Houdini Hens

Yesterday morning the artfully arranged cos lettuce seedlings were nestled in their loamy soil, with carefully mounded mulch piles acting as a checkerboard in shape and contrast to the soft apple green of the tender leaves.

This morning the scene resembled the aftermath of a mini asteroid's impact on a small section of the community garden. My gasp set the corn leaves rustling. I glanced up and saw a brown shadow trying to escape into the pumpkin patch. "You devil," I shouted. The brown shadow moved further under the large spreading leaves, chuckling to herself as she scratched feverishly for some worms or insects. I love the chickens, who do have names, but I haven't learnt them for fear of something else horrible happening to them, but at this point I could have wrung this one's scrawny neck, envisioning the fat dripping onto the end of the month barbeque. What am I saying, I don't even eat meat! Look, ladies, what you have turned me into!


So here we are many moons forward from our initial turning and mulching and making soil. Ms Mova and I discuss strategies and developments as we cycle our way to work every day. We wait for each other like two schoolgirls, riding around and around if one or the other is late, waving madly when the tardy one finally appears and then mull over the day's happenings.

At some point I have to report on the incredibly awful happenings of November last. Planning for our trip away, excitedly talking about our plans at the cocktails in the garden I failed to notice an insalubrious character wander in and case the chicken run. A couple of loitering mates joined him outside the fence and then wandered off again. The next morning at breakfast, chatting over yet another cup of green tea, my sister and I were interrupted by Ms Mova. She sat down in the kitchen quietly and then burst into tears. Two of the chickens had been slaughtered. She had been the one to find the headless bodies and one discarded head. Not victims of predatory animals but predatory humans. The gate to the henhouse was forced off, the fence pushed down and the poor creatures massacred. The one remaining must have led them a merry dance we noted with satisfaction. Tearing through the tomatoes and corn and unable to find her in the dark she had escaped a very unsatisfactory end. I began to think that even battery cages would have been preferable but then thought again. The police took us seriously and sent two very sympathetic officers to interview us and promise to keep a look out for unsavoury characters, of which there are a few, in the neighbourhood.

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We were lucky. There did not seem to be demand for a repetition of Black Sabbath rituals and just to make sure, we padlocked the henhouse and the fence was refortified. Our new chickens who do have names, remain ladies or girls to me. I dare not name them again. Poor Miss Havisham and poor Estelle. As doomed as their namesakes.

But on a brighter note our little darlings produce 4-5 eggs daily and rush hungrily for the scraps that anyone might carry in for them. Anything in a bucket or pot is fair game and they leg it down the side of the fence to see what you might bring

Autumn bounty

Ms Tagalong has been back from travelling far afield for several months now. Why has she not written any blog? Mmm must have been waiting for the garden to look lush and appealing with crops to cook and inspiration to take hold. So here we go again. Just look at these lovely chillis! What does one do with such a bumper crop?
I could wait for the grubs to come along and eat them but on a quiet Easter weekend it seemed better to turn them into a lovely indonesian addition to food, Sambal Olek The kitchen smelt very hot, nose-tingling hot and I thought what a wonderful Easter present for Ms Mova when she comes back from sourcing some plants at the Heritage Gardens. Actually, I think she likes the cafe there, but looking for some stevia to counteract the bitter gourd which is running rampant on the industrial fencing seems a feasible excuse for the journey! For those who are interested and want to find out more about this strange herb see http://www.stevia.net/ This will be used to counteract the taste in the cooking you understand, not in competition as a climber. Bitter gourd is definitely the winner in that respect, its pale green, knobbly pods turning bright yellow, orange and then bursting to spray scarlet seeds into the garden in turn spawning more bitter gourd plants, the fruit of which no-one seems to like. So here's another recipe for the use of this acquired taste.

