Ain’t it Grand!

Nature never fails to delight and surprise. You can’t be in a rush though, you need to have time to stop and really look.

What develops after the flowers is also worthy of closer inspection.

Our Magnolia grandiflora- Kay Parris which was planted in 2012 has given us many flowers this season and more to come.

Just in the Nick of Time

If I don’t hurry up and put up a blog I will not have one post for 2020.

Kreative Kids

On the 1st July Aly helped me to cook sweet treats for a catering gig for the MX-5 Club AGM. Two days later I helped Alex make drawstring fabric bags for gaming controllers, ready for his pop up shop at AvCon on the weekend.

So many Shallots

I was absolutely delighted with the quality and quantity of shallots I harvested this year.

Last year weeds took a hold and smothered most of the crop. I set aside the best bulbs for this year’s crop and vowed to be more diligent.

Diligence paid off and I have plenty of bulbs to eat and replant for next season. I hung big bunches from the BBQ roof to dry off ready for storing.

Present-ing: One gift leads to another

Aly took me to Murray Bridge for brunch for my birthday and gave me some money to spend either in the gift shop at The Davery or at Serenity Nursery, where we headed next. I can’t resist an opportunity at a nursery so came home with both male and female kiwi fruit vines.

With Christmas just around the corner I knew that a request for an Arch might be well received by the metal worker in the family, and indeed it was.

Many a design was considered and complexity scaled down. Rod was keen to incorporate a theme so elongated diamonds were featured to match in with the pyramids he made me for the tay and Boysen berries.

The kiwi fruit vines were planted in November with temporary support until after Christmas Day. As soon as the Arch was moved into position the twining began in earnest with Rod helping the vine decide where to hang on.

Berry Good Jam

The blackberry season is upon us and the most satisfying realisation is that the canes that we have growing on our trellis in the potager is producing bigger fruit and more of it than at the bottom of the hill where they are growing wild.

9 jars of pure berries, no plums in this batch. The berries are 3/4 blackberries and the remaining 1/4 tayberry and boysenberry frozen from the end of last year. 

If you are reading this post you can qualify for your very own jar of ASHWELL BERRY JAM - 6 Feb ‘19!

Hey Pesto!

Home grown Basil and home grown garlic team with pine nuts, freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a splash of home grown lemon juice. I used cashews instead of pine nuts for the jar on the left. Same quantities for each jar but the cashew mix is definitely drier and lighter in colour. I have placed some of the pine nut pesto in IceCube trays to freeze for an extended pesto season.