It was an excellent weekend at the Salmon Ponds - what a beautiful place it is, iconic even. Its history is fascinating, the grounds beautifully maintained, the autumn colours spectacular, food in the cafe delicious. The event was extremely well organised, not the least feature of which was the fact that children catered to exceptionally … Continue reading 150th anniversary of the Salmon Ponds

Just look at these wonderful offerings - crabapples we picked yesterday here in the Derwent Valley.  They'll soon be turned into jelly, paste (to serve with cheese) and sparkling crabapple drink.  Yum. Between these and an abundance of apples and quinces, it's going to be a busy weekend here in the kitchen.

Generous friends and neighbours we have here in the valley - over the last couple of days this is what we have been given by way of fresh, organic, seasonal produce. Looks like we're going to be busy preserving and hopefully making some cider. Quince and apples diced and preserved in syrup or even water … Continue reading Autumn produce and preserves

Some little while ago I was able to get some malted barley from Redlands Estate here in the Derwent Valley. I had the notion to include it in my homemade bread, so tried grinding it in my huge old faithful wheat grinder, but that worked not at all.  In fact, it turned into a paste … Continue reading Malted Barley bread (aka Single Malt Bread)

Of course, it's not that there's been no time for fun over the last four weeks.  For instance: when is a cooking school not a cooking school? When it's converted to the scene of a Warhammer game, such as last Saturday when son Elliott and several of his friends set up a battle in the … Continue reading When is a cooking school not a cooking school?

The very busy times of the last four weeks have abated just a little so today was able to get to working with the two large buckets of plums we'd been given. They mostly made their way into the dehydrator; once dried they are a stunning addition to a home made muesli or biscuits. You … Continue reading Enough time to preserve again – hooray!

The last couple of weeks since the launch of "A Year on the Farm" have been extremely busy but fun.  A week or two ago I was invited to do a demonstration at the Habitat store in Hobart on one of their regular VIP evenings. Daughter Courtney, a uni student, now works there part time … Continue reading An entertaining evening

We were given many lemons - about 40 kilos in fact.  Beautiful home grown lemons from the north of the state.  I'll make lemon cordial and homemade lemonade of course, but I decided to dehydrate a bucketful or two.  It's a simple process - no need to blanch most fruits as the acid levels are … Continue reading Lemon abundance

I am sure the zucchinis in our garden have gone forth and multiplied at a great rate. AND they are HUGE! There is only so much zucchini pickle to make, and so I needed another solution in a hurry. Just so happens that at the Habitat demo last Friday I was admiring their new dehydrators, magnificent … Continue reading Zucchinis – dehydrating

You really can't help but love the abundance of produce this time of year! Thanks to Emma and son Andrew we have about 40 kilos of pears and the same of lemons. Not to mention 10kg blackberries. Plus a friend gave us a bucketful of deliciously sweet sugar plums. I really should do something with … Continue reading Lemons, plums, pears and blackberries in abundance