IDC Update 2010/2

Once again it's been a slow fortnight in terms of the challenge, my excuse to myself being that we are getting settled back into the school routine and hence, not much gardening time has been available.

Read more about why I am participating in Sharon's Independence Days Challenge, here.

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Plant something:

* Nil. Again. Feeling a little apathetic after cabbage moth grubs ate out my Tuscan kale overnight for the second time this season, and the beans & cucumbers are all finishing up, so I should have had replacements in about a month ago (noted for future reference).


Sow something:

* Nil, but need to get organised for my autumn/ winter plantings ASAP. I have made out a list using the online Gardenate guide, now I need to sort out my seeds. I'm giving up on both broccoli and cauliflower this year - they take up too much room in my small garden, they take a long time to form heads, and they are prone to too many pests around here to make it worthwhile persisting with them. The caulis I managed to baby through last winter promptly succumbed to the early high temperatures and didn't form curds at all, sigh. Better to concentrate on other greens I think. New-to-me this year will be swedes/rutabagas and parsnips (mmm, parsnip 'chips').

Seed saving beans, cucumbers, carrots and rockmelons.

Carrot seed head & naughty bugs.

Harvest something:

* Herbs, eggplants, carrots, cucumbers, leeks, beans, cherry tomatoes, beetroot, one midget rockmelon & one papaya, red kale, spring onions.



Preserve something:

* More sauerkraut;
* Basil pesto;
* Sliced and froze carrots.

Red cabbage, kohlrabi & carrot sauerkraut.

Waste not:

* Made and froze breadcrumbs from the end of a stale loaf of bread;
* More chicken stock from roast chicken carcasses;
* The usual composting. Both worm farms are now defunct after the last heat wave, but I think I will wait until the weather cools before I get them going again.



Want Not (Manage Reserves):

* Cleaned out the bar freezer and inventoried the contents - used up some lovely grass-fed Angus steak we'd been saving 'for special' for my Dad's birthday dinner. Need to inventory the contents of the fridge/freezer and use up the last of last season's zucchini I know is hiding somewhere in there.



Eat the Food:

* Fruit smoothies, including an awesome banana and papaya smoothie.



Learn a New Skill

* Nil, this fortnight. Too busy settling back into the school routine.



Building Community

* Replying to lots and lots of emails from people wanting to set up their own veggie gardens (I think there were many New Year's resolutions made in this regard!);
* Being interviewed for a future online article.


Future Plans

* Purchased potassium hydroxide in order to make my own liquid castile (olive oil) soap the next time I get a free day (I gather it's a straight-forward process but time consuming).



Cheers,