Winter joy

"To everything, turn, turn turn,
There is a season, turn, turn, turn..."

Early morning mists which settle into the stream
 / river valleys

You have to have contrast.  I am not a member of the "I hate winter" club.  Rather, I relish the cooler weather.  I am more mentally alert, more physically active, and more inspired in the kitchen.

Here are some of my favourite things that I love most about winter...

 

Sunrises...

... and sunsets

Brooding, inspiring, breath-taking sunrises and sunsets.

A wood burning fire - which not only heats our entire home, but also gives me access to an oven in which I can bake...

My darling Rosie

...roasted homegrown vegetables, homemade pies and samosas, bread, lasagnas and pizza.

4 ingredient mealie bread - the smell fills the air,
 and the taste is heavenly :)
(recipe here)

Homemade chicken or creamed spinach samosas
 in phyllo pastry (recipe here)

Lasagne, pies, samosas and pizza can't be cooked on top of our two plate gas stove, nor will the latter three be successful in my solar oven, so we go without / my menu options don't include those during the summer months. 

Rain - glorious rain.
I remember it well, and wait in anticipation
of it falling again...

Rain - filling our rain water tanks and earthen dam, refreshing the garden and cause the land around us to go green - as opposed to the dried out, brown appearance during summer :)

Long and short gumboots - for
use when it pelting down with rain which
forms muddy puddles everywhere, or
 when  there is just damp grass

Gumboots (long and short) to keep my feet dry, chunky jerseys and a down jacket against the cold outside air, and a warm bed to sleep in.  I am aware of all those who aren't as fortunate, and know that I'll never take those luxuries for granted.

Two and a half dehydrated pumpkins fit into
2 X 1 lt jars

Eating summer out-of-season home grown produce - which has either been canned or has been dehydrated in my new Foothills DryAway ;)

  

Homemade jams and beetroot...

 

  ...and tomato puree / concentrate

 

Dehydrated herbs and vegetables (which at this stage only

 include pumpkins and piquanté peppers)

Lying in bed in the morning, cup of rooibos tea (for me) or coffee (for RMan) in hand, looking at the snow capped mountains in the distance.

Snow capped mountains in the distance

  Aaaah!  What's not to love about winter...?  :D

Hydroponics vs ground 1

Following my posting on the basic hydroponic system we set up, I thought I'd give you all an update.

But first, I omitted to share with you the analysis of the alpaca poo we had done.

Alapaca poo analysis

The gentleman we saw told us that the alpaca poo results were fantastic.  Even asked us if we want to market it lol  Perhaps if we had 50 alpacas, but with only 4 - they just don't poo enough to make it viable...

Results of grape waste (pomace) analysis

For comparison, I am also giving the sample results of grape waste that he gave us.  As you can see, the alpaca poo is far more nutrient rich than the grape waste.

Of the various experiments I am trying out, I planted some cabbage seedlings in the gravity fed hydroponic system, and some in the ground below the hydroponics.  [One of my brothers reckons that cabbage needs a firm footing (in the ground) and he is doubtful that growing them hydroponically will work.  I'm not looking to grow champion sized cabbages, so let's see ;) ]

But, and for update on the cabbages I planted only three weeks ago:

This is the cabbage in the ground.  Not much change there, is there.  They were planted with some additional alpaca poo.

The control "ground planted" cabbage -
 not much change from when it was planted
 out from the seedling tray

And the hydroponic one...

The hydroponically growing cabbage - almost
double the size and far sturdier looking
 leaves and plant, and more abundant growth

As you can see there is quite a substantial change.

Water catchment tank specifications

The only feeding that the hydroponic system gets is some Seagrow (seaweed extract) and a knee high stocking which has been half filled with ground alpaca poo, and which is suspended in the receiving tank so that the nutrients can leach out into the water as it fills the tank.

Very encouraging.

I will update as the two plants progress - until one of them reaches cabbage head stage... :)

Home (cluck) home

You recall back in August last year we borrowed - which became ownership - of two chickens ~ Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (the rooster).  We sorely missed our ducks which went walkabout so RMan wasn't that keen on the idea of having chickens.

The old water tank which became a
 lucerne holder and a chicken coop

Rushing around trying to sort out a temporary coop for the chickens we resorted to adapting the frame of a 1000lt water tank.

In the meantime, RMan has come to appreciate the really fresh eggs Tweedle Dee was laying and which we were scoffing.  We had never expienced eggs that fresh before - you know what I mean? When you crack open the shell of a fresh egg the white and yolk land in the frying pan as a tight mass of deliciousness, as opposed to what we had experienced before with shop bought eggs where the white spread itself all over the pan.  Judging in the very apparent difference, I shudder to think how old the "fresh" shop eggs were by the time we purchased them.

RMan has also come to see the chickens according to the various characters that they have.  And always grins at their loping, side-to-side run when they spot us and think that a handful of food is in the offing...

Two chickens fitted in fine - but 6...?!

When Tweedle Dee became broody, and 4 chicks were hatched on 1 November last year, it was time for another coop.  Together with the "frame coop", we fashioned another one out of pallets - complete with egg laying / nesting box on the side.  Thus the "pallet coop" was born.

