Higher Duties

Last weekend the Hairiest Sweetie and I were called to higher duties and went with the two younger Sweeties plus another two young Sweeties, belonging to other families, on a camping expedition. We all had a ball. As one of the new Sweeties had never been camping before, he was excited to say the least. The Hairiest Sweetie and I slept very well when we finally arrived home. Where did all OUR energy go?

I promised BK this recipe - it's for savoury impossible quiche and a family favourite that's great hot or cold. I normally double the recipe and keep one for school lunches.

1/3 cup plain flour

1 1/2 cups milk

3 eggs

2 rashers bacon, chopped

3 green onions (shallots),chopped

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

130g can corn kernels, drained & rinsed (I use frozen corn-works well)

2 tabs of chopped fresh parsley (I've run out of parsley-works well without)

Oil shallow 23cm round flan dish (I use a square one as well-works well). Whisk flour and milk in medium bowl until smooth; whisk in eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients; pour mixture into prepped dish. If I'm making two quiches, I spoon the solids kind of equally between dishes and then pour over liquid. Bake in a moderately slow oven (160 C/325 F) for about 1 hour or until set. Can't freeze or microwave this one.

BK also asked for a recipe for muffins. A great one to play around with and they freeze really well and are a great lunch box addition

One of our pumpkins grown hydroponically, it weighed over two kgs.

Over 10l of tomatoes

Only 1 rockmelon.

With regard to the curcubits - next time I set up the hydroponic system, I'll put the curcubits on the corners as I think there was a problem with cross pollination. The cucumbers were all right, however there wasn't too much of anything else and I think the bees were getting confused.

This weekend the Sweeties are ill and all horizontal and have been for a while and I'm the last (wo)man standing. They'll all probably get better when I get it and go of to work/school and leave me to groan alone. Between you, me and the gate post there has been A LOT of groaning. Maybe a tad too excessive, but hey, they are Sweeties.

A picture of the Sweeties when they were feeling better. And standing up. And smiling.

Bargello Project

Blogless Kathy and I met at one of the golden arches places to exchange strips for Bonnie's Bargello. This was BK's box. I threw in some light reading.

This is my box. Lovely box too. I get to keep it - it will be great to store the project in.We sat at M............. and fondled our fabric whilst drinking coffee. I remarked to Kathy that I really felt like starting sewing right there and then. A glazed look came over her face.

Things are growing in the garden - this is the same view towards the carport that I have taken all along, except you can't see it now(the carport).
I love this geranium/pelagonium althoiugh it is darker in real life.

This is the disappearing nine patch

Trimmed to 9" and cut into quarters.

Then placed with other quarters for this effect.

Happy New Year

Just to wish you all a Safe and Happy New Year, I'll share my easy to make Rhubarb Champagne recipe with you. This recipe is so easy to make you'll all probably think that it can't be so, yet it tastes delicious and is just the thing for the end of a hot day. It is alcoholic, so do the right thing and don't drink and drive, although I have seen it as declared a refreshing drink for children. Hmmm, probably refreshing for the children's parents as the children lie around asleep. We are extremely pleased as we grew this rhubarb in our hydroponic system.

Rhubarb Champagne

3.5 cups (1kg) chopped rhubarb

1 lemon, sliced

3.5 cups sugar

150ml vinegar

5l water

Mix in a bucket, cover with a cloth to keep the ferment flies and dust out, and stand for 48 hours. Strain and bottle in sterilised cool drink bottles. It makes about 5l. A note about the bottles, they will expand greatly. Do not keep for too long as it gets very gassy. Start drinking it after about a week and before about 6 weeks. It does get bitter after a length of time. It is a short lived, easily to consume drink. Chill well before opening and either open outside or over the sink just in case it spurts.

I used to make this is glass bottles and it was too dangerous with them exploding at the drop of a leaf.

Tomorrow I have to find my Elderflower Champagne recipe so I'll share that one with you as well. That is what we had at our wedding for our drink, very nice and refreshing too.

