Midwinter Day in Otago.

Midwnter Day has arrived here in East Otago and what a winter so far. The ground has been sodden and now frozen all in the space of a week. It is just life in NZ today that we need to allow for weather which will mean change of plans and routine.  It regularly interrupts power supply, water and food supplies. With the road closures this week including major stoppages in State Hightway 1 in 2 places in our area the local shops have empty shelves and if you didn’t have a supply of bread or flour to make your own you were out of luck.

So all the more reason we all need to be prepared for the inevitable. It happens every winter folks – and a couple of times in the summer. Throw in an earthquake or other natural event on top of that and the message is to be prepared and don’t rely on the government to be there to fill the gap.

We have a fire at our house and we have been lucky enough to be able to have that lovely warmth to sit beside.  It’s just not the same huddling round a heat pump is it?  And when it the power most likely to go off? In a freezing cold storm of course. It is so important that we retain some alternative form of heating and energy. It is a worry that our central and local govenments have been pushing for us all to get rid of our wood burning fires.  It is just crazy.  There are some very efficient wood burning stoves that stand as the heart of the country kitchen providing heat, food and hot water – not to mention the occasional orphan lamb or sleeping dog to keep warm.  Rather than continue to sell off our power generating assets and ever increasing power prices how about encouraging us all to provide for ourselves with multi purpose fires, solar energy etc.?

I am not talking about going back to the days of heavy dirty coal smoke sitting over our country towns and cities.  Wood is carbon neutral guys so it is a good environmental choice with the added advantage of reducing your load on the national grid by being able to cook, heat your water and stay warm.  Burn dry wood and don’t damp it down at night like they used to do in there 'ere parts so it smoked all night and there is much less of a problem.  And I know it's different if you are all out at work all day and have to come home to a cold house but at least you have the option in the inevitable interruptions to our power and food supplies.

The news today is encouraging much of the country to stay home if they don’t have to be anywhere, so get that fire going,  the bread on the rise, the soup on the stove and think about what to put in your spring vege patch.  Happy Midwinter everyone!

Garden Notes for the Family Vegetable Garden - June

June

Planning the Family Vegetable Garden.

June has arrived and with it the cooler weather. Time for staying indoors and planning for the growing year to come. If you have been thinking about putting in a family vegetable garden now is the time to start to work out what you may want to plant when spring arrives.

It is possible in New Zealand to have something in the garden all year round so that’s a good goal to work towards, but do consider what your family likes to eat.  There’s no point in growing sacks of Brussels Sprouts if no one is going to eat them (except grandparents)!

So get everyone together this month and start a list of the foods that your family enjoys and will want to grow.  It is surprising what children will eat once they have had a hand in the whole process of growing it. Some good basics to get you started are beans, peas, corn, potatoes, lettuce, carrots, beetroot, cabbages, broccoli tomatoes and strawberries.  Even if you don’t have children this is a good place to start. Get that list on the fridge and get the family involved!

Jobs for June

Sow; Sow another row of broad beans. Trick is to sow another row as the previous one emerges.  Sow indoors; brassicas such as broccoli, cabbage, cauli and bok choy. They will be slow and you can’t plant until spring but it is a bit of a head start. 

Plant: Mid Winter’s Day  (21^st June) is the traditional planting time for garlic so get some nice fat corms ready and plant 5 cms deep,10 cms apart.  (Don’t use Chinese supermarket garlic – it is treated and won’t sprout.) Shallots can be planted either 5-10cms apart or in clumps but do not bury – press into soil with tops still showing. Plant brassica seedlings such as broccoli and cabbage, cauli and bok choy for spring eating.  Strawberry plants can go in now as well.

Cultivate: Use liquid manure to feed your leeks. Keep weeded and mounded up. Cut back asparagus fern, weed and mulch crowns. Split big clumps of rhubarb and replant. Keep weeds hoed, green crops sown and mulches laid.

