Sunday pictorial: the making of food

It all begins here. This is the view from our 2nd toilet. In real estate speak this is a 2 bathroom, 2 laundry, 2 bedroom terrace house. While I’ve never had to rely on the outdoor amenity it comes in handy some mornings. I don’t mind a quiet sit out here, to gaze at the grape vine, lemon tree and tarragon while contemplating the universe.



Over the long weekend we finally cleaned out the junk that had accumulated in the outdoor bathroom - garden chairs, a wood burning bbq, cardboard boxes, an unused table. Things crammed into spaces without thought. Now the garden is up and running I thought it made sense to create some order so we can store the tools, pots, potting mix and move the worm farm out of the direct sun and into the shade of the shower stall.



We bung some nails in the wall to hang up the tools of the trade.



The seedlings we planted after the heat of the Indian summer had ended are starting to look like food.



Well, some of the bugs think so already.



This might be tabouleh when it grows up.


So how does your garden grow?

cabbages and roses - a Saturday pictorial

I’d set the alarm to wake up earlier than my weekend body clock would like. Quickly out of bed and showered, it wasn’t til I was about to head out the door that I noticed it was raining. I cursed a little and wondered what to do with myself. Half an hour later, it was not exactly sunny but dry enough to reconsider heading off to the Collingwood children’s’ farm for it’s monthly farmers market.



I was rewarded with a free park on the street and market stalls still brimming with goodies. Although I aim to go to the market once every season, in reality it is more like an annual event. Dotted around the muddy pitch were mounds of seasonal vegetables, the largest daikon that I have ever seen and flowers optimistically hinting of spring. There were breads, nuts, eggs, spices, meaty things and coffee galore. One stall even had an enticing basket of nettles.



I only had two things on my list – rhubarb and eggs. My sole dilemma was deciding which vendor to buy them from. I also found home grown lemonades whose sweetness I adore, some late season grapes from Redcliffs and I couldn't go past the optimism of a few bunches of daffs.



Back home I’ve stewed Di’s rhubarb. She’d said the flavour was a little different and intense. The aroma I got while cooking was the earthy scent of beetroot. The eggs became the backdrop for my Weekend Herb Blogging experiment (which I will write up tomorrow – promise), the grapes are being well picked, the flowers brightening the room and there are the lemonades to look forward to – maybe fortified with a nip of something and a dash of soda water.



Even in this most barren of seasons it is great to see what fresh goodies nature has on offer. Next time I won’t be put off by a few drops of rain but I won’t think twice about wearing my gumboots!