chapter 30: Incy Quincy's and Autumn Opportunities

Hello everyone! we are back on the blog, and ready to get busy again in the garden. In the months ahead, we aim to get a community orchard up and running, investigate aquaponics, and begin a local fruit and vegetable trading co-op at our local markets. We are very excited.


Autumn Opportunities

With Summer well and truly over, the garden is looking a little hagged, and the temperature is becoming more and more crisp and chilly every day. Unpacking our winter wardrobe, Jo and I agreed it was time for a new look. Something to rival the Autumn collection of the Paris catwalks, something that would turn heads, and set the trend for 2011. It was time to go op-shopping!

If the thought of op-shopping is still a little taboo for you, fear not, this is a natural knee jerk reaction prompted by years of hyper-consumer conditioning. Be brave, put on a pair of dark sunglasses and a wide brimmed fedora, and when no one is watching, slip inside your nearest op-shop. Once your in there, work through every item of clothing. this takes discipline and patience, but amidst the plethora of polarised size 8's and 22+ items, hide fashionable and well tailored gems.

Joe and I went on a Vinnie's trawl this week, and boy did we clean up! defying all op-shopping odds, I found a pair of jeans that fitted perfectly... that is, because finding a pair of jeans that fit in Vinnie's is a near impossible. Joe, on the other hand, after a 10 year holy grail search finally found a size 32 pair of brown chords, that were so in during the 90's. he was overjoyed! but alas, his waist line is no longer living in the 90's, and that chiseled size 32 now lies dormant beneath a healthy pair of love handles.  Blinded by denial, he purchased them anyway.


Going Nuts in the Garden
Despite the drop in temperature during April and the garden looking like its still recovering from its summer hangover, one sure fire April delight is finding fallen macadamia nuts each morning before heading off to work. The kids have a competition to see who can find the most and we have gradually filled a basket of them over the past month. This year the nuts are the biggest that we have ever seen them and we are looking forward to adding them into our recipes over the year ahead.




One of the more surprising successes in the garden has been a red paw paw tree, which we inherited from Joe's Dad, who also inherited it from a neighbour in his street who grows all manner of things edible in his garden. Joe refers to him as the bare footed, googly eyed man, because... well...he is bare footed and googly eyed, but incredibly nice all the same. Amazingly this "tropical" plant has successfully established in our front yard.

We have placed it under out green house, and if it survives the winter, hopefully we will be enjoying paw paw by next summer. The red paw paw is self fertile, unlike other varieties of paw paw, which require a male and female plant. Despite being a tropical plant, Paw paws have been successfully grown in temperate climates. They also grow very rapidly in the right conditions, and apparently bear fruit within a year from planting. If you live in a frost free area, it may be worth considering as an addition to your garden. We will let you know how ours goes.


Incy Quincy's

Something else that has been unexpectedly dropping in our front yard are quinces. The front corner of our block is an overgrown jungle of jasmine, wisteria, rose bushes and other vines. It is an untamed and rarely ventured area of the garden that only N and G go to play hide and seek. Whilst pruning the overgrown rose bush, we discovered a thorny, caney shrub with leaves that looked very similar to an apple tree. Much to our surprise we started to find small apple-like fruit on the ground nearby. They appeared like a miniature gnarled cross between a pear and apple. Joe recalled earlier in Spring having seen deep pink blossoms on its branches. As it turns out we discovered it is a quince tree, growing in our front yard.



What's a quince I hear you say? After some Internet research we discovered that the quince tree (other than being a symbol of love and fidelity in Ancient Rome) was once a very common domestic fruit tree in yesteryear.

 Quinces very tart to eat raw, although, if eaten raw, they make for the most entertaining facial expressions. If you have a quince tree and nothing better to do, give one to a loved one (as a symbol of your love), tell them it tastes delicious, then observe from a safe distance. Otherwise, quinces make the most superb jellies, jams and pastes. The first time we'd heard of quinces was Maggie Beer's delicious cabernet quince paste...naturally being the domestic goddess that I am...Joe insisted that I make my own..even though at this stage we weren't 100% sure if that actually were quinces or some other variety of highly poisonous and over-sized native berry... but what the hell, you only live once.

