Doing: ... Fortifying my defences. Specifically, those against my neighbour's cat ;-)

"Twinkles" (yes, that really is her name) is apparently bored with pooing amongst my Yacon and has taken to using my potted apple trees out the front as her personal kitty litter tray (erk!). So this morning I grabbed a packet of wooden skewers and inserted several in each pot, pointy end up, hoping to deter her from using the pots again.

How'd ya like them apples, Twinkles?

Cooking: ...Tomato Passata to be frozen for later use in pasta sauces, lasagne etc.


... Spicy Plum Sauce (recipe similar to this one). Isn't the rich plum colour divine?



Harvesting: ... Cucumbers, purple oak leaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes, beans, kale and this giant Richmond River Green cucumber:


Not very green any more is it? It escaped my attention, hiding at the bottom of the vine, where it grew large and yellowed. No good for eating any more of course, however it is perfect for seed saving. I'll show you what I am doing with it in another post, when the seeds have finished fermenting and have been dried for storage.

Dinner: ... Local biodynamic beef sausages, baked stuffed zucchini and salad.

Reading: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I received this as a Christmas present and I've only just started reading it, but Oh. My. Word. After only the first chapter I can see why the blog-world is raving about it!

The premise is to make a huge batch of (very wet) dough once a week - using their recipe - which is then able to be stored in the refrigerator. Each day you merely remove a loaf-sized portion, let it rise and bake it. Towards the end of the week the dough has soured somewhat apparently, so your loaves end up similar in taste and aroma to sourdough bread (but without all the work maintaining a starter). Crusty bread rolls on Monday and a sourdough loaf on Sunday! Mmmmmm. Of course, I will let you know how I go with it when I give it a burl :-)