Back in the Swing of Things

We are back to our old sneaky ways here at the Mouse House. Our local farmers' market was celebrating its 1st birthday so we thought it was a perfect time to leave a little gift for someone.

I haven't done much with Sow, Give, Grow in a while as any sort of growing had been a little difficult over the past few months. Hopefully I am now back in the swing of things with some seeds, planted into paper pots, sitting outside germinating.

As the change of season is less than a month away, I was thinking that another Giving Day might be a good idea. I am sure that many of you are getting your autumn or spring seedling ready for the next few weeks. Perhaps you could put one or two aside to join me at the beginning of March. Head over to Sow, Give, Grow and have a look at the previous Giving Days.

It feels good to be sneaky.

Take care

My 30 Day Challenge

I have been thinking about what I could do for my 30 Day Challenge. Dmarie is well underway with her fabulous cooking and Fiona is planning to get some crocheting on the hook. I thought it was about time that I made a decision. As I was thinking about what to do I realized that just about everything I was doing as the moment was something new.

Over the past few weeks, we (my little family of four) have left Australia for a six month adventure. We left the airport with a backpack each for cabin luggage, and one 11kg backpack between us to go in the hold. Wherever we have gone, people have commented on how little we have with us. My philosophy on traveling is that we are there to see and do things, not spend the whole time coordinating outfits. We each have one pair of shoes and no more than 3 of anything else. Washing is done when needed and is usually dry within a day.

Anyway, I digress. I have decided that my 30 Day Challenge will be to get some sourdough started from scratch and then make my own daily. I went on a sourdough course earlier this year and love the idea of making my own but when working almost full-time it just never really happened. I am sure that the notes from cityhippyfarmgirl will also come in very handy. There are two little things in the way that I need to sort before this will get underway fully (but these won't stop me). I need to see the landlady about getting the stove to work. The second is to take my iPad German translator with me to the Bio Mart to make sure that I get the right flour to get going.

This had been on my mind all weekend and then this morning I received a group email from Yoke Mardewi about a new book release. (cityhippyfarmgirl, I hope you are paying attention). "SOURDOUGH - from pastries to wholegrain gluten free" is due to be released in September. Anyone in Perth that has ever thought about getting into sourdough should head along to the classes.

So off to the Bio Mart tomorrow for flour for the bread, and seeds, as I am planning on spreading the fun of Sow. Give. Grow to Berlin.

Take care

Giving Day is On My Mind again

Today I will be out and about secretly leaving 10 Cape Gooseberry seedlings in various locations, hoping they will be found and taken home and planted.

I would love others to join in with Giving Day. Do you have any seeds or seedlings you could trans-plant? If you are not sure how to do this, head over to Sow. Give. Grow. to find out more. Once you have left a little parcel, take a photo and email me, telling me what you left, and when and where you left it.

Check out what is on other people's minds.

Take care.

Update

Giving Day is On My Mind

Once again I'm joining in with On My Mind.

I have been thinking about the gooseberry seedlings that I potted last Sunday. So far only 2 haven't made it so I am really happy that that one little clump of green leaves that was in the garden bed last weekend now is 42 little plants that will hopefully go forth and multiply.

It is wonderful to see that so many of these plants have now grown a fourth leaf in only a few days.

My plan for these little babies is to distribute them during Giving Day in a week's time. Over at Sow. Give. Grow. we are planning a mass day of trans-plants.. We are hoping that other Sowers and Growers will join in an leave little parcels of seeds or a seedling in their neighbourhoods for a Grower to find and re-home.

There is much excitement around here in the lead up to next Friday and we hope that others see the possibilities and join in the fun.

We would love you all to join in (and spread the word).

Take care

Seedlings on a Sunday

What better way than to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon planting out a group of gooseberry sprouts into their own little seedling pots.

A clump of greenery had recently appeared in one of the garden beds. I had originally thought these to be basil plants as there had been a plant is the same spot last year. On closer inspection, and after asking Mum, they have turned out to be gooseberry plants. As many of them had now developed their third leaf, it was the perfect opportunity to give them a bit of space of their own.

I sat and made some of the seedling pots that I can now just about make in my sleep. I started with about 20 and thought that there would be enough. Not likely. I know it would have been easier to actually sit and count how many little sprouts there were, but they were so intertwined that I just kept guessing. After a few trips between the table, to make more pots, and the garden, to plant them out, I have ended up with 44 little seedlings.

Each has been given a good drink and is about to be placed in the little hothouse to get a little bigger and stronger. I have some friends who have already asked for a plant or two, and I am sure that some of these will make their way to Sow. Give. Grow. 

We have just started a new little project over at Sow. Give. Grow. Head over and read all about Giving Day. I would love you to leave a comment if you think this is something you might like to join in. Pass it on.

It has been a great way to end the weekend.

Take care.

Yoghurt + Flour = Gozlemes

With the yummy yoghurt making that has been going on here, it got me thinking about some camp cooking  we did last year.

