Off-farm events continued vying for our attention and time this week. But with some wonderfully sunny autumn days and a list of tasks, outdoor work away from screens competed valiantly. We now have 33 outdoor beds and have finished off another pile of tree mulch. We’ve covered the border of the paddock closest to the house with mulch for now to help fight the grass. And from the front at least, the gardens are looking more “complete”.  (Not so much from other directions…yet.)

 

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While we’re in this start-up phase we don’t have customers but we have some extra food. Until now, we had swapped small amounts with friends, who also tolerated some strange packaging while I got organised. This week through our local crop swap facebook group (a growing trend) we exchanged a slightly bigger amount. The exercise of reviewing what we have to offer, then harvesting, cleaning and presenting it was good practice. And in return for lettuce, chard and beetroot, we got tomatoes, eggs, potatoes and bacon! My brain still finds these relative prices very difficult. I always feel like the other person was too generous. But maybe it’s just that I got something that I really wanted (like tomatoes). I still let the other person set the “price” and they always seems genuinely happy.

It was also a good week to take stock of what’s in the ground, in seed trays, in seed packets and in our spreadsheet and to think about what we will be eating the next few months. Media reports of people panic-buying seeds had also made me a bit anxious (although it would be fantastic if everyone followed through and planted them!). Our spreadsheets link up basic data on the crops and predicted dates for transplanting and harvest. According to our file, June and July can still be interesting (if everything grows), with plenty of leafy greens, beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, carrots, and lettuce. By the second half September the list of what is coming out of the ground shrinks to broccoli, kale and spinach! The tunnel will help us to grow more than that. But it’s also good motivation to be patient and store more of the good crops now. And to jump online and buy seeds, which I did.

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Cooking and storage adventures continued. The mushrooms from our workshop a few weeks ago are fruiting for the first time. They were delicious with our rainbow chard in dumplings. Citing my previous failure I convinced Alex to make another batch of stewed apples (and clear some bench space). It looks good but there are still more apples on the bench and the tree! I made a third attempt at kimchi but it’s not as good as Maangchi’s. Fortunately there are still more cabbages that I can experiment on. Fennel and beetroot will be new victims in coming weeks.

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Growing and storing food has been incredibly comforting as the world became a more confusing place. There are a lot of resources available for starting to grow quickly from scratch. I might collect useful links and post them on a separate page but in the meantime, this is a great entry point (in Australia): https://goodlifepermaculture.com.au/fresh-food-fast-how-to-grow-veggies-you-can-eat-within-8-weeks/ If we can manage, anyone can!