Planning the Spring square foot garden

See? I didnt kill it last year afterall

Usually when I do a vegie garden I just do it on a whim. I go to Bunnings, see what they have, decide what we like to eat and buy seedlings. I then randomly stick them in the ground and wait for them to grow. This method seems to work quite well although I do tend to go a long time with nothing to harvest while everything grows, then I end up with a heap of the same thing. Like the Beetroot and Leeks I planted over winter. I pulled out ten Leeks today. Im going to have to slice them up and freeze them. See them all in the right of the pic?

Over the past couple of weeks I have been looking into the square foot garden method of gardening. Basically the idea is you plant alot more different vegies, alot closer together than the pack recommends. You get fewer weeds because everything is so crowded. I really like this idea and it suits my two little plots because they don't have alot of room in them. I followed the advice on the 'My Square Foot Garden' blog (see side bar for button/link) and drew up a plan. I used the advice on the blog about how many plants to put in each square, depending on what type of plant it is. For example, a tomato plant needs 1 square foot (I decided to do 30cm squares, since we are metric) whereas you can put 9 dwarf bean plants in 1 square foot. I decided on what plants to buy based on the types of food we like to eat and the quantities of things we like to eat. Tomato and tomato products are very popular here so I planned to plant alot of them. I also considered space in my planning because it would be best if I didn't have too many over hanging plants as Im not sure how much space outside of my garden bed I am able to use. Below is the picture of my plan. See all the dirty finger prints from all the gardening?

After drawing up the plan Chloe and I went on a walk to the garden with our wheely bucket of garden tools (thats what Chloe calls it) and pulled out as many weeds as we could in preperation for planting the following weekend. She is very excited about the whole process which I love. She is definitly eating alot more veg now that she is helping to grow it. She LOVES the pickled Beetroot.

Miracle Cleaner

Household Cleaner

1 litre water
200ml vinegar
40ml detergent
40ml eucalyptus oil
2 dessertspoons of washing soda

Mix all ingredients together, and it's ready to use. Use 60ml of solution in warm water to wash your floors. Fill a spray bottle and use it to clean your table, benches and bathroom.

This recipe comes from the simple savings forum.

I used to make this. Im not really sure why I stopped, it is fantastic stuff and it makes your house smell so fresh and clean. I just made up a double batch this afternoon and filled all the empty spray and wipe containers with it. I put one in the kitchen, one in each bathroom and one in the laundry to use as a pre-stain remover. I have never tried it as a stain remover but apparently it works really well.

The Yogurt Experiment

I have been making my own yogurt on and off for a couple of years now, using my Eziyo, Eziyo sachets and an extender recipe that allows you to get 6 ltrs out of one sachet. I got the recipe over at the Simple Savings forum. The idea came about because one very clever lady read the back of the packet and realised that the sachets are something like 95% milk powder with a  bit of powdered yogurt starter thrown in.

This is the recipe, a sweet one and a plain one:

SS easi-yo -plain

1 cup water
1 1/3 cup powdered milk (dry)
2 TBS starter (dry powder: recommmended: natural, greek)

Combine the above in easi-yo container, shake or stir to mix well. Top up to 1 ltr with water, seal and process in easi-yo flask.
-------------------------------------------------
SS easi-yo sweet vanilla

1/2 cup boiling water
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup cold water
1-2 TBS vanilla (extract with no alcohol seems preferred)
1 1/3 cup powdered milk (dry)
2 TBS starter (dry powder: recommmended: natural)

Dissolve sugar in small amount of boiling water..add another cup of cold water...allow to cool a little if needed (should not be too hot) Add vanilla, starter and milk powder, shake or stir to mix well. Top up to 1 ltr with water, seal and process in easi-yo flask.

I usually make plain and add fruit or just cinnamon. Chloe loves it without sugar so I don't bother with the sweet one anymore. Also another tip, the Greek Eziyo seems to be the best and I use Homebrand or Aldi milk powder. Also, do not attempt to make it with low fat milk!

