Hi Veggie nuts,

I haven't been around lately as my garden as taken on more dramas than I can imagine and a whole lot of changes have happened.. Well first off we had amazing rains here on the Gold Coast and it definitely hit my garden bad...My drainage was incorrectly laid out and as we have mostly clay as our soil it wasn't helping with the situation.. I was pretty much stomping around with gumboots calf high with mud, I'm actually surprised I didn't lose one to the clay fairies..
Plus I had a knee reconstruction (thanks to a holiday skiing) and then I broke my ankle (thanks to my horse)...Soooo, it has taken me awhile to get back on top of things but here I am ready to rock..

One of the big changes we made to the Veggie garden was putting in some raised garden beds, there was a lot to choose from but ended up going with Birdies Raised Garden Beds from Birdies Garden Products here on the Gold Coast.(birdiesgardenproducts.com.au). They are fantastic, coming in different heights and shapes and they were so easy to assemble, I got the kids involved and it was done in no time. I have still kept some of the original beds that didn't get affected by all the water and have since put in a lovely rose garden..

Herb garden

I am saving up to get another three as they have been amazing for my veggies and herbs as well as my back..

Another major change is an Orchard which we added to the back of the Veggie garden, I planted 8 citrus, 2 avos and 4 Olive trees of different varieties.. We will eventually fence it and put some ducks in as they are amazing for bugs and don't scratch around like chickens so they will not disturb the root system...

One of the citrus I put in was a Lime Finger and it has produced so much fruit I've been making cakes, marmalade and giving lots away to friends. Now, this is only one tree mind you and I have only just finished harvesting (August) and there are already pretty pink little flowers all over the tree just in time for my next batch. The only thing painful, literally, about this citrus is that it is a very thorny bush, so the best way to harvest the lime fingers is to put on tough leather gloves and shake the tree..all the ripe fruit will fall to the ground and you can retrieve the fingers without a hefty thorn in your finger..When I prune it I make sure I have double gloves on..

Me getting spiked

This is the end of harvest so not very big

New ones on the way

Yum

Now I admit I am not the best preserver of fruit around, as my mum will tell you,  but this recipe of my mama's is a no fail and really easy and quick to make, which is what I like..

LIME FINGER MARMALADE 

1kg Lime fingers (quite ripe usually when they have dropped from the tree)

1kg White sugar

6 cups water 

1. Wash and slice fruit as thinly as you can in rounds, removing pips as you go (this a a little tedious but don't be to particular as some pips help with the setting of the jam)

2. Put all ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to the boil ( at this point you must watch it otherwise it will boil over fast)

3. Turn down to a medium heat ( kind of like a high simmer but not flat out boiling) for 1 hour or until rind is really soft.

4. Put a plate in the freezer for later testing of the jam 

5. Place jars and lids in oven set at 150º, leave them in there until jam is ready.

6. Spoon a little of the jam onto the plate from the freezer and push with your finger to see if its set. If it wrinkles its is ready if it still a little runny leave to boil for another 10 minutes and check again.

7. Pour hot marmalade into hot sterilised jars, seal immediately. Label and date jars when cool..

GOOD LUCK

Lime Finger Marmalade

Another fantastic use for these wonderful bursts of flavor is on Sashimi. One of my girlfriends who is half Thai, made this wonderful dish for me with an amazing sauce called Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce). We bought about 1kg of fish and it fed 8 of us as an entree..

SASHIMI WITH FINGER LIME & NUOC CHAM

1kg Raw fish ( salmon, tuna, king fish)

8 Finger Limes

Coriander

SAUCE

2 garlic Cloves, minced

4-6 limes, juiced (depending on your taste)

1/2 cup Verjuice or white wine vinegar

1/3 cup fish sauce

3 tbsp sesame oil

1/2 cup palm sugar, shaved

2 Red Chilli, diced finely

3cm Ginger, diced finely

In a bowl put verjuice, fish sauce, sesame oil and Palm sugar and stir until sugar has dissolved.

Finely dice Chilli and ginger and add to sauce then add minced garlic, let it sit for 10 mins to marry together. Add Lime juice for your taste ( I add 6 Limes because I like it quite sour).

Cut fish finely and lay out onto a platter, pour sauce over fish bit by bit with a spoon so you don't add too much, keep left over sauce in a seal tight jar in the fridge for up to 3 weeks (it tastes much better).

Cut Finger Limes in half  and push out all the bursts of heaven onto the fish and sprinkle with coriander...

I always pour a little of the sauce into separate little bowls for people to self dip as it is never enough!

Salmon & Tuna Sashimi with Lime Finger Caviar

So I hope you enjoy finding out all the things you can do with this marvellous citrus and get one in the ground ASAP. 

Next time around I will have a new structure in my veggie garden that I am very excited about and hopefully will save me some space for my pumpkins and melons..Until then

Happy digging

Cat

                                                                  Getting started

                                                                   Watering system

New Beginnings....

Well I can tell you that I am very excited, I have thought about starting a Blog for a while and now I have actually done it..Yee Ha!

My Garden is my secret place and I spend plenty of time in it, wether it be planting, harvesting or just sitting and watching. I am lucky enough to live on 10 acres and be a wife and mother of four children, 3 horses, 3 dogs and one very old cat, Purri Purri, who all love my garden and keep me very busy but I always find time to spend in my garden, especially the Veggie Patch. Soooo....

this is why I thought I would start to write about it as I am forever getting asked questions of how I find the time and why don't my lettuce look like yours!

I was only at a local Fruit & Vege market this morning and was buying some organic lettuce seedlings and the forever elusive 'Mother of Herb' (long story) when a gentleman asked the vendor "why his tomatoes were not doing very well in this hot spell that we are having" and her reply was as simple as "more mulch sir and sugar cane mulch at that as it breaks down well with the soil"..he was very thankful as he hadn't heard of using sugar cane mulch in the veggie garden.

Everyone loves to give advice and be helpful and I loved the thought of him searching for this sugarcane mulch putting it around his tomatoes and in a week they would look wonderful...sometimes and sometimes not.

Unfortunately gardening is all about trial and error and I should know, I have moved my veggie garden 5 times in the 17years of owning the farm until I found the perfect spot and at the moment I am thinking it is not so perfect..When I designed and built my veggie garden I wasn't thinking about the wattle on one side which happens to be the western side, so half of the garden misses out on the afternoon sun which isn't too bad now as I have learnt what grows well in those beds and what dose'nt , as I said trial and error, plus my dear husband would not let me move the garden for the sixth time!!!!

So I suppose the long and the short of it is I would love to help and share advise to those who are struggling with there gardens and keep you updated with my garden happenings and of course whats going on around the farm. When writing this I am just building a new bed to try and grow my pumpkins and melons upright to try and save space I will keep you updated on how I go..

Oh by the way, I prefer lucerne mulch to sugarcane mulch as it is amazing for the soil. Because lucerne is a legume crop it is high in nitrogen which is fantastic for your veggies it not only mulches, it feeds as it breaks down and it looks and smells fantastic.

Happy digging

Cat