Eating local is eating in season

We've been eating small variations of practically the same meal for the past several weeks and are strangely enjoying the repetition. It feels increasingly right to be eating repetitively and in season like this. Silverbeet and zucchini have been in abundance, so they have constituted the major source of iron and vitamins. Then we have added basil, garlic, wild rocket, eggplant, potatoes, mint, oregano, tomatoes, cucumber, parsley and onions from the garden, eggs from our lovely girls, and a line-caught redfin or two from the nearby lake. What we then add to these meals are the products we are still reliant upon transporting in. There are usually two or three of the following ingredients with any of our evening meals: salt, pepper, butter, balsamic vinegar, brown rice, sour dough rye bread, or pasta.

In order to keep going with relocalising our food into the colder months, the poly-houses also keep going up over the raised beds.

I also planted 200 more of our saved broad bean seeds on the lower side of the swale (near the pitchfork below). This is to improve the soil quality while providing a hardy winter crop.

Our chooks in chook heaven attending to our city neighbours' neglect of their 'investment' property all throughout the fire season. When non-attendance is a blessing in disguise our chooks will be there to capitalise.

Frugality reality

Preparing for the colder months I started work on a new hothouse today. If we can keep the soil warm and the frost off the leaves our vegies will keep growing through the winter. I sharpened the tips of eight vertical garden stakes and fitted some leftover polypipe over them to make four arches. I then went through the wood pile looking for any length of 4.8m timber and found a piece of decking board, which I ripped into four individual pieces. I then attached the quartered lengths horizontally with tek screws, which bit into the polypipe really tightly. I asked the builders next door if I could have the clear plastic sheets they have lying about to cover material as it arrives. The answer was "shortly". Cool. I'll wait. The frosts are still a few weeks off.

I thought I'd also include my bike in this shot and show off the new crate that I fixed to it yesterday. I got the crate at the local markets for a few dollars. The hothouse so far hasn't cost us anything as the materials have been reclaimed from here and there over the years. Like the cellar I'm building for next-to-nix, we're really trying to make this transition with as little capital as possible. Although the main house, with double-glazed windows and solar panels was a major capital outlay, something we often question especially at a time of interest rate rises. Eeeeck!