what I'm cooking....

 What I'm cooking right now...

I've made this dish a few times over the last few weeks and packaged it into the freezer for healthy lunches for Campbell and myself at work.

Its super easy, fresh and yum!

All it is diced chicken breast, browned off with some garlic, ginger, fresh chilli and a tablespoon of kasoundi add sliced red onion, mushrooms, red capsicum, yellow capsicum/chillies, zuchini, coriander, spinach leaves and a tin of tomatoes, . Once the chicken is browned add the spices, then heat through then add all the vegies and tomatoes and cook until vegies are just a litle soft. Its really easy! Freezes well for reheating too!

The timber fruit boxes are our next project... operation new vegie garden... more on that soon. 

Soil testing

When we fist moved here 4 years ago I turned the grass out the front inot a bvegie garden, 2 large beds. I had much success the first 2 years but the second year I also had many plants stolen, I grew from seed I had collected from the first year, raised my tomato plants up to a good size just for osmeone to come over night 2 times and dig them all out! It was disheartening.

Then last year I was going to just grow things peopel might beless likely to steal (lettuce/zuchini/herbs etc) but NOTHING would grow!
My father in law had brought in a ute full of soil and added it at the start of the season. I was suss about it as had no idea where it was from etc.

well ever since added that soil NOTHING Has ever grown out the front. the grass wont even grow back. even weeds struggle on the soil!

So this year I turned the soil added loads of compost and organic matter, then planted in piles of compost on top of all that turned soil. At first things grew well.

then they have now turned to this


Yellowed stunted unhealthy looking plants!

So I finally did what I should have done ages ago... I bought a soil test.
The girls had been using soil tests at their school as they are about to plant a vegie garden at school. So I handed the test to them and let them test for me.


This reading of 6 is from the compost on top that I planted directly in.
dig just a tiny bit deeper and the soil is VERY acidic. a reading of 4and 1/2 no good!

well this does explain what I kind of already knew. I thinnk it might be a failed garden this year. I will attempt to improve the soil but have a feeling it really is going to need to have the top 10-20cms of soil removed and to start afresh. we'll see... any ideas?

so much more relaxed!

ahhhhh


I am sooooo pleased xmas has finally passed!

I have some time off work (ok I still have a little work but nothing like the pre xmas pressure!) and have been potteirng in the garden, spedning time wiht the kids and animals. making plans (like my list) and just feeling oh so much more relaxed!

I must get ut and get more garden photos! I did some more planting this week. Transplanted a heap of silverbeet that I planted from seed a while ago. I also planted more seed of radish, corn, and coriander a day or so ago.

I am going to fence off two more of the garden beds as the chooks are grabbing the tomatoes the moment they start to turn red at all and thats just not on :)
The rabbits have gutted one garden bed and I have added heaps of their litter waste to it so will do some planting in that soon and then start to prepare the front beds to attempt some sort of winter garden.

I havent grown a winter vegie garden before. Being in Melbourne its always a bit colder so more difficult. This year I am going to try and start a bit earlier in the hope of getting it better established!

On a side note, I have many new plans for my photography bsuiness in the coming new year. I am going to expand into pet photography (so if you are in melb and have a pet you'd like done, send me a message at pets at susandarcy.com.au as I need a few to do for free or cheap to add to the port folio! I am after a variety of pets, not just your standard dogs and cats!)

Also business wise I am really going to push the 'green' message more in the coming year through my business. So if you have a local product or service that falls in any way under the 'green' banner (I'm pretty open) then again send me an email to green at susandarcy.com.au so we can discuss some promo of your product/service!

I think I might go bask in the glorious sunshine now! its so nice to be on holidays!

Far out!

I think I have to accept i wont be able to keep up wiht blogging land until I have finished all my xmas rush work for my business! I just havent had time to update.

There has been lots going on.

We have the chooks, 2 to start with,m they have been named Belle and Marg. They are fab! They are laying nicely. The brown one hadnt laid any eggs at the past house for quite a while so we are pleased she is nowlaying again for us. They seem quite content though, they have come form living in a an aviary where they didnt get out in the yard mucvh at all to having a huge space that is all theirs! We've left the gate open for them to come out further into the yard but they are funny, they stick their beaks out and look then go scurrying back to their own yard!

am loving the eggs they are sooooo deliscious!

