Sunday, May 31, 2009

Rain, rain, rain and more rain

I am feeling like the weather...uninspired and depressed! I found a whole lot of organic winter veg seedlings to plant on Friday and it's been raining every since so haven't been able to get into the garden...

So instead I have:

Worked on my websites
Made the weeks dog food
Made dog biscuits
Made choc chip cookies with the girls
Made fresh taglietelle for supper with a veggie sauce
Done the weeks school planning
Washed dishes and more dishes



Now I am sitting here with a cookie and a cup of Rooibos...I suppose all in all it's a productive day...but really wanted to get those seedlings planted!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Indoor Seedlings

With the weather turning cold and all the rain and wind that we have had, I have had to bring my seedlings inside.

We have been nuturing cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower seeds for a few weeks and they are starting to look quite good.

Two years ago my son made a seed germinator hotbox for a science experiment. (For homeschoolers reading this blog, it was from Jeannie Fulbright Botany Course.) We stored it away when the experiment was over and haul it out every now and again.



I have always wanted to grow asparagus but have not found seedlings to plant. About 3 weeks ago I found a packet of asparagus seeds and sowed them into trays and placed them in the hot box...this is what they look like now:





The thing with asparagus is that thet take up to 3 years to yield from seed...so we are in for a loooong wait!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Precious Baby Lamb

When I was a kid my mom had a cat. She was this big fat tortoise shell feline. Topsy was given preference in everything! If she was on a chair we had to find another! My mom treated her so special that she eventually got the nickname "Precious Baby Lamb".

I swore as a kid I would never do that to a pet...oh dear, never say never! About 3 years ago we rescued a puppy from the side of the road. She had mange and fleas for eyebrows and was way to young to be away from her mum.

This pup crawled into everyone's hearts and yes, she is now known in our home as Precious Baby Lamb!!!




Yesterday we made some dog biscuits for the dogs...of course there were special shapes for PBL aka Lucky.

I got my recipe from http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/ which is:

"Homemade dog biscuits/treats
2 cups water mixed with 2 tablespoons Vegemite OR two cups beef or chicken stock. This can be homemade or from stock powder.
1 cup bread or plain/all-purpose flour
2 cups wholemeal or rye flour
1 cup rolled oats or instant oats
½ cup powdered milk
1 teaspoon yeast

If you want to add Omega 3, add 2 teaspoons of flax seed oil or emu oil to the mix.

Please note: The biscuits will get their flavour from the liquid you use. If your dog likes vegemite, use that, if your dog likes beef or chicken, use the stock option."



I made the dough in my faithful breadmachine and baked them then let them dry out in the oven for an hour. The dogs loved them!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

No more plastic bags

A while back I started buying material bags to replace plastic grocery bags. The only thing we actually used the last few plastic bags was to pick up dog poop and throw it in the bin.

So when the plastic bags ran out I needed to make another plan to dispose of the stuff!

We installed our "doggie-loo" two weeks ago and it seems to be able to handle the poop quite well and its simple and easy to use and no more plastic bags full of the foul stuff lie in our bin for weekly collection.

Basically the dog loo is sunnk into the ground with drainage placed around it. Then it is filled to the rim with water and an activator (similar what is used in septic tanks) which breaks down the poop which then drains away.

I am also happy to use this now as we have our dogs eating a more natural diet (I wrote about that previously.)

A cup full of snails

By sharing this post with my readers I stand the chance of being called quite batty! But here goes...Our garden is snail-less due to our chickens gobbling up any that were here in the first week we got them.



So each Sunday I take a walk around the block and collect snails off my neighbours walls. My only child who dares come with me is my 7 year old...my other three children think it is just too weird!

Either way - batty mother or not, my chickens love their weekly treat!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mothers Day

I believe everyday we should show those around us we love them in the different ways we do...cooking good food, physical attention, special activities, time and all the other mommying things we do...

But for today, let me just say to all the mommies who read my blog:

Monday, May 4, 2009

A man's best friend

This is our dog, Zeus. He has been with us for a year now and came to us at 8 months old. He was rescued from neglect and has come with a few problems which we are ironing out. But he is a great pal and an even better protector for us and our property.



For the last few months I have been trying to get my head around how to feed him a natural way and at a cost that is equal too or less that what science diets cost.
I have also had a niggling in my heart that science diets are not all they are said to be.

I eventually found a recipe that is do-able for me and requires a bulk cook-up once a week and then a daily bone for him to chew. I got my butcher to mince me up 10KG's of turkey mince, lung mince and tripe mince. (Smell terrible but is good enough for him) This was then frozen in 500g packs.

3 of those (1 of each) is added to a 5kg pack of brown rice and whatever seasonal vegetables I have. I add some garlic cloves and olive oil and then cook it up until the rice is cooked.




When its cooled it's stored in the fridge. I add 1800mg calcium (human tablet) in the evening and he has a bone to gnaw during the day. The huge bonus to this is that the poop has been reduced and I know that he is getting good nutrition not just fillers and chemicals.



He is after all doing his job - and we need to do the best we can for him.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Winter warmers

I have been clearing through some crates of material and found some left over pj flannel. As we don't use heaters and electric blankets (too much electricity) I made each child a bean bag to warm their toes in bed :-)

Once the casing is sown, you pour in 1 or 2 bags of pearl barley and then seal. They can then be warmed in the microwave for 2 minutes and they retain the heat for a long time.

Friday, May 1, 2009

What's growing on?

I went for a quick look see today inbetween the rain at what is growing and ready for picking...I need to make space for my winter veggie seedling that are ready to go in. Here's what I found:

Tomatoes



Peppers



Last corn



Lots and lots of chilies



Lots of brinjal