Harvest: Silverbeet and spinach, broccoli, cabbage

Best Apple Shortcake Recipe

The original recipe for this came from the late Margaret McConnell who was an amazing country cook and regularly fed  not only her family but many others. I have modified it a little but it is a great recipe. 

Peel and slice about 8 large Granny Smith apples and put in a pan to stew. Add a tiny amount of water to prevent burning. Add about 6 cloves and a teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar.  The apples will make their own liquid but you dond’t want it too runny.

Sweet shortcake.

125g butter softened

125g sugar

1 egg

1 and half cups flour

2 Tbsp Cornflour

1 Tbsp Custard Powder

1 tsp Baking powder

Cream butter and sugar then add the egg and beat some more.

Sift dry ingredients and mix together.  The dough should form a ball and come away from the sides of your bowl.   Turn out onto a floured board and work together to form a ball.

Divide in half.  Roll out one half to form the base of your pie dish.  I used my pyrex dish which is 34 x23cm but will fit a standard 23 or 25cm pie dish.  You can also press the bottom layer in with your knuckle but you want the layer to be nice and thin.

Roll out top layer. Spoon your apple onto pastry base.  Then cover with top layer.

Does not have to be perfect – if it breaks just patch up. When it is cooked you will sprinkle icing sugar on anyway.

Bake about 20 mins at 180c or until cooked. Sift icing sugar on top.

Tip for Rolling Soft Pastry. I always roll this short pastry between 2 sheets of cling film to prevent breaking when moving it. 

Garden Notes for the Family Vegetable Garden - May

Garden Notes for the Family Vegetable Garden

May

After a long warm autumn the garden has finally come to a time of rest.  Things have slowed down but there will still be plenty going on under ground.  Frosts will be upon us but the cooler mornings will concentrate the sugars in your leafy and root veges as well as the autumn leaves so should be a beautiful autumn display this year.  With the rains and a bit of residual warmth we might finally see some field mushrooms.

Nothing likes to grow in cold wet soils so your beds will appreciate the mulches and compost you applied in April while the ground was still a little warm.   I always have one bed that I use as a compost bed and keep adding to it over the winter.  Seaweed, animal manure, kitchen scraps, fallen leaves, straw – whatever I can find to build it up. It will build up the nutritional and structural component of your soil and your vegetables will repay you by growing extra well.

There will be lots of fallen leaves around this time of year. You can add some to your compost stash but why not make traditional leaf litter?  This makes a natural soil conditioner and mulch.   A good way to get leaf litter is to rake up damp leaves and put into a black polythene rubbish bag along with some horse manure or blood and bone and leave for a season. Make sure you put lots of holes in the bag for aeration. 

Sow or Plant : Lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauli, spring onions, parsley, peas, kale,

 The big ones for the month will be broad beans and garlic.  Start succession sowing of Broad Beans.  The addition of compost and a bit of lime will be beneficial but too much in the way of fresh manure will affect the development of seed pods in spring.  Plant in double rows 15 cms apart leaving about a metre to your next double row. Plant the beans 5cms deep and 15 cm apart.

Garlic – get a head start on the traditional mid-winters day sowing by starting your garlic now. It has a long growing season (6-8 months) but doesn’t take up a huge amount of room. Choose the fattest cloves either from your last year’s crop or buy them. It is a hungry root crop so plant in humus rich soil with blood and bone.  The rule with bulbs is to plant to twice the depth so about 5 cm deep. I water in with liquid fertilizer but then hold the feed until the following month.

Cultivate; Your December sown leeks will benefit from some mounding up to keep the stems white. Thin leeks to 5cm apart and pile up soil. 

then make sure you cultivate weekly between the rows. This also allows air into the roots. Stake any leggy Brussel Sprouts.

Harvest;  Brassicas, pumpkins, brussel sprouts, silverbeet, celery, parsnips, carrots,

Store: Root crops such as carrots and parsnips can be stored covered in a cool dark shed. Keep an eye on them as well as your stored pumpkins and potatoes. Take out any that show signs of rotting.