Vegie gardens are booming, picked my first tomatoes this week, jsuta few grape type cherry ones. all the plants have lots of fruit on them now and I put in some more seedlings a week or two ago. Also picking zuchini pretty regularly and ofcourse lettuce has been being picked for a while. My cucmbers have stunted and are going nowhere, might try some seedlings and see if they growe!

I had to fence of one of the garden beds as the rabbits were enjoying it a little too much. it has recovered well and is now thriving.

Christmas! My gosh when did it come round so soon!

I am so disorganised!
We are going easy on the presents for the kids thisyear. Both my girls want digital cameras. I picked up[ a bargain wiht one today and got a 7.1 mp for $115 as it was the shop stock one! Now to hunt for one for the other! I also got them high school musical on ice tickets as they are huge fans of the show. other than that they will get a couple of little stocking fillers and thats it. Liam I have no idea! I had some stuff picked out on laybuy will have to go check what it is. He is right into pirates and anything to do with sport and cars so he is pretty easy.

I hosted our big family xmas do here last week with all the cousins, aunts uncles etc and we do a zkris kringe. i gave some knitted dish clothes i made and a bottle of wine for mine. Would love to make more xmas presents but honestly dont think I have a lot of time left@!

anyway I havent eaten tea and am hungry! Promise to come back some times soon and post photos of the chooks!

vegie garden and thinking of going vegetarian.

Many years ago I used to be vegetarian. I made sure I ate a balance of foods to try to make sure I got the vitamins needed. I obviously lacked in something though as I was comepeting in competitive sport and a few times I passed out after competing! Not good. I also found I craved steak, yes bad, but its always been a food i really love. I could live without all other meat happily if i could eat steak occasionally.

So anyway. Lately we have been making more and more vegetarian meals. Joey and I eat out for lunch once or twice a week and we almost always choose vegetarian options now. We found a fab little cafe in upper ferntree gully called Tastee Az that has the most yummy vegetarian meals (they serve meals with meat also) and we now go once a week to make our way through there very tastee menu! I highly recommend anyone in the area to go and eat there you won't be disappointed, plus the food is reasonably priced.

So in all this I have been thinking about taking the step back to being vegetarian once again. For me it would be primarily for health reasons, secondly for the environment and thirdly for the animals. Is it unethical if I chose to eat meat on the rare occasion? like when at visitors who just find it too hard? at social events when there is no other option? and once in a while to curb my steak cravings? Give me your thoughts :)

Now on to a yummy recipe.
I made a vegie quiche this week which was soooo yummy!

Here is the easy easy recipe I did this time.

I used a square baking tin.
Put down a sheet of puff pastry.
then layered in the cut up vegies
Tomato
mushroom
silverbeet
red onion
red capsicum

then some crumbled marinated fetta

then relayered the vegies again
then topped with more marinated fetta and some asparagus and grated cheese.

then mixed 4 eggs with a little milk and cracked black pepper and poured over the top.
bake in the oven til risen and firm and brown.

then eat!!!

It was really yummy!

This is it with just the vegies layered in. I got busy and forgot to photograph the rest!


the garden is booming along out the back. I need to retie the tomatoes and transplant a few of them.
I posted apic just after planting about 2 motnhs ago, they sure are doing well here!


Int he pic above you can see the main tomato bed at the front which also has some basil, chilli and parsley in it. All growing well.
Behind that is a bed with more chilli, spring onions, cucumbers, beans and some lettuce. also tomatoes that have sprouted from previous years seed in the soil that I need to transplant this weekend.

to the left of the picture not in the built up beds I have zuchini growing and pumpkin and parsley and mint. to the right I have strawberries and another pumpkin (the pumpkin is a smaller variety that wont take over the garden hopefully! Its already flowering too.)

the back bed is the main lettuce bed which also has carrot and parsnip growing now and more silverbeet and radishes.

I'm really disappointed about the front beds, everythign is still not growing and just dying off :( I figure I am just going ot kep adding to the soil and keep trying. I probably should buy and do a ph test to see what is up with it.

Oh I picked and ate a snow pea yesterday. I was lamely excited by it :) pity the plant is out the front and joining the others in dying off so not sure if I will get much more thsan the one pea off it!

echo echo echo.......

