Apricots, Apricots and more Apricots

Abundance of Apricots

From the bright colour of red cherry to the sun kissed shades of apricot and peach. January 2013 has been an amazing season for apricots.

Although I don't have any apricot trees in my garden but my neighbours, Joe and Lucia do. Yes, it's always Joe and Lucia and their amazing backyard produce that provides us with our source of home-grown vegetables and fruit - Still, it contributes to fulfilling my dream of self-sufficiency - The day nears, hopefully,  when I will be able to take part in this exchange. I'm sure they feel sorry for me as they watch each day how much effort I put into watering and tendering the garden without too many visible results as yet.

Each day I find a bag of apricots on the BBQ beside the back door. Lucia called out one day for Matthew to come and pick the apricots high up in the tree as he is tall and no one else can reach the beautiful ripe apricots at the top of the tree. We took an ice-cream container and a few bags. We climbed the tree and picked heaps of apricots.

We ate them nearly as quickly as we picked them. The taste was amazing! They actually tasted and smelt like apricots! There is no comparison with the apricots you buy at the shops that are picked way too early, chilled and stored for days. The juiciness of a ripe and sweet apricot is a real delight.

I also made jam with some of the apricots. I used an old recipe from a cookbook my mother gave me which is in an old Dalmatian-Italian dialect. The old recipe originally comes from the coast of Dalmatia, now Croatia.It's so simple and easy to make apricot jam and made with Joe and Lucia's apricots, it has a strong apricot flavour and colour. I am very proud of my first home-made apricot jam.

Apricot Jam

1kg apricots
1lemon
500g sugar


Clean the apricots and take out the stone.
Place the apicots in a large pot.
To the apricots add the grated rind of one lemon and lemon juice.
Cook on medium high until the apricots become a pulp and then a a thick liquid. It should be bright orange now. Let it boil until it froths.
Reduce heat and add the sugar.
Simmer without frothing until the sugar dissolves and the apricot mixture thickens.

It takes approximately 45 minutes to an hour.

Jam is ready when a teaspoon  of the apricot jam is placed onto  a plate and when slightly cooled, the jam should not run or appear watery. It should have a thick consistency and be slightly firm.

Jars and lids should be sterilised by washing and keeping in hot water until ready to fill with the jam.
Place the hot jam in the jars and seal immediately.
Label and date jars.

Enjoy!

 

Cherry Picking over the Festive Season

Happy New Year!

Wishing you health, happiness, love and peace for 2013.

Cherry Picking at Wombat Heights

I took a little break over Christmas and New Year's from blogging, but here I am again ready for the challenges this year poses.

Previously I mentioned that the cherry slugs had much enjoyed my cherry trees early in the season and hence no cherries for me, only annoyance and extra work to get rid of the slugs.

I haven't continued to spray, instead leaving nature to restore the balance. In no time, lady bugs and other insects as well as birds fed on the slugs, ants and other pests attacking the cherry trees. The leaves have healed and the trees look much better now. However, since there are no cherries for this season, I didn't want to miss out on one of my favourite fruits. Instead of buying the cherries at the supermarket I was determined to buy locally grown cherries.

I researched local orchards on the Internet, unfortunately I wasn't able to find any growers nearby. There were none around Canberra. I thought it very strange as the climate is perfect for growing cherries. The nearest orchards were to be found around the town of Young in New South Wales - the cherry capital of Australia.Young together with Orange produces up to 50% of the total cherry production in Australia. The first cherries were planted in Young in 1847 and the first commercial orchard was established in 1878.

Each year Young holds a Cherry Festival at the end of November and beginning of December. The cherry harvest is celebrated with a street parade, Celtic tattoo, a cherry festival carnival, bush poets, markets and stalls, the cherry queen, fireworks, cherry pie eating competition, cherry pip spitting competition and other fringe events.

I instead found an orchard where you could pick your own cherries at a place called Wombat Heights, just past Harden town but not as far as Young. So off we went to pick our own cherries. The orchard is approximately an hour and a half out of Canberra. It is a lovely drive through the countryside, past the renowned wineries of Marrumbateman and small characteristic townships.

Along the way, I stopped to visit an old friend who lives in Harden and had lunch at the old Wombat Heights Hotel where I ate the biggest and most delicious pie ever.

Driving up the long winding driveway, we finally arrived at the Womat Heights Orchard 'Grog Shed' to be greeted by the owner of the orchard. Matthew and I were given a bucket each and told which rows were best to pick the cherries. We walked to the rows pointed out to us. I was so excited and couldn't wait to taste my first cherries of the season that I ran to the big, juicy Black Douglas cherries and started to gorge myself. It was only after 20 minutes that I realised I had left the bucket behind.

