11 Nov 2016
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Writing
Tags: black sheep, family history, I am the descendant of boat people, NaBloPoMo 2016, skeletons in the closet
Well, this isn’t what I was going to write about today at all!
Today was Remembrance Day, 98 years since the signing of the Armistice that marked the end of World War 1. This year also marked my late mother’s 100th birthday back in September (yes, I was a VERY late baby – she had me in her 40’s!) So I decided to start doing some more digging into my family tree. It’s something I do every so often and I usually lose heart when I come up against brick walls. Nevertheless, I keep chipping away!
Like most of us, there’s saints and sinners (lots of those!) in my background and there’s talesĀ of adventure, success, travel, loss and hope that have been passed down to me. For instance, my great-grandfather Joshua Eldridge (1845-1937) was quite a complex fellow. He was the son of English immigrants and started as a brick layer and builder, but became a brick maker and at one point owned one of the biggest brick pits in Adelaide, South Australia.
Joshua’s Scottish-born wife Isabella was a mid-wife and reputedly quite a formidable woman – no surprises there I suppose š From what my nan and mother told me, they had a comparatively comfortable existence in late 19th century Adelaide. My nan was the youngest of their 10 children, and I remember her telling me that their life was frugal but they always had a roof over their heads and enough food on the table, and it was her mother Isabella who held it all together. But when the children had grown and married, Isabella died in an influenza outbreak in 1911. Joshua started to drink and gamble, to the point that all he had amassed over the years literally ended up down the drain. He lost everything.
My mother recalled that as a little girl, she was walking with my grandmother (another formidably strong woman) one day and an old man was walking towards them. My grandmother grabbed my mother and rushed across the street to avoid having to even acknowledge him. It was Joshua.
I think that’s so sad. And even sadder that my mother (another strong woman) regretted never having the opportunity to knowĀ her own grandfather.
And I’d never even seen a picture of him – until last night š
In him I can clearly see my grandmother, and that kind of makes me sadder. The bigger mystery for me though is what motivated Joshua to behave like that? I suppose I’ll never know.
When I found the portrait of Joshua, I also came across an unexpected record. It seems my grandmother had another son, Thomas who died in infancy. All the long years I knew her she never mentioned him to me and in all the family history that my mother passed on Thomas was never spoken of.
And then there’s stories of unutterable sadness and intense mystery.
Somewhere in the records for another branch of the family, there’s a story so horrible and seemingly unjust, I’ve never hadĀ the courage toĀ get a transcript, though I know it exists. One of my forebears came with her husband and children from Edinburgh to AdelaideĀ as indentured servants. They had several children but for reasons that have never been made absolutely clear, her husband committed her to theĀ Adelaide insane asylum. There, she gave birth to twin boys, who both died in the first few weeks of life – and so did she soon after.
I have heard whispers handed down that sheds some light on the mystery. Of the new master forcing himself upon her and raping her. AndĀ her husband upon finding out, had her committed. It makes me weep every time I think about her and what she must have gone through.
And the unfairness of it.
And the children she left behind.
Especially the daughter who grew up to become my great-grandmother, Jessie.
There’s a story in there.
So, in honor of all the strong women in my family, I’m going to get that transcript and write that story.
08 Nov 2016
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Music, Performance, Produce, Singing, Tasmania, Urban Farming, Vegetable Gardening, Writing
Tags: Cracked and Spineless New and Used Books, fresh strawberries for breakfast, growing chillies, hanging out with friends, Hobart, Meraki Management, NaBloPoMo 2016, original music, playing a gig, Rachel Carson, Robert Dickinson, seed raising, Silent Spring, Tasmania, Tasmanian bookshops, Tasmanian original music, The Tourist, UNLOCKED, urban farming, vegetable gardening
Today, I’ll start with an apology – there’s no gratuitous cute bunny pic in this post. In truth, I forgot to take one today. To Bernard Black Bunny’s fans, I promise I’ll make it up in tomorrow’s post!
