Lazarus - the chicken

The distressed faces of Ms Mova and Ms Tagalong said it all. They grimaced and gawped as the lovely Isa Brown, so vibrant a few hours ago fell headlong into its porridge. Eyes closed, she was limp in the hands of Ms Tagalong.

It might do to back up a little and say that as they were working in the garden on Saturday, they noticed one of the girls, who should have been happily tearing up one of the allocated beds, squatting down and seemingly heaving, tail down.

‘Might be eggbound, ‘ said Ms Mova authoritatively. Then added, ‘Shall I look it up?’ and went off to consult the Great God Google.

‘Could be,’ she said, ‘do you want to hear the cures? 1. Hold her rear end over a bowl of steaming water hoping that it will relax her to lay the egg. 2. Massage some olive oil over the nether regions and 3. Never put in a finger to get her to release it.’

Ms Tagalong was glad the last option was off the agenda.

‘Let’s try the steaming water,’she said. And so it was. Ten minutes after the steaming started, a few gentle pooping sounds later, the definitely off colour hen emitted a strangled sound and collapsed into some carefully mixed porridge oats and olive oil.

‘Well, there’s another one gone then. I wonder what it was for her to go down so quickly?’ Ms Tagalong said.

As Ms Tagalong gently lay her hands to the ground the lifeless chicken moved her head. She did, she really did. She opened her eyes and started pecking the oats in the container. Ms Tagalong and Ms Mova watched agape as she then took in water from the small stainless steel bowl next to her. She regained strength and in a few minutes was standing up!

‘Well I never,’ said Ms Tagalong, ‘I thought she’d died in my arms.’

But no, she was back. Ten minutes later she waddled back into the run and as she sat down Ms Mova thought the small pen might be better equipped to deal with an egg the size of which no-one in Tighes Hill had ever seen.

Don’t know if she ever laid the giant egg but she is happily pecking around today with the best of them.

‘Is this normal chook behaviour?’ pondered Ms Mova.

Any answersanyone?

Is this the offending egg?

 It's great to have some feedback, so please leave me some comments.

Veg out this year!

Hard to believe whilst the country swelters under the heat Ms Tagalong found a cool spot just a few weeks ago at the Veg Out Community Garden in St Kilda.

Strolling through the ‘co-ordinated whimsy’ from pirate ships to ranch gates Ms Tagalong came across Peter, a 3 years long participant, watering his plot.

‘It’s all about community rather than the plot itself,’ he said.

It certainly seems to be so with over $200,000 raised for local charity projects in the last 10 years, free weekly lunches for the homeless and a thriving Organic Farmer’s Market.

Ideally located in a former bowling club the garden has a working kitchen, classrooms, arts studios, pizza oven, mains water, tanks for watering and toilets. So lucky, thought Ms Tagalong as she listened wide-eyed to the upcoming plans for an extended ‘art fence’ a 3 year long-term project, saw the just completed vine structure and all the sitting areas and art installations.

Hugh, the Vice President relates how they rent out 150 individual plots with participation in 2 working bees for the year which helps install the infrastructure such as the sleeper surrounded beds, the bedhead trellises etc.

An added bonus to membership is the sampling of the 30 litres of wine they made last year!

Mr Ideasman struck up conversation with a lady with a very expensive chicken. A chicken who had had a $2,300 hysterectomy!  She now can’t lay eggs but still tries.  Mmm

So that's it: the community garden Veg Out in Melbourne.

It's great to have some feedback, so please leave me some comments.

Social, social, social....

Christmas comes but once a year but with the amount of Christmas parties and festivities around the neighbourhood you might be forgiven for thinking that it is a December-long holiday!

Friday night saw members of the Garden and the Community Group gather to share food, frolic and play music on a balmy Summer evening. No sooner had you surveyed the food table than yet another platter of delicious comestibles were added. Cake made with eggs from the garden, Vietnamese Spring Rolls made with mint and lettuce from the garden, elderflower cordial from the elder bush in the garden and so on…

Much food, drink and conversation later, the Thukes got going, singing and playing a medley of songs from their repertoire which got quite a few up and dancing, Ms Mova and Ms Tagalong leading the way with Red joining in, plus of course the inevitable Christmas Carols with some guest singers visiting from Melbourne.

One fabulous outcome from the evening is that Ms Tagalong is proud to announce that The Source Café is going to be using available produce from the Community Garden as we provide a mixed box of veg and herbs weekly. Thanks Source for providing us with an ongoing income and keeping it about as local as you can get!

After a stunning concert at the Treehouse on Saturday night it was back to the garden on Sunday for a debrief and celebration of the coal survey doorknocking campaign which has been taking place in the suburb. A good turnout and welcome results for all those living with the coal dust! Let’s just get those politicians onboard!

