Saturday Favourites

As the weeks fly by at an alarming rate I can hardly believe that we are back to hayfever, spring planting and warm days with cool nights so soon. It seems as though it was only yesterday that I was lamenting the loss of my last tomato crop and yet here I am planting out all new seedlings with fresh hope and wiser eyes.

It is Saturday today and I thought it a good time to share some bits and pieces from my world that might be of interest. It is a collection of links, stories and ideas that have tickled my fancy over the last few weeks which I hope you’ll enjoy.

 

 

Wicking Bed – now with teeny tiny tomatoes:

The new wicking bed is proving to be a welcome addition to my gardening space. It has been in for a few weeks now and I am pleased to report I have not yet had to water it. I have filled the reservoir once since putting it in and a daily inspection by highly scientific methods (ie. sticking my finger in the soil to test for moisture) suggests things are ticking along nicely. The true test will, of course, be those 40 degree days we get in the new year but I suspect this method will prove to be worth the investment.

With that in mind a few teeny, tiny tomato seedlings have gone in and seem to be doing well so far. They have sprouted their first lot of true leaves and are growing before my eyes. I need to get on to making some tomato cages asap and am thinking about having a go at constructing some of these.

 

In-bed worm towers:

The latest addition to the vegie beds are these in-bed worm towers, plans for which I came across here. I have only just started adding scraps and it seems to be going well so far but I will do a full write up with instructions in the coming weeks.

 

 

 

Eating, Drinking and Blogging in Adelaide

Next weekend myself and the other members of the Eat.Drink.Blog organising committee will welcome 80 fellow Australian food bloggers to our fair city for a weekend of Eating, Drinking and Blogging related activities. The ladies and I have been working hard to put together an all-star line-up that will encompass a writing workshop with Dianne Jacob, a wine tour of the Barossa and McLaren Vales, dinner at the Hilton Adelaide and a 1 day conference encompassing a range of issues from taking great photos at home, legal and copyright issues, working with PR companies and blog design. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about meeting fellow bloggers, learning some new things as well as taking part in all of the festivities. If you’re heading our way next weekend I look forward to welcoming you and if not, fear not, you can follow along via the EDB twitter page.

 

 

 

An interesting conversation – Maremma sheepdogs

I’m a bit of a sucker for AM radio and if you’ve ever travelled with me in the car you’ll know my penchant for listening to ABC local radio. I love a good yarn and one of my most favourite programs is Conversations with Richard Fidler, a love that Paul claims means I’ve ‘turned into an old lady’. If you’ve not listened to this program before then I recommend you give it a go, the format of the program is, as the title suggests, a conversation between Richard and his guest through which they explore stories about their life. What I love about the show is the diversity of guests featured on the program, it can be anything from well-known sports people to ordinary folk with an interesting story to tell. This particular conversation, which was broadcast last week, really stuck with me. It was with Gina Sherritt, a farmer in NSW, who uses Maremma sheepdogs on her property to protect her livestock. I had never heard of these dogs before but they sound fascinating, definitely worth a listen if you like stories about animals and their capacity to defy logic.

 

 

 

Veggie Velo

There seem to be a number of food vans popping up in and around Adelaide’s CBD at the moment, which means one should never be stuck for ideas about what to eat come lunchtime. One particular outlet that has piqued my interest is Veggie Velo run by French bike enthusiast and cook, Manu. Constructed out of a three-wheeled cargo bike, Manu’s mobile kitchen can be seen in and around the CBD most days selling stunning vegetarian food such as the gorgeous Mushroom and Haloumi burger which he prepares on the spot using fresh ingredients. And yes, if you’re wondering it tastes even better than it looks.

 

 

 

Pia’s Plant Swap

A couple of weeks ago I went along to Pia’s Plant Swap on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Norwood. I first met Pia a few months ago at her inaugural plant swap where I picked up some excellent Clivia’s that are now thriving in my garden. Pia runs ‘In Your Garden Designs‘ and is passionate about helping people to create their dream garden. She has started holding regular plant swaps where friends gather to meet new people, swap plant cuttings, gardening stories and ideas. I brought home a gorgeous protea, some kangaroo paws and some great looking succulents, they are finding their feet in the garden and I look forward to seeing their progress. If you’d like to know about future swaps then be sure to follow Pia on Facebook.

 

 

 

Baby bird

And just finally, I came across this little guy in our massive Banksia rose-bush the other day – isn’t he cute?

Have a great weekend!

 

Tagged as: Adelaide, baby bird, blogging, cooking, delicious, Eat Drink Blog, food, fresh, garden, gardening, haloumi, healthy, In your Garden Designs, locavore, Maremma sheepdogs, organic, plant swap, Richard Fidler, seedlings, simple, South Australia, Spring, tomato, vegetarian, Veggie Velo, wicking beds, worm tower