Showing posts with label Kitchen Gardens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kitchen Gardens. Show all posts

Wednesday, 19 September 2012

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY AT NIRVANA ORGANIC FARM AT HEATHFIELD

Living classroomFOR A LOCAL,RESPONSIBLE, ENERGERIC AND ENTHUSIASTIC PERSON.

A position is available for a 12 month part-time internship which offers an opportunity to learn from 30 years biodynamic growing and small holding lifestyle in the Adelaide Hills.

2 days a week – negotiable times and days. Can be made of some ½ days (week days only) Times may vary depending on season and conditions. (this is farming which is not 9-5) There is no money exchange only skills and knowledge.

For more information on Nirvana Organic Farm http://nirvanaorganicfarm.blogspot.com.aucollage

Application in writing by October 30th to:

Nirvana Farm 184 Longwood Rd, HEATHFIELD 5153

Further information Deb or Quentin 83392519 after dark, before 9pm.

 

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Copy of Garden Quality FarmingBIO- DYNAMIC AGRICULTURE

BEYOND ORGANICS

Improve your soils water holding capacity.

A one day course to introduce the practical concepts of the biodynamic methods to farmers and gardeners.

The Bio -Dynamic method is a modern organic method that creates a holistic approach to building healthy soil, plants animals and humans.

The course covers history, concept of a living organism, soils, compost, special preparations that enhance nature and equipment required.

 

Sunday, Sept 23rd 2012.

8.30 am. -4.30 pm.

Cost: $140

Includes: notes, lunch, Membership of Adelaide Hills Biodynamic Group..

COMPOSTING AND MULCHING

Sunday, October 7th

9.00 - 12 30 $50

Principles of composting and mulching, techniques and materials used and how they can be used most effectively on your garden or farm.

ORGANIC VEGETABLES FOR YOUR TABLE

Sunday, September 30th

9.00—12.30 $50

Practical guide to establishing and maintaining a productive and healthy

vegetable garden.

INTRODUCTION TO MOON PLANTING AND USING THE PLANTING CALENDAR

Sunday, October 14th 9.00-12.30 $50

Working with the rhythms of nature can develop your skills in fine tuning your garden and can add a new dimension to your gardening experience.

ORGANIC FRUIT, NUTS & BERRIES.

Sunday, October 21st

9.00 -12.30 $50

Practical guide to orcharding. Includes establishment, soils, ground covers, maintenance & pruning.

POULTRY KEEPING.

Sunday October 28th

9.00 pm – 12.30 $50

All you need to know about getting started with poultry. Includes selection, housing, feeding, breeding, pests.

WEAVING A BIT OF MAGIC

Sunday November 4th

9am – 4pm

$140

.The ideal way to recycle your garden prunings. This introduction to natural fibre weaving will show you the essential techniques, suitable plants & other materials to make baskets, fences, or trellises.

Course includes all materials, lunch, morning & afternoon tea.

.GUIDED FARM TOURS

Book your own tour anytime

An ideal opportunity to gain an insight into a successfully run biodynamic farm .This Garden Quality Farm demonstrates an integrated system incorporating orchards, poultry, native habitat & wetlands, home food production & hardy cottage gardens all rolled into a unique lifestyle.

minimum charge $60 for up to 5 persons

extra’s @ $12/ head)

SCHOOLS; Secondary $8 Student with 1 adult/15 student’s Primary $7 Student with 1 adult/10 students

CLUBS & GROUPS; 15 + @ $10/ head

WORKSHOPS

Held at

Nirvana Organic Farm

184 Longwood Road

Heathfield

Phone 83392519

Practical, ‘hands on’ courses

conducted by experienced

biodynamic/organic farmers, Deb and Quentin. Their successful small holding, which has been run organically/Bio-Dynamically since 1983.

National winner of the Organic Federation of Australia Awards of Excellence as the leading Organic Educator

The 4.5 ha property provides the ideal classroom filled with practical examples of how goals can be achieved and gives inspiration into this GARDEN QUALITY FARMING for both gardeners and farmers alike.

Courses are aimed to maximise opportunities for participation and discussion. The number of participants will be limited so you will need to enrol ASAP

Thursday, 1 September 2011

World Kitchen Garden Day 2011 at Glandore Community Garden

Last Sunday we all gathered at the beautiful Glandore Community Garden for an enjoyable World Kitchen Garden Day afternoon.

