Unexpected visitor

The past week has been quite an interesting, and unexpectedly busy one. So not a lot of time for 'farming' as such. I always put inverted commas around the term, as I do not really consider what we do as farming. I always think of farming as being commercial- I suppose farming to me means production (free range or otherwise) on a large scale and as a means of an income. Yet I suppose on many other levels what we do is pretty much the same, just smaller scale and probably a little more diverse. As we do not 'farm' one thing.  I always think the term small holder is more appropriate, but then 'smallholding' doesn't quite have the same ring...

Anyway, I had a surprise call in the middle of the week. My uni house mate has been travelling around Oz for over a year. And was in the area, and wanted to catch up. Fortunately I could move my day off around and then next day he arrived. So between this and our plans for night fishing over the weekend, much of my gardening plans were put on hold for another week.
Well he arrived the next day, funnily he commented that he had wondered if I had changed, or whether we would still get on, or still have anything in common (after about 8 years since we shared a flat- with 5 others). Strangely enough, the

thought hadn't even crossed my mind, apparently I haven't changed at all... maybe a little more relaxed.

I was just excited to see how he was, and hear about his adventures.

We all  had dinner that evening, one of our chickens (obviously) which I was hesitant to tell him- initially, as I remembered him being quite finicky with his food (though that was some time ago). Though he was fine, actually asked- many are afraid of the answer, so would rather not know. But to be honest I was surprised by his interest in our 'lifestyle' and my passion for ethically sourced foods and knowing where or how you food is produced.
I did give him a whirl wind tour of Mackay. Mackay is a beautiful spot and there is plenty to do, but not necessarily in one day. And I suppose much of Queensland offers beaches, islands rainforests and lagoons. And given he has been on Oz for so long and had spent time in Cairns and sailing the Whitsundays I guess he had seen  much of it before. But he was asked, as was another friend of ours who came to visit-why are you getting off there? I guess despite its potential Mackay is not known as a tourist hub.
This was not an issue as he seemed far more interested in reminiscing over a few beers; find out who we were still in touch with and who was where and doing what.  But more

 so in our place, the animals and our lifestyle and lives now. Asking many questions about our stock, even how much of it we had set up since moving in? Or what was there before? Particularly the pigs housing and watering systems, which I proudly admitted we put in. And our ever expanding flock.

He was very kind in saying he thought we had a pretty professional set up. A complement I am happy to accept. As since being in Oz he had undertaken a few farm based jobs- one of the ways you can extend a holiday working visa from 12 months to 2 years. So has probably had an insight into more practicing farms than we have. From which he now has an aversion to capsicums and zucchinis (peppers and courgettes)... so I didn't pick any whilst he was there!

I must admit it was also good preactice for the dogs to have someone else in the house. As we have a houseful coming at Christmas, thankfully our guest was alright with dogs!

The evening he left we had a venison korma with dhal and rice. Being an Englishman overseas I thought he would appreciate this, even if I waited until after he had eaten it to let him in on what the meat content actually was.

The dhal recipe was from the river cottage veg book- and was surprisingly simple. Simply bring redlentils to the boil and add tumeric, then simmer, until it reaches a soupy consistancy.Heat some ground cumin seeds in tsp of oil and them add sliced onion, til soft and then stir through the lentil mush and serve.

And off he went back on the bus and on with his trip... So nice to see you and have a safe trip.

What to do with Zucchinis (Courgettes)

Well the Zucchinis are flourishing at the moment, or as we know them Courgettes.

When we first moved here I spent 10 minutes at a check out trying to buy a bag of "courgettes". As I had had to identify every bag of veg I wanted, cause the girl at the till did not know what any of it was. Capsicums I knew (we call them peppers), but then there was the "Courgettes"- she spent ages searching the computer for them, before eventually asking a supervisor... well I didn't know that's what they were called on Australia; I had been in the country less than a week! I had just learned that thongs were worn on your feet, after watching a very disturbing advert for "50% off kids thongs"- Anyway another language lesson learned.

But if you are thinking about starting a veg garden and want an easy and fruitful- especially starting out, if you have the room I would recommend a few zucchini plants. They need a little room as they are part of the pumpkin family- though not quite a vine; I have 4 in the end of one of one of my boxes- an area approx 2 x 2 meters. They grow well in humid climates and full sun, just need steady supply of water.

I bought these ones as seedlings (I bought 3 or 4 last year too) you can pick up a set of 4 seedlings from most nurseries/ hardware stores etc. for under $5. They establish quickly (I’ve had these probably 6 weeks) and I am picking 2-3 zucchinis off each plant a week. I have just sown a few seeds for a different variety- I haven't grown any from seed before, so will let you know how that goes.