I went into the city today for lunch, catching up for coffee with a dear friend and calling into my favourite bookshop, but this morning after I fed the animals, I had a little bit of fun in the greenhouse.
I grow strawberries in pots so I can move them around the yard throughout the year and I’ve been picking fruit steadily for the last few weeks. But one poor plant really wasn’t looking great a couple of weeks ago, so I took it into the greenhouse, fed it some of my home made worm juice fertiliser and promptly forgot about it. What a lovely surprise this morning when I discovered this luscious beauty and more on the way š
A few weeks ago, I planted my precious stash of chilli seeds for the coming summer. While I usually keep a few Cayenne and Rocoto in the greenhouse to overwinter, most get treated as annuals, so this is a big deal for a chilli-lover like me. I was thrilled to see the first of this year’s crop poking their heads up this morning. The weather has been downright cold at times in recent days, so I was worried that I wasn’t going to get any to germinate, not uncommon if temperatures are too low. I’ll post some pictures in the next couple of days.
This winter was so mild, there’s more chillies than usual held over from last summer, including a few Poblano Ancho and I’m really pleased the Cayenne are starting to flower already.
After, I went into the city and (not for the first time) I was quite astonished at the difference between my oasis here and being in town. All the more so that it’s a 10 minute drive or a 25 minute walk from here to central Hobart – it’s not like I like in the bush or even an outer suburb.
I had a great time with my friend but my last stopĀ was the best – catching up with Richard and Mike at Cracked & Spineless New and Used Books. I love bookshops but this one is really something else. It’s not uncommon to bump into friends there, it can be hard to navigate around the shelves depending on how many boxes of books have arrived that day, sometimes you’ll even see the shop’s stick insects fornicating in their tank (I have photographic proof of this!) and for me it’s almost impossible to keep track of time once I set foot in the door.
And while I always come away poorer inĀ monetary terms, I’m always enriched by the books I buy. Today I picked up a new sci-fi thriller,Ā The TouristĀ by Robert Dickinson, and a very important book from my early adolescence,Ā Silent SpringĀ by Rachel Carson.
My father gave me a copy of this same printing when I was probably 11 or 12 and it quite literally changed my life. It caused me to think about making a smaller footprint on this fragile planet, something I still strive to do to this day but above all, it brought me even closer to my father. I’m looking forward to re-reading it and remembering my dad ā¤
Finally, for those of you in southern Tasmania, I’m playing a short set Thursday night at the Waratah Hotel in Murray Street. I’m opening the wonderful UNLOCKED show that, now the days are getting longer (and sometimes warmer), is back to being a weekly event. I’m really looking forward to playing š
07 Nov 2016
by Debra Manskey
in Baking, Biography, Chickens, Cooking, Produce, Rabbits, Urban Farming, Vegetable Gardening, Writing
Tags: Bernard Black Bunny, chickens, creative writing, deadlines, gardening, Griffith University, love my life, NaBloPoMo 2016, Oak Tasmania, online learning, online study, organic gardening, pesto for breakfst, SBS The Feed, seed saving, simple pleasures, sourdough bread, spring, Tasmania, urban farming, vegetable gardening, Wild Island
This post came from an idea one of my friends gave me this afternoon. So here’s a day in my life……..
Today was Monday, and a day off from my usual work at Oak Tasmania. But there were all the usual jobs and dinner to prepare early because I also had a 1500 word essay to upload to my tutor for my current creative writing unit, Writing For Children and Young Adults.Ā
First, feed the animals. There was squawking and jostling to get the best position, but the chickens all got their share of seed mix and there was an early egg from dear Hipster, the oldest girl in the flock. Then some quick weeding to gather greens for the rabbits and a big chicory leaf for each of them (because rabbits!) and the obligatory cute Bernard Black Bunny pic of theĀ day……
I’m Cute – But I Will Not Share My Chicory!
