attitude she has, Fob informed me and quite adamantaly that she had no intention of not playing and whether the other girl would be a definite in her team or not would not affect her participation. Luckly the other young lady was placed in Fobs team and let me say that the young men in the team are more than respectful toward the girls and I am so impressed with these kids not to mention that potential dance and formal partners she now knows!!!! Okay, I digress....... Also, this other young lady who had been playing soccer for a few years ended up receiving the "best player" award for the team at the end of the season and was she an amazing player.......go girls!!!!

Unfortunately that young lady moved overseas after the season finished last year but we have been blessed with another girl with a number of years experience who has come into the team and dare I say, she is the most outstanding player in the team according to the coach and parents......again only two girls on the team but clearly GIRLS RULE!!! Fob herself has come leaps and bounds and the sequel "Bend It Like Beckham II" could be just around the corner featuring guess who?????

Don't you just love it.......

2010-06-18T08:45:00.003+10:00

My eldest is in the process of completing her final year at school and I must say is doing me but more importantly herself proud! The pressure placed on these young people never ceases to amaze me. She has been informed by her elders at school what she can expect for her OP score (for those not "in the know" OP stands for overall position...in my day it was called TE score which from memory stood for tertiary entrance.....) however I have digressed....she is truly doing me proud.

I was recently watching a show with my girls on Foxtel featuring very young children mainly girls, being entered into beauty pageants. The three of us came to the conclusion that these little beauties were simply fulfilling their parent's dreams (mainly mum we decided) of wanting to be recognised as youngsters themselves but such a dream was not achieved, hence their children are fulfilling their dreams. I have since come to the conclusion that in a not-so-obvious way, my daughter is fulfilling the same in me. Yes, indeed she is gorgeous as is her younger sister, so I don't need to do the beauty pageant torture thing....she is simply displaying the hard work and determination that her mother should have displayed at the same age. I guess it came down to laziness on my part and when I see the determination in her I can do nothing but be in awe of her achievements. Proud, absolutely but more importantly I have an incredible respect for her determination and achievements.....don't you just love it. Sure do!

To market to market.....

2010-06-18T08:26:00.005+10:00

Hubby and I are now frequenting each Saturday am the Davies Park market at South Brisbane. I think this market is fabulous and seems to carry a wider range of produce than the other farmer's markets we have been part of. Prices do vary and so it is very important to peruse the stalls for the best prices. Cauliflowers varied from $1 to $3.80 so that gives you an idea. Currently in the supermarkets they are around the $3.80 mark so you really do need to make sure you are getting a bargain. We buy our tomatoes from a little stall and they are truly delicious. $10 per kg is very pricey I know however, these last for over two weeks and more importantly are so incredibly sweet that they are my "splurge" each week. However as winter approaches our salad consumption is lower however these toms in the baking dish with the potatoes, pumpkin etc are just delicious and make quite a difference. Here is how easy it is....

HERB ROAST VEGES USING EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING!!

Ingredients:

Peeled and chopped roasting potatoes, the same with the pumpkin (I love Kent but Jap is good too), green beans, onion, garlic (if liked), cherry toms washed and sliced in half (however we are not going to place the toms in the dish until the last 10 mins of roasting time), basil or rosemary (put in with tomatoes in the last 10 mins as herbs tends to cook very quickly and can burn), salt and pepper.

Method:

Heat oven to 180 celsius and place the roasting pan in with enough vegetable oil to cover the base of the dish (oh not olive oil as it's heat tolerance is too low for roasting and tends to smoke/burn apart form it being far too expensive to use in this manner). Once hot, place veges in excluding the tomatoes, beans and herbs and coat them with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in oven for approx 40 mins or until just cooked. Just prior to serving, place tomatoes, herbs and beans in and cook for no more than 10 mins. Serve.

Where or where have you been

2010-06-18T08:17:00.004+10:00

Well I am embarrased to say my friends that I have been absent for way too long....why? I went off and sought work in an office. This has take up so much time but I am back now and wanting to add another blog. The garden is still in existence and that lime bush I am presently harvesting and the limes are so delicious. Stand by for the new blog.....

