February 2007

7th February

I FINALLY found out where all the eggs were being hidden! Recently the egg count had dropped a bit, and I put it down to the weather. Then I was down to two hens laying - and one hen gone broody. Where she was hiding though I could not tell you! So today the search was on. Eventually she was found - hiding in plain sight. I had spent the entire time looking down low in the blackberries, she was calmly perched higher up in the ivy. She’d spent the whole time watching me! So now I have managed to rescue 13 eggs from underneath her before she pecked me too much. There is still at least one more egg underneath her, but that can wait for another day now. ____________________________________________________________________
13th February

Zucchini

What do you do with a Zucchini glut? Try this quick recipe, it’s also a great way to get kids to eat their vegies.

Potato and Zucchini Fritters

*Peel and grate 4 smallish poatoes, 1 carrot and 2 Zucchinis. Sit aside for half an hour and then squeeze out the excess liquid

*Dice finely a small onion. Add an egg and a little flour to bind the ingredients together. Season with salt and pepper.

*Heat some Olive Oil in a pan and add spoonfuls of the mixture to the hot oil. Flatten the fritters well (otherwise the potato will not cook completely) and fry until golden on both sides

*Enjoy! ____________________________________________________________________

20th February

**29th January update -

*I weeded the Lima Beans and Sunflowers I planted around the edge of the garden - they certainly don’t work as well as Mustard to keep the couch grass out I also thinned the mustard seedlings. I have plenty of carrot seedlings emerging as well as leeks, silverbeet, parsnip and (I suspect) pak choi. It’s amazing how non-hybrid plants are so great at producing seed ____________________________________________________________________

23rd February

**So it's that time of year when I suddenly decide that even though it is Melbourne, I can grow cucumbers from seed in February. I am just about to dash out there madly with my boxes of seed to shove things into the earth and see what happens.

So what are we eating from the garden at the moment?

Tomatoes
Zucchini
Silverbeet
Parsley
Lovage
Rosemary
Basil
Oregano
Spearmint
Lemon Balm