Growing Fruit is On My Mind

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to go to a truly inspirational talk by Josh Byrne, who many of you may know from Gardening Australia, organised by Earth Carers. He talked about sustainable gardening and gave fabulous examples from the houses he has lived in and landscaped.

One of the topics that really got me thinking was the section about dwarf fruit trees. They seem easy to grow and can yield quite a bit of fruit. He spoke about how wonderful these are for growing in pots, which is a great for people who rent, as he does.  I had a voucher to a nursery that needed to be used, but I could never quite decided what to spend it on. After walking around the fairly limited selection, it was decided that we would take a Dwarf Pear Tree home. Pears are one of the many fruit that we all love so everyone was please with the final choice. The next step is deciding whether to plant it into the ground or into a pot. I'll have to think about that one on the weekend.

I have been keeping an eye on the few other fruit trees that we have and they all seem to be coming along really well, albeit slowly.

The grapefruit has three fruit which should be ready soonish. I noticed that one of these is starting to turn yellow. Very exciting.

The lime tree has quite a few beautiful white buds and a handful of tiny fruit. Last year we managed to get about five fruit which were fabulous in a super easy, delicious lime tart.

We have a very small fig tree which has yet to produce any fruit. It will probably take a few more years before it is mature enough.

The passionfruit vine that was planted to cover the fence is looking much greener than it has previously. It is growing really well over the trellis so hopefully in the next year or so we will be able to harvest some delicious passionfruit.

The biggest surprise for me today was the blueberry bush. These should fruit in summer (shouldn't it?) but this morning on closer inspection I noticed about half a dozen flowers. I am wondering it is because we have had such a warm autumn.

Aren't they just beautiful.

Take care

Super Easy Apple Cake part 2

A few months ago I came upon an amazingly easy, scrumptious Apple Cake recipe. I tried it again recently but changed it slightly. Instead of sultanas, I substituted dried raspberries. I still halved the sugar and it was definitely sweet enough. This is great for an afternoon tea snack or school lunch box.

I tried it again missing out the dried fruit altogether. This time I added pumpkin seeds which really changed the texture. Some were mixed through and some sprinkled over the top.  I must admit, in my hurry to get this in the oven I forgot to halve the sugar, so it was a little too sweet. Still very yummy though.

This is a great recipe that you can play around with. The cup of sultanas could be substituted with so many wonderful ingredients.

Happy baking.

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

A New Project is On My Mind

It has been a very exciting and busy time getting a new project ready for launch.

Please head over to here to find out all about something that brings a smile to may face.

Take care.

Dipping my toes in the Raw Food waters

I like to think that we will have a go at just about any foods here, so when one of my dear friend forwarded me a link to My New Roots (Aussies, giggle here!) and in particular the Raw Brownie recipe, it was one of those things I knew I would have to try before the end of the week.

It is so simple.

The author of My New Roots, Sarah Britton, comments that these will change your life. I would definitely have to agree with her. Sarah even adds a lot of nutritional information that I will let you read via her site.

My nearly 20 year old food processor certainly earned its keep today. I am sure that those with a Thermomix could have this made before I had even put my old machine together.

Next time I would make the almond pieces much smaller. I thought I had given them a really good chop in the processor but the ones at the bottom where still too big. I think I would actually process them down to meal so that everyone in the house will eat them.

See you Friday. I am really excited about a project that is going to be launched this week. I hope you will join in.

Take care

I just found another recipe here that is just about the same but also adds a little vanilla. Yum.

Compost Week

Just is case you weren't aware, Sunday was the beginning of International Compost Awareness Week. ("Woohoo" I hear you all cry)

There is so much amazing information out there about composting, so I thought I would bring a few of sites together for you.
Cleanup
WMRC Earth Carers
Sustainable Gardening Australia
G Magazine

We have reduced the amount of waste that goes into our council bin substantially and I know that a lot of this is due to composting. We now have 2 bins on the go.

One other composting system we have invested in is a Bokashi bin. The benefit of this system is that it is not picky at all as to what can go in. Cooked food, dairy and meat can all go in, and as it is an anaerobic system, there is no smell if you choose to keep this in the house. As long as you keep the lid tightly on and make sure that the tap is always closed, there is no reason you could not have one in your kitchen.

With both compost and bokashi, we keep separate buckets on the bench. Once a day we empty these into their respectable bin. Bokashi also involves squashing down and sprinkling with some of the Bokashi mix. The mix that you use "is a mixed culture of beneficial naturally occurring micro-organisms, mainly lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, photosynthetic bacteria and actinomycetes. All of these are mutually compatible and coexist in a liquid culture. " It doesn't break down like in a compost bin, but it smells more like it is pickling. It isn't too offensive but sometimes you might need to increase the amount of mis you sprinkle over the top.

On an Earth Carers course one of the tours guides commented that if you have the space for a garden, you have the space for compost.

The biggest pay-off of it all is using your own compost to grown your own vegetables. What a buzz. I really love the little surprises you get too. I have lost count of the number of tomato seedings I have harvested just from the compost that has gone onto the garden.

I hope you enjoy International Compost Awareness Week.

Take care

LIlly Pilly Cordial

I know you are all thinking, "Not with the Lilly Pillies, again," but with a tree that keeps on giving, I needed to find another use for the fruit.

I followed this recipe.

It was really easy and tastes wonderful.

I will certainly be making it again.

As it is a cordial not a juice, we diluted it with some soda water for a bit of fizz.

Take care