Yum ... feta and wtf is that !

9:51 PM apples, fruit fly, hot, stick insect, thermometer No Comments

Yum ... feta We decided to try some Feta  with a few herbs in oil.  Soaked for a few days.. wow.  Awesome, as opposed to the goats milk feta from a previous blog post ! Hard at work with the feta in flavoured oil Hotter This year we didn't have a Spring to speak of and it's been quite hot. Trying to live with a low environmental footprint, we have no A/C etc and on a warm day (as it was on Sunday !) it reminded me of how effective  the mud brick construction and closed...

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the stink !

5:25 PM spangled drongo, stink bugs No Comments

You Drongo ! We know when we start to see these around Spangled Drongo that we will have these on the citrus. The aptly named Stink Bug, 4th instars Nymph stage Sure enough..... there they are, Stink Bugs !  and it's time to spend a few hours picking them off the trees. Being sap suckers, they can do quite a bit of damage.  We usually do 2 rounds, about 2 weeks apart, collecting 100's each time by hand, into a bucket of water with some washing liquid..  Only takes...

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updates

11:06 PM dragon fruit, feta, goats milk No Comments

Dragon Fruit The Dragon Fruit has been going gangbusters, it seems like it gets bigger every day ! Planted in mid September Late September 20 October Cheese Feta from organic Goats Milk The great cheese experiment continues.  We have been giving some consideration to getting a goat and one of Toni's friends has some and sold us some of her milk.  Goats milk is an acquired taste, a taste I have not acquired, I disliked it... alot.  Toni did her thing, waved the cheese...

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Hot, hot, hot...

1:46 PM climate change, hot, rfs No Comments

The first half of the year it wouldn't stop raining, since July it hasn't rained much to speak off and is very warm.  I am not saying climate change... DOH ! I just did but what the hell, something is screwy !  August was in the lowest 10% of driest months ever recorded apparently. Warm dry weather brings an increased fire risk, as this screen grab of the aptly named (no pun intended) "Fires Near Me' android app displays "Fires Near Me" android app screen grab from 10/09/2013 if...

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New arrivals

3:21 PM 2103, chickens, garden No Comments

Chickens We have been trying to slowly build up our stock of chickens so it was great to receive some from a local who was moving away.  12 Barnevelder chickens and their Mum Mum and babies admiring their new accommodation Dad came as well.  The normal fighting happened when a new rooster was introduced, we clipped both their spurs first and there wa s hiug brawl until the "pecking" order was established. Meet "Chuck", named after his namesake "Chuck Norris" We also had one...

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warmer weather..

1:16 AM 2013, pollution, spring, water No Comments

The warmer weather has continued, with a brief interruption for a cold burst to remind if of winter.  It has started to dry out a little now. to be expected over winter but strange after seemingly endless rain since late January. Don't drink the water ! A trip recently to Brisbane to visit my mother reminded me of the "weirdness" of urban living what what what .... what ? The pollution makes the rainwater unfit for drinking, never mind breathing it in every day... I guess you get used...

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New things

12:11 PM 2013, cooking, damper, garden, sorrel No Comments

Damper We were doing some burning off the other day and Toni was inspired by our friend Steve, the "Damper Guru", to try her first.  So off she went, and made a savory Damper using her home made cheese and some garlic. Damper It went down a treat with her home made sweet corn soup, done on the top of the wood heater Home made Sweet Corn Soup (cinnamon scrolls and bread proving at the same time) Sorrel Always learning. For the longest time we didn't really know what this was Sorrel...

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time for an update

7:56 PM 2013, cheese making, cooking No Comments

Bloosoms the winter so far has been fairly warm and the fist of the buds are out for the Peaches Peach blossoms Nectarines and Apples Apple Blossoms The Apples have never been particularly successful, I am told our "monsoon" weather pattern is the main reason, that is, wet summers and drier winters.  We'll see how they go this year as we've had a wetter than normal, albeit mild winter. Weeds For those interested in edible and useful "weeds" we came across this a few months ago We've...

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and again with the cooking

4:38 PM cheescake, cooking, lemons, sweet potato No Comments

When life hands you lemons, make lemon cheesecake.  There are a couple bush lemon trees on some public land just down the road that are currently full of lemons Using the recipe below it's quite easy Easy Lemon Cheescake Ingredients 397 grams sweetened condensed milk 80 grams butter 300 grams cream cheese 285 ml of thickened cream that's been 1/2 whipped cream 4 large lemons biscuits (crushed for the base) Procedure Take a loose bottomed cake tin, melt butter slowly on stove and add...

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