Poly-Garden

Good timing!  I had just flicked through a library book on container gardening where I had seen a polystyrene box turned into planter - I was very interested to try it (the thick poly box keeps water and heat in for longer - great for lettuces).  Then out of the blue my lovely father-in-law brought down 2 for me - perfect!

I had some lettuce seedlings on the go so I've planted them in one box and seeds have just been sown in the other.  So far the lettuce seedlings have doubled in size in just 4 days.

My 3 year old got into my seed box just after watching me sow the Tom Thumb lettuces.  I came back to find the last of my marigold seeds had been planted for me too.  Luckily the seedlings will look very different, so if the marigolds do come up I can prick out and move them.  I'll have to get another box  - then he can paint the sides and I can be his very own garden.

Looking forward to having salad right outside the kitchen for lunches - will post our results.

Orange Chocolate Muffins

After an action packed day I knew my boys would be wanting something scrummy for afternoon tea - so I experimented with orange chocolate muffins.  They turned out really good!

My instructions may seem strange - sifting dry ingredients over wet, but I don't like to create extra dishes by sifting into different bowls, so I just sift right over the wet.

Orange Chocolate Muffins
Makes 12

50g Oil or Spread
75g Sugar
1 Egg
1t Vanilla Extract
85g Plain Flour
85g Wholemeal Flour
20g Cocoa Powder
1t Baking Powder
Zest and Juice of 1 Orange
Milk
1/2 t Baking Soda

Grease or line 12 muffin tins and preheat oven to 200C on bake.  Cream together oil and sugar then beat in egg and vanilla.  Sift flours, cocoa powder and baking powder (put wholemeal husks back into the mix) over the top of the creamed mixture.  Grate zest over top of the sifted ingredients.  Juice the orange into measuring jug.  Add enough milk to make up liquid to a 3/4 cup, dissolve soda in milk mixture.  Working quickly and gently pour milk mixture into other ingredients and fold until just combined.  Divide mixture into muffin tins and bake for 12 minutes or until they spring back after a light touch.

Housework Can Wait

My boys and I have had an awesome day - not much housework has been done but I felt like we needed a day devoted just to my boys, they have been cooped up quite a bit over the last 3 weeks, due to weather and icky colds.

We spent the first part of the morning spread out on the sunroom floor playing blocks.  When little Dylan was ready for his morning sleep Luke and I played shops and watched some Gummi Bears together till lunch time (still in our PJs).

 
Once nap time was over we had lunch together then got out the play dough. Many shapes and a few arguments later I figured the boys were ready for a run around.  We got dressed and played pirates in the garden.  With the hot afternoon spring sunshine filling the garden I pulled out a paddling pool and wound the hose around the washing line for a shower.  The boys LOVED it!  They were making so much noise our neighbour wondered over to see what all the fuss was about.

Both boys are now shattered, rugged up in the lounge playing quietly.  Mumma Bear better be sure dinner is ready a bit early - I've got a feeling dinner and bedtime will need to be early this evening.

Feijoa and Apple Crumble

I was hunting around in my freezer the other day and found a stash of feijoas.  For a feijoa fiend like me I had struck gold.  I was actually looking for some stewed apple to go with our roast pork, so I grabbed a bag of both apple and feijoa and decided on a crumble for pudding.

Ginger and feijoa are amazing together, I use this combination for muffins too - so good.  I pretty much throw this recipe together with what I can find, so have had to give a best guess on quantities.

Feijoa and Apple Crumble

2C Feijoa chunks (mine are scooped halves in a freezer bag)
1 - 2 C Stewed Apple
100g Butter
3/4C Rolls Oat, quick cook
1/2C Plain Flour
1/4C White Sugar
1t Cinnamon
1t Ground Ginger, heaped

Heat oven to 180C on bake.  Put feijoa and apple into a dish (I use a glass 1.7 litre casserole dish) and stir to combine.  Melt butter in a saucepan then remove from heat.  Stir the remaining ingredients with the melted butter and sprinkle over the top of the fruit.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until fruit is hot and top is golden.  Serve with cream, greek yoghurt or icecream.

Busy Weekend

With the weather improving I haven't had much time to post lately - I'm spending quite a bit of time in the garden.

Since my last post we had an awesome long Labour weekend - the highlight was our Free Range Foodie Saturday lunch based around my new Annabel Langbein - A Free Range Life cook book.  The weather was stunning, the food we easy and delicious, and best of all, we had lots of family visit.  Here are photos from the day.

