Carrots.

I had a lovely time in the kitchen this afternoon – probably because I wasn’t actually “cooking”, I was prepping & blanching some corn & carrots from the garden to stick in the freezer; I surprised myself by enjoying the whole process.

I was not surprised that I felt the need to play with my vegetables…

Growing.

I hope you all know by now that green is the new black; it’s probably easier these days to recite a list of friends who aren’t growing something edible in their yard or on their balcony than a list of those who are, & I think that is just so great.

We’re getting back to the natural of order of things, connecting with the earth & where our food really comes from.

This is our potato harvest. It’s about 20 kilos… I think I’ll be rationing the spuds from here on in…!

Another thing that’s growing almost all on it’s own is my wall display of random thrifted goodness. I didn’t intend for it to get any bigger when I started with two frames & two plates, but it’s happening anyway.

I found this wonderful little guy fishing yesterday for $1 at the one opshop that was open. From the frame & the picture all I can deduct is “old”; any idea of the era, vintage expert types?

I wonder what the next addition will be…

Whoops.

I mentioned on Kate’s post about her fabbo colourful carrots that The Boy had tried to grow himself a selection of different carrots but all but one came up orange.

Yesterday when I was out in the garden I thought I might like to have a munch on a fresh carrot & pulled up one of the bigger ones (though still small)… it was red!

Uhoh! I thought about stuffing it back in the hole in the ground (would that even work??) or keeping it to show The Boy & grabbing another – but what if that was red too?

So I ate it. It was orange in the middle; I had no idea.

He was understandably upset when I sheepishly admitted my red-carrot plundering to him later, hopefully the rest of the crop will be gloriously multi-coloured. Fingers firmly crossed (& kept out of the carrot patch).

Cute.

The Boy ordered some roasting garlic to grow from eBay & this is the “card” that came with it;

Oohparently two little boys grow & sell it with help from their Mum. My Boy has planted it out with some onions; obviously that’s the stinky garden bed.

Still more cute; chickies! Cocco, Annie & Clarabelle, they’re teeny weeny!

Zucchini fever.

After The Boy brought in a massive yarrow (look at me with my gardening knowledge… a massive zucchini is called a yarrow & probably tastes just as appetizing as it sounds…) from his garden last night I realised I haven’t shared it with you yet – so here are some pictures of his pride & joy.

Oohparently, zucchinis grow like weeds, & The Boy planted a lot of them. We eat quite a bit of zucchini, but not that much, so his peeps at work have been receiving bagfuls, as as his Mum, there are yellow ones, stripy ones, round ones – it really is zucchini fever over here!

Also thriving are potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, rainbow chard, spinach, silver beet, corn, lettuce, cabbage & probably some other stuff I’ve missed – he’s from the Jackie French school of gardening – throw everything in as close together as you can & see what happens.

I love going outside to the lush greenery of the garden & realising that it’s all for us! We don’t have a single flower-type plant in the garden – there were a few here but The Boy ripped them up quick smart – they were taking up valuable veggie room!

Punky takes great pride in declaring all the produce from the garden “Hers” & greater pleasure in snaffling tomatoes as soon as they’re ready. She also likes the “white butterflies”… Daddy; not so much.

One downside is our water bill has gone up quite a bit – The Boy had the audacity to blame it on Suspence’s lovely nappies!!

Teapot… erm… pots…

I have been persisting in trying to get some Spring cleaning done around here even though it feels like anything but Spring – a glimpse of sunshine is followed by a drop in the temperature & clouds converging en masse – still, a couple of days ago it was the kitchen’s turn for a clean out.

Our kitchen is tiny. Teeny weenie ennie even. It’s also pretty badly equipped & laid out, but that’s another ‘when will we ever get around to renovating it, exactly’ kind of story. Basically, the bitsy size & lack of storage means that there isn’t enough room for my usual accumulation of kitschy whatnots, & finally admitting this I purged some teapots from my just-to-look-at collection & contemplated them sadly, thinking ‘…back to the opshop with ye!’. Just as I was thinking about finding a box to pack them away in, I glanced outside & saw The Boy’s potting bench with his many seedlings growing merrily away…

*insert light bulb here*

Teapot pots! Oui!

A quick Google told me it was possible, & off I scurried to get me a masonry drill bit.

Let me just say, that drilling into something ceramic for the first time is completely & utterly TERRIFYING!

Let me also say that a $3.75 drill bit will get you through three teapots, & only just. I think I might need to invest in a better quality one, because I have a whole lot more herbs to gather, & see little wee teacup planters in my future….

(I just pierced a few holes in the bottom of the bread tin with a nail, and the l’elephants were planters already…)

Getting started in the garden.

We recently moved to a country town from the city & the house we are currently renting has an ENORMOUS yard - complete with a few lemon trees, olive trees, an apricot tree and a... well... I don't know what it is... I think it's a 'shade house'? Is there such a thing? I'd call it a greenhouse except for the fact that it isn't any warmer in there than outside & the rain can get through the cloth on the roof.

While we were in the city The Boy had started growing a few tomatoes in pots but they were done away with in the move so we're starting again from scratch... why couldn't we have moved in Spring!! I am desperate to plant all sorts of things but am restricted to sowing some boring old winter crops... I say "crops" but I don't know if that is the right word for a few styrofoam boxes filled with potting mix.

These are the "...almost before" photos, as some things have already started to sprout. I think the heatwave we had really helped the seeds to germinate in record time, I just had to make sure I kept the water up to them. I only put the boxes into the shade house a couple of days ago, I was scared of all the spiders & creepy crawlies that I imagined were in there (turns out, actually, that I wasn't just imagining it... *shiver*) but as Punky was wanting to play in the dirt everytime we went out to water, I had to put them up out of her reach anyway.

I keep daydreaming about the day when we have our own little house & yard, it's going to be fence to fence food I tell you!! Until then however I'm going to really try & make the best of what we can do here. I love checking on the progress of my seedlings each morning & Punky loves running around outside & playing in the dog's water.... I want growing food & knowing exactly where it comes from to be a part of her life & hopefully, eventually, come naturally to her, so that she has the knowledge & enthusiasm to sustain herself & her family. That is a gift I wish I had recieved & we all know we want everything for our children that we didn't have ourselves, whether that is a fancy dollhouse with working light fixtures (ah, to dream!) or a healthy connection with our earth.