Monthly Archives: September 2012

Bed Building and Chicken Distractions

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Laura Rittenhouse

Every time we work in the garden, we get a lot of help from the girls. Recently when Frank was working on creating 2 new vegetable beds, he got a bit tired of shooing them away before slamming his spade … Continue reading →

Posted in Chickens, Garden | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Final Pea Harvest (until I sow some more)

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Laura Rittenhouse

This year we had a pretty good pea harvest. Both snow and normal peas produced for a long time. The normal pea plants developed a mould towards the end of their life which probably cut the production slightly, but it … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Treadmill Desk

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Laura Rittenhouse

This post has almost nothing to do with my garden. But it does have a tenuous link to this blog – I’m writing now (and will be pretty much all the time) walking at my treadmill desk. I recently created … Continue reading →

Posted in Sustainability | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Healthy Lunch

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Laura Rittenhouse

Today the menu is a roll (I make my own from scratch) with a fried egg (courtesy of the chickens), a green salad (lettuce and rocket from the garden), fresh peas (normal and snow peas) and a handful of strawberries … Continue reading →

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Beautiful Signs of Spring

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Laura Rittenhouse

Though I sometimes might act like it, spring isn’t only about my edibles – what to plant, what to eat, what invaders to tackle – it’s also about some pretty amazing beauty. Flowers are in bloom all year in Sydney … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden | Tagged | 3 Comments

Lemon & Raspberry Verrine

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Laura Rittenhouse

I had to look up “verrine”. It’s a layered dish (French in origin, obviously) sweet or savory. Fast Ed made a great dessert recently on Better Homes and Gardens. It caught my eye because it looked like it would taste … Continue reading →

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Transplant Shock

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Laura Rittenhouse

In the past I’ve worried a lot about transplant shock. When you remove seedlings from a seed tray, separate them and then stick them in the ground, they really suffer. So much so that I’ve often wondered if it wouldn’t be better … Continue reading →

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House Guests II

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Laura Rittenhouse

Return of the House Guests. About 3 weeks ago our chickens started wandering in to the house. With spring upon us the back door was going be open most days so I had to find a way to keep the … Continue reading →

Posted in Chickens | Tagged | 8 Comments

Berry Season

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Laura Rittenhouse

We may not be harvesting enough to make pies, but every day Frank and I collect a few handfuls of berries from the back garden: strawberries and mulberries in pretty much equal measure. Right now we’re getting about 100 grams of each … Continue reading →

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Signs of Spring

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Laura Rittenhouse

Though Sydney doesn’t have a stereotypical winter (ice, snow and denuded trees), there are still seasonal changes that can be observed by the ever-watchful gardener. Now it is spring. I know this because of the obvious: the flowering fruit trees … Continue reading →

Posted in Chickens, Garden, Nature | Tagged , , | 2 Comments