I am not really one for camping, especially when I know there is a perfectly good bed not too far away. Our compromise with the kiddies was to do some cooking over a camp fire.

I had found a wonderful gozleme recipe a few months earlier over at Slow Living Essentials and knew that it was really simple and everyone would be happy with the results.

With the glow of the fire and the chatter of family poking and prodding at the embers, we cooked away watching the dough turn to a gorgeous golden. This is certainly the sort of food that needs to be eaten to keep out the biting cold.

If I remember correctly the compromise even ended with us all going inside to eat. Much warmer there.

On another topic, we have had the first Non-Bruisemouse-or-J trans-plant over at Sow. Give. Grow. Thanks so much to Gooseberry Jam for playing along. We are very excited.

Take care

Little Surprises

I love surprises, especially those that happen in the garden.


When plants such as rocket and coriander (cilantro) go to seed, I generally leave them in the garden to "do their thing". The bonus for me is that the following season I have a lovely little crop that I had usually forgotten about.

A fortnight ago when I was sorting out the vege garden, I found some tiny coriander seedling popping up, so I made some seedling pots and potted up these little babies. Since they have spend two weeks in my little greenhouse they have grown so much.


I am really excited about trans-planting these are part of Sow. Give. Grow. and sending them to a new home.


Take care

Quince Paste Update

Sunday night was spent tending over a pot of simmering quinces after reading about the wonders of Quince Paste over at Greening of Gavin and Gooseberry Jam.

After about four hours I can certainly say that I was happy with the final result.

We have been having it on crackers with a lovely tangy cheddar but I am sure by the weekend there will be some brie involved.

I used silicone cup cake cases and managed to fill all 12.

Super easy and definitely worth a go.

Make sure to drop by and add a comment if you are interested in winning a book in a giveaway that closes on Sunday.

I also had a few requests for buttons for Sow. Give. Grow.  If you are interested I have now managed to get one up in the SGG sidebar. Please feel free to pop one on your site. Thanks again to you all for the support.

Take care.

Sunday and a Giveaway

I need another weekend to get over this weekend.

Yesterday the lilly pilly tree was generously trimmed so that we could reach the fruit more easily next year. I made sure that every berry was picked off the branches before they were taken to the greens tip for mulching. We ended up with a whopping 5.3kg.

This was the beginning of the domino effect for the weekend.

I knew that there was no way I could deal with all of that fruit in one weekend so it would need to be frozen. To make room I would need to do something with a lot of the fruit I already had in the freezer. I found blueberries, nectarines, strawberries and peeled bananas.

Luckily I had seen a great Blueberry Frangipani recipe on Friday so that was the first bake of the day.

Now on to finding something to use up the nectarines. After a bit of searching I came across this divine Nectarine Cake.

Smells amazing. Tastes incredible. The only problem was that it didn't use enough nectarines.

Off to find one more option. Donna Hay can always be relied on to help out in a predicament like this. Her Nectarine and Blueberry Slice was the perfect way to end a morning of baking. I did change it a little by using only half the sugar prescribed. Also I added more nectarines just after the beating of the eggs so that there was fruit through the slice as well as on top.

All were received rather enthusiastically by the family so all worthwhile. I now also have room in the freezer to pack the lilly pillies.

There was also a little time to head out and do some trans-planting for Sow. Give. Grow.

After being inspired by Gavin and Gooseberry Jam, I thought I should stop paying for Maggie Beer's retirement and have a go at making some Quince Paste myself. It is on the stove as I type and is looking and smelling delicious.

Now for a giveaway. I have talked about Michael Pollan before and his great little easy read, Food Rules. So much of it is common sense but it was a great book to show the kiddos. They got quite a bit out of it and I still hear them remind each other of some of the rules.

If you would like to go into the draw for a copy, leave a comment on this post by Sunday 22 May. Hopefully some of those lovely little 'lurkers' will join in and say hello.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Take care

Sowing, Giving and Growing

Thanks so much to you all who have dropped by to a new project I started with a wonderful friend of mine last week. Sow. Give. Grow. has been going for only a few days and already we have had some fabulous feedback. There have been wonderfully encouraging comments left on both Living a Little Greener and Sow. Give. Grow.

A big thanks to Dixiebelle, Gooseberry Jam and Eight Acres who have made particular mention of the project on their blogs. There may be others but these are the ones I have found.

The project has now been expanded to include the giving of seeds as well as seedlings.

My family and I were involved in some trans-planting yesterday at the St Luke's Eco Fair and we had a blast.

The kiddies spent the whole time going back to where we had left some of the seedlings and seeds to see if these had been taken. It is amazing how reluctant people are to take something that isn't theirs. We had written the word FREE in big red letters on the tags as a form of encouragement. The most exciting part of the experiences was seeing someone pick up some seeds, put them back down, pick them up again, show them to a friend and then take them.

I hope some of you decide to join us on this little adventure as either sower or givers to encourage some growers.

J has written a wonderful post on The Thrill of the Trans-plant, all about our 'naughty' Friday'.

Take care