Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Tuesday

Yesterday when I got home from work I got into the paddock and put some lucerne bales (wet ones that are no good for feed ) around the vege garden then filled them with some more soil and manure that I had mixed together.

In went the carrots, parsnips and beetroot. I put in some cucumbers, and one of my sons bought home a half corrugated iron rain water tank (small) so I planted that out with some more corn (you can never have enough corn).

This afternoon I need to put up some frames and plant some peas and some eggplant. Then water everything and do some mulching.

So photos tomorrow of the new dasiy mountain vege patch.

Waiting now for the seed potatoes and some garlic to come from "green harvest online".

Gardening seems to be a lot about waiting............................

daisymum

4 comments:

Tania said...

Sounds like fun.

This cooler weather certainly makes us feel more energetic, a bit of rain would be nice though.

My vegie garden has been neglected lately. I am waiting for the pumpkins to finish then will have a good cleanup out there. We are going to built raised beds this year hoping to withhold the moisture better. Have ordered some lucerne hay as well from my horse loving daughter.

Have a great day.

xTamia

Joolz said...

Hi Daisymum

Sounds like you are being very industrious!

Regarding the Mulberry Jam - it was my first attempt at jam. I used jam setting sugar and basically followed the directions that were for strawberry jam. 1kg of fruit, 1kg of sugar. Strangely, it said to dissolve the sugar then once it came to the boil, add a knob of butter (never heard of this before!) then bring to a rolling boil and cook for (only) 4 minutes. I think I cooked it for about 20 minutes because it just didnt seem long enough. The resulting jam is quite runny but nevertheless tangy and delicious (as long as you don't mind it running down your arm as you eat your jam sanga!).

My mum used to make jam each year (plum, fig, apricot) and she never used a preserving kit or jam setta. She believed (and obviously had been taught) if the fruit was cooked well enough and the water content evaporated off then the jam would not spoil because of the high sugar content. She never, ever put lids on the jars - only the celophane covers which you moisten with water then cap off with a rubber band. She would sterilize the jars by standing them in boiling water then drying them in the oven just before bottling the hot jam straight out of the pan. The jam rarely went mouldy (unless it was really old). Our climate used to be cooler and dry so humidity and mould were not a problem but we do have more humid weather nowadays. Living in the tropics, using a preserving kit (water bath) maybe a better option once the jam is bottled to help prevent mould forming).

Hope this answered your questions - as I said it was my first go at jam. Bloody messy, sticky business.

Bet daisyson18 would have liked to be at the Clipsal on Sunday! We had a great time.

Cheers - Joolz

Joolz said...

Ooh, daisyson18 sounds a little bit bitter!

Fords Rule! *snickers*

- Joolz :)

Unknown said...

You stirrer Joolz!!!!lololol