GOVERNMENTAL MEGLAMANIACAL BEHAVIOUR

2009-07-03T11:27:00.002+10:00

Here is an interesting fact my fellow consumers:- I received an email today from Choice magazine online informing me that the Rudd government who promised us a consumer website as a pre-election promise....I remember it well......has disallowed this website from happening. The website was to allow us, the consumer, to view local grocery retailers and to allow us to pick and choose where we wished to shop at for the best prices ie name and shame the retailers who are charging ridiculous ever-increasing prices eg Coles, Woolworths etc. Appparently, the minister for Consumer Affairs, Craig Emerson has put a stop to this website only a few days prior to it being launched. According to information read on the Liberal party's website, Coles and Woolworths etc refused to partake in the website.....I wonder why?

If ever there was an admission of guilt by the big boy retailers this is it. I say expose them, get them onto A Current Affair and let Tracey Grimshaw name and shame them and get that website up and running......these are government employees and big business saying no to this website!

If only there were enough farmer's markets to wipe these big maglamanical companies out.

To Be Sure, To Be Sure

2009-06-10T15:04:00.003+10:00

Potato talk....I have heard it on good authority that the potatoes are growing well. My partner-in-crime, KW, has informed me that he had to put some more mix on the potatoes due to their stalk growth and are therefore currently multiplying (we hope) in the hessian bag....well done sir!

Forgive me......very busy having fun!

2009-06-04T15:08:00.003+10:00

Oh dear, I cannot believe that it has been nearly a month since I added to this blog. What has been going on.....well there are peas, beans, pumpkins, dill, no not me, the actual herb, not to mention the 23 tomato plants, yes that's right, 23 which are now flowering and looking fabulous. I would have to say the beans and sugar peas have had me very excited. The pansys too have been planted and as you can see they are looking just gorgeous, welcoming our cooler winter days.

The cooking has not been neglected I can assure you. As I am currently harvesting up to 20 cherry toms per day, I have had a glut of them so I have created my tomato, haloumi cheese, pesto and basil tart which I will share with you on the food blog. The family absolutely love it and it is so easy to make.

I am delighted to find out that I have some regulars who vist the blog and have, after seeing my creations here, have extended their gardens too. My mother told me that the greatest form of flattery is being copied so I am flattered. So keep the good work going and I hope you get as much joy out of your planting as I do. Not to mention the fact that my hubby and Fob love going out in the mornings and harvesting our tomato crop. The family eat the tomatoes like grapes, straight out of the bowl on the bench in the kitchen and they taste so sweet. Bliss.......

Thus far.....

2009-05-07T08:07:00.003+10:00

I thought I should show the progress of the pots so far. I am so thrilled to think that majority have survivied and I am harvesting around 8 tomatoes per day now which makes my heart sing. Fob eats them like grapes so that makes me even happier.

Not to mention what is about to grow re the beetroot, potatoes and pumkins....we hope anyway.

Compost city!!!!

2009-05-05T07:32:00.003+10:00

It has happened......we have used the first lot of compost which we have been nurturing for the last couple of months. KW has used it to prepare the soil for our beetroot/pumpkin sowing. I am just a little excited as you can see. Hence, I have commenced compost bin number 2. The wonderful thing too about all of this is that I made three yes three lots of soup over the weekend to freeze (pumpkin, chicken and vegetable) in preparation for those cold winter nights and to feed a hungry family so the amount of compost collected from using all of the veges scraps was fabulous.

Lime-a-licious

2009-05-05T07:22:00.004+10:00

It has to be said that since Thai recipes/restaurants have come to fruition in the recent years I have developed a love for the wonderful lime. The expense of the fruit has led me to acquiring our own tree-ette. This gorgeous plant is doing extremely well and I hope that in the next months it will produce the wonderful fruit I am so looking forward to.

My darling aunt whom I recently visited during the Easter hols has a magnificent lime tree growing in a terracotta pot on her patio, eastern facing. It had some lovely fruit on it and hence I thought I would give it a try too. I have read that March and August are the fertilising times and so I have invested in citrus fertiliser so stand by.....photos of fruit may happen!! Please check out the wonderful Vietnamese/Thai salad dressing using limes on my Food for Friends blog....it is truly delicious.

