June 16, 2013

Late Afternoon In Winter.

I finally managed to sit down at my computer for long enough to cobble together a blog post.  It is properly winter on The Farm now.  I am sitting here in old jeans, the dreaded puffer and a pair of ugg boots while the fire is burning.  After I have done this post I will pour myself a glass of red and pop a butterflied lamb shoulder in the oven.  Before I do that I thought I would show you all some photos of my garden.  In particularly my vegie patch.  I must admit to being a little bit proud of it because it looks great at the moment.  I am not showing anyone photos of the rest of my garden as it looks terrible.  We are preparing to plant it all out next week. (I see lots of shovels, mulch and hard work in my immediate future....)

So - here it is.

Vegies
The watering system is still basic.  Stuff has grown though, which makes me happy.

The Farmer is a very efficient type and loves to crop every spare bit of The Farm.  (There are lots of reasons for this - it helps control weeds and salinity plus it does give us more grain to sell at harvest.  Got to keep your eye on the bottom line....)  It is a standing joke on The Farm that he would dig up my lawn and crop it if he could.  And this year he has been super sneaky.

Look.

The Farmkid's Crop


He and The Farmchildren have hand sown a barley and canola crop in my vegie patch!!  Apparently it is a "trial".  Given that trials are usually done by chemical or seed companies and are smack bang in the middle of our paddocks I am dubious to say the least.   The Farmchildren even conned our local agronomist into checking their crop a few weeks ago.  Needless to say he was most impressed.  I think the high sowing rate has helped....

My last post mentioned that we had been mushrooming.  I struck gold in the mushrooming department this week when I found this baby on the side of the driveway.

The Mega Mushroom....

Anyway - I had best get moving and cook dinner.  We went out for an Italian night at a friend's last night and I have leftover Chianti that needs drinking too. (Which always makes me think of Hannibal Lecter in Silence Of The Lambs. Fortunately there isn't a fava bean to be seen in my kitchen so my liver should be pretty safe.)


I Grew These!! Now I Just Need To Cook Them....


Take care.



13 comments:

Heidi said...

Love the farmkids growing their own crop. Your vegie patch is super impressive! Unfortunately mine is not. It's growing weeds, and I was just about to pull them out (by hand of course), when my husband decided to take matters into his own hands.... and mow the vegie patch. You can imagine how thrilled I was. I don't think the carrots will be so easy to find now.
Enjoy your dinner - sounds very cosy at your place. Wish we had a working fireplace on a cold night - I stuff the grate with candles instead to try to give the same effect. If I had a Diptyque candle (feau de Bois - Firewood) I could almost imagine it's real. xx

Coulda shoulda woulda said...

Wow. this is so cool! Even your veggie patch is like a whole allotment here...How amazing that the children are so industrious and know how to grow things like that. I grew a bean sprout and now have graduated to herbs. And I was proud of that but now I realize I am useless after all seeing your beetroot and carrots. Have a great week!

Jenny Rose-Innes said...

It's wonderful to harvest anything from the garden! It's all looking so healthy! I used to love bringing in the beetroot - peeling them and then grating them (raw). Sprinkle olive oil and fresh orange juice and salt and pepper... SO delicious!! xx

Mel @ Coal Valley View said...

Your Veggie Patch is just brilliant! I'd be very proud of something like that. And that mushroom is massive. Enjoy your evening :-) Mel x

A Farmer's Wife said...

Heidi - the fire is lovely but quite messy and time consuming. I wouldn't change it though.

CSW - I do think The Farmchildren had a little help sowing their crop. Although the twice daily checking that happens is entirely their own idea.

Jenny - Will definitely try that beetroot idea. Sounds so yummy.

Mel - The mushroom was ridiculously huge. The top had bugs in it so we didn't eat it. I did mush it up and throw it in the house paddock so maybe we will get more big mushrooms next year.

Romy said...

I'd be showing off my veggie patch too if it looked that good.....dreading to think what mine will look back when I get home! Love a good fire.....although it's blue & 34 here today! Rx

Romy said...

PS.....next stop Sweden & Denmark for 10 days in mid July so keen for ANY travel tips as never ventured that far north before.....excited as Stockholm has just opened new ABBA museum! Rx

Unknown said...

Awesome veggie patch. I want one of those robotic vacuum, I see you are using it on your wooden floors. I have bamboo floor boards and are scared that it will scratch them? I tried cooking beetroot once, failed, the domestic goddess I am not. xxx Rae

Emma said...

Your veggie patch is absolutely amazing! Although I am torn between admiring the veggie patch and the incredible fence around it. Did you hand make the fence? It is stunning too. My beetroot is almost ready to pull up I think, I hope they turn out as well as yours do. We always roast ours, delicious! xx

Jacana said...

WOW that is serious mushroom

A Farmer's Wife said...

Romy - just emailed you re Denmark. Jealous.

Rae - I have floor boards and the robovac thing does not scratch them The kids are a different story though.

Emma- The fence was here when we came. It is made of old jam wood fenceposts that would have been part of the original fences on this property (it is quite old). Jam is very hard and white ant resistant. The old fenceposts are sort of wired to a steel frame top and bottom.

Jacana - I know!

Angels have Red Hair said...

I think your vegetable garden looks fab ... I am green with envy.
As for the mushroom ... that is seriously mega!!

Lani said...

You had me at 'a glass of red' and the just looks charming :)