Holidays...

School holidays are here and with it comes an essence of unstructured routine that we can't seem to get enough of here on the farm... It's so nice to be able to put the school books up for 3 weeks and enjoy each others company...

I always enjoy the Sept/Oct school holiday break - I'm not sure if it's because my b'day falls over this holiday or that the garden seems to be glowing at this time of year and there is always many a job that needs tending; planting, weeding, pruning, building, harvesting, re-planting, transplanting, propagating and the list goes on...

This past week I've been harvesting golden beets, my first for the season... 

 

I pickled this bunch the same way that I do my 'blood beets' here... From 4 medium sized beets I was able to fill a 400ml jar - approx 1 1/2 cups of chopped beets...

 

I've also been transplanting seeds that I've been raising with my girls - 'mini muncher' cucumbers (6 plants planted - for a start) 

and more 'bull's blood' beetroot (20 planted with this lot)...

 

My girls have there own veg on the go again this year. Their pea plants are by far their favourite! They grow so fast, the flowers are gorgeous and it's always such a thrill to see how quickly a delicate flower will turn into fruit practically right before their eyes.

 

My trusty old passion-fruit vine got a much needed pruning this year and has bounced back with glorious new growth to thank me...

 

After attending a garden party back in May and being super excited to rush back home and plant my 100+ cuttings I am happy to report a good 4 months down the track 75% of them have struck... So this school holidays I've started planning where all my new roses will live - in, amongst and around my garden...

 

My girls and I love a good slice!!! This slice is packed full of all the yummy things I love; organic oats, poppy seeds, local honey, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, coconut and good quality butter!!! (if you'd like the recipe simply say so in the comments, I'd love to share... )

 

And with the weather simply divine in the evenings at the moment we're still enjoying regular camp-oven dinners...

I now have a little 'fire-pit' right next to my vegetable patch (made from the base of an old water tank). So while DH lights a little fire as the sun goes down and works some magic with his old cast-iron pot the girls and I tinker in the garden - weeding, watering, planting and transplanting... A couple of beers and a wine later and we're all enjoying gorgeous food and it's so nice to not of had to cook for a change - I love me a camp-oven dinner... And now that Tobie is up and walking he just potters around too, taking it all in...

And to finish off a rather long winded post (thanks for hanging in there is you've made it all the way to the end)... This month I've been married for 8 years - WOW!!! Where has that time gone??? 3 kids and a hell of a lot of good memories later and I can safely say that the man that made me his wife back in 2005 is still the love of my life!!! - how lucky am I!!!

Happy Anniversary Brad... xx