gippslandwildharvest

Its early Feb and we haven’t had a real hot summer, tomatoes are just starting to come on, I have 2 dozen plants and am picking a bucket per day- not red, I pick them orange then ripen in my special kitchen shed. Tomato’s need the dark to turn red, I have a long bench in there thats like a conveyer belt, Each day I pick, I move them all along and every Friday night is spent making Passata.

Its also the time to share, my blood plum tree has started to produce, and I mean bucket loads, a lot are going tot he birds (native) so that’s ok and I have also posted on a local garden group and have shared to a few families. I did also swap some for compost worms, which I thought was a great trade.

Plenty, plenty of Zucchini – zucchini Cake, soup, fried, and my latest favourite is Zoodles a tasty replacement for Pasta. We are also sharing them on my “Food is Free” seat, out the front of my garden. I have lost a lot of fruit to the birds but am not worried, my dream of living like I was raised hasn’t quite come off!. We don’t eat much dessert and I don’t need it, kids aren’t into bottled fruit, I still like the idea and have a side of me that’s a bit “Prepper”.

We have finally got tot eh point of looking for 5 acres, its with mixed feelings, I love my soil, my garden and what we have achieved here, but I want for so much more, I want a larger garden, orchard and native garden and might dabbble with animals.

This is life on a normal size house block ( less than 1 acre) I have 4 apple, 2 Pear, 1 apricot, 1 Nectarine, 1 Peach, 2 Blood Plums, 1 Lemon, 1 Orange, 1 Fig and 1 Bay Tree. I have a herb garden and 4 garden beds of 2 x 3 metres. I treat my system as closed, I try not to loose or remove any nutrients from the property. I have cared for and built the soils over the years.

This is always the fear or hope that when we sell the new buyer wants to live as I do and appreciate all the foods that surround this house block.

The latest effort, 9 Pigs that I turned into Roast, chops, Boned and rolled loins (stuffing recipe: breadcrumbs, dried apricots, dried apples, parsley, and sage) , stir fry, butterfly steaks, loin steaks, spare ribs, boned and Rolled Shoulders and mince. I have kept all of the fat and cheeks for smallgoods and sausages.

I managed to swap a leg for some fresh scallops, gummy shark and some bait that I used for some beach fishing and now will be eating some Fresh Flathead.

The photo of my tomato plants is to demonstrate the use of Reo – its wonderful stuff, that can be used for climbing frames when upright or horizontal, assist tomatoes to grow through them.

Plenty of zucchini’s growing and have already started sharing- i am not growing corn this year, not many of the family eat it, so best eat grow what you eat, I will not putting too much effort into the garden and we have decided to upscale and try to find some acres, and the process starts all over again.

It will be sad to move away from my garden, that I have spent a lot of time in building the soils- I mean if you dont have good soils, then you need to make them, nutrients, fertilisers, natural materials and don’t forget Love- sounds corny I know, but really if you dont love and nurture your veggie garden ( part of Mother Nature), how can she love you back- this goes all the way through my thinking and my Systems approach to my property-

Plant native plants ( both for shelter, and for food) attract the native insects and birds and they will do half your job, controlling pests and fertilising the soils. See the system as a whole and try not to export nutrients or water, this is keeping all of the left over plant material on site.

So this is how I roll- pick tomatoes when they are orange on the bush, place them in a dark room and keep collecting for the week. Once i have enough, I wash them and then cut them up to put through the mincer passata maker. Boil on the stove till it goes down by a 3rd. Then wash and sterilise the jars, place in the oven till hot.

Hot tomato puree goes into hot jars and boom, you have home grown Passata

Given what this blog is about I am not going to put a warning on the content.

That said. Here is my young Sambar male deer that I shot. It wasnt chased, it has been living a carefree life without fences and man. It was simply still in bed, when it heard me, it stood up, looked around, then darkness came. It wasn’t put in a truck and sent to an abattoir miles away or running scared and stressed. I am not trying to justify where my meat comes from, but giving a comparison for other meat. These animals were introduced in the 1800’s and simply, the more we remove from the wilderness, the better our wildlife is.

2 year old Sambar (Spika) young stag[/caption]

SOOOO, have I just justified the way I live, maybe maybe not.

I actually like living this way and its more about my connection to landscape, to my food and my footprint on the planets resources. I am not worried about running out of food, we have heaps. Tomatoes are going well, spuds had a cracking year as well. I put this down to looking after my soil for the living thing that it is.

I am busy getting wood at the moment, but really collecting now for 2021, which is where we need to be, its more about if I got hurt, then I know the family will be fine for the next 12 months. Getting wood with friends is the best, 2 or 3 men/people will always do more work then 2 to 3 individuals.

I now have 5.7KW of solar on the roof and I love it, it rocks- thanks very much to Sunny Afternoons. It is covering all of my electricity needs, another step to self sufficiency.
I enjoy the physical side to my life style, to be in touch with the seasons, to feel the cold but enjoy it for what it is, a time to be inside with loved ones, warming by the fire form the wood that I cut, carted, split and stacked.

Wood

This is my little treasure for those that dont know, a simple garden shed, covered in pallets of wood, and inside the pallets is insulation, the roof has another layer of insulation as well.
It has all my food stored in there

my Kitchen storage shed

I have made about 50 jars so far and wont stop until the tomatos are all finished. If I end up with too much, I can share with friends and family.

