In my kitchen is a box of vegies that I’ve packed to send to the Bentley CSG blockade vigil. A small group of hardy souls are maintaining a vigil there, so as to be able to let us all know when we’re needed to stop the drill rig. It means all the rest of the 90% of the region’s population who oppose gas mining can get on with their lives meanwhile. It’s tedious work, just watching a gateway and I thank them for being willing to do it. Metgasco is imposing a huge cost on us all in making us do this – we have way better things to do than defend against looters.
In my kitchen is a big bowl of mixed tomatoes – cherries, Principe Borghese grapes, yellow cherries, and Yugoslavs. I’ve had a bowl of tomatoes on the bench for several months now. I’m lucky that there are some tomatoes in my garden most of the year, but this late summer peak of the season is such luxurious excess!
In my kitchen are this year’s olives, now in their brine solution for the next three months. We still have four big jars of last year’s olives left and they are perfect for eating now after three months in brine then nine months marinating in oil and spices. This year I held my nerve a little longer and we have more black than green ones so I’m very happy!
In my kitchen is a bowl of persimmons. There were more but my partner loves them. I thought for a bit too long about what I could make with them and now there are so few left that I don’t have to think any more.
In my kitchen are some pie dishes full of shelled beans drying. We’re at the stage in the year now when the bean jars start to fill up. The white ones are Blue Lakes, the mottled ones are Rattlesnakes, the brown ones are Purple Kings, and the black ones are Turtle Beans. All except for the turtles are tall climbers that we’ve been eating as green beans up till now, but now we can’t keep up so I let them mature, shell and dry them, and store them to cook over winter.
And in my kitchen is a sunflower in a vase, just for making me happy every time I look at it.
I love seeing what’s happening in others’ kitchens. Head over to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for the list.
I envy you the tomatoes. We’re very hit and miss on ripening tomatoes here, depending on the individual year’s weather. Some years are fine but most are a disappointment.
As for olives! How wonderful to have so many jars and the satisfaction that you grew, harvested, and preserved them yourselves. I’m sure they taste better for that.
Thank you for sharing.
I also ebvy your tomato crop. Our tomatoes coped with two heatwaves (up to 46 degrees!), but couldn’t deal with the 75mm rain that flooded the garden on Valentine’s Day. They all split 🙁 Still, the rainwater tanks filled up 🙂
Goodness, how big a vase did you need for a sunflower? 🙂 I’m not a fan of persimmons, but the neighbour has a tree which is routinely decimated by his flock of rainbow lorikeets. Your tomatoes are looking very fine – we’re still enjoying the yellow cherries you sent us as seed, although now they appear to have mutated a bit into bulbous knobbly (but still delicious) tomatoes. And is that a bishops crown chilli I spy in your bowl? Our plant has been producing well too! 🙂
Pat, I thank my lucky stars at least once a day. For tomatoes and olives and everything else. I do know how lucky I am. Rachel, I envy your rain – I’d trade split tomatoes for full tanks! But we are getting some rain now, thank goodness. And Celia, yes, that’s a bishop’s crown. They are still doing well though the birds have discovered them too. I’m not much of a persimmon fan but Lewie is. Apparently you have to let them get very ripe, but then they feel a bit soft ans squooshy to me.
Linda, I love reading your garden and produce bits, and the recipies. It keeps me up-to-date with what I should be doing. In May I stared in a new home with ground so hard I couldn’t dig it so have made no-dig gardens on straw etc. In the short time I have been here I have been very happy with the produce with tomatoes,potatoes,sweet corn, moth-eaten cabbages,rocket,spinach, kale, cucumbers that keep coming and the best crop of eggplants ever and now beans.
Thank you for writing Permaculture for the Home Garden.
And I love the sunflower.
PS I support you in your anti coal seam gas stand. I was in the protesters here in Fullerton Cove. Keep feeding them
Wow, so many good things in your kitchen again, Linda. Our tomatoes fried on the vine this year, so I’m envious of yours. And good on for supporting the anti CSG thing. I still can’t believe the government allows this!
Keep up the good work on the blockade.
Oh look at your lovely winter beans! It’s so nice to have some on the shelf isn’t it!