Thoughts
I heard a beautiful sound last week, a buzzing drone in my house. This may seem strange to some of you but it was the sound of a blow fly. I know flies are annoying, especially during our Aussie summers but you see, this sound to me is the sign of warmer weather coming and spring just around the corner.
Another sound I love, which occurs in summertime, is the sound of the cricket on TV. It reminds me of long hot summer holidays when I was a child. Although never a huge cricket fan until recently, via the Big Bash series, this sound makes me feel wonderfully relaxed. I remember asking my dad when I was 11, and he was watching a test match, who was winning and he replied ‘no-one’. I thought that was pretty stupid and insisted that someone must be in front. I think his reply was a long sigh. Haha!
The first chirping of the cicadas. The smell of the eucalypts as the sun heats the oils in their leaves. All reminiscent of warmth and fun in the sun.
Meanwhile, I am sat on my front verandah in the sun, listening to the drone of the bees on the Hardenbergia and a couple of paper wasps have also re-appeared after the cold winter days. It probably wasn’t a good idea to grow a Hardenbergia along a verandah but it was fast-growing and puts a bit of shade on our north-facing, very sunny, sitting spot.
Nature
Bees. What amazing creatures they are. From pollinating our plants, providing us with honey and even honeycomb for non-toxic candle-making (on the list of things to try making myself) as well as other uses.
We must not forget the humble wasps that do their fair share of pollinating, along with flies. Yes, the much-hated fly will also spread pollen when they visit plants.
I could sit here all day listening to the bees and wondering if they produce any of the local honey, I am fortunate to buy. But I have just remembered that I cleaned the bird/bee bath and forgot to refill it.
Refilled now, bee and wasp friendly. Always put some rocks for them to climb on if they fall in. They are not good swimmers and drown easily.
Another good source of pollen for bees in my garden at the moment are the Oxalis pes-caprae L. aka Bermuda buttercup/South African wood-sorrel/Drooping wood-sorrel/Large yellow soursob.
Although a weed, I am more than happy to have them in my garden. They are short-lived, dying off as soon as the hot sun appears in spring but are so pretty and brighten my winter-tired garden before other flowers emerge. Plus, as I said, bees love them.
Home-grown
My spring seed order from Eden Seeds came this week. I will look forward to putting those in next month.
Another excitement for me in my garden is the appearance of nettle. I didn’t have any last year so I have no idea why I have them popping up now. I am careful to avoid them, they have popped up alongside the pathways, and I have some itchy/burning memories of them as a child in England. Now I know how good they are for us. You just have to pick the young leaves, wearing good covering gloves, and once cooked the sting is neutralised.
I have a fantastic book that my stepson bought me a few years ago. It’s called ‘Grow Your Own Medicine’ by Mim Beim, and so I am reading about the benefits of nettle.
The leaves, taken internally, are good for gout, eczema, arthritis, acne, dandruff, hair loss, anaemia, weak nails, brittle or weak hair, increasing milk production in breast feeding mothers, type 2 diabetes.
Topically; good for burns, eczema, rashes, and hair health.
The root of the nettle can be made into a tea for the treatment of cystitis, benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatitis.
When they grow a little more, I will be trying the Nettle Soup recipe in Mim’s book. If all goes well, I’ll feature it in a later newsletter.
Food
This week it’s all about chicken. Firstly, I was out of chicken stock so made some more. I always have a carcass in the freezer to use for this. I buy a whole chicken and, usually M, because he’s better at it than me, joints it so we have pieces and breasts for meals. If it’s left for me to joint it, there’s enough meat still on it to make a hearty soup!!
So, into the slow cooker went a carcass, a large onion, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks including leaves, all roughly chopped and a handful of black peppercorns. Top up with water and cook on low for about 12 hours. Or simmered on the stove top for 2 hours.
Keeping with the chicken theme, I used 2 of those chicken breasts to make a slow-cooker meal as well.
Ingredients:
1 red onion, chopped
About 500g potatoes, quartered or chopped into eighths depending on their size
Juice of ½ a lemon
3 tblsps extra virgin olive oil
Rock/sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 chicken breasts
1 sprig of Rosemary
Method:
Place the onion, potatoes and lemon juice into the slow cooker and mix with the olive oil.
In a bowl, mix together the salt, pepper and garlic powder and toss the chicken pieces in this.
Place the chicken on top of the onion mixture and add the rosemary sprig.
Cook on High for 4-5 hours.
Reading
Ali Stafford’s, The Farm Share Newsletter on Substack. Week 12. More great recipes for seasonal produce. She is in a different hemisphere to me, so I’m saving the recipes for later.
Tea & Rosemary. I loved this newsletter about Alex’s energy manifest during a trip to Greece. Energy is everywhere and even if you can only manage a walk amongst the trees in your neighbourhood, it will make you feel so much better, both physically and mentally.
Hippy Highland. Slow Scottish Stories on Substack. Something close to my newsletter from last week about her struggles in a male-dominated field of work and how she has now changed her life around.
When the Going Get’s Weird no.50, also on Substack. A great read from Julia who had to face my fear of hitting a kangaroo whilst driving.
Novel-wise, I am still reading a Colin Dexter, Inspector Morse book, ‘The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn’. I used to borrow these books from a library when I was younger and so I don’t remember them that well. Now I am reading them in publication order on my Kindle. A fan of the television series starring John Thaw as Morse and Kevin Whately as Lewis, I don’t think they could have found any better actors to play those characters. I’m also a fan of the new series ‘Lewis’ still with Kevin Whately as the now inspector and Laurence Fox as DS James Hathaway.