Solar Rooftops

From the latest Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) bulletin:

Take action: 1,000,000 solar rooftops in 15 years!

ACF wants to see a million solar rooftops within fifteen years. To do this at least 1000 Australian households need to install solar panels every week. An excellent way to achieve this would be if households get paid for all the electricity their solar panels generate. Send an e-mail to Environment Minister Peter Garrett now, asking for the introduction of an effective national solar feed-in tariff by July 2009.

This sounds like a great opportunity to lobby for solar subsidy.

love and light
naturewitch

Cosmetics

Lots of us try to be careful about what we put on our skin for many reasons - our health, the environment and our finances, to name a few. But what are we really using?

A couple of friends have recently emailed me about a cosmetics ingredients site that may interest you as well. There is an American site: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ which tells you the possible effects of ingredients in cosmetic products. Although the site is American, because a lot of cosmetics companies are multinationals, you'll find heaps of familiar brands.

I looked at a few items and it was scary what they contain. My favourite body butter (my main cosmetic indulgence), for example, contains ingredients linked to cancer, developmental / reproductive toxicity, allergies, immunotoxicity, etc, etc. And it is one touted as being "natural"!

Well, it looks like it's back to the kitchen for me - I've never quite managed a moisturising cream that's completely satisfactory, but I'll give it another go.

love and light
naturewitch

Are Animal Manures Organic?

I had an interesting conversation with someone the other night about organic gardening. He maintained that the animal manures we can purchase (eg, cow, sheep, poultry) are not truly organic products because of the hormones and/or antibiotics the animals are fed.

However, most advocates of domestic organic food production seem to use them, as I'm sure do most of us. The person I was talking to said that he considered the only "organic" fertilisers commonly available to home gardeners were fish emulsion, seaweed extract and home-made compost.

Granted, the fish emulsion and seaweed extract probably are "organic", but we know our oceans and waterways are often polluted and are therefore contaminants will most likely be present in the fish and the seaweed. As for compost, how many of us manage to have the only components in our compost fully "organic"? For example, I add shredded paper to mine, which I would almost guarantee is not totally "organic".

Which leads me to wonder about the time it might take for "non-organic" components to break down to the point of being relatively harmless. If this break down does occur within a reasonable period of time, maybe the manures we buy are OK, as they tend to be heat composted.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

love and light
naturewitch

Another Fun Day in the Garden

Today was another productive day in the garden. I dug over a neglected area of the garden to plant my red pear and put the mattock through a dock. I decided to try to identify what sort of dock it was and I think it may be yellow dock or Rumex crispus, which is the medicinal dock. Before getting too excited, though, I'm going to confirm with my herb teacher tomorrow.

Yellow dock is great for a host of ailments such as liver congestion, gall stones, spleen and lymphatic conditions, psoriasis and constipation, as well as promoting the flow of bile and cleansing the blood. (As always, this information is intended for interest only and any treatment of these conditions should be done under the supervision of a qualified herbalist.)

Apart from the great find, I planted a few things today:

• 20 Lily of the Valley pips
• 40 Solomon's Seal tubers
• the red pear
• a female and a male kiwi fruit

It started to rain at that point, so I had to come inside, but the rain will water everything in nicely. Don't you just love the way that nature provides us with what we need?

love and light
naturewitch

Delightful Day in the Garden

I cannot be cooped up for too long, so I've found the past couple of weeks or so very frustrating, as I've recuperated from my horrible lurgy. However, this morning dawned beautifully fine and feeling somewhat recovered, I headed for the garden.

The first delight that greeted me was a lovely buzz coming from our early flowering peach - about two dozen bees were already at work, drinking the lovely peach flower nectar. I tried to take a photo, but alas it didn't come out very well. Actually, this peach tree was one I bought from someone at the local farmers' markets. It was supposed to be a yellow fleshed bottling peach, but turned out to be a white fleshed eating peach. It has some of the best peaches I have ever eaten, so the mix up is long forgiven. Can't wait for the new crop.

Another delight was discovering some little waxy potatoes in an area I was preparing for kiwi fruit. I had planted potatoes in this area the summer before last and apparently, a few have continued to grow. They made a lovely warm potato salad for lunch, accompanied by fresh herbs, baby beets, carrots and winter lettuce, all from our garden - not bad for the middle of winter!

While I worked in the garden today, I was serenaded by a local family of magpies. The song from Australian magpies is indeed unique and is especially beautiful on a Sunday for some reason. I found a lovely fat scarab beetle larva while digging and threw it to one of the magpies who then watched me keenly for the rest of the day, awaiting further treats. No more fat grubs, unfortunately, but the family did come down and dine from our compost heap, as well as checking over my diggings.

During the day, I was also talking to my neighbour and saying that I wanted to get some bees. Apparently, he has had the same thoughts, so a hive in the back yard should not present any problems. I just have to source one now.

And at the end of this gorgeous day was a chat with my sister, a lovely hot shower and dinner with my darling man. Hope your day was just as great.

love and light
naturewitch

The Joys of a Hot Shower and a New Desk

I stood under the shower late this afternoon and gave thanks to the sun for heating the water and thanks to our local authority for having dams that supply us with running water. How luxurious that shower felt! And how many people don't have that luxury?

The truth is that I have been a mad woman today, rearranging bookcases and other furniture about the house, all because I got a desk for my study so I don't have to take over the kitchen table any more. So I was tired and dusty and the shower went down a treat.

When I went looking for a desk the other day, I decided to check out the local classifieds first (always been a fan of second-hand items and op-shops). There were heaps of second-hand desks, many of which people were struggling to sell. I guess that people in Canberra generally just go out and buy things brand new. Anyway, I found the perfect desk in the next suburb for the bargain price of $60.

This got me to thinking about what will happen to all those other desks on the classifieds? Will they all find new homes? Will they eventually be dumped? How much are we, as a society, reusing items for which others no longer have a use and how much are we just going out and buying things new, just because we can? And what is this costing our planet?

I'm pleased with my desk. It meets all my needs and fits the space we have beautifully. The "desk miles" were not that many and we are using something that someone else no longer needed. It was a great purchase for us and also for our planet.

love and light
naturewitch

Tatie Planting Time

For a lot of you, it's time to start thinking about planting potatoes. It's a little early here yet, but since there's been a bit of discussion about growing potatoes, I thought I'd share with you a great way of growing them without any back-breaking digging.

1. Choose your patch of ground and cover it liberally with newspapers.
2. Place potatoes on top of the paper at about 30cm or 12in apart in a grid.
3. Cover with a layer of mulch or hay (lucerne hay is best if it's not too expensive). On top of the mulch / hay, place liberal amounts of blood and bone, well rotted animal manures and/or compost. Water the lot in well.
4. Add more hay and more fertilisers / manures, watering after each addition. You want the pile to be moist throughout, but not sodden.
5. When you reach a height of about 60cm, finish off with a layer of mulch or hay.
6. Note: you can add shredded paper and lawn clippings in with your hay if you like.