Yes yes I'm here :)

Thanks for the messages asking after me :)

The biggest reason for my absence in posting is that this time of year is the busiest for me business wise. I am behind business wise also which isn't at all good. Everyone wants photos in time for xmas, every year I say I will organise it better and havent managed yet again. I will rectify it though and I will get on top. Plus I am shutting up shop for 6-8 weeks over december/Jan to be ready to start afresh all organised in the new year.

Now lets see, other than work.

Queensland:
It was really great! I worked but most of my jobs finished by 10am so I had the days to explore. I drove all along the coast (from Brisbane down the gold coast) and also drove inland and through the part of the hinterlands and Mt Tambourine. I loved tamborine it was gogeous!
I sipped wine with new friends often and ate fabulous often too and I made the most of my child free time but just enjoying the peace.
Poor Husband at home ended up haivng to deal with 2 sick kids with gastro! Oh well, he definitely had a new appreciation for me once I got home!

The Garden:
Out the back is growing great! My Tomatoes are thriving, I also have them self sprouting everywhere form lasts years crops so have transplanted some and given some away.
One chilli plant died but the other 2 are going really well. zuchini, pumpkin, cucumbers, beans, lettuces are all going great. some of the capsicums are thriving too.
Out the front is a different story.
I think the soil sucks! I used mostly a heap of dirt we got from someone who mulched a tree. The father in law brought it home and I didnt really want it at the time but hoped it would be OK. I added manure and compost and blood and bone to it but nothing wants to grow in it.
Everythign is turning yellow and dying and just stunted in growth. I am now adding lots of the animal litter to itin the hope it improves in time. i am going to transplant heaps of the self seeded tomatoes to it and just see what happens. I focused more out the back this year anyway.
Oh my potatoes out the back are booming too as is my passionfruit. I have recently planted a heap of seed too - radishes, silverbeet, spring onion, parsnip, carots and some lettuce out the back beds too and they have all sprouted now.
My lemon tree seems to have coped so far wiht the heavy prune I gave it and is starting to show alot of new growth. I pile most of the animal hay and litter under it all the time too so maybe thats helped.
I reconnected the hose fomr the washing machine this week too as the grass is already starting to really brown and die, earlier this year!

The house:
is CHAOS!!!!!!
Because I am snowed under wiht work the house has been sorely nelgected!!!! I just aim for the bare basics each day and am happy if that gets done. I think I might to get osme paid help in to get back on top :(

The Kids:
are all great!

The animals:
are all growing! Stella the rabbit is gorgeous. she free roams out the back now as well as the house. she eats form the vegie garden but doesnt demolish it, probably because there is plenty there. The guinea pigs are all gettign bigger and healthier.
The dog is the same old same old. actually we realised she is getting old! she is about 13 or so now!

The worm farm:
takes care of itself mostly :) I just add every few days and they are multiplying well now!

Op shopping:
I still go most weeks, if not more than once a week. Its my release! I've picked up loads of great books and stuff for the kids. When i have more tiem I'll start reposting my bargains!

Oh I am still knitting, still basically, nothign fancy but i am building a collection of dish cloths now and I find it really relaxing!

NEWS!
After much discussion we are seriously considering selling in a year or so and moving into the Dandenongs! very exciting!

I am sure there is heaps I have forgotten but will try to get back to more photos and updates :)

Just so you have at least one photo here is my Bunny Stella, taken this morning in one of the vegie gardens.
isnt she pretty :)

Knitting, gardening and more new pets!

I haven't been a very good blogger recently!
I've been a bit flat emotionally, need to see the doc to discuss my meds. But then again it is also that time of the month so maybe thats all it is.

I have been busy again though and have lots to update on!

The wrom farm is coming along well. I havent set up the second one yet but will soon. I give the worms food every few days to once a week and they are getting it though most of it now. You can see a mouldy apple in there the kids add to it sometimes too!


