28 Oct 2015
by Debra Manskey
in Baking, Biography, Brewing, Business, Chickens, Composition, Inspiration, Inspiration, Inspiration, Lyrics, Music, Performance, Produce, Singing, Urban Farming, Vegetable Gardening, Writing
Tags: Australian music, Australian original music, baking, brewing, Cassie O'Keefe, creative writing, Debra Manskey, egg glut, Griffith University, Inspiration, Kevin Gleeson, live music, Matt Dean, mentoring, performance, professional musician, singer/songwriter, spring, Tasmania, Tasmanian music, Tasmanian original music, Tasmanian songwriters, The Brunswick Hotel, The Globe Hotel, The Homestead Tasmania, The Yard, urban farming, Writing
Hello friends,
I love spring. The cycle of the seasons visibly turns and every day brings new things in the garden, the chickens are laying more eggs than we can keep up with, and here in Hobart we’re coming out of the hibernation of winter and starting to go out again.
Rhubarb Fool
Vanilla Ice Cream
Wee Beastie Sourdough
And I’ve been busy! In the kitchen I’ve been making Vanilla Ice Cream and Baked Coffee Cheesecake with the excess eggs, brewing and bottling cider, making Rhubarb Fool from the mass of spring rhubarb and my weekly “Wee Beastie” Sourdough. It’s been absolutely wonderful to eat so well, with so much produce coming directly out of the garden.
The garden is always a work in progress but I’ve started planting out climbing beans this week, there’s basil in the 
greenhouse and too many vegetable seedlings coming on to mention.
And there’s music happening too! I’m in the middle of a unit in Creative Writing for my second major through Griffith University. For my final assessment I’m planning to write a portfolio of new pieces that will become new songs. Depending how it goes, perhaps the core of another album.
Meanwhile, there’s gigs coming up too.
This Sunday at The Brunswick Hotel in Hobart, I’m playing a short set out in The Yard (the beer garden) with a bunch of other local musicians, including the incredibly talented Cassie O’Keefe and my friend Matt Dean. Very pleased also that this is a family friendly show, so feel free to bring your young music-lovers 🙂
Thursday 19th November, I’m sharing a night with Cassie at The Homestead in Elizabeth Street, one of my favourite places to go and hang out with friends. No idea what’s going to happen that one – we might even work out some songs to play together!
Friday 20th November, I’ll be doing the early spot at The Globe Hotel in Davey Street. If you haven’t caught this weekly event yet, I really recommend it. It’s organised by Kevin Gleeson who basically loves all kinds of music and is good friends with so many of us. It’s a great excuse to hang out and have a good time with mates.
And there’s more on the horizon! If you want to keep up to date with my shenanigans, hook up with me on Facebook here.
Yep, it’s spring and it’s busy – just how I like it.
Wherever you are, be well friends ❤
05 Aug 2015
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Chickens, Urban Farming
Tags: chickens, southern hemisphere, Tasmania, urban farming, White Leghorn, winter
L – R: Hipster, Mephisto, Emo and Henrietta
Hi everyone,
As I write the sun is struggling to come out after another arctic (or should that be antarctic?) blast hits Tasmania and south eastern Australia. Don’t get me wrong, I really love winter and the crisp, clear winter days we usually get. They’re wonderful for working outside, pruning and preparing beds for spring, but this is wearing a little thin now even for me! There are signs that spring is just about to happen, blossom starting to appear on early flowering cherries and spring bulbs popping up.
And yesterday morning, I found one of my beautiful old White Leghorn hens had died during the night. I thought she was older than the rest when I got her about three years ago and she’d never been a great layer, but she was affectionately known as Emo and we all loved her ❤ The funny thing is, Emo had been looking increasingly shabby despite having moulted in autumn, the same time as my other White Leghorn, Hipster. I even said to her on Monday (doesn’t everyone talk to their chickens?) that it was probably time to say goodbye before she started to suffer. I was planning to do it this weekend, when the weather is supposed to improve. Perhaps she knew.
Nevertheless, I felt bad about her passing and checked her over before burying her in a sunny spot in the garden. There were no obvious signs of disease or any parasites, such as mites and I think she just stopped wanting to be. After digging a decently deep hole, I laid her carefully at the bottom and said goodbye. Emo will eventually become raspberries, which will be great if I manage to transplant any runners this winter! I feel I’m very behind in this winter’s work.
Admittedly, I did have a very cold and long weekend away playing shows (more about that in my next post – with pictures!) and study has been taking up a fair bit of my time, but I feel I’ve done very little in the garden this winter. I have taken out a diseased cherry tree and planted a new apricot and dealt with the annual rhubarb clean up, feeding and mulching but there is a huge list of jobs that I really should attend to. So, this weekend I’m finally going to dig some of the raspberry runners, plant out some snow peas and spread some much needed mulch around the winter vegetables and fruit trees. And of course, there will be weeds for the chickens and playpen time for the rabbits 🙂
Take care wherever you are,
Debra ❤
What do you do in your garden in winter? What are your top tips for getting the most out of the short days?
02 Jun 2015
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Chickens, Inspiration, Inspiration, Inspiration, Music, Rabbits, Urban Farming, Vegetable Gardening, Writing
Tags: Australia, chickens, creative writing, gardening, Griffith University, online learning, rabbits, Tasmania, urban farming, winter in Australia, Writing
Wow, it’s June already! Who stole my year and can I have it back please? I don’t know about the rest of you but life’s been a blur the past six months.
