Garden spectaculars

Going into the garden early in the morning is always one of the extra special pleasures of the day. Clutching a warming cup of tea you walk up to the chicken run. The ladies await, clucking gently to you, pushing themselves up against the coop wire, jostling for early lead position out of the coop. The day is quiet, no buses or boy racers grace the urban streets. Out they come in a fluster, looking for scraps you must have brought in or race, splay-legged to the compost piles to scratch under the protective netting for some goodies which they are not supposed to have. They have them!

Admire the vegetables. The broccoli is magnificent. Untouched, unblemished the drum-like flowers raise above the pale greenery. Sparkling with dew in the early morning sun they look far too good for broccoli soup! Eat your heart out George Bush, you don't know what you are missing. But then there are probably a lot of things you don't know that you are missing, like millions of brain cells. But no, do not let politics intrude on this lovely morning as I circumnavigate the beds. Pumpkins ripening on the wall. Rocket, lush and spicy, ready to pep up that salad; ruby radishes peeping invitingly from the dark dirt; Tiny Tom tomatoes unseasonably ripening on the vine; purple mustard lettuce (possibly!)again tangy in salads; coriander, rosemary, perennial basil, chocolate mint, mint and tarragon aplenty.

One herb is rather special. Can it be called a herb? Certainly an immensely powerful medicinal herb which has been used for centuries. I could wax lyrical for pages but will let you click on the link if you wish to find out more about the wonderful comfreyand its ability to do most things! Our plants are ready to sprout up in spring and provide us with several cuts for composting and feed.And so the splendour continues. How wonderful to contribute to slow food and eliminate those food miles racked up by the vegetables in the supermarket. It is a joy in the evening as the sun fades to pick my herbs for cooking and to collect saladstuff to give to my daughter who being Ms Glamourpuss certainly doesn't eat enough 'greens.' I did tell her about a community garden starting in Redfern, she reports nothing has happened as yet and commented that is where the drunks and reprobates hang out! It takes all sorts!

The new ladies!

I have been sending such good waves of love and affection to the new chickens. I have been trying to make them understand that they are in a lovely, friendly new run with plenty of loving care and fresh food every day. The six little ladies were left outside the garden in a very small pen and obviously felt a little unsure of developing relationships with our four who in no uncertain terms were establishing the new pecking order.

Well, actually I have been harbouring murderous thoughts as not one seems to have laid an egg yet! Thoughts of cooking pots, chicken soup or coq au vin float around with the universe of love. I fear the gift may well be six chickens who have lived out their useful egg-laying lives and were in need of a sanctuary.

Personalities are slow to rise. Our poor black sheep, the white hen, seems to lose an inordinate amount of feathers around the run and in the pen. Anyone out there need a new doona? Ms Mova and I went in last night to check the little darlings were locked up. The second pen's door had fallen shut during the windy day and through the gloaming I was sure I counted ten hens in the big pen. They were sat on perches, scrunched up on top of the laying boxes and answered me sleepily when I talked to them. Actually two were absent. Ms Chicken Expert was concerned that when she went in this morning to let them out, two were happily getting an early start on any delivered scraps and careless insects. Ms Mova and I mulled this over and wondered why they hadn't come racing up to us the night before. We think they must have cuddled up together in the tiny pen the six new ones arrived in. They have taken to laying in there, a clear sign that they are the chief chicks.

Think omelettes, Ms Tagalong, not chicken soup!

Happy Birthday!

It was a slow start to the day. Ms Mova was contemplating the 60 sausages that might still have been sitting there morosely at the end of the day when people starting drifting in. A slow dance of tottering feet and heavy lifting saw the water tanks raised into place one by one. Ms Tagalong guided and steered but it did interfere with her photo taking. Tanks in place they were secured by a very agile gardener, one minute scrambling like a monkey over the top, the next slithering underneath snakelike. It seemed like a good time for a tea break.

After a slow start the orchestra warmed up and the principal violinist Mr Ideasman was leading the young muscle recruited for the day. Rhymthic sawing and hammering replaced the umming and ahing and scratching of the head as the pergola slowly took shape. Who knows what it looked like before? Surely not as good as it does now! Shade and protection from the rain with the wonderful bonus of adding to the water collection.

Our last working bee saw a lot of our older members rushing in to help. For this one we thought that perhaps child labour might net us some different results. We set them to work seed collecting, digging, stirring witches brew, sawing and tying. What a wonderful untapped work force! Someone should talk to Nike! Little Miss Pretty was happy to have friends and I think this somewhat curtailed her ability to work but she was very gracious and granted me an interview on her participation in the garden. Top of the list for her are the toys and the play opportunities but she loves the plants! One thing which brought a tear to Ms Tagalong's eye was the participation by all family members, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. Spread the word I say.

Ms Mova and I were talking about future plans for the garden as we hit this wonderful first year milestone. Previous ideas of swales may have gone out of the window or over the fence but we have many replacements such as a cob oven, gardening speakers, cookery demonstrations and workshops. Any more ideas anyone?

Those of you who follow my every word may be wondering when is she going to mention the chickens? Well hold on, I think they deserve a full entry all to themselves. So dear readers, I am sorry if I lured you here on false pretences when all you wanted to hear about was stories of the 'ladies' and their latest doings. Keep posted!

Bush Tucker

As the debate rages over what to plant in the 'nature' strip outside the garden I offer these wonderful colours of fruit, bush tucker from the coast.

Purple lily pillies, damson-blue native ginger fruit, plum pine fruit and lime-green geebungs.

Whilst walking we foraged for more bush tucker and came across these Botany Bay greens much resembling spinach and tasting very similar. Cooked up for dinner we had a veritable feast, well some greens to go with the pumpkin risotto anyway!