Beetroot, garlic, potatoes and eshallots around the corner

2009-04-29T07:07:00.006+10:00

We have finally managed to organise the hesian bags which the potatoes are nesting in. We await with anticipation their progress. I have planted from seed some beetroot which have sprouted and are the most amazing colours. Their deep-red coloured stems and lovely greener-than-green leaves are truly a sight to behold - I think anyway.....Mother Nature is amazing.

The beetroots are accompanied in the pots by my garlic. I have planted 3 so far and they have all sprouted. You simply use a bought garlic and separate the cloves then plant root down and voila....it has worked....I am so impressed.

Another piece of amazing information I read is that eshallots can be grown from the off-cuts from bought eshallots. Make sure that the root system is fresh ie not brown and withered and cut about a couple of cms from the root system and plant roots down in the ground of course, water and voila....they are growing too. Apparently you can harvest them by just cutting the eshallot above the root system and it should shoot and grow again.....I am about to find out how true this is so stand by...a couple of weeks to go yet though. Enjoy your day.....off to work now.

Easter time together

2009-04-28T14:35:00.008+10:00

Easter is a time for reflection and family and that was certainly what I have been attending to this Easter. You can see the two fisher people I accompanied to Manly over the Easter break. It was truly lovely watching the boats, water, birds and people enjoying time together. As well, Fob became a common sight in the kitchen as she cooked up a storm with her wonderful hot cross buns and gingerbread men. Her creations were absolutely delicious and the recipes will be posted on the Food for Friends blog which acompanies this blog.

Fob caught her first fish this Easter which was truly exciting. It was too small to keep so it was carefully and lovingly returned to it's home in the water. KW was the successful person to catch our first fish last year, Flounder, which I filleted and cooked on our return home that day, gosh what an exciting day that was!!! I have been successful in catching numerous undersized crabs and ditto for an undersized fish. We are, however, getting better at this sport and no doubt we will reap the rewards soon. It is just lovely spending time with the family, though we do miss AB's company but I totally understand fishing is not for everyone. Relaxing by the water and waiting with anticipation at what the day may bring is truly enjoyable ........

AND THEN THERE THEY WERE

2009-04-28T14:13:00.007+10:00

Long time no see but I have a great excuse...I have been really busy with my other work....the one that I earn money from. However, the garden has been attended to twice daily since we last communicated and I am delighted to say that the tomatoes are being harvested and the sugar peas have also produced 1 pod which you can see for yourself.

We have also been doing a lot of cooking eg Banoffi pie, homemade pizza, Fob loves to make the dough and the pizzas are a real hit. Fob also made Hot Cross buns over Easter so I will put that recipe on my recipe blog with some fab photos too!

Possums vs Wolverine (You gotta love Hugh Jackman)

2009-04-08T09:06:00.006+10:00

Well I have taken on the human vs possum problem, humanely of course, and hope that my Lapsong tea spray and diluted Tabasco sauce spray will do the job.

According to my googling, possums do not like to eat hot things and an organic website suggested the Tabasco which I mentioned previously. I have also had my wonderful husband construct a cage for my lovely climbing beans as you can see in the photo. Of course, this is all very well but just how I keep them from consuming my vine as it grows on the fence will be my other problem hence the sprays. Oh and I have also invested in a bird net, 10 m X 4 m, (do you think that will be enough??? Yes!!!)

I am trying very hard to live harmoniously with the possum community but I do feel that as they don't understand English nor know how proud I am of my veges this is the only thing I feel I can do. I did initially invest in 8 m of cheap curtain netting which you can see and it has worked well.

Keep your fingers crossed as I really want to be able to boast to family and friends that the beans are doing well and I also want to have such a wonderful supply that I get to freeze them too! Gosh I am so excited. Can you tell?

Recycling..... you gotta love it

2009-04-06T10:44:00.006+10:00

Apologies for not divulging this about a week ago when I told you I would.