Anyway...so this method has been working wonderfully and saves us alot of money as yogurt is so expensive and we all love it so go through alot. We also cook with it so having such a cheap supply means we can use as much as we like. I also like it because I know whats in it! This was all great until little elyssa came into our lives with her various allergies and sensitivities. After thinking she couldn't eat gluten for a year and that she is lactose intollerant, it turns out it is more likely to be an allergy to the cows milk protein in dairy. The peadiatrician we saw thinks that she can tollerate lactose free stuff because the process used to remove the lactose also can break down the protein a bit making it easier her her to digest. So...she can't eat our yogurt!!

Today I am trying an experiment. I am attempting to make an almost lactose free yogurt in the Eziyo. I am using about 1/2 cup of left over natural yogurt and her UHT lactose free milk. If it works Ill then make another yogurt with her lactose free milk using 1/2 cup of todays almost lactose free yogurt and if that works Ill try Elyssa with it. By this stage Im hoping most of the lactose will be out of the yogurt. I should then be able to continue to make lactose free yogurt with the lactose free milk...Did that make sense? Ill report back if it works because I know Im not the only one out there with this problem!

Pickled Beetroot

This is  my first attempt at cooking Beetroot. Ben has done it a couple of times but I was a bit intimidated by it. I found this blog this morning and was feeling very inspired so I decided to give it a go and quite honestly it was really easy, made a bit of mess but cleaned up in about 5 minutes so it really was ok. I made the pickled beets with about 8 big beetroots from my garden. Here is the recipe...

Boil up the beetroots and peel when tender. Combine:

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
some new fresh bay leaves
salt and pepper
Slice up the beetroot, put into a pickling container and Pour the pickling mix over the top. It keeps in the fridge for up to 6 months. I made two jars full but I don't think it will need to last 6 months...it will all be gone pretty quickly around here!

Now I need to plant more beets...

Sewing Barbie Clothes

We have recently gone a bit Barbie crazy at our place. Chloe received lots of Barbies and a (surprisingly) big doll house for her 4th birthday. I found the doll house at Big W on sale for $90 reduced from $200 so I thought 'Bargain!!'. I didnt realise how big it was though until Ben started putting it together. It is massive! I do love it though. It has an old style cottage feel to it and has older style furniture, even a swing. One of the things I love about Barbies is that it provides opportunities for creative play....for me! lol. So today I got out the material scraps and started sewing. I made a pattern for a dress by measuring barbie and looking at the clothes she already has to see how they did it. The first dress I made took an hour and a half. I gave that one away to one of Chloes friends who also likes Barbies when I picked Chloe up from a play date. I then made another one exactly the same and it took about twenty minutes but didn't fit as well as the first one had. I made a couple of alterations to the pattern and made another one, the one in the picture and Im really pleased with it. Next time Im going to decorate it a bit more with some ribbon, buttons or ric rac.

Adjustable Summer Enid Hat

I love the whole process of drawing up patterns and making adjustments so that you end up with an item that you really love. This is why I have become fascinated with Enid Gilchrist and her pattern books. I recently went looking on Ebay and purchased a few very old Enid pattern books and I was itching to try them out. Spring has also arrived here in Camperdown (finally!!) and the girls both need a new sun hat so I decided to give one of Enids sunhats a go, with quite a few alterations to suit the current times and current materials.

I used this book. How adorable is it! It has newspaper cuttings in it from 1968

I chose this adjustable Sun Hat pattern because it will fit both girls

I made quite a few changes though. I used interfacing instead of the reommended Canvas and I lined it, although I didn't have anough of the butterfly material so had to pick another colour from the stash. I widened the brim considerably to provide more sun cover, I changed the way Enid suggested sewing a fold for the ribbon to go through and I used sew on velcro rather than metal hooks to help make it fit better. So, a 2010 version!

