Community gardens update: Winter is here!

It's winter time! As you may already know, I am not a summer fan, so when cooler seasons hit, this gal is thrilled :)

Where I live, winter tends to be dry and cool, not freezing, though some chilly nights are not uncommon. I've already noticed dedicated tropical plants, such as frangipani and my bougainvilleas are looking quite sad. However, once spring hits, things heat up all too rapidly, and these guys will be blooming lovely yet again. 

As I'm sure you'd rather see pictures than listen to me ramble, take a look at today's efforts...

Sitting in the car this morning, I felt immense satisfaction in knowing, come next spring, this will be a lush, shady oasis under the trees for people to enjoy.

You may remember that last week, pallets were placed across the creek as a makeshift bridge. Gotta give these kids credit-they are determined!

Not an easy task- well done kids!

Those tyres and pavers are quite heavy.

Instead of my faithful watering can, I borrowed the sprinkler hose from the new turf in the adjoining kids creche area. So much easier!

Thought I'd check out my new compost bays, mainly to see if they were still standing (due to kids not the guys workmanship!).

Relieved to say that they are. I'm on a mission now- save food and dump it here for composting.

Paul and hubby did a stellar job clearing over the bridge in and around the picnic tables and bike track.

Shane did a brilliant job slashing. Now, the area is ready for ride on mowing-yay!

For some reason, my moses plants are rotting on the slope. I'm not sure if it's a by-product of being flooded in, or if it's just too shady and wet for them? 

I have been able to thin out the healthier moses plants and plant them along the raw edge of the garden leading up to the chess board.

Hopefully, this neatens the look, and helps prevent erosion.

Not easy to see, but more moses plants have gone just above the seating, and I've thinned out some agapanthus and transplanted them also. Spring will see these babies thicken.

The steepest slope also has moses plants. It already neatens up the raw edge.

A donated mother's day gift, my potted chrysanthemums add a bit of cheer to the garden :) 

The carpet hill (created by kids) is the start of the bike track. The boys aim to slowly clean the track, then start laying tyres either side.

And tyres a plenty we've got! 

Here, hubby is deciding if you can't beat them...

My dwarf bougainvillea has actually been the best performer of all three, and despite losing leaves, is still blooming.

It's a bit easy to get distressed by weeds that literally seem to appear daily. I will work on a way to mulch a steep slope eventually! I better find out this season though- winter seems to be a great time to weed- those evil jumping ants with ridiculously painful stings are currently dormant.

I must confess, today really took it out of me. I'd blame winter for this virus, but it hit a week ago, when autumn was still here. At one point, I decided lying on the picnic blanket, tree gazing, was the sensible thing to do.

And here is hubby, giving the kids what they want- a truck tyre bridge. Please, please, leave it as it is kids! We have agreed a tip run is in order- if there is less temptation, these things can't be built as easily.

Paul is removing the branches- we don't need these clogging up the creek come next heavy downpour. 

The tyre bridge does look a lot better than the original. Let see what a new week uncovers...

My snow peas are growing daily. Still thrilled that all 31 seedlings germinated. This organic soil is the bomb! It is nutrient dense, and holds water perfectly.

No wonder the veggies are leaping outta the ground.

When I look at the garden and think of how far we have all come, I'm amazed. So many people have put their hard work, time and enthusiasm into this. Looking forward to seeing it come alive again in spring time.

Now's the time to do all the hard work and preparation so that when things heat up, we slow down and just maintain.

It's only taken us a year to work that one out :)

And that is your lot for yet another week. As always, thanks for sharing the journey with us.

Community Gardens update: Compost bays!

I'm quite thrilled with the recent progress of the gardens. Not only do I have an adorable little garden helper, but hubby decided to build me compost bays (at loooooong last!) Now, instead of dumping green waste, I can actually recycle and reuse it. So happy right now.

Take a look at the happenings of the week...

Miss 3 loves watering, and has taken quite a liking to watering only these capsicum plants :)

Apparently, our 2 bridges weren't enough. Great improvisation kids. But looks like we'll be using these for our compost bays. Sorry.

