Between the pages

Posted on November 26, 2017 by cityhippyfarmgirl

I come from a long line of dedicated book lovers. My parents encouraged reading as a kid, my grandparents avid consumers of the written word, and in turn my own kids. Even though they are still at a fairly young age (thankfully) they love to eat books for breakfast too.

Whether it’s for knowledge, creativity, escapism, or a quite wind down before bed. However you consume the written word, I’d say it has value.

When people say, ahh but the era of printed books it’s over right, it’s all digital now isn’t it? I can’t agree. I won’t agree. Not in my world anyway. While I’m certainly aware of the print world having changed in recent times, there is something about holding a book in your hands that is in no way comparable to reading a back lit screen.

I am however mindful though of how my books come and go, and what stays on my permanent bookshelf. I utilise my library, borrow from friends and family, sometimes read digitally and also buy second hand. The way I consume books is similar to the way the rest of our life is lived, without crazy excess and I hope fairly thoughtfully.

For others out there still fans of words and pictures on paper, I thought I’d do a quick run down of some of the things that have passed my way lately.

100 Nasty Women of History– Hannah Jewell had me at just reading the back cover. Her writing is intelligent, informed, and importantly current, while weaving in an amazing line up of brilliant women through history.

The Last Thread– Author Michael Sala, is probably my 2017 wordsmith crush. I heard him speak earlier in the year at our city’s writer’s festival and life hasn’t quite been the same since. The Restorers is his other book and I’m still fairly animated from reading that one. The way he builds tension throughout the pages from the very beginning, has you holding your breath, while all you can feel is your own blood pulsing through your finger tips as you turn each page over.

Bystander– Originally published in 1994, this book is pretty much everything you could ever want to know about street photography.

Made to Last- By Vanessa Murray, this book is an beautiful collection of hand made goodness from around the world. This book is really quite incredible. It’s as much as a beautiful collection of inspiring pictures as it is a how to book. Everything in there seems vaguely more achievable when it’s broken down into pictures and instructions. Many makers are in there, such as a milliner, globe maker, metal caster, and furniture maker to name just a few. I’m also lucky enough to have been included within the pages of this beautiful book with a how to on making Firecider.

Slow by Brooke McAlary recently released a book and the publishers kindly sent a copy through to me to have a read. If you are coming at slow living as a complete change of perspective on life than I would say this book is for you. I struggled a bit identifying with it as I had simply never been in that position. For me slow living has been ingrained in some shape or form from the beginning, so didn’t feel I needed a how-to book simplifying things further in a list format. I’m an advocate of simple living, (clearly, otherwise I wouldn’t have written this blog for so long) however this one wasn’t for me. No problem though, I simply passed it on to someone else who I thought might enjoy it, which is what the majority of books should do anyway unless you are going to dip back into it.

Practical Pages- That’s what these ones are. Pip Magazine– an Australian permaculture magazine and next years calendar, followed by Organic Gardener, diary and calendar again. I still write things down on a day to day basis. I have zero interest in writing things in my phone, it would mean yet another screen to look at. I don’t want to do that to find out whether it’s library day for the kids, or a soccer match isn’t on that day. I forget things, I know that. So I write things down and frequently check to see what I’ve forgotten. If I had to do that every time with a screen, pffft. In a nutshell, no.

Give me the lovely pages. Plus they have helpful things in there like recipes and when to plant your seasonal vegetables, (because occasionally, I forget.)

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How about you?

Digital or paper pages- what are you reading?

Do you write on a calendar or keep things on a screen?

The Garden that Grows

Posted on January 8, 2017 by cityhippyfarmgirl

It’s 5.30am and there is a grey stillness to the morning. Although light the sun won’t properly rise for another 15 minutes or so. The quiet hour, the garden hour. It’s summer holiday period round these parts and a different rhythm that doesn’t get found often. Mornings have been spent in two ways of late. Either by the waters edge or here, in the garden.