These recycled planting cells are something I came across, one again, whilst googling whilst looking for cheap peat pots. These amazing cells are simply made out of newspaper. Find a small, fairly solid circular container to use, I use a vitamin bottle. Cut out strips approx 9 cm x 25 cm from your newspaper. Take the piece of paper and firmly wrap it around the bottle alowing some of the paper to overlap the base of the bottle area. Gently remove the cylindrical "construction" and fold the end in, just one, much like wrapping the end of a birthday parcel or fish n chips parcel so that the base is flat and secure and won't unravel. (I make up a heap and put them aside for use later). Fill them as you would with your seed raising mix, plant your seed and voila, there you have it. Place them onto a drainage cell tray and like peat pots, they will dissintergrate in the ground/pots once planted. Fantastico!!!

Peter Cundle and 60 Minutes....thank you

2009-04-06T10:22:00.011+10:00

You see I knew I was onto something when I started this blog.....for those of you who missed 60 Minutes last night and the wonderful Peter Cundle.....shame on you. Peter and Liz Hayes were prompting us all to grow your own vegetables due to, as I told you all previously, the poor quality of produce our shops are offering us.

Peter, you make my heart sing. I thank you for your amazing enthusiasm, for sharing your incredible knowledge with us and for your all round good guy attitude especially regarding your gardening prowess....the world is a better place having you in it. Come on Australia...get planting!!

For those who missed the program or you would like to see it again....click on the below link, sit back and breath it in......

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-AU&brand=ninemsn&vid=032d7830-6331-4216-b7e6-ab12f91e8948

Possum Magic(ally stop eating my plants please)

2009-04-01T12:09:00.008+10:00

Anyone recognise this critter? Well if found by the authorities and taken in for questioning, should he be found with evidence of two sunflower seedlings and a leaf from a climbing bean plant somewhere on it's being, he is mine! Maybe some community work would be good punishment if found guilty (as in replanting my plants?) No, I am not going to harm him so don't stress....he is protected after all.

Yes, it has happened again, the sunflower seedlings Fob only planted yesterday were again demolished last night, even with a wire cage around them and so too was a leaf from my fabulous climbing bean plant. Luckily she has planted more seeds so we will be able to replant them.

Steps have been taken this morning to sort things out. After googling the "help wanted" section for possum problems, I have found a plethora of "give it a go" answers. Here are just a few:- 30ml of Tabasco sauce to 100 ml of water, spray on affected plants; ceyenne pepper spray; mothballs hanging off plants; a dynamic lifter seaweed conentrate-soaked sponge hanging off plants; nets over plants; leave lights on over garden; some sort of reflective "cat face" ornament you can put near plants and honestly the list goes on and on.

I am therefore utilising x2 of the suggestions ie the Tabasco spray (which of course means that I have to wash it off anything I spray it on which I wish to consume) and the netting which I will put over the plants overnight. You see they don't like hot stuff like chilli so here we go!

Here is the evidence of the leafless stalk of the climbing bean. Mr Possum only ate 1 leaf out of 3 and so for that sir, I am eternally grateful.

Lou's Lettuce

2009-03-31T14:00:00.019+10:00

Stop everything. I must let you know that nothing tastes sweeter/nicer than home grown lettuce. Lettuce is very easy to grow and even easier if you do it our way. Buy yourself a 30L or smaller back of potting mix. Lye it flat in the position you want to keep it, where it will get sunshine. Cut 6 holes in the top of the plastic, evenly spaced and plant your seedlings in here. Water each morning and fertiliser with a high nitrogen fertiliser weekly. You will not regret it.

We use a lot of lettuce in our summer meals, I tend to cut quite a number of leaves off and they will last in the fridge for more than 2 weeks.....honestly. Try and get a shop-bought lettuce to last this long....good luck. I wash them well and then spin them in my lettuce spinner, empty the excess water once spun and keep in fridge with the lid on....it will last so well.

Oops don't forget the children

2009-03-30T07:52:00.004+10:00

Joy of joys, I am in fact the plant mother of three climbing beans not two as previously mentioned. How did I forget such an important fact? I think it is called too much going on....Does this make me a bad mother....no, I forgive me. I can report that all three are thriving.

