I LOVE MY GARDEN

I have been picking heaps of beans from my Gormet Delight and Cherokee Wax bush beans. Freezing them has been the best way to deal with the glut but fresh, they are oh so yummy!  I am now letting a few beans mature on the plant to collect the seed.

My very first tomatoes for the season, YAY.  They are small but will be delicious I'm sure.  I'm pretty sure they are Tommy Toe that self seeded from last year.

My first pickling gherkins were picked also, time to find another yummy recipe for them and the girls are as always giving us lovely fresh eggs every day, not to mention eating all the scraps from the kitchen and weeds and snails from the garden.

My efforts are well and truly paying off this year, it also helps that everything is behind so I'm actually home to care for my patch instead of running around the countryside with my son's cricket.

LOCAL FARMER'S MARKET

 

It's been a long time coming but finally Mt Gambier has it's own weekly Farmer's Market.

Last week was the first one but due to birthday parties it was near to impossible for me to get down there.   After I dropped Dan off at work this morning, I headed straight down to get some yummy produce.

 

I came home with a cos lettuce, bunch of spring onions, leek and rhubarb.   Then how could I go past Kalangadoo Organics delicious apple juice and Nolan's Road chickpeas and olive oil.

The rhubarb has already being made into rhubarb jam as I type.   The leek is about to become leek and potato soup and the chickpeas are soaking for some delicious hommus.

If you live in Mt Gambier or the surrounding area, please come down and support this important market.  The stall holders are lovely, I came home with cooking and growing tips and it's just a lovely way to spend time on a Saturday morning.

SWEET POTATO ANYONE?

I dug up my very first sweet potato today. Yes granted it's the only one, but I'm still excited.

I was able to get 2 fruit trees on special yesterday, the two-way pear went in the front yard today and hopefully the quince will go in back yard tomorrow. I want to espalier the quince so I need to dig holes and put in some posts.

ZUCCHINI PICKLES

They are delicious.

I used a recipe from Out Of The Bottle by Sally Wise. My zucchinis are all around the 2kg mark, so that's a lot of pickle to make!

I hope to make a zucchini bake and another batch of pickle tomorrow.

WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE?

All of these yummy organic vegetables from Ecologie Organics are on our plates tonight.

with some organic garlic, ginger and honey. Free range chicken, noodles and soy sauce.....

Makes for a yummy meal that everyone loved.

ECOLOGIE ORGANICS

A couple of years ago our source of organic fruit and vegetables was sadly taken away from us when the amazing business Masasa closed.
After it closed it was near to impossible to get really fresh organic foods down here. I have tried to buy local where possible at markets but sometimes the quality is questionable. I always ask if the produce is chemical free and usually get a nod in return that doesn't leave me full of confidence.
Finally there is a new business in town, Ecologie Organics
Sharyn delivers for free a wonderful array of organic goods, sourced locally whenever possible. I went with the $50 box to see what I would get and to check out the quality and was blown away. You can't get any fresher if you picked it yourself and I love what was selected for me. You get to list what you never want put in the box so the produce I received are goods that I want.
Check it out. (yes there's half a plum in there, the kids just couldn't wait)

Look at the cute crate it all comes in.

and look at the yummy sourdough bread I got for free, that's going to be garlic bread tonight to go with our spaghetti.

So if you are local to me, please check out their website and do yourself a favour and place an order.

PANTRY SHELF PEEK

This is my shelf for all of my preserved goodies.

I have heaps of summer fruits, sauce, pickles, jams, chillies, eggplant, beetroot, tomatoes, bay leaves and apples.

Over the year I hope to use them all up and continue to bottle, freeze or dehydrate so I'll always have stock.

MARKET DAY

As you probably know if you read my blog, I try to buy organic and local wherever possible.
I didn't succeed on either account today with my market shopping. There is very little local produce available at our markets at the moment so I had to buy from a supplier that came from about 300km away.
The produce is still picked fresh but as it is not organic I wash any fruit and vegetables in an organic wash.

I'm not sure how much your produce costs in the stores where you live, but ours can get quite pricey down here.
So here is the good news, this is what I picked up for $15.50.

2kg Pink Lady Apples
5kg oranges (I love to juice)
1kg brown onions
1kg bananas (just right for banana cake)
1kg tomatoes

It is so worth it to get to these markets if you can, oh, and the re-purposed bags I made last night (blogged at my other blog) worked perfectly. I think I'll make some more today.
Have a great weekend
xxxSue

FARMER'S MARKETS

Do you have a Farmer's Market near you? If you do, you really should check it out. I love to shop locally and with the goods coming straight from the farmer, they are cheaper and fresher.

I mentioned in my opening post that I like to shop organically so apart from growing my own, the farmer's markets are the next best thing.

We are now on an even stricter budget due to this economic crisis, so buying produce this way certainly helps my wallet.

The above photo shows what I purchased this morning.
5kg potatoes
1.5kg onions
1/2 queensland blue pumpkin
1kg chestnuts
1 bag walnuts
2 punnets seedings

All for the princely sum of $17.50

Try and do that at the supermarket.

It's all fresh with nothing sprayed. I can't wait to roast chestnuts with the kids tonight.

So go on check out a market and think of the yummy fresh produce you'll be eating.