Bitter gourds with Channa Dhaal courtesy of Shehzad Husain
2 Bitter Gourds about 13cm long
1 Tablespoon salt
125g chana dhaal (I used small red lentils)
2 onions
1tsp ginger pulp
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garlic pulp
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp salt
600ml water (1pt)
4 Tbs corn oil
2 tomatoes, sliced
To garnish
1 2.5cm piece fresh ginger shredded
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 Tbs fresh coriander
1 green chilli, sliced

Wash the bitter gourds and pat dry with kitchen paper. Peel off the rough skin and slice the gourds discarding the seeds.
Place the gourds in a bowl, rubbing the tablespoon of salt into the slices. Set aside for at least an hour.
Meanwhile wash the channa dhaal and place in a saucepan. Add 1 of the sliced onions, the ginger, chilli powder, garlic, garam masala, ground coriander, salt and water and cook over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes until the dhaal is soft but not mushy and all the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and set aside.
Wash bitter gourds to remove all the salt and add to the dhaal.
heat teh corn oil in a deep frying pan and fry the remaining onion until golden brown. Add the sliced tomatoes and the dhaal and stir-fry for about 3 minutes to blend together.
Transfer to a serving dish and serve garnished wit shredded ginger, garam masala, fresh coriander and sliced chillies.

Sambal Olek to blow your brains out!

Ingredients
1 lb red chillies or a mixture of colours like I used
5 1/2 ounces garlic, peeled and chopped
5 1/2 ounces tender young ginger, peeled and chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, thinly sliced (white part only)
6 fluid ounces vinegar
8 ounces sugar
salt, to taste
1 tablespoon lime zest, chopped

Directions
1Blend the chillies, garlic, ginger and lemon grass in a food processor or mortar and pestle.
2While processing gradually add the vinegar.
3Place the pureed mixture into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
4Reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
5Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
6Add the salt and lime zest.
7Remove from the heat, cool and bottle in sterilised jars.

I could tell you about the pesto I made too but that can wait.

Preparation and weeding

And so it went on. Weeding and preparing. Preparing and weeding.
For inspiration Ms Mova, Ms Tagalong and potential manure carter went to a
permaculture seminar on August 20th. Geoff and Nadia Lawton from the Permaculture Research Institute inspired all with their talk and slides of permaculture gardens around the world. Visions of Davidson plums and macadamia trees for a top layer, shading coffee bushes and olives and a lower layer of portulaca flashed like the cliched dollar signs in cartoon characters' eyes. We waxed philosophical about the ways to incorporate ideas of sustainable living into the community. To see more


Ms Mova was itching with ideas, fairly bursting with designs for developing water catchment by the use of swales. 'You just follow the contours of the land and build retaining walls to catch any rainfall.' Ms Tagalong tried to point out that we had no contours, there were no hills or slopes, just a flat concrete patch. To no avail. 'Prayer mounds, meditation spots, I can see it all, a tranquil haven.'

Meanwhile the mounds of weeds grew.

Fast forward.....

Ms Tagalong has just been unable to contain herself and bring you up to date gradually. Fast forward to the here and now. This weekend's occurrence has been so exciting that I just have to share it with you. Ms Mova and I planned this and talked about it but never really believed it would come to fruition. Miss Havisham and Estella have arrived!

In true Miss Havisham fashion she shamed Estella into being the first layer and an egg was promptly laid about an hour after arriving. But not to be outdone Miss Havisham dusted off her cobwebs and laid one the next day and the next together with another from Estella. Our resident animal expert cat chaser was feeding the chickens cockroaches, only about 50 of them, from the feed sack today so the next eggs should survive nuclear explosions. Spinach was picked, oodles of it, so I think a recipe for eggs Florentine might be in order!


A classic treat, eggs Florentine make a perfect Sunday breakfast or brunch.

Ingredients (serves 4)
8 thin bacon rashers
20g butter
2 bunches English spinach, trimmed, washed, dried
Dash of white vinegar
4 fresh eggs, at room temperature
4 slices ciabatta, sourdough or English muffins, toasted
Hollandaise sauce
1/4 cup (60ml) white wine vinegar
6 black peppercorns
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 egg yolks
200g unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp lemon juice
Method
To make the hollandaise sauce, combine the vinegar, peppercorns and shallot in a small saucepan over low heat. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 3-5 minutes or until mixture reduces to 2 tsp. Remove from heat and strain through a fine sieve.
Place the vinegar reduction and egg yolks in a medium heatproof bowl over a saucepan that is half-filled with simmering water. Use a balloon whisk to whisk, while very gradually adding the melted butter in a thin, steady stream. Whisk until thick and creamy. Remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and ground white pepper. Add the lemon juice and stir to combine. Cover with foil and set aside.
Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Add the bacon rashers and cook for 2 minutes each side or until crisp. Transfer to a plate. Melt the butter in the pan until foaming. Add the spinach and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until spinach wilts. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add vinegar to a deep frying pan filled with water and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and bring to a gentle simmer. Crack 1 egg into a small cup. Use a large spoon to stir the water to create a whirlpool. Gently slide the egg into the water and poach for 1-2 minutes for a soft egg, or until cooked to your liking. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate. Cover loosely with aluminium foil to keep warm and repeat with the remaining eggs.
Place the toast on the serving plates. Spoon the spinach and bacon over the toast slices. Top with the poached eggs and drizzle with hollandaise sauce. Season with freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.
Notes & tips
Tip: Adding vinegar to the cooking water when you are poaching eggs will immediately set the eggwhite as it cooks, giving the final poached egg a better shape.
Check out Taste.com.au's latest collections including Thai recipes, pizza recipes as well as cookies & biscuit recipes. And it's not too early to start thinking about Christmas puddings and Christmas gift ideas either!
Source
Notebook: - July 2007, Page 119
Recipe by Sarah Hobbs