When we arrived plot holders were busy working in their plots.

Harry was busy working on the wood fired pizza oven which will be is going to have a mosaic added soon.

Everyone chatted about what excess produce they had bought along as well as something they had cooked from their country of origin.

Produce to share included Lebanese cress, bunches of coriander, Jerusalem artichokes, lima bean seeds, plum jams, chilli jams, lemons, fennel, chillies and a lot of different potted up plants.

There were lots of seeds to share and a favourite seed we saved this year was chervil which is a lovely herb we are picking at the moment.

We had an apple amaranth cake from Argentina, Indian Spinach and onion fritters, Irish pumpkin dip, German lemon cake, Middle eastern Humus, French Cheese and Biscuits, German raspberry muffins, Spicy Orange Muffins and an Aussie multicultural creation of brightly coloured Nasturtium flowers filled with humus and topped with sweet chilli jam.

Daniel (from Gardening Australia fame) told us all about an Orchid show he had just entered in and his Mum said he was being very modest and had won 2nd prize in his Category.

Thank you everyone who came and shared their knowledge, kitchen garden food and kitchen garden produce with us.

We look forward to World Kitchen Garden Day 2011.

World Kitchen Garden Day 20111

Tuesday, 16 August 2011

Spring workshops at Nirvana

BD COVER

INTRODUCTION TO BIODYNAMIC METHODS

Sunday, September 18th 8.30am – 4.30pm $120

One day course to introduce the practical concepts of the biodynamic methods to farmers & gardeners. The biodynamic method is a modern organic approach that creates a holistic approach to building healthy soil, plants, animals & humans. Includes notes, biodynamic preparations, lunch & teas.

 

 

 

 

veggies

VEGETABLES FOR YOUR TABLE.

Sunday, October 2nd 9.00 -12.30 $50

Practical guide to establishing & maintaining a productive & healthy vegetable garden. Our climate offers many opportunities to grow food for your table all year round. Discover what plants to grow, and when. Practical tips & ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

compost cover

COMPOSTING & MULCHING

Sunday,  October 9th 9.00 -12.30 $50

Reduce water use by learning the principles of composting & mulching, techniques & materials used & how they can be used most effectively on your garden or farm.

 

 

 

 

planting cal.cover

INTRODUCTION TO MOON PLANTING AND USING THE PLANTING CALENDAR

Sunday, October 16th 9.00 -12.30 $50

Working with the rhythms of nature can develop your skills in fine tuning your garden and can add a new dimension to your gardening experience.

 

 

 

 

 

. orchard

ORGANIC FRUIT, NUTS & BERRIES

Sunday, October 23rd 9.00 -12.30 pm. $50

Practical guide to growing fruits, nuts & berries. Establishing, maintenance, ground covers, soils.

 

 

 

 

poultry cover

POULTRY KEEPING

Sunday October 30th 9.00 – 12 30 $50

All you need to know about getting started with poultry. Includes breed selection, housing, feeding, breeding, pests.

 

 

 

weaving

WEAVING A BIT OF MAGIC

Sunday, November 6th 9am 4pm $120

The ideal way to recycle your garden prunings .A introduction to natural fibre weaving. Includes techniques, suitable plants & other materials to make baskets, fences & trellises. Includes all materials, lunch & teas.

 

 

 

All courses are held at NIRVANA ORGANIC FARM

184 LONGWOOD ROAD, HEATHFIELD

UBD 157:G7. Exit from SE Freeway at Stirling, turn right at roundabout & travel 3.5 km.

The courses are practical, ‘hands on’ conducted by experienced biodynamic/organic farmers, Deb & Quentin. Their successful small holding has been run under BIO-DYNAMIC principles since 1983.

The 4.5 ha property provides the ideal classroom filled with practical examples of how goals can be achieved & gives inspiration into this GARDEN QUALITY FARMING to both gardeners & farmers alike.

FOR BOOKINGS & FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

DEB OR QUENTIN PHONE/ (08) 8339 2519 nirvanafarm@gmail.com

Sunday, 5 June 2011

If only every Suburb had a Community Garden and a Kitchen Gardeners Swap Meet.