I planted tomato plants and some basil and chilli and a mini capsicum in the front bed of the new beds. Yes they are bought seedlings, I am going to grow more by seed though too, we just eat loads of tomatoes in the summer season and I magaed to grab quite a few different varieties including some heirloom toms and some diggers toms as seedlings.
My parsely self seeds each year and i always have an abundance with our new animal friends enjying it I have made sure i am transplanting the constantly emerging seedlings as they grow so we have an even more plentiful supply.
The radished are coming up more each day!
The snow peas are coming along very very nicely.
This is the potato bed and I also planted parsnip seed at the far end.
Last weekend the girls and I went to the market shopping for new pencils and a visual diary for them to make into their 'nature diary'
Each of them decorated their books and are journelling some of the things we are gorwing, writing about our pets and writing about any projects we do.
This week are growing carrot tops!



and here is my beautiful bunny Stella again. She has settled so well into our lives. we love her dearly :) She is a indoor house bunny mostly though she has a run outside she goes int for some sunshine and grass munching.
nibbling parsely leaves, one of her fav snacks!
and yes I am a sucker! We have 2 more new additions ot the house!
Meet 'Puss'
and 'Boots'

our darling new guinea pigs. Puss is just 5 weeks old and Boots is 12 weeks old.
The kids adore them and they are much more kid friendly than the rabbit so Stella is happier too :)
Plus I have so much more animal manure and hay for the compost and garden beds now.
I found a good cheaper produce store yesterday too and I will be growing a lot of their food for them.

Oh and my sugar n spice yarn came in so am part way through knitting my first dishcloth!

Busy

Not much of an update.
Been busy working. Built a mini run for Stella, who bny the way is slotting nicely into the family. I think she may be living indoors a fair amount in the long run, just have to work out living arrangmenets :) She now comes to us rather than running away and will be hand fed too now. She loves being outside in her run and burows in the hay and jumps about.

Garden news:
the cucmbers in the hot house have finally sprouted!
the radishes out the front have sprouted too.
the snow peas are growing rapidly now out the fornt too.
I dug into all the vegie beds a heap of horse manure today, fun smelly stuff!
I planted out a diggers tomato seedling too. It had been in the hot house but weas time to move it as t was getting too big for its little pot.

Still waiting my yarn delivery to start knitting my dishclothes!

Bargains

I've been out op shopping a few times over the last few weeks and haven't shown much of what I have bought in here!

Yesterday I went again (well I was in Oakleigh anyway so figured why not) I picked up this wonderful blue bag. It is in a gorgeous material and is a little bit padded. it is now my knitting bag!
See my attempt at knitting. this isn't anything. I bought two balls of wool form a local op shop for 20 cents each for me to practise on so am just knitting them out and will give to the girls for their dolls for blankets. I am also keeping my eye out for knitting needles now at op shops.

I just ordered some cotton to knit some dishcloths with from natty yarns
in 3 different lots of colours. these are some outfits I bought last week at the op shop. a gorgeous pink and cream paisley country road skirt for my middle daughter, and a gorgeous dress each for the girls.
I have also been collecting books. To list them all ouldbe crazy as i have bought os many. These 2 were yesterdays finds.


Today I also planted silverbeet seed in the front garden bed, along with some cucumber seed and radish seeds.

The carrots have now sprouted out the fornt also, so its all comign along nicely. I toasted one lot of seedlings in the hot house as I forgot to water them over 2 very warm days! I'm leaving them in there but will do another few trays of the same tpyes of seeds this week.

Oh and also its one month today since I quit smoking! yay for me :)

planting

No photos today but we did plant out all the potatoes, also a passion fruit down the side right past the potatoes and past the fuschia tree.

Feeling quite knackered after yesterday.

Oh one thing. I bougth osme knitting needles and wool and am going ot give knitting a go. i visted my younger sister today and she's been knitting and she leant me a booklet on howe to get started, she reckons its easdy. I havent knitted for a very very long time so we'll see!

ouch

My poor aching arms.
We had another working bee here today wiht the neighbours.
We weeded and dug the entire side of the house (see previous pictures from older post to see how weedy it was)
This is where the potatoes will be grown. (between the tank and fence)

Huge job here, dug and turned all of the soil, removed all the weeds and transplanted all the self seeded seedlings to the bed in the back.
Still more work to do but definitely getting there!
My sprouted snow peas out the fornt.

The transplanted lettuces from the part where we dug the 2 new beds.
The silverbeet will most likely go to seed now which is a good hting.
I am so so sore. and I still have a game of netball to go play!

woohoo

We have growth!!!

In the little hot house the silverbeet has sprouted! I opened it up to water them and all of the silverbeet is poking through! The snow peas I planted in the front garden are also sprouting!

So exciting!

busy busy.

