Friday

After a period in no-mans land in terms of employment satisfaction, earlier this year I began working with a group of people that are nice to be around, and three days each week I can go and grab a coffee without the experience being one of organising something to keep a little one occupied. For now, it is a good place to be for those reasons.

But I still needed something to make me feel productive and to feel I have a goal I am working towards.

Since Nicholas was a toddler we have had a vegetable garden of sorts. Largely tomatoes, herbs and zucchini. I do love the satisfaction from growing and harvesting my own food, and the pleasure of little ones joining me in the experience was always another plus.

These pictures are from 2008 and 2011.  

A little while ago I began reading some of the many garden books I have collected over the years. Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Cookbook is a mammoth piece of work. Something she said struck a chord with me.  "Grow what you love to eat"

Then my research also grew. Potager is the French term for kitchen garden. It has a romantic ting to it. Monty Don has a wonderful episode on YouTube where he travels around France looking at vegetable gardens. He touches on the origins of kitchen gardens in monasteries and nunneries. I was hooked. 

Formal garden plans are lovely.

 

But like everything, I prefer things a little uneven and rustic. Alys Fowler and Matt and Lentil are a couple of my reference points.

So I heeded Stephanie Alexander's words and thought about what we like to eat. Last year I was so proud of our bumper eggplant crop, so that is definitely on the list.

And what I have also found is that growing a variety of things also expands your cooking repertoire, as I began to give more thought about what to make.

Now I have Maggie helping me. She (literally) potted around the yard last weekend while I was digging and repotting plants and pushing the wheelbarrow.

Watching a chef on Netflix 'Chef's Table' something he said also resonated with me. "What you eat is only as good as its ingredients". Something I had decided to do this year which may prove challenging is to grow from seed. Organically certified seed. This year I am planting tomatoes, zucchini, radish, beetroot (of various varieties)lettuce, herbs, purple carrots, mint, coriander, thyme, sage, parsley, rosemary, chives and strawberries.
We might even use some space in our front yard for beans... Oh, and edible flowers, not because I want to eat them, but because ensuring we have bees in the garden is another priority of mine.

These plans are feeding my soul and my mind. Watch this space.

Pavers and a shower screen door...

Smallest of seeds!

Library visits

Testing natural pest control. Crushed egg shells to ward off snails and slugs.

Friday

If I had to describe my style I would say rustic.  And eclectic.  Particularly for the home.  My heart skips a beat when I look at things crafted from clay, timber or linen.  I love that old-world feel. 

Toast catalogues (when they produced paper ones and shipped them around for free) were always my favourite coffee table book/style resource. 

And I have kept every one, much to the ire of David :)  But why wouldn't you?

My favourite blogs display beautiful home settings with all the materials I love.

There is also a satisfaction I feel in doing things the slow (a word that has become the movement of the moment) “old-fashioned” way.  One of my favourite books is Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  The exquisite detail of everyday life.   That isn’t to say I want to hunt deer and pig, salt and store the meet or blow up the pigs bladder for Maggie to play ball with! And while it is reportedly like terrine, boiling a pigs head to make “head cheese” does not sound romantic at all.  I tried to read it to Audrey last year, but she didn’t show the same enthusiasm for it at the time. 

 But using essential oils to make cleaning products, or making beeswax candles and sewing linen napkins is appealing to me.   I can waste so much time looking at images of these things,,,  Even in my early teens I always wanted to visit museums and old homes and soak in the images of yesteryear.  At 15 I was a volunteer guide at Lanyon homestead and was always besotted with the out buildings, the kitchen and stables.

When we went camping early this year I loved stopping by huts and looking at the walls, papered with newspapers, now worn and yellowed.  Easy to think romantically about living in such a place and not about the bare necessity of warmth, light and food.

For now I will read the stories and look at the pictures.  I burn beautifully scented soy candles (made by others) and wait for my soft, crushed linen to arrive from Lithuania.  Then I will start by sewing my coveted crushed linen napkins.  :)