I'm excited about having a new blogspot, complete with a beautiful new header. Please come and visit the new site! All the old posts have been imported to the new blog.
www.thedrewpatch.blogspot.com
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
A Slice of Organic Life
We have loved looking through this beautiful book which we borrowed from our local library. It has something for everyone. Whether you live in a flat or on a farm, there are ideas for you! Due to borrowing this book, Dave and I reconsidered the idea of getting backyard chickens and Dave is building a coop. Last night I began to try to make saurerkraut. The book is full of beautiful pictures, which makes it fun to flick through even if you don't have time to pursue any of the suggested activities.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Yellow Pear tomatoes
Our yellow pear tomatoes have been the first to ripen this season. This picture was taken on December the 31st, and we enjoyed the tomato in a salad. Since then we have had two more, but we didn't get to eat them. Dave is involved in a tomato growing competition at work and they had to be submitted as evidence!
Salmon Ponds at Plenty
During Dave's recent leave from work we enjoyed a day trip to the Salmon Ponds near the small town of Plenty. I just love the name Plenty for a town!
Most of the beautiful ponds were actually stocked with trout. It was fun to watch them swim. The albino rainbow trout were particularly striking. A museum on site explains the history of raising trout in Tasmania. The first successful shipment of eggs arrived in 1864.
It was fun to take photos on self timer.
The ponds are surrounded with beautiful old trees of many types. Dave loves trees, so this feature was an unexpected highlight of our visit!
The restaurant sells delicious savoury and sweet pancakes. We enjoyed lunch, then a stroll, then sweet pancakes for dessert. The Salmon Ponds is definitely worth another visit, perhaps when the trees are changing colour.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Preserving loquats
Pictured are the results of two sessions of loquat bottling. My Dad has two loquat trees that produce too much fruit for their needs, especially as they compete with cherries at this time of year! We harvested two bucketfuls and most of them are now preserved. Our friends the Baehrs helped us last night. Preserving bees are the best! It is great to work with others. Today I worked on the remaining bucket on my own, and found the process less arduous than I expected. This year we left on most of the skins. These are tough but will be softer with cooking. Loquats have lots of pits (those pictured are a fraction of what was removed), and right now I'm nursing a sore thumb as a result of pitting them. My fingers are thanking me for choosing not to peel them all! Those who have preserved fruit before will know the satisfaction that looking at the finished product brings.
Our moving baby
Elnathan has learnt to swivel himself when he is on his tummy. In this picture he was originally facing the little block train carriage. He turned himself right around and started grabbing Christmas presents!
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