 

 

After picking a few kilos, we headed back to the Grog Shed to pay for  the cherries. The owner said to me: "Did you enjoy the cherries?" The red stain around my mouth and fingers was a dead giveaway I had been enjoying the produce.

 

 

 After chatting with the grower for a while (I got a few good tips on dealing with cherry slug and how to grow healthy cherry trees) and playing with the rag doll kitten, Matthew and I took a look around the 'Grog Shed'. The owners make their own jams, preserves, limoncello and cherry wine. We ended up buying a bottle of their famous cherry wine which the owner claims keeps forever! (I won't know as our wine will be gone soon enough).

It was a truly enjoyable day - a drive in the countryside, catching up with an old friend, a great pub meal, fun picking and eating lots of fruit, meeting and getting to know someone new, kilos of cheap cherries and a bottle of good wine. It really put me into a festive season mood. An experience I certainly would not get from going to the supermarket.

 

Christmas in the Garden

The garden announces festive cheer

I take a walk around the garden and I can see the colours of Christmas all around - right on cue, as if the plants know exactly when to start their display for the festive season.

The New Zealand Christmas bush is bursting with superb red and white flowers - it truly lives up to its name as the flowers appear like Christmas decorations all over the bush. What a sight! A ready made Australian Christmas tree - a gift from nature.

Red is everywhere in the garden, not only is it my favourite colour, but it's perfect for the festive season and marks the beginning of summer. I've placed three pots of bright red geraniums below the stairwell so when I go into the garage and garden they are the first to greet me with their bright and happy colour.

The berries are also out like little red beacons in the greenery. Although there are only a few plants at present, they still produce enough berries for a daily taste of raspberries, red currents and strawberries. My favourites are the tiny alpine strawberries. They are so flavoursome, the taste is so strong and resembles sherbet lollies rather than the traditional large strawberry. I will definitely need to plant many more berry bushes next year as it has been wonderful each day to wonder into the garden and pick the fruit straight from the bush. The regular strawberries are the only ones not to have produced as expected. Many are eaten by bugs before they fully ripen so now I pick the strawberries just before that point and finish to ripen them on the kitchen bench. I will need to find out what to do about that. Anyone has any suggestions?

The satisfaction is that you can go from that.....

To this.... a scrumptious summer berry tart!

The rainbow silver beet is also showing off its colours for the festive season.

It's quite amazing to see that the initial plantings are doing so well. I guess plants aren't that dissimilar to people: they need food, water, care and attention to hopefully lead a healthy life.

That said, the only red not to appear in the garden this summer, to my great disappointment, is that of cherries. The two cherry trees have been attacked by cherry slug. A disaster, as cherries are also a favourite of mine. Early in the season I sprayed the cherries to no avail, the slugs returned. I have waged war on the little buggers and although have fought numerous fortnightly battles with Eco-sprays, there are still a few eating away at the tips of the branches. Albeit slowly, I am gradually defeating the slugs as one tree is now clear of any pests. However, this year the loss has been heavy and there are no cherries even though the trees flowered quite prolifically. Any helpful advice on how to deal with cherry slugs is welcomed.

Oh well, means this year I will have to find a local grower and visit a cherry farm to get my cherries.

About the Block - Creating a Garden

Transforming the block at Gordon into a garden

Last post I showed you the block as it was in the beginning - a few ornamental trees, some shrubs and the ground completely covered by wood chips to which I added a few vases of potted colour here and there to please the eye.

The property was originally developed in 1992 by a local architect David Hamilton for himself and his family. It was one of the first properties built on the hill, Amber Ridge, in Gordon and he sure got the best pick of the bunch when it comes to the view.

The architect, after a couple of years, decided to relocate with his family to Queensland, a much warmer climate and subsequently sold the property to a university professor who lived alone. The professor unfortunately suffered from a terrible disability; polio had returned to haunt his later years and therefore he was not able to inject the required energy into further transforming the land. I suppose that is one of the reasons why only a few feature trees were planted and all the yard was covered with bark in order to reduce maintenance and suppress the weeds. Completely understandable. To be honest, I don't know how he managed. As I mentioned previously, you have to be pretty fit to live here -there are lots of stairs, steps and slopes both inside and outside the house. However I must say, the property looked very neat and tidy.