Oh and something else, I had to prune about 30cm of one of the three cherry tomato plants yesterday due to it being top-heavy and bending. The extra sad part is that it had some lovely flowers on it so I have lost some potential food. Let this be a lesson to you all. You see I hadn't tied the branch to the support stake early enough.....the up side to this is that it is now in the compost bin and will be contributing to it's brothers/sisters welfare in the coming months. By the way, this is not a photo of the now-missing branch...these little beauties are doing well and thriving.

Organically speaking....

2009-03-29T11:28:00.001+10:00

Just where to start with the organic world of gardening is quite frankly beyond me. I find it all truly fascinating. I do honestly believe that the organic gardening/foods are certainly best due to the absence of chemicals. A couple of things I question about it all though are these, why is organic food so expensive especially with the absence of expensive chemicals and the use of more easily obtainable "mother earth" produced resources should surely keep the costs low? Researching this conundrum has revealed that a. a low yield and b. manual weeding causes the increased prices......I am still not convinced though I still believe it is the way to go.

Googling, watching TV and reading has revealed some amazing information about organic gardening: companion planting (which I do), homemade pesticides using chilli, soap, tea and the list goes on, homemade fertilisers using tea composts, chicken manure etc (I read about using bat manure recently.....can someone tell me how and where this can be collected?....no don't because I don't want to know and I can't see myself using it .....), composting (I love it, stockpiling that is not eating it...thought I would clear that up) and so much more. We can't claim that my gardening techniques are 100% organic as yet though we are giving it our best shot I promise!

SEEDING IS BELIEVING

2009-03-29T09:32:00.001+10:00

Here is why I am so excited about my gardening journey. These are my climbing beans. The photo on the left is 2 days ago and take a look at what I woke up to this morning, the photo below. Incredible growth rate!!!

Oh and remember what I said about the highs and lows of gardening..... grab a tissue......after Fob "graced us with her presence" this morning I had to regrettably inform her that her newly planted sunflower - grown from seed, all her own work - had been trodden on by our local possum community overnight and hence it had been "broken" in half.... it is now in the compost bin. Yes she was disappointed though she promptly set about planting some more seeds in our peat pots so hopefully all will be OK. Children....so forgiving.

We had some lovely rain yesterday and I thought that this was a great time to let you see a way of storing water. We don't have a tank. We do however have an ingenious device known as a downpipe diverter (my name given to it, not the manufacturers). I have a hose attached to it permanently to guide the water into our pool. I also have, as you can see, a bin which I use to collect rainwater and use on my pots. I think this is great and makes it makes me feel so ec0-friendly when I use it. Gotta love that I think.

Getting started

2009-03-27T14:46:00.001+10:00

The fundamentals for gardening for me are not the soil, plants, compost etc the fundamental thing for me is to have a mindset to simply enjoy the journey.....there are going to be great days and not so great days in the garden and believe me none of us are immune to them. Being mentally prepared for this fact gets you half-way there. I cannot even begin to explain how much of the postives and negatives or gardening I have learnt from books, garden centres, googling, tv shows etc and I hope that I will never stop learning. However from where I stand 99% is positive so go for it!

The basic requirements for my type of gardening are pots of varying sizes and colour, depending on what you intend planting, your tastes and whether you have balcony space only or a a larger patio/garden to put them in.

Secondly, some good potting mix and seed raising mix if you are going to start from seeds. When purchasing seeds or seedlings from a reputable garden shop only buy what you will eat. If you are going to grow from seed then some seed cells will be required and some seed trays to keep these steady on and will also allow good drainage. You can now buy over the internet or at your local hardware store peat pots which you can plant directly into and then simply plant the pot into the ground/soil when you are happy with the size of the plant. The peat pot then disintergrates into the ground in time. These are a fabulous idea as it reduces the need for plastic cells and transplanting.

There has been a discovery, however, of something even better than in my opinion peat pots and hence having to buy and use plastic seed cells/peat pots and it is recycling old paper/newspaper and again you can plant the developed seeding straight into the ground without disturbing the roots which happens when transplanting from plastic seed cells. This clever invention (not by me of course)...... truly makes my heart sing......I will show you how to make these later.