Thrilled that all 31 of my snow peas germinated :)

Hubby is paver cutting to finish off the pathway.

Despite a heap of dirt piled onto my garden, I'm so glad the path is no longer a trip hazard.

Paul and hubby did a brilliant job building the compost bays. I'd have hugged them if they didn't pong so much :)

At last, I can compost! I really, really hate waste, so this makes me very happy.

Back to the veggie garden, and at last, the tomato seedlings look like tomato plants.

The 4 zucchini plants are growing at a rapid rate.

This is a baby broccoli. It has 5 more friends too.

It's clean! Thank you Shane! Love your work.

Inside this string section, used for protecting my germinating beetroot and spinach, is one less seedling. "Look, a weed!" Miss 3 announced as she ripped out a healthy beetroot seedling.  

Bless her enthusiasm :)

And there you have it, your lot for yet another week. Glorious autumn days are delivering slow, steady progress.

Look forward to bringing you more soon.

Thanks for reading!

Sweet Potato Brownies

It's the age old dilemma; how to get toddlers to eat veggies, and healthy food? Well, let me tell you that these babies deliver on both!

My sweet Miss 3 loved veggies until her first birthday. For the next several months,  I was able to get green eggs (pureed spinach omelettes) into her, and mashed spuds. But that is where it stopped. Now, a fried chip and occasional carrot stick it is. Sometimes, she will share my beetroot smoothy- she loves my 'stawberry milpshapes' :) 

Miss 3 is not a big cake eater, so I really wasn't sure how much success I'd have making a very veggie filled brownie for her. I shouldn't have worried. It was inhaled! Masking veg with chocolate is a winner. Yay! 

These brownies are great for me too. They aren't filled with added fats, and if you use almond meal and eggs- that's the only fat you'll find. I was surprised that even my hubby likes them. Ok, really surprised! He is not a fan of healthy food at all, but these fluffy, chocolaty treats are apparently a winner all round :)

Here's how to make these babies (and thank you elavegan.com)...

ingredients: 

450g sweet potato, steamed to soft, skin on.

2 frozen, defrosted bananas.

1/2 cup honey, RMS or sugar of choice (I used honey).

1.5 cups oatflour, OR 1 cup almond meal & 1/4 cup coconut flour- I used the latter.

1/2 cup milk of choice.

50g cocoa powder.

1 tsp cinnamon.

2 tsp baking powder, OR 2 eggs. (I used eggs. More protein for a growing little girl).

1 tbs dark choc buds.

method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 C.

Cover a baking tray with grease proof paper.

Place everything into a blender and blitz until mixed.

Pour into prepared tin.

Sprinkle with choc buds.

Bake for approx 40mins until a skewer comes out nearly dry, and batter feels slightly firm.

Cool for 20-30 mins. 

Cut into squares.

Store in fridge, although they are great warm too!

These brownies really are guilt free, and go great with a cuppa for us grown ups too :)

Fresh from the oven...one piece for me, one for a sweet Miss 3.

Hope you enjoy these as much as we have!

Pesto power!

If you read the last community garden post, you may recall I was gifted with a huge tray of basil seedlings. Well, as I couldn't fit literally several hundred seedlings in the garden, especially not if I wanted any other veggie or herb, I decided to bring them home.

I LOVE basil! It's one of my favourite herbs, along with flat leaf parsley and coriander in salads. As I have over 100 seedlings, I jumped at the chance of making my fave pesto. It's dairy free, nutrient rich and a vitamin/ mineral powerhouse. Plus, it tastes Ahhhh Mazing!

ingredients:

an abundance of basil. if purchasing in store, 2 full packs

some parsley

1/4 red oinion

100gms walnuts

juice of 3 limes

olive oil-drizzled for 5 seconds

salt & cracked black pepper

15-20mls balsamic vinegar

method:

Literally bung it all in a processor and blitz.

You may need to scrape the sides down once or twice.