Potted colour around the house to make the garden a little more cheerful

Matthew and I bought the property in 2010 and moved in towards the end of that year. The property overall was in need of considerable repair and maintenance. Since then, we have slowly been transforming the land and trying to turn the block into a garden. Truth be said, the block, as it was previously, was much easier to maintain. As I added borders, paths and plants so the upkeep increased - watering and weeding. On many occasions, the garden has gone out of control!

I was not sure I was doing the right thing changing the garden, particularly as many of my first plantings were unsuccessful. I tried to plants herbs I could use in cooking like rosemary, thyme, sage, basil, mint and tarragon. Only the rosemary survived. It didn't take long for the plants to wither and die. After watering, I started to check the soil and realised that the water was being absorbed by the wood chips and was not reaching deep into the soil to the roots of the plants. The soil beneath was dry as ever, even after considerable watering. Not that there was much soil anyway. The soil was mainly powdery wood from previously broken down bark or bright orange and brown clay.


Rosemary survived the tough dry conditions and heat

To make the back garden look bigger we removed the rear wooden fence palings and replaced them with wire mesh. To my eye, it appears as though the property does not finish at the fence but instead continues into the distance. It's as though the nature reserve behind the back garden were farmland forming part of the property. Nonetheless, the removal of the fence resulted in being able to enjoy the views of the bushland and farmland on the hill. We also decided to remove the fences which separated the front and back gardens so as to be able to move freely from the front to the back of the block and enjoy the views all round. Our neighbours also benefited from the new views.




Removal of the wooden fence opened up the view to the nature reserve behind the back garden


As for the front of the block - I created a path with all the rocks I found lying around the block or had been dug up when planting. It goes to show how many rocks there were as I was able to create a path from the front steps of the house, across the front garden and up the south side of the block. There are still many more rocks and stones. I chose to start an initial planting of hardy, drought tolerant plants to create a cool green effect in the front garden. My brother and sister in-law were rennovating their garden at the time and kindly gave me quite a few blue bearded irises. I divided the clumps of irises and spread these throughout the garden beds in a naturalised fashion. The irisies have done well and I was able to get the desired effect. In the next few years the irises should mature and multiply adding to this effect.

I realised that once the initial planting had become established, it has now become easier to plant other varieties of plants, even more delicate ones which require moist conditions. Subsequent plantings have been successful and maintenance less fought with difficulty. The soil has improved somewhat with leaf litter, compost and of course the trusted horse manure.

Finally, I'm on my way to creating a healthier, more fruitful and attractive garden.

About the Block - Gordon

It's been pointed out to me that I haven't explained what the land around the house is like. I've been asked to describe the block of land in order to give a better understanding of what the garden and conditions are like and what I have to deal with to achieve my goal of self-sufficiency.

Well, here goes...

The house was built right in the middle of the parcel of land which measures approx 990sq metres. The block of land is retangular in shape with the front and the back of the block being the narrower sides. There is more garden at the front of the house than there is at the rear.

Below is a rough sketch of the site.

The person who lived in the house previously was a biologist - You'd expect a varied selection of flora but no not in this case - the garden was quite bare. The house was surrounded by only a few trees and by old wooden fencing: 

Two  beautiful ornamental flowering cherry trees, a crepe myrtle and a large tulip tree in the front of the block;


Front of block looking towards the street

Two well established olive trees, a native pine and a young Canadian maple in the back;
  





and a Japanese maple, a pine tree and a robinia along the south side of the house.

 

The entire garden was covered in wood chip mulch only occasionally intrerrupted by a few shrubs (9 in total). Under the mulch there was (a still is) hardly any soil. Most of what is under the wood chip is clay and rock.

The shrubs must have been particularly selected for their ugliness and annoying traits - they are all Australian natives for arid areas, are spikey, have no or minimal small ugly flowers and lose leaves that prohibit growth of any other plant around them due to oils contained in their leaves, a bit like eucalyts. I can understand that these plants may be beneficial during a drought and may attact native wildlife and birds, but they don't. There are so many wonderful native varieties available which explode with colour or have interesting foliage and flowers.


As like many other Australian natives, these shrubs need a considerable amount of water until they become established, you can't move them or they die, too much water and they die, they don't show you any signs if they're sick or diseased, they just die.


I've noticed that birds seem to prefer the nectar of the robinia flowers and of the two shrubs of exception - two beautiful large pink proteas which I have since discovered are not native to Australia but to South Africa.






The best bit to top it all off .... it's all on a slope. Yes, that's right... A steep slope! One you can abseil down. Well, that's exaggerating a bit - but nonetheless, it takes quite an effort to get around the block.