Oddly enough making quince paste is not that dissimilar to making jam and as you might recall jam making is one of my most astute skills.

Quince Paste Recipe

 ingredients:

1 cup of quinces
1 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup of cognac (to sip whilst stirring...it takes bloody ages!)

Process:
Peel, core and chop quinces. Then bring them to boil in water. Once soften, mash into a pulp. Turn to a low heat. Add sugar and lemon juice and stir whilst painting nails and putting hair in curlers (as we all do all day long). Consume cognac whilst waiting for nails to dry...keep stirring. Eventually you will notice the colour turning darker and the mixture appears to be coagulating (thickened). Pour into ramekin and allow to set in the fridge.

The Taste:
The taste is closest to the zesty, sweet zing of a sherbet stick or possibly the best marmalade you've ever had in your life. Incidentally the word marmalade is derived from 'marmelo' which is the Portuguese word for quince.

Community Orchard
Speaking of fruit trees we are in the final stages of preparing the launch of our community orchard. After approval from our local council, ourselves and our neighbours will soon be planting between 9 and 12 fruit trees in our lane way. We are lucky to have a very wide nature strip on a quiet lane way. We are considering citrus, coffee, pomegranate and fig. If you have any other possum proof suggestions let us know. The planting day is yet to confirmed but we will be sure to fill you in on how it goes.


What we've planted this season:

St Patrick's day marked the sowing of all things beans. We planted all of our dried broad beans as well as some heirloom dragon's tongue (pink and white) beans which we found for sale in one of our local fruit shops. We've also planted garlic (after the equinox), beetroot, shallots, leeks, onions, orange carrots, lettuce and silverbeet. After the full moon we intend to plant some more purple carrots, beetroot and onions.


Next Blog, we are making our own marshmallows to roast by the fire, and begin phase one of the Community orchard. Nice to be back gang.

Funky frontyard farmers Challenge Finale

FUNKY FRONTYARD FARMERS CHALLENGE: DAY 7 

Our final entry for the challenge has been long overdue, and we apologise for keeping any of you waiting. You must be at the point of desperation to know what we ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner on our final day, let alone, what secret we have to reveal for 2011. Fear not, as all shall be revealed.

 The reason for our delay, dear readers, is because we were doing what teachers do best; we were taking a holiday. It was nice to get away from the front yard for a while. we took a trip up the coast to our old stomping grounds in Umina Beach, lazing about in hammocks eating thai takeaway and catching up with some old friends. In particular, we visited Nancy and David our old neighbours, who, as you may remember, started veggie gardening at the same time as us 4 years ago. It was amazing to see what they had managed to do with their backyard. At the age of 86, David had transformed a bare and sandy backyard into a bonanza of fruit and vegetables, including some exotic varieties such as fruiting cactus, naranjilla, and other neolithic looking fruit trees from the deepest, darkest parts of South America. I was amazed that a man of his age could be so productive, and still so enthusiastic about something that started off as some neighbourly competition. but then again, growing you own food never ceases to be entirely addictive.  

But anyway, you must be wondering how the last day of our challenge transpired.  

Day seven, our final day of the challenge, began with an air of excitement. With the party to prepare for, there was little time for a luxurious breakfast, and so, as is the universal tradition, we had cold pizza leftover from the night before. It felt seedy, but good, like left over pizza for breakfast always does.

Lunch

 

After cleaning the house, it was time to prepare lunch. We used the last of our broad beans, cheese and macadamia nuts in a delicious summery salad, served with some small bread rolls. This would be the twentieth and final meal made from our own produce for the challenge. It was technically the last meal from our garden, because for dinner, all those invited would bring something of their own that they had made or grown from their own gardens for our "Make your own pizza night".  It was time to get busy making pizza bases.