The advantages of this technique are:

• no digging!
• when the potatoes are ready, you just lift up the layer of mulch and pick them up
• you are left with an area ready to dig over and plant with new things
• you end up with a heap of semi-composted hay, which is a great addition to the garden

The disadvantages are:

• the hay can be expensive
• you may need to top up the hay during the growing season, so the potatoes do not get exposed to light
• it takes a reasonable sized patch of ground (compared with potato condos)

Happy planting!

love and light
naturewitch

Chris James is Coming to Canberra

I normally wouldn't promote things like this on my blog, but this is a fantastic opportunity and may interest those in and around Canberra.

Chris James conducts the most beautiful singing workshops and he is coming to Canberra - thanks Felicity! The Innermost Sound Workshop will be held in Hackett on Sunday 7 September 2008 from 10am to 4:30pm. Cost is $150. Click here to get more details.

I've been to his workshops before and they are fantastic. You will not be disappointed. And for the first person who claims it, there is a Silk in the Clouds CD free!

love and light
naturewitch

Green Tomato Marmalade

I've been meaning to put this recipe up for a little while. I'm not a great fan of marmalade normally, but this one is quite lovely. It is extra nice on oat cakes for breakfast - YUM!

Ingredients
1.7kg (3.75lb) green (as in unripe) tomatoes, chopped
200g (7oz) crystallised ginger, chopped
Rind of 2 oranges (no pith), shredded
Rind of 4 lemons (no pith), shredded
Juice of the 2 oranges and 4 lemons
8 cups sugar

Method
Place everything except for the sugar in a large, heavy-based pan. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until it is all soft and pulpy - this may take up to one hour.
Add sugar and stir until dissolved, then boil rapidly until setting point is reached. You may need to stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
Pour into sterile jars and seal.

Notes
Test if the marmalade is set by placing a small amount of marmalade on a chilled saucer; leave for about 30 seconds and see if it thickens up.
Sterilise jars by placing clean, wet jars and lids on a tray in the oven at 120C for 20 minutes or more. Jars with metal lids are the best.
Fill jars while marmalade is still hot, place lids on, then with knuckle inside a teatowel (to stop you getting burned), press on the centre of the lid and screw down. As the jam cools, you will hear a pop as a vacuum is formed. Jam bottled in this way will keep for years without going mouldy on top.

This recipe will make about 2.7kg (6lb) of lovely golden marmalade.

love and light
naturewitch

Been Crook

FYI - haven't been posting in the last week or so due to a horrible lurgy in my chest. Feel like I'm starting to recover, but am still not up to much. Will hopefully post again soon.

love and light
naturewitch

Vacuum Sealers

The other day, I was tempted enough to make Molly's Peanut Butter Biscuits - well, my version of them, using cashew nut butter instead of peanut butter and gluten free flour.

When I finished making them, it occurred to me that every time I do make something like these scrummy biscuits we end up throwing out part of it because we are not very big cake or biscuit eaters. So, I thought I would be proactive and save some at the outset. The obvious choice would have been the freezer, except that ours is rather full at the moment. What to do?

Light bulb goes off - the vacuum sealer!!!! I had just been using it to package the baby corn prior to freezing it (bottling seemed like too much work, on reflection). So, I set about making small packets of delicious biscuits for us to munch some time in the future.

Then it occurred to me - the vacuum sealer is an ideal way to package many foods we might dry. They can then be stored in the cupboard, without taking up valuable freezer space.

Actually, I originally purchased the vacuum sealer to package produce prior to freezing to reduce the risk of freezer burn. It works a treat - I have been able to store sweet corn in peak condition from one year to the next. And there is no need to blanch, as all air is removed.

We found ours on ebay (see picture from ebay store at left) and I've been very happy with it. Yes, it uses plastic bags, but I think the savings in food wastage more than make up for the environmental cost of the bags and the small amount of electricity needed to suck and seal. Also, with dry goods you don't need to use any more energy to store - a ccol, dry cupboard is all you need. Despite the fact they use electricity, I think they are a great addition to the household buffering themselves against peak oil.

If you are thinking of purchasing one, however, do your homework and check out the specifications. We found that some of the better known brands were not as good as the one we eventually purchased (for about $150, I think).

Apologies for the dead meat in the pictures for all of you who might be sensitive to such things . . .

love and light
naturewitch

Great Day in the Garden

What a great day in the garden! Daphne has just started to flower - I love her beautifully sweet, rich scent. Have you noticed that many winter and early spring flowers have a particularly appealing scent? I wonder if they are calling the bees?

The great maize experiment has come to a close for now. We have had a few heavy frosts now and so I thought it was time to stop hoping for much produce. We didn't get much suitable for grain, but we did get quite a few "baby corn" cobs, which I intend to bottle and use in stir-fries. I've gathered the silks and will dry them to use as a herbal remedy (great as a diuretic and for soothing cystitis), as well as gathering some long leaves, which I will use to try some rush work. So, we may not have obtained what we hoped, but it certainly wasn't all in vain. I'll definitely be planting it earlier next season.

This morning I planted a packet of globe artichoke seeds (37), so hopefully we will have some baby artichoke plants by spring. Globe artichoke is a fantastic food - full of nutrients and a great tonic for tired livers.

I cleared the asparagus bed of the spent ferns today and there was a bonus - red berries, full of seeds. Normally I wouldn't bother with the seeds, as it takes quite a while to grow them to harvest size and you have to sort out the male from the female plants. But this asparagus is rather special. I bought it to replace the crowns that were overpowered by parsley a few years ago when I was ill and couldn't tend the garden. I had ordered both green and purple asparagus crowns, but when the order arrived, there was only purple asparagus because they had run out of green. The purple was merely to satisfy my curiosity, but it has proven to be a very prolific and delicious asparagus. It's not in the catalogue anymore; hence, I thought it might be worth trying to propagate some from the seed. I can't remember whether it was a hydrid or not, but I guess its babies will let me know the answer to that. Anyway, the asparagus bed is now fed and mulched and ready for next season.

Remember those cheeky potatoes surviving under the asparagus ferns? Well, the frost had knocked them back as well, so I harvested their produce - a couple of kilos of nice, red potatoes. They'll make a great meal.

Oh, and I picked the last of the tomatoes this morning - I'm blown away by the fact we still had tomatoes on bushes (albeit rather dead looking bushes) in open ground in Canberra in mid-July! It must be a record of some type, I'm sure. This winter has been rather mild until the last week or so, so maybe that accounts for it. I've collected both red and green tomatoes, so when I find my green tomato marmalade recipe, I'll be in the kitchen cooking some up - it sounds weird, but is truly delicious.

Unfortunately, with the frost the nasturtiums are looking rather sad and the peas, onions, leeks and shallots are not making much progress. But the broccoli is still producing madly and there's a couple of nice cauliflowers ready for picking, not to mention the ongoing Asian greens and the baby beets.

I'm fairly pleased with my vege garden - my aim is ultimately to produce fruit and vegetables all year round, so we are more self-sustaining. There will be some limitations, though - mangoes, bananas, pineapples and pawpaws are not likely to grow here. But we'll be happy with what we have.

love and light
naturewitch

My Blogging Sanctuary

At the end of a day, after I've finished my paid work, study and home duties, I love to come to my computer and have a visit with my blogging friends. Sometimes I have nothing particular to say and so I look at your blogs and see what interesting things you are all up to. It is so lovely to "meet" so many like-minded people, going through life's little ups and downs, sharing stories, photos, recipes and tips, but with the one goal in mind - sustainable living.

