• I'm sorry but I've forgotten who asked for this but when I showed my newly organised larder, someone asked if I could show the inside cupboard doors. Here they are: A foodplanting and bush tucker guide for our area, a guide to birds that live near us and a dishwasher dance that I found in, I think, Peppermint magazine. They're all helpful in their own ways. 🙂
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    I'm sorry but I've forgotten who asked for this but when I showed my newly organised larder, someone asked if I could show the inside cupboard doors. Here they are: A foodplanting and bush tucker guide for our area, a guide to birds that live near us and a dishwasher dance that I found in, I think, Peppermint magazine. They're all helpful in their own ways. 🙂
  • I'm chitting kipfler potatoes for, I hope, late April planting. I'm planting six potatoes in two grow bags and they'll grow in a mix of fresh potting mix, old potting mix, compost, chopped up comfry leaves and garden soil. When you chit potatoes, watch to see which of the shoots grows strongly, you're better off pinching or rubbing off the smaller shoots so all the energy goes into your chosen one. If you have strong shoots top and bottom on a large potato, cut it in two and grow both, but make sure it's a BIG potato. I'll plant in late April because potatoes are a cold weather crop and late April till July - August will give the potatoes the best chance of growing in cold weather. We never get frosts. We'll have two grow bags which I'll place on single large concrete pavers as I don't want them sitting on a soggy lawn. As you can see in the photo, the potatoes are very slow in growing out their shoots. I didn't buy seed potatoes, I bought potatoes for eating and they're probably quite fresh. I knew they'd take longer but I was hoping for better than this. If the shoots don't grow enough - I want them to be about an inch/2.5cm long - I'll plant them as planned and I'm 95 percent sure they'll be okay. But in gardening, anything can happen so I'll have my fingers crossed. How are yours going?
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    I'm chitting kipfler potatoes for, I hope, late April planting. I'm planting six potatoes in two grow bags and they'll grow in a mix of fresh potting mix, old potting mix, compost, chopped up comfry leaves and garden soil. When you chit potatoes, watch to see which of the shoots grows strongly, you're better off pinching or rubbing off the smaller shoots so all the energy goes into your chosen one. If you have strong shoots top and bottom on a large potato, cut it in two and grow both, but make sure it's a BIG potato. I'll plant in late April because potatoes are a cold weather crop and late April till July - August will give the potatoes the best chance of growing in cold weather. We never get frosts. We'll have two grow bags which I'll place on single large concrete pavers as I don't want them sitting on a soggy lawn. As you can see in the photo, the potatoes are very slow in growing out their shoots. I didn't buy seed potatoes, I bought potatoes for eating and they're probably quite fresh. I knew they'd take longer but I was hoping for better than this. If the shoots don't grow enough - I want them to be about an inch/2.5cm long - I'll plant them as planned and I'm 95 percent sure they'll be okay. But in gardening, anything can happen so I'll have my fingers crossed. How are yours going?