Faye Arcaro - Gardening Australia's Gardener of the Year 2007

The day started pretty quiet here on Saturday, I lay in bed and read until 9AM and then my Dad 'phoned and, really just as an aside, mentioned that there was an Open Garden, featuring Faye Arcaro's garden 'Botanic Obsession'with an aquaponic setup as part of it, and it was only open one day. Faye Arcaro is the winner of Gardening Australia's Gardener of the the Year for 2007. So after much thrashing around on the Internet and 'phoning Dad again to confirm that he wasn't mistaken, I found the information, assembled all the troops and got them in the car at 1pm so we would be in Jandakot for 2.30pm ish. Great garden and the aquaponics were inspiring. I liked all the corners that there were for sitting and hidden walkways through mini jungles. I have never been to an open garden before and it was odd to walk through another's garden that I didn't know. I felt very odd and very honoured that Faye was generous enough to open her garden to public. This is her website where there is information re domestic aquaponic setups - http://www.aquaponica.com.au/

These photos don't do Faye's garden justice. The soil is predominantly the black gutless sand that seems so prevelant in WA. One of its features is its water repellant nature and if it is anything like my soil, acidic as well.

What all the best dressed girls are wearing in the garden.

I ALWAYS forget just how big pumpkin vines grow. This one is a baby.

The very lovely, very showy West Australian Christmas Tree.

One of the nesting boxes.

Just more of the interesting spaces at Faye's.

Can you see the yabbi?

I am very interested in aquaponics - this is the reason why I am doing hydroponics as I have to start somewhere - the idea of integrating various systems ie vegetables/plants with fish/poultry/crustaceans/worms for a better outcome, appeals greatly. These systems are made up of many elements and the more elements that can contribute to a system the more chance of a better outcome and success. In fact it is an attempt to mirror nature.

Here are some more links to Australian Aquaponic sites

Backyard Aquaponics

Practical Aquaponics For Everyone

Integrated Backyard Food Production

Slight Hiccup

Well you know when I said that I had 26 quilt tops to quilt, well I miss counted and there were 28. Aaaagh. I have put it down to having the 'flu and able to only do one thing. That is breathe. So after that slight oversight, I think that there are 14 now. This week has been somewhat slower and I have done some cleaning and baked some cakes.





The first photo is of a quilt that was what I call 'overfriendly', it waved everywhere. It is so important to measure the quilt before sewing any sashings or borders and then cut them to fit. Measure, measure measure.





I cut and pressed three bindings for a friend's quilts. They were 8, 10 and 12m respectively. I really do love making bindings.



I using Deb Geissler patterns on all my friend's quilts. Very lovely patterns, however the rows take over an hour to quilt. Subsequently the donga has been tidied and I have moved my bicycle and wind trainer down there so at least I get a bit of exercise. This pattern is of motorbikes.

Last Thursday we went on an excursion to a place that grows and supplies plants for nurseries and large hardware conglomerates here in West Australia. A real eye opener. Masses of poinsettias ready for the Christmas markets and the chrysanthemums on their way for the Mother's Day Market in May. All these are grown hydroponically in their pots and then sold to the retail markets. Later that day we were at the large hardware shop, that in this family we call the 'hammer shop', and there were some of the grower's plants. Amazing. I know that I used to think of plants as kind of all soft and feel good, however it is a huge, HUGE industry that aims for certain markets, just like the supplying of spring lambs, and goes for massive production just like a crop of canola, wheat, etc. Hhhmmmmm. Very interesting.

Hydroponic Strawberry Update

The 'before' picture.

The 'now' picture and we are eating lettuce with every meal. The Hairiest Sweetie mumbles something about 'not being a %^&* rabbit'. I just smile vacantly and serve him dinner.

We have moved them from their original location to a newer better spot and all automated with their own pump as opposed to the gravity feed that I used to have to do as many times a day as had the energy for. There are tiny little strawberries. Today I'm planting tomatoes, pumpkins (or punkins if you're my friend Robyn), capsicums, cucumbers, rockmelons, watermelons, basil, mizuna, rocket, spinach. That'll do me.