So, here's to you, my fellow bloggers. Thanks for your company. I really enjoy sharing the road with you on my journey.

Here's a poem just for you. It was written by Hafiz, a Sufi poet, in the 14th century. Translation is by Daniel Ladinsky, from his book I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz.

(Note: the terms Friend and Beloved refer to God, Buddha, the universal life force, nature or any higher entity you personally acknowledge.)

What Happens

What happens when your soul

Begins to awaken

Your eyes

And you heart

And the cells of your body

To the great Journey of Love?

First there is wonderful laughter

And probably precious tears

And a hundred sweet promises

And those heroic vows

No one can ever keep.

But still God is delighted and amused

You once tried to be a saint.

What happens when your soul

Begins to awake in this world

To our deep need to love

And serve the Friend?

O the Beloved

Will send you

One of His wonderful, wild companions -

Like Hafiz.

love and light
naturewitch

Detergents Ain't Just Detergents

Following on from Molly's post about climate change and the things she is doing to safeguard her garden and family, I thought I'd revisit some research on washing detergents.

Lanfax Laboratories have done some great independent research on washing powders and liquids and the amount of sodium, potassium, sulphur, etc that they contribute if the grey water is used on the garden. You can visit their Laundry Products Research pages and have a good read about what comes out of your washing machine when you use different detergents. You can compare top loaders with front loaders and powders with liquids.

I first found their research a few years ago and because I was particularly concerned about sodium load, I started at the bottom of the list (ie, lowest load) and worked my way up until I found a detergent that actually worked. At that time, I chose Green Care as my main detergent and Earth Choice as my detergent for woollens and delicates. Powders generally have a much higher sodium load than liquids, so just by using a liquid you are probably on the right track, but some liquids still have a pretty hefty sodium load.

Now that the research has been updated, my choices still look reasonably good, but I am thinking of trying a couple of different liquids with lower sodium loads. Unfortunately, manufacturers can vary their formulations without notice, so you need to review your choices from time to time.

As they point out on the site, there is no eco-friendly washing detergent - all of them have an impact on the environment. The key is to make the most responsible choice you can within the constraints of cleaning ability, cost and your geographic location, ie, according to your own unique needs.

love and light
naturewitch

Recent Distraction

This is quite unashamedly a brag post. I've been a bit distracted lately by a little project, which needed to be finished for last Sunday. The quilt pictured was made (by me) for a lovely young couple I know who celebrated their nuptials on Sunday. It went through a couple of design changes early on, but I was pleased with the final result, so I thought I'd share it with you.

love and light
naturewitch

Hustle, Bustle and Thankfulness

This week in our household will be very busy. We'll have two teenage girls and two pre-teen boys all playing in the Kanga Cup (a soccer competition) each day. That will mean heaps of cooking (have menu, am sort of organised); washing jerseys, shorts, track pants and socks each day (and getting them dry!); transportation to, from and between venues; as well as general management of people that age. I'll be at work, but my darling partner will be on "holidays" and doing the ferrying around and people management. Oh, and did I mention that it is predicted to rain each day (with maxima from 9C to 13C) and we are a one-bathroom household with no clothes drier? OMG! LOL (hyserically)!

Well, this afternoon I gave my self a small respite from frantic preparation activity and went for a walk. As I came near to a poplar, I noticed it hadn't yet fully lost its leaves (they are normally totally bare this time of year in Canberra). As I passed, a breeze rustled its leaves and it seemed to be saying, "calm down, relax, take your time, enjoy the moment". I do try to take each day as it comes and to appreciate each of the little surprises and challenges a day can bring. But sometimes, just sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of life, I forget. Thank you, Poplar, for reminding me.

It all comes back to that old saying about life being a journey, not a destination. Hope you can take some time this week to enjoy the little pleasures that life's journey has to offer, in all their guises.

love and light
naturewitch

Compact Fluorescents - Friend or Foe?

In Australia, the federal government is planning to phase out incandescent globes in the next couple of years and only have compact fluorescent bulbs available. The main aim of the program is to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse emissions. This is commendable.

However, there was a story last night on the ABC's 730 Report about compact fluorescent light bulbs - click here for the transcript. Apparently, the compact fluorescent globes contain minute amounts of mercury which can cause significant issues if they go to landfill. They can also cause a problem for children or pregnant women if the globes break and the contents are inhaled. The way it was presented in the report strongly suggested that the compact fluorescents were causing another environmental issue.

Looking at the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) website today, I found another article on the globes - click here. The ACF are saying that while the globes do contain mercury, their advantages outweigh their disadvantages.

What both reports have in common is that they are calling for government-controlled recycling programs for the bulbs. The ACF give a link to the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts which discusses how to dispose of the bulbs, what to do if they should break and collection sites for your state/territory.

We, like many others, have embraced this new technology. Now I'm feeling not so sure about it. Should we return to lanterns and candles for our lighting? Go solar? Should we simply go to bed when it gets dark? Maybe get some glow worms? All suggestions welcome.

love and light
naturewitch

Happiness is . . .

. . . a car boot full of cow and poultry manure and three new fruit trees for my garden.

This morning I popped into Bunnings to get some manure for the garden (I'm using the liquid gold, but I also like manures to build up the soil a bit) and some bolts to put together the swing set frame for the kiwi fruit.

As well as these, I came out with three new fruit trees:

"Preston Prolific" fig - you can never have too many fig trees (confession: I've already got a couple, a Black Genoa and another) - they are so good for fresh figs, dried figs, stuffed figs, fig jam and I'm starting to think about figs in brandy and what about fig wine???

Feijoa (pineapple guava) - been wanting one for ages and there it was and it just screamed out "pick me, pick me!"

"Sensation" pear - these are red pears (a bit redder than the picture, actually) that stay a bit crunchy and are really sweet and juicy - been looking for one for about three years and never found it, but there it was! (mind you, we already have a Williams (double-grafted with a nashi), a Josephine and a Buerre Bosc.

The trouble is - where will I put them? I'm sure I will find a spot (or three), maybe over near the apple trees and the mulberry, but I just couldn't resist. Maybe I'm turning into a fruit-tree-aholic?

Well, that's my retail therapy for a while. To be honest, I generally am not enamoured of shopping and try to only do what is necessary. But it felt good to leave the hardware with my little finds today.

love and light
naturewitch

This Morning in the Garden

This morning was lovely - we are having a relatively mild winter so far, but there's plenty more time for the cold. I had such a great time in the garden this morning, I thought I'd take a few happy snaps to share - they are nowhere near as beautiful as Cheryl's or Herbwitch's photos, but here they are.

Baby Olive, who was given to me by my dear friend, The Crone, before she moved to WA a couple of years ago, has now grown up enough to be put in the ground. Here is a picture of her after transplanting. She is about 90cm tall now and doing very well. Under the mulch are some Calendula seeds, which I'm hoping will form a nice drift of flowers for the bees. And in the bed behind them are some Oregon Giant snow peas just starting to grow.

