Nasturtium - Day 58 of 365

Round Zucchini - Day 57 of 365

Breathe - Day 56 of 365

Food Swap/Buy/Meet Sat 26th February

10-11.30am Magpie House, Main Street Upwey

Locally-grown chemical-free fruit, vegetables, plants, seeds, and seedlings available to buy or

swap. New stalls welcome. Bring your home-grown excess produce to swap-share-meet with

your local community -no oil for transport or production, throw-away packaging, pesticides,

herbicides etc. 

For More information call Michelle Jones on 0409 526 862 to book your stall, or just attend.

Studied Repose - Day 55 of 365

She would be very mad at me, if only she knew.

Blowing coat really isn't flattering look for a girl, 

Ya know.

Self Heal - Day 54 of 365

Prunella Vulgaris

Fudgy Chocolate Brownie (Spelt)

Ingredients
100g dark chocolate
1/2C butter
2 Tsp vanilla Essence
3 (50-55g) Eggs
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 C wholegrain Spelt

Preheat oven to 180C and prepare baking pan (either butter and flour or baking paper).

In a double boiler melt the chocolate and butter together.  Stir regularly until the ingredients have melted and you have no lumps.  Add vanilla and let cool slightly

Alongside, in a large mixing bowl beat eggs and sugar together at a medium speed.  Continue to mix until you have a thick, creamy mixture with the sugar dissolved (around 10 minutes)

Slowly add the chocolate to the egg mix a little at a time, so as not to cook the egg.  With the salt stirred into the flour, gently add and fold into the wet mix.  With a light hand mix until the flour is all moist but don't over mix.

Pour batter into the baking tray and spread to smooth.

Bake for 20 min without opening the oven. Then cover with either aluminium foil or another baking tray for 8 - 12 minutes (until a skewer comes out clean from a test near the centre).  Remove from oven and let cool, allowing them to harden slightly in the pan.

Seasonal Quest - Day 53 of 365

Just one more inch until world domination :-D

Spaghetti Squash

Morning Dew - Day 52 of 365

What's The Buzz

Some of you may have become aware that recently the Australian government decided not to further attempt eradication of the Asian Honey Bee from Australian Shores.  At the end of March this infestation, that is reported to have come to Australia around 3 years ago, is expected to be added to the Endemic list meaning no further action will be taken.

Up to this point the original infestation has continued to be monitored in Cairns but the estimated $10 million, over 2 year, price tag required to seriously attempt eradication has been deemed too great a cost.  It's this acceptance that we will not eradicate this pest that has meant that in the last week the Asian Honey Bee Eradication Program has gone from around 45 staff to just 5.

Isn't a Bee Just a Bee?
In  this case, not really.  The Asian Honey Bee has a small and relatively hairless body compared to our domesticated European Honey bees.  This means that the crops that we grow and depend are not effectively pollinated, if any pollination occurs, by these bees.

To make the situation even more concerning the Asian Honey Bee will commonly rob honey and destroy the hives of the domestic bees, who we rely on for most of our pollination with regard to all of our major food crops.  Unsurprisingly this stresses the domestic hive which of course cuts down the honey available to commercial Bee Keepers but also to the honey available to the bees themselves potentially decreasing the hive's health.  Over time this makes and individual hive more susceptible disease or unusual season variations like the ones seen recently.

Similar to European Wasps Asian Honey Bees prefer to nest around disturbed ground.  This means that often they build homes in man made structures, increasing the chances of people being stung.

Unfortunately although the picture above doesn't look rosy it's not actually the greatest concern.  The Asian Honey Bee is a known host for the Varroa Destructor mite.  It's this mite that's rise within the domestic honey bee populations overseas is currently being studied as a contributing factor to Colony Collapse Disorder.  As Australia's quarantine service has, to this point, kept us free of the Varroa Destructor mite this is a future concern but as we are the only country who's bee populations don't harbour this pest it's a matter of time before we will  have to deal with it.  Having a host species endemic within Australia will simply mean what could be a slow and possibly controlled threat has the potential to move quickly not allowing time for any effective response.

Is it all Bad News for Australia?
Honestly, we don't really know but it is bad news for the honey industry.  Most states of Australia do have populations of native bees.  These bees are often immune to the problems that destroy domestic hives.  Many native bee populations don't display significant hive behaviour but regardless they do collect pollen, thus facilitating pollination.  They may be less efficient at pollinating our preferred food crops, this is still under study,  but we are not looking at a country without food, just maybe without honey.

The concern is that in a world that seems to be on the edge of food stress as it is, the collapse of Australia's domestic bee hives, no matter what the final cause, would open up an even more volatile food future.

Sources
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/fight-the-mites-might-20110218-1azqe.html
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/qld/content/2010/06/s2932707.htm
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201005/s2894766.htm

Autumn Artichoke - Day 51 of 365

Follow the Sun - Day 50 of 365

Breakfast - Day 49 of 365

Borlotti Bean (Fruit) - Day 48 of 365

The Borlotti is a drying bean with a climbing habit.  It's one of the mainstays of our vegetarian protein sources as I personally finding Climbing Beans a lot easier to work with than the Bush varieties

The Garden Year of ..... - Day 47 of 365

Lettuce!

What's doing well at your place this season?

Mystical Dreaming - Day 46 of 365

Autumn's Raspberry - Day 46 of 365

Low Energy Stare - Day 45 of 365

Do you have those days where picking up your head seems an insurmountable task.

Taipan Strawberry - Day 44 of 365

Taipan is a very beautiful, day length neutral variety.  This means that unlike most strawberries it will continue fruiting as the daylight hours increase over Summer.  Although not as sweet as most modern varieties, during a mild summer such as the one we are currently experiencing Taipan will fruit heavily from mid spring right up to the beginning of winter.  

Last year I found that days over 35C will tend to knock flowering back for a week or so.  Multiple days over 35 is likely to cause fruit that has already set to form soft spots or harden and fail to develop correctly .  

Due to the long flowering and fruiting season liberal application of balanced organic fertilisers through the fruiting season are essential to support the plant.

RattleSnake Climbing Bean (Flower) - Day 43 of 365

Harvest Basket - Day 42 of 365

Lettuce, Greek Oregano and Rattlesnake Beans

Passionate Purples - Day 41 of 365

Capsicum In Bloom - Day 40 of 365

French Tarragon - Day 39 of 365

Flowin' Like an Avalance Commin' Down the Mountain - Day 38 of 365

We have new waterway everywhere though all are extremely temporary.

Most of them are drying up now 48 hours later but the landscape that isn't rock or tarmac has been deeply marked.

From Seed to Seed - Day 37 of 365

English Spinach - American Curled x Viroflay

Sometimes Life Gives You a Mystery - Day 36 of 365

It's a pumpkin..I think.

What type is anyone's guess when it's a gift from the compost.

Captivated - Day 35 of 365

Blue's First - Day 34 of 365

Grass Seed - Day 33 of 365

Purple Tomatillo (Flower) - Day 32 of 365