When I started I was going to use as many growing mediums as I could find, however the coir blocks have many difficulties soooooo I have bisbanded with that idea and decided to use a perlite/vermiculite mix to replace the the coir in the final two dutch leach trays.

Stop Looking - I Found It

I have included some more pictures that are rather pretty.

Well after all the panic yesterday, re the quilt backings, I calmed down enough to take the washing in and there they were neatly folded and placed on the wire fence behind the washing line. As I said my last memory was of folding them up. I was pretty happy with myself after that although I was flummoxed with myself and felt that I was getting some early practice in for my dotage.

Yesterday was a day of hardly any quilting and much packing up of quilts to be sent to their owners. So the donga is looking much emptier.

The hydroponics set up is going along extremely well and we now have some strawberry flowers. The white fly moved in to the lettuce and set up their camp there and then just as they were becoming a major infestation the hover flies moved in and ate most of them. As I always say - calm down and wait, nature will take care of it. The birds are visiting the hydro as well so we might have to protect the strawberries from the birds, although I am loath to take this measure. One of the main reasons for growing strawberries hydroponically is to get them off
the ground so that the bobtail lizards don't eat them. They also like the locquats and grapes that we grow in the garden, and they are welcome to as many of those as they like, however strawberries.........well they are different. Maybe at the end of the season we might be tired of the strawberries, bring it on I say.

Hydroponics Week 4 (I think) and Potting Experiment

Just to get you started. What lovely sight - broadbeans YUM. Every now and then I would lose my oldest son and I could always find him eating the beans in the broad bean patch when he was a toddler.


Tagetes species potted up in June with various potting mixes



These are the potting mix experiments that we did in JUNE

The numbering of the pots go

1 2 3

4 5 6

1. Control - standard mix
2. Standard mix + 5g Brunnings slow release fertilizer NPK
3. Standard mix + Waterways safe slow release fertiliser
4. 1:1:2 / Sand:pinebark:jarrah sawdust + slow release
5. 1:3 / Sand:jarrah sawdust + slow release
6. Standard mix + sheep manure

Pots now, and with the same configuration as above.


Hydro lettuces grown in a NFT(Nutrient Film Technique) system.

The roots are remarkable and the height you can see is >20cm







and the width is....wide.








This is my experimental plot that I planted out in June. Problems with water logging, rabbits, red legged earth mite and absent mindedness have retarded growth somewhat. The inorganic and control plot are struggling mainly due to the waterlogging that they experienced. The inorganic plots escaped this 'feature' due to the maure and old hay that I dug in.












I pruned the grape vines this afternoon so it no longer looks as messy out the back. They started to sprout and I so wanted to get to them before that, however they are done now and look good. Just need to fertilize them and spread some pea hay around the bottom and we'll be laughing.

Yes I have been quilting. Photos in a couple of days and I've had a play with the Clover YoYos so those pictures will come as well.

Meggie was talking about feeling overwhelmed with things to do and I agree with her wholeheartedly. It is times life these that I remember roughly what Gaffer Gamgee said in the Lord of the Rings ' 'tis the job that never gets started that takes the longest to do' .....or something like that.

Hydroponics Week 3

AMAZINGLY, the lettuce seedlings survived although a bit toxic looking and BIG. Replaced the water and did all the proper tests before we added the nutrient to the vat. We read the instructions and it said add 10ml of nutrient to 5l. So we did all the calculations and ...oh boy. This time we knew that the nutrient recommended would result in a salt level that was way too high, so we calculated accordingly and ended up adding 18ml of nutrients A & B and the result was pleasing. In our initial vat filling we added 90ml each of nutrient solution A & B. Apparently the lettuce are now at the stage that they are ready to eat. I'll take more photos and have a progressive series of photos tomorrow.





HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY - I thought that I would take a picture of a whole load of flowers, albeit a canola crop (rapeseed for those of you in the UK) and put it on this page for you.