The early peach is starting to bud up and almost looks like she's ready to flower, although it will probably be a few weeks yet (at least I hope so - I want to clear away the grass growing underneath and give her a good dose of manure and mulch).

Underneath another peach tree, a jonquil is preparing to flower.

Beside the fence, in the square holes of the Besser bricks forming a raised vege bed, the nasturtiums are still smiling, despite the cold.

Here's a fine head of broccoli ready to be picked.

And here's a cheeky potato plant, thriving underneath the protection of the dead asparagus ferns I am yet to clear away.

This patch may look like grass, but Molly assures me they really are oats.

And here's the rhubarb, looking incredibly healthy for this time of year.

There was also a willie wagtail flitting about the garden, but alas he was too quick for me!

love and light
naturewitch

Winter Solstice, Calendula, Oat Cakes and Corn Chips

This weekend, yesterday morning in fact, was the Winter Solstice. So good to know that the days will be getting longer now and spring will be here in no time. In celebration, I dug over a new area of the garden in preparation for planting Calendula there soon. It is in a lovely sunny spot and will form a nice little patch of flowers for the bees (when I get them), as well as providing blossoms for ointments and salads.

I've been using oats a lot lately in my cooking and my sister gave me a recipe for Aberdeen Oat Cakes, which I will share with you:
Place 250g fine oatmeal in a heat proof bowl, add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt. Melt 50g butter in another pot or heat proof container and make up to 300ml with boiling water. Stir boiling water and butter into the oatmeal to form a stiff mix. Leave until cool, then roll out, cut into squares and bake in a moderate oven (180C) until crisp. Lovely!

Having had success with the oat cakes, I thought I would apply the same principle to corn meal to make Corn Chips. I mixed corn meal 50/50 with polenta (to get the equivalent of freshly ground whole corn type meal). I used oil instead of butter and needed to make the water/oil mix up to 350ml. The dough was rolled out really thinly and it worked! The only problem with these corn chips is that they went soggy after a couple of days in a container, but a little while back in the oven refreshed them. However, I would recommend eating these on the day they are made - I think they were better then.

love and light
naturewitch

The Power of a Rainbow

Normally, when I'm out for a walk, saying hello to passersby doesn't get too much of a response. Most people pretend they didn't hear or give a grunt at best, with only the occasional fellow walker responding. I've often thought this a sad reflection of a society in which people live in fear of those they do not personally know.

This morning I was feeling the cold, didn't want to put the heating on, and so put on my beautiful rainbow striped jumper. I still had it on when I set out for my walk this afternoon. I stopped to talk to a passing dog and his owner said hello and discussed his sore paw. She then said, a bit shyly, that she liked my jumper.

A little further on, I met up with two young girls returning from school with their mother. As they approached, the girls both enthusiastically said hello. One then said "cool jumper!" and she watched me as I went past. A bit closer to home, two teenage lads were walking their dog and they both greeted me.

I was, quite frankly, surprised at the attention and the reactions of people. I don't think I changed anything in the way I approached or greeted people on my walk today, but somehow a rainbow-coloured sweater broke down barriers. Did the bright colours touch a little child within them that instinctively had them responding to a stranger? Did I seem less threatening to them, simply because of my attire?

If this is the case, maybe we all need to be knitting rainbow jumpers for our politicians and policy makers. Maybe, if they all wore them when considering actions such as war or refugee status or environmental issues, they would see each other and the leaders of other countries as fellow human beings and we would get some real progress happening. Maybe we could feed the world, house and clothe the poor and share the wealth. Maybe we could stop the damage to our fragile planet and return her to her former glory. Maybe all it will take is a rainbow sweater . . .

love and light
naturewitch

Liquid Gold = Water Saved

My darling man came home from his weekend away to the bucket in the loo, ready to collect all our liquid gold. In discussing the whole issue, we did some rough calculations and realised that we'd save in excess of 20,000 litres of water each year by collecting rather than flushing.

Here are the numbers (based on old loo - we estimated 6 litres per flush):
Weekend days: 12 less flushes = 72 litres saved
Week days: 8 less flushes = 48 litres saved
Weekly total = 384 litres saved
Yearly total = 19,968 litres saved

These are only our flushes and are not counting the children's contributions when they are here. That means for our family alone, we will save more than 20,000 litres of water per year and probably more like 25,000 litres. I wish we'd done these calculations a while ago. It is quite staggering.

love and light
naturewitch

Garlic Time

Someone once told me that you plant garlic on the shortest day and harvest it on the longest. For those of us here in Oz, this weekend is garlic planting time (Saturday is the best day as it is in a fertile time) and for our friends in the Northern hemisphere, it is time to harvest yours.

Garlic is a fantabulous herb. It is used both herbally and homeopathically to treat a variety of ailments. It helps to lower blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, it boosts the immune system and is anti-microbial. It is fantastic for colds and flus.

In the garden, garlic can be planted in among roses to help keep down aphids, under apple trees to help reduce apple scab and around peach trees to assist in the prevention of curly leaf. Garlic also assists tomatoes and potatoes. But don't grow garlic near your peas, beans, cabbages or strawberries as it will inhibit their growth.

Many people get concerned about garlic breath. One way to reduce this is to add the garlic at the end of your cooking, rather than the beginning - just stir it into your meal a couple of minutes before you turn off the heat. Also, parsley can assist in neutralising the odour.

So go and get some garlic (I bought about a kilo of cloves today) and put it in the ground this weekend. Yes, you can use the garlic found in your greengrocer's store (or supermarket), but I always try to get Australian grown garlic. Apart from my views on imported food (that's another post!), the imported garlic may be irradiated and therefore not viable for food production.

Plant the individual garlic cloves about 5cm deep, 10cm or so apart, with the round part to the bottom of the hole or trench and the pointy bit to the top. Cover it over and let it go. You'll have lovely garlic for Christmas.

love and light
naturewitch

Today's Fun

Some of us should never be left to our own devices. This weekend, my darling man has taken the children to visit his sister and their children. In the meantime, I am meant to be studying for my upcoming exams, which I am, but you need to take a break every now and then . . .

Since he left, about 27 hours ago, there have been a couple of changes around the place. A bucket has taken up residence in the toilet for all that "liquid gold" (thanks for the reminder Crunchy and Crone!); there are now mung beans growing in our bathroom (thanks to there being too many in the sprouter to go in the stir fry the other night and which have now sprouted roots) and I've been cooking vego food again.

I used to be a vegetarian and have spent a good deal of my life either completely or mostly vegetarian. However, because of some serious health issues several years ago, I had to start eating meat again and then I fell in love with a darling man who loves his meat. I've been wanting to go back to being (at least mostly) vegetarian again for some time and have been able to slip in the odd vegetarian dish on occasion, but not on any regular basis. Well, I'm going to make a concerted effort now to have a higher proportion of our food vegetarian fare. I just hope he's ready for it!