Once everyone was fed, water checked, pats and cuddles given, I watered the greenhouse and picked veggies for tonight’s dinner, a slow cooked beef and veg curry. This involved picking celery, purple cabbage leaves, silverbeet and snow peas and (as always) more weeding around the plants and cutting back flower heads – all of which went straight to the ravenous chickens.
Finally, I managed to get back in the house and make some breakfast for me! This morning I felt like something savory on my toast. So, before I went to feed the animals I went searching through the freezer. I had the last of my current loaf of sourdough toasted withĀ a very decadent and different kind of topping. I was quite thrilled to find a tub of basil pesto (sans pine nuts) from the autumn harvest tucked away. By the time I got back to the kitchen it was defrosted enough to spread thinly on my toast. It was intense, both garlic and basil flavours came shining through and utterly delicious!
Time then to knock a loaf of sourdough together and put dinner in the slow cooker. I replaced some of the bread flour with rye this time, which makes a nutty, slightly denser loaf. Wee Beastie the sourdough plant is really powering at the moment, so this is what it looked like after a few hours of proving under a damp tea towel in the kitchen.
I cannot begin to describe how lovely and yeasty these loaves smell at this stage – and without any addedĀ yeast! I’ll leave it to prove overnight and bake it first thing tomorrow morning so I’ll have fresh bread for breakfast ā¤
Next on my list was getting dinner prepped and in the slow cooker. About 500g diced stewing steak and a couple of diced onions got seared in ghee and tossed into the pot with a jar of home-made tomato based chilli sauce from a couple of seasons ago and a tub of cooked chick peas. Lots of spices, herbs, red wine, plus celery, carrot, broad beans and mushrooms (thanks to the garden again!). All thrown in the slow cooker, switched on and forgotten about until later in the afternoon.
Then it was down to the nitty gritty – wrangling all my notes into a cohesive discussion about what I consider to be “an area of childhood that hasn’t been satisfactorily written about”. It’s a potentially huge subject and I only had 1500 words to work with. Chained to my laptop for the next few hours, I referenced, edited and pulled it all together – with Brahms in my headphones and the first cricket test against South Africa on the television. It was a bit mad for a few hours, I remember getting up and making a cup of tea at one point but apparently didn’t drink it, and some kind soul put food in front of me at lunchtime. But I managed to get it all done, correctly formatted and uploaded to my tutor who lives in a different time zone.
After a cuppa with a friend who called round, it was time for the afternoon feeding of the hungry hordes, more egg collecting – and bunny cuddles ā¤
I also picked some snow peas that I’d missed that were way too far gone for the table but rather than waste them, I shelled them and set them to dry on my seed shelf. They’ll form the basis of the next crop and/or traded with other fellow gardeners.
Finally, I prepared the veggies to finish off the curry, silverbeet, purple cabbage and snow peas while some nice person cooked rice.
And now, dinner has been devoured (delicious!) and there’s plenty of leftovers to refill the freezer. I’m currently crashed on the couch with my laptop watching my favourite current affairs show, The Feed on SBS and once I publish this I might get back to reading my new book, Jennifer Livett’sĀ Wild Island.Ā Or maybe think some more about that song I’m starting to write. Or perhaps do a little work on my final assignment for this unit, a creative piece of writing and exegesis.
Or maybe go to bed early.
And this wasĀ a day off……
06 Nov 2016
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Cooking, Produce, Rabbits, Urban Farming, Writing
Tags: Bernard Black Bunny, Betrayal at House on the Hill, board games, essay writing, favourite vegetables, Felicia Day, friendship, fun without screens, geek is the new black, Griffith University, NaBloPoMo 2016, online study, play more games, Sheriff of Nottingham, TableTop, Tasmania, Wil Wheaton
Hi friends,
Firstly, an update on the potatoes from yesterday’s post. Last night’s dinner was simple but delicious – and the first decent meal I’d been able to eat for a few days thanks to a vicious gastro bug!
