Is it April already?

How did that happen? It doesn't feel like more than a month since I last posted...but if it's any consolation you haven't missed much!

I thought I'd get back in to the swing of things with some garden updates. After 10 weeks away last winter/spring, and uni and work over summer the garden is really in a "state" (to put it mildly). Thank goodness for berries and the peach tree so the harvest season hasn't been a complete bust. The tomatoes were an epic fail this year, other than the self seeded cherries and tommy toes, which just keep on keeping on. I have had small successes with a couple of chilli plants, the eggplants were a waste of time, but the parsley and basil varieties have been outstanding.

Many locals have reported poor tomato crops this year, probably due to the late start to summer and a few cold snaps in November. As for the rest I'm not sure why - this year I bought seedlings rather than started from seed, and it is tempting to blame that, but who knows. Berries have been the hero crops this year - around 35kg of them. However I must put in a mention for the peach tree I was going to pull out 18 months ago. I cut it right back to 3 "stump" branches, but it wasn't going to give up without a fight. It surged back, and this year we harvested 17kg of the most gorgeous peaches - some up to 350g. Needless to stay its survival is now assured.

The garlic did very well again, and I have enough bulbs to eat, as well as to plant out for the next crop.

Updated garden pics to come in the next post

Stuffed eggplant

One of the nice things about buying meat from the farm is that it's really exciting to have lamb again after many month absence from the table. Last week we picked up two locally grown lamb from the butcher (cut to order), so I spent several hours packing it up using my vacuum sealer (one of the best purchases I've ever made - really protects the meat in the freezer). Needlesss to say after the long lamb drought we had chops several nights in a row!

Last night I'd defrosted some lamb mince thinking I'd make moussaka, but it was just too hot to turn the oven on. Smitten kitchen to the rescue! I made these stuffed eggplants, and they were truly delicious. I eliminated the pine nuts (don't like 'em), used veg stock, replaced the rice with pearled spelt, and used a saudi baharat spice mix rather than allspice. Served with a dollop of plain yoghurt, and some flat leaf parsley. I made a side salad as well but we didn't need it.

I think it would be easy to modify this recipe for a vegetarian version, perhaps with mushroom.....

DIY liquid soap - no chemicals required!!

A year or so ago I bought a bulk lot of liquid castille soap that I've been using in our reusable hand soap dispensers, but a few months ago I ran out. I prefer liquid soap for hands as it is easier in the kitchen and bathroom and doesn't leave the same mess as home made olive oil soap bars do with regular use (all that lovely glycerine gloops out). However, with increases in postage (no local suppliers) it just wasn't practical to buy more online, so I went looking for another solution.

I stumbled across this post at The Frugal Berry - in a nutshell you use a bar of Castile soap (say Dr Bronners, but of course you can use home made soap), water, a bag and some time. Seemed far to easy, but nothing venture nothing gained, so I gave it a whirl.

It worked! In a week I went from this

to this

and it really was as easy as the instructions on the blog. I did use two cakes of soap, but mine were small. In fact this was soap that didn't work so well (with calendula flower threads) so this has been a great way to use it up. It made 1L of liquid soap, and probably cost less than $5.

Liquid soap problems solved!

Kimchi

Back from holidays and there were a few cabbages in the fridge from our veg box scheme that needed some love. Kimchi is the answer!  This Korean fermented cabbage dish is super easy to make, and I like it a lot more than sauerkraut.

I followed the recipe from the excellent Joy of Pickling book, but there are load online too. After 12 hours in brine I added minced ginger, garlic and a Japanese 7 chilli blend to mine ( like it hot) and into the cheese fridge (a wine fridge I bought at a garage sale for $25) for 3-4 days. The cheese fridge keeps it below 20 degrees but above fridge temperature, to allow fermentation to occur. I sealed the top of the jar with a food grade plastic bag filled with more brine - this allows air to escape but keeps the contents sealed from nasties.

Once it's reached a good taste, then just seal the jar and refrigerate. It keeps for months.