For dinner tonight, I made a gorgeous variation on a dahl:

1. Saute 1 chopped red onion in a little oil for a few minutes.
2. Add 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin seed, coriander seed, mustard seed, tumeric and one small dried chilli and continue to saute until you hear the mustard seeds popping.
3. Add 1/2 cup each of red lentils and barley (both unsoaked) and saute for a few minutes before adding 2.5 cups water and some of your favourite vego stock powder.
4. Bring to the boil, then add two fat cloves of garlic (sliced), turn the heat off and leave for 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Add 1 peeled and chopped sweet potato, then simmer until everything is soft and the consistency is to your taste (about another 20 to 30 minutes).
6. Serve with garden fresh steamed broccoli.

This recipe is probably enough to feed 3-4 people, depending on how much veg and/or rice you serve with it.

The other fun thing I did today was go for a walk around my neighbourhood to see what was in flower at the moment. There was Italian lavender, Westringia (native rosemary), rosemary, gazanias, erigeron, roses, early sweet peas, potato vine, dandelions, a couple of bottle brushes, some kind of yellow daisy bush and a stunning flowering cherry/plum/peach with a most beautiful scent.

I was looking for potential winter-flowering bee plants should I get a hive, as I don't want the little dears to starve over winter. Yes, I know you supplement their food in winter, but it would be so much nicer for them to have real bee food within bee flight of their home. Our garden will be fine as it is from spring through to autumn because of the fruit trees and veges, but winter might not be so wonderful. Guess I'll have to plant them some winter food crops.

love and light
naturewitch

Native "Stingless" Bees

I've been doing a little research into native bees, which you may know are actually stingless. I found heaps of good information on the Aussie Bee site. They list different types of native bees and provide contact details for obtaining hives, etc.

Unfortunately, here in the ACT it is not recommended to keep them as it is outside their natural geographical region and the cold winter can kill the little creatures (they are more tropically inclined).

Native beehives are generally kept in hollow logs and you need to protect them from predators and extremes of temperature (both heat and cold). There are quite a few varieties and the ones that looked the cutest to me were the "Teddy Bear Bees" - soft furry looking bees (pictured).

I also read the other day that apiarists sometimes wipe the inside of a new hive with lemon balm (Melissa officinalis). Apparently, the bees really love this plant and wiping the hive with it will help a swarm settle into its new home. I'm not sure if this works for native bees or only for honey bees. But the principle might be the same - if you rubbed the inside of a log with a plant the native bees liked (and you are in a native bee area) would they come and live there? There are quite a few native bee plants listed on the Aussie Bee site if you are interested.

So for my own garden it looks like I'm back to honey bees. Apart from the lemon balm, so far I've found they like fruit trees, herbs, veges, tree lucerne (tagasaste), Queen Anne's lace, alyssum, phacelia, cottage salvia, white cosmos, lawn thyme, bronze fennel, daisies, roses, stocks, wallflowers, poppies, gazanias, forget-me-nots, portulacas, sunflowers and cineraria.

My main concern will be to have food for the bees over winter, as the fruit trees and veges will probably keep them going at other times. Apparently the tree lucerne, which can be hedged and is a good fodder plant, will provide some food over winter. If anyone knows of plants that bees like and that flower over winter, please let me know.

love and light
naturewitch

Timely Reminder

A friend sent me this in an email and I was so moved I thought I would put it on my blog. This is a video of the then 12-year old Severn Suzuki addressing the UN Conference on Environment and Development. The speech was in 1992, but it is even more relevant today.

The question is: what kind of world do we want to leave for our children? For that matter, what kind of world do we want to live in when we get older? We need to take action now (actually, a long time ago) and address our overly consumptive patterns of behaviour. They are simply just not sustainable.

Please take the time to view the video (some of you may have seen it already) and think about what actions you can personally take.

My own list will be something like this:

1. Use the bus more often, even when inconvenient
2. Walk more or ride my bicycle
3. Increase our level of self-sufficiency as far as our food is concerned
4. Grow open-pollinated varieties of food crops (instead of hybrids) and save the seed
5. Decrease the amount of meat we eat (it wll be fun convincing the carnivores around here!)
6. Implement some more grey-water recycling solutions in our household
7. Install rain water tanks
8. Reduce our energy and water consumption further
9. Think before buying - we already have too much "stuff"
10. Free-cycle or sell the "stuff" we no longer need
11. Be grateful for what I have
12. Simplify, simplify, simplify
13. Spread the word, educate and lobby
14. Have FUN doing the above (don't want to die from crawling seriousity LOL!)

What's on your list?

love and light
naturewitch

Weed Tea

On Gardening Australia last weekend, they had a story about brewing a fertiliser from your weeds. It is especially good for those weeds you don't want to put in the compost because the compost doesn't get hot enough to kill off their seeds. I've already started some brewing and have added some dead comfrey leaves for added nutrients and speedy breakdown. Click on the link to read the story.

love and light
naturewitch

Bees

Here I am at home, with a raging sore throat and that mown-down feeling, but instead of being tucked up in bed I'm surfing the internet. I went looking for a different story on the Gardening Australia website, but found this one on bees and backyard beekeeping instead.

Inspired by Cheryl of My Wildlife Sanctuary and also by Hedgewitch, I'm thinking of putting a hive in my garden this spring/summer. It would be great to just build something for the bees and have them take up residence, but I think I probably need to get a hive. Have a look at the story and read about it - maybe keeping bees is something we all need to consider?

love and light
naturewitch

Energy, Food and Water

Given Molly's post on Peak oil? Peak Food? .....and now peak water?, I'd thought I'd do a little comparison on our energy and water consumption with where we were at this time last year. We've been trying to reduce our consumption over the past year and we've just received our end of financial year bills, so it is a good time to compare.

Water - over the past 12 months we have used 58% of what we used the previous year. Most of this saving came from over summer, when our water consumption fell to less than half of what we used the year before. Given I've got more food growing, I'm rather surprised at the result, but very, very pleased.

Electricity - comparing this quarter to the same one last year, we are using 59% of what we used the previous year. A lot of this saving is probably due to installing a solar hot water system and replacing our old electric oven and cooktop with a gas burner, electric oven stove (which is also lovely to cook on!).

Natural Gas - we are using about the same amount of gas as we did in the comparable quarter a year ago. However, since we are now using gas for cooking, this means our heating usage has definitely gone down.

Petrol - I don't have any accurate figures on this, but judging from our budget spreadsheet, we were filling up two to three times each fortnight and now we are filling up mostly only once and sometimes twice. We have been making a concerted effort to use the bus, so obviously our strategy is working.

Food - this is pretty hard to judge, as the children are getting older and are therefore eating more. However, I have more weeks where I don't need to buy any supplemental veges and so we must be heading in the right direction. Also, there are definitely less processed foods entering the house - we are pretty much cooking from scratch these days and snacks tend to be raw nuts and dried fruits or homemade treats, rather than stuff that comes in packets. Which reminds me - we often shop at the co-op where you supply your own containers, so we've reduced our packaging that way, too.

I know we still have a long way to go in terms of saving energy and water and growing our own food, but I'm feeling pretty pleased with what we have achieved this year. It will be interesting to see what our consumption is this time next year.