I haven't posted an update all weekend!
I'll try to keep it brief.
Saturday:
was spent doing a lot of cleaning round the house, a bit of catching up. No work in the garden, just lots of sorting and tidying inside. Joey also took the kids to see the Simpsons movie and I got a few hours peace!
Sunday:
More cleaning was done (some days it feels like it is never ending!) then it was out into the garden!
The kids helped build one of the top vegie beds and turn the dirt.
I then emptied the compost and moved it and gave it a good turning as I refilled it. i also was able to get quite a few buckets of it to use on the garden beds. I then trimmed the lemon tree, it has some strange growth happening, bulbous bits? might have to look it up and see if its something bad or not!
Here are the girls hard at work.


Jaime loves helping in the garden and seeing what friends she can find.


My little man and his cheesy grin, gone are the days of natural images of him, you have to fast or you get the cheese!Monday:
Went op shopping with my sister. Got loads of great buys. Havent taken pictures but got loads of books, some parenting ones, some cooking, some gardening. Got some great outfits for the girls, skirts and dresses. I got myself a new handbag (will take a photo during the week and post it) I also went shopping for an outfit for jaime for book week parade.
I picked up some seed potato too for planting, 1 kilo of it. Now need to get that bed ready down the side of the house.

Today: The girls had a bookweek dress up day at school today. They had to choose a character form a book and dress like them.
My eldest Tiahna, dressed as a netballer as she is reading the 'netball diary' and jaime dressed as 'Holly Hobbie'
Jaime's book is actually my book form when i was a child, It was one of my favs. I still adore the illustrations in it.
with her teacher who was dressed as 'puss in boots'


I so want to learn how to sew. We had to buy a hat for Jaime as I can't sew so couldn't make her abonnet. The apron and dress we scored dirt cheap at the op shop though.

First planting!

Today we did our first planting!

Remember I mentoned the wood structure thing i picked up from the side of the road? well today I got round to fixing it up, covering it etc so that my seedlings have a safer. hopefully warmer home to start them off!

Here is the structure below hoked up to the wall so i can get in easily underneath.

Front on lifted up.
Inspired by Ali of Our Patch I cut up a used plastic milk bottle to make some plant labels. I used collected egg cartons for the punnets for the seeds and we made a seed mix from sand, potting mix and compost. I planted seeds for capsicums, cucumbers and silverbeet today. I also bought a seedling of a blck russian tomato. I have tried growing these the last 2 years wihtout success. The first year it was stolen form my yard and last year it met an early death by the whipper snipper.
The end product down in place. I have plenty of room int heir for seedlings and some plants too and its in a good spot to get sun. My original plan for it was to be a chook tractor but it can always be converted to one if this fails and we want to reuse it :)
My eldest is at Rye for the night wiht some cousins and her two grandpas. So it was just these two today. they were so good and helpful really. They spent loads of time outdoors today and even when the rain didnt bring them in!

Saturday

On Saturdays I usually work, its the nature of my job, weekend work. For those that don't know I am a photographer, I photograph pregnant women, newborns, children families etc. I specialise in black and white and used to be a darkroom junkie, but have now entered the digital age.
So because I photograph children and families I often work weekends. The great thing about working for myself and the type of job i have means I am not usually gone long when I do go to a shoot and I do only do 3 shoots on average a week so I can be around at home more and be there for the kids etc.

So yes when I have a complete weekend off it is special, so today i decided to NOT sit inside all day!

This morning we all went down and watched my daughter play netball, then afterwards we participated in some local tree planting!
They were planting at the reserve next to netball so we stayed and planted for an hour and grabbed some great info on the local environmental group and also on more plantings in the coming weeks that we will go along and help out on.

Then I dropped everyone off at home and I ducked over to pick up some match box cars that had been offered up on Freecycle. Freecycle is great. I wouldn't have bothered with these cars if they weren't in my same suburb , just round the corner and my son is car crazy so he was most impressed!





Once home I took the kids out the front and let the other half sleep as he is working night shift tonight, we got stuck right into shovelling all the dirt onto the main two front beds. (ignore the smaller ones, that was my 3 year olds help, they need completely reshaping and redoing, but hey he tried to help!) we then added some blood and bone and some organic fertiliser and mixed it all in. Have to get some manure to ad to it then mix that in then lay a nice thick bed of straw over the top then we can think about planting!!



My girls, such pretty little sweet things they are!