HOPS!!!!!

Hops have arrived (thanks Jon) and I have 2xfuggles, 2xchinook and 1xhersbrucker! I have put one of the fuggles and chinook into the AP system and will put out the rest into the dirt garden. Hops in AP is a bit of an unknown, so if they go well, then I will split the rhyzome of the hersbrucker next year and put it in the AP, if they don't well then I will still have hops in the dirt garden as they should grow fine! Very exciting indeed. Now if only I had enough land to grow my own grains, then I could do all grain mash homebrew with yeast harvested from a coopers commercial beer or air ferment!

Wicking beds.

Father in-law delivered some apple crates on Friday (thanks Vern!). Got 2 out of the three set-up as wicking beds this weekend. WIll do the third one sometime during the week if I can get home early from work. Basically, the crates are lined with builders plastic, drainage slots are cut out/sliced 1/2 up the crate and then the crate is filled with straw on the bottom half, then garden soil on top. The straw does compact down about 1/2. When it rains, the soil will suck up all the moisture, which will sink to the bottom of the crate. This then wicks up through capilary action, the root zones of the plants. If there is a massive downpour, the water will flow out of the drainage slots in the plastic lining. Wicking beds are reported to be 30-50% more water efficient than traditional dirt gardening. With summer coming up, it will be interesting to see how well it works. I moved our strawberries up to one of the crates and these should fruit and spread over the next season. Being so high up, I am hoping that bugs, snails and slugs don't get to them. It will also be interesting to see which strawberry patch produces more, the wicking bed or the AP one. In anycase, the damn pine tree that was sucking all the goodness and water out of the dirt vegie patch can now suck another patch of earth dry the bloody thing!

Have included a pic of a wicking bed we made about 1month ago. Filled with carrots!

Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks and AP salad!

Just shoved into the oven, lamb neck shanks, potatoes, AP carrots, AP thyme and rosemary, lemon, garlic, onion, homemade chicken stock, salt and pepper. 150c for a long time, thinking until 4:30pm-5:00pm (it is now 10:30am). The meat should fall off the bone! Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Relaxing Weekend!

Weekend again (thank God!) an time for a cook up. Sourdough and sandwich loaf proofing, should be ready to bake by mid-afternoon. For lunch, homemade chicken nuggets!

Using free-ranbge organic chicken breast and a homemade crumb recipe, the boys hoe into them like nothing else!

For the crumbs, I use rice cumbs and crushed corn flakes, seasoned with mixed herbs and salt Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, dip in a whisked egg mix (I used duck eggs), coat with crumbs and shallow fry (or deep fry) until golden brown. Drain then eat. Yummo!

Made these and then sliced nuggets in half and sat them on top of an AP salad washed down with homebrew. Ahhhhh life is good sometimes ;-)

Jamie Oliver

We are currently watching Jamie Oliver at Home series on DVD. To anyone who has not watched it, do yourself a favour and get it. Well worth the watch and very inspiring. What he does is amazing, not just for at home (like in this series) but for under privileged and for the public in general. Hat off to you Jamie and well done!

Going out for dinner.

Went out for dinner tonight with the family, first time in two years that we have all gone out together for dinner. Sad to say the food was very average. On the bright side, Kobe-Li said "I don't want to go to a restaurant, we have special food at home!" I've got to say, it brought a smile to my face! We are trying to raise our kids knowing where their food comes from and how their food is cooked, all with heart and soul. For KL to say what he said was pretty special. The hard work both Hayley and I put in is sometimes (read often) draining, but well worth it in the long run.

Note: we won't be going out for dinner in the near future, unless of course it is a 3 chefs hat one!

Smoked Trout

Had Toby, Henny, Samuel, Simon and his better half Kristy over today for lunch. Great day, great food and great beer! Simon bought over his smoker and had smoked trout for lunch along with a whole host of other food. An AP salad, bread, roast chicken with roast vegies, lasagna and a rice salad. Very yum indeed! The two bigger trout at an easy 40cm were too fast for me to catch without stressing all the other ones out, so it was pot luck. 3 26cm rainbows weighing between 210-230grams each.