So here's the challenge - get out your energy and water bills and, if they record the information for you, see if your consumption has decreased. I think we will be trying to set ourselves some goals each quarter.

love and light
naturewitch

Aphids

Every year, when I plant my Brussels sprouts, I do so knowing that most of them will be fodder for the aphids. Still, I plant them because I know that by the Brussels sprouts being sacrificied to the aphids, they will leave my broccoli, cauliflowers and cabbages alone.

Until now. This time the aphids have gone too far - they have started infesting my baby savoy cabbages and my newly formed cauliflowers. So, as much as I hate to say it, this means war between me and the aphids.

I've decided to launch a three-pronged attack:

1. Feed up the broccoli (as yet unaffected - thank you, garden Goddess!), the cauliflowers, cabbages and Brussels sprouts. The idea is to improve their vitality and their natural defences.
2. Make up some garlic spray. My father used to make this - blend up 1kg fresh garlic, pour into 20L drum and fill with water. Leave for three weeks (by which time it pongs!!!!), then strain, add some detergent as a wetting agent then dilute before spraying on affected plants. I'm not doing 20L, but am trying 2L (with 100g garlic) and won't leave it for the full three weeks - I'm hoping a few days will do.
3. Pray to the nature spirits to bring little silvereyes or finches or wrens to my garden in the middle of winter (please, please please!) to do a clean up.

If anyone has any other ideas that might help, I would most appreciate it. I don't normally launch an attack on common garden pests, but happily share my produce with them. This time, though, they've gone a little too far.

love and light

naturewitch

Weeds or Useful Plants?

Seeing Cheryl's gorgeous photo of hypericum on My Wildlife Sanctuary had me thinking about all the beautiful plants that nurture us by providing us with foods for the body and soul, as well as giving us valuable medicines.

Hypericum is one such plant. The scrappy looking wild form found around the ACT and other parts of Australia, Hypericum perforatum, is also called St John's Wort. It is considered a noxious weed because of its ability to invade pastures and it causes photosensitisation (sensitivity to sunlight) in stock who eat it. However, Hypericum perforatum is also a valuable healing herb that can be used for many modern diseases.

Many of the plants that grow wild around us are, in fact, plants that can be used to heal all sorts of maladies. They can give us a clue as to what is wrong with us. For example, if you have heaps of dandelions growing in your garden, it may be that someone in the house, someone living nearby or someone who regularly visits needs a liver tonic (read cleanse!) or a diuretic. The dandelion is there for a reason!

My father used to leave strips of "weeds" around his farm "for the bugs". The "bugs" did go to the strips of "weeds" and they did largely leave his organically grown crops alone.

So next time you see a "weed" consider its purpose. Is it telling you anything about your health or the health of those around you? Is it diverting the hungry insects from your vegetable patch or fruit trees? Studying our weeds can help us connect back to nature and understand her in many ways.

love and light
naturewitch

In the Garden Today

It's a bit overcast and chilly outside today, but I did have a little visit to my garden to check on it. The oats have now emerged (at least I hope they are oats and not sprouted grass seed!). The peas (Green Feast and Red Flowering) are starting to break through the soil and the Asian greens are ready for eating, along with the cauliflower and broccoli. The maize is continuing to struggle on and some of the cobs are looking promising, although it must be hard for them just now.

I also took a couple of photos of my fur-children and have posted them in the sidebar. They love being out in the garden with me and are great companions.

love and light
naturewitch

Moon Gardening June 2008

I've decided to put the moon gardening guide in my sidebar. That way you don't have to scroll through posts to find it through the month.

love and light
naturewitch

Message from the Goddess

I selected a Goddess Guidance Oracle Card this morning just for fun. I thought the message was pretty relevant to a lot of us just now, so I decided to share it with you.

Message from Oonagh:
"Nurturing a cause or a relationship is a long-term commitment, and one that can't be rushed. This level of devotion comes from a place of deep loving and concern. I care what happens to my planet and to my loved ones so much that I'm willing to stick with them through thick and thin. This isn't always easy, but to me, it's the only way to ensure that matters are resolved and healed. I listen to the passionate stirrings of my heart. I reach out and take action to let my loved ones know that I deeply care about them. I take action to spur on my pet causes. Never mind what other people think; you will benefit by carrying through with your priorities. You'll feel so good about yourself if you make time for the relationships and projects that truly count in your heart. Do what's important to you, and do it with absolute devotion! But remember that there's no competition for your true life's purpose, so there's no need to worry, hurry, or feel that you have to force things to happen."

I think Oonagh said it all!

love and light
naturewitch

Survival into the 21st Century

I was reading Molly's post on the food crisis and thought I'd post some information I found in a book just this morning. The book is called Survival into the 21st Century: Planetary Healers Manual by Viktoras Kulvinskas, published in 1975. I inherited it from my father, a wise old Piscean who was definitely ahead of his time (or maybe behind it?).

Anyway, the book discusses how to survive in the future and it is interesting that a lot of the issues raised are ones we are now talking about, although it is by no means a book on self-sufficiency. In preparation for survival, the author suggests (among other things):

• buying land at least 100 miles (160 km) away from major cities, preferably in the mountains or somewhere that people won't consider to be agriculturally attractive
• having hidden, underground storage areas for food, water, tools, books and seeds
• storing for each person: 25kg unhulled buckwheat seed; 50kg wheat; 12kg mung beans; 12kg unhulled sesame seed; 25kg navy beans; 15kg honey; 1L liquid kelp
• digging a well for water
• moving to your land at the first sign of unrest
• using a car, but always carrying a bike

The list of food may seem a bit strange, but the author was seriously into sprouted food. I'd like to see some veges on the list, but maybe you'd have vege seeds and grow them once you'd gone to your land.

Quite an interesting read, with a bit of a giggle now and again.

love and light

naturewitch

Winter Warmer - Woolly Socks

As part of our mission to cover up more and heat less over winter, I decided to make my partner some woolly socks to wear around the house at night. I contemplated knitting with the traditional three or four double-ended needles or crocheting in the round, but in the end I decided upon using one of the knitting looms I had bought the children. Here are the results!

The socks pictured are about Australian men's size 11-12. The loom is about 13cm (5.5") across and has 24 pegs on it. I used two strands of 8ply (DK) pure wool, making the yarn 16ply. The socks required about 300m of 8ply (150m 16ply), which is a smidgen over 150g. I didn't put any elastic in the tops, as my darling reckoned that his furry legs would hold them up! But you could thread a soft piece of 6mm (0.25") elastic through the top at the end if you wished.

To make socks:
Cast on by wrapping the yarn around each peg, then wrap a second row and with the hook supplied, pull the bottom row of loops up and over the top row. (This is like the "French knitting" we did as kids.) Continuing in this manner, knit 30 rows.

Next row: wrap half the pegs (12) and pull loops up as normal, then work back on the same 12 pegs to the start - this gives two half rows. Then work a full row. Repeat this process (2 half rows and 1 full row) five times. This forms a bit of a heel.

Knit another 30 rows, then cast off. Do this by lifting off the first stitch, placing it on a crochet hook (I used a 4mm one) and pulling a loop through. Pick up the second stitch in the same way, then pull a loop of yarn through both stitches, leaving one loop on the hook. Continue around the circle until all stitches have been removed from the loom, pulling the thread through the last loop to tie off. Casting off in this manner draws the knitting in a bit, to form the toe.