Visitors often reach the front door panting heavily (unless your fit) and on a few occasions pranks have been played on people - The person has been given our address by some (not very nice) friends or acquaintences and these poor persons have turned up to our doorstep sweating and gasping for air to only find out that 'their date or new friend' did not really live here. At least the view would leave them breathless, in a good sense that is.

Not than Matthew and I are fit, far from it, but we must have become accustomed to the steepness. However, after working in the garden for some time, my calf muscles become sore. I must learn to routinely stretch before and after working in the garden.

My initial stage in gardening was simply to make an aesthetic transformation. During the past year, I have been trying to improve the soil and beautify the garden somewhat with bright coloured flowering plants.

Simple Bread Recipe

An easy bread recipe to start with. It's simple and can be made without too much effort every few days and to get practice before moving on to other types of breads.

Ingredients:

1 kg of  white flour (or 750 gr of plain white flour and 250 gr of wholemeal flour)

20 gr salt (or 10 gr if you want less salt - experiment with the dose to find the best taste for you)

10 gr dry instant yeast

600 gr warm water (not hot - just lukewarm - should feel warm to the touch - about body temperature)

How to make the bread:

1. Mix the ingredients

1. In a large bowl put in the flour, the salt and the yeast. Mix until combined.
2. Slowly pour in the lukewarm water and mix.
3. Keep mixing until it becomes a dough. It should be a bit gooey at first but the more it is worked the easy it is to manage. It should resemble play-dough.

This can be done by hand or by machine. I found mixing it by hand works better. In a machine, I often have to stop and scrape some of the mixture off the sides or push the flour down to absorb the water.

I've been using normal plain white four which I bought in bulk at CostCo and it still turns out okay. However, for a better tasting loaf and more structure it is best to use a strong flour such as baker's flour. I will do some research on local flours available and see how they perform.


2. Knead the dough

1. Lightly flour a bench top - you only need a little space about the size of a dinner plate.
2. Knead the dough for approximately 15 minutes for maximum effect. Push the palms of your hands deeply into the ball of dough, flatten it, roll it, stretch it, bash it, punch it,  throw it on the bench - whatever takes your fancy. Get plenty of air into it!
3. The dough should now feel soft, smooth and warm to the touch.

This is the best bit - truly, it is. Sometimes I pretend it's a mini gym workout for my arms, other times I use it to get frustration or anger out of my system, other times I find kneading relaxing - I let my mind wander and forget what I'm doing, I lose track of time and use it to escape reality , other times I find it quite sensual - the  warm soft dough, the smell of yeast, the ritualistic rocking motion of the kneading, the image of hot bread out of the oven, the smell and the unique taste gives me pleasure.


3. Let the dough rest - First time

1. Put the dough back in the same bowl you mixed it in.
2. Cover the dough with very lightly oiled plastic wrap. (to stop air getting to it and forming a thin crust over the dough)
3. Cover with a clean tea towel.
4. Place in a warm spot in the kitchen (near a window with a bit of sunshine or near the stove -it really doesn't matter if it's not too warm, it'll only take a while longer). Also, make sure there is no draught (no open windows or cross breezes near the dough - it's quite sensitive)
5. Leave to rest for approximately 2-3 hours. (2 hours is quite sufficient. I like to leave mine a little longer).
6. Go and do something else now. Don't watch it rise for the next 3 hours like I did the first time!


4. Knead the dough again

1. Remove the covers.
2. Punch the dough in the middle hard! It should deflate instantly.
3. Remove the dough from the bowl or you can leave it in the bowl and knead it in there.
4. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes. A quick knead suffices. Pull the dough outwards stretching it as you go and then pull the dough back over onto itself. A motion of out, over and  in. I like to think of it as a square - pulling the corners back into the middle. I do this a few times.
5. Shape the dough.

A cob usually works well as also does a free standing rustic loaf (no tin) - you can let your imagination run wild. Make sure you tuck in the dough underneath (give the dough a few strokes down the sides and tuck in underneath)


5. Rest - Second time

1. Cover the dough with very lightly oiled cling film (the same used before) and cover with a tea towel (same one as before)
2. Place on a towel or tray or blanket covered with lightly floured baking paper. (this comes in handy later when you need to transfer the bread to the oven)
3. Leave in warm, draught free place to rest approximately 45 minutes.
4. Wipe any crumbs from the bottom of the oven with a tea towel. Pre-heat the oven to 220'C.
5. Go and do something else.