After a year now of creating beds, building soil profiles, planting, transplanting, weeding, growing, harvesting and eating. This small city garden has just now gone through 4 seasons.

We’ve tracked shadows during the colder months, picked 10’s of kilos of tomatoes during the warm, and frowned over countless unseen critters and their impact on our growings.

This is something that has been a long time in the making. Where small potted plants gave way for a variety of raised garden beds. There are still lessons to be learnt, corners to build up, and plants to try out, but it’s a start, and a wonderful one at that. A tiny corner to take refuge from the noise of the day, a place to grow vegetables and ideas. A pocket of edible greens in an otherwise landscape of lawns.

It’s not perfect, and there are still a multitude of lumps to work through, but it’s got sun, soil, water, and enthusiasm. With that goes a multitude of possibilities.

This is the garden that grows.

Time to get growing

Posted on March 20, 2016 by cityhippyfarmgirl

Yearning for something for a really long time, means that when it finally arrives…well it’s a bit bloody exciting.

So what did I yearn for? Sun.

Simply put, just sun.

Sunlight to grow things. I had grown what I could with 2 hours of direct sunlight for a number of years in pots on a rented shared corner of a concrete courtyard. I loved my potted permaculture garden, but with two hours of direct sunlight, well it limits things a bit.

So what can I do now? Now that I have 6-10 hours of direct sunlight?….Oh la la! The possibilities can make you giddy at the knees. Some people said wait, go slow, you’ve got years to get it going. Err, nope, no I don’t think so. I’ve waited in some shape or form for 20 years to do this.

Instead, let’s get in there straight away. Let’s definitely plan, and plan really well. And let’s not be committed to one idea, or even several ideas in the beginning. The first few years will be very flexible in their changes, lessons will be learnt and things will be trialled. It’s all deliciously new and yet it isn’t as well, I’ve been preparing, reading, learning, practising for what feels like all my life, now it get’s put into practise.

I firmly believe in the saying bloom where you have been planted…but I also believe in crop rotation.

And now with all that direct sunlight? Well. I think it’s time to get growing.

Permaculture and Creative (urban) Living

Posted on February 21, 2016 by cityhippyfarmgirl

Having been throwing myself into all things permaculture minded for the past good few years, it was a little tricky looking over at all the identical perfectly mown lawns and not think of how I would like to quietly rip a good proportion of all that grass up.

Sure it wasn’t mine to rip up, but what an enticing dream it would be.

Instead of perfectly manicured ornamental gardens with impeccable weed free edging, there instead might be a line of fruit giving trees all the way up the street as far as the eye could see. All within easy reach of the foot path, all for people to pluck as they needed, and as often as taste buds sung out.

This line of fruit trees would also give a little shade to those that chose to walk the many uphills under a blazing summer sun. The ones that forewent the air-conditioned comfort of cars, that would drive on unseeing to all that food yet to be foraged by knowing fingers.

Or maybe there would be a canopy of beans to walk through, that might be right next to a forest of nuts and bananas, a pedestrian round about, with herbs circling in a mandala kind of fashion.

The possibilities are deliciously endless and certainly not restricted to the street side. So how does permaculture entwine with creative living?

Well in my mind they lie hand in hand, it’s an ability to think outside the square. To be able to create and be adaptable to the environment that you’ve been placed. Making do with what you have essentially, and in a sustainable fashion, thriving from within it. There are patterns, there are creations, and there are probably a multitude of pops of colour.

finding patterns

The more formal definition of permaculture…

What is Permaculture?

‘Consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for provision of local needs. People, their buildings and the ways in which they organise themselves are central to permaculture. Thus the permaculture vision of permanent or sustainable agriculture has evolved to one of permanent or sustainable culture.’ [David Holgrem]

Finding a definition of creativity is a little harder to narrow down. There are so many branches to the word, and as there should be, the word in itself is a creative one of which meaning depends on the user alone.