Store it in a jar in the fridge.

Too easy!

The fresh ingredients ready to go.

A bit of blitzing, and you have pesto!

With a few simple ingredients, you have a delicious, nutritious spread that goes great with pasta, salad, on toast...

Perfect nutrient boost for the winter months.

As I can't eat much animal fat anymore, 

I added my pesto to a healthy salad with a small amount of lean chicken.

For the family, I made a simple chicken/pasta bake with some pesto, mayo and cheese stirred through before baking.

I'm told it was delish!

Enjoy!

Community garden update: Veggies!

Good morning lovely readers! I'm a bit excited to bring you the latest installment of the Community Gardens happenings. If you cast your mind back to the last gardens related post, you will be thrilled to know that veggies now exist in the veggie garden!

Take a look below at the progress, and lamentations, of the past 2 weeks.

A trip to Bunnings for seedlings, and a wonderful donation from Let Us Grow hydroponics, and I was ready to get stuck into mass planting.

The tray on the left is a crazy quantity of basil seedlings. The plastic sleeves on the right contain mint, coriander, 2 types of parsley and chives.

Basil in sleeves ready to plant, and several lettuce and celery seedlings already in place.

Slight segway, some angsty teens have had fun tagging away.

Hubby is assessing the damage of a large, fallen tree near the bike track.

Hubby had to work out the best angle off attack as the tree was balancing near a rather large mystery hole: we've never quite understood how/why the hole is there.

A small bit of cheer- flowers blooming after the last massive flood drenched them. 

There is hope.

Hubby doing his best to cut down a tree that is balancing under tension.

Back to the veggies, and here we have the freshly planted out bed.

Poppa Ian gave hubby some company, and offered his keen eye, as the lattice was assembled ready for peas/ beans.

The foreground shows the basil seedlings in place.

What can't be seen is 3 tomato seedlings planted under the trellis. I grew them at home in peat pots to transplant here.

Yay- first peas and beans in!

And now, we are at this week.

A very brief visit this morning before the rain bucketed down revealed some carpet had been thoughtfully thrown into the creek.

This section was crumpled over. Who knows what joy was derived from the experience, but kids/teens (?) ripped up the corner section of the garden bed and threw the carpet in the creek.

*face palm.

A walk through the bike track has discovered so much destruction.

So be it. We will work to the demography we have, not the one we wish existed.

Kingy may be evolving into an overpriced, overcrowded little suburb of Tweed, but bored kids will always exist whether you accept it or not, so we will work on making the gardens/ bike track safe, and accessible.

Back to the garden again. Thankfully, the left side of seedlings has settled back into to growing after a child (?) pulled them all out- a discovery I made when at band practice Tuesday evening. Lucky I still had the watering can in the car.

All going well, these capsicum will grow and produce a bountiful harvest.

The dwarf beans and peas have leapt out of the ground.

I planted the remaining lattice length with snow pea seeds- snow peas being a personal fave of mine. This rain will be great for germinating these babies.

The bath tubs are filled with 4 types of chilli bushes (bottom) with marigolds filling the gaps, and the dry herb bed has rosemary, hot and spicy oregano, and 2 types of parsley. 

I aim to also get some sage.

Last week, I sowed some beetroot and spinach seeds. Despite kids walking through the garden, most of these seeds are germinating. Hopefully, the predicted rain keeps up so that these babies have a chance to grow. All I want to plant this season is some broccoli. Then it's sit back (and weed, fertilise, water!) until harvest time.

Look, if I'm to be 100% honest, it's easy to get discouraged with the gardens. Lack of finances, budget cuts and crazy weather, on top of willful destruction, unsupervised kids...it feels like a battle we can't win. 

But then something inside me arcs up. Though the pace be slow, we WILL continue! Property prices in Kingscliff are literally skyrocketing! We have 7 acres- land hard fought for and purchased miraculously. We will do our bit to steward this land, even if no one else gives a flying woop.

And that, dear readers, is your lot for the week.

Stay tuned. More to come. I guarantee it!