On the plate besides the chicken breast was the first of the broad beans, Pink Eye potatoes with fresh new season garlic butter and a lot of of lightly steamed silverbeet (aka Swiss Chard and possiblyĀ my favourite vegetable). Sadly, the carrot came from the shop, I didn’t have time to check the carrot tub out on the balcony.
Today, my friend Karen and her daughter Georgia came round to visit and we had a great time, feeding the animals (we all got to cuddle Bernard Black Bunny) sharing lunch and playing board games. Karen and Georgia were my neighbours for almost seven years and though they only moved a few streets away a couple of weeks ago, I miss them dearly.Ā It was brilliant just hanging out and laughing together.
Board games are big in this house and we’ve managed to get quite a collection together over the years. Today we played a great little bluffing/card game called Sheriff of Nottingham and the wonderful Betrayal at House on the Hill, which is incredibly suspenseful and loads of fun.
For those of you interested in such things, I highly recommend TableTop, created by two of my favourite geeks, Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton. Here, Wheaton hosts and plays through board games with fellow celebrity geeks. Don’t be fooled, this isn’t necessarily for kids – some of the language and games definitely have adult themes – but is well worth watching if you’re interested in seeing how particular games are played. I view it as a very entertainingĀ “try before I buy” tool š
Meanwhile, I’m on the home stretch with a big essay. My deadline is tomorrow night, so I’m off to write as much as possible tonight (as long as it takes) and edit it all tomorrow when I’ve had some sleep.
And it wouldn’t be right unless I finished with a gratuitous cute bunny pic ā¤
Take care wherever you are friends and let me know if you have aĀ favourite board game – I’m always interested in new additions to the collection š
03 Nov 2016
by Debra Manskey
in Baking, Biography, Brewing, Cooking, Preserving, Produce, Urban Farming, Writing
Tags: childhood reminiscences, growing up in South Australia, home baking, lazy baking, NaBloPoMo 2016, preserving food, putting food by, slow food, sourdough bread, Tasmania, Wee Beastie
I’m writing to you with the smell of new bread baking in the kitchen. It’s one of those things that spells “home” to me though my family weren’t into yeast-based cookery when I was a kid. We had bunches of dried herbs, cured meats and always pickled onions. I also remember the rows of Fowlers Vacola preserving jars (the Australian equivalent of Ball Mason canning jars) full of bottled fruit that my parentsĀ would put by every summer so we could eat apricots and peaches in the middle of winter.
I still put food by, it’s a deeply ingrained habit that I doubt I’ll ever fall out of love with. Instead of bunches of herbs hanging (and the luxury of a walk in pantry) I have new traditions – a dehydrator, a set of tall stockpots and a thermometer for water bath processing and aĀ ragtagĀ assortment of jars that I routinely wash, sterilise, fill, process, store and use.
My “pantry” is a bookshelf with a curtain to cut out the light and here I keep my preserved cordials, bottled andĀ dried fruit, basil and lemon oils, homemade apple cider vinegar, bread flour and spare egg cartons. At the moment it’s mostly empty jars. There’s no bottled fruit left, one lonely roll of fruit leather from last summer, some pickled and dried chilies from the autumn harvest and a few bottles of sauce, fruit cordial, basil oil and flavoured vinegar.
To this day, I’m not sure why we never made bread when I was a child. I suspect with six of us in the house when I was young, it would’ve been much easier and less time consuming to buy bread than make it! My mother was a wonderful baker and I learned many deliciousĀ cake and biscuit recipes from her. Every Saturday was baking day and after lunch, the kitchen table would be cleared to make enough biscuits and small cakes for the coming week. In winter there would also be a few dozen Cornish pasties that would end up reheated as lunches, a savoury Pasty Pie and at least one large cake for the weekend and any visitors that might call in.