  • I hope you’re enjoying the change of seasons as much as I am. This week I made ginger and lemon throat tonic for Hanno and Sunny. The recipe is on the blog today if you want to try it. Weekend reading is there too. I hope you have time to read it. 🦜
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    I hope you’re enjoying the change of seasons as much as I am. This week I made ginger and lemon throat tonic for Hanno and Sunny. The recipe is on the blog today if you want to try it. Weekend reading is there too. I hope you have time to read it. 🦜
  • It's raining here today and although it's warm outside, it's the right day for a curry. I had a few packs of chicken tenders in the freezer so I used two packs, about 500 grams, to start the curry. RECIPE - will serve four people About 500 grams chicken meat, in bite-sized chunks 2 medium onions cut in half moons 2 carrots, sliced 3 sticks celery, sliced 1 medium tomato or handful of cherry tomatoes salt and pepper 2 dessertspoons curry powder or curry paste 2 tablespoons chilli jam (optional), if you don't add chilli jam, add 1 teapoon sugar Coconut milk, chicken stock or water Brown the chicken and onions, then add the carrots, celery, tomatoes, spices and chilli jam. Just cover the curry with whatever liquid you're using. Stir well and bring to the boil. When it's boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook slowly for about 90 minutes. Cooking it slowly will help develop the spicey flavours. If the sauce is too thin after the cooking time, mix 2 tablespoons of cornflour into 1/4 cup water and add that to the sauce to thicken it. Serve with rice. I hope you enjoy it. 😋
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    It's raining here today and although it's warm outside, it's the right day for a curry. I had a few packs of chicken tenders in the freezer so I used two packs, about 500 grams, to start the curry. RECIPE - will serve four people About 500 grams chicken meat, in bite-sized chunks 2 medium onions cut in half moons 2 carrots, sliced 3 sticks celery, sliced 1 medium tomato or handful of cherry tomatoes salt and pepper 2 dessertspoons curry powder or curry paste 2 tablespoons chilli jam (optional), if you don't add chilli jam, add 1 teapoon sugar Coconut milk, chicken stock or water Brown the chicken and onions, then add the carrots, celery, tomatoes, spices and chilli jam. Just cover the curry with whatever liquid you're using. Stir well and bring to the boil. When it's boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook slowly for about 90 minutes. Cooking it slowly will help develop the spicey flavours. If the sauce is too thin after the cooking time, mix 2 tablespoons of cornflour into 1/4 cup water and add that to the sauce to thicken it. Serve with rice. I hope you enjoy it. 😋
  • It's Good Friday here so I wish you a very happy Easter. 🥰 I've just posted my weekly blog so if you're looking for more reading, here is the place to find it: https://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2021/04/weekend-reading.html No matter where you are or what you're doing this Easter weekend, I hope you're close to the people you love. xx
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    It's Good Friday here so I wish you a very happy Easter. 🥰 I've just posted my weekly blog so if you're looking for more reading, here is the place to find it: https://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2021/04/weekend-reading.html No matter where you are or what you're doing this Easter weekend, I hope you're close to the people you love. xx
  • The lockdown in Brisbane ended an hour ago and Hanno is celebrating by trimming the lawn for Easter. The prediction here is for rain for the next few days. I’m going out to the garden now to see how much I can do before the rain starts. Whatever happens I hope you all stay healthy and enjoy the Easter weekend. 🐇
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    The lockdown in Brisbane ended an hour ago and Hanno is celebrating by trimming the lawn for Easter. The prediction here is for rain for the next few days. I’m going out to the garden now to see how much I can do before the rain starts. Whatever happens I hope you all stay healthy and enjoy the Easter weekend. 🐇
  • When I was a young woman my main goal was to be happy. I didn't realise then how difficult happiness would be to find … or how easy. I was side-tracked for a long time because I thought that “stuff” made me happy. I eased into marriage, motherhood and establishing a career and looking back I wish I'd known that I was able to cultivate happiness while I was doing all that. I kept thinking that happiness was outside myself and that it was made up of things. And then I found enduring happiness when I least expected it; in the place I thought it would never be - in my home. Happiness was here all along, I just didn't recognise it. I have an ember of contentment within me all the time now and it takes very little for it to ignite. I realise now that happiness was never out there it was inside. Inside my home and inside my heart. I didn't go out and buy it, it found me. When I knew that, and felt it, I never looked back. We give ourselves the best chance of happiness and contentment by slowing down and discovering what is important to us and then building a life that reflects that. When we simplify, we often have to teach ourselves how to home-produce what we used to buy. That, in turn, builds confidence and when we know we're more capable of looking after ourselves and our family, we take on new projects and embrace home life. Self-belief is a powerful thing. I know now that we shouldn’t expect someone or something to make us happy. I know too that happiness is not one thing, and that it is rarely anything big, it’s a lot of little things. Pure happiness comes in fragments that we collect throughout the day. It’s hearing your child say something special, it’s being in your garden and discovering the visiting wildlife, it’s making a meal everyone loves. It’s the ordinary things. When we slow down and take the time to look back, we realise that what we have is happiness ... and it’s another home produced treasure.