Turn sock inside out and sew up the toe. You may also need to stitch up the holes formed by the half rows when forming the heel. Thread through any loose ends and you're done!

To make a smaller adult size, just do fewer rows on the foot part. To make children's socks, you'd probably need a smaller loom.

I really enjoyed making the socks this way - it seemed like a bit of a game (appealed to the child within). Not sure if it was any quicker, but they were so easy, you could literally get the kids to make them.

love and light
naturewitch

Frosts and Heat

So far we've only been down to -1C in frosty Canberra this autumn, but tonight, after a few above zero nights, we're heading down to -3C! I've covered the maize and the remaining tomatoes, but the poor dears must be feeling the cold. If only I could bring them in at night . . .

Speaking of which, I'm curious about what people consider to be adequate heating in such a climate as ours. We set the thermostat (yes, we are blessed by ducted gas heating) to around 17-18C (about 63-64F) and turn it off when we go to bed. We only turn it on if we really need to (often we don't bother in the morning before we go to work), preferring to warm our bodies with extra clothing, rather than to use excessive amounts of fossil fuel.

Talking about heating at work the other day, I was surprised to hear that my colleagues thought our house must be freezing and that the minimum they would consider was 20C - btw, that's our maximum if someone is ill or we need to get some clothes dry. Some heated their homes to 23C or even 25C.

So, how hot is hot enough? I'd be interested to hear your views. See the sidebar for a poll on this.

love and light
naturewitch

Tagged by Hedgewitch

OK - a new challenge sent to me by Hedgewitch on her Earth and Tree blog. BTW, if you haven't yet gone to Hedgewitch's sites, I'd highly recommend it - lots of lovely environmentally focused crafts and tidbits of information and musings - a really good read.

Here is the deal: you pick up the nearest book set in a foreign country and then . . .
1) Open page 123
2) Find the fifth sentence.
3) Post the next three sentences.
4) Tag five people and acknowledge who tagged you.

My book is The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche.

p123 from the 5th sentence:
Now ego poses as the righteous arbiter of all conduct: the shrewdest position of all from which to undermine your faith, and erode whatever devotion and commitment to spiritual change you have.
Yet however hard ego may try to sabotage the spiritual path, if you really continue on it, and work deeply with the practice of meditation, you will begin slowly to realize just how gulled you have been by ego's promises: false hopes and false fears.
Slowly you begin to understand that both hope and fear are enemies of your peace of mind; hopes deceive you, and leave you empty and disappointed, and fears paralyze you in the narrow cell of your false identity.

Wow, pretty heavy stuff for a Monday evening. Funnily enough, I was just talking to some colleagues at work this morning about the only two true emotions - love and fear.

Now I am seriously in danger of waxing philosophical and don't really want to bore you with my ramblings, but I wonder how this applies to us all at the moment with respect to topics such as food and energy crises? Although I am sure we are right to read the signs as we are, maybe we need to implement our plans for survival with a lighter heart and not one based on fear; to rejoice in what we are collectively achieving day by day to reduce our footprint on dear Mother Earth; and to be grateful for her bounties.

As I said, a bit heavy for a Monday night . . . . .

As for those lovely people I would like to tag - I think I'll just pick two (given I've recently tagged a bunch of you):
The Crone - who provides us with such entertaining reading of her journey in reducing consumption and impact on the planet and
Molly - who finds such terrific information on what is happening in the world that she almost single-handedly keeps us up to date

love and light
naturewitch

I've Been Tagged Again!

The dear Crone has tagged me again, so here goes:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was living on a 360-acre (144ha) property, trying to do the self-sufficiency thing while working full-time and building a house - I don't believe I was actually trying to do all that!

2. What were five things on my "to-do" list today?
Making goat milk yoghurt
Making goat milk cottage cheese
Cooking oat cakes (ala Apprentice Domestic Goddess) for breakfast
Straining two herb tinctures that have been sitting there brewing (Plantain and Solomon's Seal)
Vacuuming the house

3. Snacks I enjoy
Chocolate (who doesn't?)
Fresh fruit - especially figs and persimmons
Fresh dates with cheese
Oat cakes
Left overs

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire
Definitely ensure family and friends were setup financially
Finish my course and do healing for free
Work for charities
Keep gardening, especially growing fresh food
Help others to establish their own food gardens
Establish a national food seed bank that was accessible to the public
Buy up heaps of land and save it from developers

5. Places I have lived
Australia - SE Queensland (mainly Brisbane); NSW; ACT
London (3 months)

6. People to tag
Hedgewitch
Naturegirl
One Busy Mama
My Wildlife Sanctuary
Erbe in Cucina

love and light
naturewitch

Today in the Garden

I am, as ever, thankful for the bounties supplied by my garden. A couple of months ago, I cut a couple of cauliflowers from their stems and didn't remove the rest of the plant. The result is that they have now sprouted a few mini caulis each. The biggest one (pictured) is now about 12cm across and I am looking forward to harvesting it very soon.

Meanwhile, the baby broccoli plants are getting a move on and the biggest head (pictured) is now about 10cm across. So, soon we will be starting on our winter pig-out on broccoli.

This morning, I also picked a colander-full of tomatoes, still surviving even though we've had a couple of light frosts now. And amaizingly (pun intended), the maize is still alive and the little cobs are starting to fill. I will definitely be planting it earlier next season.

I also dug over a new patch this morning and planted some oats and the old costata zucchinis, which produced so brilliantly this year, were cleared to make way for some Yakumo Giant snow peas.

love and light
naturewitch

Feeding the World

Tonight on the ABC was a very interesting edition of Landline Extra. One story related to our ability to feed the world (click on the link to see transcript and view the video). The program was presented in the context of the growth in world population, the failure of crops in Australia due to drought and the increased use of grains for biofuel production.

They listed world population figures, which I have plotted up. As you can see, we still have a linearly increasing population growth, which is not predicted to slow down for another 20 years or so.

The program discussed how businesses and investors are starting to look to the rural sector as a potential cash cow. (It always worries me when big business gets involved in our food chain.) Also, in the past year, the price of corn has risen by 31%, rice has increased by 74%, soya beans are up 87% and wheat is now 130% more expensive than it was 12 months ago.

All this adds up to the need for us to take more personal responsibility for our food production. I think I'm starting to repeat myself - I'm sure I said this yesterday . . . So, I'll repeat myself again and say - go forth into your gardens and multiply! Put some seed or seedlings into the ground and start growing more of your own food. And while you're about it, teach your children how to grow food as well - their future may very well depend on it!

Don't mean to sound paranoid; I just think this is a very important issue. Who will feed us if we don't at least try to feed ourselves?

love and light
naturewitch

Our Bees, Our Food

Just saw a story on TV about the Varroa mite. Apparently, Australia is the only country free of the varroa mite, a little critter that affects bees. It rides in on the backs of bees into the colony (or hive) and infects the bee larvae with a virus, killing them.