Pasata

This is the first year the trees have produced apples, granny smith for cooking and an eating apple. I will store them for as long as I can then slowly stew them and preserve them in jars.

Apples

Spuds

and always keep your eyes on the next step, winter Veg, I have planted Broc, cauli, cabbages and in time garlic and onions.

Broccoli

This season looks to be a cracker, I can say now that I have the most fruit on my tress since planting them, I have suffered some curly leaf here and there but not enough to stop bud set.
its early days and I am yet to net my fruit trees, every time I hear a cocky swooping overhead, my heart races. It’s going to get Hot, like real hot and I might lose a lot due to that intense 40 odd degree days. I am using my Gray water every day on my fruit trees and about to get some loads of sow manure and put all around them.

I have the veggie garden going full noise, full of corn, tomato and potato, with smatterings of silver beet, pumpkin, zucchini, chilli, cucumber, and squash still to grow. I am more connected this year, we are staying home to reap the harvest and my intention to eat 3 times per week, plant-based meals, I might actually us some of my Veg, instead of giving a lot of it away, which I still intend doing.

I have been busy collecting wood from everywhere I can, mostly done with a good friend of mine, hard work and sharing the spoils is good for the soul and cements friendships

Full loaded apricot tree, they seem to do better when its drier

Apricot tree

I have decided to plant more spuds this year

Potato’s

corn glorious corn, notice the spacing, jam them in as much as you can, and they will love you for it

Corn

I am growing standard Roma this year, my dream is to plant San Mazarno, plum tomatoes, they are the best for passata

Tomatoes

Toamtos and silverbeet

Woodage

Woo- Mind blown- its September and months since I posted. Started out as a pretty good Winter, got a few deer on the ground, freezer has been full of protein. No pressure there. Got plenty of winter Veg, Broccoli, cabbage and as you can see, my largest ever cauli. Done my Garlic planting and now looking at preparing the beds for the summer crop planting.

check this link out, the best ever cauli you can eat.
https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/southern-fried-cauliflower/3bj4qzl6

September/ October are my Wood season months, the plan is to fill the sheds before it gets too hot and plenty of time for the wood to dry out.

Autumn has wooshed by, got a few garden beds resting and will give them love soon. As you can see from the photos I got onto our usual property that we hunt rabbits on, Mushrooms lots of them, Horse Mushrooms, they are big and Bloody- Vegan Steak! and smashing, I love them very much. Nothing at all like store mushrooms, which are bland, bland bland.

The fruit trees are already flowering and lets hope that I have sprayed them enough to stop the curly leaf. They are all pruned since winter and I will start to give them some compost material in the next few months

Its almost time to dust of the boat and get back into some squid fishing.

Pumpkin

Cauli

Cauli

Bucket o Mushies

Horse Mushrooms

Pan frying

Better much

Wow, its early April, well I have been very slack and busy at the same time. Being part of the fire response in Gippsland has seen me spend a lot of time away. Thats time away from what I do best and that is to find or grow and share food.

This blog is predominately based around collecting food, but its undercurrent are to share the way that I live. I have started using Boomerang Bags, locally sourced cloth bag, made from used cloth. Washable, light and strong. The current “Green” super market bags are still made from plastic!!!.

Boomerang Bags

Plus the photo of my Biome products (https://www.biome.com.au/), inside the box are stainless steel pegs, that will last a lifetime, dish brush, toothbrush and some steel straws for the kids. These are up there for being 100% recycled. But its not about finding the best, its about starting to look for better options that what we currently have.

Biome

Calamari

Its been a good year for wood and sadly as the climate changes, there will be more and more tree death, its a hiding to no where really

Wood

This little babies, came up all by themselves, I have about 10, so looking forward to eating soup, scones and roast, but then sharing

Pumpkin

Seedlings

Sometimes I would not wish on my worst enemy what goes through my head, every time I start my car, buy something, drink a coffee, purchase food. Just how much is enough, what is acceptable for sustainable living, is it even possible?

I look around my house, I see all the plastic, all the resources all the Stuff that has gone into making what I own or possess and its not forever, the legacy is but the use could be a day, year, lifetime but then what.

I did go fishing for enjoyment, I try to quell my fears for the planet so i can just enjoy something without all the questions of sustainability running through my mind, so Yep, I used my diesel car to get my fiberglass boat, fill it with unleaded petrol, buy some bait! then drive for an hour and a half to go fishing for the day, taking my tin of tune and drinks. hmmm – whats so bad- oil is in my diesel, petrol, boat, they all exhaust carbon monoxide and Co2, I got some bait, that in itself is unsustainable, blue bait should be left in the ocean to feed the food chain. Not to mention fishing line, plastic in my rod and reel, where do i start and stop. Do I stay home and be miserable knowing the planet is going down the gurgler anyway or add to its demise or I am just way to serious?.

All was not lost, I brought food home for my family

Flake

Squid

What I have been doing and yep, still filled with emotions is cutting wood, not cutting down trees, but cutting up fallen timber to heat my home and heat my water, wood that is shelter and food for critters of the earth. This only matters without population at billions and having a major effect on the planetary system, maybe I should not sweat the small stuff, we will go extinct as all other earth creatures before us.