For those of you who’ve followed my blog for a while, IĀ have a “pet” sourdough plant I named Wee Beastie. She lives on a shelf in the kitchen, where she watches everything that goes on and demands feeding daily. I started her off on new year’s day 2015 so she’s approaching her 2nd birthday.
Wee Beastie – note the air bubbles visible through the glass jar!
This living culture requires no other yeast and is a wonderfully frothy mix. My basic recipe is roughly 2 cups of Wee Beastie, 2 cups of strong bread flour, 2 teaspoons of bread improver and some olive oil to stop the dough getting too sticky. Sometimes I add half a cup of rye flour and add a couple of tablespoons of water so the dough is fairly soft. Once this is knocked together in a bowl I turn it out onto my wooden bench and knead it thoroughly for about 5 minutes. Then I make it into a loaf shape, coat my hands in olive oil (about a tablespoon) and massage the oil into the loaf, putting it in a bread pan to prove.
I’m essentially lazy, so it only gets one chance to rise. Normally, I knock the loaf togetherĀ in the afternoon, leave the doughĀ to rise overnight and bake it the following morning. The results of this slow process are pretty spectacular and incredibly delicious!
Even when it’s a few days old, this bread makes the best toast, perfect with a poached egg Ā ā¤Ā I’ve even sliced it very thin and toasted it for an alternative to bought crispbread.
Meanwhile, I have to go. There’s an essay to write and (in the name of science) fresh bread to taste test š
01 Nov 2016
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Chickens, Creative Writing, Produce, Rabbits, Tasmania, Urban Farming, Vegetable Gardening, Writing
Tags: Bernard Black, Black Books, British Giant Rabbits, creative writing, Griffith University, learning online, NaBloPoMo 2016, organic gardening, sick but recovering, staying positive, Tasmania, writing for children and young adults
Hey everyone,
It’s that time of year again! November means my annual writing challenge – a month of daily blog posts, otherwise known as NaBloPoMo. With the year I’ve had, it would be very easy to rehash the sadness and grief but I mean to focus on the many positives that surround me.
Having said that, I’ve recently been quite seriously ill, but with support from those closest and my GP providing theĀ right medication I’m feeling much, much better.
Also, today has started out especially wonderful. Early this morning, our new (and rather dashing) black British Giant buck arrived. He’s only 8 weeks old and impossibly cute. Like most British Giants, he’s also very affectionate and loves being held and petted, but if he gets to the size of his parents he’s going to be a handful to cuddle! In keeping with the household tradition, we wanted a “B” name for him. And given our love of the iconic comedy series Black Books there was only one thing to do.
Meet Bernard Black ā¤
Bernard B Bunny
There’s heaps of good things happening in the garden, a bumper crop of broad beans and snow peas as well as the the usual forest of kale, silverbeet and various salad greens that produced right through winter. This is despite a very wet spring that’s kept the soil temperature quite low and of course the chickens are in full laying mode at the moment. But at the moment I’m focusing on university and my current unit, Writing for Children and Young Adults.
Because I’ve been ill, I’ve fallen behind with the work but I have a fabulous tutorĀ and I’ve been granted an extension on a major essay. It’s not an area I feel particularly comfortable with despite teaching music to young folks as well as adults. I think it’s because I’ve never specificallyĀ thought about writing for those audiences and I tend to read so voraciously that I make little or no distinctions about genres. For example, I think of novels such as Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Wind in the WillowsĀ orĀ The HobbitĀ as great fictionĀ rather than children’sĀ books – and of course, all those titles fulfill both criteria. As a resultĀ I’ve learned a tremendous amount and found the unit quite interesting at many levels.
But I must get back to work, slaving over academic papers through the Griffith University online library and trying to make sense of my early notes. Then I can justify spending some quality time with Bernard, Boudica and Bella later this afternoon š
I’ll be back tomorrow, be well friends!