The reason this is so important (apart from the damage to bees and our honey supply) is that bees are critical in the production of our food. Australia is now exporting bees overseas in a bid to help other countries maintain their food production.

Without bees, many plants won't be pollinated and will therefore not produce their fruit, which is what we eat. The only other option is hand pollination - not really possible on the scale of production of much of our food. Imagine a world without honey, stone fruits, apples, pears, melons, pumpkins, almonds and avocadoes, to name a few of the foods that could be affected.

This is yet another reason why it is so important for us all to take some responsibility for producing the food we eat. Every step you take to grow your own food will reduce your impact on the environment, as well as securing yours and your family's future.

So get into your gardens and plant some food, even if it is to put a few lettuce seedlings or herbs in a pot on your balcony. Every little bit helps and you will enjoy the freshness and vitality of your own produce. And the satisfaction of creating a meal from your own produce is unparalleled. Happy gardening!

love and light
naturewitch

Eating on a Budget

Following comments by The Crone and Molly regarding eating well on a budget, I thought I'd share an old-time family recipe with you - home made baked beans. These are infintely superior to the tinned ones and if you have a good supply of tomatoes on hand, pretty cheap to make.

Baked Beans
2.5 cups unsoaked dried navy beans or haricot beans
3.5 cups tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
0.5 cup tomato paste
0.25 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons oil
1 large, whole onion (peeled)
1 teaspoon dried sweet basil

Soak beans for a few hours or overnight and cook in salted water until tender. Drain the beans and put them in a large baking dish. Add the tomatoes, salt, tomato paste, sugar, honey and oil. Mix well. Place onion in the centre and bake, covered, in a moderate oven for 1 hour. Add basil, stir well and bake uncovered until the liquid is thickened.

This recipe will feed a tribe of six. Depending on how sweet you like your beans to be, you can add only the sugar or only the honey, rather than both. You can also add other things, if desired, like more onion or bacon or chorizos.

love and light
naturewitch

Death and Life in the Garden

I always feel a little sad in autumn when the plants that have served us so well with fresh food over the summer are dying back and need pulling out of the ground. It's a little like a friend dying.

So this afternoon I was clearing up number 1 tomato bed, lamenting the passing of my friends. But after adding cow manure, dolomite, mushroom compost and some trace elements, I was back into planting mode again and I put in some spring onion and leek seeds, with hopes of new life and a crop by spring.

Then I moved onto the next bed and removed some spent zucchinis and assorted weeds. After manuring the bed, I put in peas (red flowering and greenfeast), Asian vegetables (wong bok, pak choi and Senposai greens), kale and winter lettuce. Bare spots in a couple of other beds had broad beans planted. And the broad beans, red flowering peas and the greenfeast peas were all from seed I'd saved myself, so I'm feeling pretty happy.

When I was clearing out the tomato bed, a couple of the stakes broke off at ground level - they are quite a few years old and I guess they've finally rotted. I've been eyeing off some new ones at the hardware store - made from recycled plastic or something so they should last a lot longer - maybe an option for next spring?

Also, for all of you gardening women out there who wear tights/pantyhose/stockings in winter - if you should get a ladder in them, don't throw them out. Simply clean them and then put them aside for plant ties. I use them to tie up my tomatoes and they are fabulous - long lasting, soft and elastic. And you get to use them again and again until they disintegrate, which has to be better for our planet.

love and light
naturewitch

Tomato Sauce

I was still looking for things to do with tomatoes and I had several small Granny Smith apples from our tree, so I put them together and got tomato sauce.

Here's the recipe:

3.25kg ripe tomatoes
0.75kg apples
450ml apple cider vinegar
500g sugar
30ml veggie salt
15ml paprika
2.5ml teaspoons cayenne
20ml cornflour

Wash the tomatoes, chop them and place in a large pot. Wash, peel and dice the apples (retain peel and cores for apple jelly making, if the apples are not sprayed). Put apples in the pot with the tomatoes and place on low heat until everything is soft and pulpy. You shouldn't need to add water, as the tomatoes will be juicy enough.

When tomatoes and apples are cooked, leave to cool for a while. When cool enough to handle, press through a sieve. This will remove most of the seeds and the tomato skins. Make sure you push the apple through, as this adds a bit of bulk to the sauce.

Put the puree back into the pot (which you have rinsed) and add the vinegar, sugar, salt and spices. Bring to the boil, stirring frequently; cook until mixture has thickened a little. Combine cornflour with a small amount of water and stir into mixture. This will thicken it a little more. You may add more cornflour if you like particularly thick sauce.

When the sauce is cool enough to handle, pour into clean screw-top bottles, leaving a little room at the top of the bottles. Put lids on bottles and sterilise in the following manner:
Place filled bottles in a deep pan of hand-hot water (about 50C). Make sure the water does not cover any of the bottles. Put the lid on the pan and heat until simmering (about 88C). This should take about 30 minutes. Leave the bottles in the simmering water for another 30 minutes. When finished turn off the heat and let it cool down until you can safely take the bottles out. Make sure the lids are still well sealed. Label and store.

This a fairly basic recipe. You could experiment with adding different herbs and spices, like garlic, basil, chilli, etc.

You need to be very particular about sterilising the bottles of tomato sauce. This is because the main ingredient is tomatoes and they can result in botulism if not processed correctly. Having said that, this method is possibly a little bit of an overkill, but where my family's health is concerned, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

This amount of tomatoes makes about 3L of tomato sauce. That's probably more than a year's supply in our house . . .

love and light
naturewitch

Brahmi

At last, I seem to be able to keep a brahmi plant alive. My previous attempts have ended in premature death of the poor herbs, but this time things are looking good.

The trick to keeping Brahmi alive seems to be keeping it moist and protecting it from too much sun and also too much cold. Apparently, they like semi-shaded, moist conditions.

This Brahmi is in a 20cm pot and now that things have started to chill down here in Zone 2, I've brought it inside. Hopefully, it will survive the winter. I'll let you know its progress.

love and light
naturewitch

Moon Gardening for May 2008

The New Moon at 10:19pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Monday 5 May sees the start of the lunar planting cycle for this month. Leafy annuals (eg, broccoli, spinach, cabbages) can be sown and seedlings can be transplanted from 10:19am to 9:20pm Tuesday 6 May and from 9:03pm Thursday 8 May to 11:10pm Saturday 10 May.

The First Quarter will occur at 1:45pm Monday 12 May. Fruiting annuals (eg, beans, peas, corn) can be sown and seedlings can be transplanted between 1:46pm Thursday 15 May and 12:12am Tuesday 20 May.

The Full Moon will occur at 12:12pm on Tuesday 20 May, so remember to put your crystals out overnight to recharge. Given that the full moon is occurring near midday, I would probably choose the Monday night during the waxing moon, rather than the Tuesday night when the moon will have started to wane, to recharge your little friends.

Root crops (eg, carrots, beets, potatoes, turnips) can be sown between 1:55am Friday 23 May and 1:53pm Sunday 25 May.

The Last Quarter wil be at 12:57pm Wednesday 28 May and the New Moon will occur at 5:24am Wednesday 4 June. Between these times, weed your garden and make compost.

Happy gardening!

love and light
naturewitch