An eggcellent little give away

Still time to get an eegtry in, in the eggcellent little give away.
Click here for more details.

Winners will be chosen late tomorrow. That's about 26 hours from now.

Cheers

Stewart

An eggcellent little give away

Hi there, I've been having a bit of fun knitting up these egg warmers and would like to share the fun with you.

I'm going to give these away but you'll need to do a little work to get them.

What I'd like you to do is write in the comments your favorite egg word or phrase, ie;- eggcellent or eggtravagant etc, etc (sorry if I just used your favorite word).

The eggy word I like the best will be the winner, so get cracking and send me your eggy words.

Ok, don't all scramble for the comments box at once.

Cheers

Stewart

A big bawdy.

AC/DC would have you believe they have the biggest balls of them all but I think Bendigo Wool has the biggest balls :)



Umm, of wool that is.

 And here is what it, the 12ply scarlet, will be knitted into.

Taxi Tomato

 Boy o boy o boy, how one thing leads to another.

Regulars will remember me banging on about getting this here potato scoop from 'The Lost Seed' online shop by setting aside one or two dallars a week.
So while the Queen was eating bread and honey the King (that's me) was counting out his money and found out he had saved enough to put in his order for his potato scoop Which he did, me did, I did that is. All well and good you might say but and there's always a but, afore mentioned said King (me again) couldn't help himself (and didn't really want to truth be known) and here's how.



You see while I was at the lost seed web site I started thinking to myself (often a dangerous or expensive thing for me to do ) and began wondering what seeds they had to offer considering I wasn't really after any I felt safe to browse.

Then I though, 'climbing beans' yes I'd like some of them and sought them out and clicked the 'Add to Basket' button.
That was ok but, and there's always a but, the postage for one packet of seeds was $5.20 and again started thinking to myself,'That's not very economical, I wonder what else they have and then I noticed the Lettuce link and again thought to myself, 'Yes I could use some lettuce seeds' and clicked the 'REINE DES'GLACES' button.

Then once more I started thinking, 'In for a penny in for a pound' and hit the 'CAULIFLOWER - EARLY SNOWBALL' button.

Then I stopped thinking and let curiosity take over (damn who's driving this thing) and for some left of field reason wondered if there was a Tomato variety starting with the letter Z which I was happy to find out there isn't, though I have a suspision there is a variety called Zebra but I could be wrong.
Not content with finding out there was no Z varieties I went and had a look at the Bush varieties page and you wouldn't believe it there in all its glory was a variety called 'TAXI'(about half way down the page). 'Bugger' I thought, me being a driver of a Taxi and all, how can I not buy them.
So there you have it. A little bit of thinking and a bit of curiosity and I'm now up four packets of seeds and down $18.20. but in time enriched for the experience.

I got say I'm feeling excited with anticipation to get my hands on the TAXI tomato seeds.

Cheers and happy seed buying,

Stewart.

Boiled eggs

Can you believe there is a whole Wikipedia page on the humble boiled egg?

Here is how it starts.

Boiled eggs are eggs (typically chickens' eggs) cooked by immersion in boiling water with their shells unbroken. (Eggs cooked in water without their shells are known as poached eggs, while eggs cooked below the boiling temperature, either with or without the shell, are known as coddled eggs.) Hard-boiled eggs are either boiled long enough for the egg white and then the egg yolk to solidify, or they are left to cool down, which will gradually solidify them, while a soft-boiled egg yolk, and sometimes even the white, remains at least partially liquid.
The egg timer was so-named due to its common usage in timing the boiling of eggs. Boiled eggs are a popular breakfast food in many countries around the world.

And then Sunny Queen Farms go one further and tell us how to Cook the Perfect Boiled Egg!!!  

Myths about Eggs

Eggs and Cholesterol - Until recently it was thought that cholesterol in food was a factor in high blood cholesterol. We now know that dietary cholesterol alone is not significant for most people. The body produces cholesterol in the liver especially when the diet is high in saturated fat. Research done at the CSIRO's Division of Human Nutrition has shown that cholesterol in diet is far less important than many people think. The research showed that adding two eggs a day to the diet of people with normal cholesterol levels produced no rise in the level of LDL (or bad) cholesterol. Even at three eggs a day, the effect on blood cholesterol was equivalent to eating a pat (10g) of butter or 30g of cheese.

