Barbara Tealby's Blog (18)

I'm looking at buying a juicer - for apples, pineapples, etc. Does anyone have one they can recommend (or specifically NOT recommend)? Mid price range is good.

The contents of the new you-beaut ring-pull cans of Carnation Evaporated Milk seemed to me to be a bit runnier than in the old types, so I had a look on the side of the can. to see if they'd changed the concentration. Well, no indication as to whether they had or they hadn't, but what I did see was 'MADE IN MEXICO". Had a bit of a fossick around on the web to see if I could find evaporated milk made in Australia, but all I could find was stuff made in Lithuania. Surely we can do better than…

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Doug, when we were at Dianne's place, you had some small fruits which you said came from a tree which was fairly hard to come by. They tasted quite good, and I took a few seeds home. Do you remember what that fruit tree was called? I'm putting in the seeds and would like to label them as something other than 'that-nice-fruit-that-Doug-brought-to-Dianne's'.

There was a bit of chat a while ago about drying Dragon Fruit, so I am going to dry some of the 40-odd Dragon Fruit that are ripening all at once on my vine. I plan to just use my oven, since I don't have a dehydrator, and I suspect air drying with the humidity as it is won't be too successful. Has anyone got any tips or pointers about what I should and shouldn't do?

Picked the first pineapple of the year yesterday - no photo cos I cut it up straight away - couldn't wait to try it. It was OK, but I think I jumped the gun a bit - not as sweet as they usually are, and the top quarter was still pale yellow, not golden. I'll leave the next one on a bit longer. Pineapples are going in all over the garden in odd spots - and I've got a lot of odd spots in my garden!

The Zucchinis are finished, and I'm letting the tromboncino go to seed now - sorry,…

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This year Zucchinis and Tromboncinos have been really successful for me. 

I put down the zucchini success to tying up the vines to 8-foot star pickets driven well into the ground. Never thought to do this until someone on  BLF - Dave, I think it was, thank you - posted up a link to a zucchini grower in the US who did this, and who also advocated taking…

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I've just harvested my pot of sweet potatoes. (YAY) I notice that authors from America seem to advocate curing the tubers for some weeks at specific temperature and humidity (a lot of fuss, it seems to me), yet Aussie authors pay little attention to the idea of curing them. Does anyone have specific experience in the harvesting and storing of sweet potatoes? Is 'curing' all that important? I tried curing mine in the sun last year, and ended up damaging the tubers.

Having dipped my toes in the quail waters (thanks, Andy) - I am considering going a bit further and getting an incubator to hatch a few replacements for my old girls. Does anyone have any hints about the best small incubator to get, and where to get one?

I'm not planning to get into major production any time soon, and am yet to slaughter any birds - probably won't do away with any of the four I've got, as they all have names.... It has been pointed out to me that perhaps it would be better… Continue

HELP!  Does anyone have any small (200-250ml) glass jars with pop-top lids that they can spare? I guess many people use all of these they can get their hands on, but maybe there's somebody out there who doesn't do preserving. My Roma tomatoes have delivered a bumper crop this year, and I've used all of my fairly small supply. I have plenty of the 500ml size, but I find the smaller size best for tomato puree. It doesn't matter if the lids are no good or missing, as I have new lids anyway. I…

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I was saving the seeds of my reliable little Green Mignonette lettuce, and when I had a small bag full, I threw the rest of the stalks under the peach tree. They ALL came up. If anyone would like some seedlings, let me know. They'll probably be OK for a few days, so if you're in the neighbourhood (McDowall) you are very welcome to come and get a few.

I've just harvested ginger and will be drying and grinding some. Also, there is a lot of turmeric dried, but not processed left over from last year. Having spent the last half hour achieving four teaspoons of ground turmeric with my mortar and pestle, I'm keen to find a better (MUCH BETTER) way to do the job.

Does anyone have a spare coffee/spice grinder, or are there any hints on what would be the best one to buy?

Would anyone like a set of concrete laundry tubs? They have been used for a worm farm a la Linda Woodrow and are probably not much use for doing the washing! If you take them away, you can have the worms that are in them as well. 

They are very heavy, and you'll need two strong men and a trolley to shift them, as my husband and I won't be able to help.

If you're interested, send me a friend request and I'll get back to you.

This is Stumpy - one of a few Stumpys who live in my garden. The ONLY critter I don't mind eating my strawberries.

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I thought it would be good, after the info on pesticides, to see natural pest control in action: ladybirds breeding up on aphid-infested gone-to seed dill. The whole plant is covered in ladybirds and their larvae, and it seems to have happened in less than a…

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As we're going away in a few weeks, leaving the garden for my son to look after, I thought I'd have a go at making some of my fruit tree pots into wicking pots. First I got some cake carriers from the Reject Shop, cut and poked various holes in them, and…

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Thought I'd try my hand at this blogging thing. My garden is always a work in progress - has been a straight ornamental garden, fitted in where the previous owners couldn't think of any landscaping features to add, with beds often filled with builders' rubble; then was a native garden, morphing into a habitat garden, then a basketball practice area, now is on the way to being a food garden, but with plenty of flowers, preferably perennials, not necessarily native.

Currently, there is…

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