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Many people today are striving hard to fit into today's culture.
Many of us vegetable gardeners feel a little out of place at social gatherings. We would much prefer to be in our gardens, pruning, planting, weeding, picking or preserving our produce.
Our to do list is endless, sorting seeds, making sauerkraut, pickling olives, transplanting seedlings, propagating cuttings and there is always pruning to be done.
I meet very few gardeners who are not keen to talk about what they have been growing or how the weather is affecting their garden.
So we have this group of home gardeners who meet together every few months and we always have a good time.
When we meet to swap seeds, excess produce and ideas, we also share part of our lives with each other.
We may meet for just a couple of hours but friendships are formed, phone numbers exchanged and the promises are made to share produce as it ripens and matures.
Someone has chokos to share, someone else has excess chillies, another has apples and firewood, the list goes on and on.
Cuttings and prunings, excess seedlings, potted plants are brought and given away.
Cuttings of herbs, curry leaves and berries, ginger, galangal, lemongrass and cardamom plants are divided and shared.
Variety is being added to people's gardens, new plants and ideas are being introduced.
People are taking things home to grow, things they had never heard about before. New flavours are introduced and as people try new things and use them at home, their palates change and they look forward to trying new and interesting plants.
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And so for a few short hours people are introduced to new things, new ideas and new challenges.
If we lived in any rural area in any other country it would be a natural thing to save seeds and share with neighbours. But in Australia the majority of people are buying their fruit and veggies from large supermarkets or fruit stores. These unknown, mass farms are often using many harmful chemical sprays and fertilizers to achieve a perfect looking product, which looks good but lacks the flavour and nutritional value of organically grown produce.
Our priorities in life should be healthy pure rain water, fresh clean air, viable seed, local, organically grown food and a healthy lifestyle.
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A lifestyle which includes rest and relaxation, time to spend with others, time to share a simple meal or wander around a friend's garden.
When you live in a city you see people constantly rushing around, driving children from one paid activity to another. Children who have been in child care all day are seen throwing tantrums in shopping malls and supermarkets as their hassled parents fill supermarket trollies with chemical laden foods, coloured beverages and other sugar laden sauces, cereals, sweets and cookies.
I guess I am just getting to be a grumpy old granny, but to those of us who grew up in the forties or fifties we remember a much different world.
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Most families grew their own vegetables, had chickens for eggs and chicken for a special occasion.
There was no television, people sat and chatted about their day, listened to the radio or read books, played cards or board games.
All the neighbourhood children played cricket on the road, there were fewer cars and people rode their bikes, walked or caught public transport.
Anyone remember going to work in an old steam train?
I did. I caught the train from Liverpool Station to Central station in Sydney. A group of us teenagers met in the same compartment each day and played cards or just chatted.
Now the people I see walking the streets are plugged into their  iphones or ipods and don't even look at anyone.
Time is money now, so people rush everywhere, drive like maniacs and have no concern for anyone but themselves.
So it is with great pleasure that I look forward to when our garden group meets again.
Our dream would be for every suburb to have a Community Garden and every Community Garden to have such groups meeting several times a year.
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Monday, 6 December 2010

From Seed to Table - a great blog to read

The Blog “From Seed to Table” has a most amazing summary of what Michelle has grown, harvested and processed this past summer in California.

What makes it even more interesting is that what she is harvesting is just about the same foods that we are planting now and hopefully will be harvesting in the near future.

I am certainly going to try several of her recipes including her November 30th post recipe for

Slow Roasted or is it Quick Dried Chile Peppers.

Please check out this blog for new ideas of how to preserve and use summer produce.

Congratulations Michelle and thankyou for such a great blog.

 

The photos below were taken last summer in our garden.

Many South Australia gardeners are still planting up peppers, eggplants and chillies.

Others here are harvesting zucchinis, lettuce, spinach, onions, radishes, rocket, basil, artichokes and the last of the broad beans.

Tomato bushes are flowering and some folks are already picking early tomatoes. Beans, cucumbers and figs are growing nicely. 

It is apricot, berry and cherry harvest time in South Australia and fresh platters of mixed berries are appearing on dinner tables.

Eating local, organic and seasonal food is exciting. There is always some favourite fruit or vegetable reappearing at the dinner table.

