One of the things I like about planting advanced seedlings is the instant gratification of it. This is the garden bed I planted out today – advanced seedlings of lettuce, raddichio, parsley, chinese cabbages, cauliflowers, leeks, silver beet, spinach, celery, red cabbage, broccoli, kailan, plus some parsnips, broad beans, peas, and snow peas.
It’s the southern hemisphere Halloween, and I totally get it why Halloween features pumpkin lamps. Halloween is the final harvest festival, and marks the start of the season of gathering in – firewood, mulch, water, pumpkins, passata, preserves, warm clothes, books, tribe and wisdom.
I had two recipe successes at the beach, and this is the other one. I live with a bloke whose idea of bliss is standing thigh deep in ocean on an overcast day using all the sensory skills of a hunter. We were at a good fishing beach, there was a nice east coast low making perfect conditions, he spent many hours at it. And still, we ended up at…
I make this the first time on holiday at the beach – overripe bananas, sourdough starter, flour and a little salt and that’s all. And it was spectacularly good. In the weeks since, I’ve tried adding kibble and adding nuts and adding cinnamon and nothing has come near that perfect banana-y but not overly sweet crusty and chewy bread, toasted with butter and nothing else. Simple and divine. Overcomplication is…
This is a very fast, healthy, easy, seasonal, meal in a bowl. It will generously serve two on its own, or four as a main side dish. The key ingredient, besides the pumpkin, is a Moroccan spice mix.
The system is broken. Absolutely buggered. Two bit tin-pot companies with absentee directors and no money are allowed to take out exploration licenses over vast areas of land that they don’t own, and have no sense of responsibility for. Doesn’t matter if it is prime agricultural or watershed or rural residential or ecologically significant or if the owner disagrees.
Most times I do my picking walk first thing in the morning before breakfast. It usually takes about half an hour, and its the most productive garden work I do. I walk with a bucket and a basket.
This year, I’m going to grow enough onions. I’ve never yet grown enough onions. I’ve got close-ish, with leeks and spring onions and chives as the support team, but never quite enough to last the whole year.
This time of year in this part of the world (northern NSW), fruiting annuals are all a gamble. I might just squeeze in another round of the summer annuals, especially the faster ones like zucchini and squash and cucumbers and beans. My site is pretty well frost free and with luck they’ll bear into June, but an early cold snap will zap them just as the first fruits are ready…
In my kitchen is …