On Sunday my sister-in-law and I went to a poultry farm to collect eggs for her broody hen.  She selected Sussex Light and Australorp, good multi-purpose birds - eggs and meat.  If both our hens sit well over the next 3 weeks we should both have fluffy chicks to keep an eye on over the Christmas period.

Sunday was spent toiling away in the garden.  Between us my husband and I got fruit trees planted, the lawns mown, some edges tidy, cut back trees, converted a steel drum to a broiler chicken coop and planted out some seedlings.

When we brought our house in Te Kauwhata 6 months ago it had been neglected.  Over grown plants, weeds everywhere and trees in need of shaping.  It seems to be taking a long time to get on top of things, but I have to remind myself that we're not in a race, I have 2 lovely little boys that take up a lot my time and we need to observe our garden over the coming seasons to decide what we need to do.  For example, we were going to chuck and plum tree in the garden last week - but after sitting back, just for 7 days, some lovely Hostas have raised their heads.  We would have destroyed them with the spade if we hadn't waited.

This is what my backyard looks like this afternoon - the sun is shining, a light breeze from over the hill and the roses filling the garden with an amazing smell.  Spring Bliss!

A persimmon tree in its new home and a lime tree waiting to be planted, now that the shabby
old camellias have been cut back

The vege garden is starting to put more and more on our table each month.
Looking forward to tomatoes over summer.

Good afternoon shade in the hottest part of the day

Brooder Box

Poor Emmy Lou!

With Emmy Lou taking up one of only two nesting boxes our other layers were getting a bit desperate.  Twice I went to collect eggs and found one of the layers trying to get in with Emmy Lou to lay - despite her growls and raised hackles - bird brains I tell ya!

My husband and I set about making her a brooding box and run - quick smart.  We didn't want any more eggs broken or Emmy Lou to get frustrated and not want to sit anymore (our youngest hen was having a practice at nesting the other morning while Emmy Lou was eating - kicked one egg out of the nest and broke another).

We searched through the off-cuts of in our wood pile and put together a plan which included an old kennel our dog has never used (she is an inside city dog - I don't think that will ever change).  It took three evenings after the kids were in bed to finish.  By the cover of darkness last night, we moved Emmy Lou to her new accommodation.  I lifted her gently and Pappa Bear arranged the eggs into the transformed beer crate.  She was eager to get back to her eggs so settled down onto them and in her new little house like a dream.

 

I have seen her twice today, she stretches her wings, tells off the other curious hens hanging around outside, eats, drinks then goes back to the business of sitting on her eggs.

A Hunt, a Finger in a Door and an Easy Quiche

While my 3 year old was at daycare yesterday, my 1 year old and I went to town for a charity shop hunt.  Our aim was to find more crockery and cutlery, firstly so we have enough for our Annabel Langbein Free Range Foodie event on Saturday.  And secondly, so I don't run out when we have guests again.

I was lucky enough to find loads of stainless steel cutlery at one shop.  None of it really matches, but I don't mind - I'm going for a shabby-chic look, and matching doesn't matter.  I also found a big pile of dinner plates, a few breakfast bowls and some bread and butter plates.  Again, none match, I'm just going for white - and shabby-chic again.  My collection might be a little more on the shabby side but I don't mind.  At least all my guests will have something solid to eat off on Saturday.

After collecting Mr 3 from daycare in the afternoon, and fixing up a broody hen with eggs, it was time to fix dinner.  After a forage in the garden for greens I was planning for this recipe to be my post, but other things took priority.  I managed to get some before shots, then my youngest got his finger caught in the door, after shots were forgotten.  The savoury yeast adds a lovely depth, and nutritional value to the dish.  I add it to a lot of cheesy dishes, it goes really well.

 

 

Easy Quiche

2-3C Veges (mine were spinach and tomatoes)
1C Cheese, grated
6-8 Eggs
1  1/2C Milk
3/4 C Flour
Salt and Pepper

Optional
1t Savoury Yeast Flakes
2T Pickle, Relish, Salsa



This fills a medium sizes lasagna dish nicely.  Turn oven on to 180C.  Lightly grease your dish.  Chop veges and put into dish with grated cheese.  Beat eggs, milk, flour, salt and pepper (and optional extras).  Pour over veges, poke down any veges trying to float out of the eggy mix.  Bake for 40 minutes till just set in the center.  Let it cool for 10 minutes or so before dishing up.  We had it with boiled potatoes.