08 Aug 2016
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Chickens, Cooking, Inspiration, Music, Performance, Urban Farming, Writing
Tags: Griffith University, ladies who lay, Oak Tasmania, online study, Open University Australia, Perigord Truffles of Tasmania, Tasmanian muscians, tenacious me, The Superstars, treating myself, winter gardening jobs
Hi everyone,
I know I’ve been a bit lax posting lately but I’ve been busy with all manner of things. Despite it being winter, a time when a lot of folks think there’s nothing to do, I’ve been flat out!
I’ve planted dwarf apple trees in wicking barrels, made sauerkraut, started shooting a music video with The Superstars, preparing for a debut gig this month with my student Callum, also from OAK Tasmania – all of which I’ll write about in the coming weeks.
But last month I reached a milestone – I’m officially halfway through my online Bachelor of Communications withĀ Griffith University and Open Universities Australia.Ā I won’t pretend – it hasn’t been easy! And there have been times when I’ve thought (however briefly) about giving up.
So to celebrate my achievement, tenacity and sheer bloody-minded stubbornness I bought myself a little present. Below isĀ a fresh Tasmanian black truffle that arrived Friday via courier from Perigord Truffles. There were two in the pack, which are now nestled in tissue paper in a glass jar in my refrigerator. While I’m working out what to cook with them, they require daily airing which makes the whole house smell utterly divine…….
With the chickens laying again, I’m definitely having scrambled eggs with shaved truffle in the coming days and I’m planning to make ravioli with some herbs and vegetables from the garden too. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know how it goes š
Meanwhile, I have to get back to researching another assignment. Take care one and all, and don’t forget to be nice to yourselves occasionally as well as others ā¤
17 Jul 2016
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Inspiration, Produce, Urban Farming, Vegetable Gardening
Tags: Australian federal election 2016, blowing the [wo]man down, Brexit, garden revolution, Inspiration, Istanbul coup, mad world, making new friends, Nice killings, purple cabbages, raspberry maintenance, sadness, snow in Hobart, Tasmania, urban farming, vegetable gardening, watching the bees, winter gardening jobs, Writing
Since I last updated this blog, Britain voted to leave the European Union, lost its Prime Minister (and most of the Brexit big wigs along the way) and gained a female PM. Australia has seen a painfully protracted election count (to follow the longest campaign Iāve ever seen!) And this week Hobart had snow to sea level, followed by cyclonic level winds and finally, flooding in the south of the state.
Then I switched on the television news a few days ago and saw what had happened in France and (at that stage) 50 or more people dead. I immediately switched the TV off. Yesterday, it was a failed coup in Istanbul, another 250 plus people dead and I wondered, not for the first time, what happened that the world got to be such a mad and angry place. My response was, as it is to most traumatic things, is to hide in the garden, pull weeds and talk to the animals ā they seem far more sensible than a lot of people at the moment.
The wind did some reasonable damage to parts of the garden and I had to spend some time Friday morning making sure the baby bunnies were safe and secure after their hutch was damaged in the gales. Apart from being pretty skittish, they were ravenous as ever and settled back to normal once food appeared. I think the greenhouse roof is going to be okay after tightening roof bolts but I really hope itās solid for September and October, the traditional months for high winds here.
All in all, we got off fairly lightly compared to many homes and gardens but Iāve been stitching up bird netting today and thereāll be a lot more of that over the coming weeks. Some of it ripped branches of fruit trees and theyāll need attention too.
Over the weekend I finished weeding and pruning the raspberry bed, moved some escapee canes from the path back into the bed, top dressed it with straw from the rabbit hutches and repaired the netting to keep the blackbirds out. I think it looks pretty good and hopefully weāll get another bumperĀ crop this coming summer.
I finally got around to liberating the cabbages and some of the kale from the mass of weeds that sprung up during the mild, wet weather. This wintersā crop are an Italian purple savoy type I havenāt grown before and Iām really impressed with the colour and the growth theyāve put on for this time of year.