Just remember it is madness buying everything you can get your hands on to grow if you don't like eating them. A TIP when buying seeds please read the back of the packet to check the preferred seed sowing times of the year for your area. The experts have put this info on the packet for us to read and take note of, not everything grows all year round (though lots of wonderful things do). Fertiliser whether it be homemade or commercial liquid fertilisers or manure or one of the many available on many organic websites (I say organic websites because I tend to read so much about things that are better for us and the environment but this is only a personal preference) is very important especially for potted plants as they don't have the ground to draw nutrients from and hence will require nutrients to be fed to them via regular fertilising. Oh and a decent water supply will be good too have and if you have any spare please send some to us here in sunny Queensland! Last but oh so importantly you will need MR SUNSHINE.

COMPOST: Now by no means do I profess to be an expert in the compost department though I have commenced my compost bin (60L) and my darling Fob and I nurture it every day with scraps and grass cuttings. It is only 3 weeks old and from my research I need it to be around 6 weeks old before I can utilise it but nevertheless it is very exciting.

The base of my compost is grass cuttings as these are rich in nitrogen which is important for leaf production (I know....don't I sound impressive...I learnt that online!!!) On top of that I throw waste products eg potato peelings, overripe fruit, onion peelings etc etc however NO DAIRY PRODUCTS, NO MEAT AND NO WEEDS so the professionals write....again learnt online. These experts also say that you need an amount of air (space) in the bin for the process to succeed. So all I do is have a layer of grass then scraps then grass then scraps, I don't add any water because the goodies seem to make enough liquid during the process. The photo on the left is my compost collecting bin situated at my sink with the clear information for the family of the does and don'ts. My darling Fob added the NO EGGS SHELLS comment on the bottom. Some people will say egg shells are fine in compost, I however have decided to decline their involvement :)

Now just remember that I am no expert and I am a true student in the field of gardening but I cannot tell you how good I feel saving our scraps and utilising them in this manner....so here is a downward view of my compost about a week ago. Crikey that looks exciting I can hear you say.....Maybe not for you but certainly for Fob and I.

Getting a little excited

2009-03-27T10:24:00.001+10:00

I went out to say hi to my pots this morning and there in front of my eyes were the sugar pea plants, above, having grown at least a cm overnight! I am a happy girl. The Marigolds have sprouted from seed and I managed to plant the lettuce seedlings (yes grown from seed...yes I am clever) Nasturtiams, companion plants and some eshallots. This is a photo of the eschallots on the left (growing in the seed raising mix from seed) taken about a week or so ago...only very small but I am willing to wait!! Don't worry, I will show you the other plants too as they progress.

RECIPE rotunda

2009-03-26T14:00:00.000+10:00

I would like to share some tried and tested recipes on my Food for Friends blog so join me there. The recipes are both borrowed and self-created and I really want to share them as I know how frustrating and sometimes stressful having to find interesting daily meals/snacks/desserts for the family and your friends when entertaining can sometimes be. Below is a taste of what you will find at my food blog. My girls, hubby and friends just love these......oh and me too.....They are really quick and easy to create..

Chocolate Croissants - so easy!
Oven temp about 180C

Ingredients: Puff pastry, cooking chocolate (either a bar broken up or choc chips), egg wash or water and a little caster sugar for sprinkling.

Method: Defrost pastry. My pastry comes in square sheets approx 30 cm sq with a plastic backing. With your pastry lying flat and with a sharp knife, make a knife cut down the centre of a sheet then turn it around and again make a knife cut down the middle. You now have 4 squares. Now cut each square diagonally so that you have two triangles, repeat with the remaining 3 squares ie 8 triangles.

Gently pick a triangle up and place it, on a lightly floured bench if it makes life easier, so that the longest side faces away from you and the tip faces you. Place a square of chocolate or say 6 choc bits near the centre and roll the tip over away from you so that the chocolate is now rolled up in the pastry and you have a long thin tube-like piece of pastry. Place this one gently, preferably on baking paper on a cooking tray, turning the ends up so that they resemble horns or a smile. Repeat the process until all triangles are filled.

