What a difference a week makes!

It never ceases to amaze me how much a garden changes in just over a week. When looking at the plants each day it seems as if they aren't growing much but you really notice the growth after being away for a while.

While it didn't rain a great deal during the week what we did get obviously was beneficial. I was very excited to see my first blueberries ripening as I have never grown them before.

There aren't a lot of them growing but it is a start. The mulberries are all but finished but the...

...boysenberries are now ripening and hopefully the birds will leave some for us to eat. 

 

Despite being greatly neglected there were five cauliflowers ready to be picked when I got home yesterday. I will be making some Curried Lacto-Fermented Cauliflower as well as a few bottles of Cauliflower Pickles. This recipe was the one used at our first Simple Living Toowoomba workshop.

Cauliflower Pickles

900gms      Cauliflower cut into neat pieces

450gms      Onions cut into small pieces

1                  Cucumber cut into small pieces

8 Cups        Cold water

½ Cup         Salt

4 Cups        Vinegar

1 cup           Sugar

½ cup          Flour

1 ¼ tbsp     Mustard powder

1 destsp     Tumeric

1 teasp       Curry powder

1 teasp       All spice

½ teasp      Pepper

Make a brine of 8 cups of cold water and ½ cup of salt, soak vegetables over night.  Next morning scald well (in the brine) roughly 10-15 minutes but do not boil.  Strain thoroughly.

Make a paste with part of 4 cups of vinegar, 1 cup sugar, ½ cup flour, 1 ¼ tblesp mustard powder, 1 dessertsp tumeric, 1 teasp curry powder, 1 teasp all spice (if Masterfoods spice use half teasp as Masterfoods is very strong flavour) and ½ teasp pepper.  Add remaining vinegar to vegetables and bring to boil and thicken with flour mixture and simmer for 5 minutes.  Bottle hot.

 I checked the Jaboticaba tree to see how the fruit is progressing and it should be ripe in a couple of weeks. This will be the second crop this year as we picked oodles of them last June when I made Jaboticaba Jelly.

I was also very excited to find a couple of packages waiting for me including these two lovely dishcloths made by one of the Down to Earth forum members who I had sent some calendula seeds and petals to. I think I scored the better deal though. :-)

True to form, my Canadian penfriend who I have known since we were both 15, sent me a calendar of beautiful scenes of Canada. I have had both a Canadian and English penfriend for over fifty years. 

 

Photo used with permission from Pimpos Australia

To top it all off, Vicki from Vees Easy Vegan emailed me to let me know that I was one of the three winners of a pair of children's shoes from Pimpos Australia which will make a nice birthday present for my granddaughter.

Photo used with permission from Pimpos Australia

 

I asked her which shoes she liked and she chose the ladybug ones. Seeing as the only shoe shop where she lives closed down earlier in the year, I am sure the shoes will be much appreciated. Aren't they just the cutest shoes you have ever seen? Many thanks to Vicki and Pimpos. 

It is nearly 10pm and the next heatwave starts tomorrow when it will be 33C and then go up to 37C on Saturday and Sunday so I had better go and make up the brine for the Cauliflower Pickles as the vegetables need to be soaked overnight. Then I will need to cook and bottle them up early in the day before the heat sets in. Once the heat arrives my energy goes out the door! Is it the same with you?