Hmm. we're out of cap, so this is at slow-speed, but we only have to survive it until Monday - not worth increasing (and paying for it) now. I'm hoping to go to sea tomorrow, Barbs being well enough to leave home alone. Norm went off and set a longline and got a big snapper, and a big gummy on Wednesday, as well as - on lures some Aussie salmon, some pike and 'yellowtail' which could either be yellowtail kingfish Seriola lalandi or Yellowtain scad - Trachurus novaezelandiae (I may not have spelled these right - it's been a long time OK, and looking up stuff right now is hard. Both edible, one very much more so.
Our fish stocks are a bit depleted, so I really would love to add some, and a change is always good. So lets hope for some decent weather.
On other news the zucchini avalanche continues to mount. If all the tomatoes come through, then we will drown in tomatoes, but at least they can be dried and preserved and are useful. We've only got a few coming through now, and disaster could strike. Potatoes I have so far harvested around 20 Kg, maybe a bit more, and probably have about that in the ground again, and am about to start another planting. Carrots are getting to the 'too big I need to plant more', 1 carrot did our carrot salad tonight. I have lots of spring onions and some leeks coming through to make up for my feeble onion crop, Next year I need to quintuple the onion planting. The success from seed was rubbish though, and almost all of these were grown from seedlings. On for me exciting news, the one melon plant looks like it might do something really weird - have melons. I have grown two melons and watermelon since I've been been here - all together about boule ball for watermelon, and small lady's fists for the melons. Not much of a yield, but when you eat what you grow, these become very special. And then because they're seasonal, for some stuff you get VERY sick of it. Zucchini, the monster most people fear to name...
There's sweetcorn coming, green beans, and possibly some capsicums, and parsnips, oysterplant, and a selection of squashes and pumpkins, gerkin-cuckes to pickle, and of course sliverbeet, the reliable one. Beets too, but I need to plant more rows. There are more Cape gooseberries to harvest and jam... I need another life to garden, one to fish and one to shoot, and another to cook, and about 3 to write...
Yes, the easy life.
Never enough canned tomato of one form or anther. Glad the oatmeal worked out, seems like a free bit of gleaning. IIRC correctly a darn nice food for brekkie with a bit of butter and some bacon fat. But that's me...the wife prefers honey and chopped fruit.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Barbs is doing well. Time for her to stop giving scares I reckon. :)
Meanwhile the wife is busy smashing bits of the house, and being glad of it. i, myself...keep mum. As is wise.
I do not prefer honey and chopped fruit! I was the one eating my oatmeal plain - you were the one adding honey to it!
DeleteIf you're worried about seeds, you could always try the Diggers Club (http://diggers.com.au), they have a lot of Heirloom vegetables. Some really interesting strains, and a lot are high volume producers.
ReplyDelete"Yes, the easy life."... Canning, preserving, making jams, relish, chutney, etc and drying fruit, it's a lot of hard work. more than people think.
Hi Dave, I have read your blog with great interest over the last day. I had an interesting conversation with a real estate agent on Flinders who said that Emita is 3-4 degrees warmer in winter than Lady Baron (where I was looking at a block). What do you think?
ReplyDeleteHi Dave, first, I can't wait for more dog & dragon.
ReplyDeleteSecond, good move going to Flinders island.
Third, we lived for many years out of our vegetable garden in SA (South Australia, not Africa)
Some random, unasked for advice:
Try to get some (Egyptian) Tree Onions. If they do well, you will always have onions.
The best place to get your vegetable seed is a good supermarket. (when you are near one, i know...)
Buy good tomatoes, capsicums, chilies, melons, pumpkins, and save the seed.
Onions can be restarted and brought up to seed.
Look for displays of unusual potatoes to plant.
To save tomato seed, spread seed & pulp on paper towels, spread seed out and allow to dry. Then cut up with scissors to plant, paper and all.
Vegetable Spaghetti is good value.
We might run into you one day... (we have a block at Ansons Bay, and we will be exploring Tasmania when we come back to Oz.)
Best of luck
B.E.