There is always the anticipation of different things to grow, harvest and preserve.

 

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Sunday, 22 August 2010

World Kitchen Garden Day August 22nd 2010

Welcome to World Kitchen Garden Day from Adelaide, South Australia.

It is winter here which means lots of winter rain and mild temperatures.

Our garden looks lovely with masses of Asia greens, Italian broccoli rapa, silverbeets, leeks and spring  onions, parsley, fenugreek, coriander and almost every kind of herb you can think of.

We have rocket, rapa and coriander going to seed.

We have calendula's, German chamomile and speckled borage everywhere.

Today we have friends coming to see our garden and then a large afternoon tea at another kitchen gardeners home.

So I look forward to today and I hope you all enjoy your garden and what ever you have planned for today.

Greetings from Adelaide.

Maggie

Herbs & Olives

Tuesday, 15 June 2010

The GIFT of a PUMPKIN !

There is a kindly bloke over at Magill who likes to grow vegetables in his backyard. He calls himself the backyard farmer. Whenever he is not busy with his other business or travelling the state with work he can be found digging and planting in his garden. His labours and a large suburban block meant that he has been able to feed a hungry family, an amazing variety of fruits, eggs, nuts and veggies for many years from his backyard. His enthusiasm and willingness to share his knowledge has meant that many people have been inspired and enthused to start their own kitchen gardens and enjoy all the health benefits and pleasures this brings.

He writes about his garden on a blog called the Adelaide Kitchen Gardeners Blog , click HERE to read more about Andrews garden and the nourishing ways he and his lovely German born wife prepare much of their produce for cellaring.

At our last Hills and Plains Seedsavers meeting Andrew gave us a butternut pumpkin which has now been made into pumpkin and nutmeg soup. Some soup devoured by us, some soup given to others. Good, wholesome healthy soup is a great winter gift for family and friends. And when we give lovely organic produce from our gardens and kitchens we give others the experience of our labour and skills. We give the experience of what organic food tastes like and the knowledge of what real nourishing food is.

We give sensual flavours and memories of real food and happy thoughts of gardens and gardeners and sharing meals together.

Saving pumpkin seed ?, well that’s another story for another day. A story about how many more gifts can be given by giving one pumpkin to another gardener. Maybe a story told by the backyard farmer himself.

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Friday, 7 May 2010

BORAGE the Herb of Gladness, Joy and Courage returns to the garden

Speckled Borage 

We love our speckled borage scattered through our winter garden so we always let some go to seed and then reappear where ever it chooses.

Those of you have grow borage before know that it will reappear everywhere. But is is easily removed to pots or the compost. Some people do not like growing borage because it would take over your whole garden if you let it.

We love borage in the garden because the neighbourhood bees love borage and appear in mass once the beautiful blue flowers appear in spring. We love the local honey it is dark and flavourful and makes delicious honey mead. We also use that honey in any thing we bake or sweeten.

Some people eat small quantities of the leaves in baked goods, we add them to the compost.

But the flowers we add to drinks, salads, fresh fruit and cordials.

Here on the Adelaide Plains it is starting to get colder at night. We have had sufficient rain for the garden and the seeds we have planted are germinating and need thinning out or moving.

Spring Flowers

We call our winter garden our green garden because with limited space available we mainly grow green leafy vegetables and lots of herbs.

So the menu here changes from zucchini fritters to spinach fritters. The soups have lots of Asian greens, chillies and chives added to them. We shall be having mustard greens, fenugreek and coriander added to curries. Spinach pies will reappear filled with all sorts of green vegetables, parsley and herbs.

As the delicious flavour of fresh tomatoes fades to a memory, citrus trees are ripening ready to be added to salads, muffins, fritters, drinks or just eaten fresh.

We are so lucky here in Adelaide to be able to grow  and enjoy fresh vegetables and fruits all year.

But the herb of the week here is beautiful borage.

Dorothy Hall in her 1975 copy of The Book Of Herbs suggests a variety of uses for borage.  She says borage is the “Herb of Gladness” and is a great tonic which gives courage and joy to warriors! It is used in teas, salads, salad dressings and as the ideal companion plant for strawberries.

How do you use borage?