Yesterday was the first day of winter here in the southern hemisphere and it was a reminder that the year is marching on. Firstly, there was snow on the mountain, our second reasonable fall in a couple of weeks. Yes, we had heavy snow in March this year, very unusual for this part of the world (see the pic above, snow to approx. 200m/220 yards!) The garden is looking a little shabby as it always does this time of year, with fallen leaves that need raking and using as mulch, fruit trees that need attention and weeds competing with winter vegetables. Nevertheless, I love winter gardening in Hobart on those crisp, sunny days that we generally see so many of through June and July.
The chickens are looking equally tatty, all five of the old girls are in various stages of molting, and because of the shorter day length, no eggs at present. On the up side, the rabbits are thriving. They much prefer the cooler weather and all three have very luxurious winter coats, plenty of food, bedding straw and shelter.
Out of view in this photo is a heavy duty enclosure that I’ve fitted with a tarp, where each of the bunnies gets a chance to run around, feast on grass and get plenty of exercise. I have been known to go and have a break in there with them, which usually means rabbit cuddles. Life’s hard ❤
And June heralds a new study period at online university, this time my first unit for a Creative Writing major. It’s really interesting as a much-lauded songwriter and lyricist that I’m going back to basics but my mantra throughout life is that you can never know it all – there’s always new things to learn.
As I’ve mentioned here before, I’m studying online through Griffith University and even a few days in, I’m really enjoying the course material, meeting new people on the discussion board who have a similar passion for words and the prospect of learning new things, new ways of doing what I love.
Hopefully, this will mean more regular blog posts!
Take care everyone and see you soon
Debra ❤
28 Nov 2013
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Chickens, Produce, Rabbits, Urban Farming, Vegetable Gardening, Writing
Tags: chickens, gardening, hidden treasures, NaBloPoMo, rabbit treats, raspberries, spring storms, vegetable gardening, weeds, whining and winning
I’ve been complaining – no, let’s give it the proper title – whining for weeks about the weather.
After gorgeous sunshine yesterday, and nearly a full day weeding, I woke up to leaden skies and my buck rabbit Barabas, thumping the ground to let me know a thunderstorm was on the way. I love a good thunderstorm, though the rabbits and chickens probably wouldn’t agree but the rain is back. And frankly, we’re all sick of it!
The only positive things are the water tanks are still full and the amount of green feed we’re getting for the chickens and large growth of treats for the rabbits – chicory, nasturtiums, thistles and blackberry leaves especially.
To give you some idea of what I’m facing, this is a picture of a garden bed – not a weed patch.
This was last weeded and mulched six short weeks ago. Underneath all this is a lovely small-growing bottlebrush that brings native birds into the garden, garlic, potatoes, cauliflower and silverbeet. I made a start yesterday but after the storm passed this morning, I couldn’t quite face mud-filled boots, so I switched to weeding the raspberry bed.
This has been another of my ongoing experiments. Last year I tried planting bare-rooted canes along my north facing wall but some very inventive starlings and a ridiculously hot summer saw all casualties and no survivors.
This winter, I tried again with a few bare-rooted canes in a raised bed in front of the greenhouse – with ample bird-netting! And again, nothing! But I did get a brilliant crop of mushrooms, so no real complaints.
In desperation, I bought a pot of sprouting Chilcotin canes from the local hardware centre a few weeks ago and literally emptied the pot into the bed alongside the canes that didn’t take. Finally, raspberries are growing and forming beautifully in my garden. Imagine my surprise then, as I was about to pull out what I thought was a dead cane today and spotted new growth from the base of two seemingly dead canes!
After all that whining, finally a win!
17 Nov 2013
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Chickens, Music, Rabbits, Recording, Singing, Urban Farming, Vegetable Gardening, Writing
Tags: chickens, growing garlic, NaBloPoMo, rabbits, recording, singing, spring, Tasmanian music, urban farming
After a wonderful couple of days recording and mixing at Belfry Studio, I really felt a need to get out in the garden and get my hands dirty today. I wanted to get some space before listening to the CD again.
Hobart turned on a fabulous spring day for me and I had a great time. Lots of playing with the rabbits, who had their hutches cleaned out and then planting sunflower seedlings and climbing beans, mulch courtesy of the rabbits. It was a perfect day for cutting Tarragon for drying too.
All the time I kept thinking about the recording, even sang a few bars to the chooks, who didn’t mind at all – they had silverbeet and kale leaves to peck at.
As I was finishing up for the day, I noticed some garlic at the front of a bed. Now, I have garlic everywhere in my garden, I love it and can never grow enough but it tends to get overlooked as it dies down. I realised these were cloves I forgot to pull last summer. So tonight’s stir fry had fresh garlic – and I have about a dozen or more heads to cure and plait for keeping.
After dinner, I sat back and put the CD on – yes, there’s minor tweaks that I need to make but wow – I’m very pleased and proud.
09 Nov 2013
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Chickens, Inspiration, Produce, Urban Farming, Vegetable Gardening, Writing
Tags: changing climate, gratitude, Inspiration, southern hemisphere, Tasmania, urban farming, vegetable gardening
It’s so odd. I’m blogging from my greenhouse this morning. The door is shut, I’m rugged up and wondering where the southern spring has disappeared to.
There’s snow on Mt Wellington again and I’m wondering if we’re going to have any proper, Australian sunshine before the end of the year.
Plants are getting rain damaged and I’m going a bit mad from looking at all the weeds that I can’t get at yet. The beautiful lilac tree is testimony to the damage – but it’s still gorgeous♡
On the upside, I discovered tomatoes that have (so far) survived. I can hear one of the hens, telling the world she’s laid an egg. The basil in the greenhouse has noticeably grown, along with everything else in here And my water tanks (my only means of watering the backyard) are full.
Along with this, the garden keeps giving and giving – we have so much food! – and I am cheering 😀
Next Newer Entries
greenhouse and too many vegetable seedlings coming on to mention.
Debra Manskey 