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... the sky is baby blue, and the just-unfurling leaves ...
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Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sun Sep 08, 13 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I have some lamb shanks in the freezer for cooking sometime, but I have never done them before, so will need to look up a recipe. They have become a bit of a delicacy over here, so even at a proper butchers they are reasonably pricey. I did think you were talking about breast of lamb but wasn't sure. I have cooked it a few times, but it is a bit greasy for my taste.

It seems your election is now all over. Did you find a suitable candidate who had your anti-fracking ideas? Last I heard you were rather despairing about most of them.

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Sun Sep 08, 13 10:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The election has been a complete debacle - the results are enough to depress an elephant. The victorious party wants to reduce mining taxes (for people who are earning $1m every half hour) while cutting back on payments for families, education, health, etc - creating a hostile antigay, antiforeigner atmosphere - imagine a government by the BNP or whatever they call themselves over there and you have it. If I could leave I would.
Lambshanks - my last lot were cooked at 150 for several hours. Basically sauteed some garlic and shallots in olive oil, browned the shanks, bunged them onto a bed of carrots cut in half lengthways with stalks of thyme over the top, poured on some cooking port, a dash of balsamic vinegar, a tin of chopped tomatoes and that was about it. Taste wonderful I have to say.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sun Sep 08, 13 11:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Husband, who takes more interest in politics than me, is of your opinion too. He also thinks they are inclined to publicly attack women because of their gender, but maybe that was just to get rid of the former prime minister.

Thanks for the recipe. Will try that and see how it goes.

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 13 12:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Yes the gender bias is so deeply ingrained most can not see it. I can say something and be ignored, and five minutes later a man will say the same thing and be applauded for his insights. Still it is better than it used to be - unfortunately the younger generation seem quite happy with the progress we made and so do not recognise how much farther we have to go before we can be seen as people...

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 13 6:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Getting back to the garden, after yesterday's dereliction of duty I found the grey, cold, windy weather a bit hard to take. So I got out with the secateurs and did some pruning. A bit late I hear you say? Well, I read an article in the newspaper that tells me that the latest thoughts on pruning is that mid-winter pruning stimulates branch growth, as the stored food in the branches (drawn in before leaf fall) is used for this purpose. If you prune later in the season, then the stored energy has mainly been used up and so you get less wasted growth. Worth a try and since I am so far behind the 8-ball this winter, it is probably better than waiting for after fruiting and having a go then...

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 13 7:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The apples I severely winter pruned a couple of years ago have got lots of small branches on now, and I haven't had a chance to summer prune them as I ought to have done. Will have to either winter prune, of if you find spring pruning works, might try that next year then. At least they have started to crop again.

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 13 8:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Always a bonus when you get fruit!! lol. The new method also has the advantage of accelerating healing of pruning scars, so reducing disease, so they say.

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 13 7:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I popped into town today to pick up some wool for the jumper I am knitting (spontaneously decided to make it a fair isle, so needed some contrast colours) and en route heard the weather forecast for tomorrow - snow to 200m. Since i am at 450m I presume this will mean I am snowed in tomorrow. Fortunately the seedlings have yet to put in an appearance so hopefully we will get away with it.
As a result I spent a substantial proportion of my outdoor activities in cutting firewood (even had to re-sharpen the chain) and filling up supplies indoors. So once again a failed day in the garden ... sigh.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 13 7:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

With any luck, you and spring will get going together. If you ever really get a spring where you are.