As for the established plants, I leave picking mine til the flower wilts, but you can eat the young vegetable aswell as the flowers.

So with 2-3 zucchinis per plant, I have quite a few to use! Good job I love them (and add them to everything). But last night I made a zucchini loaf for this week's lunches and thought I’d share the recipe;

Zucchini Loaf- serves 6

Ingredients

400g grated zucchinis,

3 finely chopped spring onions           (something else I have in abundance at the moment)

½ tsp nutmeg

½ cup plain flour

¼ cup fresh parsley

2 egg whites,

3 whole eggs

200g ricotta cheese

120g feta cheese

Pinch salt

Pinch pepper (optional)               (I am not a salt lover so need this for balance, as cheese’s can also be salty)

Pre-heat oven to 190°, spray loaf tin (about 250mm x 150m)- or line with baking paper if likely to stick.

Using clean cloth squeeze as much of the liquid out of the grated zucchini as possible, then fry off in pan with the spring onions- 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat.

In a bowl beat the whole eggs and add flour, nutmeg and parsley (and pepper if using), then crumble in the cheeses and combine. Add in and fold through the onions and zucchini.

In another bowl whip egg whites and salt to stiff peaks, then fold though the original mixture. Transfer to the oven dish and bake in pre-heated oven for 50-55 minutes, or golden.

Set aside to cool (about 10 minutes) slice and can be served warm or cold.

With the miserable weather Friday and Sunday consisted of some cooking and gardening.

Following my post on Friday I finished my chutney and this is maturing nicely in the cupboard- made 6 jars!

Recipe: Green Tomato & Zucchini Chutney

700g zucchini, peeled & diced

700g tomatoes, peeled

300g apples, peeled & diced

300g onion, finely diced

300g sultanas

300g brown sugar

600ml cider vinegar

2 tsp chilli flakes

Tbsp grated ginger

12 cloves

2 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp coriander seeds

Blanche tomatoes, run under cold water and then remove and discard skins. I do this over the container you are collecting your tomatoes in, as they may burst out during this.

Then place all ingredients in a large pan and simmer for 2 ½ - 3 hours. Leave to cool and then transfer contents to jars and seal for at least 4 weeks. The longer this matures the better the quality of the chutney.

I also attempted my Sourdough bread- with mixed success. This hasn’t put me off; quite the opposite. As I now know where I went wrong- had I just done it by hand as per the recipe it would have been fine.



More successful,
but still room to improve



Makes 2-3 loaves

Sponge

650ml warm water

500g strong bread flour

 

Ladleful of sourdough starter

Dough

Sponge (see above)

600g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting

25g salt

Dough in breadmaker

Once you have your starter, you need to activate it. So if it is refrigerated like mine get t out a day or two before hand and feed it.

 

Also make the sponge the day before, so it can prove over night- place in a bowl in plastic bag.



Now I attempted one purely using my bread maker- this did not work at all.

  

unsuccessful Breadmaker version



So I made a batch using the mixer for the dough, I think this “knocks it back” too much. As the recipe says to knead it for 10mins, then leave to prove for an hour each time (4 times in total)- this is the “knock back” . The dough setting takes 90minsutes, each time, so think it knocked to much air out of it. This was more successful than the version make totally in the break maker, but was still a little dense. So I’m going to make the next lot entirely by hand.

   

Frozen Chicken Stock



Easy store/use- Best Chicken stock!



This weekend I also cooked one of our home grown chooks for dinner. So, as to make the most of the bird I also make some stock from the carcass. Simply by placing it in a stock pot with a few carrots and sticks of celery, cover with water and simmer (on a low heat) for a few hours. I wanted to add this in, as this is a great way to get great tasting stock and is something you have available anyway. Once I am happy with the flavour, just leave to cool. Then this is my storage tip- Place freezer bags over appropriate sized freezer able containers (plastic dishes, tuppaware etc). Carefully fill the bags to level of container (or near enough). Leaving enough of the bag to tie it off.



Then place in the freezer, til frozen and then you can remove the containers and store the bags- use when required.

Other than that Sunday I managed to get some weeding, sowing and mulching done. In preparation for the warmer months approaching. Whilst it wasn’t the most pleasant day, it wasn’t cold and the drizzly rain was probably ideal for new planting.I was also quite excited as the “vine garden”- the section of the veg garden we dug out last year (that became water logged) and has not been built up. So where I intend to grow tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers etc- so vines. Had 2 plants growing in ti, which I am sure are eggplant/aubergine plants! We had great success with 4 of these that I bought as seedlings last year; only they were lost in the wet season- or so I thought!