Overall I am really happy with it. It is really adjustable, fits well and doesn't come off unless little hands give it a pull. Next time I will use a stiffer interfacing and make the whole thing slightly larger to get even more wear out of it. I love that it fits both my girls.

Elyssa is getting the most use out of it at the moment so I think I will make another one for Chloe. It does look pretty cute on her too though. I love a hat with space for a pony tale!





A Square Foot Garden

One of the things I have been looking forward to since I leased our two little garden plots last year at the community garden is Spring. I love Spring, it is my favourite season. I have waited along time for Spring to come this year...Winter did not treat us well and it kept going on and on and on. We have all been sick more than once and the two kids have faired the worst, as kids do. In the last week Spring has finally sprung a month late. We have been outside constantly soaking up all those good sun rays and I can already see an improvement in the energy and health of my oldest. Chloe has been sick almost constantly for over two months and it is like she has just been waiting for the sun to return so she can get out and about. Elyssa however is still quie sick with a possible case of the Measles which has become a chest and throat infection. I am confident we are at the end of it all though!

This week we returned to our garden plots for the first time in about a month and pulled out the last of the Winter harvest. About 7 Beetroot, 12 Leeks (although we only pulled out a few and left the rest in the ground until needed) and some Spinach. I was delighted and surprised to see the rhubarb plant starting to grow again because I was certain I had killed it by accident last summer. Im thinking about taking it out and putting it in a pot because it takes up heaps of space in our small plot, about half a bed. Chloe and I also got to work pulling all the weeds and snails out in preperation for putting more vegies in.

When we arrived home I started thinking about what I wanted to put back in for the Spring and I have decided to go way out and try to grow as much as we possibly can. My plan is to grow Tomato, Chilli and Capsicum plants on our upstairs balcony as well as Strawberries, Basil, Chives, parsley and Corriander. Downstairs in a garbage bin I am going to plant Potatoes and keep adding soil so they keep growing up and I end up with a bin full of potatoes. I have some organic potatoes that have sprouted in the pantry that I am going to use. I just need to cut them up and let them dry out a bit. Im also going to attempt to plant a pumpkin vine in our backyard which might not be very successful considering how small our little deck area is but Im willing to give it a go! I also want to get a compost bin going and maybe even plant a zucchini. I think our little yard may end up looking like a wild vegie patch though!

Over at the garden plots I am going to try and use the square foot garden method of planting. I have been researching it on the net and came across this site that explains it really well. Basically you divide your bed into 30cm squares and each plant or variety of plant takes up a square. I am going to plant lots of salad greens, peas, dwarf beans, lebanese cucumber, asparagus, beetroot, celery, radish, spring onion and zuchini. My ultimate aim is to grow enough that we should be able to eat mainly just from our garden without having to buy too many vegies from the supermarket. Im going to try and preserve alot of it so that we can keep eating our produce through out winter.

I also really want to get the kids involved. Chloe loves coming to the garden with me and exploring. She really loves pulling out the weeds and watering the plants. She also loves washing up the dirty veg in the sink when we get home which is fine with me! Its not my favourite job! We visited my parents place on the school holidays and came away with a huge bag of lemons to cook and preserve with. Chloe helped Nan get the Lemons off the top of the tree and was so excited that we were taking them home with us. She keeps coming up with all these wonderful and unusual things we can do with them, like lemon soup? and Lemon drink. She is carrying them around the house and trully thinks they are the best thing since sliced bread! To quieten her down the other day I made an Impossible pie with one of them that was trully the most beautiful and easy pie. Then when Ben arrived home from work he made up a small amount of lemon cordial with her. She loved the process so much (not the taste though!) that she has managed to talk him into doing it the last two nights as well. I don't mind, I think it tastes sooooo good and sooooo fresh! On the weekend I am going to make some lemon butter with Chloe, I know she will love that!! Tomorrow I am also going to pickle some beetroots for the first time. Ill post the recipe and pics tomorrow.