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    When I was a young woman my main goal was to be happy. I didn't realise then how difficult happiness would be to find … or how easy. I was side-tracked for a long time because I thought that “stuff” made me happy. I eased into marriage, motherhood and establishing a career and looking back I wish I'd known that I was able to cultivate happiness while I was doing all that. I kept thinking that happiness was outside myself and that it was made up of "things". And then I found enduring happiness when I least expected it; in the place I thought it would never be - in my home. Happiness was here all along, I just didn't recognise it. I have an ember of contentment within me all the time now and it takes very little for it to ignite. I realise now that happiness was never "out there" it was inside. Inside my home and inside my heart. I didn't go out and buy it, it found me. When I knew that, and felt it, I never looked back. We give ourselves the best chance of happiness and contentment by slowing down and discovering what is important to us and then building a life that reflects that. When we simplify, we often have to teach ourselves how to home-produce what we used to buy. That, in turn, builds confidence and when we know we're more capable of looking after ourselves and our family, we take on new projects and embrace home life. Self-belief is a powerful thing. I know now that we shouldn’t expect someone or something to make us happy. I know too that happiness is not one thing, and that it is rarely anything big, it’s a lot of little things. Pure happiness comes in fragments that we collect throughout the day. It’s hearing your child say something special, it’s being in your garden and discovering the visiting wildlife, it’s making a meal everyone loves. It’s the ordinary things. When we slow down and take the time to look back, we realise that what we have is happiness ... and it’s another home produced treasure.
  • This is about growing potatoes in the backyard but I’m not just focusing on gardeners, I want new gardeners and non-gardeners here too. You probably know we’ve reduced our vegetable gardens here because of age but we’re still growing a few things. One of them is potatoes and we’re growing them in a bag. And that’s why I thought I’d post this to encourage people who would like to grow something to have a go. You don’t even need a garden ! I have two grow bags, a few bags of potting mix and six kipfler potatoes. That’s it! So if you can rustle up those things too grow along with me and I can help you as we go. The first stage is to chit the potatoes - that means you leave your potatoes in a sheltered position, like a back verandah, in bright light, and wait for a couple of weeks while they develop shoots. You can see that happening in these photos. The potatoes are getting ready to grow and produce. So if your joining in, let me know and in a week or so we’ll go into stage two. It doesn’t matter if your potatoes haven’t started chitting, it’s best if I move ahead of you so we have the info and photos here when you need it. Happy growing! 🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔
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    This is about growing potatoes in the backyard but I’m not just focusing on gardeners, I want new gardeners and non-gardeners here too. You probably know we’ve reduced our vegetable gardens here because of age but we’re still growing a few things. One of them is potatoes and we’re growing them in a bag. And that’s why I thought I’d post this to encourage people who would like to grow something to have a go. You don’t even need a garden ! I have two grow bags, a few bags of potting mix and six kipfler potatoes. That’s it! So if you can rustle up those things too grow along with me and I can help you as we go. The first stage is to chit the potatoes - that means you leave your potatoes in a sheltered position, like a back verandah, in bright light, and wait for a couple of weeks while they develop shoots. You can see that happening in these photos. The potatoes are getting ready to grow and produce. So if your joining in, let me know and in a week or so we’ll go into stage two. It doesn’t matter if your potatoes haven’t started chitting, it’s best if I move ahead of you so we have the info and photos here when you need it. Happy growing! 🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔
  • Another busy week here but I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I hope you had a good week too. Weekend reading is up on my blog, I hope you take time out to read it with a cuppa. https://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2021/03/weekend-reading_26.html 💚
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    Another busy week here but I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I hope you had a good week too. Weekend reading is up on my blog, I hope you take time out to read it with a cuppa. https://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2021/03/weekend-reading_26.html 💚