Wooden pallets converted to a chicken coop

The two coops sat side by side and worked well.  But, when the chicks were still small, they needed a protected spot to run around before they met Tweedle Dum.

The two coops before...

A temporary barrier of chicken netting sufficed - but only as a temporary measure.

From left to right:
Cluck's larger, Tweedle Dees two medium, and at the
 top Shelly's smaller egg

One of the now-grown-up chicks, Shelly (so called because her feathers remind me of a sea shell pattern) has also started laying.  So now we are getting 3 eggs most days.

In addition, Tweedle Dee has been broody 3 times since the beginning of the year, and, as the rooster, Tweedle Dum, was returned to Eddie because of his aggressive behaviour, which meant that all her eggs are thus infertile until her one male chick 'becomes of age', the necessity of having somewhere to lock her up until she came to her senses became imperative.  Locking her, and the others, out of the pallet coop (with it's laying boxes) meant that Cluck and Shelly didn't know where to lay their eggs.  Thus encouraging them to lay willy-nilly elsewhere on the property was not in my (egg hunting) benefit.

Plus, I wasn't happy that they were adequately protected from the (winter) elements.  How can I lay warm and snug in my bed at night knowing that they could be shivering and uncomfortable in their tiny coop?

Concrete foundations were thrown to prevent predators
 digging their way into the new enlarged coop

So, a chicken coop overhaul became imperative.

Firstly, we separated the two coops to either side of the new enlarged area.  and fixed in three roof support poles in the two outer corners and midway.  The back "wall" of the coop is the shade cloth covered veggie patch.  Then, to prevent the rooikat (or other predators) from accessing the coop, a concrete foundation was poured round the perimeter of the new coop area.

The walls were clad with chicken wire and, with the assistance of RSon's battery operated Skil saw which he lent to RMan, and RMan's table saw, some additional wooden offcut strips we got from the local sawmill were added for extra strength / protection / hindrance.  IBR sheets (corrugated iron) installed on battens made up the roof.

The two coops after...:)

RMan cleverly fashioned an entrance door out of a pallet.

Strong and sturdy door to the coop
 which RMan made from a pallet

Some concrete foundations, p-l-e-n-t-y of screws, and wire staples and three full days labour later - what was the chickens reaction to their new home?

Home cluck home... :)

They love it :)

No sooner had we cleared off from the "building site" than they had to come and inspect their new quarters.  Happily and without hesitation, they all trouped into the coop to inspect our handiwork.

I can now rest confidentially at night knowing that they are fully protected from the winter weather ahead, and that they are safe and secure, and, finally, they have the freedom to wake up in the mornings and have a wander round their enlarged coop until I am ready to let them out to free range.

That relieves a lot of the pressure - especially on those cold mornings - of having to get up when I hear them fussing round because they want out of the tiny cramped coops that they were previously locked up in every night.

Ain't it good to have a handyman around :)  Thanks once again RMan :D

Growing mung beans

I always buy dried mung beans in order to sprout them during winter.  Just having those to munch on prevents withdrawals of crispy fresh produce during the colder months of the year.

This year I wanted to grow some more chick peas.

But, I accidentally grabbed a handful of Mung beans from the pantry.  My brain was obviously elsewhere - thank goodness I went to the right cupboard though lol

It was only once I had chucked them in the ground of the one raised bed, and had just covered them with soil, that I realized I had sown the wrong crop lol

Never mind.  I thought I'd let them grow and see what happened.

What a stroke of fortune.

A fortuitous, accidental crop of mung beans is
growing in one of my raised veggie beds

The mung bean plant is roughly 40 - 50cms (15 - 20") high and wide.  Given it's compact shape and size, it would be an ideal plant to grow in pots on a balcony too.  Perfect for using as a companion plant with next summers chard, eggplant, raddish and tomatoes, it will also provide some important shade for the ground at the base of those pants.

It is quite a bushy and compact plant.  I planted these quite late in the season, and the plants didn't send out runners and therefore didn't require bean supports and just got on with what they do best - grow mung beans.

Fresh mung beans in a pod

The pods are about 7 - 8cms long and 3 - 4 mm wide.  

Inside, the fresh mung beans sit snugly in their pod.  They are roughly twice the size of a dried mung bean.

And the taste...?

Almost ethereal lol  They are very delicate tasting and different to rehydrated / sprouted beans.

Fresh mung beans compared to dried beans

Honestly, it is quite fiddly to remove the beans from the small, tight green pod, but is well worth the effort.  The dry, dark brown pods 'crack' open quite easily though.

The beauty is, each mung bean plant grown from a single seed will provide 30 - 40 pods per plant or roughly 150 - 250 individual fresh, or future dried mung beans.  The pods form 4 pods together on the plant.  The mung bean plant can hold both fresh green pods, and dark brown pods (which encase the dried mung bean).

(Don't forget to freeze the shelled, harvested dried beans for 24 hours before storing in an air tight jar in your pantry. This helps to prevent weevils infesting your dried beans.)

Apart from providing that necessary crunch factor, mung beans are good for you too.  Check out their health benefits here.

One less thing to cross off my future shopping lists :)