And what about the actual garden, Ms Tagalong hears you ask, well it is growing abundant, verdant, luxurious with produce needing to be picked. So come for your tomatoes and cucumbers, basil and lettuce, beans and kale. It’s a bumper crop before the hot, dry weather sets in again.

It's great to have some feedback, so please leave me some comments.

The girls are laying. The rain has fallen. Everything is right with the world.

This morning Ms Tagalong squeezed into the garden past all the verdant growth and had to let out the chickens although it wasn’t her turn. They were very vociferous, indignant even, at letting even the shortest micro-second of daylight pass without them being outside the coop.

Scrabbling to get out, the heaped through the door and fell out, racing toward a bountiful heap of scraps that some kind soul had posted over the fence.

They scratched and clucked, tossed and rummaged.

Ms Tagalong’s keen eye spotted some eggshells amongst the pickings and thought a moment of education was in need.

The chickens will eat their own eggs if they get into the habit so it is wiser not to put the halved eggshells in whole, if you take Ms Tagalong’s meaning. Best recipe is to bake them in the oven when you are baking something else on a low light and then crush them as finely as possible and chuck over the fence for them to scratch at. Hey presto, our very own grit without any expense!

p.s. if you are wondering why there is the Great Fence of China erected between the smaller and larger run it is because Ms Tagalong has sowed some green mulch seeds for the girls and our black wonder (chicken not sheep) keeps flying over and tasting the protruding seedlings. Not yet!

It's great to have some feedback, so please leave me some comments.

Black sheep

Waiting for another walk!

Every community has a black sheep!

Probably you have heard whispers of black sheep in the family since you were knee-high!

We don’t talk about Uncle Dirk.

Don’t mention cousin Hattie and don’t even whisper whatever happened to Joe?

The shame of the black sheep. Every family of landed gentry has a wayward son or daughter who may or may not sing the nursery rhyme.

Baa, baa black sheep

Have you any wool?

Yes, sir, Yes, sir

Three bags full.

One for the master

One for the dame

And one for the little boy

Who lives down the lane.

Well, a few weeks ago the not so distant sound of bleating reached Ms Tagalong’s ears. She knows that Tighes Hill is becoming a village, not just a community but…She opened the front door to be greeted by two young garden poets and a black sheep on a lead.

‘We’re taking her for a walk,’ they said, ‘down to the park.’

‘Right,’ said Ms Tagalong, ‘she’ll like that!’

And that’s how she knows every community has a black sheep!

***

 It's great to have some feedback, so please leave me some comments.

Potting Shed Poetry

Ms Tagalong had waited many moons to be able to replicate this initiative she had seen in Bridport,Dorset last year and here it was.  Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young poets from the local Tighes Hill Primary School took part in the Community Garden Open Day.  

It was too hot for the poets to stand and recite in the gardens amongst the veggies and flowers but they stood amongst the watering cans under the pergola and spoke of bugs and butterflies, hummingbirds and bees.

Ms Mova’s favourite from Gus:

Our little garden

Our little garden,

In Tighes Hill,

Not so big,

But not so li’l.

Stephanie showed deep thinking:

Under the wings of a kind heartYou will find a secret.

Do you want to know what secret it is?

The secret of a sparkley butterfly.

So keep your kind hearts, gardeners. 

It's great to have some feedback, so please leave me some comments.

Massage that kale like Sven!

Massaged kale!

It was an amazing Open Day. From beauty products to wick beds, there was something for all.

‘You must massage it strongly, you know Sven-like!’ said Michelle from Embrace Family Nutrition as she demonstrated how to bully the somewhat tough kale into submission.  Having cut out the ribs and chopped it finely it was now being squeezed to within an inch of its life before the other ingredients were added.

Ms Tagalong was all ears. She had been reading how kale and quinoa were trending on Twitter!  Mmm, well maybe not but they are certainly popular at present.

And this was Michelle’s recipe as made by Sarah Britton for a delicious kale salad which everyone tasted and came back for more.

Kale Salad

1 bunch of kale, stemmed and sliced into ribbons

1 lemon, squeezed plus pinch sea salt

Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

2 handfuls of grapes, cut in half

1 ripe avocado, cut into cubes

¼ cup of toasted pine seeds

Dressing

¼ cup cold pressed olive oil

2 Tbls apple cider vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

½ shallot, diced

1 Tbls poppy seeds

Pinch sea salt

1 tsp honey

1.       In a large bowl, dress kale with a bit of olive oil and a pinch or two of sea salt

2.       Massage kale with your hands until it’s deep dark green, approx 2-3 minutes (remember Sven)

3.       To make dressing , place all ingredients into a clean glass jar and shake vigorously

4.       Assemble remaining salad ingredients and dressing. Toss and serve.

5.       This can stay in fridge for a few days as is already wilted! 

It's great to have some feedback, so please leave me some comments.