BUBBLING AND BLOOPING

 

Labels removed from old bottles and stuck to our shower screen

Washing and sterilising bottles

Old bottles waiting to be washed in our bathtub

Dylan gingerly moving drying bottles outside to be filled

Pouring beer into the bottles

Dylan hammering on lids

Finished home brew

 

Dylan and Ryan have been bonding over making a new batch of home brew. It has been merrily bubbling and “blooping” in our living room for weeks, snugly wrapped in a sleeping bag, waiting patiently for our two protagonists to organise their social calendars already and bottle him up. They monopolised the bathroom to clean and sterilise the bottles, Ryan making some pretty pop art out of the discarded labels. Then the merry brew was poured, sugared and bottled. There is something so satisfying about it all being bottled away and stacked in the crates, I’m sure if I was a beer drinker this would not be the satisfying part…so Dylan how about some home brew cider?

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HOMEMADE PASTA – IT’S HARD WORK

Flour with a well in the centre for olive oil and eggs

Spinach and ricotta filling

Garlic and sage sauce

Uncooked tortellini stored in semolina until ready to be cooked

Garlic bread

Baked pumpkin, sage, tortellini and parmesan

I made tortellini from scratch for Sunday night dinner, and oh my stars it was a lot of work! It was very satisfying, but I’m not sure I’ll do it again until I am really trying to impress someone.

As is my usual cooking style it was a mix between three different recipes this one, this one and one from an old Italian cookbook that my mum lent me. I don’t know why I can’t just follow one recipe, commitment issues?

 

My mix and match recipe went something like this:

Baked Spinach and Ricotta Tortellini with Pumpkin and Sage Sauce

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4 YEAR CROP ROTATION FOR A SPOTLESS LIFE

Detail of trees on the plan for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia
Watercolour plan for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Detail of pond and arbour for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Bright eyed and bushy tailed we began our gardening adventure in July last year and of course we made the kind of mistakes that seasoned gardeners would snigger at such as planting 10 broccoli and 10 cabbages in a metre square. But that was easy to fix. When the bed bulged embarrassingly with bounty the chooks had a delicious snack on our excesses.

However one thing confounded us. At first the tomatoes we planted in the front garden grew just as happily and just as fast as the ones out the back, all of them delighting in the summer sunshine, but then EPIC FAIL! The ones out the front got one then two then a veritable patchwork of horrible yellowy brown spots! They shrivelled away. We ran to books and blogs to work out why.  Apparently before we moved in, this north facing position had been prime tomato territory and this was our first introduction into the need for crop rotation.

Just as you would become malnourished if you ate nothing but tomatoes and potatoes, growing things from the same family year after year in the same spot will create an imbalance in your soil. Plants from the same family such as Solanaceae (that’s your tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, capsicums and chilis) have similar nutrient requirements so they will strip every last bit of these from the ground. But more importantly rotating your crops reduces the spread of soil-borne diseases and pest problems as these guys attract the same nasties.

Diagrams for the 4 year crop rotation for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

So here are the four main groups we suggested for the Coburg Blitz:

Plot A: Umbeliferae (carrots, celery, parsnip, coriander, etc) followed by a green manure in the cooler months to replenish the soil for the next year’s crop

Plot B: Solanaceae (tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums, potatoes, etc) which are very nutrient hungry with Alliums (onions, garlic, leeks, etc)  in the cooler months

Plot C: Legumes (peas, beans, etc) that fix nitrogen in the soil ready for a nutrient hungry crop to follow

Plot D: Brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, brussels sprouts, etc) that need a nutrient rich soil

And the next year the nutrient restoring crops will be replaced by the nutrient depleting crops. The root crops following the nutrient depleting crops, as too many nutrients in the soil result in very bush leaves, but disappointing roots.

The beauty of this system is that plants not in these main families such as many herbs, flowers, lettuces, beetroot, silverbeet and spinach can be mixed in amongst each plot to allow all plants to benefit from companion planting. For a full list of the plant family groups I recommend checking out The Seed Savers Handbook. This system is really ideal for a sharehouse, where each housemate can look after a bed themselves and not have to work about other people growing things that will cross-pollinate with their produce come seed saving time. I’m excited about suggesting this to my housemates … but first 1 Permablitz down 2 more to go until we can do our own garden!!

Explanation of 4 year crop rotation with reasons for the order of plants for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Diagram of 1st year of 4 year crop rotation for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Plants that can be scattered through crop rotation garden beds as companion plants for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Diagram of 4 year crop rotation for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

List of plants in main crop rotation garden beds for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Click on the images above to view larger on my flickr.

Please comment on this post if you found it helpful, I’d love to hear about your gardening adventures!

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THE COBURG PERMABLITZ PART 2 – ESPALIERS & BEER

Bluestone retaining wall and mulch path at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Laying down brick edging for the mulch path at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Mark and Mathias digging out the path at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Kent and Lam building up garden beds with compost at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

The curving mulch path at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Dylan mulching garden bed at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Compost waiting to be emptied into the garden bed at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Adam Grubb from Very Edible Gardens running an espalier workshop at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Dylan resting at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Dylan's ramp in use at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Labelled cup at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Adam showing Gigi how to prune an espalier fruit tree at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Ryan sweeping the terrace that use to be home to the hills hoist at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Mathias, Dylan and Adam having a beer post blitz at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Ryan watering seedlings at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Mathias and Adam planting the espalier pear at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Mathias and Adam planting the espalier pear at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Dylan enjoying his beer after a long day working at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

The finished mulch path at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Mathias after the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Finishing up the espaliers at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

The second bluestone retaining wall and Dylan walking up the ramp at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Nasturtiums growing in the new bluestone retaining wall at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Stepping stones through the perennial bed at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Nasturtiums gifted from a neighbour planted in the bluestone retaining wall at the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

After an incredible lunch of beautiful curry, rice and roti and a quick swig from our personalised cups we set out to get this thing done!

We had reached that satisfying point where, the really hard slog finished, things began to quickly take shape. The paths greedily gobbled barrow after barrow of mulch and garden beds brimmed with compost and a lucky few got their comforting layer of mulch.

The poles for the espalier supports went in nice and deep. A young permablitzer observed the 700mm footings and wryly asked whether we were expecting a tropical cyclone. Our numbers diminished as the day drew to a close, but the few remaining were gifted for their dedication and got to watch Adam’s espalier workshop and have a nice cold beer. Or in my case greedily devour the remaining cheese and fruit salad.

It will be amazing to see when the garden is planted out and lush. Perhaps with some mechanical help those palm roots can be put in their place and the pond canbrim with fishies and frogs. It was such an exciting experience to see our plans take shape. What a dedicated group of amazing workers!

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