Tuesday, 2 February 2010

HOBART BOTANIC GARDENS... HOME OF PETE'S PATCH

I think I watched every episode of Gardening Australia while Peter Cundall was on it and I came to really like that pom enough to almost accept his advice. What I like most about him still is his determination to stop woodchipping Tasmania's old growth forests and to stand up and be arrested, at 82, for the cause. He also single-handedly brought organics into the homes of every Australian TV gardener, making purchasers of chemicals quiver in their boots, with his outspoken criticism of chemical agriculture and horticulture.

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image Yesterday I visited the Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens, where Pete's Patch from Scratch began. Cleverly, placing this in a botanic gardens gives it credibility somehow and also ensures that it continues to inspire people long after Peter has left Gardening Australia and hopefully long after Gardening Australia has finished too. I knew I was approaching "his" vegetable garden because the use of vegetables as garden features seemed to have leaked out and spread into surrounding garden areas, as good ideas are wont to do. In this photo, left, of the conservatory garden, a narrow, stone wall raised bed is filled with silver beet (foreground) and each corner of the square is punctuated with a teepee of scarlet runner beans in their full flowering glory. Herbs and more vegetables form 90% of this entire beautiful garden, including the centrepieces of the 4 lawns filled with sweetcorn and rainbow chard (right).

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The vegetable garden was of course lovely but what I loved most was the ecology of it all.... like I am always going on about.... surround your vegetables and fruit with herbs and flowers and native plants and you will gain on every level.... few pests, more variety to pick, whether food or flowers, and the sheer joy of seeing such abundance flourish so effortlessly as a result. And the earth will gain too, in too many ways to go into again here. There were bees and butterflies and birds and all things wise and wonderful in this beautiful border of herbs and perennials which formed the backdrop of the vegetable garden.

 

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At the very back you can just see a corner of a massivimagee, old, brick wall which provides a much needed warmer microclimate for some of the fruit trees which are thriving here in less than ordinarily ideal conditions. There are citrus and tamarillos and passionfruit to name a few.

Scarlet runner beans grow to enormous heights here, as you can see in this photo and beans in general seem to produce incredible crops right through summer.

In the glass house were some tropical herbs like lemongrass.

All in all it was a wonderful, lush, productive garden full to overflowing with fruit and vegetables, all grown without chemicals of any sort.

"I guess that's your bloomin' lot".... as Peter would say .... "but you'll be absolutely blown away by the rest of the Botanic Garden that I will write about soon."

I will upload some more photos here soon. In the meantime, you can read about this beautiful garden here.

Tuesday, 26 January 2010

What is happening in your garden this 2010 Australia Day?

I thought it might be interesting to see what is happening in everyone's garden on this day  the 26th of January 2010.

It is summer in Australia so we are picking some cucumbers, a few zucchini and lots of herbs and wild rocket.

Our tomatoes and passionfruit are not ripe yet.

We have some lovely chillies and a few finger eggplant but no capsicums yet.

What are you harvesting in Auss or wherever you live?

Jane from Kapunda Garden Blog said her garden looked like a Bedouin tent, this photo shows how we  shade our Adelaide Plains veggie garden on really hot days.

Have a great holiday today.

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Thursday, 31 December 2009

Summer Garden in Adelaide December 2009

December Garden 2009

Welcome to our garden, we took these photos a couple of days ago, before the temperature rose to 40 degrees Celsius.

Today the whole yard is covered in shade cloth, which will come down tonight as the weather cools down.

The left top is turmeric, right top is a large female Romanesco zucchini flower, centre left is a curry leaf tree, centre right is some produce from the garden (pepino, salad onion, tomato & chilli), bottom left is society garlic flowers & bottom right is our Bari cucumbers.

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We are picking zucchini, a few little tomatoes, pepinos, chillies, parsley,  lots of herbs,  lots of mint, chives, salad onions, lemon verbena and lemon myrtle for tea, sorrel, red shiso, basil, land cress, a little errbet spinach, purslane, parsley seeds, wild rocket and a few lemons.