Cheers and have an eggcellent  day/night

Stewart

Coming up!!!

Coming up! I have something little to give away!

Firstly, you prepare the soil.

How to plant and grow beans the 'My Veggie Garden'  way.

Firstly, you prepare the soil.  This is a previously used patch so I'll only need to add a bit of blood and bone and a small amount of potash.   I'll side dress with compost when the beans are 3/4 weeks old so I won't add any here now.

Diggity dig dig.  Turning,  turning,  turning.



Then the fun part,  planting the seeds.

I need to break up some of the clods to bring the soil to a finer tilth, as they say. Makes it easier to plant the seeds. A couple of rows about 25mm deep,  bung in some seeds about 75 to 100mm apart cover them with some soil and away we go,  almost.  There is one more step.

Planting,  planting,  planting.  Covering,  covering,  covering.



Watering.  The most important bit.  Bean seed can go rotten in the ground if watered too much. What I like to do is give them a really good soaking once planted which usually means about three watering cans (30l) per sq mtr but in this case I was promised rain (which I got 96mls of) so I only used the one can in this case. Considering the amount of rain we received after planting I doubt I'll need to water these guys for a while now.

Watering,  watering,  watering.



There you go,  now there's no excuse for you not planting your very own home grown beans.  And I garentee you you'll never tast anything better.

For a bit of after care you can side dress with some compost and every two or three weeks add some fish emulsion and seaweed extract but only half strength as I don't think beans need much help in the growing department.  Then there's the regular, run of the mill, maintainence of weeding and good deep regular watering.

Cheers and happy bean growing.

Stewart

That's an Eagle you idiot.

Here's a fun fact, lifted straight out of the pages of Australian Geographic, Oct Nov 2009.

It's in the bag

Who
The ethicurean.  A longish time online blogger friend,  Kelly,  who is into bags in a big way. Check out her online bag shop.

*[eth•i•cu•re•an] : noun : also adj . Someone who seeks out tasty things that are also Sustainable, Organic, Local, and/or Ethical — SOLE food.

What
Soft, ethically produced cloth produce bags.
 Here is the low down from the ethicurean website.

'All the ethicurean bags (recycled organic and fair wage) are made from unbleached cottons. Bleaching not only alters the natural colour of the textile (which here at the ethicurean we love) but is also harmful to the environment. Sodium hypochlorite and chlorine dioxide are the most common industrial textile bleaches which when expelled into the environment(ost often into waterways) oxidizes organic matter in rivers and oceans to produce chemicals called trihalomethanes, some of which are carcinogenic. They also can form dioxins – carcinogens, mutagens, and tetrogenic compounds – which the body stores in fatty tissues almost indefinitely. Bleaching also consumes large amounts of water, primarily in the rinsing process to remove the chlorines which damage the structural integrity of the fibres. Buying unbleached textiles is obviously the more environmentally responsible choice'.
When
 Now, right now. There's no time like the present 

Why
 According to Kelly, a public health academic, mum of two teenage girls and a boy bean toddler. Also a keen foodie and blogger with a passion for fresh produce and respectful, ethical and mindful living. Here's what Kelly has to say.

'The momentum for ‘the ethicurean’ was born in 2008 in the beautiful eco-town of Fairfax just outside of San Francisco. I experienced a pretty basic, yet amazingly revolutionary idea of seeing fresh, local organic fruit and veg tucked up in soft, ethically produced cloth produce bags. Never having even imagined such a thing existed and not knowing what we were all missing until I saw them, this was my own ‘ lightbulb’ moment. An “Oh Wow! these make so much sense why aren’t we all using them?” epiphany. Reusable cloth produce bags were almost too obvious for words'.

Where  
Why here of course:- http://ethicurean.com.au/

How
As above:- http://ethicurean.com.au/

Said to myself

 About a week ago now I was putting a casserole together and when I went to get the spuds I found them full of plump sprouting eyes and said to myself, 'Self, there just ain't no way you can let this opportunity go by'. So I cut the ends with the eyes off and let them heal for a week until I planted them today. Spuddies for nothing and my chips for free.

