Some unexpected finds

The last couple of days we have had a reprieve from the heatwave conditions which will return tomorrow. Temperatures of 35/36C are forecast until Sunday here but it will be worse in the west as usual. As it was cool enough to take a leisurely walk around what used to be the garden and is now a mass of weeds I went 'down the back' to check out the fig trees and then remembered that the CEO had fenced off a small area from the chooks and that there were cherry tomatoes growing there. I noticed some plants growing there beside them which I didn't recognise and was going to pull them out as I thought they may have been weeds but it is just as well I didn't as they actually were Rosella plants. I knew he had bought a plant a while back but had no idea where it disappeared to and just presumed it had died from lack of water. Not so.... the bushes are covered in Rosellas.

I just did a bit of reading about the plants on Green Harvest and it says that 'The fleshy calyx is used in salads, jellies, cranberry-like sauces, jam and cordial, syrups and wine. Dried the red calyx is used for tea and it is an important ingredient in the commercial Red Zinger, Hibiscus and Fruit teas. The tea is very similar in flavour to rose-hips and high in vitamin C. Seeds are roasted and ground into flour. Young leaves can be steamed or stir-fried and are known as Red Sorrel in the Pacific.

 

I was wondering what we could use them for as I don't make jam anymore and I have memories of peeling them for Mum when she used to make rosella jam but it sounds like I could dry them or use some in salads. More experimenting by the sounds of it. I think they are liking the hot conditions. 

 

While I was down there I checked out the Jaboticaba tree as it had heaps of flowers on it a couple of days before and would you believe it...the branches were already covered in fruit!

I told the CEO and he thought that was strange as it isn't the time when it should be fruiting but fruiting it is whether it is the 'right' time or not.

The birds are enjoying the grapes of which there are many it seems.

I took the opportunity during the cooler weather to make some sourdough but it was a bit of a fail unfortunately. Firstly I used Griffin but I don't think I fed him enough beforehand. Poor chap! He and Gertrude had been out drinking the night before and I had to tip out hooch from the top of both of them even though they had been fed the week before. Then I had found some wholemeal Spelt flour in the freezer I had forgotten about so I decided to use half Spelt and half Bakers Flour in Celia's Sourdough White Sandwich Loaf recipe instead of using Bakers Flour and 00 flour.

I knew Griffin wasn't happy but went ahead anyway and the loaves only rose three inches or so. Oh well! Live and learn as they say. I had read somewhere that if you don't want a tough crust to wrap up the bread after cooking in a damp towel which I did and I found the end result much better and easier for me to eat...being an oldie and all :-) It was easy to cut on my ALDI food slicer I bought a few months ago.

The slicer is also great for cutting cheese and I am sure we all know it is cheaper to buy cheese in a block than in slices as long as you use it often enough to warrant spending the money for it in the first place of course. 

I feel a soap making experiment coming on but I am not sure what to make as yet. One thing is for certain...I won't have to melt the coconut oil on the stove during the heatwave. LOL!