Jo and the man who shall not be named

  

Our simple pizza base recipe

Olive oil, 1 cup lukewarm water, 2 tsp dried yeast , 3 cups plain flour, 1/4 tsp salt

In a bowl put 1 cup of lukewarm water and mix in a tsp of sugar, then sprinkle yeast on top, cover with a tea towel and put aside in a warm place for about 10 mins. During this time add flour and salt together in another bowl and make a well in the middle. After yeast mix is ready (has turned foamy) add 1 tbspoon of olive oil to it and then pour this mix into well. Mix until combined then empty onto bench top and get busy kneading with your hands. Knead for 5 mins then chop mixture in 2 and place each part into a bowl, cover with a tea towel and place in a warm spot again. Leave the dough til it is almost tripled in size, 10 mins at least. Flour your bench top and rolling pin and roll your dough to preferred pizza base shape. These bases also freeze really well, I just cover them in cling wrap and freeze them on a flat tray.

Lou's lovely carrot cupcakes

the party 

the party was a roaring success. Joe's sister Louise brought loads of vegetables from her garden, and a strawberry sauce made from her very own strawberries that was delicious on ice cream. Vicki, our wonderful Maltese neighbour, made a delicious egg and spinach pie, using her own hens eggs and her father's spinach. Bug and Steve brought mountains of basil, and Mim made a delicious pizza using her own tomatoes. Everyone took turns in making their own pizzas and shared them together with a few beers and a glass or two or three of wine.

Joe and Lou with her garden goodies

Jo and our lovely neighbour Mim with granitas

steve, jess and pat

 As a token of our friendship, each guest was also given the privilege of tasting Joe's infamous Mulberry wine bio fuel. They were very gracious and said nice things, except for Nick, who was honest and said it smelled of manure, which left Joe to happily finish the bottle by himself.

"i have to say, i really enjoyed this wine" joe...

As everyone sat together on the front balcony, overlooking the veggie garden, Jo and I felt privileged to share a great night with some good friends.

The next morning, it felt strange not having to think about what to cook for breakfast, or forage in the garden for a meal.  In some ways it felt almost naughty eating what ever we liked. The kids had yogurt and porridge as they always used to, and as I munched on some dry toast with Vegemite, I couldn't help but wonder whether our challenge had amounted to anything important at all. 

But it had. We managed to prove that a suburban family could produce enough food to live off, even if it was only enough for a week, and more importantly we had a wonderful and creative time in the process. So much in fact that we will happily do it again, which brings us to our first big announcement.

Who's up for a challenge?

This year, in 2011, we would like to invite you to become a funky frontyard farmer too, and take on the challenge with us. You have the choice between one of three challenges.

challenge 1: first time funkies

If you are new to gardening, this challenge may be for you. buy some seeds, make a garden bed and get planting. Your challenge is to make one meal from your very own garden produce. eat it, blog about it and be very very proud of yourself.

It may be a meal for one, or a dinner party for 20 that will go down in history as the best dinner party ever hosted this side of your garden. You are allowed 1 bought ingredient to add to your meal.

Challenge 2: A Fab and Funky Day
For the slightly more ambitious, try a whole day of making meals from your garden. What will be on the menu for breakfast, lunch and tea? not to mention some in between snacks. Tell us what you are growing, planning on cooking and send in some photos. You are allowed up to 3 bought ingredients to help you along the way.
Challenge 3: Funkious Maximus
Up for a challenge. try 3 days or more, living off the produce grown from our own home. You are allowed up to 5 bought ingredients to help you along the way.
 
 
If you are up for the challenge, here's how to join in...

We have created a new blog site 'funkyfrontyardfarmersfriends.blogspot.com'.  This blog allows multiple authors for you to write about your experiences. We would love to read about what challenge you've chosen, where you're from and what gardening tricks and treats you have up your sleeve. The rules of the challenge and how to become a part of it are on the new blog site, check it out!

In the meantime gang we will continue our own blog and update you on our progress throughout the coming year. Some of the plans we have for 2011 include turning the lane way beside our house into a community orchard and kick starting a bartering of produce goods at our local markets. Stay tuned and thanks so much for your support and lovely comments over 2010...now go and eat some vegetables.