2013 PRODUCE TALLY

Well I finally have put my butt into gear and getting back onto the blogging horse after having my second son! I thought I would start off with a tally of 2013's produce. I will also be updating on my birth story, renovation goals and our upcoming 3.5 week holiday!

Artichoke 507 grams
Bay Leaf 79 grams
Beetroot 3361 grams
Bok Choy 54 grams
Broad Beans 10506 grams
Broccoli 714 grams
Cabbage 5161 grams
Capsicum 2964 grams
Carrot 383 grams
Cauliflower 4008 grams
Celery 654 grams
Chili 735 grams
Corn 201 grams
Eggs 653
Garlic 3010 grams
Kale 879 grams
Kumquat 15 grams
Leek 2631 grams
Lemon 846 grams
Lettuce 771 grams
Loquat 295 grams
Marjoram 237 grams
Marrow 30853 grams
Onion 676 grams
Parsley 3125 grams
Peas 171 grams
Pumpkin 37902 grams
Rhubarb 2052 grams
Rosemary 4 grams
Sage 502 grams
Silver Beet 11843 grams
Tarragon 443 grams
Thyme 131 grams
Tomato 60732 grams
Zucchini 25671 grams

TOTAL 653 EGGS AND 212.116 KILOGRAMS OF FOOD

one of my favorite harvests, These guys lasted for 9 months throughout winter and were super easy to grow!

CROYDON FOOD SWAP

I headed down to my second food swap. I have found 5 in my area and I am heading to them all to see which ones I like the best and when I am in peak production I will try and head to one every weekend to swap some of my goodies. Hopefully I will still be able to do this with a newborn, that is both garden to the extent that I do and head out to swap my goodies and chat!

The one I visited this weekend is Croydon Food Swap which is held at a local primary school amongst their kitchen garden. I forgot to take a photo of this beautiful location but hopefully I will remember next month! It was a lot smaller than the first one but this one hasn't been running as long. Given it is winter as well, a lot of people feel they don't have excess to swap. I found it quite difficult to find out about swaps in the first place and really think the local council should get on board and really help promote these great community groups and events. I met some lovely fellow gardeners and swapped some equally lovely produce!

This is what I took along ~

Zucchini, Maltese long marrow and some pumpkin.

Parsley and some dried chili

bay leaves, green feast peas and broad bean seeds

This is what I got in return ~

Coriander seedlings

Celery seedlings

Finger eggplant

Tiny hot chilis

Kumquat marmalade

Chili

Oranges

Squash

WEEKLY TALLY - NUMBER 17

The garden is picking up slowly, with hopefully a few more thing starting to ripen and grow in the next few weeks. The chooks are still on strike with one dedicated hen laying an egg for me every other day. I went to go get some lemons and found an abandoned bush of kumquats that is growing very poorly. It was planted too close to our lemon tree and receives no direct sunlight. I didn't even know it existed until I saw some little orange fruit on it. It seems to have a lot of buds on it so hopefully we will get some more, but the tree is very scraggly... My 2.5 year old son loves them even though they are incredibly sour.

13/5/12 - 19/5/13

4 eggs
7 grams bay leaf
846 grams lemons
15 grams kumquat
174 grams beetroot
161 grams baby zucchini
78 grams capsicum
43 grams chili

TOTAL 4 EGGS 1.324 KILOGRAMS OF FOOD

WEEKLY TALLY - NUMBER 8

This week I started cleaning out my summer veggies to make room for the winter ones. Not much will be happening in the next few months and plants grow and start to bear fruit! I'm looking forward to homegrown cauliflower and broccoli and peas and broad beans! Mmmmmmmm those ingredients sound like the making of minestra is coming on!

11/3/13 - 17/3/13

Eggs 25
Zucchini 3332 grams
Chili 111 grams
Tomato 5569 grams
Capsicum 177 grams
Onion 50 grams

TOTAL 25 EGGS AND 9.239 KILOS OF FOOD

WEEKLY TALLY - NUMBER 7

This weeks harvest was pretty good. We had a lot of warm weather - a record breaker, so I am grateful for that, so my summer garden can survive and continue to produce. My tomatoes are nearly all gone, with the last handful ripening in this glorious weather. The zucchinis are still looking very healthy, but I am running out of freezer space to preserve them! The marrows have also picked up again and not sure what I am going to do with so many! Looks like we will be eating vegetarian for the next few weeks!

4/3/13 - 10/3/13

31 Eggs
11418 g Marrow
5848 g Tomato
69 g Chili
779 g Silverbeet
727 g Zucchini
238 g Beetroot
2 g Bayleaf
167 g Capsicum

TOTAL = 19.248 kilos of food and 31 eggs!

Homemade Homegrown Yellow Tomato Sauce

WEEKLY TALLY - NUMBER 6

This week hasn't been as successful as other weeks, as summer came to a close. My tomato plants are at there ends, with only a few tomatoes left on each bush. I'm hoping that at the end of this week, which the forecast said that it will be in the 30's, that the last remaining tomatoes will start to turn a shade of crimson. I purchased (naughty I know) some seedlings to plant and then will start with seeds again in winter. I find unless they are the large seeds I don't have much luck in summer. The intense heat kills the very delicate and fragile seedlings.