Not restricting the word to the art world, I did like this line though when reading through the many variations…

‘Creativity is the ability to transcend the ordinary’

And that brings me back to those perfectly damn mown lawns again.

Whether you live in a busy city studio with a cat named Peter or an off grid farm that is the dictionary definition of diversity. What would you do with a street full of perfectly manicured, grassed gardens? Tell me… or even better, what HAVE you done? I’d lovvvve to know.

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(This post is 1 of 3 in a series on creativity.)

Extra Bits

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Maya Angelou

Permaculture Principles– a mighty resource that will get you started.

Buderim’s “Eat Street”– Urban Food Street, a neighbourhood initiative that started from a conversation about over priced limes 7 years ago. This initiative now covers 11 streets, with people moving into the area, because they want to be involved.

Urban Farming- The Leaky Pipe

Inner City Goats

Posted on September 24, 2015 by cityhippyfarmgirl

I’ve got a clever friend who is an advocate for urban goats. I think she might be on to something. Yes I do.

Breakfast Black Rice Pudding with Rhubarb and Lemon Curd

Posted on August 13, 2015 by cityhippyfarmgirl

That’s a triumphant jar of lemon curd right there I tell you. I’d tried making it a handful of times and, failed the same number of times. Turns out I was following the wrong recipes. I settled on a recipe from Three Blue Ducks cookbook, (they haven’t failed me yet) and a little nervously began whisking away.

Not long later, done and set. It’s creamy, lemony, doesn’t have lumps and is quite troublesome with a lone teaspoon. Now why had it been so hard beforehand?

Never mind, I had it now, but what to do with those golden jars of goodness?

Apart from the convenient jar with a teaspoon situation, I also played around with some black rice pudding. While I wouldn’t say it’s a tried and true recipe, it is evolving and I will definitely be playing with a few variations over the winter months. If they are flavours you like, have a tinker around with your ingredients and make it to your own tastebuds.

A really easy winter breakfast.

Breakfast Black Rice Pudding with Rhubarb and Lemon Curd

1 cup of black rice

2 tbls coconut oil

2 x pureed soft pears

1 bunch of rhubarb

coconut milk/ or natural yogurt

1 tsp of vanilla essence

lemon curd (recipe found here)

Overnight soak your black rice with cups of water. In the morning, cook the rice up, adding 2 pureed pears to sweeten it a little when you start cooking. Cook it as you normally would rice using the absorption method. Once it’s cooked, stir through two tablespoons of coconut oil.

At the same time and in another pot add your rhubarb. Cut into 1 cm pieces and cook until soft. Turn off and add either half a scraping of a vanilla pod or tsp of vanilla essence.

Serve with coconut milk, (or natural yogurt) fresh fruit and lemon curd. The curd gives it a little zesty sweet kick.

living off grid for $80 a week

Posted on July 16, 2015 by cityhippyfarmgirl

A little something to get deliciously inspired by on a Thursday.

Jill Redwood, writer for Earth Garden Magazine lives on about $80 a week, totally off grid with over 60 animals to keep her company…she also leaves my wood chopping skills to shame.

How does your garden grow?

Posted on January 22, 2015 by cityhippyfarmgirl

Our gardens couldn’t be more different. Mine in small pots, neatly aligned along a big city urban fence. A tiny garden that grows intwined with the sound of other city dwellers, the soft murmur of traffic and the occasional summertime song of hidden cicadas.

Her garden? It meanders. Through seemingly endless acres, aligned with a neighbouring rugged, blue coastline. The gentle honking song of Cape Barren Geese flying over head at dusk and dawn, and frogs…lots of frogs.

Now who’s garden am I speaking of? Well that would be Tanya from Ecolosophy (remember the one I wanted to face plant into last year?) I caught up with her recently to hear how her garden was growing and also to find out who won the giveaway.

So it’s been a little while since I face planted in your garden because of the sheer beauty of it all. What’s been growing since we last caught up?