Enjoy the garden produce! I hope Ms Tagalong hasn't spoiled the story for you? I will resume, I promise.

Ms Mova and Ms Tagalong

I knew some kind soul would come up with a name for 'the friend'. Ms Tagalong and Ms Mova decided another flyer would be sent out to the unsuspecting public in Tighes Hill asking for time donations, trusty wheelbarrows, sharp spades and blades to tackle the ever increasing bitou bush and burgeoning castor oil plants.

So the blitz day arrived and so did some of the neighbours. A steady stream in fact. We sweated and puffed and panted as we tore out the pesky weeds, mattocked out the stumps, laid carpet and newspaper as mulch and spread around the little top soil we had. At the end of the day we could definitely see improvement. Weeds and grass were pulled away from the long-suffering callistemon along the front of the property.

The next bit

Comments have been made about lack of photos. Ms Mova's friend,(she will take suggestions for a good name!) is sadly having problems with uploading appropriate photographs or any photographs for that matter. She will try to upload this post and then try to edit by adding photos. It is just so important that you see how much difference we have made!

If not, we will have to wait until Windows Explorer has decided that a photo uploader is not malicious.

So, where were we? Ah, yes, waiting with bated breath for responses from the flyer. Ms Mova kept saying that people were calling her or dropping by. Secretly, her friend thought she might be making these up, a bit like invisible friends, but then she started producing email addresses.

Sometime amongst all this excitement, Ms Mova contacted a local representative from Transition Towns. http://www.transitionnewcastle.org.au/ to talk about how we should go about forming a garden group, well really a guerilla garden group, as the provenance of the land was rather questionable.

Ms Mova's brother made the best scones ever for the meeting but this didn't seem to answer our questions. Obviously another flyer was needed. A call to arms or a call to scythes, machetes etc. to try to tame the bitou. If we wore dark glasses no-one would recognise us, absolving us of the need to announce our intentions.

Behind the gate.

Ms Mova's friend was shaken, but not stirred and the 'garden' sat there neglected for a few more months.

One day the terrible looming spectre of the imminent planting of box brush trees in the local park fired up Ms Mova to discuss the possibility with her friend of taking around a letter box drop, no pun intended, to discourage the planting of the aforementioned lophostemon confertus http://www.timbercert.com.au/species/brushbox_block.htm

This particular species seems to be a favourite of local councils as they can hack it nearly to death to sculputurally shape it around power lines and it still stays alive. Unfortunately it doesn't do much in the way of satisfying permaculture needs. No comfortable shade, no fruit, no nothing really, just sheer tenacity in the face of adversity.

Ms Mova's friend, affected by Ms Mova's passion said she would design a flyer about the trees and whilst she was about it should she invite expressions of interest in a community garden? Ms Mova was definitely agreeable and the first flyer was taken around the immediate neighbourhood. It would be a lie to say that judgements were not made about the possible level of interest demonstrated by the care or lack thereof of the property. Ms Mova's friend (she must have a name?)was secretly happy that no-one was judging her level of interest as the front of her property resembles Steptoe's junk yard on a good day. She is blessed with a partner who takes the idea of recycling very seriously and nothing goes to waste. Everything will be useful one day. If only she could think of a use for the e-waste which seems to be reproducing, finding itself in such a favourable environment.

So how much interest was generated and what happened next? Tune in for the next exciting episode.