Whilst I was busy Matt made a start on clearing the bed beside the shed. This had a few drought tolerant plants and yukka trees in it when we bought the place. Unfortunately the trees are becoming too big- both blocking the light to the shed, as well as its roots are going to become problematic to the shed’s foundations. So whilst we had hoped to re-locate these trees, unfortunately this was not possible. Hopefully we can save the few smaller trees still.

But other than the stumps this bed will soon be ready for planting, we decided this is to be the herb garden.  It’s close to the house, good sun and partial shade, whilst hopefully providing a welcoming aroma when approaching the house.





House to myself and so much to do

Well I have the day off today and the house all to myself (Matt's at work) and I have so much planned I am not sure I'm going to get through it all, as it's nearly midday already!

I have delivered the 3 month old Sussex rooster to his new home. I can safely say he will be well loved there with lots of animal friends and 3 little girls to dote on him.





I am in the process of blanching green tomatoes- this glut was taken from one of the recovering sections of the pig pen, before we removed the electric fencing. None of these were planted, just germinated through thier evidently fertile manure! I didn't want them to spoil or get dimolished so I picked them even thoguh thier green. So am planning to make a green tomato and zucchini (courgette- from my garden) chutney. I made this last year and it was delicious- so much so that I had totally forgotten how fiddley cherry and grape tomatoes were to skin! I'll post the recipe with my progress later. 

I have also made a start on my sourdough. I removed the starter from the fridge last night and added water and flour to activate it. This morning I have mixed the sponge- 500g strong bakers flour, 600ml of water with a ladle of the starter, this has to left for a few hours. The book says to do this the night before; only I read it this morning. So if I leave for the rest of the day, I shall attempt the rest this evening.

On the baking theme I thought I'd share the recipe for Hot cross buns that Matt made last night, seasonal I know. Though we left the crosses off.
They were delicious and I enjoyed on this morning for breakfast so well worth the effort.

Makes 8

250g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
250g plain flour
125ml warm water
125ml milk
5g dried yeast
10g salt
50g caster sugar
1 medium egg
100g dried fruit
zest 1/2 orange
1 tsp ground mixed spice











If you were to do this by hand you need to- mix the flours, water, milk, yeast, salt and sugar. Then add egg and butter and mix to sticky dough. Then add dried fruit, zest and spice. Knead untl silky smooth. Cover dough and leave to rise in warm place for an hour.

We used the dough setting on the bread maker for this first stage, so just placed all the ingredients in and let it run.
 Then knock back the risen dough and divide into 8 equal pieces. Shape these into rounds and dust with flour. Place on a floured board, cover with plastic or linen and leave to prove for half an hour- should have roughly doubled in size.


Pre-heat oven 200 degrees, tranfer to lined baking tray and bake for 15- 20 minutes.

Friday was chicken plucking

Friday was spent preparing our own chickens. As not only was one meant for the table at Friday evenings meal( for ourselves and a few close friends). But at 12 weeks these purpose bread meat birds were becoming excessively large! And I had concerns about their decreased quality of life should they have gotten any older.

Now these birds were the same as those used by mass produced companies such as Steggles. However did you know most mass produced chickens are only 40 days old.

So whilst these were purpose bread meat birds (and man were they ‘meaty’). They had access to shelter, food/water and open grass, where they were encouraged to scratch and forage, as they would naturally. Not contained in a shed with or artificial lighting to encourage continuous eating or pumped with steroids to meet deadlines.

Now, not that their fate wasn't truly down to my hand (personally)- this time. I did assist and whilst I still feel remorse, I do strongly believe that as a meat eater this should be something we should be at least witness to. I am not going to go into the details, however it was quick and as humane and stress free as we could possibly make it.

So whilst I was ultimately responsible for their death, was also directly responsible for their quality of life. And I am content in the knowledge that they had a happy and healthy life- as too many are able to consume meat products, purchased from the supermarket shelves with no knowledge (and in many regards conscience), allowing mass produced products of poor quality and conditions.

Enough of the lecture! Plucking itself went better this time; guess the trick is not to pluck feathers in windy conditions! And whilst it is labour intensive, and not unpleasant, but I wouldn't jump up and down and say I enjoy it- I do think it gives an appreciation of how much work goes into getting this meat to our plates.

Well the meal itself was a hit. Matt’s ‘Beer-can chicken' was a success and tribute to the bird as always. The meat on the bird itself was a little darker than you would buy in the shops, with a beautiful fat layer behind the skin. Both attribute of truly ‘free-range’ chickens.

So to a tasty meal, our succulent chicken served with potato gratin, broccoli cheese, and both a garden and warm pumpkin salad. Easily served 4 and then provided lunch and dinner for the two of us for a further 3 days! And in the tradition of utilising as much of the produce as possible, even today’s lunch (bacon and vegetable rice) was made using the stock I created from the bones Saturday morning.