So brown rice Tabouli with mint, tomatoes, parsley and salad onion; Persian zucchini, mint, spring onions fritters; chimichurri sauce; potato and curry leaf samosas; yoghurt and herb dip; salads of herbs, flowers and garlic; hummus with parsley, garlic and chilli; spinach and onion pakoras; gazpacho with fresh basil, garlic, cucumbers and tomatoes; onion tops frittata; eggplant chutney; zucchini slice; salads with garlic and herbs; pasta with parsley, anchovies, garlic and capers; pizzas with tomatoes, basil, onion and garlic; sliced pepinos with mint and yogurt; zucchinis stuffed with rice, tomatoes and herbs; potato bake with herbs, chives and cream; chickpea and pepino salad with parsley and mint; wild rocket pesto; polenta with butter, herbs and chives; rice noodles with chopped onions and basil; sushi with cucumber, spring onion and shiso; blackeyed beans with coriander, parsley, onions and tomatoes; Peruvian casserole with winter pumpkin, potatoes, cumin, tomatoes, garlic, coriander and lima beans are all on the menu at our home this summer.

When you have a kitchen garden your world expands, you have a lovely setting to relax in. Somewhere to enjoy the beauty and magic of the seasons, bird and insect life and all the things growing in your garden.

You are able to experience joy and beauty when you gaze at a chicory plant and a lettuce plant going to seed, leaning on each other and showing the world the exquisite beauty of their flowers.

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I watched neighbour’s pack up their very large boat and SUV vehicle, ready to head off some where. Then I wandered through the garden, looked at all our baby tomatoes, eggplants, tiny cucumbers and figs, parsley plants going to seed everywhere and masses of bees on every flower and I thought of simple things.

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Simple things are often disrespected, not noticed or ignored but simple things are life, they are the essence of being a human on this planet.

I hope 2010 is a great year for you all, a year when you can accept life as it is, enjoy your friends, neighbours and family, enjoy your garden as it keeps you healthy and gives you good exercise.  Next year let’s continue to reach out to others who have never even tasted how great home grown organic food is.

Have a Happy, Healthy, Go Organic New Year. We shall gather soon and check out someone's garden, share food and enjoy each others company.

Happy New Year

Maggie

Monday, 28 December 2009

Gardening for Life

How great is the idea of having gardens and kitchens in every school so children experience the pleasure of gardening and eating fresh garden produce.

Please take time to watch and listen to what Stephanie Alexander has to say about her School Kitchen Gardening  Program and send it friends.

Click on this link to see more about Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Foundation.

Sunday, 13 December 2009

Berry-picking at the Gnomes’ Home

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Among the more experienced seed-savers in South Australia are “The Gnomes” – Vegie Gnome and Flower Gnome to their friends - who inhabit Gnomesville high in the hills above Lenswood in the Mount Lofty Ranges, where the cool winter temperatures are just right for raising berries of all sorts. As it turns out, it’s Flower Gnome who’s the berry grower, and today we were lucky enough to be invited up there with a handful of other seed savers to pick silvanberries, boysenberries, youngberries, raspberries, loganberries and red-currants. Strawberries and blackberries are either finished or yet to fruit. Pine needles from the nearby commercial pine plantations are added to blood-and bone and compost to boost the acidity of the acid-soils so loved by the berries.

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Gnomesville is a 3 acre block with its own dam (supplying water for the sheep who graze alongside the chickens outside the kitchen garden) and rainwater tanks to provide water for the kitchen and the gnomes’ personal use. Solar photovoltaic panels on the roof offset energy use in the home, and solar hot-water heaters on the roof reduce reliance on mains power for water heating. Wood fires fuelled with fallen timber from around the property provide warmth during the long winter evenings when the gnomes snuggle inside and entertain themselves from the vast and diverse collection of wall-to-wall books.

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The kitchen garden is fenced off to keep the hens and sheep on the outside, and contains nearly every herb, vegetable and fruit tree known to man. An elderberry tree out in the chicken yard was the source of the elder wine that we drank with desert made from ricotta cheese and berries, along with dried figs and fresh raspberries.

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The sun shone, the air was crisp and clear, and the surrounding vineyards, grazing lands and apple, pear and cherry orchards provided a many-shaded green contrast to the darker eucalypts and pine forests. Eighteen years of effort have gone into Gnomesville and, as in all gardens, Mother Nature provides endless change and challenges to mix in and enjoy the outdoors and fresh produce together. We picked our own berries, and purchased fresh farmhouse cream and honey that the gnomes had purchased in bulk from local suppliers. A wonderful day!

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