6. Put the bread in the oven

1. Uncover the bread.
2. With a sharp bread knife, make 3 large and deep incisions diagonally on top of the bread. You can also make another 3 incisions in the other direction to form a criss-cross pattern.
3. Optional - Put a topping on the bread if you want -  mix a teaspoon of salt with a couple of tablespoons of water. Brush the top of the bread with the mixture. The top should then appear sticky and wet. Top with poppy seeds, rolled oats, sesame seeds, etc or leave as is - the salt and water mixture will make the crust thicker and crispier.
4. Slide the bread  with the aid of the baking paper straight into the bottom of the oven.
5. Bake for 25 minutes.
6. Reduce heat to 200'C.
7. Bake a further 20-25 minutes.
8. Take out of oven. Tap bread. Should sound hollow.
9. Allow to cool.

Enjoy!


I was initially put off baking my own bread simply because I though it was too difficult and time consuming. To me, the idea of kneading the bread and waiting hours for it to rise was a waste of precious time and effort when I could drive to the shop and buy a perfect loaf in a matter of minutes or while out shopping.

Now, after having made the effort to make my own bread, I must say, that yes it was hard at first - the kitchen was a mess, flour everywhere, my hair had dough in it, and the bread wasn't always what I wanted it to be. I really wondered why I was bothering. With perseverance, I got better at it - I don't make any mess in the kitchen, I know the amount of ingredients off by heart which makes things quicker, I don't stand around watching and worrying the bread won't rise and I've learnt that bread will never be successful if I use the packet of old yeast I had in the cupboard since last year and thought it was a good idea to use up.

I never expected that having home made bread, the most basic and simplest of things in life, can bring such satisfaction - in the taking on the challenge, in the accomplishment of the task and the enjoyment of a house filled with beautiful baking smells whilst savouring the warm tasty bread lovingly made with healthy ingredients.

Instructions - Cheat Sheet

1. Mix ingredients in a bowl until a dough forms.
2. Knead dough vigorously for approx 15 mins.
3. Place back in bowl and cover with lightly oiled cling film and tea towel.
4. Leave to rise for approx 2-3 hours.
5. Punch in middle to deflate.
6. Knead lightly for a few minutes.
7. Shape bread.
8. Place on tray or tea towel covered with floured baking paper
9. Cover dough with oiled cling film and tea towel.
10. Leave to rise for approx 45 mins.
12. Pre-heat oven to 220'C.
13. Slash top of bread with sharp bread knife.
14. Optional: Top bread with water-salt solution and sprinkle with perferred topping (grains, seeds etc.)
15. Slide the bread into the bottom of the oven.
16. Bake for 25 mins.
17. Lower temperature to 200'C.
18. Bake a further 20-25 mins.
19. Take bread out and tap. Shoould sound hollow.
20. Place on a rack to cool.

Our Daily Bread

Now that I've offered to grow some produce such as the eggplants and capsicums for my dear neighbours, it has dawned on me that I need to find an alternative should I not be successful. In case I am unable to nurture to maturity my vegetables, I've given thought that maybe I should also start developing other skills such as baking and cooking which can serve to produce something else as a substitute.

So hence, I started to bake bread - a first step to enjoying fresh gourmet food. I watched a DVD created by one of the chefs from The River Cottage in the UK on how to make bread. The DVD was given to my by the ESSE wood fire stove agent at Pivot Stoves in Melbourne. After watching the DVD about 20 times and taking notes, I finally felt confident enough to make an attempt at baking my first loaf of bread. It turned out that it wasn't as difficult as I first thought. The divine smell of freshly baked bread permeated throughout the house. I couldn't wait to have a warm slice smeared with fresh creamy butter.

The next time I made bread by following exactly the same recipe, the bread turned out like a Frisbee - flat and hard. A disaster but I  refused to be defeated.

Matthew kindly bought me a book on how to make all breads of the world. A little over zealous but helpful nonetheless. The book served to troubleshoot my bread baking problems and after changing the way I knead and using a better quality yeast, I returned to successfully baking a good loaf.

A little more practice and I'll be able to offer freshly home baked bread to Joe and Lucia if the garden produce doesn't do too well.

Like most things, practice makes perfect and part of learning to bake beautiful bread was to make it frequently. My intention was to no longer have to buy bread but to make it myself regularly. We have toast each morning for breakfast so I need to make a fresh loaf at least every few days. I calculate to make fresh bread while on my rostered days off from work that way I would have enough time to proof the bread and bake it without getting too tired.

The loaves were quite big too, so I decided to bake two smaller ones instead, thereby making the bread last longer before going stale. I eventually became a bit more adventurous and started experimenting with shapes and toppings in preparation for my next more ambitious project of learning to bake the various breads in the 'Breads of the World' book.

A great source of inspiration - The River Cottage in the UK

http:/www.rivercottage.net