All in all, this weekend’s been gloriously sunny and despite the damage that had to be dealt with, it’s been a joy to be out in the yard and away from the madness of the world. Also, I met a lovely young woman who came around to do a plant trade and found we had a lot more in common than a love of growing things. I hope that’s a friendship that develops.
Sometimes I feel quite overwhelmed with sadness about where we’re heading globally, and I tend to retreat into things I have some modicum of control over, such as the yard and tending the animals, providing clean food for my family. And then I meet people like Kate and things start to make a little more sense again. Perhaps that’s where the real revolution is waiting – one yard at a time š
Finally, both my rosemary plants are in flower despite the time of year, and they’ve been literally covered in bees the last few weeks. It’s been lovely to take a break and just sit and watch them š
Take care of yourselves people, be kind to one another and when you have the opportunity, plant more seedsĀ and take time to watch the bees ā¤
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147.327195
01 Jul 2016
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Chickens, Produce, seed saving, Tasmania, Urban Farming, Vegetable Gardening, Writing
Tags: asparagus, Australian federal election 2016, bored with politics, freeloading chickens, growing potatoes in winter, love my life, magnesium deficiency, my slowly improving immune system, Rangeview Seeds, raspberries in winter, seed saving, sunshine in winter, talking to the chickens, Tasmania, winter gardening jobs, yellowing leaves on chilies
Well, we’re over halfway now – past the winter solstice! As I said to the chickens this morning, that means the days are getting longer again and they should start laying a few more eggs soon. At the moment most of my girls are freeloading but one of the Isa Brown hens (affectionately known as B1) is still laying about five eggs a week, for which I’m very grateful ā¤
Although we’ve had some cold weather, it’s been surprisingly mild the last week or so, with cold mornings and mostly sunny days. But this is Tasmania, and we usually get our worst weather through July and August.
Also, I’ve been sick again. There’s been some horror viruses doing the rounds and I seem to have caught most of them this year! Nevertheless, my immune system is better than it was. A few years ago I would’ve ended up with bronchitis or pneumonia instead of a cold, and I’m sure these last few years of eating mostly home grown, organic produce has contributed positively.
Today, I spent some time in the yard after feeding the animals and really enjoyed the sunshine. The mild weather has seen new (and relatively large) spears on the asparagus, heaps of growth on the cabbages, broccoli and salad greens and flower buds forming on the broad beans. Unbelievably, there’s still a few raspberries on my neglected canes but I’ll be cutting them back over the next week, weeding the bed and mulching it heavily in preparation for another summer of delicious berries.
In the greenhouse, I collected another pocketful of fresh chilies, which is incredibly impressive for July and some of my potato experiments are starting to shoot. I also did a quick check of some blueberry cuttings I did in autumn and they look very promising. Some of the chilies are starting to show classic signs of magnesium deficiency, yellowing of the leaves.
This is really common in pot grown heavy feeders, such as chilies and citrus is an indication that the plants have exhausted nutrients in the potting mix. It’s also quite easy to rectify, with a foliar spray of manganese sulphate, (aka epsom salts) and feeding with a nitrogen-rich fertiliser. In the case of this particular chili, it’s been flowering and fruiting non stop since last September. I’m planning to cut it back at the end of winter and repot into a fresh, rich mix for the growing season as well. Epsom salts is easy to find in supermarkets or hardware stores and I mix two tablespoons in a bucketĀ (about nine liters) and use a misting bottle to make sure both sides of the leaves are covered.
The rhubarb is still an ongoing project – I got sick in the middle of lifting and dividing all the crowns but the ones that don’t have new homes yet are heeled into the side of the bed until I’m well enough to get that job finished!
Wandering around the garden in the sunshine did get me thinking about what I want to plant this spring and summer and seeds arrived in the post today from Rangeview Seeds who are up in Derby in northern Tasmania.