Gently "wash" each of the croissants with a little egg wash or water and sprinkle caster sugar over each one. Bake in oven for approx 15 minutes but do keep an eye on them as some ovens vary. Serve as afternoon tea to the children, use as a delicious dessert accompanied with fresh berries and cream/ice cream or just sit down, make yourself a cuppa and enjoy one while you sit back and relax.

For more recipes please visit my blog titled Lady Lou's Food for Friends

Potty people rule

2009-03-26T12:16:00.000+10:00

As I mentioned on day one of this blog, my garden is all in pots ie my vegetable garden. After much research Ken and I discovered that many veg and fruit can be grown in pots and that is what we use. Sure, I hear you say, having to purchase lots of pots is a pain and also having to find somewhere to put them all.....fear not......for it is truly amazing just how easy it is to find space (and even better for those who live in units etc) and also you can move them around as opposed to garden beds....you see.....there is method in my madness.

So far we have planted mint, chives, sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, coriander, parsley, basil, tomatoes (three varieties), lettuce (two varieties), eshallots, brussel sprouts, sugar peas, climbing beans and I nearly forgot my darling daughter's sunflower's have sprouted (planted by the gorgeous lady herself). We also have passionfruit however these seem to love our clay soil so they are happily growing and we now have an abundancy of gorgeous fruit which I impatiently await for them to ripen to their lovely purple colour so that I can pick them and consume!!!

I will reveal some secrets in my potty garden set up as this blog progresses such as homemade sowing cells etc. I cannot tell you how much I just love googling and discovering things I never thought I would know....and now know.....bliss!!

Updates - to be or not to be....that is the question!

2009-03-26T11:06:00.000+10:00

My aim is to mainly keep you informed of my gardening prowess (and I use that word very loosely I promise) as I progress from first-time vegetable gardener to maybe even appearing on ABC TV gardening show, Better Homes and Gardens TV, okay I am jumping ahead here just a tad but you get my drift.....I love growing my own and I would like the world to catch my "disease" and join in.....there can't be anything better than eating your own......vegetables that is!

You will see my progress as I post my photos of my "Kew Gardens" and of course welcome any words of wisdom from those of you who are more experienced. I will also share other things too just to diversify the subjects a bit......no not my life's history....what a bore. So standby and hopefully look forward to my progress as Lady Lou Lettuce tries her hand at DIY vegetables etc for the first time......

Time to start!!!!!

2009-03-26T10:39:00.000+10:00

Hi all and welcome

My name is Louise and this is my attempt at getting to know the world or at least a segment of this wonderful world. I am a nursing sister who is now self-employed and working from home.

My life has been 47 years long thus far and full of many and varied experiences, not all of which I will share with you however and you should be glad about that too! These experiences both good and not so are what has made me the gal I am today....fun, positive, talkative, creative and loving and talkative.

My first loves are my hubby, children and dog, all of whom have helped create the me of today. My other loves are gardening, cooking, crafting, talking, soapmaking, talking, reading and more but you don't want me to go on forever and nor do I.....only kidding.....

Gardening is certainly my main love dominating any spare time I have at the moment and it is a new hobby of mine due to my personal "crack-down" on the wasting of bought fruit n veg in my household due to food "going off" too quickly, especially in our summer heat. The media has helped me deduce that this "quick death of fruit and veg" is due to excess storage of fresh fruit and veg in supermarket fridges only to have them wilt very quickly due to length of time in storage and temperature changes. I have wasted so much over the years and clearly as I grow older and possibly wiser, okay definitely wiser, I have decided to now growing my own!!!!! What a learning curve it is too and one I am really grasping with both hands and running with it with a huge smile on my face.

Due to the dominance of clay soil in our grounds and having made a number of sad attempts to grow tomatoes etc in my clay, my hubby and I have deduced after much reasearch that we can in fact produce a lot of vegetables in pots and so this is our adventure.....we are now totally potty!!! So join me in my diarising for you the progress we make as we walk down this potty path. I promise I will include photos to stop the boredom setting in and I have created a recipe blog too as I really love to cook and I would like to share some great recipes with you, many utilising what has come out of the garden. So sit back, relax and enjoy the journey with us........