Awesome Autumn... My Fruit Rant :)

Harvest

Well its Autumn... and its been awesome so far - not too much of the wet stuff, but lots of the windy stuff, which we anticipate at this time of the year anyway. It would be great if todays low cloud could blow away and the sun could climb through.
Have been thinking a lot this week about Japan and her people. Im hoping theyre slowly starting to heal and rebuild. I know how we feel here, and the numbness takes a long time to abate, the healing is slow, and time ticks away before you know it. The memories of our Events come back. And we are so lucky we didnt have the complications they had in Japan. My heart goes out to them, I wish there was more we could do, or say, that would help.

Winter Deluxe Pie - Pie Pumpkin

I was washing dishes (arent I always?) yesterday, and I washed a lid of a jar that had 3/12 scribbled on it. I had a flash back to last year, all my preps were covered in the date 3/11 because it was then I had started to prepare in case of emergency. I thought back to my confusion. Then, it was so obvious to me. I have grown since then. I actually AM better prepared than I was. There IS less confusion. I DO know what Im doing, and I am well guided, by whatever that force is that motors the Intuition.
I looked through the Preps. We could do a short stand-off (LOL Like theres going to be a Siege?)
Now to prep for the mid-length stand-off... Its all a part of my plan, to down-size, live harmoniously, but to live SIMPLY. Thats the hard one.

Cornucopia of Tomatoes!

This week, I heard on our TV news that Parents have been criticized for feeding their children too much fruit in their bid to feed their children their 5+ a day... which has been leading to accelerated rates of tooth decay.
See, I worry about reports like this. Firstly, parents DO THEIR BEST. With whatever knowledge and resources they have available, for the most part, parents DO try their best. Criticism hurts and doesnt change a thing, nor teach us how to counteract the problem.
Secondly -Why do the media choose such a strong way to get this message across? Responsibility. They have no accountability for what they write, its ok to take a negative stance... and it sells. And everything has become about the dollar.
It is also about educating Parents about the problem and how to solve it, without that condescending attitude.
People need to want to learn new things at any level  - Educate people on the importance of Milk and Water being offered with every serving of fruit, or put fruit after the main meal. Argh. Its NOT about criticism, it is about CHILDRENS HEATH. It is about Educating people, so they can make strong decisions based on good information.
PUT OUR CHILDREN FIRSTHave we forgotten the art of diplomacy and tact? I think as we fracture in society, we are becoming Islands. It is sad, but it is happening. Who can you depend on to give you accurate information about the things you need to learn? Do you learn something new every day?
We get out of the way of learning, but sometimes, it is just as important to REFRESH OUR KNOWLEDGE about important things, and not stop learning all together.



Broccoli - Waltham Seeds in Pods

 Prepping this week involves saving more seeds for next season. I have brocolli, lettuce in three kinds, soon to be four if Im quick :) And beans galore. I love the pink scarlet runners... Happy Beans!
We have Lollo Rosso, which is dark red, and likes low light and cooler days, a frilled green which grows everywhere and makes an attractive addition to a mixed salad. Theres a traditional buttercrunch, and Im waiting to see if we can catch up with seed from Little Gem who is a one-person sized  lettuce, compact and sweet. I often find Miss 5 hanging around the Little Gem, the leaves are very tasty. I have iceberg growing too, and it seeds later. I love watching the lettuce towers as they grow tall and then go poof! The seed is like dandelion fluff, the seeds at the bottom of the fluff go everywhere. Great for self-seeding.
Finally collected seeds from our carrot flower which seems to have been there for forever. Its taken a good four or five months, but we finally have some Nutri-Red carrot seed. These are our favourites, so theyll be replanted. Im trying to keep other carrots to seed, but it is so hard when the kids prey on them :)

Lettuce Fluff!

Well I best be getting on with it. The sun is making an appearance!
This week is shaping up to be a very diggy one.
Lots of weeds to evict... and poo to shovel.
Hope all is well with your world,

Scarlet Runner Beans - 3rd year!

Take care,
Love
E BUTTERFLY
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Fishy Smarts... Fishy Tails - A Good Sunday

Watering day today, and its grey, cool and misty when I wake.
How did I know before I even opened my eyes?
A fluffy tail complete with raindrops and a wet cat-nose in the face let me know before I realized it was morning. She is very determined to be fed these mornings, is our Washington.
So, it was a good day to catch up on the housework, do the inside things, and perhaps take a wander. The boys were restless, so they wandered off to meet friends at the bridge around the corner to take in some fishing. The Avon isnt well known for its fishing. Its Whitebaiting maybe, but not in the past year or 18months, due to silt, sewerage and other nasties that poured in. Its ok, we wont be baiting our hooks and eating our catch...
Its just for the experience of doing something interesting and inexpensive, and the kids love it.

So off they go, theres a few regular fisher-guys who hang out on the bridge too, and Mr 11 is the youngest by far. The tales are colourful - almost as colourful as the language, but if you can get past that, its interesting to hear the Fishy Tales.
What made great sport, was a huge rainbow trout swimming below.

Fishy Smarts 
The Grandaddy, they reckon. The Guardian of the smaller fishes, I say. He wasnt being caught by anyone! In fact, he seemed to throw the smaller fish in front of him so they were caught in his stead.
Its obvious theyre all keen on the dangling bait but this fish has got to a very nice size by not being tempted, and again today, it seemed to use its innate sense of which pieces of bread werent on hooks to eat, very nicely Thank You, and escaped anyones hook! It will live to taunt exasperated fishermen another day. ( And to be killed when we catch it tomorrow says a very keen young Fisherman from behind me!) We also see big eels and tiny bait fish under the water, so there is plenty of life left in the Avon River, despite people saying otherwise.


Fishy Tails

The yellow-eyed mullet run in and out with the tides - we live in tidal Avonside, and the Avon goes in and out daily, swelling as the tide fills, and the boys hook the mullet on small hooks and sinkers, with bread for bait. Its exciting, when, from standing up on the Bridge, you see them nibbling your bait below... nibble, take and there you have them. They hit hard when theyre hungry and are taken up onto the bridge easily by the kids.

We dont eat these fish, they do however, provide a nutritious feed for our cats, and the guts/heads/fins etc are excellent in the garden. My new rose today got the benefits, a bucket of fish buried deep alongside its roots.

How will we make ends meet if our society changes?
What skills will our children need, that we have ourselves forgotten? This is why I have no objection to taking my children fishing - of course, theyre of an age where they can take themselves, but sometimes as parents, we need to make sure they are provided with the wherewithall to do these things easily... Learning is best done when its fun, before the need is there. Fishing experience is an excellent skill to have here in NZ because our landscape lends itself to us being able to use it for fishing for food.

So, for us its been a really Good Sunday. The Bestest Day of My Life, Miss 5 told me as we wandered home. So - Whats next?
Im in the process of planting out the cabbages and broccoli for Winter, sowing parsnip seed, and watching the pumpkins swell. I cant wait for the beets to do their thing, and I have potatoes to dig soon. The garlic has dried nicely, and the tomatoes are changing colour daily - slow, but getting there! Life is good.
I hope with fingers xed that Ive got it right for some continual harvesting later in the year, as with the climate changes, the good weather is pitifully absent, and we may incur some losses.

Heres hoping things in your garden are growing nicely, with abundance.
Love and Blessings
E Butterfly
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