So tonight I’ve sat on the couch and sorted through all my packets of seeds, something I do every winter. It’s a daunting but oddly satisfying task, working out what’s out of date and what to keep. This year too, there’s been an outrageous number of my own packets, particularly with chili seeds! (I will do a post devoted to propagating chili seed in the next few weeks too).
I think it’s the sheer potential embodied in all those packetsĀ that intrigues and inspires me. All the possibilities of delicious salads and preserves, foodĀ shared with loved ones and flowers that occasionally grace the table too ā¤
Tomorrow, Australia votes in the longest federal election campaign in something like 80 years. Frankly, I’m well over it, despite being a student of politics and having worked as political analyst many years ago! I’m not a big fan of either of the old parties and sadly, I think it unlikely that the Australian people will be winners no matter who forms government. Nevertheless, I refuse to submit to cynicism and intend to make my vote count – particularly in the Senate. And after the mandatory voting, I’ll be retreating to the garden for some more sunshine therapy š
As always, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing on this beautiful planet, go gently, be safe, happy and well ā¤
14 Jun 2016
by Debra Manskey
in Biography, Produce, Urban Farming, Vegetable Gardening, Writing
Tags: art, Cassie O'Keefe, Dark MOFO, sourdough bread, Tahitian Lime, Tasmania, The Gentle Void, UNLOCKED, Waratah Hotel, Ziggy's Supreme Smallgoods
After spending a very productive day in the garden yesterday, I went shopping this afternoon.
The short versionĀ of the story is I probably shouldn’t be allowed out alone. I came home with a Tahitian Lime (Citrus x latifolia). As most of you are likely aware, Hobart is the southernmost capital city in Australia, and we can get quite fierce winters, with frost and occasional snow. Trying to grow any kind of lime is tempting fate here, but I recently heard about a tree in a nearby area that yielded 9 kilos (just under 20lb) of fruit.
While I was in the garden yesterday, I had a look around and thought about where the warmest place in my patch would be. So todayĀ I bought a very healthy little tree that’s been grafted on dwarfing lemon rootstock. And I think that’s the trick with selecting trees for your climate – look carefully at your site, determine what it can and can’t accommodate and choose trees that are grafted onto rootstocks that suit. The plan with this lime is to overwinter it in the greenhouse and plant it out in spring into a tub against a concrete wall that gets a lot of sun. Fingers crossed! I’ll keep you updated.
And around the corner from the garden centre is one of my all time favourite food shops – Ziggy’s Supreme Smallgoods. These folks make and sell their own smallgoods as well as local and imported cheeses, pickles and (mostly Polish) biscuits and canned goods. I restrained myself to Cabanossi and Ukrainian sausage, Chicken Kiev, Chorizo (both for later in the week), fresh sliced Ziggy’s bacon and a couple of cheeses – because cheese! So tonight’s dinner was a veritable feast of the two sausages and one of the cheeses, served with thin sliced, toasted home made sourdough and slices of fresh apple. It was bliss!
Hobart is the place to be at the moment.Ā Dark Mofo,Ā one of my favourite festivals is in full swing this week but it’s not the only thing happening.
Tomorrow night is the grand opening of The Gentle Void, a new art and performance space in Campbell Street. The idea behind this new gallery is to give roomĀ to alternative voices and provide a welcoming space for audiences. I’m really looking forward to seeing the opening group show, featuring artists from around Australia.
And finally, Thursday night I’m taking a night off from the Uni books and playing the UNLOCKEDĀ gig at The Waratah Hotel. It should be a heap of fun and there’s some lovely performers on the bill, including the very talented Cassie O’Keefe. I’m really looking forward to it š
As to the title of this post – what else do I need? A book, always a book – and that’s where I’m off to now.
Wherever you are on this beautiful planet, go gently, be safe and be happy ā¤
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Debra Manskey 