House Warming Party

Happy House Warming Chris and Marcia

Other People's Gardens, Helen & Gary

Helen's and Gary's Garden is a labour of love

Such a great garden that is brand new.  It was mostly set up at the end of 2012. year.  It meant some hard yakka from Gary and his dad, but now it is well and truly up and running.  The results have been amazing.  Helen says I am not even seeing it at its prime.  Before Christmas, they had a great crop of corn,  tomatoes and beetroot.  Once again, anyone who can raise a garden crop through the summer we have just had deserves a medal.

The driveway looks like a prizewinner from a magazine

Even doggie loves being in the garden

Helen has preserved some of these little beauties as a pickle. 

Yummy. I must get the recipe.

Look carefully for these beauties.  So fresh and tasty

This is very gourmet

 what a great crop of miniature capsicums.  

I have a recipe which I adapted from ABC Delicious Magazine, March 2013.  My versions uses Haloumi instead of a tuna/capers blend.

Preserved Haloumi Stuffed Capsicums

Makes 1 x 500ml Jar

This well keep in the fridge for 2 months. Bring the jar back to room temp. before serving.

Ingredients

 200gm Haloumi

300 to 500gm mini capsicums

1 clove garlic

2 thyme sprigs

1 rosemary sprig

1 - 2 cups olive oil

1/4 cup white vinegar

Method

Slice the tops off the capsicums and set aside.  .  Scoop out the cores and the seeds. 

Cut the haloumi into small cubes.

then press a piece of haloumi into each capsicum and press the top back on firmly.

Place the capsicums, garlic, thyme and rosemary into the jar.  

Pour over vinegar,

Pour enough oil to reach 1cm below the top of the jar.

Seal tightly with the lid.

Place a tea towel in the bottom of a stockpot, then place the jar on top.

Pour in enough water to cover the jar.  Place over medium heat and bring it to the boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 1hour 20 minutes, topping up the water to ensure the jar is always completely covered. 

Cool the jars slightly in the pan, then remove from the water -  the lid should be slightly concave in the centre.  This means the jar has an airtight seal.

Keep the preserved capsicums in the fridge until ready to serve.  

At the Gym

This is Barrie and Me at the gym.  Barrie has assembled a great hydroponic garden on his back garden wall.

Other people's gardens, Barry's Hydroponics

Anyone who can grow anything in S.E. Queensland this summer deserves a medal.

With the extraordinary weather here, firstly no rain to speak of until mid January, then EX T C Oswald which blew everything to smithereens and dumped an incredible amount of rain in a short space of time.  Then no sunshine in February, at all, it is a miracle we have any gardens left.  Certainly here at Domicilio Verde things are looking very crook indeed.  Just about cancelling all crop harvests until spring.  We are just battening down for a good spring.  For us that means adding goodies to the soil, like mushroom compost, dump mulch and worm wee, blood and bone.  We are trying to build up the soil food web and fortify the soil for a good spring.  Without the sun for nearly three weeks, soil temperature has dropped to winter levels - so tomatoes are staying small and green, The exceptions are the weeds.  The wandering Jew,  the sticky chickweed, cobbler's peg seedlings and kikuyu lawn are loving the conditions.
This post is all about the triumphs of others.  Barry, Helen and Deanne

  

Barrie's Hydroponic Setup  -  Clever

Thanks for letting me share this on the blog, Barry.  Here is Barrie's Hydroponic arrangement.  Minimum space required, just a fence.  It means that people with zero back yard can grow good stuff.  It also means that some of  the nasties are avoided.  These include soil borne pests, like nematodes and the impact of extreme weather on soil is also minimised.  Enough chat.  A picture says a thousand words.

Barrie says there is enough sunlight, even though it is against the wall

A simple loop of water.  This shows the water leaving the growing pipe

Here is the pump which returns the water to the start of the growing pipe.

Very clever.