Having been away I have not been in the garden this week, I have been enjoying the large, huge community garden of the mid-North coast, appreciating their plants and wildlife but word has reached me that Madam Fifi and friends are going to be joined by 6 new friends!

There's no stopping Ms Mova when she has no Ms Tagalong! Stay tuned for photos and the latest on how they are settling in next week.

Mushroom Soup

Ms Mova really liked the mushroom soup that Ms Tagalong contributed to the working day last weekend. She said she liked it so much that she wanted the recipe. Ms Tagalong has been thinking long and hard about how she made it and will try her best to recreate it here. But, Ms Mova, there are no guarantees it will taste the same!

1 Brown bag of mushrooms (peeled and sliced)
1 onion sliced
1 clove garlic
Vegetable stock
A large handful of mixed herbs from the garden
Ms Tagalong found coriander, thyme, basil and comfrey all growing wildly in the garden!

The onion was well and truly browned with the chopped garlic. It might have even been caramelised with brown sugar!

The chopped onions were added and fried and then stock was added.

When the mushrooms were cooked through the chopped herbs were thrown in with gay abandon. (Now did you know that comfrey is a very special healing herb?)

The whole lot was whizzed with a handheld mouli type mixer.
Milk was added to the desired colour.

Soup was served with a dollop of sour cream and some more chopped coriander.

I have to acknowledge that I stole the photo from a fellow blogger but I promise mine looked just like that. Apologies to Kevin in Toronto! His recipe might be more precise than mine but not sure that it would feed the hungry hordes working in the garden!

Shed Knowledge

The best brains of the area came together on Saturday to resurrect the storm-blownshed, piece together the conundrum of the shade shed and to work out how best to raise the tanks for gravity feed. A few head scratchings, 'my idea is better than yours' but brawn prevailed and we were off. Suddenly Ms Mova, who of course was orchestrating the whole event without seeming to, didn't even need to direct operations. The whole moved as one, but each with his own 'to do' list.

The hard core of the group were there plus many others. They came from far and wide to lend their skills. We had ring-ins. Brothers and sisters came for a short time and spent the day flexing long-forgotten skills. Little Miss Pretty chalk-painted artistic creations on the concrete.> She was so glad we had made a cubby-house for her. It (the shade-house) was soon parked with sit-on toys and bikes.

Ms Tagalong managed to flit around doing a bit of everything and nothing much. She does have an incredible knack of starting a project and leaving everyone else midway to get on with it! She did however wield the angle grinder with incredible aplomb. Ms Mova fell back on her journalistic talents and recorded a pictorial history of the day.

The ladies (chooks)probably fared the best as they unexpectedly gained a whole new area to forage in. Metal fencing of the recently purloined variety soon found a use as a new delineator of chook area and lo and behold we now have room for about 20 chooks!

Hunters and gatherers were foraging in the garden for seeds and fruits to sow next season. Planters and weeders were digging and turning. Sweepers were sweeping. Nail extractors were working on the recycled timbers. Such a satisfying job, even if half of it might be burnt in the brazier at the next get-together. Ms Caterer Extraordinaire was dispensing tea and coffee and at the appropriate time, womaning the barbeque with flair. The working bee threatened to sink into a let's enjoy the lovely day sitting here chatting and drinking but Ms Tagalong soon put a stop to that and admonished everyone in her dredged up school marm voice that the party was over and let's get back to work. And we did.

The practically destroyed, don't think we can do much with this shed was suddenly transformed by a couple of very capable brains, full of shed knowledge. Personal Trainer, who is more used to cracking the cycling whip over two very leisurely riders, pointed out that the knowledge within the shed might have increased when they stepped out of it but hey it's only going to be used for worn out tools.

As the sun set over the yard arm or over the coal loader arm really, we packed away, tidied and sat enjoying the last rays with a glass in hand admiring everyone else's handywork. What a successful day!

Culinary Coriander

Great green luscious bunches of it. It goes well with pumpkin soup. Ms Mova and I were sharing a stuffed pumpkin and talking of all things gardening and not. I had recently had a birthday and guess what I received? A hole digger, a weeder, a fork and trowel and a subscription to Organic Gardening. What more could Ms Tagalong wish for?

We took a lettuce, some bok choy and of course some coriander to our friends this weekend and enjoyed the idea of fresh food with bunya pine nuts and of course bok choy and coriander!

Mr Ideasman is planning the mounting of the tanks. I think that his plans and mine diverge somewhat. Visions of covered spaces with blackboards, storage spaces, children's tables and playplaces are changing to a utilitarian line of tanks linked by pipe, raised for gravity feed with a storage area behind along the fence. My visions will adapt, we have to do what is practical. Calls will go out this week for assistance and money to help with the construction.

Ms Mova wants detailed plans. She told me so. Mr Ideasman moves in a more organic way, seeds of ideas once planted and receiving verbal manure change and flourish into quite a different plant! I have however been successful in gaining some scribbled diagrams on the back of a napkin. Don't the greatest of ideas start like that? So do I now sanitise these ideas, blow them up on large pieces of paper for the willing workers or keep them secret?

Whilst we were away a secret fairy seems to have donated an aerobin for compost. One of the big jobs this weekend will be sorting out the donated items and moving things around so that the garden looks a little less like Steptoes' yard. (A reference for those young and not into English sitcoms, about a rag and bone father and son who had an amazing back yard full of everything useful and useless that you could imagine.)

So gird your loins, my friends. Bring on the tools and the manpower. Let's erect the pergola and the shade house, the shed and the tanks. Just remember to leave some space for the plants!!