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 13 9:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We had a little spring yesterday - all sunshine and sweet air - so a whole lot of weeding was done and beds prepared for seeds - cabbage, broad beans and parsnips in the ground now. The asparagus is starting to poke through the ground and is sweet and tender (I know, had some for lunch) and vast swathes of grass were hacked down as well. Today was grey, misty and drizzly so no mowing done, but i dd get into the orchard to have a hack at those trees not yet pruned (a bit late, but that article in the newspaper gives me hope that it will actually turn out to be a good time to be doing this. So the bin is full of plum blossom and the tree has far fewer crossed branches and some air in the middle. The apricot tree was left unattended, despite a desperate need for pruning, since there is little blossom left on it from the frost of the other morning. So rather than no fruit, I will settle for a little fruit.
I have been eyeing off the fencing and have decided that the half of the orchard furthest from the psychotic neighbour can, with minor adjustments, be adapted to house a family of Aylesbury ducks (which are apparently so heavy and large they will not fly out). So perhaps tomorrow I will get some stakes along the bottom fence line and start looking out some mesh to raise the height of the mesh already there to about four feet high. That would relieve me of the need to mow half the orchard at least. Though finding pure bred aylesburys may prove a challenge.
The Recreation ground committee has offered to build me a shed to replace the shipping container I donated to them, but rather than that, I will get them to build me a secure hen run with a couple of yards off it that I can rotate the hens through, planting them with picking fodder so they can always have access to greenery despite being in a run and not free range. Maybe I can start to restock as the year progresses.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 13 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Be nice if you can. As long as the ducks can't fly, do they have to be pure bred, and can you get non-flying crosses that will do what you want more easily? Sounds as if you are getting on whenever spring is letting you anyway.

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 13 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

A breeder tells me this sort are too heavy to fly (at least once adult), and that they lay fewer eggs as well (enough to hatch but not so many you are making sponges relentlessly to get rid of them). I will need to look into them more closely but they seem good - they are table birds which is the appeal - that and their grass reduction capabilities. I could keep the younger ones in the far portion so if they do go over a fence there are still two between her and them (not that this will silence her, but it will keep the authorities silenced).

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Mon Sep 23, 13 6:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Allegedly 16 today, but it did not get there until about 4 and the rest of the day was fog, wind and distinctly chilly. So I sat down and drew up the proposed layout for the coop and runs for the hens (assuming the recreation committee actually delivers on its promise. Will have to raid a friend's stockpile of 4x2s for materials, but it should work well. Three runs, each 9 square metres off the main body of the coop so I can rotate the hens around and do some composting in the runs, as well as grow them actual fodder crops as well (under wire frames). A pad near the entrance (but far enough away for safety) to sit the beehives on so their flight pattern is across one of the runs (so I don't have to dice with death when mowing near the hives) and as a bonus, some privacy from the neighbour which will be achieved by placing those panels of bamboo along the boundary-side of the runs. One metre gap off the boundary and at least 40 metres from either of our houses - that should do it!! She will complain, but no-one will listen. Rest of the day was spent organising the community garden at the school.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Mon Sep 23, 13 6:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Sounds as if you got something done anyway. What sort of community garden are you making? Is it just for the school, as allotments, or for anyone to have a go at and grow for all?

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Mon Sep 23, 13 7:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The garden belongs to the school (they also own a farm which is also neglected). It was a weed-infested heap when I went there a few months ago to work on the Polytunnel construction - now most of the beds have been weeded but we keep finding more infrastructure (sandstone blocks, odd lumps of concrete etc) and some very weirdly shaped beds. It has about five sheds of varying sizes, a hen run and we are about to bring back the greenhouse and the three other structures which are basically frames that may be covered in shadecloth or polythene depending on our mood. Once the school has a teach interested in it, we hope to have the school using some bits and the rest in allotments. At present we are just renting out beds on a seasonal basis so people understand it is not their's long-term. I am the treasurer but also apparently the secretary and events organiser since no-one else is doing it. We have an open day organised for 3 November so we are all madly rummaging for seeds to package and will be selling those to raise funds. And I have organised an artist to do a kids workshop making garden gnomes like these:



She may also do a garden sculpture (in collaboration with the school kids) and the armature should get sorted in the schools metal shop. We are aiming for something like a scarecrow for the sculpture, but will also have more portable scarecrows on sale for the open-day. This friday is our inaugural spring vege garden tour visiting five successful vege patches and their owners to find out how they succeed when so many of us fail.

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