I managed a good couple of hours in the veggie garden today with the beans, carrots, potatoes, cucumbers and tomatoes all growing very well.
I must say though that after all our early spring rain it's starting to dry out here a bit though good rain has been forcast for the week ahead.
I'm also sad to say I had a major fail in the lettuce department. Not one of the seeds I planted have come up. I'm perplexed, but suspect I let the soil dry out too much one day, as to why but will plant out again this week with showers and rain being forecast.

Umm, what else? The lucerne seed I planted is getting a go on and I can pinch out a few tops and feed them to the chooks. They don't seem to go mad for it but it's all gone by the days end.
Speaking of bloody chooks, just shoot me if I ever get another bantam. All I seem to do is spend all the warmer months unclucking bantams.I get one fixed and the other one takes it's place. Arrrrgggghhhhh.

That's about if for the veggie garden for now. During the week I hope to plant more lettuce and follow up plantings of radish, carrots and beans. My parsley has gone too seed too so I'll need to plant more of them. I've got heaps of comfrey ready to harvest so there's a fair chance the compost will get a look at as well and then in my spare time I can weed, weed and weed.

Cheers and happy veggie gardening.

Stewart.

Bill Oddie, Knitting 0_0

How could I go past this? (If I ask a rhetorical question do I still punctuate it with a question mark?) Bill Oddie from The Goodies and Knitting. It was inevitable it would end up here.

On the Better taste, Better food, Better for us front, I have received some further news on the study and will be posting an update in the next few days.



Cheers and beers and here's to a productive weekend of veggie gardening.

Stewart.

Better taste, better food, better for us

A while ago now I remember reading a report where Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine stated that organic veggies and fruit has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food.

I also remember saying to myself, 'That'd be right, go ahead and ruin it for everyone'. I also remember thinking I'd like to come up with a decent retort their research.

Well, as it happens, I was reading Country Life magazine last night and found an article that managed to encapsulate many of my thoughts in a fairly comprehensive fashion.  

Below in italics is a copy from page 23 of the August 5, 2009 edition of Country Life.

Better taste, better food, better for us
GOVERNMENT scientists have announced that organic food is no better for you nutritionally than conventional (whatever conventional is) food.  For those of you who sit down and look at your plate as a combination of fat,  protein and carbohydrate,  this may be important news.  For the rest of us who enjoy eating,  it's irrelevant.  For us,  food is about taste and trust.  What the majority of us really care about is good farming and farming methods.  Ask any top chef,  and they will tell you that it's the quality of the produce that is the key to great food.  Local food is miles better.  If the government wants us to eat more healthily,  it should spend its energy on promoting good farming methods and it should force supermarkets to sell more locally sourced food.  It's great tasting food, not more scientific mumbo jumbo,  that will encourage better eating habits and a healthier nation.

I'd like to know what you think. The best potatoes, onions, carrots, beans, toms and more are the ones I've grown in my veggie garden. How about you?

Cheers and happy veggie gardening

Stewart 

Chili

"Chili peppers have been a part of the human diet in the Americas since at least 7500 BC. There is archaeological evidence at sites located in southwestern Ecuador that chili peppers were domesticated more than 6000 years ago". Chili on facebook 

Chili on Wiki


It's chili planting time. Well for me it is anyhow.


Cheers

Stewart

Brown Beauty beans

 The Brown Beauty beans I planted in October have sprouted but I've found due to the heavy rains we've had a lot of the conditioning of my soil has been leached away and I needed to replenish it. This I've done by topping up with a side dressing of bean friendly compost. 

The soil had also crusted and become water repellent so the compost will help alleviate this problem too.

Just scattered around on the top soil and forked in with a hand trowel.

And water in well.

I'll head back up later this arvo when it's a bit cooler and water again as well as laying down some straw mulch and I should have some happy beans very soon.

It should also be a good time to start prep on the next sq. mtr patch for the next lot of beans.

Help

Help. I've consulted with my knitting guru and she has assured me that when knitting in the round on circular needles I can't get a change of colour to line up as in the photo below. Just in case she is wrong does anyone know how I can knit in the round on circular needles and get the rows to match up?

I'm a little tea pot.

 Just a super quick chunky tea pot cosy. It finished up pretty rough in the end but as it is my first one I going to be kind and go easy on myself and I had fun all the same.

Cheers, anyone for a cuppa?

What's your favorite brand/type of tea?

Stewart

Say no more.