Oh Brydie, we’ve been pretty lucky this year. Ordinarily at this time of year, our patch would have been burnt to a crisp by a few blazing hot days with northerly winds and no rain but so far we’ve had an exceptionally mild summer in Esperance, most days mid twenties, rain every so often, not a single day so far over 40 (please don’t jinx me weather fairy!) The Patch is churning out tomatoes by the bucket load so I’ve been making lots of slow roasted tomato sauce. I’ve been as inventive as possible but the yellow button squash have (FINALLY) come to an end so I can relax on finding new and exciting ways to hide them in the family meals.

My black frilly kale and I are at a standoff of sorts because on one hand, I learned how to make kale chips…and they’re lovely but on the other hand my kale just keeps getting prettier and prettier so I’m loath to remove a single leaf. Most of the greenery in the Patch now is assorted pumpkins, melons and gourds that are the obsession of my other half.

Every summertime there is a quest to grow the worlds largest vegetables (so far the biggest pumpkin has only got to about 50kg which is a few hundred kilos off the world record) but we do grow a nice big New Guinea Bean (here’s a snap of last years beans with my boys) We eat them when they’re small (about zucchini sized) but then we let them grow and grow and grow.

That bean picture is amazing. I’ll bet the boys were impressed with them. I’m certainly impressed! Now tell me also, who won the giveaway?

Well quite a few of your lovely readers popped in to the Ecolosophy Shop and had a wander through. And one of those lucky shoppers has won themselves a sweet eco giveaway of Ecolosophy goodness. Can I get a drum roll please?….. the winner is…..Diana Sayes.

Excellent! Well done Diana*. Tanya your garden is once again enviable and sadly, I’m now hesitantly going to go back to my small collection of pots…hmmm, three tomatoes anyone?

tomatoes || cityhippyfarmgirl

* Diana- Ecolosophy will be sending out your lovely little package soon.

Happiness in eating local

Posted on January 11, 2015 by cityhippyfarmgirl

When meals are made up of bits and pieces like chocolate, pickles, thyme, plums and wine, you know life is treating you ok.

Last year I challenged myself to an Eat Local challenge throughout the year. While this year, I won’t be continuing with the same challenge, I will still be eating as much locally produced food as I can possibly get my hands on.

Summer holiday time is a great time for local and seasonal goodies. Wonderful things given as gifts, deliciousness made available because of the season, and sometimes just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

These are a few of the things that have been gracing our bench tops lately.

Gifted Spencer Cocoa, (cocoa beans grown in Vanuatu and made in Mudgee, NSW)

Pickles bought at Moruya Markets, with cucumbers grown a couple of hundred metres down the road.

Thyme from my window sill.

Plums from an organic laden orchard I was lucky enough to visit.

A wonderful bottle of Elysium wine. Bought direct from the makers, this company uses Australian natives for their wine making.

So good, all of them.

I didn’t enter a super market for any of those goodies, and damn, that felt good. It makes me so incredibly happy to be eating a fair chunk of our food like this.

Have a look around you, see what locally produced food you can find, let me know and let’s spread the word even further. I’m always on the look out for more small and local producers, and they in turn are always on the look out for more consumer support for their products.

Happiness really just might be, in supporting and eating local.

Rosemary, Thyme and Zucchini Bread- ELC#10

Posted on November 27, 2014 by cityhippyfarmgirl

I’d tried to keep away from the bread for this challenge, but as I’m coming to the end of my year long challenge, it seemed appropriate that a bread dish slipped in.

This bread has actually been made a few times as it seems to hit the spot and eager mouths make short work of it in this household, (which you can’t really ask for much more than that can you?)

Now a big factor in what I make is really what arrives in my vegetable box once a week. I like cooking, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get completely bogged down with the old faithful line of (and lets face it often relentless) …”what are we having for dinner?” Getting a locally sourced vegetable box, helps make that decision, as you really do just have to use what they give you!