24/2/13 - 3/3/13

27 eggs
89 g chili
3 g bay leaves
12154 g tomato
58 g capsicum
2402 g zucchini
379 g beetroot
1046 g cabbage

TOTAL 16.131 KILOGRAMS OF FOOD AND 27 EGGS

Fresh eggs are the best! The chooks can't lay enough at the moment!

My favorite chook! She lays severy day without fail. She is a Sussex chook and usually they only lay 3-4 times a week, but they lay over a much longer period, 6+ years compared with only a couple for Isa Browns! She also get very clucky and has sat quite a few times!

I had so many tomatoes the past few weeks, I thought I would preserve them so I could use them through winter. The mincer made light work and I had a puree instead of chunks which I really liked.

I also made a fresh tomato sauce later in the weeks with more tomatoes. I thought I would used the blender instead of setting up the mincer. Look at the color difference to that of store bought. If you were to buy a passata it is much darker and thicker. I love the intense flavor of my homegrown tomatoes and it kicks butt over store bought. commercially farmed tomatoes!

WEEKLY TALLY - NUMBER 5

This week has been a very productive week, and I cannot keep up the the produce from my garden. A lot of time and energy has gone into preserving my harvest so I can use them during the winter when the garden become stagnant, which is unfortunately not far away.

18/2/13 - 24/2/13

26 eggs
7947 g zucchini
13,399 g tomato
141 g capsicum
7 g chili

TOTAL 26 eggs and 21.494 Kg of food from my garden.

Still so many tomatoes left even after I made 3 large pots of sauce, relish and kasundi...recipes to come!

Making some tomato sauce to preserve the tomato season!

WEEKLY TALLY - NUMBER 4

This week was a pretty good week as well. I mainly harvested tomatoes, which I have started preserving in the freezer and this week I may cook up a batch to be bottled for winter. I'm surprised at how many tomatoes I have picked and how many more are still on the vines, which are looking very very sad. Not sure what is causing this but it's happening to my mums vines as well, I was thinking it could be the heat or just the end of the season...

11/2/13-17/2/13

1007 g zucchini
31 g herbs
11 eggs
2040 g trombonico
12950 g tomatoes
1434 g cabbage
44 g capsicum
8 g carrot

TOTAL 11 EGGS AND 16.08 KILOS OF PRODUCE FROM MY GARDEN :D

This is one days harvest 63 grams shy of 6 kilos!

WEEKLY TALLY - NUMBER 3

This week has been a very productive week in the garden, with a lot of the vegetables retiring to the freezer so I can use them in winter. Zucchinis and tomato have been most productive, so those are what I have preserved.

4/2/13-10/2/12

14 eggs
6 g Bay leaves
4559 g Tomato
5597 g Zucchini
639 g Kale
1540 g Cabbage
634 g Beetroot
627 g Silver beet/Swiss chard
3074 g Trombonico marrow

TOTAL 16.676 Kilos of food and 14 eggs!

Black Russian and Big Yellow Tomato

Trombonico Marrow

Beetroot

Silver beet/Swiss Chard

Red Cabbage

Tri coloured Zucchini White (pale green), green and yellow.

Very bountiful crop of tomatoes 

WEEKLY TALLY - NUMBER 2

Here is the tally from my garden this week

28/2/13-3/2/13

17 eggs
2788 grams Tomato
1730 grams Zucchini

Total of 4518 grams of food from my garden.

This single beef steak tomato weighed in at a whopping 792 grams! It was way bigger than my hand!

WEEKLY TALLY NUMBER 1

I thought I would do a weekly tally as monthly was just too hard as there was a lot to add up.

21/1/13-27/1/13

2768 g zucchini
14 eggs
1499 g tomato
98 g lettuce
27 g herbs
201 g corn

4.5953 kilograms of food and just over a dozen eggs (I lost some as the chickens free ranged and laid somewhere and when the dog arrived back from our holiday she found them)

OCTOBER PLANTING GUIDE

Successive planting for a family of 4...

Week 1
Peas 10 seeds
Turnips 4 seeds
Parsnips 12 seeds
Potato 8 tubers
Leek 8 seeds
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
Cauliflower 8 seeds
Celery and Celeriac 4 seeds
Coriander 2 seeds
Corn 20 plants
Cucumber 3 seeds
Melons 4 seeds
Pumpkins 6 seeds
Zucchini 4 seeds
Basil 8 seeds
Spring Onion 12 seeds

Week 2
Lettuce 10 seeds
Cabbage 3 seeds
Kohlrabi 2 seeds

Week 3
Carrot 20 seeds
Peppers and Chili 2 seeds
Silver beet 1 seed
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
Coriander 2 seeds
Beetroot 6 seeds

Week 4
Lettuce 10 seeds
Peas 10 seeds
Turnips 4 seeds
Tomato 3 seeds

Week 5
Cabbage 3 seeds
parsnips 12 seeds
potato 8 tubers
Leeks 8 seeds
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
Cauliflower 8 seeds
Celery and Celeriac 4 seeds
Coriander 2 seeds
Kohlrabi 2 seeds