I really try and make the most of summer...it is the most productive time of the year on our property. A time to restock the larder and discover new foraging opportunities. During summer I think about water a lot. Every time I harvest, every time I water my trees, I...
More and more people from all sides of politics are feeling anxious about the really serious science of Human Induced Climate Change. And more and more people are taking action. Could 2019 be the year when we see large scale state of emergency changes being made? The...
In November after the November frost I planted about 70 tomatoe plants in Orto two...Ralf had said 'wait another week after cup day because there is a frost coming'...'great and thank you'...so I waited. The tomato seeds I had sown in mid to late August were now very...
I'm letting all the summer tomato plants rot in the garden. Why take them out? I want all the organic matter to remain, to decompose so that I can dig it into the spring soil. In spring lots of tomato plants will self germinate and I will transplant them into Orto...
The most important photo in this post is that of my friend Sam. I met her in year ten when we bonded over Bronte novels. She has been my friend for 29 years and her friendship has been a constant, steady stream of support, love and wisdom. I have often said to her 'we...
I made soap again, this time with Maria. Maria from Veneto Italy. Maria who makes excellent gnocchi and really simple, delicious pasta dishes. Maria the fantastic pizzica/bio-dancer. Maria who corrected my Italian when I made mistakes. Maria who got a bit impatient...
All the garlic, minus a few heads have been planted. I hope to double my harvest this year. Ralf moved some of the rich top soil mounds and spread them to create a second kitchen garden. At first I kept thinking, how am I going to manage so much space...how will I...
I have had a really lucky month. I planted dozens and dozens of tomato plants in spring. My plan had been to grow enough tomatoes to make a year's worth of passata. But I had grown far more than a year's worth and after reaching my goal of 100 bottles of passata and...
There is so much work being done. My motivation levels continue to be high. My energy levels rise and then fall. This is a brilliant time of the year, summer is so bountiful I want to make the most of it. I take enormous pleasure from using ingredients growing free...
Ralf and I, Artemisia and Ahlia. September this year we completed two years in our new home. We are trying to balance family life with building, landscaping, tree planting, and establishing a new garden. However, I think I could do a little more to spend time with my...
You can be a very little town and yet very rich in experiences. This month in Daylesford I took part in a cheese making workshop, a slow meat symposium and in our monthly community garden working bee. At the cheese making event three wonderful women from our community...
There is a list and sketches on a drawing we made. A drawing of our land and our dreams. Pigs on the south paddocks. Native wind breaks to the west, south and east. Establish a wetland and create habitat around it. Plant oaks and nuts to provide long term food...
At this time of the year there are many foods to forage, but with summer ending I began to think about my native trees again and how I should get out on the farm to plant more of them. We need wind protection, we need more habitat, more visual green. But then mushroom...
Two posts for this month to make up for the fact that I did not post in February. Although some of you will have seen this post on facebook or Instagram as I spread my pictures and experiences across all three and not always in any chronological order. I never want...
These past few months we have been preserving, landscaping, installing subsurface irrigation, watering, and relocating our salvaged wood. I have been building relationships with nearby trees. Locating them, wishing them thanks as I harvest their fruit. In fact, I...
What a great name. Women of the fowls. French. In Italian it would translate to Le Donne del pollame. I really like the French version. Fiona and I met in Melbourne, at NAGA (The Northern Alliance for Greenhouse Action). We worked for Local Government as educators....
I'm so glad I didn't know... about Mara & Mic, Tammi and Stuart. About Rod, Alan, Maurice and Danny. I had not met Carol, Andy, Sammy and Sady, Peter and Claire. When we looked we looked for acreage, we looked at 40, 20 and 10. Forty was too big, how would we...
Our move to Daylesford was made in September last year. We nestled into our guest house accommodation and decorated its floors with boxes upon boxes full of our belongings. The shed too was filled with fridge and couch and bedding frames. Since then we have been at...
You don't need to be old to share your skills and knowledge, nor old to be 'elder' like. In some cultures it takes a lifetimes work to become an elder in others maybe a little less: a body of knowledge to share. There are Primary Schools, High Schools, Universities...
Once a fortnight the butcher shop at Jonai farm is buzzing with youth. I ask the women I meet there if they ever imagined working in a butcher shop, they all say no. So why now I ask? But I already know the answer, I just want to check that I'm right. The answer is...
I have been thinking about our garden design for months. I studied Horticulture at Burnley and completed three wonderful subjects which opened my mind to a broader variety of plants. For a long time Indigenous plants had been my biggest focus and now it is a focus I...