So where did it all come from?

Flour- Demeter Mills, Gunnedah

Salt- Murray River Salt

Zucchini- Rita’s Farm, Sydney

Thyme- my window sill

Rosemary- my courtyard

Olive Oil- Lisborne Grove, Hunter Valley

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Interested in taking the Eat Local Challenge?

Just how local is local? Well this depends entirely on you. Only you know how you and your family eat. Raise the bar just a little from what you already do. If making sure the majority of your meal includes solely food produced in your country, than make that your challenge. If you want to make it a little trickier, go for produced in the same state…trickier still within 160km.

My aim is to really know where my food is coming from for at least one meal a month, (where I will be posting here in the last week of the month).

Eat Local Challenge #9

Eat Local Challenge #8

Eat Local Challenge #7

Eat Local Challenge #6

Eat Local Challenge #5

Eat Local Challenge #4

Eat Local Challenge #3

Eat Local Challenge #2

Eat Local Challenge #1

5 things my kitchen would be completely lost without

Posted on September 3, 2014 by cityhippyfarmgirl

Five things my kitchen would be completely lost without. Not necessarily the top five, but five none the less.

Tea– completely and utterly lost without tea. I’ve got different types of tea stashed all over the place. Each one for a completely different reason for drinking. Calming, immunity, morning booster, to be drunk slowly. And different teas, different cups. I had no idea I had a ‘thing’ about this until I sat down and thought about it. Standard black every day tea bags? Not a chance. Loose leaf if you please, and rather a lot of Love Chai Love Tea. (I’m up to buying the 500g amounts of chai- told you I was serious about my tea.)

Something baked– With school age kiddos and one pint sized one. Snacks are a given round these parts. Hunger wails seem never ending, and little containers seem to be constantly refilled.

Vegetables– I can not imagine my world without vegetables in some shape or form. This booty was from late summer, but winter goodies are just as wonderful.

Bread knife– never under estimate the virtues of a good bread knife. Never. Especially when you make rather a lot of sourdough.

Sourdough- Nothing more, nothing less. It’s always there in some form or another. What about you, have you thought about making a starter before? It’s dead easy, give it a crack if you are interested here.

What are five things your kitchen would be completely lost with out?

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Linking in with the lovely Celia of Fig Jam Lime Cordial fame this month.

Tipple Time- Eat Local Challenge #7

Posted on August 28, 2014 by cityhippyfarmgirl

I’m not much of a drinker. Half a glass of wine, a full glass if I’m feeling particularly robust and that’s about it. That’s not to say I don’t like it, I do, I love wine lots and lots. Anything more than a glass though and it just gets me sleepy and quite frankly, there is always something else to do. I don’t need to feel extra sleepy on top of my usual sleepy. I can do that perfectly well on my own accord.

Now if I am going to have a glass of wine, it’s got to be a good one. I want organic and or as local as possible pretty please. On our recent trip to St Albans, I hit the local winery jackpot at the farmers markets of Glenorie, just near Dural, (aided by the enthusiastic French accented fellow who got me wine tasting and buying at 9.30am.)

Jubilee Vineyard Estate– I’m not sure there is anything closer if you are looking for a Sydney locavore drop, what’s more it was delicious, (which is why the photos are shown as one down and one to go.)

The White Chambourcin is described as, “clean fresh fruity aromas of strawberry, raspberry & lemon with a palate of raspberries and lingering citrus.” While my wine palate descriptions are restricted to good or not so good. It was definitely on the good side, delicious even.

How about you, do you enjoy a tipple? What’s your favourite local drop?

Where did it come all from?

Shallots and Capsicum- Rita’s Farm, Kemps Creek 50km

Mushrooms- Margin’s Mushrooms, Woy Woy 80km

Potatoes- Naturally Grown Naturally Better, Crookwell 240km

Eggs- Port Stephens Eggs

Wine- Hawkesbury River

Interested in taking the challenge?